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Sep 24 · 173
Nature's Light
David R Sep 24
turning eyes within the self
dark black foreboding
but earth below, with pixie elf,
the frog, the slug, the toad-ring ...
nature helps to lift one's mood
to strive to break the mould,
nectariferous is G-d's sweet food -
There's light when all is told.
Dec 2022 · 616
My dear compadre
David R Dec 2022
My dear compadre,
We've been through it all,
The trials and tribulations,
Laughter and tears.

You are my brother,
My ally and friend,
The one I can turn to
When the road seems to bend.

Our bond's unbreakable,
Our friendship like no other,
Ever grateful for you,
My dear compadre.

Through thick and thin,
Stood side by side,
Friendship's a beacon
In e'er-changing tide.

Honored to know you,
To call you my own,
My dear compadre,
Never alone.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#compadre

This was mainly written by AI
Nov 2022 · 1.1k
The Farcical Monks of Thai
David R Nov 2022
there was an old temple of Thai
whose monks just wanted to get high
so they got hooked on meths
but were exposed through their breaths
so they all bid their temple good-bye

now off they all went to rehab
to cure them of the sniff and the jab
but their bright robes and habit
of the monks and their abbot
made the inmates think they'd gone mad

"we're seeing orange" they said to the quack,
who put down his bottle of Jack,
said he, rather tight,
"i think you are right,
but the bottle is better than crack".
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#farce
https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqNggKIjBDQklTSGpvSmMzUnZjbmt0TXpZd1NoRUtEd2lVNElpZkJoRWFGa1haaGJscWRDZ0FQAQ?hl=en-GB&gl=GB&ceid=GB%3Aen
Nov 2022 · 184
At the Cenotaph
David R Nov 2022
ribbons 'n posies, royal salute,
guns and canons in chorus shoot

poppies to adorn the sleeping dead
o'er rocks 'n pebbles and bullets of lead

blood splashes on chalk-white stones
dusty granite and weary bones

death and silence drown the cries
no-one hears as soldier dies

plastic posies, nugatory salute,
together, forever, canons shoot
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#nugatory
Nov 2022 · 187
Yesterday
David R Nov 2022
i remember a more tranquil world,
of grassy hummocks and neat tamed lawns,
lazy clouds and flags unfurled,
upright backs 'midst hard-earned yawns

i remember a more tranquil beat
people cared how others fared
there was laughter in the street
there was joy as bread was shared

i remember a world relaxed
uncreased brows, a world untaxed,
tuppence bought a pint of beer
camaraderie and heart-felt cheer

in the bustle at the airports,
in the stations underground,
queuing, handing tickets, passports,
there were humans all around,

somehow feelings were more simple,
******, purer and untouched,
like the soft skin of a dimple
of the smile i miss so much.

yes, i remember a world serene
people cared how others fared,
there were smiles to be seen,
but now that scene has gone and been.

is my memory playing tricks
a child's impression of Lego bricks?
was the world a different place
or was it always a big rat-race?

or perhaps today there's still grace
behind the neons and plastic face,
scratch away the false surface
morals 'n manners will surface.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#hummock
Nov 2022 · 194
Clock ticking
David R Nov 2022
once i was alive
my heart had a beat
i felt my emotions,
i felt cold and heat

i heard the music in the ocean wave
the angels singing in the grass enclave
the mountains strumming with careless abandon
the honey-bees humming with the blooms in tandem

but now my heart is still like a stone,
eyes vacant like effigy, flesh turned to bone,
my ears are deaf, they hear no music,
save constant reminder from clock with death's tick.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#abandon
Oct 2022 · 200
Black magic
David R Oct 2022
give me water, give me fire,
let me scribe with blood my ire
emblazon vellum with his name
blot it out, end his game

languid, lazy, sunny summers,
blackened by the bombinating
darts of death from droning drummers,
breath of babies desecrating,

permeating peculiar fragrance
hypnotised by his own cadence
 avuncular charm to the rabble
made himself a Tower of Babel

as he faces interlocutor
forked tongue slithering with sick ease
he the notorious persecutor
refusing onus of war-freeze

proffering peace with guileful lips
whilst he plans apocalypse
ignore the innocent, defile the dying,
hell created through his lying

