CHAFF, LOWLY, SWORE, PAPER
Thief of Self
DEVIL has no horns,
MURAL won’t hold his image. Only fallen boundaries show his presence.
SNEAK thief brags he got away, yet devil shadowed; more than property went missing.
LEGGY burlesque dancer can’t recall the moment devil misstated her worth.
Mural
MURAL of temptation as expected–
LEGGY seductresses in red dresses,
DEVILs with horns and forks–while the real things
SNEAK by unnoticed in the background.
2022-09-08 words
DEVIL, MURAL, SNEAK, LEGGY
Gossip
GLAZE over, mine eyes, while my heart grows
FLINT. That others should choose to
STOOP to such tongue-wrenching
ABUSE is no reason for me to join them.
Schliemann Need Not Apply
GLAZE catches eyes on pot shards in current stratum,
FLINT and microliths wait at deeper levels,
STOOPed volunteers brush and catalog, will for years.
ABUSE kept at bay, this dig is by the numbers.
Poor in Spirit
ABUSE and injustice’s victims find no
FLINT-hard heart in heaven, no
GLAZEd eyes dimmed by indifference, unwilling to
STOOP for the poor in spirit.
2022-09-07 words
GLAZE, FLINT, STOOP, ABUSE
Tacit
TACIT for 200 bars, I read, and
WRING my Bass Clarinet hands.
TODAY, it appears, I’m forced to
DWELL in the wasteland of military bands.
River Flowing To a Final Sea
TODAY. How many left? What fixed place where I might
DWELL? How inhabit a current? Who can pause in time?
WRING a memory from today, but what will contain it?
TACIT most days: today’s a drop in a river flowing to a final sea.