Seeker
—Photo Enhancement by D.R. Wagner, Elk Grove
MY CURRENT PAINKILLERS
—Michael Cluff, Corona, CA
Mixed wines and pot
once defined
the extent.
Now hamsters, succulents
and bettas
do even better.
Ending sentences
on prepositions
is a top five pref
as well.
Looking at the sand
on a damp beach
waiting for the waves
to erase what was,
a random revealing thought
or secret id wish
and hoping
this time
they just might,
won't.
The real favorites numb-ers
produce no numbers
to quantify loss,
but what will:
just a retreat
into a cave
I would refuse Plato
entry into.
_____________________
Mixed wines and pot
once defined
the extent.
Now hamsters, succulents
and bettas
do even better.
Ending sentences
on prepositions
is a top five pref
as well.
Looking at the sand
on a damp beach
waiting for the waves
to erase what was,
a random revealing thought
or secret id wish
and hoping
this time
they just might,
won't.
The real favorites numb-ers
produce no numbers
to quantify loss,
but what will:
just a retreat
into a cave
I would refuse Plato
entry into.
_____________________
HOPE IN A DISTANT CLIME
—Michael Cluff
I.
Cornelius paces
in the shadows of a summer's eve
awaiting his Godot,
the bonny Gwendolyn
to arrive dry
from the nearby stream
of shallow purple waters
and grey-gold fish.
She always enters
the moment after
he has fallen asleep
on the sere patch
below the greenwood tree
his forever home
at intervals.
This August 26,
he plans to stay
despite the season's passing
away as it does
annually in the wasteful land
and he departs to more sophomoric climate.
Gwedolyn
will then appear.....
just a bit more delayed
than she has before.
____________________
STAN REYNOLDS
—Michael Cluff
I.
Cornelius paces
in the shadows of a summer's eve
awaiting his Godot,
the bonny Gwendolyn
to arrive dry
from the nearby stream
of shallow purple waters
and grey-gold fish.
She always enters
the moment after
he has fallen asleep
on the sere patch
below the greenwood tree
his forever home
at intervals.
This August 26,
he plans to stay
despite the season's passing
away as it does
annually in the wasteful land
and he departs to more sophomoric climate.
Gwedolyn
will then appear.....
just a bit more delayed
than she has before.
____________________
STAN REYNOLDS
—Michael Cluff
That big bear of a man
was a factor of fracture
at the office in Orangewood
he was unable to maneuver
the hallways without incident
or tearing his black dress pants
on desks' edges or jutting bric-a brac.
The grace of movement
in excellent fluidity
was never his to master
and the intent of deep words
lost in the timbre
of a guttural voice
choked back by poorly-
knotted paisley ties
a bit too wide
was countermanded by
a bit-too-thick waist
that hid a real heart
underneath
never appreciated
by the fickle
fashionable few.
The waterworks
did not receive
his body all that well
when May became June
and romance was warmer for some...
but the crown of hollyhock, magnolia,
and jasmine clippings
served his chosen purpose
well.
That big bear of a man
was a factor of fracture
at the office in Orangewood
he was unable to maneuver
the hallways without incident
or tearing his black dress pants
on desks' edges or jutting bric-a brac.
The grace of movement
in excellent fluidity
was never his to master
and the intent of deep words
lost in the timbre
of a guttural voice
choked back by poorly-
knotted paisley ties
a bit too wide
was countermanded by
a bit-too-thick waist
that hid a real heart
underneath
never appreciated
by the fickle
fashionable few.
The waterworks
did not receive
his body all that well
when May became June
and romance was warmer for some...
but the crown of hollyhock, magnolia,
and jasmine clippings
served his chosen purpose
well.
Vents
—Photo Enhancement by D.R. Wagner
THALIA BEECH
will wander the boardwalk
every first day of the week
encountering many, expecting few,
"I would drink of you
to seal the pact
with Jesus
and his father God."
Officer Campas
would then with gentle intent
aim and succorly direct her
over the smooth-shaded sand
back into the languid
slow-and-crawl traffic
around St. Anne's,
the mass of guilt
again off his
cysted neck
and fleur-de-lys
tattooed shoulders,
until another moment
caught up with him
in intent and logic.
—Michael Cluff
_____________________
ALPHABET WARS
—Michael Cluff
I is mad at A
and all those
who took
their vows, even Y
and sometimes X
but most especially U
for taking A to C
to decide if R and U
were splitting her off from Q
her constant love since the
Gothic 8 replaced 2 as a couple
with W
the double U
that upset I in the first place.
Yet trying to
split LMNOP up
is the hardest task of all
as I and U
had fought over for many centuries
especially since Z
is always the laggard
A or even B
and D, G, T and V
(well V maybe V) will never be.
____________________
____________________
Today's LittleNip:
After Bruce caught diamonds'
effectiveness from gabardine, houndtoothed
icicles just killjoyed levity
many nuances otherwise polarized
quaked red solvents towards underutilized
vases while xeon yodeled zeroes.
—Michael Cluff
___________________
—Medusa, welcoming Michael Cluff back to the Kitchen after a hiatus of several months, and thanks to D.R. Wagner for the pix! Be sure to check Medusa's Facebook page for yesterday's new photo album, "Fruits of the Earth", by Katy Brown.
Small Forest
—Photo Enhancement by D.R. Wagner