O give me fire, give me water,
let me scribe with blood his slaughter
let me scrub out cursed name
blot it out and end his game
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#emblazon bombinating peculiar cadence avuncular rabble interlocutor notorious onus proffer defile languid
Oct 2022 · 102
Dust and Ashes
David R Oct 2022
canvas black, as black can be,
he tries to make it blacker,
like wolf skilled in lycanthropy
like corpses for hijacker

not enough of world starvation
too few souls in deprivation
not enough pain and hurt and hunger
the world it needs a new war-monger

the evil itself will self-consume
but first consumes the others
but 'til the sun its shine resumes
he'll **** off his own brothers

so huddle close humanity
take shelter while you can
and watch as lurid insanity
turns world to dust 'n pan
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#lycanthropy
Oct 2022 · 119
Mushrooms
David R Oct 2022
we heard the rumbling from afar,
smudge of darkness, smell of war,
and then the torrents burst from cloud
bullet-hail on the crowd

'twas too late to seek a shelter
from bombs that rained like helter-skelter
too late for kids who huddled cowed
donned too early their sallow shrouds

then the tyrant spoke out aloud
spoke destruction with fist avowed
no-one saw beneath brow proud
the madman saw a mushroom-cloud

no-one heard, no-one thought,
though air tingled with danger fraught
"he's not serious," "it'll come to naught",
now no-one's left to tell you aught.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#sallow
David R Oct 2022
i saw the willow's dripping branches
crying into the blue-black deep
its golden-yellow avalanches
falling where the monsters sleep

locks of green and silky hair
turn auburn as the dusky sky
brown and russet as the air
moist like blood b'neath battle-cry

i looked into the inky waters,
stirred them with my phantom foot,
still, dark carrion, freshly slaughtered,
murky, raven, black like soot.

all around the laughter echoes
in the places of the void
once i saw a bright green meadow,
once i saw a world destroyed.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#extirpate
Oct 2022 · 102
The Necrosis of Utopia
David R Oct 2022
every day the death-toll rises
every day catastrophes
every day no more surprises
just more new ... calamities

wading through the corpses dead
as they fade on news front-spread
swift they fade from memory
as swift arrives new treachery

no more tears
no more sighs
ears are numb
to mounting dies

rolling, rolling, empty space
lost all sense of human grace
passed all points irrevocable
world awaits the inevitable
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#Utopia
Oct 2022 · 94
WAR
David R Oct 2022
WAR
sensuous tentacles tug
"don't be a mug"
whispers forgotten voices
drowned in oppressive vices
waters that suffocate,
defile and soil
living soul
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#defile
Oct 2022 · 136
They said he'd stop
David R Oct 2022
They said he'd stop his lying,
they'd be wary of his deceit,
no longer would he'd be flying
by his party's pants' plush seat.

no more would he transmogrify
the figures and dry fact,
no more the wink and smile sly
buffoon and circus act

he'd abide by their critique
while changing his technique,
his approach would be bespoke,
never again his promises broke

so they'd have you all believe
their gargantuan claims
lips honeyed 'n cloying thieve
as his lackeys play his game

Does a leopard change his spots?
Or a dalmatian his black dots?
Have you ever seen pigs fly?
Is the moon a custard pie?

Does Winter follow Spring?
Can the tone-deaf learn to sing?
Can one run before one walks?
Ask a question before one talks?

Does the sun shine at night
Or the moon midst bright sunlight?
Can we move back in time?
Ascend Everest without a climb?

With some, deceit is nature,
their hyperbole and big talk,
in their spiel o' legislature,
in their manner and their walk

and as they breathe their last in dying,
as they writhe and grasp the nebula,
they'll be holding firm to lying,
till stone[d] silent in their sepulchre.

