a grim conclusion to the year
we border on despair
as tales of woe chill every cheer
we fear the very air
when will it end, this new malaise
our daily do's and don'ts
when will we get back to our ways
revisit our old haunts
the ghosts of revolutions past
of wars and gilded ages
they tell us that this will not last
and tease us in our cages
as history reveals its rhyme
we cling to song and reason
and all the while, indifferent time
hurries along, in season
Build Back Better
bows. Bye Bye
Biden bidding beaten
bellowing betrayal by
Brandon buddy. Bitter
Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2795386-Alliteration-alphabet-series-B
militant zombies
still dressed Abercrombie
have now awaken at last
woke and quite ravenous
mouths agape, cavernous
they are rewriting the past
cheesy but humorous
among other, numerous
words are prohibited lore
planets in syzygy
they said, not he or she
and you must pray to St. Gore
struck with hypoxia
brain function -- aha, yeah
that is exactly the case
careful with social posts
or you'll give up the ghost
there'll be no end to the chase
what will become of us
when we're all woke at last
well, I must tell you, depends
zombie apocalypse
so far it's just a glimpse
this may be how our world ends
Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2794679-Zombie-Apocalypse-
future witches
abandon brooms
for robotic vacuums
werewolves exiled
to Moon Colony
long for the Full Earth
vampires don't play baseball
can't stand to be
the last at bat
When life insists on giving lemons,
common advise is: lemonade.
I exorcise the acid demons;
a decent whiskey will give aid.
now some will say I'm medicating
but that's not it: I'm advocating
for a sincere, direct approach
for those of us who're riding coach
"it only takes a bit of effort!"
advice from those, while in first class,
love lecturing the rest of us,
Your money does not make you better
and power does not lecture well
cherry on top, and all is swell
Author notes: a bit of an experiment in a "downer". Not at all how I really feel or deal with life, and I don't encourage alcoholism. Probably I'm in first class
I view a poem as a puzzle
the words must come together thus
add some pizzazz and razzle dazzle
and the result is worth the fuss
the birds will chirp along so sweetly
and lovers will embrace discreetly
and if you dare, more than embrace
(and if you don't _______ leave a blank space)
at last, you feel you are a poet
and earned your place among the greats
the lack of recognition grates
but as they say, at least you know it
and doubt, your enemy, dissolved
the words trail off, the puzzle solved
*******************************************************
older version
I view a poem as a puzzle
the words must come together thus
add some pizzazz and razzle dazzle
and the result is worth the fuss
the birds will chirp along so sweetly
and lovers will embrace discreetly
and if you dare, more than embrace
(and if you don't _______ leave a blank space)
at last, you feel you are a poet
and place yourself among the greats
your audience, though, the ingrates
does not as yet appear to know it
oh well, you must write for yourself
and so I fill up shelf by shelf
Author notes: An Onegin sonnet https://allpoetry.com/contest/2795466-Give-me-a-Pushkin-Sonnet--Big-Points-
I once made someone wait for hours
four hours, truly, in the park
in days long gone, no cellphone towers
I picked them up when it was dark
the reason too long to explain here
and then of course we had a fight
we were so young, and I was sincere
but no resolving of our plight
we went our separate ways but surely
I had to come up with a start
since I still labor quite obscurely
and he wrote Groove Is In The Heart
Author notes: it is a funny and true story -- best friends in high school, until that day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etviGf1uWlg
patches of color. the road swerves
the car responds, memory serves
the highlights of the passing year
the mirror says that they appear
much farther than they really are
the past is prologue, in my car
the new arrivals form a line
across the frozen Styx
subdued, obedient, supine
they're coming for their fix
the wages of their sins are due
in ways they'll soon discover
surprises are in store, for sure
since hell has frozen over
Author notes: My 666th poem
My uncle, right in every manner,
His health declining, and no joke,
Demanded my respect and honor
Could find no better than this yoke.
May his example be a lesson;
Can anything be more depressing
Than spending every day and night,
With a sick patient, what a plight!
Is anything more low or cunning
Than entertaining the half dead,
Fixing the pillows on their bed,
Giving them medicine, while fawning,
And thinking, sigh, pretend to care
When will the devil take you there
*********************************** ***********
Мой дядя самых честных правил,
Когда не в шутку занемог,
Он уважать себя заставил
И лучше выдумать не мог.
Его пример другим наука;
Но, боже мой, какая скука
С больным сидеть и день и ночь,
Не отходя ни шагу прочь!
Какое низкое коварство
Полуживого забавлять,
Ему подушки поправлять,
Печально подносить лекарство,
Вздыхать и думать про себя:
Когда же черт возьмет тебя!