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Milind Phanse Jul 2013
Words, once obedient servants
Now claim suzerainty over ideas.
The age of meaningful verse has yielded
To gobbledygook.

Poetry, a grey mist half-understood
Through which I stumble blindly,
A mirage I chase through the sands...

The wells of creativity run dry.
Neither outpourings of emotion nor tender murmurs;
Mere craftsmanship remains.
Lines dolled up in ****** baubles
Literary ******, soliciting passing readers,
Fireflies, impotent
In the face of the darkness within.

The autumn harvest of verbosity is ripe
For the scythe of the Grim Reaper
John MacAyeal Jun 2013
It was a Monday in November 1971
A cloudy afternoon
When the school sent me and another kid out to find work
As part of our vocational-ed class

My companion said, Hey, let's go to Louie's
So we wandered way down near downtown
And I was happy to find myself in an apartment rented by two kids
The first time I had been in a place emancipated from adult suzerainty

We didn't do much
Just listened to albums
Until the evening finally lazed in
And I had to get back on the highway and hitchhike back alone
(I was surprised to learn my companion lived in that far-flung area where we had wandered)

A grim thirtyish woman picked me up
Told me she was going to a job interview
Then she said, "Nah, I'm not going to that interview.
I don't want that job."

So she dropped me off
And made a U-turn
(alternately titled -
today's lesson iz
addressing categorical imperative)

Courtesy of unpleasant he
ping diatribes visited me
from eldest offspring ugh gree
guss vituperations, doth force me
     to admit (and take key
lock, stock, and barrel
     lamentations to heart), that she
(Eden Liat) didst

     perceive (hence nee),
interpret as her reality
     regarding my actions,
     intents, words, et
     cetera men knee
instances of objectionable
     dealing with situations
     of mine mien to thyself

     (lamely, meekly, and nervously
     pleading being oblivious),
     nonetheless purportedly untoward
     fatherly behavior, said kin recoils
     in reaction to extremely re:
pulse sieve, no matter,
     whether paternal behavior
     of mine unintentional (see

ming lee) find
     ding total unawareness
     as poor excuse, which does not
     hold candle box
     three doors down, nor
     bankable, dutiful guarantee
hence this papa, heed decree,
his displeasing, now accepting

     onerous task of child rearing
     inflicted hurtful affects asper,
     mismanaging challenges
     as legal guardian,
     and thus grievously, honestly,
and readily attests averse
     to hold a mirror be
fore my person as

     proof positive aware
     ness, and accept,
     how I usurped carte blanche
     (parental role, no
     matter honest intentions,
     sans welfare of daughters)
     unknowingly shamefacedly interpreted

     as unflattering about me
whom ***** nilly
     bandied authoritarian free
reign (and/or rein)
     recounting mine foibles, viz
despite my best intentions,
     impressions, and iterations
     as even handed sues err un tee

I mint jewel
     lip succoring (suzerainty)
spurring the conundrum,
     que who, what,
     and how does one pre
sent lee define
     true intentions, and whether
neutral stance can be cree
jewel less lee codifies, si?

— The End —