JUICE. His parched dreams are jumble of guava, berries, citrus.
SPRIG of negligible shrub, its fibrous leaves make for lunch.
FAITH in a rescue at times waxes, mostly wanes. He fantasizes simple fare:
PENNE pasta in an Arrabbiata sauce.
Category: extra
Phantom’s Calling Card
SLYLY he places the glove in the empty vitrine, then climbs away.
ABOVE he waits for guards to pace away, flits between shadows. An
OUNCE of feathers is louder. Diamond pouch around his neck, he
CRAWLs parapet, down pipe, then strolls out through the garden.
Inch by Inch
ABOVE the trench, movement even by
CRAWL is one that commands every
OUNCE of courage or stupidity or both––
SLYLY take advantage of every cover and diversion.
Back on the Ground
FLYER landed, hope against hope,
HOTLY fought passage at icy heights,
FREED from deadly dream of soaring freedom,
RALLY now and ask, is an earth bound life enough?
Hermione
FLAIR for study, for depth of thought, yet frail to fear.
EVOKEs question, how will you age, will you thrive?
OTTER: clever, bold, and playful. Will the
WRIST that swishes spells also grow into an otter’s paw?
Sheep Shear
SHEAR of sheep, in the Australian Outback, hot day.
ORGAN of sight: my imagination, sifting alternate lives:
MURAL of scene rises vividly to the mind’s eye.
COUCH traveler, free to roam,
while his hair grows long and his body too unfit for a sheep shear.
Amberthal
AMBERthal, the name of the find. Caveman encased in largest
LAYER of tree sap ever seen. Some think him lucky. Could have been
CRUDE tar pit that got him. Or a saber tooth. Was he humming a
DITTY when resin blobbed from above? Or contemplating abstract fate?
Could and Should
CRUDE materials refined by bleeding-edge technology;
LAYER of secrecy on top of a layer of arrogance:
AMBER mined to reverse extinction while a
DITTY by John Williams swells in the background.
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.
Sorry, Camels
LOYAL? I didn’t know, so I googled it. And yes!
CAMELs are. And friendly, and affectionate.
ODDLY, I only remembered that they spit.
QUITE an apology I owe to camels, man’s most hydrated best friend.