Thirty Balls

Thirty Balls
give or take
that’s how many
I took
with me
to the Koolau Golf Course today.
Eighteen made the return trip
to wait until the next round
where if they are blessed
they will escape and find a new home
flying left
when they should’ve gone right
taking a sudden detour
deep into the lush green vegetation
dark with plovers pigeons,
cardinals and common myna
chirping on
about the many different
species of
earthworms and the sudden
onslaught of
U.F.O. Sightings
reported
in their neck of the woods.

Hawaiian Birthing Stone

 

Grasshopper

 

Enabler 101

Definition of ENABLER:
enablers are people who by their actions make it easier for an addict to continue their self-destructive behavior by criticizing or rescuing.
one that enables another to achieve an end; especially : one who enables another to persist in self-destructive behavior (as substance abuse) by providing excuses or by making it possible to avoid the consequences of such behavior



Slam Poetry shows
up at Habilitat in
the Fall. Shut my mouth.

A survivor speaks
Letters to a Prisoner
amazon.com

Denial loses
taken over by rebels
gets new perspective.

Conquer addiction
drop the victim at the curb
it’s a new classic.

Watch Olelo in
September or October
Connie D. returns.

Street Smarts—tips for the savvy woman

The steering wheel
shimmy
means your tire is
doing a rubber
strip tease
ladies
beware.

Sleeping Beauty

I write
because
the truth
is a
sleeping beauty
likely
willful
tomorrow
picketing
against
me.

Obsessed

From Mohonk New York

From Mohonk New York

Obsessed
since I quit
smoking
the scale
persuades
I promise
to have a
short memory.

K.I.S.S.

Keep it simple stupid
I say keep it short stupid
I’m getting gray
waiting for
the film
to finish
the sheets need to be changed
my dogs are howling to eat
I have a life too
Keep it short.

I need to do my workout
go to work
load the truck
and wash at least three loads of laundry.

The winds are MORE than EIGHT MILES AN HOUR
on the WINDWARD side of the island
GET a new ANEMOMETER.

Time is running
its marathon
and I’m lagging behind
I’m in the thirteen minute mile group
and I can’t understand
why you keep talking
because I can’t breathe
because I’m pudgy
and out-of –shape
And I’m going to DIE
maybe not today
but soon America
Keep it short.

Say what you mean
Mean what you say
Keep me interested
Keep it short.

Red Sunrise

 

Duck

 

Bufo Toad

 

Making Headlines

I’m calling Ripley’s
I’ve heard of walking the dog
but I can’t believe
what I just saw this morning
I can see the headlines now

Unleashed cat walks free
pet trails behind leashed Shih Tzu
captivates neighbors.

WHITE

White wedding
Dress
Veil
Doves
Rice.


White chocolate
Coconut
Whipped cream icing
Ribbons
Balloons.

Soap
Bubbles
Robes
Wine
Towel-wrapped
Geese
Origami
Paper
Snowflake.

White
Face
Paint
Threads
Magic
Lies.

White Noise
White light
Mushroom clouds
Sand
White caps
Ivory
Moon.

Chalk
Lines
Crayoned
Plaster
White
Knuckled
Outlines.

Ghost
White mothballs
(Death’s perfume
sealed
in cellophane.)

Marco Polo

Marco Polo
is a new guest
he scurries around
the perimeter of the fish pond
foraging
for remnants of trout chow
trapped between the rocky crevices
sharpening his claws
on neighboring plants
and fruit trees
papaya, coconut
orange and
lychee
tumbling
now into a pitcher plant
another new arrival
from Borneo.

Poor Marco,
traveling to this oasis
took a lot out of him
he’s so thirsty to explore
he hasn’t read the warning signs
little does he know
who his host is
that the table is being prepared
for an exotic rat stew.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trWzDlRvv1M

Blind Faith

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forego their use." - Galileo Galilei
"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Blind Faith

is
hoping
to catch one
fish for dinner
in a polluted
reservoir so you can
feed your scruffy family
of five, expecting that one fish
will multiply into plenty, plus
too, persuade them into thinking its God.

Consequences

We
all need
to face the
I-Told-You-So
the bouncing bad check
snorting white powder costs.
The medicated food chain
bloated size eighteen appetite
the rash rolling click of a blind mouse
trust placed in who packs our parachute.


**Etheree

Good Morning America!

Good Morning America

Good Morning Starbucks
Venti Me!
I’m going for the bypass tomorrow
I woke up today and
all my size twelve’s turned into four’s
and I can’t get the zipper UP
I may need EMS to resuscitate me
from this god dammed war
that’s killing all of our boys
and I’m asking MR. President
what is it all FOR?
I want OFF this rollercoaster
I want Opie and Andy
to call I LOVE LUCY
and tell her that
marrying RICKY is a big mistake
that Ethel is a cow and Fred is really a cereal killer.

