#dinnertime
When I was coming up
momma and daddy both said
"Finish your plate, son. Eat the rest!"
More often than not there'd be something
I didn't like, or didn't like enough
and momma or daddy one would say
"Finish your plate. Eat the rest!"
I'd eat a little more, ask to be excused,
momma or daddy would see my remnants
"Eat the rest, child! Eat the rest!"
I'd eat a bit more. "May I be excused?"
"Listen to me, son, you best eat the rest!"
So I'd sit there, pitiful like, and eat the rest.
Reflecting on this, I am keenly aware
proponents on both sides argue 'beware'
Forcing a child to always finish their plate
can lead to obesity's worrisome fate
But letting them stop whenever they want
selfishly teaches life's lessons to flaunt
It doesn't matter which side you're on
I'll agree with you so let's move on
There's a deeper darker side to this
that I need to mention lest I be remiss
After year's of being told to eat the rest
is it possible I actually consumed "my rest"?
The rest I seek when I try to take a nap
The rest I pursue when I wear my CPAP
The rest that eludes me at work or at play
The question my wife asks me every day:
"Honey, were you able to get any rest?"
No, dear. When I was a kid, I was forced to
finish my plate and eat the rest, so there's
none to be found. I done ate it all.
© 2020 by Mark Toney. All rights reserved.
Aug 4, 2020
Aug 4, 2020 at 10:57 PM UTC
There! Right there in the middle!
You see it? 102.91!
Goodbye starless nights,
Goodbye rainy days
I’m setting off to Rhodes
-an Island full of grace
Breath-in the sunlight,
See a windmill blowing
through the sea
The shore is out of sight,
The sun goes down
-it’s my turn now
Sings preciously the night
Symi! Hidden place of
secret gardens-
Breakfast by the sea,
A kiss of time
A fool, laughing on a tree
Will I ever reach that bee?
Or shall I sit and listen
In my tower
Laughing on my olive tree...
Symi! Will it ever get so close?
See a saw and drink a drink
seek a bee and find a templar
town, Fascio di combattimento
cause....
Rhodes! Morning starts with
croissant
Afternoon continues-
musique d'ameublement
Rhodes! Island full of windy
nights
cloudless skies,
Sands and mystic sights
Desert rose,
A kiss of time
A fool ageing on a tree
Will I ever catch that bee?
Or shall I stay and listen
to the waves
never found my home,
the home of many fates
the sea.....
Nov 20, 2019
Nov 20, 2019 at 7:53 AM UTC
In the linoleum dungeon
Sparkling swiffer creature
Squirts the floor
Calls polyphemic odors
Opening
And the crazy stench of allspice
Biting lime and draconian breath
Burning the nostril coins
Copper shield bending the cilia
Oven mitts plastered with narcotic grease and decomposing meals
Of yesteryear
Unclear
She speaks between steaming inspirations
Hoo-huh
Exhale the fire
It's'a hotta pasta lasagna
As the helicopters flap their handy rotories
Fast fractal birds
In circumfereferential motion
Cool down our mouths
Ice cubes in the juice
Plop a shot of gin
With that silly child's grin
And the room slowly cants
Begins to spin
As we laugh at the spots we cannot
Pin
Staring at the stellar mountain chains
Thrusted stone
Busted metal
Stabbing up into the sky
Competition
Where is the home beyond the horizon
Where we ate good meals
Not made alone
With parental guidance
As the days were stolen
By the erosive time
That spinning wheel
Well,
It's deep in us now
And the cells metastasized
Realized
That heaven is hell.
Aug 7, 2018
Aug 7, 2018 at 3:51 PM UTC
The sisters(nuns)
at the school
are not happy with you
Mary's father said
at dinnertime
at the table
what's she done now?
her mother said
Mary swallowed a mouthful
of stew
eyed her father
not happy with me?
she said
not at all
her father said sternly
his eyes focusing on her
like a bird of prey
I've done nothing
Mary said
don't be telling me
your lies and fables
her father said
or I'll put my hand
across your behind
her mother looked down
at her plate
and mouthed food
Mary toyed
with a fork of beef
they don't understand me
she said
when I've one
of my monthlies
my mind is off balance
and it disturbs my moods
her father's face tinged
a slight red
around his cheeks
her mother chewed
and looked
at the tablecloth pattern
of blue and white
Mary forked in
another mouthful of stew
they say you're
rude and insolent
he said
looking beyond her
at the picture
of the Sacred Heart
on the wall
above the fireplace
just trying
to get through
the **** bleeds
she said
makes me not happy
being stuck there
in the classroom
while my mind's on
a low dive and the mess
and my mind down
and them standing there
like penguins
peering at me
THAT'S ENOUGH
ABOUT THE NUNS
he said
his voice heavy
his hand tapping the table
palm down
the mother gazed at Mary
eyes fixed on her
wondering if the father'd
slap the girl's behind
Mary put on her
I'm-sorry-I'm-just-
a little-innocent-girl-gaze
I've been to confessions
and told the priest
and got absolution
so I have
she said
eyeing her father
he stared at her
sitting there
a 14 year old
with a mouth of a 18 year old
and entering that arena
of womanhood with
its weird month
and week thing
well mind your manners
and see your mother
about these week things
he said
the mother gazed at him
then at her daughter
and nodded
and ate again
he looked at his daughter
and was glad there
was only the one
and ate a mouthful
looking away
at the Christ's
pointing finger
at his Sacred Heart
Mary nodded and stared
at her plate
and mouthed
a fork of beef
sensing a danger pass
and a felt deep relief.
Feb 4, 2016
Feb 4, 2016 at 2:18 AM UTC