drummer in my chest
does eight-to-the-bar
a stiffening blow
Category: Health
1620π·
squirrels pick red berries
store and ferment all winter
birds pay any price
1523
jogs uphill in rain
narrow twisty foggy streets
a bright red jacket
βοΈ
504
cat comes back from vet
other cats welcome him home
what did you bring me?
ε εε
483
like the Fool in Lear
I’d beat you for growing old
before growing wise
ε εε
477
my bedroom’s debris
crumpled Kleenex, and starfish
peeled from tangerines
ε εε
405 / tanka
for jacking prices
on drugs five thousand percent
I will seek you out
to bargain with in Hades
a small drop of ice water
Murder, She Wokked
Yes, you gave me life
And now want it back
One deep fried peanut butter
Banana sandwich at a time.
Resolution Haiku
So many promises
To my fat self this New Year;
So many leftovers!
ARTERIES
A plumber snakes clogged
Pipes while I sit and watch,
Jelly doughnut in one hand,
Checkbook in the other.
Elderly Chinese Couple Exercising in the Park
In a hidden glen they mimic
Waking swan and soaring wren,
Slowly raise their arms to bright
New coins in the treetops.
Each day they eat less,
Take less room and trudge
Together tenderly as if lost
In a high pavilion garden
Where a thousand flowers bloom.
INTENSIVE CARE NURSE
Lilting of Kildare, Cork or Kilarney,Β
She says to lie oh so still oh;Β
(still as death, glad as a babe, o lucky me)Β
Hugs my face to her bosom tightlyΒ
As she drags a sensor firm and slowΒ
Across my chest to sound and chartΒ
A derelict heart full fathom five below.Β
Even my mother’s tired sighsΒ
Can be heard down there still,Β
As she grudges a life to her son;Β
No, there are no lullabies;Β
A child herself, she never sang.Β
Now, all I desire is this Irish rose to sing —Β
By the Rising of the Moon, O Danny Boy,Β
Cole Porter, an ad jingle, any damned thing!Β
Your smile, your voice could forever cure this heartΒ
but as you leave, I can only say, “Erin go bragh.”Β
Juicing
Spinach, celery, kale
Cucumber, ginger, lemon
And any fruit on sale
Goes all into my juicer
And comes out in the loo
As polychromatic poo.
Cat Nap Revue 