There once was a munchkin from Oz
Named Phineas Entwhistle Boz:
     The Lollipop Guild
     Had Phineas killed:
Their reason, they said, was becoz.

The world sleeps so still,  
peaceful in its ignorance  
screams fall like petals...

I didn’t mean
for it to end—
not like this,
not my best friend.

The anger came,
too fast, too loud.
Now I dig
and whisper proud.

We laughed that night,
like always did—
talked of dreams
and stupid kids.

But I held hurt
behind my grin—
a thousand cuts
he’d sliced within.

He didn’t know
how deep they went,
how words can bruise,
how time gets spent.

One glass too much,
a shove, a shout—
and all those ghosts
came pouring out.

I saw the fear
flash in his eyes,
too late to stop,
too late for "why’s."

"I’m sorry"
won’t bring him back.
But still,
I say it
to the cracks.

The ground is cold,
my hands are red.
And silence speaks
where he once said:

"You’re my brother,
through it all."
Now I just
recall the fall.

No court, no cell
can cage me in—
just memory,
and what has been.

Here I am in comatose
Damnedest man I did so boast
Paralyzed from fear I swore
Succumbing to eerie voices galore
Here they whisper, there they shout
Forgotten longings in endless bout
Obsidian spires do so climb
Monoliths rising to the ashen sky
Molten magma in a blazing doom
Had I one wish it would be for you
Blind and petrified I do become
Only to hear a chilling song
Come back to me so she says
Or you will be stuck in choicely dread
She says so true and warningly
But I could detect a wanton glee
Had I a voice I would so cry
Come save me darling my dear divine
I had not the eyes to see
Barren wastelands singing to me
Thuds and croons echo all around
Was it a corpse or am I nightmare bound
Ever so close they are I feel
So I thought to pray but my legs fear to kneel
Abandon all hope they scream and plea
Singing Devils wrath is waiting on me
When I see him I will hold true
And tell the Devil to take her too

Believe me officer,
I know the crows.

I know their black feathers,
Their call is cold,
It terrifies me.

I used to count them,
2 is safe,
3 is a warning,
4 is an omen,
5 is too late,
6 is a ******,
Six means death.

So what was I to do,
When I counted seven up in the roost?
I blew them back to hell,
No more counting,
No more omens.
Is killing those **** birds,
Really a crime?

Selena was a singer and she has been dead for three decades.
She was very talented and was murdered after being betrayed.
A former friend gunned Selena down.
She died and is buried in the ground.
The killer worked for Selena and she decided to steal.
After that lady was fired for theft, she decided to ****.
That terrible woman deserved to lose her job.
Selena didn't deserve to die or to be robbed.
It's sad to know that Selena is gone forever.
If you're wondering when she'll be forgotten, the answer is never.

an assembly bill would if not already being a crime stop civil rights violations, the privacy of identity is being violated in war crime language.  goodest morrow.

(A lone voice whispers)

If only they, today, embrace this whole poem

Just like the Seal once broken long ago in Golgotha

We all have a way home if we realize as a society

That old control is over, and we all have the chance to follow the old words

Once given to Noah

And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.

Whoever sheds human blood,

    by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made mankind.

(C) Copyright John Duffy