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umbrellas mushroom as the drizzle
accelerates from drip to drop
splish splash, the raindrops hiss and sizzle
the melting street a cooking top

the air, still thick with pregnant pauses
expels the acid from its veins
the drenched, so certain of their causes
won't let the rain dictate who reigns

the fever breaks, albeit slightly
prevailing upon cooler heads
those that can disagree politely
those seeing more than blues and reds

the torrent ends, as if by faucet
transforming into finer mist
I fold umbrella and then toss it
and practice opening my fist

wealth and power's final hours
tend to focus on regret
in that way they're much like ours
fantasies of "miss me yet"
what we'd give for but one second
but one glimpse of future bliss
rich or poor, can't miss the check in
bliss as fleeting as a kiss

the wave tops chase each other to the beach
and crash, exhausted, foaming at the mouth
I sit, observing, safely out of reach
admiring sailboats leaving for the South

the water's ageless color wets the sand
erasing childish forts and fragile hearts
the hermit crabs don't dare to make a stand
and move their pearly homes to finer parts

the moon will soon give up its vain attempt
to purify the spot on which I sit
the waves break, in frustration and contempt
their froth recedes as they admit defeat

the last sail leans to starboard and winks out
they're gone now, till the summer makes them sprout

Author notes: wc108

here are some proposed amendments
to the listed ten commandments:

do not steal unless you need it
or the amount is kinda small
do not labor to succeed. It's
not ever your own fault
honor mother, honor father
neither, both, whatever goes
studying is such a bother
make sure others know their flaws
these important changes, know 'em
to remember, here's a poem
but remember, rhyming verse
is colonialism's curse

they rise each year, Dutch masters of my garden
bright flowers tower well above their beds
each year, as if the bulbs expect a pardon
ashamed of when sheer mania filled their heads

He thought he saw an article,
reporting without spin
He looked again, and found it was
original as sin
'At last I realize,' he said,
That's all there's ever been'

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2799264-Lewis-Carroll-Contest https://www.thereader.org.uk/featured-poem-the-mad-gardeners-song-by-lewis-carroll/

the bridge to nowhere found at last
and those in government, aghast
though finding it is sure a thrill
now they can't use it in their bill

form follows function
the function of a haiku
is preserving form

I didn't come here just to hear you clap
or gush about my feelings
or use you as a platform for my healing
I came to snap you back, confused and reeling
eyes widened, scared, till I say it's a wrap.
now you can clap

each star is like a firefly
that signals: here, I'm here!
come help me decorate the sky
come join, don't disappear!
they signal, lonely for a mate
and in the empty void, they wait

a car's odometer remains
a crucial factor to explain
the value of a car
depends on driving far
a plain mechanical display
counts only upwards, come what may
and you can not make purse
by driving in reverse
in new cars, those without a dash
the Tesla's one, it'll cost you cash
it's on an info screen
which is a bit obscene
where are my digits in a row
I liked them counting as I go
not sure how I will feel
when cars don't have a wheel

oh, but to see your features once again
to gently brush my hand against your cheek
to have you look up suddenly and then
to kiss you on the mouth -- my knees grow weak
from just the thought of having you be near
imagining you'll walk right through that door
throw off your heels or slippers, I'll say "here"
and watch you as your dress falls to the floor
remembering your lips as I wake up
and kissing you so softly on the nose
our secret names, no, not my Buttercup
my Jezebel, still with me when I doze

the universe, indifferent, took you first
the house is full of echoes, and I thirst

Author notes: Shakespearean sonnet