Good Morning America
I need a ZEN moment
a place to exhale all the garbage
from my black lungs
coughed up in the trenches
of foreign wars
that I can’t afford
because my credit just went down the tubes
and needs a banker
a little gold to back me up
prevent my guts from being
blown up in the chopper
in a bombed out country
that hires kids as mercenaries
What the hell is it for
Mr. Senator?

Good Morning America!
Stop the bullshit
the crying
soap opera
raging
about the streets
of London
Don’t you see that
we are all in this together?
We need a plan
we need Mr. Spock
to beam down
and give us the logical
answer
before the Alien High Council
sends us to a frozen prison planet
because no one here is INNOCENT.

Good Morning America!
Let’s toast our Statue of Liberty
one last time before China
calls in her note.
Before the polar ice cap melts
the earth stops resettling and
before Voyager reaches its final destination.

Good Morning America
Today is the day
we resurrect GOD
meet those ancient aliens
who designed the giant stone monoliths
that litter the planet
like an ad for air travel.
Refrigerator magnets
to foreign collectors
from a far off galaxy
who will surely
look up in their ancient texts
calculating the odds
of contracting the human infection
inoculating the crew
for their close encounter of a shitty kind.

Good Morning America
Wake up!
We are being consumed by a sinkhole
a malfunction in the earth’s crust
sliding, suffocating
obsessed and arrogant
and our time is running out.
Pardon me
Excuse my partisan ass
Mr. Speaker but
America is pissed
off and we were wondering
when you people on Capitol Hill
will get up off your rich collective butts
and DO what you were elected for
which is to speak for the PEOPLE
because we are tired of swallowing
your sovereign AGENDA’s and we’re not going to finance them ANYMORE!

Geography Lesson

From the front of the class
I can see the chalk smudges
on the back of her dress.
Two white hand prints

cross her parallel shoulders
and a longitudinal eraser mark
stares at me from her angular derriere.
That’s what I’m thinking, when she asks me

to recite the exact latitude
and longitude of Honolulu, Hawaii
the correct answer being
21° 6' 35" N / 157° 31' 51" W

I grin back and as far as I can tell
the equivalent of that
has absolutely nothing to do
with the location

of the chalk marks on her dress
and relatively everything to do with
last night’s homework assignment.
So I do what any red-blooded kid would do

I grab my crotch
make a face and
I ask permission
to use the restroom.

Congress

Words pour from their mouths
like water from a faucet
making promises

until we need them.

Until we realize they’ve said
something they shouldn’t have.

Sealed with government approval
they caw, squawk and eat away at our resolve
taunting us
stabbing us over and over
with our own
deceit.

Their black beaks
daring us to
stop them and
see
before
they mushroom
into a dark cloud
before they grow bigger
and transform into something else.

Scavengers fixed to gorge on the placated
at the table of procrastination
and donkey white lies.

Problem Solving-- ABCdarian

Aaron is the eldest. He is twelve. He loves
Baseball. His problem is he has to babysit
Corinne his younger sister. Corinne is five and she
Demands his complete attention, she cries
Every time he tries to practice with
Frank his younger brother in the backyard.
Garth the family Doberman
Howls competing for notice, making
It impossible to focus. Garth sometimes
Jumps and nips Frank in the butt as he tries to catch the ball, this
Keeps Aaron quite busy.
Let’s just say
Multi-tasking is not Aaron’s strong suit.
Now Aaron’s
Only hope of getting good at baseball is to dream up a
Plan that will keep Corinne and Garth busy so he and Frank can practice. He has to think
Quickly. He grins. Nearby a
Rope
Swing sways in the old oak
Tree, rubbing against the branches and swishing
Under the greenery. Corinne, I’ll buy you a
Vanilla ice-cream cone and I’ll
Wager a chew bone to Garth to see who can keep quiet the longest.
X-ing, his fingers behind his back Aaron reaches down to pick up a stick. Garth instantly
Yields. Fetch, Garth. Corinne plays with Garth, Aaron's practice resumes in the clever
Zone.

Jealousy

Jealousy’s best friend is Suspicion.
She has rights, perceives your weakness
and is married to Envy.
She distrusts everyone
their children are Greed
Anxiety
Bitterness
Self-doubt
Fear.


**Nonet

Letters to a Prisoner by Connie D.

Letters to a Prisoner by Cornelia "Connie D" DeDona

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Amazon and Kindle



A Survivor speaks out!



Required reading at Habilitat- a drug rehab in Hawaii



Honorable Mention in Poetry at the 2011 New York Book Festival!!



Outstanding look! A unique perspective from a Mom into the mind of the enabler. Free Yourself and the Addict!







View all my reviews

Bible Acrostics

Groovy
Out-smoking
Dude

Resourceful
Outspoken
Militant empire exacting their
Absolute philosophy over all other
Neophyte
Societies

Priest
Apostle
Unique
Lecturer

Jewish rabbi
Erudite
Scholar
Unwavering
Spirited son.

