It was my birthday,
Sixty Five years turned to grey hair.
My love and I, and two old school
friends on a breezy Fall day.

Over Tea and a lovely frosted
three layer cake, we cajoled
and joked about our age,
all turned senior citizens that year.
And yet in truth, we all agreed,
none of us had ever been as happy as then.

The cake was sliced onto china plates,
Each piece served flat on it's cut side.
I noticed something then as we all
took our first bites.

Our forks all started at the thinnest corner,
on the bottom layer's side, gradually
excavating the two lower levels of fluffy
cake, saving the best for last, the top layer
where all the sweet frosting remained.

It occurred to me then that indeed life
is like a three layer cake, the last top layer
can indeed contain the sweetest bites.
That rather than gobbling life hurriedly whole
it should be savored more like patiently eating
and enjoying a three layer cake.

Brake-clutch-shift
Glance at the clock
It must be about... half-past-an *******
as I sit in traffic, idling, wondering

Glance at the clock
Could this be hell?
98 degrees, sure humid enough
and will this guy ever signal a turn
or find the gas pedal?!
No, of course not
His job in damnation is to torture
the sucker stuck behind--

--his cardiac appointment
his destiny at the grocery store
Half hour early
just to wait in line
to pick up prescriptions
to punch the clock at The Pearly Gates

He's out and about in his Ford Taurus
ridin' the brakes
touring the streets in sunglasses with blinders

“No Effn' blinker, Pops!?”

Twenty miles per hour
just inside the lines of

Turning me into the animal I am
in the depths

I'm sorry but
                          Even the sunlight
  Has become
                                       So cold.

Another day falling
from the crack of yesterday,

a patch of pearl
burning in the amber west
flaring up heaven
firing me up
in the pains of solitude
and poetry.

Home beckons through a dark way
where hope breathes eternal
as lanterns of moonlit leaves.

I won't mourn the loss
but fill all the void
with paper and ink.

Angelic visions shroud me
In fields of lush green grass
I kick of heavy shackles
And listen to the crickets gas
The clouds slowly float by
A greyness lightly tints the sky
Nature exists in everything little thing
From the soil to a buzzing tiny fly
My sleeves are rolled half mast
Brown shoes have been left at my side
And I sprawl in a daze in the sun
It feels like the world has folded and died
A bird soars carefree above me
It's looks beautiful in black and grey
Shame birds cant understand people
Cause I think we all have plenty to say
Maybe I should do this more often
Just relax in a peaceful tranquil sea
Dream some dreams in the daylight
And just appreciate how it feels to be free

Dripping with gory sarcasm
The sharpest tongue cuts a dash
The house speciality is cruelty
Naturally
And so, gathered revellers
To the evening's main course
An innocent
A babe amongst blades
Who'll carve?

With glinting teeth and cutlery
Feasting on the lamb begins
An ideal from each bone that's chewed
Is spat upon the floor
And they're snatching and snarling for more
More succulent and pure
Fresh blood for the body politic
Come to the party
Who'll pour?

                                By Phil Roberts

People who have beauty
Usually, have all the luck
While people who are smart
Always make a buck

People of importance
Invariably, have the ****
And people with persistence
Seem to have the pluck

But, people that are lazy
We usually call a schmuck
While the rest of us
Well.....no one gives a ****
WIZDUMBs BY JA 682