And as they ride their spirit's back
still they'll be the same ol' hack,
till at last they will atone
the public's groan and broken bone.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#atone gargantuan cloying bespoke abide critique sepulchre spiel  hyperbole transmogrify
Sep 2022 · 118
The Wave
David R Sep 2022
Will e'er that wave be seen again,
royalty in the flesh,
duty coursing in blue blood vein,
eyes smiling, ever fresh?

did ever loyalty to a nation
better to its god coalesce
than in this woman of higher station,
impeccable manners and dress?

through constant batter from the press
through broadside and invective
never ever gave in to stress
never lost perspective

never bent before harasses
laconic maligning from guys 'n lasses
unkind comments from the masses
as they peered through vergrößern glasses

flagship to her people
a tower and a steeple
stood ramrod straight as maypole
shining love rays from a sun-soul

now the fluttering flag's at half-mast
as she's lowered into ground
as the thousands rally past
as her son is newly crowned

exponent of her christian faith,
substantive, positive hope
now pure essence, elusive wraith,
gone in swift elope

Never again will we see that wave,
so true and fast and pure.
for duty now waves from the grave
on stone for e'ermore.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#coalesce broadside invective laconic exponent substantive
Sep 2022 · 1.5k
Her Smile
David R Sep 2022
the nation's pride in graceful wave
delivered 'fore the thousands
the millions as they roared 'n raved
in worship smiles that roused them

from those ever graceful lips
kissed by Jove 'n Venus
that spoke the majesty of queenship
of love above sweet Eros

the smile that shone out from her eyes
with sincerity none could hide
of interest and intelligence wise
up welled from deep inside

no mawkish sentimentality
nor false, nor common rot,
her smile bespoke reality
a truth that G-d begot

Fare thee well, O gracious Queen,
never from nation forgot,
Farewell in flight to Heaven's Sheen,
To bind Celestial Knot
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#mawkish
our esteemed Queen Elizabeth II my she rest in Peace
David R Sep 2022
Evening will come, however determined the late afternoon,
Limes and oaks in their last green flush, pearled in September mist.
I have conjured a lily to light these hours, a token of thanks,
Zones and auras of soft glare framing the brilliant globes.
A promise made and kept for life - that was your gift -
Because of which, here is a gift in return, glovewort to some,
Each shining bonnet guarded by stern lance-like leaves.
The country loaded its whole self into your slender hands,
Hands that can rest, now, relieved of a century's weight.

Evening has come. Rain on the black lochs and dark Munros.
Lily of the Valley, a namesake almost, a favourite flower
Interlaced with your famous bouquets, the restrained
Zeal and forceful grace of its lanterns, each inflorescence
A silent bell disguising a singular voice. A blurred new day
Breaks uncrowned on remote peaks and public parks, and
Everything turns on these luminous petals and deep roots,
This lily that thrives between spire and tree, whose brightness
Holds and glows beyond the life and border of its bloom.
by Simon Armitage, Poet Laureate, on occasion of the expiration of our esteemed Queen Elizabeth II
Sep 2022 · 85
Too Late
David R Sep 2022
we've reached the very lowest point
it can't get any worse
so said the pundits in one voice
as if reciting verse

in unison they'd decried
the state of current affairs
now in hindsight admit they'd lied
but nobody anymore cares

for down the slide of despair
falls humanity all together,
panting polluted, poisoned air,
corruption of the weather

each step seemed the worst
but the dam had not yet burst
now the world is d* accursed
too late to press reverse

common man is powerless
to change our history's course
in face of political cowardice
and greed and avarice

blind to truth, blind to nature,
elected idiots of legislature,
titivate daily 'fore [or for] the mirror
deaf to all but their own ear

too late we've realised it's up to us
can't rely on the tin-gods
Not Boris Johnson nor Lizzy Truss
nor all the other despots

it can't get any worse
said the pundits in one voice
then they pushed Lizzy Truss
said, "you've got no choice"

