Shadows,
Depending on the reflection of light-
Sometimes small,
Sometimes oblong,
Sometimes get lost in the dark again.

Compassion,
Bridge among hearts-
Yet sometimes gets manipulated,
And most of the time, forgotten.

Corpus,
Is constantly running-
In the face of decay,
Fatigue, exhaustion, depression built on it.

Companion,
She is the incarnation of love-
But why gets lost,
In which subconscious?
Covered with an untouched wrap.

Covered by the night

I visit you secretly --


That is the rumour.

A colleague asked “Are you a Christian”?
Implying if I practice my religion every day?
What a topic, subtly graphic,
How to answer, what to say?

A moral trap to utter “Yes”,
‘Thou shalt not lie’ jumping instantly to mind,
Should I now smile, force him to guess
Not showing I’m so clearly in a bind?

If I say “No”, what will he think,
I'm not the man he'd hoped I'd be?
My brain a jumble, options sink,
My instinct quickly turn and flee.

At this point you may well ask
Whatever did you choose to do?
I swallowed hard, reviewed the task
Began to think the problem through.

Do I believe, yes in my way,
But maybe not according to ‘The Book’,
Other's held views never did sway,
Most caring little how they feel, just how they look.

With that all said I held his stare,
And uttered this one simple phrase:
There's but one God which we all share
With Him I’ll travel life’s strange maze.

A silken drop nectar refined,
Delicious, smooth, it’s taste sublime,
Worshipped and revered in times of old,
Bacchus it’s God, his hand-maidens bold.

The Romans swilled, the Greeks imbibed,
The British drank, the French prescribed.
The Church just called it Christ’s own blood,
Believers flowed as if by flood.

This luscious liquid as fine as honey,
The fountain not of youth but merely money,
Small price to pay for so much fun,
When it can turn a dowdy day to sun.

Clinking glasses moments shared,
The more imbibed the more is bared,
Food important or so they claim,
When as a smokescreen its main aim.

All that said let me be clear
There’s a reason we choose wine not beer,
Wine is healthy, helps the heart,
Beer is fattening and so ****.

Welcome to society,
We hope you enjoy your stay.
And please feel free to be yourself,
As long as it's in the right way.
Make sure you love your body,
Not too much or we'll tear you down.
We'll bully you for smiling.
And then wonder why you frown.
We'll tell you that you're worthless,
That you shouldn't make a sound.
And then cry with all the others,
As you're buried in the ground.
You can fall in love with anyone,
As long as it's who we choose.
And we'll let you have your opinions,
But please shape them to our views.
Welcome to society,
We promise that we wont deceive.
And one more rule now that you're here,
There's no way you can leave.

The guard silently standing at the front door
As if someone there incorporeal.

Who makes the arrival and the departure
He keeps an eye on everything and everyone.

Dedicated to the protection of the master
Fully attentive with everything of the heart.

Respect and devotion remain in the privacy of the mind
Not addicted to anything else.

Meanwhile, his own housewife is alone at home
She suffers from loneliness.

This is how his routine life goes on
Engaged in the care of others till the end of his life.

You may well ask where am I,
Am I engaged or fully checked out,
Take a seat, happy to clarify,
Placate your mind, dispel any doubt.

I'm Biding my time and that's not a joke,
Giving the old guy time to implode,
He's senile and tired, befuddled and woke,
Any wires remaining will for sure  overload.

The Border is crumbling, COVID runs wild,
Afghanistan gone, China supreme,
Kamala in hiding, lost and beguiled,
Progressives now surging their wishlist extreme.

Nancy grandstanding, Chuck babbling loud,
Cuomo shot down, who would have known,
Just goes to show it's good to be proud,
If your cover is solid and not wholly blown.

I'm mulling and watching disasters untold,
Inflation unbridled, crime running wild,
The Media's support from lukewarm to cold,
Uncle Joe's moods ever more riled.

Well may you ask why I seldom now speak.
The answer is simple and easy to grasp,
Time is my friend as you see week by week,
And eventually bites like a poisonous Asp.

Here raises the curtain
Sitting there the Emperor, Queen and Princess,
Friends-foes, slave, slave-maid
All engaged in self-acting,
busy-all;

Successful with the perfect performance.
Someone gives a loud dialogue-
Someone sings in a melodious tune-
Someone dances or serves in an irritating manner,
Bravo! Bravo!!

Applause erupted around the stage-
Thrilling atmosphere arouses around,
In the loudness of the drum,
sometimes the dialogues do not reach the eardrums
Yet the play continues,
Time passes happily, merrily;

Suddenly noticed!
There! There is the conscience!
In the remote corner of the crowded stage;

Somehow leaning on one foot, dejected-
The role he played was-
Not being performed perfectly
And without everyone's knowledge,
He always left behind the public eye!

I.
Fireman, censor of literature and destroyer of knowledge, with his mighty flamethrower. He loves his work. He loves trouble and strife. He loves fascination with the people next door. Mostly, he loves his hammock. But sleep will be his final unrest.

II.
A gift for the darkness: reading from the forbidden kept hidden in the air-conditioning duct. The walls within turn on and off like Cora Pearl. His wife listens to far winds and whispers and soap-opera cries, sleep-walking, helped up and down curbs by a husband who might just as well not have been there. They walk on as an extinguished connection. In the flickering of his eyeballs, he dreams of driving recklessly to Dover Beach and drowning her.

III.
Burning bright. He is burning so brightly. In the factory of mirrors, he takes a hard look. He's a flammable book. And it's a pleasure to burn. "What are you doing?" She asks. "Putting one foot in front of another." He answers.