Sunday, August 12, 2012

The Watering Hole




The stark contrast of
Black and white
Works for them
In the dusty dry brown
Of the savannah
In their herd
They remain strong
Indistinguishable
From on another
And it is mere chance
That one
As opposed to any other
Is singled out
By their predator.

A sea of legs
Shaven and glossed
With body lotion
Three inch spikes
A red pair
A black pair
A silver pair
Short little skirts that hug
Tight little rumps
And tight little tops
That reveal almost
All there is to reveal
They desire so much
To be singled out
Yet remain indistinguishable
To their predator

In the savannah
The lioness paces
Then lies low in the tall grasses
Watching the zebras at the watering hole
It matters not which one she takes down
So long as by the end of the hunt
Her prize is a memory on her tongue
And fills her now empty belly.

The red head, the blond,
The brunette it matters not
Tomorrow he will have conveniently lost
the telephone number
And forgotten the name
But tonight he approaches
Ready to trade the cost of a drink
For her prize.


Saturday, August 4, 2012

Poseidon's Cup

                                                Photograph (c) Clara Wochholz, 2012


It asks nothing of me
Drink or don't
I know I must
Or die of thirst.

It taunts me
as I lay in my cold bed
it is so late; and I,
desperate for sleep,
am invaded; peace stolen
and replaced by distraction
one droplet at a time.

It rushes from its home
upon the high mountain
falling falling
the endless stream
downward into this whorl
Into which I desire to leap
To splash and play
to lose myself and thereby
find what is true.

It calls me from the darkest places,
like wisps of fingery fog,
and that clang clang
from the boats in the harbor
which I love so dearly;
Come down with me, come deeper down
Gulls' cries have only scorn
and the waves beat so certain
like my heart; which cannot be stopped,
Not even when the air in my lungs
has been replaced by liquid death.

Monday, June 4, 2012

In Disguise



From the time he learned
That fingers are for something
Other than sucking
He took things apart
To the chagrin of his mother
Who scolded and fussed
Then threw away the broken bits
Until he learned
To take them apart
In secret
Saving time
To put the bits back
Piece by piece
Into one complete
Functioning part.

He gots Cs and Ds
Except when it came to
Making batteries
Slicing frogs
And blowing up models
Of volcanoes and Messerschmitts.

Scout camp
Space camp
NASA camp
Air Force Academy
Then NASA for real
All was calculated
Put together
Bit by bit
Leading him to
His shot in space.

And finally, at last,
When the mission orders came,
Kissing wife goodbye
Riding high on a rocket
Leaving earth behind
Looking out the window
Of the tiny capsule
Seeing blue water
Green continents
And shiny ice caps
He was stunned to discover
The scientist he knew
Himself to be
Was really a poet
In disguise.

Monday, May 28, 2012

The Broken Road


                                     http://www.nps.gov/frsp/images/Confederate-dead-in-the-Sun.jpg


Afterwards
When the bullets had ripped through
Their glorious youthful bodies
Afterwards
When the victors took the field
Then pressed onward to the next fight
Afterwards
When the women and children had wandered
Picking through blood stained pockets
Afterwards
When the carnage was left for vultures
To feast upon with delight
Afterwards
When the thunder let loose
And the rainclouds mourned
Afterwards
A lone chicken was seen pecking
Along the broken road.