#11
She cackled with joy
not sure why.
If something was funny
she would cackle with delight.
No one knows why
her cackle was unique.
Tickle her funny bone
she’d cackle all day.
Hour Sixteen – Home Again
Home Again
All the world over, where would you go?
Up to the Arctic with the ice and the snow?
Or do you prefer a nice sunny beach
with a tropical drink waiting well within reach?
Would you visit the pyramids in old Egypt land,
riding on camels across the hot sand?
Or maybe Paris is more of your style,
shopping and cafés, all the staff with a smile?
Would you visit the orient, China or Japan?
Would you like an adventure in old Pakistan?
Visit the jungle? Take a boat down the Nile?
Climbing up mountains, hiking mile after mile?
Houseboat or sailboat? Airplane or train?
Are there some special spots that you’d visit again?
Oh, there are many places on this tired old globe
I certainly wouldn’t mind getting to probe.
Foods to taste! Sights to see! And people to meet!
So many places, a list incomplete.
But given my choices, and the limits of time,
there is one special place that I hold in my mind.
On a hot day in summer, or through ice and through snow,
can you guess to which place that I’d most like to go?
Chorus–Hour 16
The screen is loose on the window I rarely open
Through it comes the busy whoosh of the shoreline
Wave sounds indistinguishable from the next
A helicopter pulls its gentle growl across the northeast sky
flightpath passing close to our neighborhood
Rock doves coo
The other window offers additional sound
Birds I can’t name chirp
Roosters announce dominion one street over
A cheep, an electronic device indicates a delivery for someone
The background wash of a busy street two blocks away
a dog barks
and somewhere in Alaska kolea, the golden plover
remembers Hawaii
and the migratory drive which will
convey it to our state for the winter
a welcome link between First Nations
The 25th
Keeping company with the frogs and crickets
as the low pressure slides in as a breeze.
Those brief bursts of cool summer
when the air is clear
and the cars drive slow.
Even when the lights are blaring
you can kinda see the stars.
Subbing in America through Haiku: Hour 16
the scent of childhood
butterflies, sailboats and fish
break out the crayons
Over You- Hr.3
I can’t explain what I felt
But it was real
You didn’t want to know
It was hard not letting it show
I cared right from the start
Things just seemed to keep us apart
I was so full of shame
Wishing you felt the same
Thoughts of you were never far
I never knew loneliness till you
And I didn’t know what to do
Saying goodbye was best for you
#10
My cat growled at me
when I didn’t go to bed
at the usual time.
He paced, he stared
didn’t understand
I need this time to rhyme.
Almost Midnight – Hour Sixteen
The hour is getting later
And my head begins to spin
But I will keep on writing
Exhaustion will not win
I’m pushing towards the finish
Inching closer every hour
With coffee, I will make it
I shall harbor the power
I am feeling a twinge of pain
My head and back both hurt
But I know I’m moments away
From a brain fueled writing spurt
The writing block will leave me soon
And I will trudge ahead
It won’t be too much longer
Before I’m nestled in bed
For now, I must keep writing
These poems won’t write themselves
Getting them out right now is better
Than words being top shelf
My focus is now foggy
But enough of my rhyme
I’m now left here to question
Do you happen to know the time
L’art Cullinaire hour 17
Crimson candles glow, meaty cutlets served,
Romanticised date, I remember you,
First desirous date, feigning fear reserved.
‘What is this sweet meat?’ More than I deserved,
Passions rekindled, guilt for doubting you,
Crimson candles glow, meaty cutlets served.
Evil smirk spreads, ‘Your arm I had preserved!’
Guilt abates, once again your colours true,
First desirous date, feigning fear reserved.
‘Raising two wolves, their hunger I observed,
And fed them meat cutlets as one must do,’
Crimson candles glow, meaty cutlets served.
I hide my horror, submission subserved,
Taking each mouthful, I carefully chew,
First desirous date, feigning fear reserved.
My resolve steady, plan in place deserved,
‘Werewolves made great horror beasts too, that slew!’
Crimson candles glow, meaty cutlets served,
First desirous date, feigning fear reserved.
Hour 16
I’m concerned for you,
Your much more than what you portray,
Hershey chocolate skin,
Yes, you are a fine looking man,
Creative mind, bright ideas,
Why must you undermine your intellect?
You don’t have to settle for such imbeciles,
I believe in what you can accomplish,
Despite past transgressions,
What’s important is that you must believe it too,