A plumber pointing a flashlight, dragging his legs and feet underneath a sink while huffing and puffing,  is not a choo-choo train.

a pebble here a
pebble there knowing nothing
immune to nothing

She lived in one country
I in another, hanging on each
word of "love" she'd utter--
words wrapped in a money request
to be sent at her dire behest!

I gave and gave till I felt like a slave
yet kept on going,
a blind man
ignorant in his towing.

Days turned into years
and years into more years
but I stood hopeful
they were merely stairs
leading to our betrothal.

Oh, how her photos teased and pleased
with a future bride's ecstatic smile
while all along
she was marching down
a different aisle!

Now I'm left with just a sackful of letters and photos
her whereabouts unknown
and my big dream of love
another bittersweet memory for me to own.

There is no hope and
she escaped without shame
Still I ask myself

Who is to blame?

rain flails the far hills
cat cleans in a pool of sun
drums pound corner skies

red roses in mud
pink sky dripping falling stars
sparrow shakes a worm

Former Presidential Candidate   Adlai E. Stevenson II (Democrat--circa 1950s) was spotted reincarnated as a young trappist  Buddhist monk in a monastery in Saint Croix, U.S. ****** Islands. In the early evening hours he can be seen enjoying himself swinging in a hammock in the monastery's garden while making 12-mile inhalations on a marijuana cigarette and meditating on the possible dire encumbrances due the 2016 election year, though the balmy tinctured breezes thick with naughty **** often dissipate such fustian concentrations.

Nixon was spotted riding his bicycle
through sunny San Clemente, California
rehearsing his acceptance speech
for the 2016 presidential election.
Checkers had her paws clamped around
Nixon's neck, holding on for dear life.