is it any wonder
we've yielded to despair
time to buckle-under
close eyes and stop to care
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#titivate
Sep 2022 · 117
Integrity waves good-bye
David R Sep 2022
yesterday i saw a guy
looked all human too,
facsimile of you and I,
had learnt a thing or two

but his soul had gone away
left him rotting through
outside, sure, he looked okay
inside was askew

for morality had doffed its hat
waived to him at gate
now for years his heart closed shut
his god obliterate

and as the massive star collapsed
creating blackest void
the evil grew and grew and waxed
till ethics all destroyed

i saw a guy yesterday
not at all like you
typical of the modern sway
unbridled lust worldview

now the centre of society
is all-******* hole
it laughs loud at plain propriety,
it's ******* in the whole

gone the love for modest dress
all respect for chastity
all eyes are on the tv press
creating their own gravity

"we want new, we're educated,
chuck all ethics down the spout,
we'll see ourselves vindicated
as the truth will out"

the guy i saw yesterday
he looked like you or me
but today the rot and decay
are all that's left to see
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#facsimile obliterate
Sep 2022 · 174
Silent Light
David R Sep 2022
there is a place where Love sings
without being heard
where Love rises and Love falls
like the wings of a bird

it's a place of silent whisper
talks without a voice
a place where G-d and sister
for eternity rejoice

a place that laps
like the sea o'er land
a place that claps
with a single hand

but surrounding that space is tumultuous wind,
blows hither and thither, in voice that you sinned,
knocks against hard, unyielding earth
empty words echo 'gainst raging mirth

but with constant commitment we'll crack the hard shell
conciliate G-d's sister to the outer brass bell
then, sweetest music, together, will tell,
as angels bend ear to the light in soft knell
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#conciliate
David R Sep 2022
this morn full-stop appeared to me
(bowed low with great panache,
twinkled his eyes innocently
and twirled his neat moustache

and then loud he spoke up pertly,)
"one day", said he, "we'll meet",
"'not on your nelly'", said i, curtly,
and crushed him with my feet

he slid out as a comma does
and said, "okay, you win,
just don't make too much of a fuss
when i take you for a spin,

for now as comma, you surely know,
i cannot put an end,
your life will everlasting go,
and i, your humble friend,

will help you in eternal flow
will help you to ascend,
just slip out of your flesh torso,
and upwards we shall wend."
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#panache
Sep 2022 · 124
Kintsugi
David R Sep 2022
i've never mastered the art
found the gold for kintsugi
so the pieces of broken heart
remain; shattered for all to see,
but when i start
to pay attention
to broken heart
of G-d's ascension,
when i search,
piece by piece,
for His Light,
in place of cease,
when i walk,
stride by stride,
in trust assiduous
that He's by my side,
then i see no broken hearts.
For all is one. There are no parts.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#assiduous
Sep 2022 · 94
Scarred
David R Sep 2022
those kids' fingers had claws of steel
marked their mark and crept insidious
how heart longed it could not feel
now squeezed dry of crying piteous

now all panache as burnt-out ash
falls between bars of ferrous grate;
if only i could clear the cache,
begin again; wipe clean the slate
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#panache
Aug 2022 · 141
Tale of Immortality
David R Aug 2022
Knock, knock! - 'WHO'S THERE?!',
{I fairly shouted, I do declare,
but then I cowered back, quivering in my chair
all a-shiver like a shawl o' prayer,
for there arose outta thin air
sepulchral aura everywhere,
from eyes blood-red, demonic glare,
to sallow skin and pasty hair,
a curious charisma that bade 'beware!'}

ooh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare
{here bowed he low with flourish and flair}
I've been sending you messages all through the year,
all winks 'n hints that I'm to appear
,

{I'd have mustered strength then 'n there,
bellowed, "I adjure you, spirit of air,
be thee fiend, or phantom fair,
daytime vision or strange nightmare,
get thee hither to place elsewhere!", (- or "banish thee I to world nether!")
but dread demeanor 'n awesome stare
caught my tongue; I could not dare}

Come on, now, don't start to fret,
nothing's over - well, not quite yet!

