lampoon

what's the name
for when life has moved
from ridiculous
through the fields of satire
past all punning
when every joke too soon
and the pompous
impossible to lampoon
because they have no shame

abbreviate

making humans
and humanity less
lives abbreviated
reductions by
infinitesimal virulence
and exponential incompetence
reticence against expense
money over distress

crwth

across mists veil parted
time beyond our gaelic rain
songs sung and sung again
pint poured storied ways
session time with crwth and pipe
whiskey, ale or wine
joined in harmony divine

palpate

he would
like a sadist
palpate the abscess
permeate pain
when stands nearby
the lance
yet he would squish
and sicken further
in fascination
of broken things

minutia

wakefulness tugs
at the apron strings
of a peaceful mind
broken cookie jar
of minutia scattered
across a tile floor
whispers recriminations
as it wanders off
leaving insomnia
behind to sweep
the shards that cut
the feet of calm
and splinter in
to the small hours
in restless anxiety

ambidextrous

I've known a few
who were ambidextrous -
rare but not uncommon;
but some have another skill -
they can talk out of both
sides of their mouths.

retronym

call me now
the retronym
of the me
you met before
formerly know as
is my name
the me that
you adore
i did not choose
my given name
so i gave myself
one new
and if you
do not like yours
you can too

Byzantine

childhood's mosaic dreams
laid out across a foreign square
made up tiles laid by books
and songs and scents of spice
Constantine whispers in vespers
a Byzantine memory of
a place I've never been
and now may never go
phantasm city formed
from a pair of pointy shoes
and a rug my mum brought home
so very long ago

escapade

when the world reopens
like a flower to the dawn
oh the escapades
we shall have
the grandest of times
the sad and sublime
running counter to all
fresh and dewy
me and you-ee

devise

love is
a world
devised
to surprise
you with
a sunbeam
when you're down
a butterfly
just before you frown
a kiss
before you gave up hope
a prayer
right before the rope

chapfallen

more than one virus spreads
with each day mutating
as daunting as the ills
that pass from breath to breath
the depth of isolation's abyss
chapfallen fellows filling time
with online vitriol
their misery makes company

sea change

weathercaster
could not see
the sea change
barreling down
on me
the time gone by
no predictor
the way the world
had licked her
the both of us
begin again
chagrined again
undimmed again
we ascend

oleaginous

the huckster sings
his oleaginous song
promising perfection
with a cash donation
health and wealth
for a pennyworth
phenomenal philters
preternatural potions
astonishing tonics
of sugar and arsenic
and broken dreams
and he'll be gone
before the screams
but sure, buy up
you know better
oh yes, of course you do
the sucker born
every minute
could never be you

filch

little did she know
despite the way
she made her chest
a wall of solid steel
and hid her heart
inside a vault
with no lock - sealed
one would come
with welder's torch
to melt her steel
like butter and
her heart reveal
to filch in dead of night
cat burglar cupid

albeit

i longed for days
where i could work
in pajamas
albeit in kinder
circumstance than this
the effects of a virus
and forced time
away from desk and
daily drudgery replaced
with fresh anxiety and
imperfect mastery of
imperfect technology
to achieve the same result
remote drudgery

rectitudinous

they who prefer
the blatant lie
over a nuanced truth
who disdain
the person rectitudinous
in favor of
the loud and ludicrous
should not be surprised
when disappointed
by the lies
but neither
do they learn
instead they spurn
the lesson
no distress in
doing wrong
they go along
to get along

perquisite

The Artist's Lament


if they say
they cannot pay
but the perquisites
are snacks and exposure

that's when you say
"thank you, but this conversation's over"

interpolate

a jarring break
amidst such careful construction
comes sudden obstruction
by means of destruction
rash ideas interpolated
into common sense
and screamed defense
no sense of plan
thus comes the fall of man