Fire Dance

Check out my latest Photography Book, Fire Dance!
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore​/detail/2319240

Writing a True Novel

Writing a true novel is like dueling with a cockroach; penetrating and exploring the past could get real messy. Don’t kid yourself if there is anything else you can think of to do, go ahead and do it. It involves a truckload of continence and revision.

You begin by dreaming about the past, sorting through old pictures and searching for and actually finding old friends, who you later discover were better left in the dark.

You set your scene; research the town you grew up in and thought you knew. Lots of surprises await your discovery under the dusty covers. Then you get to pick which roads to go down and which ones to pass up. It requires enormous energy and creativity; buckets of right and wrong decisions line up for inspection. Old issues march up to, and then parade-rest at your door. Closure takes on a higher meaning, something akin to, should I tell them about the implant, and which one?

Who is your audience? Why should they care? Can anything human relate? Or should you save the paper for puppy training? Why now, have you achieved enlightenment? Who will it hurt or help? Precious time is spent writing poems, honey-do and shopping lists, feeding the dogs, and taking pictures of cloud formations. You spend an inordinate amount of time reading other inspired memoirs and novels, and spending time with the grandkids, anything but writing that damn book…

But wait there’s more, you have to get your facts straight, no embellishing to make it more interesting; names need to be correctly spelled and a time frame established. Trust only a handful of your friends to read and critique. Don’t post online if you want to publish a chapter elsewhere. Take all advice with two aspirin and try not to get confused; one chapter at a time. Find a group meeting and stick with it.

Don’t forget about Aunt So and So, who worked at the Library and discovered the cure for that deadly virus, or the Uncle who won the bronze in Seoul, or the neighbor from next door who died of Cancer because family and friends will get mad at you if you leave them out.

Show them, describe using all the senses, make it colorful, who was popular, what music was playing on the radio and what did you wear. Sprinkle in some dialogue with a dash of character. Pack a punch, leave them wanting more and don’t solve all your characters’ problems; your next blockbuster is wheezing in the wings.

Giant Tag

We tackled the beach

dodging Man ‘o War jelly’s

tagging Big foot’s mark.

Jellyfish

The straggler popped, cracked beneath my heel
resembling light blue bubble gum
startling me from my daydream.
I looked down in dismay.
Would that bubble sting
or would it just
flatten blue
burn the
sand.

*Nonet--A nonet has nine lines. The first line has nine syllables, the second line eight syllables, the third line seven syllables, etc... until line nine that finishes with just one syllable. It can be on any subject and rhyming is optional.

Ghost Train

**This is a story in a poem using one syllable words.

Far from here
in a black coal car
a sense of true
got shot and scarred.
It jumped real quick
                  and as it flew
It struck an oak, stout and new.

It glared back wise
with gold owl eyes.


Its heart
dripped thick
on an old black crow
that sliced his neck with coarse cruel blows.
The crow’s shrill beak
cut nose and cheek
the blood then hissed
and hit the street.
It scowled and bared its blood red teeth.

A street lamp blinked
It could not sleep
nor get that thief
to change his leaf.

When
his thumb
shrieked hot lead
it found its mark
trained for dead.

The blast came fast
sharp as an axe
and chopped a clock
that ticked and tocked.

I hugged the frame
and the glass
in hope,
since two
my fears would pass.

Still dazed
I traced
his ash gray face,
that shot an F
through a coach seat base.

A rock hard sneer
trapped in a frame,
this ghost
still drives
the night sick train.

Camel Dung

Fresh camel dung

 the curse of the lower Nile
attracting a multitude of flies high above
decomposing mummies
buried in forgotten pyramids
beneath the sands of time
deep inside secret chambers
stacked with gold
foraged from the influence
of unknown origin
of which countless markers
have been left behind
planet-wide
flies being the common denominator.
If the ignoble fly had been in charge
how might he have managed?
Would ancient insects have done a better job
at keeping quotas and curbing bad behavior?
Who would’ve done the heavy lifting?

The chosen people were dropping like flies.

There had to be a back-up.
Someone must’ve had a plan.

Why were the pyramids so big?

Are they entrances to another time

Or a door into our own psyche?

Are WE the alien life form
on this hostile planet?

What have we learned?

What legacy will we leave for our children

our children’s children?

What time capsule will they discover?

Will it hold the key
to the age old question
Or merely pose new questions?
Will we survive
on this planet of dwindling resources
or calculate new methods of regeneration
revolutionizing an alternative fuel
a godsend of limitless magnitude
something similar  perhaps to
camel dung?

An Amazing Animal

Godsend defers tweets to higher power.

Godsend; keeps word, gives fresh perspective.

**http://sixwordmemoirs.aarpmagazine.org/topics/animal

http://amzn.com/1456405365

I Am Me

I am me
the reflection staring back from the glass
the half full cup
the dark chocolate freak
sometime friend to a certain scale.

I learn in the face of challenge
that my obscurity may be a good thing
that as I trip and fall
no one will see
or care.

