Manx
they have no tails

and not much of one to tell
either

just *****
of nonsensical verse

and joy

the mind is best
when the mind is at play

agree?

a bauble
or a geegaw

something to spark
the imagination

to relieve the stress
a release valve

so to speak
mine you

was something
bounced off the wall

stretched
like Stretch Armstrong

and molded like playdough
you were there

but not really
often just a figment

of a magic afternoon
where both of us danced

with crickets lizards
and whirligigs

but now you are gone
one day I cut you loose

by choice and necessity
though you still haunt me

on sleepless
and moonless nights

Ten jokes a day
greasy bacon and runny eggs

at wit's end
of the string already frayed

tattoos and needle scars
cigarette ash and stains

on the table
***** mop water a rag

and ten jokes a day
from pain and heartache

is where the laughs
come from

your's mine
and everyone else's

in between

knee ****
or reflexive
response

by

visual
stimuli
designed

to get a reaction

you always
back
me into a corner

leaving no choice
but to push
to click or flip

whatever is convenient
immediate
expedient

or red

In the sun
and that I have

for my day
in court

not in front
but behind the mic

without it
my voice is timid

my resolve flimsy
and shifting

Where even the doorman
has a joke

and no one
is straining gnats

or swallowing camels

because they're too busy
swatting them or smoking them

while trying to scratch
an itch

that is next to near
impossible

to reach

Too much water

he said

we are taking on too much water

he said

as the outside patio bar flooded
and the hanging plants

so laden with rain
dropped

from there hooks
splashing

and smashing
onto the submerged concrete

the sky rages and weeps
and we are left to pick up

the pieces