In reverse

The meal was of immense VALUE,
but one look at the DEBIT
card made me feel LOUSY.
My wife, in her generous way, called me an inGRATE!

GRATE my bones and gnash my teeth,
DEBIT my flesh and graze my skin.
LOUSY with pain and an occasional flea,
I VALUE my life still, ‘spite a sword wound from kin.

Grate of Eternity

VALUEs, welter of choices for hearts to hold, some to
DEBIT–interior inclinations needing fine assay,
LOUSY judges we of questions of worth.
GRATE of eternity will admit unsplendid as treasure, catch what was prized as dross.

It’s all in the ear

CHUTE the messenger? Don’t.
SIEVE the messenger? Do.
ADAPT the messenger and take him into your family? You’d be
DITTY not to.

[Courtesy of a poet still struggling with the intricacies of English pronunciation.]

SHOOT the messenger? Don’t.
SAVE the messenger? Do.
ADOPT the messenger and take him into your family? You’d be
DOTTY not to.

[Courtesy of the poet explaining]

Junior Bird Men

DITTY singing (“Junior Bird Men, up in the air, upside down”), I tumble from the plane,
CHUTE opens, whistling weirdly. I look up:
SIEVE of a canopy! The thought occurs: when humans
ADAPT well, they require time plus iteration.