{he masked a chuckle that gave me a turn,
then continued nonchalant with little concern}

hmm, you've been dilatory all your life,
i don't expect anything better now,
I've brought me tool, me carving-knife
,
brandishing grandiose blade before my brow

{then in undertone I could scarcely hear,
whispered grinning into my ear,}
don't take offense, don't take umbrage,
all it takes is the slightest scritch
!

'Wow, what a fine specimen, a work-of-art',
I said loudly, trying to sound smart,
'looks the epitome of a cutlass' blade.
Bet that can cut through man or shade!'

Why, of-course it can! in jaunty tone
death replied (with air of sensibility),
there's well nigh nowt that this can't own,
here held he it high for me to see

as off he went, waxing vociferous,
recounting tales o' strength so vigorous,
unending litany of victims passed,
until for breath paused he at last

well, the rest, say they, is history,
as i made rash grab for immutable edge
and, unabashed, lopped his belfry,
fell'd with one swoop, i do thee pledge!
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#sensibility, dilatory, brandish, epitome, jaunty, immutable, rash, vociferous, litany, sensibility, vociferous, unabashed, charisma, umbrage, grandiose, adjure, demeanor
Aug 2022 · 93
Free at last ...
David R Aug 2022
'keep it real', he'd said
so i plunged the knife in deep.
not surprising, I ended up dead,
while others around did weep

so ended my carceral life
as shard of former self,
ground by constant strife
to fleck of dust on shelf

they wept, they cried,
they wrung their hands,
('such a pity he died,
we don't understand')

they shook their heads,
they wiped their eyes,
they wound red threads,
they looked sky-wise,

as for me,
hey! I'm free...
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#carceral, shard
Aug 2022 · 173
The Buzzard
David R Aug 2022
paths of gold dappled bronze,
effulgence framed mauves 'n pink,
mirror sun-star in sky in yon
blue-purple drapes and silk.

swift the magpie and the swallow
dart in swoops of flame 'n fire
as overhead in shimmering halo
circles buzzard ever higher

o'er jardin of country-house
rich in greens and reds
as solitary darts a field-mouse
towards yon shrubbery beds

a bullet from a rifle
outta paradise
another life stifled
for buzzards love their mice
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#effulgence
Aug 2022 · 288
Daily Devolvement
David R Aug 2022
you wake up in the morn
full of vim and zest
plans and schedules born
before you're fully dressed

then to yer caffeine draughts
to blow the cobwebs away
scent of coffee wafts
as start of every day

and before you know it
all plans have flown away
off they go in orbit
as you're left adrift at bay
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#devolve
Aug 2022 · 133
Your Book
David R Aug 2022
don't be another clothes' hook
if you see injustice, fight it

you're given contemptuous look
don't abrogate. slight it!

life's an unwritten book
don't be lazy. write it!

lest a book full of blank pages
and you a victim to passion's rages
a lick of dust flicked through the ages
never with life truly engages
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#abrogate
Aug 2022 · 128
Melancholia
David R Aug 2022
Melancholia!
there's magic in the word
like 'male-genitalia',
each syllable unslurred

and the term itself
what images it conjures!
as a mischievous elf
intent on misadventures

with a black, sticky net
'gainst crimson sunset
with sad secrets scary
to capture the unwary

on his face a grin
as he bows to you low,
"howdy, please step right in"
and oblivious, you go.

and then you are caught
as he draws the string tight
as you struggle for naught
as the day becomes night

as all outside becomes blurred
all syllables slurred
everything of one colour,
a dark, deathlike pallor

and then there's the sinking
as you can't stop the thinking
like repetitive gramophone
with monotonous undertone
over and over
it draws you in further,

to no appetite
complete lack of enjoyment,
to no respite
through own self-employment

feeling culpable
for nothing at all,
feel unlovable
as you stare at blank wall.

