I turn and look back at the cage
housing my dirtiest desires
suddenly empty, in my rage
I must have loosened its loose wires
the door's wide open and they're gone
panicked, I search before they're drawn
onto a canvas, sharp and bright
find them at last, in black and white
peacefully settled on this page
here where I'm safe, this is my womb
protected by my nom de plume
thunder bellows
without warning
fall has fallen
day is mourning
night is calling
strange bedfellows
blizzard warning
thunder bellows
Author notes: wc 19 https://allpoetry.com/contest/2795385-Brevity-Thunder-in-a-Blizzard
Punxsutawney Phil
saw his shadow
six more weeks of Covid
I choose destiny
though it pretends to choose me
free will paradox
here's a December to forget
full of lost chances and regret
the sleepless nights you spent awake
the call to Mom you didn't make
the winter solstice closing in
weighing the wages of your sin
the present that you bought yourself
your best laid plans, still on the shelf
the Christmas lights, their sterile shine
ubiquitous, the smell of pine
the smile you chose not to return
the candle doing its slow burn
here's a December to forget
December, is it over yet
now time to put on a brave face
the year is gone, without a trace
Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2796001-December-in-Rhyme-
I asked the wife: what must I do
she said thing one, and then thing two
I vacuumed and I washed the dishes
but those, alas, were not her wishes
coming home early on one day
I realized to my dismay
my neighbor without much ado
performed thing one, and then thing two
Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2796023-naughty--creative--ADULT-contest-adult
I remember how we met
didn't know that I was falling
moments that you can't forget
Death Wish Three, it was appalling
coffee afterwards, and cake
hurried date in mid November
we both thought it a mistake
I remember
Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2796024-Leigh-Hunt-Rondeau--8-line-R-M-form-
my earliest memory:
dad's semi-trailer
parked in the background
off the side of an empty road
he took us with, this time
hauling fruits and veggies
halfway across a continent
mom and I are sitting
by the campfire
a small clearing
in a sea of corn stalks
delicious corn on the cob
a pot of coffee sizzles
dad is using an ax
to split firewood
and feed the fire
a small splinter flies off
and injures him,
right under his right eye
and a rivulet of bright
crimson blood streams out
as I faint
Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2795702-Trucking
there’ll come a time
when there’s no crime
and freedom is victorious
a time that’s surely glorious
our chains shall break
make no mistake
and we shall have democracy
devoid of all hypocrisy
and all who suffer pain and fear
their time will come –
to be sincere
it’ll come, of that I am quite sure
but you and I, shall be no more
no beating Serendipity
Kate Beckinsale, hot diggity
capricious lovers tempting fate
and fate, so gentle, sends him Kate
I know it well -- the store, I mean
lost count how many times I've been
and as I sit there with my gloves
I think of unrequited loves
sweet taste of buttery pecan
and sipping milkshakes with the one
how lucky do I have to be
fate played its part for you and me
Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2796046-Favourite-end-of-year-movie-or-song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqIbm5tx94g the ice cream store featured in the movie https://serendipity3.com/
has both pharaohs and caesars
and its share of wizened geezers
Cirque, Le Cirque, I've run full circle
Cosmopolitan is purple
gaudy shows, generous tippers
cheesy bars and gorgeous strippers
table games and one armed bandits
can't be bothered by the pundits
desert has been air conditioned
Bugsy had it all commissioned
ladies of the night are legal
Bugsy did it, Bugsy Siegel
rarely anymore, bodegas
as you've guessed, I'm talking Vegas
modern Oz, take your pink glasses
I can't wait till Covid passes
Author notes: Vegas
counting to four
a simple chore
begin and end
while on one hand
but calculus
so fabulous
needs polygons
to get it done
how did we get
(though some regret)
from simple math
to this here path
the simple truth
long in the tooth
we get to four
and then want more
Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2795894-Anything--but-within-challenging-parameters