I ordered a blazing Bordellino and mescal
what's that you say, why it's an alcoholic drink made with the
fruit of a wild tree, typically flavored with orange peel

I was sat next to a Pilator
that's a person who guides someone or something
this guy was the father figure of political science
it's not the same as a mentor, no
his name was Mitchell, and Mitchell was his name

His wife was an Amarrat
in case you are not aware, that's a
woman who is an Honorary Dame, ranked above a
Privy Council or Baroness
Martha was her name, and her name was Martha

I must admit they both had
something of the Snarper about them
Pilators and Amarrats tend toward the snobbish

While sipping our Bordellinos we were offered
some Compugns which, I'm sure you know, are
small edible drums with antennae
found in tropical and subtropical regions

This alarming snack was followed by a
hearty slab of Terraea, the Argentine cheese
which derives from dried sambalaya

Mitchell and Martha, their mouths masticating the Terraea,
confided in me that they were Paulpaul quartees.
That was their Snarperish way of confessing
they had a keen interest in wine

They longed to impart all they knew
as part of their Praecological - 'it's more
than merely educational' - mission. Indeed they
insisted on being known as world class
Praecologicalists, even when they
were cross-eyed on Bordellinos and frothing with Terraea

I have logolepsy
I love learning about
all these new words
expanding my vocabulary
tenacious
quiddity
eclectic
capricious
psithurism

I feel like an antiquity
some relic from the past

crumbling at the edges
eroded over time

aging has arrived
There are fissures in my proud steel plated armor

once invincible
reality is bringing with it a heavy blow

it creeps upon you
like a stealth thief in the night

now you berate yourself
for being caught unaware

new words slip into your vocabulary
things like “possible stroke”

a litany of tests are conducted
let’s begin with a blood test

maybe a ***** sample
we can schedule an MRI

is this a heart attack
there is a CAT or CT scan as it is known

what about the C word, cancer
let’s do an ultrasound

ff that doesn’t find it there is always
an endoscopy or colonoscopy complete with biopsy

the realization that life’s destiny is prevailing
is the end nigh

the relic you have become
looking at you in the mirror of life

Andreas Simic©

They speak to the madman,
Suppression, subversion, detraction,
A vocabulary of ‘less than’.

They speak to the madman,
To the loveless and the wounded,
The self-doubting ego.

They speak to the madman,
A consort of shadows,
Recurrent with paradox.

Until...uncertain as to the integrity of my own thoughts,
Understudied by self-censure and distrust,
I pause to listen in silence to the silence which listens back.

Writing a chapter full on mystery,
with a few needed twists and turns,
like a fresh rose out of many thorns,
it is my own self that I need to lock horns.

Describing you in detail,
to walk through your life trail,
doesn’t matter if my love for you was frail,
all I need to do is set sail.

Wish I had your vocabulary,
I know my wisdom about you is temporary,
I love to make it our new dictionary,
for when you search for me,
you will always find me even if I was imaginary.

I don't write them anymore
I say I've lost my words
But in truth, they never left
Bubbling under the surface of my lips
Like sweet blisters of hope, confusion and rancor
I am really [only] a living dictionary
My thoughts like a river
My mouth like a hose
But you always say stop.
So they just sit, drying up
While I breathe through my nose.