Melancholia.
What a beautiful word.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#Melancholia
Aug 2022 · 93
Open Conversation
David R Aug 2022
almighty father, almighty king,
heavens and earth are your thing
but here's the thing
hear me King

your children have well and truly messed up

you can hazard a guess
the world's a mess

as to why
well, there's a tongue-tie
i mean where do i start
there aint no flowchart
well, not for this!

drought and fires are the norm
let's not forget cyclone and storm
the unrelenting hurricanes
monsoon floods and murderous rains

then you've got the violence
ok, there's always been that
aye, and the mass riots
but not the rat-a-tat-tat
weapons to wreak world destruction
smallest child needs no introduction
every day 'nother calamity
natural and man-induced
men and women have lost their sanity
world's evil's come in to roost

so do we need help or what?
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#wreak
Aug 2022 · 348
Slight glitch! Woops!
David R Aug 2022
When going on outing, hike or stroll,
for scenery or the sea
make sure you take an extra roll
in case of [woops!] emergency
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#glitch
Aug 2022 · 522
the apple
David R Aug 2022
beautifully posed
as dancer rare
as angel composed
was the apple in the air

of rose and of yellow
the aura on its cheek
of luster that was mellow
with self-centered pique

as it twirled a pirouette
whirled wheel-roulette
aware of self 'n none other,
unaware of tree mother

unaware of outspread
the tree's branches overhead
giving all it has to give
its roots that let our apple live

for the apple cannot see
for eyes it has but none
till the day it is set free
to renew cycle begun

then will it learn of hidden power
as from small grows highest tower
then will it know what it means to set free
its fruit to live their destiny

as each new apple breaks away
breaks yet another heartstring
as tree tries best to look away
as 'nother fruit takes wing
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#heartstring
Aug 2022 · 130
How?
David R Aug 2022
How do we stand
before the Almighty Being,
with outstretched hand,
or standing or kneeling?

How do we lift up our eyes
before the All-seeing?
Impossible, he sighs,
But it's eminently healing.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#eminently
Aug 2022 · 111
Us vs the Universe [II]
Aug 2022 · 107
Us vs the Universe [I]
Aug 2022 · 313
Sweet Velvet
David R Aug 2022
air whispers in the vacant places
"speak to me", I said,
"speak to me in your chases,
in your tiptoes as you tread."

I'm speaking, can't you hear
the golden letters in the air,
when the sky is lucid clear,
longing, waiting, for your prayer,


I'm the dance on quivering leaf,
I'm in silent, sweet motif,
I'm in soft, crepuscular light,
I'm the velvet of the night.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#crepuscular
Aug 2022 · 135
Overwhelm
David R Aug 2022
what need for gold
when sunshine pours
makes heaven's abode
on lush green moors
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#overwhelm
Aug 2022 · 141
the horror
David R Aug 2022
i looked into the future
and saw a broken race
hobbling bent as neuter['d]
longing for coup-de-grace,

the learned high academies
of philosophy 'n of culture
said hope caused neuroses,
disease as brackish water

it was crude 'n barbaric,
had no place in wisdom,
good for tribes o' primitive
understanding in closed system

and in the name of science,
they threw out all of faith,
'n in utter compliance,
themselves they did scathe

with faith and hope gone
was no point in bearing offspring:
"we need much less to spawn
for to stop populace exploding"

"and families are archaic,
smacking of Hebraic,
just loosen all the morals;
that'll lessen all the quarrels"

they said that a conscience
increased recidivism
that higher moral sense
was backward Darwinism

so generations arose
who had no sense or inkling
of a higher purpose
of divinity's twinkling

then i woke from the nightmare
and sighed big sigh of relief
it all was just a night-scare
all make-believe

it wasn't true
and never could be
people would ne'er eschew
faith, hope, and family
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#brackish recidivism
Aug 2022 · 183
Before the Internet
David R Aug 2022
if you can try
to cast your mind
to times gone by
left far behind

those days of yore,
aeons ago,
long before
men kneaded dough

before time begins,
before internet,
when man wore skins,
and a woman, corset,

those days when Luddites
meant English weavers,
'n churches were tight
with avid believers

when a Yankee still dreamt
his country was golden,
a queen, monarch meant,
if quaint and olden,

