Three Objects

The sun up high does shine too bright
upon a daffodil in sight
while children play so calmly by
so near a fountain eating pie
some pizza crust and chicken thighs
with extra spicy curly fries
when from the sky a sandal fell
and caused the calm to go to hell
because the daffodil, oh well,
has been smashed and I can tell

——-

Pepperoni, skates, ship

you picked the pepperoni off your pizza slice
as we reminisced about the time we first
went skating; you'd still laugh at how long
it took me to get those darn skates on.
i asked you what was next on the bucket
list, you said you wanted to go on reenact
scenes of titanic on a ship. i checked my
phone, scouring the internet for the closest
cruise, and bought our tickets .
i feigned a smile, told you that i
booked it, knowing full well you wouldn't
make it till then.

---

lamp, mosquito, book.

A mosquito followed me
into bed one night, and as I
swatted my hand at it frantically,
I wondered if it just needed
a temporary home. So I let it be,
turning on my lamp and cuddling
up with a book, hearing the
faint buzz as it beat its wings
and danced around the light.

________________________

an antique piano, a mouse, rum

I spend my winters in a cabin
In the middle of nowhere
People tell me to make more friends, stop being shallow
But this is where I keep my antique piano

Besides I'm not alone
I tell people I have a friend
He lives here in my isolated house
He's the best pet mouse!

He doesn't talk but I know he listens
My trusted companion, they'll never understand
As the sun sets, I pop open my favourite rum
Tonight my mouse will feast on my crumbs!
--------------
river, hammer, hat

She wore the hat her
father always donned,
playing by the river,
building a cabin in her
imagination. Someday,
she would be safe from
his anger, from the hammer
that nestled in his belt,
a sign of dominance.
Soon, she would be
threatened no more.

_______________________

A rosary, poison ivy, icicle

The Boast

I remember one Autumn when the sun
was low on the sky, leaves were brown;
our gang walked in ways of the young;
trails from our hilltop took us down
to thick woods and brush all around.

Poison ivy grew generously - beckoned
to anyone who did not know three-leaves
shouted danger loud as you could reckon
but in bravado I rubbed it under my sleeves
stupidity deserves the pain it receives.

All the next three months brought regrets
for rashness led to rashes all over my arm
that looked like burns from cigarettes
no praying the rosary produced any charm
nor did medicine relieve the idiot harm.

Christmas came and went and winter storms
before the pustules dried up and left
not til icicles hung on the eaves in swarms
did this lesson leave in my ego such a cleft
that innocent boasting found me bereft.

********************

A park, seat cushion, a glass of sherry

I've got big plans tonight
I'm going to be staying after dark
Fireworks, food and dancing
I can't wait to get to the park

I'll be going alone, I asked everyone I know
Driving my car to the other side of town
The show is going to be so good, there's no way I'm missing the clowns
Sitting in my comfy seat cushion, I can see the park just ahead

I met a girl over a glass of sherry
Her hair, the colour of a canary
She showed me her necklace made of moonstone
Next time I won't be going alone

----------
candles,coin,bridge

with glowing candles
a bridge made of a big coin
becomes enlightened

—-

sheet, TV, window

The TV is chattering behind me,
the news playing on repeat.

The world outside my window
is slowly sinking, as rain showers
wash away todays tears.

I try to interpret the music sheet
in front of me, but life keeps falling
into the wrong tune.
_______________

Mask, hoodie, candle

The match scrapes across the box
Setting wood aflame
A candlewick sputters awake
yawns, stretches, and begins to blaze

I stare at the candle and think
Face shrouded by my hoodie
The candle flame burns through today
Ashes of a long, hopeless day

Heat gently slides over my mask
tugs at the edges, melting through
Mask dripping down my face
tears start to trickle out

A blast of wind quenches the light
I am revealed as a mere soul
Unmasked, cold, and exposed
Alone, and enveloped in darkness
________________________

Sea/Ocean, ring, ghost

You should post this, it’s soooo goood!!!!

^ Awesome to see you posting and back on here, Obscure!

She wore the sapphire
ring she proposed to me
with, the night that she
went missing. I found her
ghost sailing on the San
Francisco Bay, and she
promised that whatever
body of water I traveled to,
she would find me, for her
heart belong to oceans
far deeper than the love I
could provide.

________________________

coffee mug, yellow backpack, worm

Thursday grabs me
by the chin,
glares at my eyes
for minutes before
tightening his fist, and
spitting insomnia in
my coffee mug,

the image of that house
in my head, walls
like old skin, loud love,
turmeric and oud smells.
your face in the light
of the fireplace, your lips
and laugh lines, the yellow
backpack on the kitchen chair
waiting to go with you back
to the battle,

my heart, like a worm
swimming in salt,

thinks of you.

_________

Net, whiskey, basket

Fisherman’s End (syntuit)

The whiskey netted
inside my despondency
filled a vile basket.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cookie, bronze, intercome

i used to bake cookies in the
middle of the night to distract
my demons, summer heat
pooling between the empty,
open spaces of my skin.

i remember hearing your voice
echo and reach every avenue
of my brain, like listening
to the intercom alert me i had
a visitor, but this visitor (you)
are wanted. needed even.

and i will never forget the
ways i continued to push you
away, your bronze arms begging
to steady my veins, because you
saw too much. you stripped me
raw and i was too vulnerable
for even the most forgiving eyes.

______________________

plastic straw, lint, phone charger

I found memories of you
dusted all over the junkyard.
Lint stuck to your favorite
cardigan, a plastic straw
separated from your coffee
tumbler, as you switched
to metal straws and vowed to
be a better advocate for the
environment.

I pillage through the rubble
of your Volkswagen Cabriolet,
knowing loss cannot be suddenly
turned into treasures.

Your phone charger dangles
from my left pocket, your phone
in my right, and I keep stalling.

Once I recharge and hear your
voice, I'll listen to your vows
over and over, the only evidence
that you were ever mine.

_______________________________

empty bird's nest, peppermint tea, pencil case

Sorting through the piles of old stuff
Jessica left for us to donate to Goodwill;
the memories promise it will get rough
school notebooks, a pencil case, paid bills.

Better make some peppermint tea
to tackle our little bird's cluttered mess
put some bourbon in a cup for me
not sure I'm ready for an empty nest.

******************
statue of Buddha, radio, surge protector