Watch the clowns as they all gambol
skipping, tripping, falling down
cartwheeling without preamble
it's the greatest show in town

The ringleader riding wild asses
elephant trainers strive for control
all seen by fools in rosy glasses
in the marble tent upon the knoll

Let's cheer at the circus show
we'll all stand to make more room
while the three rings down below
distract us from our country's doom

* response to the so called leaders in Congress

if you don't know the difference
between balmy and embalming then you're
probably not a poet
and you've joined the zombie parade
parroting words like definitions,
you're no pirate but you have a peg heart
and your hair is uncombed
your whiskers stiff with fish and eggs

i've loved you long enough, this i know

Styx

The clock strikes midnight, the witching hour
Not three a.m. my usual time of power
On the prowl, before Killer and H. Stranger
Too late the victim knows... she is in danger
Shouldn't stroll deserted grounds at night
My blade sings the tune of her plight
Flashing silver in the moonlight cast
Terror filled eyes, life speeding past
Too soon she dies, from the slice of her throat
No time for pride... or to gloat
Victim number one out of the way
Off in search of number two, to end my play

Killer

In a Haze Colorless Pale

The sun late afternoon
crossed the darkened room
in a haze colorless pale
dust danced in slow motion
in streams of light though the air
suffocating movements of silence

the sun began to fade
and I felt the lonliness weigh heavy
in the dim of twilight

the noise was gone
and silence spoke its mourning
as day fled into dark
like a shrouded veil
and I began to sink
into madness

the world takes on a brilliance
after a few days of hard rain

you are sleeping
I brew Sumatra coffee,
our window boxes are bright bouquets
of gratitude, hanging gardens
in their confinement

sometimes a poem doesn't need
an exegesis, nothing profound
to dwell on, nothing but a breath
of a full morning's glory.

The earth was once thought to be flat
My grandpa never wandered far away
Lest he tumbled at the edge and fall
So it was with rising and setting sun
After a daily heavenly crossing at noon
Men also thought the earth was fixed
And everything else revolved around it
They were wrong, we know better now

Junkies and gangsters and whores, oh my!
Junkies and gangsters and whores, oh my!

If I had a brain
I would not medicate my pain

If I was brave
I would not crave
other people's fear

If I had a heart
my original art
would need no pay.

There are many notes on my heart
scars, gallops, and pain.
Like a metronome you bested me,
Now acapella is in my name.

Little did I know
that a year from now
I would be on stage
and you on the prowl.

Wrapping me in your arms
you forgot to let me breathe.
That manly scented body
turned to jealous greed.

I no longer taste your lips
Now the table holds your band
we could not serve together,
So I no longer serve a man.

wait

dark wind

slip softly through the shadows

of white-washed air

stay

unseen

like ghost rain

be

unheard

like the migration of clouds

there is a meadow

of a thousand lost fireflies

that dream in my eyes

like distant stars

over moon-bright water

wait

dark wind

as crickets sing

the softest lullaby

let nightfall

cradle my evergreens

Eliese

in the bright noonday sun
her hair was the color
of creamy golden caramel
tilting her head to peer up at me
long lashes lacing each other
on her peach blushing cheek
just dusting her captivating skin
she looked good enough to eat
(so I bit her...)