I am a notion
a shadow
a spot on the frame
moving past old beliefs.

Becoming new.

Sometimes haunted
chased
driven
alone.


I existed before to fill your square pegs
round spaces
anything.

I persist to soulfully
pound
in the dark
without a key
without a pigs chance in hell
that you will understand my need.

I am a rogue wave
a rushing tide
a rare
voice
a thinking stone
passionately pulled
occasionally moved.

Mixing and mashing theories
slashing
splitting
flicking hard-nosed butts

against a blue-green world

of melting ice
smoking pillars and
smashed stones.
I am me

a miracle

to those
that bore me
with nothing
but a seed to plant
nothing but hopes and dreams.

I am much more than your
dogma
much more than a pulsing frame
wary heart
weak organs
tired blood
hidden muscle and moral bone.

Protect me from your reckless ways.

Spare the child in me.

I deserve
to dream
to inherit the ideas
of our creator
to see
beyond the black
molten mass
we’ve
become.

Cloud Concerto

In this open air venue

floating nymphs
stitch their serenity
free of charge.

A child is stilled
comforted by their play
counting their fluffy leaps
over misty fences
fascinated
by the scope of their splendor.

Angelic arms wrap
emerald peaks
exhaling excited vapor
as the spotlight shines
on tonight’s premier
presenting
fine art and composition
to the cultured audience
who clap and cheer
instantly
recognizing the
bird song prelude
and butterfly solo symphony.

Appeal for Book Reviews on Amazon

Thank you in advance for purchasing my book, Letters to a Prisoner.  I'm looking for reviews on Amazon. A previous version of this book was endorsed by Al-Anon. It contained exerpts from Al-Anon's Blueprint For Progress. I decided to go ahead and publish without those exerpts. It is currently required reading at Habilitat-The Place of Change, a drug rehab in Kaneohe Hawaii. Here's the link for your convenience: http://amzn.com/1456405365

Father's Day Story--Published!

My story, "Clean Sweep" has been selected as "Today's 'Dad & I' Story" for OneFortyFiction.com.


As you might know, we allow visitors to critique stories once they've been posted. If you'd like to follow in on any critiques our readers choose to make, you can do so at http://www.onefortyfiction.com/archives/clean-sweep.

Mastiff Manners

They begin pristine

 in their precise

composition

 like two dancers

center stage

their muscled torsos

strutting and swaying

in perfect rhythm.

Rocketing

limbs splayed

as they spiral down

landing abruptly into the mud

coating every square inch

as if it were a precious salve

 from the Dead Sea.

Sliding and rolling across the wet terrain

eight large paws leave no stone unturned

no blade of grass still, no fruit untried.

A rushing river hangs back

as they race by

two competitors

colliding into a break dance of

epic proportion.

Barking,
"BEWARE
YOUR SEASON IS AT HAND."

Choose with care.

Sharpen your wits.

It will suit you to study

carefully, the mastiff manual.

They are untroubled by

your crow and your claws.

They will smell your green

goo as it drips off the edge

of a palm frond

overlooking the pond’s edge.

Squash that splash!

Hide your red-orange

flash and fan-tails.

Their hunger is fierce.

They will

excrete your squirming mass

swallowed whole

next to

the chirping peep

fins,

 feathers     and       entrails

laced with reckless dread.

As they pause

pacified

to chew on a twig

flossing

away the fragments

in the midday sun.

My Personal Art Gallery

Ruth's Pacu Fish

Honorable Mention in Poetry at 2011 New York Book Festival

2011 New York Book Festival.  I received an Honorable Mention in Poetry for my self-published book, "Letters to a Prisoner"

Please visit our web site at www.diyconvention.com for the complete results.

The nation is controlled by

  The nation is controlled by deviant mutant aliens from another galaxy.

First contact was established in Ancient Egypt. We mutants had to buy Cleopatra off. The slaves were no problem. The pyramid design opened a door into our solar system. It was all part of the Master Plan.

The second group, also aliens, scared the hell out of the Inca. There were too many white faced hairy sightings to ignore. Our gifted writers and artists shared. They used leftover blood as ink. Sacrifice was later outlawed and we left. The jungle took over.

We aliens later financed the Hollywood film industry. Drugs were routinely administered and abduction, a regular occurrence. We carefully implanted the ancestor's seed. We ignored the prime directive. Clean-up is beyond our compliance. The producers have run amuck.

My father, another alien, was banished to this planet due to a selective hearing problem and a low tolerance for rule adherence. Mom was an artist. She went to the dark side of the moon ahead of Neil Armstrong. It was a covert mission. That is where the beta writing strain comes from. Our family is responsible for infecting the populace. Our ways remain too advanced for this culture. They still believe in deities despite our best efforts. Our science and telepathic abilities have to be reproved over and over again. Magic and illusion have gone the way of Monster Quest. The ratings speak for themselves.

