Month: May 2019

Let Freedom Ring 24.24

Mass shootings happen all the time
Without a reason, but with rhyme:
For thoughts and prayers and guns, demand
Will spike, but changes won’t be planned.
Still, best be safe: Shore up your stock
Of weaponry in case the shock
Of this one causes such regret
That we’ll do what we haven’t yet,
By which I mean, a single thing…
I kid! We won’t. Let freedom ring.

The Information You Supplied Does Not Match Our Records

Between me and my target waits
A password: Guarding every gate’s
Another test for my synapses,
Feeding gleefully on lapses
In my access to mnemonic
Recollective aids. Demonic
Visions writhe and dance before me,
Pouting, doubting, they implore me,
What’s the make of your first car?
Who’s been your favorite friend so far?
Your youngest sibling’s nickname was…?
What job was that your daddy does?
They may as well ask, If a train
Departs from Barcelona, Spain…
Because the chance that I might guess
A single right response is less
Than that I’d properly explain
Exactly when that northbound train
Would meet its southbound counterpart
Fresh off its Gallic grand départ
Because my smart-ass gene won’t let
Me answer straight, so I forget
From one prompt to the next what I
Might write so I can just get by
The password step and do whatever
I was there to do. I’ll never
Have to worry that I’m hacked
Because my code’s not logic-backed
And so cannot be deconstructed
Later. But for now, I’m fucted.

Say Again, Please

I shy from unfamiliar things
And cringe from that which newness brings
The hackneyed, overused and trite
Are what permit me sleep at night
Originality is fine
For others’ peace of mind, not mine
Unless I’ve heard it all before
I won’t be listening anymore
For fear I’ll hear the weird (read: scary)
Craven? Sure. Ashamed? Not very.

Service

They’d donned the uniform and then
They’d gone to fight with other men
Upon the ground we laid them in
Perhaps a stone to show they’d been
At all. They had their neighbors’ backs
If not command of all the facts
Perhaps that made heroic acts
In anonymity the tax
Their leaders levied. They whose breaths
Were harvested for shibboleths
Of lesser men who saw their deaths
As ZIP codes in success’ address
In recompense have earned this day
On which the inattentive pay
Lip service while their children play
And politicians say, Let’s pray.

MangiBay

Pre-owned pizza bought online
Is not for everyone. It’s fine
For college kids and single dads
But those who follow foodie fads
Will not appreciate the taste
Of foodstuffs gleaned from party waste
And sold at auction sight-unseen.
I hope you like your red sauce green!