Random writing

The Winter Jasmine
Fills the air with the sweetest
Aroma of all.

Ice sculpture

You’re the essence
of coldness,
you knew your dagger
wont kill my soul,
for you freezing hands
made an ice sculpture
of my failing heart.
You knew you’d keep
me alive,
but you also knew
I will no longer
exist.

———-
Fireflies on dreamcatchers

Catching the dreams that worry you
these elaborate skeins of woven desire
let the good ones through for your rest
while ephemeral fireflies busily burn
the nightmares from existence

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

Jane Austen ingénue

Devouring Gothic
books taught her little about
life's intricacies

.................

Blackberries

When Summer grew fruitful, we first knew
Where the ripe, delicious blackberries grew
We set off at once before anyone else
Could reach them and help themselves.
No, they couldn't, they were ours to take,
To carry home and make blackberry cake!
Our hands grew spotted with bramble thorns,
The plastic bags we carried became torn,
We couldn't help but snatch a few
When no one was looking, just one or two.
Though tell-tale juice coated us, no one cared-
There were hundreds and thousands of fruits to be shared
We'd march home, triumphant, our bags brimming
Deciding that no life was worth living
Without blackberries!

Magic bottle

Title: Magic Bottle

as winds whisper secrets to thirsty pines
branches sway excitedly from side to side
while shaking the ground Madeline walks on

Before she could run
the pines roots become scarily alive
grabbing her from each of her limbs
real tight

Madeline, a child, begins to scream in distress
HELP! Help! but before anyone could hear her,
the pines roots reach for her bag

She, scared, with face almost white
sees how the bag is suddenly torn in half

As soon as she almost passes out,
she sees with her eyes, how the pines happily share
the bottle of water they found in her bag

Madeline, closes her eyes.

—- sailboat

Waves crest ahead, low and sullen,
but past the breakers the turbulent sea
is considerably more agitated.

The prow dives, rises and dives again
as swells lift the craft and drop away,
while the canvas flaps dangerously
with too much slack for power.

The mast draws pendulum eights
in the darkening sky making idiocy
ever more apparent in the transit
to her shore - still, he continues.

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

Represent!

Reinventing a wheel
eventually produced
problems. As the square
rotated down the road
each passenger felt
sicker and sicker, until
Ewan elected a new design:
numerical zero
Turning nothing into something!

..................

Looking glass

You see me
for what I leave
behind -
and I see you
for everything
you're working
toward.

Even if we
die at the hands
of expectations,
at least we looked
somewhere.

______________

graveyard shift

The graveyard is still...
But then why are you wishing
You weren't working shifts?

Hay fever

She had the symptoms:
Itching, sneezing, eyes streaming
No life for a horse

.................

Afro

My head intertwines
with billowy clouds
during a morning ritual
of puffing-
shaping my yearning
to touch the sun.

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

Redwood Trees

I felt your warmth radiating,
when I leant on your trunk,
but when I closed my eyes
you started bleeding and i felt
your blood’s wrapping around
my arms, passing through
my entire body.

For a moment we became one...

—————

Green street lights

Ghosts
rev their bikes, then
ease into the large towns, for an
evangelical ghost will
never run the living down

slowing through the gears
they reduce to
righteous speeds,
ever respectful
ever careful
tonight they ride with ease

leaving their pasts
in their racks
ghosts take flasks and no flack, and
holy prayer, for lights of green often
trick the living to drive at deadly
speeds

..................

brushed cotton

Winter brings flannel-lined jeans
sweatshirts and ski caps
with brisk walks in the park
and early evening cuddled naps

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

Manhattan

I took a trip to Manhattan
Then caught a spaceship to Saturn
I looked at views across the globe
I trecked through mist and through snow
I swam to the bottom of the blue sea
And roamed the mountains that beckon me
I travel every where, rivers deep, mountains high,
Deep, dark forests and the big blue sky.
Roaming is the only life for me -
Now I live among the hills and trees.

Unconscious

in the secret fields betwixt dreams and truth –
where dreams are sown,
where muses frolic in beige dress,
where stars aplenty are finally
ripened for picking,

you’ll find me under an evergreen,
snoozing, a moment away from
waking.

--------------

blistering heat

The cool air flowed like a river
carrying away the stale sameness
that hung dankly to my body.
It's taken years to accept
that gentle breezes can act
as effectively as desert sere
in reminding me of you.

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

Mexican pyramids

You open your mouth
and white water seeps
on the walls of the
pyramid of the moon.

Sparkling like diamond
powder, as if casting a
spell, awakening an
ancient force.

Shadows crawl upon
the walls, feeding on
your remains.

————————

Pride rock from the lion king

feet whirl like dual tornados
towards the jungle's edge
and there, with heart in my hand
I come to an anchored stop

out there, across the vastness
is the Pride lands, my home,
a place to sing out, to sing proud:

“Nants ingonyama bagithi
Baba Sithi uhm ingonyama
Nants ingonyama bagithi
baba Sithi uhhmm ingonyama
Ingonyama Siyo Nqoba
Ingonyama Ingonyama
nengw’ enamabala”

……………………

an earthworms dream

Soft here, tastes of ooze
rot of tender shoots
buried too deep to live.

Hard! Recoil, turn,
hard here, too, turn again;
where is the soft?
It is all too hard!
Awaken, ahh, it is soft.

