soprano winds leveling hungry gardens
evening violins laid to rest with strange pats
loud dragnets like a pouring rain in blinding twilights
children stoic under their parents' quixotic calmings
lampshades of suspicious parchment fostering incredulous laughs
evidence soon mounting against disbelief
ledgers bearing only numbers kept in wide official pockets
clouds evoking train cars passing high above beget whispers
of what can't be
IS

Germany 1938

Charlie's hat
Do you know where it's at?

Where did it go?

Is it bobbing in the middle of the ocean
in limbo?
Or smashed down on the curls
of a naughty *****?

Some people say a greedy Joe
bought it at auction.
Others say it must be in a museum somewhere-
common fate for a relic of silent film fare.

Charlie's hat
Where did it go?
Do you know where it's at?

Why where it's always been at!
On the top of his head
and will sit there eternally, at that,
along with his winsome walk
and heartfelt smile!

So for all those feeling low and blue
beckon him to doff it at you
for a great laugh or two ...
or three...
or four...
or more!

i abide a lover without arms
in your long shadow reaching
though not for me
nor at the goat of my desire
tethered at my feet by fraying rope

i can hear your errant kisses
proffered in others' open doorways
know the cruel stealth of your escape
pinning my eyes
to your back never turning
in retreat
or your face
gifting a moment's qualm

eyes closed
half asleep
i hear a bird's flight
etching notes of color
across my mind

bright twill--SHOCKING PINK

earnest soaring cry--DEEP YELLOW

fast stroke upward--CRIMSON BLUE

soft tremolo--ZIG ZAG LINES FAST DISAPPEARING


bird has vanished

i awaken

       clutching a Chagallian rainbow

We have all needed
in our lives
a rubber duck
of bathetic deliverance.

A blazing hearth
Food and guests at table

Two shy lovers standing
Off in a corner

The slanting amber light
Upon his hand at her cheek

The imminent caress you'll abduct
To abate your chill

dreaded winds clomped along the forbidden tunnel
as blackbirds scurried back into their pies
and tony gates kept opening and closing at the far end
softly, like the ******'s breath of sighs
down her first time to
greet the punctured enclosure
bleeding crimson robes
against all restitution

eyes following hypnotically
each cigarette
one after the other
new ones quickly lit from embers of the last
motions endlessly repetitive
tantalizing dog into a
trance-like state
object to object
dragging him along
hooked on the girl's wieldy chain

beyond the beyond it flew
the weightless ball  flew right then
beyond the beyond

fingers splay as if for breath
poke the other palm to
knock forth meaning
clench on fine voltage of a line
or spread wide on vexing question
then close expressively on the answer
as if locking in some cryptic metaphor
to weigh the FEEL of things

Whistling away on a morning in May
He lets the kids feed his parrot, Rainbow
Who perched on his shoulder, calls "Yo! Good-Day!"
Drawing a crowd of coin droppers to the quaint show.

Depression? Rainbow helps him attack it.
And ole Bing , great whistler, to inspire him.
From what sad depths pour this sweet sweet racket?
As lips pursed in rhythm drown voices grim!

Melodrama is when you are allowed to laugh at tragedy.

I believe all animals have a human component to themselves. Hence they can be rightly called human animals or human beings. Let us urge science to look further into this hidden phenomenon.

The world is their toy...
And they haven't been brainwashed...

Next time you see one, get in strut!

three curious women stare at  themselves in a rain puddle mirror
i'm beauty--the first one says
you ugly!--the second one says
suddenly the sky tears loose with a bombardment of sharp hail smashing the womens reflections to smithereens
i swear Jerry hit me harder ALL DAY LONG!--the third woman says

She told me she was a ******.
I believed she was a ******.
But there was no way to tell.
She lived seven thousand miles away, this exotic belle.
We exchanged hundreds of letters.
We exchanged hundreds of photos.
Too late I found it all a lie.
She was married to some other guy.
She had played the card of ***** to my Simple Simon.
Got a free college education and
all of my money with her many a "I love you Robert, honey."
While I sat at home with an eager smile
sure I was gonna pop her cherry one day
in true love's most impassioned style.

a seashore sight of
rapt delight is when you think
you spot a mermaid
pretty and slinky with smiles
lounging there in lapping tides

His life was all about keeping the beat
Tickling the ivories slowly sweet or fleet
Slightly falsetto husky voice caressing each word
Eyes giving that sidelong peep
He drew big crowds
Common people and the elite
And when some Dolly landed in his lap
No music was ever so complete

on back of my hand
a ladybug takes the stage
and models spring brights

omnipresence of
the present presents itself
emptying, filling

Menopausal women gather under the tall elms
in a green sward of cooling breezes
Nearby the rushing river is so a-tonally melodic now
As they forgive their ignorances, their mistakes
Their dilatory dreams, their half-steps that backlashed

Their quenchless unseen fire now
the consoling measure of their days
of their secret songs
knowing for those who need,
nothing dies

To draw a comical square, simply refrain from closing one side, leaving the line open at a wide angle. Caption your drawing with the words "The Square as Comedian."

Sound of bacon frying.-------No, it's not raining.

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.

a mourning dove is
not a morning dove unless
heard in the morning

Another definition of sadomasochism is golf.

Metaphysically speaking, computers are straitjackets of the soul.

The only time I feel secure is when I'm away from my computer.

Is anything quite as peaceful in city life?
All that world of water and quick glimmers of fish.
Or gleefully finding pollywogs wiggling through the shallow waters along the concrete shore.
And if you listen carefully you can almost hear the sun singing.
Unpack your suitcase of dreams.
There's no one here to bother you. Time stands still
like the water lilies and the rose bushes serenely undisturbed...
while in the middle of the pond might be a statue of a cherubic angel
smiling down its happy blessings.

each one of us is
a masterpiece in life's flow
of closing circles

tribulation in mind
heart in glove
the wayward depot sways like an old Cinerama
she whispers something in his ear
a rushing train destroys his equilibrium
he can't hear a thing
he thinks she said love
he can't be sure
that word he so often mishears it seems in the brokerage of his desires
the truth climbs invisibly
like the ascending jet he hears above
he has to nod
she too
they part
first step a ladle of tears drops
the porter reaches out his hand, helps him up
the metronome of his wave at her through a nearby window
has failed to reach its object
he can't see her anywhere
as the hungry speed of the train gains
obliterating even the passing landscape's familiar slate

comedy
satyriasis
tragedy

Father Time will soon
ding another yearly chime
we shall call a crime

Now the seasons tease,
Mock predictions, yet still bode
Spring's eternal fire

Let us
seriously consider
bringing back
the horse
as a
means of transportation
in our cities.

Wouldn't you know it?
The know-show arrived
But didn't say anything new
For us to know.

It was like watching nakedness
that needed to be clothed.

The two most important questions to ask of anyone are: Are you hungry? Are you cold?

Going back to the horse and buggy days would be a giant step towards treating climate change as well as a cleansing of people's souls through deeper interaction with animals.

Light a Gauloise Bleu
Anytime anywhere and
Dream Paris so fair!

The famous French cigarette in the blue pak.