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But not of empires...

I gained ten pounds on that vacation,
Late fall, Caribbean, a cruise.
Buffet, dessert, the ice cream station,
I didn’t have that much to lose
but now I do. Oh, cursed voyage!
As we sailed by both beach and buoyage
so did I sail past mat and gym
and now the picture’s sad and grim.

But fear you not: I hear the calling
of treadmill, bicycle, and weight
I know, I know, it’s not too late
to get that dial falling, falling…

Wait, what? Turducken!? You will bring?
Perhaps it's best to wait for spring.

Author notes: image generated by author prompt to Gemini

Looking for word play to give me a poem
Checked movie titles, the good ones: you know ‘em

Breakfast at Tiffany’s:
endless epiphanies

then Naked Lunch...

I have a hunch
Dinner for Schmucks is up next...

and here, oh shucks, ends the text.

Author notes: Image generated by author prompt to gemini

The park abandoned, leaves done falling,
the river, lazy, runs below.
Come back! the park bench begs, Come calling!
Please do not let the seasons flow
keep you away. Come, take a stroll!
It's not the end. It's merely Fall.

Author notes: image from Getty Images

he offered the lady his heart
said nothing could keep them apart
but hearts can be brittle
since nothing's so little
the effort was doomed from the start

Author notes: image from VectorStock

to be
or not to be
an English grammar rant
so often I must say "I can't"
how could a language push me to this length
some master it, most lack the strength
to be becomes I was
and just because
to be

I welcome the Holiday Season
No -- I cannot give but one reason
the reasons are many
Let's start with Aunt Jenny
who just got paroled out of prison

And please don't forget Uncle Bob
and Billie, who can't get a job
and most of all Bunny
who still owes me money
but claims he must first pay the mob

Yes, Christmas is big in our house
Aunt Jenny is bringing her spouse
A famous pickpocket
He comes from Nantucket
and hasn't been caught yet, the louse

Come in, please, and share in our joy.
The relatives tend to annoy
But lest you forget
you can't choose them --- yet.
Oh, you brought little Jimmy a toy.

Author notes: image generated by author prompt to Gemini

Bouquet discarded on the shore.
Rose petals drown in salty water,
He doesn't love her anymore.
Somebody's son, somebody's daughter
despondent, cries, their tears are bitter.
The setting sun gives up its glitter.

Author notes: Image from vecteezy

The shootout at the Not OK Corral.
So named not as a judgement or a slight
but rather to distinguish its locale
for those who, inadvertently, just might
confuse it with its neighbor, that one other,
where frontier justice, namely Wyatt Earp
dispensed with Billy Clanton, though his brother -
that's Ike, and frankly, much more of a perp -
went on to live, and not to be confused,
and you could see how such a thing annoys,
in ways that would leave any ego bruised,
with either the old Hatfields or McCoys.
Which leaves me with but one more thing to say.
Hell yes, it's a corral… but not ok.

Author notes: image generated by author prompt to ChatGPT

Ask her: what does she want?
Not a diamond to flaunt
or a necklace to wear.
She has many a care
but confesses, of late,
wants the moon on a plate.

Author notes: Image from freepin

Her bow a witch's wand,,
the violin her altar.
Time's gently flowing sand
won't let her slow or falter
nor play a note too soon.

Her audience: the moon.

Author notes: Image from pxfuel

You've heard the one about the tortoise and the hare?
But surely not from the perspective of the rabbit,
the loser who, most unequivocally, was there
and had the vaunted prize in sight but failed to grab it.

Much had been said about the moral of this tale.
Praise piled and heaped upon the slow and steady turtle,
though most acknowledge that the race was more a fail
than a defeat for him who couldn’t be more fertile.

But what if all of that turned out to be a lie?
That tortoise hadn’t even gotten past the middle,
while the old rabbit lapped the distance, watch him fly,
yet still declared a total loser, what a riddle?

The hidden meaning of this ageless allegory?
Defining winning is how one controls the story.

Author notes: Image from author prompt to gemini

Uncommon wisdom notwithstanding,
it being something of a bind,
I would much rather be demanding -
and here I think we're of a mind -
our unconditional surrender.

Abandon hope, however slender,
of me and I as things apart,
fall to the dictates of the heart,
aglow in love's unchallenged glory.

But wisdom being what it is,
it never fails to rile, to tease,
reminding us: that's half the story,
that, yes, indeed, the story's half...

and oftentimes, that's not enough.

Author notes: image generated by author prompt to Gemini