when people still dialled
to each other on phones,
implied lazybones [that idled]
when they carped on about drones,

when block was an obstacle
placed in a road,
canoe, pointed vehicle
by one paddler rowed

when catfish a marine creature
dwelling in sea
and cloud a sky-vapour
that veiled clarity

when tweet was sound chirped
oft by a bird
and old text was a script
inscribed on a sherd,

when RED was a colour,
as indeed was blue,
e'en then, my dear fella,
we still knew a thing or two.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#Luddite Yankee carp
Aug 2022 · 321
Orange Vengeance
David R Aug 2022
in dark side-street, neath midnight's cape,
in lurid glare that blurs all shape,
lurks young boy with mind all warped
from pain, from hurt, torment absorpt

as tiger of menagerie escape,
he prowls the roads, his senses 'wake,
seeks male prey to mentally ****,
to do to others as he'd been staked
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#menagerie
Aug 2022 · 79
the terror
David R Aug 2022
in the dark, dark chambers of underworld
where doctor holds scalpel o'er victim uncurl'd
where no-one sees save all-seeing eye
which sees unseeing through nebulous cry
there's a shout that goes out that No-One hears
shatters all worlds for wont of tears
craves a saviour when all's said and done
now sees vacant terror in a place there was none
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#nebulous
Aug 2022 · 159
Deceptive
David R Aug 2022
he roared like a lion
his face like a bear
as hunter Orion
his unkempt hair

but beneath the growl was tender soul,
beneath the howl, Divinity's whole,
underneath the scary mien
fingerprint of G-d unseen

Joe smiled genially, with handsome demeanour,
his shoes sparkled, his suit even cleaner,
his teeth were aligned as pearls on a string,
his voiced had a lilt, like a pleasant song-sing.

but 'neath the patina was villainous core,
beneath the gilt was a rotten *****,
underneath the suave face
hid a devil in disgrace

appearances deceive,
so heart seek below,
if true, you'll perceive
the real inner glow
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#patina
Aug 2022 · 187
Soul vs Sun
David R Aug 2022
i caught a ray of sunshine
and followed it up to source
up up along its golden line
and around its frolickin' course
i breathed its aura of divine,
of pregnant loving force,
then slithered back down the earth-bound vine
of texture rough and coarse

i smiled to my fellow man
and greeted him in kind,
in frown, in scowl, in face deadpan
i sought the soul refined,
and through that beam that human can
reflect from temple mind
i found legion suns more brilliant than
yon fire in groove assigned
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#frolic
Jul 2022 · 164
Fallen Fruit
David R Jul 2022
"i know him not, nor ever seen him
therefore he cannot be"
so speak those whose lights are dim
whose eyes are blind to see

the iconoclast proclaims unasked
"i find no key to fit this door"
thus in haste will ever-lambaste
the spirit with mentor

us accusing o' being credulous
naive and overtrusting,
yet our fruits, sedate and sedulous,
are fresh and ne'er rusting

from the humble acorn nut
as sure as sure can be
- if it's not 'fore its time down-cut -
will grow a grand oak-tree

a glorious case of G-d's topiary,
deciduous and fulsome,
you do not need a seer to be
to be prescient of the outcome

likewise from the thorny bramble,
in spirit of jingoism,
will from its forth another amble
with similar egotism!

the cantankerous mule will likely beget
a finicky, surly colt,
apropos of its type and sect,
'twill bound, jolt and bolt

the inscrutable sheep,
timid 'n meek,
chewing with jaw
grass 'n straw,
will not create
in natural state
a brouhaha
or furore state

we do not need to postulate
or debunk scientific theory
to know that female with its mate
breeds apposite fruit alveary

thus should you really want to know
the strength of parent belief
look to its fruit for they will show
through texture, taste and leaf

the nuanced truth of hope-filled faith
breathing pathos, empathy and feeling,
not like some new-age wraith
hooey vibes of reiki healing

compare that to the stuffy hall
of gown'd caps of PhDs
from their trees the fruit that fall
beget atheists, drugs, disease
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#credulous fulsome prescience jingoism postulate apposite cantankerous finicky apropos brouhaha iconoclast pathos nuance
Jul 2022 · 182
Ostentatious Waste
David R Jul 2022
Jealousy, lust, and honour pursuit
Remove mankind from the world,
The yen for more, the 'don't give a hoot'
About the waste that's hurled,
Resources used, as *******
Now weary and up-curled,
Sends man's soul down the chute,
As Man dies out from world.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#ostentatious