Alpha Centauri was where our troubles began. Dad was the brilliant young Captain aboard, the newly commissioned, Venture, Starship class Z7653, Star date 2511. He beamed down ahead of security and was found in a compromising position with a Centaurian leopard. Later they accused him of commercial spot altering. They said he was trying to profit from it. Dad claimed that he found the leopard like that, but they knew better, him being infected by something called writers block. We still don't talk about it.

The inflexible High Council, made up of many aliens, banished him to the past on this archaic planet, with one moon, where they don't even have three eyed emerald fish and the locals are so ugly, it has us permanently constipated. We had to teach them our language. I would give anything for a bowlegged Alterian hump sucker. Not only are they delish, they relax the bowels, which makes our kind much easier to get along with. It produces minor gushing. Rapid fire bursts have resulted in some casualties in the Midwest. See product package for additional warnings.

The truth is Donald Trump, a talking head alien, had to be pulled out of the presidential race.

President Obama and his arch rival Osama bin Laden, also talking head aliens, are being called back to HQ. Osama is already back. All the money-power brokers are supposed to report for reassignment. Trump's show, The Apprentice, is too successful, which is highly suspicious in the present global climate. There is talk about a nude circus in Atlantic City, no word yet on if that includes the audience.

Here is the latest news from HQ. It is classified Code RED, the highest priority.

We're pulling the plug on the Earth experiment. The Dirt and Ash Concert is SOLD OUT. WE WILL DEPART behind Lady Gaga's, a hot alien babe, latest stage design. Hot air, lava, and plate shifting is escalating. The weather is out-of control! Simon Cowell and the X-Factor are unstable.

It is time to depart and resettle elsewhere.
The Mother spaceship arrives in 2012. Let the world-wide internet deprogramming commence.

This is the final transmission; Viking, over and out!

For Better or Worse

Who Knew?
It used to be different
Your parents picked one out
You maybe got to meet him once
before the big day
And that was that; simple, right?


Today we have endless possibilities.
We get to shop
pinch, squeeze,
check for soft spots, and rotten cores
before we put them into the cart
and bring them home.

A sharp few get free samples!

Parents, relatives, the family pet, the goldfish, plants
and the residual offspring
from the last vain attempt at matrimony
all get a shot at playing detective.
If he looks, sounds or smells off
it’s over.
And so it goes, back and forth, round and round
until the happy day you say, I DO!
Especially if there’s a dress, cake, crystal and fine linen.
Never mind you are in hock for the next hundred years
And that the bank gets what’s left of your anatomy
You are in love!

Everything goes really well throughout the honeymoon
Just that little scuffle, over nothing really, too much luggage
But he’s perfect; he picks up after himself and; get this girls,
HE CAN COOK!

Although it is a gamble, it does require effort and good recall
especially when those little annoyances start to crop up.
And there is the slight chance that they will turn on you
from all your daily devotion and care
and start to actually expect, consistent good treatment, until death!
Sometimes thirty, forty or even fifty years go by, well past any hope of regaining your lost figure and skin elasticity.
This is when strange growths start to pop up and you can’t remember the last time you had your period or what you did with your dentures?
Then you learn to cope with the little tics, a veritable sideshow of frolicking fun.
Belching and farting take a back seat to these jaw-dropping marvels.
Sneezing, spraying cold germs over a six mile radius
walking naked on the patio with a towel in one arm
and holding one finger on a nostril and blowing the snot out the other side
and then wiping the juicy remains into said towel,
or the ever favorite, hawking up a loogie and sailing it past the dog.
The possibilities are endless for the mature madam.

Of course you can always counter, with some unique sounds and gestures of your own.
Savor the possibilities!
You could
back up; try to sit on them, while using the commode in the dark
or squeeze a dab too much soap
into their favorite coffee mug.

Prepare yourself!
It will result in some hedonistic repercussions,
percussion being their expertise.

Unfortunately, as with all gaming activity
we eventually must face up to the fact
that perhaps our luck has run out, we need to move on, cut our losses
quit while the going is good.
Make alternate plans
like retail therapy, escape into a movie,
adopt a Pomeranian.

Take a long hard look in the mirror
have a talk with our post-menopausal selves.
Ladies, take it from me, it is cheaper to keep him
And you get to keep the hairdresser and your credit rating.

Do you remember
when divorce wasn’t even an option
when they put a scarlet letter on you?
Do you remember when they use to
accuse you of being a witch
burn you at the stake?
Talk about your odds?

I mean, what if the Martians
that we were
created to mate with,
had pursued love instead of war?
Had planted cash crops, practiced random acts of kindness,
been vegetarians,
listened to their mothers or done any retirement planning?
Who knows where we would be today?
Instead their legacy left us dependent on dinosaur juice
and double dog daring dictators
while wasting money we don’t have
on an angry planet still in the throes of labor.
A planet that doesn’t care
if our thin sausage casings
survive her vog thrust ratio
not to mention, escape the pull of gravity.
A bit technical, I know, but
everybody knows that, for better, usually gets lost
when it’s time to go to Venus and visit the relatives.
And worse, is what you get
when you let the Martians
direct the satellite broadcast
while driving the spaceship.

