Mark Toney

Mark Toney Apr 2020

(Pentagon E-ring office—executive officer knocks & enters—General motions him in)

XO,
Explain
examinees...

                              Examinee
                              X-11,
                              Xander
                              Xanakis

Experience?

                              Explosives
                              expert.
                              Ex-Army.
                              Executive
                              experience

Exam?

                              Exceptional

Excellent!

                              Excessive

Exessive?
Explain

                              Extreme
                              xenophobe

(expletive)
Exclude

                              Examinee
                              X-12...

Xavier
Xanthopoulos...

Experience?

                             Expert—
                             extraction,
                             exfiltration.
                             Ex-Navy,
                             Executive
                             Experience

Exam?

                             Excelled

                             Extracuricular
                             extras...

Explain

                             Expat,
                             X-games,
                             xylophone...

Expat?

                             Xalapa

(chuckling)
X-games,
xylophone—
(laughs)
X-Factor!

                             (XO nods his head, smiling)

Xenophobic?

                             (shaking head)
                             Xenodochial.
                             Exeptionally
                             xenophilic!

Expectations?

                             Exceeds
                             Expectations

Excellent!

XO,
exclude
examinee
X-11...

                              Excluding
                              Xander
                              Xanakis

Expedite
Xavier
Xanthopoulos

                              Expediting
                              examinee
                              X-12

XO,
excused

                               (XO exits)

© 2020 by Mark Toney.  All rights reserved.

4/25/2020 - Poetry form: Alliteration - This is the 8th poem in my Alliterative Alphabet Series. Each poem describes conversations between two or more people while only using words that start with or sound like the first letter of the title of the poem. I’m publishing the poems as I write them on Wattpad.com, not necessarily in alphabetical order. My goal is to write at least 26 poems to cover each letter of the alphabet. I hope you find the concept interesting, maybe even clever. Most of all I hope you enjoy them :) - There are a lot of words starting with "X", but it's a challenge creating a coherent dialog with just "X" words. Saved by the definition of alliteration: "The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words." Ahhh... so the same "sound" would fit the bill. Thus, the use of words beginning with "ex" would provide the "X" sound, alliteratively speaking :) - Disclaimer: This poem is fictional and does not depict any actual person or event. The names used are ficticious and were chosen to satisfy the requirements of the poetry form. - © 2020 by Mark Toney. All rights reserved.

#alliteration #xo #executiveofficer #pentagon #ering #general #examination

Apr 2020

Eloisa

Everything Beautiful in Time

Seasons do not compete with one another;
neither does the night’s magical brilliance of the moon rival with the gorgeous majestic sunrise.
The persistent, melodious rains do not clash with the rainbow’s splendor.
Nor the dreamy perfumed clouds race with the joyful, pleasant winds.
Beautiful things happen in the right perfect time.

-Revisiting Desiderata

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." - Ecclesiastes 3:1

#seasons #patience #time

Apr 2020

Eloisa

Grief in Pink

Longer sleepless evenings
Humid, dark, and bleak
Serene and sorrowful homes
Blossoming sakura trees weep
With heavyhearted lonely buds
Spring, unforgettable saddest spring
Trees not lovelier and so are fields
Nor the day more delightful than the evening
These unhappy blooms in pink
Signal a different kind of grief

Sakura (cherry blossoms) are constantly cited as the most recognizable sign of spring in Japan. When trees all over the country burst into breathtakingly beautiful clusters of pink flowers right about the time it gets warm enough, people yearly go outside to enjoy. Blooming of the sakura is a beautiful gift from mother nature, hanami (sakura viewing) is done by many people in spring. But due to COVID-19 pandemic, parks right now are being closed to avoid more transmission of SARSCoV2.

#sakura #grief #melancholy #saddest #spring #lonely

Mark Toney Apr 2020

fruit of our labor

tiny fragile bud
clean prune cultivate nurture—
precious child blossoms

© 2020 by Mark Toney. All rights reserved.

#haiku #fruit #bud #labor #clean #prune #cultivate #nurture #children #blossom

Mark Toney Apr 2020

Wisdom's Heart

Are you desperate to be right all of the time?
How much better at day's end to be found kind!

© 2020 by Mark Toney. All rights reserved.

"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." ~Mark Twain

#couplet #alwaysright #kindness #marktwain #wisdom #heart

Mark Toney Apr 2020

en espera

#monoku #time #present #frozen #stuck #onhold

Mark Toney Apr 2020

Beleaguered Brussels Broker

.    .    .  Bonjour,
              Banque de
              Bruxelles...

Bonjour,
beautiful
Betty!

               Benjamin
               Baker!

Barry
back?

               Barry's
               back—
               Bye!

Bye,
Betty!

                              Bonjour,
                              Ben!

Barry
Beauchamp—
Brussels'
best
broker!

                              (Barry
                               blushing)
                              Benjamin
                              Baker—
                              Boston's
                              best
                              businessman!

Brokerage
balanced,
Barry?

                              Been
                              better ...

Been
better?
Bad?!

                              Below
                              benchmark :-(

Bygones
be
Bygones ...

Bullish
bearing,
Barry?

                              Best
                              be
                              bullish,
                              Ben!

Better
be
bullish,
Barry!
Brokerage
best
buy?

                              Best
                              buy?
                              Bonds!

Best
buy
bonds?!
"Be
bullish"
Barry?

                              Brighthouse
                              baby
                              bonds!


Brighthouse
baby
bonds?

                              BHFAL—
                              Balanced,
                              beneficial
                              buy.

Baby
bonds
bad
bet,
Barry.
Best
bullish
buy?

                              Bitcoin!

Bitcoin
bites,
Barry!
Bloomberg
broadcasted
Bitcoin's
bubble
bursting.
Best
bullish
buy,
BARRY??

                              Bullion
                              bars?
                              British
                              Britannia?

"Be
bullish,"
Barry!!
BEST
BULLISH
BUY??

                              BlackRock,
                              Buffett's
                              Berkshire—
                              Better
                              believe,
                              both
                              bullish
                              buys!

Bingo!
BlackRock,
Berkshire—
Buy
both!
BOOYAH!!

                              Bought!

Better
be
bullish,
Barry!
Bye!

                              Bientôt,
                              Ben!

© 2020 by Mark Toney. All rights reserved.

4/18/2020 - Poetry form: Alliteration - © 2020 by Mark Toney. This is the 6th poem in my Alliterative Alphabet Series. Each poem describes conversations between two or more people while only using words that start with the first letter of the title of the poem. I’m publishing the poems as I write them on Wattpad.com, not necessarily in alphabetical order. My goal is to write at least 26 poems to cover each letter of the alphabet. I hope you find the concept interesting, maybe even clever. Most of all I hope you enjoy them :) - © 2020 by Mark Toney. All rights reserved.

#alliteration #brussels #broker #bonds #bullion #bitcoin #blackrock #berkshirehathaway #warrenbuffett