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

worrisome appointment

She delayed and
refused to return
the calls...
marrying silence
with denial.
And, it may have
cost her
e v e r y t h i n g.

_____________

partner in crime

They keep asking me who did it
But I can't say - I wouldn't betray
My friend in a way
That they'd never forget...
I know I'm done for, that much is clear -
They found me out before I'd begun to have fun
Yet they knew I wasn't the only one
Who'd caused so much fear...
Who was it? Who did it? Who was in it?
I won't reply, even though I
Wasn't the one who started the crime...
But I refuse to let it slip!

Escaping the city

They followed me here.
I see triangles in the sky.
Grabbing the radio from
my pocket, I check all
frequencies.
The voices are... familiar.
I hear them cheer me on.
Then, they switch, to demonic
growls, and the lump in my throat
tells me to run before they block
all the city exits.
I drive far past the outer limits,
into a town that I've never heard of before.
Perhaps, this is what they wanted.
To land me in a place of vulnerability.
But, I'll survive here.
I just have to figure out how.

______________________

Hearing strange voices in a cave

Drip, drip drip. . .
Stalactite droplets
echo
around a racing mind.
Why did I listen. . ?
"Go find the treasure"
they said.
"Go find the gold,
In the depths of the cave,
In the depths of your soul,
for the soul you still crave
as you pray and you pray"

Thirsty fingers feel
along the rust-rough, wet-nosed walls
until. . .
I trip!
on a stalagmite. . .
I bellow
I fall
"Hello, oh christ"
Hello, oh christ?
"Hello, oh, right!"

. . . drip, drip, drip

..................

An eagle's flight

a chubby pup so cute so small
begins to run and run around
in gardens green and gardens vast
where puppy barks so joyfully
it’s in these garden’s clear skies
where eagles fly from time to time
and while the pup so cute so small
Begins to run and run around
An eagle flies to snatch the pup from the ground
—-

Groceries

Great, my fridge is empty and with a
Rumbling tummy I realise I have to go out so
On with the mask,and off I go
Constantly aware of the people around me I
Endeavour to grab what I need in
Record speed
I'm aware of the person coughing in aisle 3 so
Eggs are scored from my list
Sighing I arrive home with half the things I wanted.

An unwanted gift

Cough, cough cough. . .

Microscopic particles
land, unwrapped, i might add
on each of my eyeballs
i see, i see,
that's not what
i wanted, no
not indeed!

..............

a big bright cactus

Burning tree in the distance;
shuffling ahead, sand sifts
through my sandals,
my flock drifts about
loosely gathered
like leaves in a pond.

As I come closer the cactus
is burning brightly
and yet remains bright green;
suddenly a voice
booms out from everywhere.

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

Boeing 737 max

*

flapping man-made wings
began Boeing them over
a welcoming sea

...............

eyes of a Silverback

Small eyes that seem shifty
in some ways.

Is his silverback the result of
some salon product?

Always be alert around
this creature
he is know to be
unpredictable.
********************

Your best curry experience.

It may cause pain,
But I'll go down in flames!
Quite literally - my tongue is burning
Yet I'm still yearning
To fill my mouth with terrible spice...
But it tastes so nice!
Tears stream down my face- they're full of glee
I don't care about pain - I love curry!

Summer time

during this time
the living is easy
and within blue pools
fish are jumping
over fields where
the cotton is high
^
I miss those
easy-blowing
summer-cotton
days

. . . . . . . . . .

a dancing flame

Your seductive moves allure me
as you sway to and fro
to your own music.

Hypnotic sparks fly
as you meet your crescendo
and I know, I have to restock
the fire before I can ask for
an encore.

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

A conversation while standing in a queue

"hmmm hmm hmm"
"hmmmmm?"
"hmm hmmm hmmm hmm hmm"
"hmm hmmm hmmm hmm!"
"Hmm"

....................

my favourite cake

Chocolate
yum yum yum
mud cake yum yum yum
vanilla cake
yum yum yum
yum yum yum
yum yum yum.

***************
Coping if the gossip mags go on strike

the ancient iron key
sat there on the side
It whispered, "it's for the best"
I followed the whimpered sobs
down the long corridor
Closer
Louder
Whimpers bacame
Wails
Wail became screams
Finally I stood there
In her doorway
Mascara ran like badgers
Across a tortured face
"They're gone" I screamed
"They're all gone, now get over it!"
I turned on wheeled heels
Pulled the heavy door closed
and locked her the hell in!

......................

Tooth extraction

The needle slid in and attacked the first nerve it met
struggling to dominate, destroy and render helpless
the struggling humanoid that once was a man;
scalding chemicals send pressured agony inward
as the taste of cloves and cinnamon leak out
and numb the tongue as it tries in vain for escape.

A second plunge of the needle finds its target
in the jaw bone itself, propelling the head up
but held back by cruel gentle hands of the nurse
all semblances of gentility are abandoned
through muffled screams turned to weak moans.

The needle retracts and the suffering victim
oozes down into the cushions cursing silently
while everyone waits for the pain inducers
to eliminate the lesser agony of the tooth.

Tapping with a metal rod the torturing
shaman asks sardonically "Can you feel this?"
No small effort is needed to stop the fist.
Just a weak "Yes" is let out to the world.
Regardless, the procedure commences
while the victim passes beyond ken.

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