Chums are settling
in the back room
of the Feast House ~
post and beam
ember dreams
gray fog fingers
and draping fiords
holding patron's gaze

Dandan is nestled
in a fireside chat
(with a song from Jeremy
playing from
the high rafter)
sail east
and greet the dawn
young man,
distant shores
are converging

Old habits
die hard
for the Great Dane ~
whistling tunes
in a somber minor,
baritone sounds and
orchestra strings
rising from a
distant, muted choir

Ruby lips
and finger tips
scour the
cockeyed soiree
the safe house
is old
and rendered,
but well
worth noting

Filling jars
with pickled pears,
the specialist
weeds the
white maggot
and siphons his
favoured grog

"...shackle the outhouse
my mates!
the foreign scrum
is bolting!"

misted lakes of the alpine
washboard roads
and broken reins
quiet streams
under cattle guards
the barbed wire
guides the way

dusted sunlight
peeks through the cracks
of the old weathered barn

tractor oil
and freshly baled hay
permeate the warm country air

hoot owl, and swallows
whisper from the  
overhead beams

guinea hens scamper ~
to the graceful
rolling fields

the bankers are in a bind
(hiding in the shame of
loan loss provision
and incestuous debt)
concocting their swaps
and derivatives
all kindly gifts ~ packaged and bowed!
emanating with a shining light
from the reclusive
and impenetrable
sanctum on the hill

seems the emperors have
lost all clothes!
as colorful delusions
of grandeur and glut
chlorinate deeply
memo takers
turn hand
on the penniless merchants
and civilian drags -
slated seniors
and navy jacks
all left holding the bag
as toe cutters
and slithering eels
mark the market

decency in abeyance
and hope gone terribly sour
the members of the sanctum
ratchet up their grip
(their tactics, chicanery
and calculated views
all folded
and pressed
on the waxed
and polished floors)

the finger test
and cross sentiment
are all the talk of the town
(as hedges tighten
and margins press)
pogeys scrape bottom
while narcissists,
cartoon politicians
and super villains
commandeer the front row

heads of state are
sweeping tracks
(like wiley foxes
in the hen house!)
deliberate in their procession
(with a pocket full
of tricks!):
acey deucy
and 2 buck chuck
cup and bean
and vanishing tops...
classic illusions that
have got everyone
spinning their heads!

the goats of the show
are plenty...
merchants of chaos
rewritten in a
perfect second script!
who can forget:
“johny buckles”
or the “one dom skilling”
“gravely” or the
“the good dr. lickatees”
prodigious ponzies
(with twisted boards)
all throwing caution to the wind!

looks like the rants
and accusations
will never fade...
those stone face regulators
will once again masquerade,
fleecing lambs
(with pitches and tales!)
dancing deliberately
like horned centaurs
with their tumblers
and flare

the inquisition
is fast approaching
(and the deadpan
is growing old)
time to scrape
the tempest
from the temple,
and engage the
front lines

Two Anna's hummingbirds, dance at the door
under the pane, in a mid-morning pour
whispering winds, voices through chimes
a whimsical picture, woven in rhyme

Perched on a limb (just a few yards back)
a pileated pecker, with breast of black!
foraging sparrows, partners in crime
picking out seeds from conical pine

A weighted blanket, and dark roasted brew
sipped on a rocker, with the daily news
the stream keeper watching, fluttering high
dipping and darting, at (wild) passers-by

Baseboard heaters, comfort the room
four months to go, to the April bloom!
the afternoon passes, in dense gray fog
a sliver of sunshine, catches a log

Into the evening, a soft glowing light
gusts on the water, gulls take flight
crows at a distance, nestled in trees
branches swaying, to a south-east breeze

Patterns of nature,  the rhythm runs deep
“those rich forest gems, to the soul they will creep”
an archway to heaven, with guiding raccoons
look over yonder…the quiet tan moon!

...but my knees are aching
and molar is cracked
I woke up this morning
with a hurricane back!