Hour 23
chilly flakes
a sprinkle of my native land
on the pizza
Dark Before Dawn
It’s been a long road,
upon which I’ve scraped raw the pads of my feet
over rough stone and potholed streets
The roads’ end is still tucked determinedly in the horizon
I don’t know how much farther is left to go
But I suppose I ought to keep moving
(Hour 23)
Hour 11. Nether worlds of Hinduism
Scary is the inferno of Dante so you fear to sin
but the nether worlds of Hinduism denote not hell
Seven are they in number, verily known as
Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talatala, Mahatala, Rasatala and Patala
The lowest level is Patala the abode of great serpents
Too deep for the Sun to extend his rays down there
Jewels of every kind, known and unknown, abound
Casting lights of various shades.
home for Beautiful groves, lakes and demon maidens
Palaces dot the world designed by Maya the demon architect
Death dares not cast his long shadows therein.
Sweet fragrance hangs in the air and superb music pervades
Soil is white, black, purple, sandy, yellow, stony and also of gold.
Positive energy resonates all around
Why then hanker for heaven?
Prompt 23
Architecture is Art
structured without
caricatures and flower beds
it is the nonverbal attempt to explore
with the mind power and wealth
Missing6am
Out the backdoor I go
through the back yard
and around the bend
in the field
step over the junker cars
that mark the spot and watch
out for that gopher hole
It wouldn’t do to break my
leg
I can feel the sun on my face
and I lazily walk through the
field
Today is a gorgeous day
the air is crisp
the colors a set fire of
reds and golds
I have a purpose for being
out here-
There it is!!
Being careful, I step to the edge.
Down below is the creek
I can see the bench is brand-new
someone must have rebuilt it
I haven’t been here for years
This was the place that I
always ran to-
when things were rough
when I needed a friend and where
things always ALWAYS made sense
making my way down, I relax with
the sound of rushing water
mixing with the sounds of birds,
a distant dog barking
and once more I am transported
back to when I was 24
And said goodbye for the final time
it broke my heart to leave you behind
but I couldn’t pack you up and transport
you- though I wanted to
Well I’m all grown up now and
I’m sure that you can still help
somwhow
I have missed you
Hour 23 – Wonderland
Wonderland
There is a place where flowers sing
Cards are guards to Queen and King
Turtles tell a tale of woe
And poetry is status quo
Rocking horses fly with wings
Eggs can do a back handspring
Caterpillars blithely smoke
Grinning cats tell arcane jokes
Cooks spread pepper everywhere
A tea party is a rude affair
Mushrooms make you short or tall
And sense – why there is none at all!
Hour13
Hush!
Silence can be so deafening
and so overwhelming…
I hope that you do not want us to
listen to the symphony of silence!!!
Silent Pizza [Hour 22]
Mexico makes Pizza too.
But . . .
Taco bell’s Mexican Pizza
Is not authentic Mexican Pizza
Actually Pizza in Mexico
Is not authentic.
It is just a carbon copy
Of another carbon copy
That copied it from Italia.
But there is chile jalapeno
Or chorizo as a topping
The crust is kinda thin
Like a cocky flour tortilla,
Kinda hard like a soft chip.
But instead of pepperoni
They use guinis or weenies
thin slim hot dog slices.
an ooze of mozzarella
poured on top of it.
Mexican pizza is
A silent pizza.
Speaking of silence,
What’s up with this food
that they feed us and sell us,
Is it just in America?
What’s up with the medicine
What’s up with the medical field,
Is it just me, or have they killed
More people than they healed.
Everything is killing us.
Look at what theyre filling us with
I never got the vaccine,
My mother did,
Right after the shot,
her face drooped from one side,
her feet got swollen
And she started having heart problems.
I called the hospital
where they gave her the shot,
Told them her symptoms,
And they said it was fine.
3 months later
she died
Heart attack.
Why are we
So scared to speak?
Why dont i hear
any one here
Speak of the real
Speak of the real.
Why have the gift
And waste it on
Shit we could have
Done at home.
For a bunch of poets,
Sometimes, we dont really say much
Silent,
as a slice of
Mexican pizza.
⁵
Now you know (Prompt 22)
Somewhere around A.D. 995
Italian city of Naples
the first one showed up
quickly becoming a favorite stop
especially after a long week
pressing olives
maintaining gladiator gear
From this single shop a dietary
staple came to life
simple, ancient concoctions
combinations of all sorts
bringing social
disagreement, disaffection
fourteen-hundred years before
pineapple showed up
becoming integral to
local culture, then spreading
The simple pizza
Neapolitans didn’t argue
crust height, depth
cuts made as squares or
triangles
though they each knew their
favorite spots, toppings
knew the dish was theirs
theirs alone
wanted the world to know
once people began
making it at home
sans checkered togas
As the famed troubadour
Billus Joelius wrote
‘Quando vis Faciam in
occursum adventus tui
In nostro Italico Restaurant’
And there – that is something
you learned today
– Mark L. Lucker
© 2023
http://lrd.to/sxh9jntSbd
Hour 23: Sonnet
How did I ever get so blessed to have you,
I must be highly favored and covered in grace,
Despite life’s despair, and what you’ve been through,
You never seem to break,
Strongest person I know,
No one could ever take your place,
I thank God for giving you the timer to watch me grow,
It’s something about your warm embrace,
My biggest support, even when everyone else leaves,
Can’t thank you enough,
For always believing in me,
Simply being my mom; unconditional love,
Hope you understand how much you really mean to us,
And I will always love you very much.