Published In Hawaii Fishing News

My poem "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch" is posted in the June issue of Hawaii Fishing News. My husband and crew had a recent encounter with a large cargo net, his story is called "No Fishing Tale". Both my poem and his story are on page 19!! Photos by David E. Johnson.

They're Loose!

Bull Mastiff puppies
explore their territory
hunting for tidbits.

Nothing else survives
on their watch. Chickens, lizards
observe puppy time.

To dance with these bulls
requires fancy footwork
most drop out, first day.

The English Teapot and the Ceramic Pitcher

T: The Queen sends her regards. She trusts her subjects are well?

P: I am humbled, that the Queen would take the time to ask. What does her royal highness think of the current world view?

T: What do you mean?

P: Why, the end of the world dearie! Do keep up!

T: Ah yes the end of the world, The Queen is taking a no comment approach to this matter. Personally I believe it is pure and utter nonsense.

P: Oh yes, well down here in the trenches, we are taking bets. Right now it stands at 100 to 1 against. So, are you in?

T: Good gracious NO! I have my station to consider. It wouldn’t be proper. After all what would the Queen say?

P: The Queen is in it up to her eyeballs! She’s wagered the crown jewels against it but she’s a crafty wench! The royals will stay in power either way.

T: So what kind of liquid are you holding?

P: Nectar of the gods, dearie!  Dark warm ambrosia, guaranteed to cure what ails you. The Monks have been working on this recipe since the Dark Ages.

T: What’s the recipe?

P: I’ve been sworn to secrecy. I’ll be castrated, if I tell!

T: Castrated-WHERE?

P: Do you see that top band around my neck?

T: Yes?

P: Well, don’t spread this around but, it is the weakest part of my anatomy, if it cracks that’ll be the end of me. I will be rendered useless. They will send me to the compost piles...

T: NO- NOT THE COMPOST PILES!

P: I’m afraid so, and then I will be banished from the kingdom and no one will ever speak to me again.

T: You need not worry my Brave Heart, I vow on my honor as a lady in waiting to vouch for your character.

P: Thank you, my lady-If you please, do you have some spare cups to pour some of this precious nectar into; there's a good friend?

T: There you are, Brave Heart---I trust that there is plenty more where that came from. I have an idea, let’s toast to the end of the world!

P: Cheers, My Lady!

T: Cheers, Brave Heart!

 Moral: Don’t pass up a friendly pitcher of warm ale. It may be your last chance to party with friends!

Asses and Elbows

*** Image of Contortionist by hagenrock on photobucket.com


Look Mom, I can stuff
my head plus one elbow, up my ass.
Quick come see, what do
you think of this? Maybe I
could get a job in the circus
you know one of the sideshows?
Say yes, please, pretty please? I promise
to send the extra money home.
What do you mean, what about the dog?
Of course, him too! I’ll make him
part of the act.
He can hold the flashlight!

I Should’ve Had a V-8

Tanka 5-7-5-7-7

Should have stayed in bed

played with the puppies, practiced

Zen meditation

taken stills of three Pacu

gliding through cool clear water.

On the Prowl

 A nonet has nine lines. The first line has nine syllables, the second line eight syllables, the third line seven syllables, etc... until line nine that finishes with just one syllable. It can be on any subject and rhyming is optional.




Sprawled atop the comforter, clever
white whiskered kitten cries and purrs
wrinkles tiny nose at twin
scratches mirror double
meows at smudge when
mouse emerges
game changes
hunter
food.

Roar

Volcano's red howl

excites rare Hawaiian goose,

lava cracks dwelling.



They Don't Bark

His didn’t.
Three months and forty pounds ago
we loaded
our new puppies, two Bull Mastiff brothers
into the
back seat of the car.
Our little bundles of joy
playful, cuddly, lick your face
tail wagging
pistons of power.
Muscle pups
that fly
eat rocks
like tissue paper, and
leap through the air
like they were shot
out of a gun.
Small giants
still growing.
Two heart throbs
tweaking
evocative cords.
That chatter in tongues
that only their mother,
a brawny brindle lass, with pink toenails
that lives in Aiea,
could appreciate.

Meanwhile
Uncle Zeus
his most royal Great Dane highness
has completed the first round
of inspections
and graciously agreed
to teach them the ropes.
So far,
he has taught classes in:

  I.   The Perimeter
 II.   Mapping out the exact corner where the neighbor’s dogs live
III.  How to mark your territory
IV. Where to drink water out of the pond
 V.  I have the bone and you can’t have it
VI.  Midnight Howling

They all got an A
in that last subject.

I am so proud.

