Tiger Mask

I’m wearing a tiger mask

it is papier mache and peeling on the edges

I took great pains to sculpt the fangs

Today, I am the predator.

 

My prey wears a nice suit

and now a bewildered expression

as the plunger depresses

and the insulin hits his veins.

 

2 weeks ago I held J’s blue body

he was stiff and his wife was screaming

he couldn’t afford it, because suit had to make another billion

and he fell in the kitchen while I was out

 

He rolls over and screams

padding at his sore arm

and I look him in the eyes

I am the predator today.

I won’t look away.

 

Fat Crow – Hour 8 Prompt

The Crow is a master scavenger. A sleek survivor
built to think, to adapt, to communicate, to overcome

the harshness of a world that is designed
to stop you the moment you look down.
With a head on a swivel, though,

you just may find a shiny thing,
a discarded bauble, a worthless treasure

worth picking up with only the slightest inclination
it can become something more.

A craftsman in cleverness, an inventor of ingenuity
a fat crow is a survivor, thriving in its creativity

in finding the value in the shiny thing
discarded by the world
that sees only desert trash.

Can it survive with out it? Probably,
but it may come in handy some day.

Midnight (Hour #9)

23:55; all is silent — all is dark

as right before the deepest hour

of the night sky, the stars are sent

to bed and clouds take their places.

It shall rain tonight again.

 

Between Worlds

“Between the woods and frozen lake”
fire draws me to its glow.

The moonless night, still and opaque,
bears witness to lay low.

There, in the distant trees I hear
his voice, deep, rough, and hard.

A melody of love and fear
has caught me full off-guard.

Who is this man whose fiddle plays
in distant woods alone?

I search through ivy walled keyways
to glimpse his mournful tone.

“I see you there,” he sings aloud
“through vines that tie you down.”

“Be not afraid, and be not proud,
that day I come around.”

“For joyless tears I turn to beer
from chaff he left behind.”

He sings for me! Do I go near?
“I sing for humankind.”

Then, all at once the keyways closed.
The man I heard was gone.

Yet smoke still in the air imposed
a strange phenomenon.

I turned toward the lake of ice
reflecting every star.

And, Oh! Before my naked eyes
appeared a strange montoir.

There he stood in horseman’s tack,
white stallions made of bone.

“Fair lady, may I take you back?”
I wondered of his tone.

Then I awoke in my own bed
from one more stress filled dream,

reminding my creative head
life isn’t what it seems.

Credit: “Between the woods and frozen lake” from Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Ponytail

It’s daily
The teeth
Fingers
Sand rakes?
We have sand rakes?

Stretching til a break
Gnawing like a beaver
Clawing like those buried alive seeking air.

Big teeth
Small hands
Is that 30 fingers?
30?
How?

Grabbing
Pulling
Scratching

My scalp is a burning patch.
No clear torch
But sparks everywhere.

Enough!

I put it in a ponytail.
Nope.
That just gives mom a handle.
Braid.
All the same.
Bun. Classic ballet bun.
Yeah.
No.
Nope.
They are tearing it down.

Arghhhh!

I’d shave it, but that is punishing me too.
I’d cut it in a pixie do.
But mom forced me into those my whole childhood.
The mere thought makes me want to vomit.

For now I stick to the dodge.
Swooshing like a ninja

Epiphany

my walk into the forest
revealed to harmony in nature
i didn’t know that the songs birds sing in the forest are properly choreographed
in unison with the trees and all
the birds do the vocals
the trees take to the dance floor
the wind is the choirmaster
some trees do percussion
catering fall under trees too
they serve wild berries
the fragrance from the flowers
keep the entire forest fresh and inviting
beees make honey for dessert
as they effortlessly help with pollination
nature’s process are properly measured and cut to fit
I set down nicely  on a rocking rock
enjoying natural air-con under a big shady tree
i was marvelling nature and its serenity
when i was forced to take to my heels                        a big green Mamba fell next to me
i didn’t regret the forest
the harmony                                                                 the hospitality                                                             the tranquility                                                              the beauty                                                                           Oooh! forest  you are organised                                    you have a lot to teach us                                                Please! teach us.

The Lover Prompt  8

What is it about you that compels me to 

find you, to seek you out? Is there comfort, 

 

or hope for a future with you? No! Yes! You 

offer me nothing more than a short affair

no matter how many times I seek something 

 

more from within your darkness. You come 

to me in different forms. You hide behind 

 

different names. You entwine and embed yourself 

with others that dilute you, your taste, your smell, 

 

your touch, how you feel upon my tongue. You . . .

what is it about you that compels me to

 

demand your best self, not just any self. Sometimes 

you are warm, even hotter than the devil. At other times

more from within your darkness. You come 

 

to me cool, chilled or frozen. You make me happy 

and restore balance to my soul, my 90% cocoa.

For Ben

I haven’t made my favourite cakes
In quite a while. I lost the tins,
Some several flats ago.

I still buy all the things I need
Whenever they expire. I even found
Fancy cinnamon.

I keep it on the top shelf,
In the wrong bag. Waiting for the day
I can bake again.

Just before the last big move
I bought new tins. Star-shaped
Just like the ones I lost.

I don’t really like cinnamon,
Not much. But your smile
Makes them better than banana bread.

When my life is a straight line again, I will make some more for you.

I want more of always

I asked for something fun,

a line, a compliment, a joke, but

“…ultimately, even the sad ones can be happy.”

He’s reading my book

and thinking about memories.

I want my book to make men think about cunninlingus, so I guess it needs an edit.

Don’t tell me about sadness.

Don’t tell be about happiness.

I know those well.

I can get enough of those.

Lust, though, I want more of

always.

 

 

Prompt Nine

 

A Prize in Every Box

Popcorn in the cupboard prompts
a cascade of childhood memories—

the boxes of ‘Cracker Jack’; once-a-
week-treats, with a treasure in every box.

Sunday brunch at The Owl’s Nest,
dressing in fine clothes, carrying

a purse with a gold strap and wearing
freshly polished Buster Brown shoes.

Acting like a grown-up until the server
invites me to check out the hidden

treasure box filled with trinkets and toys
and I don my childhood antics, once again.

The wonder and joy of not knowing
what one will find on opening the lid.

Though the clock now ticks time away,
maybe we all need to pause: to be

curious again, to be surprised—
to look for buried treasure.