(Based on Ethics 4:21)
Jul 2022 · 96
Wind without Words
David R Jul 2022
air ineffable in shapeless spirit
swirls the ether in words above speech,
circles the trees capped with green beret,
the oak, the sycamore, the hazel and beech,
whispers words without form of letters,
caresses the bark, the branches and leaves,
thought that is naked of outline or fetters
through the air's currents spirals and weaves,
speaking eternal to spirit supernal,
words of no sound or symbol or dot,
through life everlasting, vivid and vernal,
ties all
creation
in eternal
love-knot.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#ineffable
Jul 2022 · 122
Stoned
David R Jul 2022
h                                                    
a          ­                                  
l                                    
f                              
                         a  glass  o'  wine                     ­ 
               a peck at ol' sleep-pill
has turned this head of mine
to [s]l                         ing standstill.
u                 r               
        m        e                      
   b                
    
        mind full of cotton wool
caught in a briar                            
             dumber than a king's fool
      court-jester for the hire                      

can't do a drop o' work,                                                      
thoug­h conscientious to a fault,
may as well go berserk:                                                      
"M­ake that a double-malt!"
LT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#conscientious
Jul 2022 · 652
Midnight Music
David R Jul 2022
As cat's whisker
Still thin silence,
Of no whisper,
In mute defiance
Of sick world
All Hell uncurl'd,
As soft she treads
'Mongst living dead,
Seeking, finds
Inviting minds
Musing, wades
Through depths of Hades.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#muse
Jul 2022 · 187
Adverts & PR
David R Jul 2022
slowly, darkly,
creeps the creeper upward,
gently, softly,
seeking subject subvert,

squeezing, choking,
round and round it winds so,
clutching, grasping,
as in Hitchcock slide-show,

chloroplast it seeks,
in the silence it you speaks,
in dreaded game o' hide-and-seek,
deadly snare that slides and sneaks
binds together wild and weak
tames them unto mild and meek

deftly, smoothly,
pulls you up on seaboard,
unawares he smiles at you,
plants his tentacle deep in you,
plays on you as keyboard,
poisons inner mind-ward,
extradites your innocence,
chaste and untouched inner sense,
skillfully and neatly you are his.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#extradite

Written with *The Music of the Night* [from "Phantom of the Opera"] in mind.
Jul 2022 · 299
The Stream
David R Jul 2022
i'd wandered lonely by the stream
a stream that passed me by
lived my life as in a dream
while others climbed on high

i'd tried to tread my own path
but soon got led astray
by the whisper, by the laugh,
by the waggish wit at play

now that stream's become a trickle
now it mocks with evil glee
as it bends into a sickle
as it glints and winks at me.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#waggish
Jul 2022 · 164
Corrupt Government
David R Jul 2022
Money subverts
says the Good Book,
greed of grabbing purse
turns friend into a crook

"Don't accept bribes",
says the Holy Writ,
It blinds the clear-sighted,
Makes confidant a twit.

money to unpious
is as potatoes to the blight
It "twists the words of righteous",
"corrupts the words of right".

The side emolument,
so rife in parliament,
turns democracy to faction
making mockery of sanction.

call me eccentric
i'll not quibble much,
better than egocentric,
hungry for money's touch

let leaders not be paid,
let them earn with honest *****,
commensurate to service,
to work of honest gain

it may be 'pie in sky'
but i'm allowed to dream,
if they want to serve us
let them feel the poor man's pain.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge
#confidant emolument sanction eccentric quibble
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