Our choir
is a dedicated group.
They practice every
time they hear a siren.
Sometimes they will wail
up to three or four times a night.
In fact they enjoyed Midnight Howling so much
they have already enrolled in the daytime course.
We’re planning on sending them
to the AKC national competition
maybe even hire a handler.
I am curious
about their pedigree though?
This particular trait
must have skipped a generation,
because their
Mom and Dad,
don’t bark.

Blood Sport

I see you over der Zeus.
Did ya eat?
Did ya have a good breakfast?

Oh, Oh

What are THEY eating now?

Apollo, don’t eat that!

What is that?
OMG, He’s eating shit!
NO, Apollo
Ehh, Ehh! Ehh, Ehh!
Don’t EAT THAT!
PEW, talk about ya bad breath!
Drink Water Apollo!
Go rinse ya mouth!

Rocky?
NO, Rocky, Eh ,Eh! Eh, Eh!

Leave that chicken ALONE!

OMG, that feral chicken is in his mouth.

He’s clamped down on it.

Oh shit, the chicken’s ass is gone!

There are feathers everywhere.

I can’t look!

No ZEUS No,
not you too!

Apollo stay!

Zeus!
Rocky!

God, are you watchin this?
I need a break!

Little Monsters

The door slammed,
echoing down the long hall.

 Mom gasped,

Quick,

hide the wrappers,

the cookie monsters are home!

Pacific Golden Plover

Aloha,

Rain Bird flies home to

Alaska.

** Plovers migrate home to Alaska during April-May and are back again August thru October for the winter.

Beach Walk

You got ya walkers and ya talkers.


Oh how cute, are they PUPPIES?


SIBLINGS?


What BREED Are They?

After tha first few minutes and
definately by tha end of our walk
I got tha speech down.

Yeah lady,


Dey’re Bull Mastiff braddahs


five and half months old.


Der well behaved, even tempered and


Yeah, dey’ve bin NEUTERED!

Look at those PAWS!

Yeah Lady
Der gonna be massive!

Only Five Months, Looks like You’ll Have Your Hands Full!

The puppies want ta say hello ta everyone.

Rocky likes ta wade in da surf, gonna catch a big one!

Apollo wants ta inspect everything on da sand,
pick it up
chew on it
and den spit it out. He’s da smart one!

YO—AND dey like ta drink der water outta
a plastic water bottle too.

Some people just walk on by
dey like to look da odda way
not dog people, I guess?

Der walkin- is more important
gotta keep dat heart rate up
or you ain't aerobic.

Won't be able to eat dat
extra donut or MacFlurry
if ya get my drift.

But, like I said
You got ya talkers
And ya walkers

Later!

The Dark Side

Published in Onefourty Fiction!!


http://www.onefortyfiction.com/archives/the-dark-side

Rain Bird Launch Party 2011

Rainy Day

I’m old and cold my body creaks
my posture is inflamed,
I am resigned to be confined
my teeth have been reclaimed,
but I won’t lie, I’d rather die
before I go insane.
***

The yard, a pool
for howling dogs
to paddle in a boat
will rush and swish
reward a fish
for flying over moats.
Oh happy fish
I sure do wish
to eat your white fillet
but I must swish
instead of fish
And so my meal, I feel
will get away, today.

Freelance

I've carved a creative niche
bitter sweet
difficult to deal with
as I saunter down your street.

My verse is clipped
And NO, I’m not a waitress
my heart beats true
my wits, a tender matrix.

I’ll stay for endless hours
to snap a simple view.
I direct my burning lens
to puke a primary hue.

It may affect your estimation
you see I have a reputation
It requires lots of concentration.
MY degree is in DEDICATION
to MY WORK.

You can’t be caught obscene
with dis drama queen.

Yeah my BAD
I mean
my gear is often stuck in
some balls hairy
places
lacking social graces
with dried egg plaster
embedded in our faces.

I’ll frame
you full of life
smug and satisfied
bare-assed naked
soaked
in all your lies.

SNAP DAT!

I am an artistic dish
itching
to generate, maybe palpitate
because I can imagine
you was once a gift, your mama’s boy
her pride and joy
intact, a sap-- JAIL-BAIT
that wouldn’t DREAM of being late
or make me wait
full of phony excuses
foul abuses
to face the boozers
sucking users
that refuses, to make the right choices
to grow, their WIRED VOICES.

WHY?

cause nothing shoots better
than living in your car.

And because I work for da STAR
you know.

Yeah-- I’m Mitch
and one dizzy bitch
what’s it to you?
YOU—standing there solid
in your dirty J. Crew.


And I am an artiste!

Won’t you be my candid shot
and play wit me some more?

Maybe later we can pan and zoom
by the corner candy store.

Because my lens is in your face
so shut the FUCK UP
don't dis me in MY SPACE.


I’ll just keep you AWHILE
What was your name, KYLE?
just turn yea sweet cheeks to da left
And babes, give me a big SMILE!!

Thor’s Hammer--A No-Show!

Thor’s hammer threatens
Kolohe Wahine golf
at Pearl Country Club.

