While
RIVETed to the stash in an unearthed geo-
CACHE, a
CREAKing cellar door sent a rash of
CHILLs tingling down her spine.
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Unsinkable
CHILLy waters marked by silent sirens:
CREAK nor clang nor song do they sing.
CACHE of brute strength waiting, watching:
RIVET and bulkhead’s final cries ring.
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Farewell
DRAFT of letter written.
JERKY breaths now. Get a grip for the edits.
DOZEN stray thoughts, weight of time increasing as days tick closer to zero.
BLINK, breathe: try to do the last things well.
Author’s pain
The
DRAFT of my latest kid’s fantasy still seems
JERKY – yet I’ve gone through it more than a
DOZEN times. I have to keep my eyes wide open; if I
BLINK the whole thing will send up a literary stink.
In the Frost
DRAFT of frigid air makes me quiver
JERKY shivers, and I
BLINK a
DOZEN winks but teardrops freeze as the breeze takes my breath and sends it out in a cloud ahead of me.
Rehearsal
DRAFT each role’s lines carefully in your mind, rehearse a
DOZEN times to cement exactly how it all will go;
BLINK–the conversation derailed––revealing the hidden
JERK You refused to admit lay below.
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Token Rhymes
AMAZE, inspire, entertain
MANGA-kanga, zippity-zane
BOOZY-shmoozy, quippity-quane
TOKEN rhymes I shan’t explain.
Don’t Fight the Monkey
A MAZE is a bad place to be sloshed.
TOKEN of my folly: I got to the center, picked a fight with a
MANGAbey. Never fight a monkey. (Even when on the wagon).
BOOZY ideas crumble when you’ve sobered up and are getting a rabies shot.

Where’d the Manga machine go?
So BOOZY am I, I find I’m totally
AMAZEd by the fact that when I put my tube
TOKEN in the slot, the turnstyle opens. I’d expected I’d receive
the latest MANGA by the comic artist Takahashi.

Into Time
MAN GAzes into time with
BOOZY lenses fogging his judgment:
AMAZEd at the fall from gilded yesters, yet grasping
TOKENs of hope for improved morrows.
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