Weather remains dry
forecast updated to cloudy
thunder a no-show.

Five Women golfers
laugh hysterically over
piss poor performance.
 
Saimin and Pepsi
lunch, revives tired bodies
Sun comes into view.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

She gets up early
to dress and shower.

Today she will slide
into a comfortable pair
of slacks, large top,
and Reeboks.

She will comb her short white hair
clean her glasses
take another Aleve
as the coffee brews
while she straightens up
before she gets into her car
to drive into town.

It is Sunday.

Today she will earn double time.

Tomorrow she has the day off.

Tomorrow she will celebrate
eat pizza at the mall
with her youngest daughter
the one who remembers to call her every day
the one who drives Dad to the Doctor
and isn’t too busy
or too far away to spend the
afternoon with her Mom.

No Flowers

Send me no flowers


no pretty petals

velvet soft.

Send me no long stemmed

beauties

whose dewy fragrance

waft.

Send me no posies

that require

casual note

if you care.

for they will surely die

their purple blooms

will choke

into a speckled brown despair.

Send instead

a cactus or a weed

that will not wither

or get into a dither

from neglect

that can be left

to survive in a

brown thumbed void

unchecked.

Pleasant Dreams America

                                                               Obama proclaims

Osama bin Laden, dead

pleasant dreams tonight.

The Barber

He looks competent enough


standing there in his white shirt and dark trousers

as he makes slow deliberate steps

in a well worn semi circle

pivoting left and right

his sharp scissors shaping and clipping

carefully clicking along to a favorite tune

as dark mounds pile up on the floor

a shaggy witness to his art.

A trusty comb is well positioned in his back pocket

at the ready, set for its cameo appearance and then placed back

as the razor continues to hum

as he finishes up the Asian man before me

his neck freshly shaved and brushed

as the cologne is dabbed and the smock is removed and shaken.

The black and white checkered floor

quickly surrenders her dark wispy curls

as he turns from the polished chrome

and black leather chair

and announces

the next lucky customer.

It is gripping

like a one act play

and I am in the front row

then he looks at me and smiles repeating the invitation.

I smile back

it’s too late to retreat.

I walk the lonely mile

and surrender my locks

to his sharp shears.

The floor willingly accepts

my sacrifice

and the play continues

with one sold out seat

held over

as the patrons

continue to line up

down the street.

A Wedding Toast

Let us rejoice and speak of love
lift up our glasses and cherish this moment

the day, the hour when two have become one.

Let us witness the beginning of a marvelous union.

Let us revel in the beauty, lift it up,

nourish it, praise it and

protect it.

Let us allow it the freedom to blossom

into a ripening mature love

resulting in contented bundles of joy to celebrate

further broadcasting our hopes and dreams

for a better tomorrow, long life and prosperity.

Here is to the sharing of this splendid occasion and in so doing

we refresh our own vows to one another

in friendship, faith and hope.

Legendary

Hawaiian showers

color

rainbows prism.

-Legendary-

prism rainbows

color

showers Hawaiian.

Published

Three poems personify terror

two photographs

true plumbs

 Rain Bird

-Published May 2011-

Rain Bird

plumbs true;

photographs two

terror personify, poems three.

 ***Three poems and two photographs are published in this year's Rain Bird (An annual Art and Literary journal of Windward Community College Kaneohe, Hawaii) This is my fourth consecutive year!!

Missing

News
Bunny steals eggs
Steers were Mastiffs
Film shows balls
-Missing-
Balls shows film
Mastiffs now Steers
Eggs steals bunny
News

Medicine

Oh prescription
take this virus
burning red
drop me
back
into my bed
where fishes glide
in seas so blue
with rest restored
ill health subdued.

Dreamland

Mirror oh Mirror

deliver dearer

kind reflections to this mirror

this view surrender

now much clearer.

-Dreamland-

Clearer

much now surrender view this to mirror

Reflections kind

dearer deliver

Mirror oh Mirror.

Easter

Celebrate
dye eggs, eat chocolate
enjoy friends and family
-Easter-
family and friends enjoy
chocolate eat, eggs dye
Celebrate.



Scared

Doubt stalks lies
finds fools plenty
-Scared-
plenty fools find
lies
stalk doubt.

Earth Day Challenge

Change you

Start now

Recycle, renew, review

Earth Day

-Challenge-

Day Earth

Review, renew, recycle

Now start

You change.

Sentinel

Myna bird pair

sing raucous songs

silent warrior tiki waits.

--Sentinel—

waits

tiki warrior silent

songs raucous sing

pair birds

myna.

Cookies

Sweet and tangy
baked fresh daily

-Cookies-

Daily fresh baked
tangy and sweet.

Imagine

Sickness defeats health
acts normal
at clinic.
-Imagine-
Clinic at
normal acts
healthy
defeats sickness.

Breeding

Art molds story like
plovers change feathers
transforming winter
into summer.
-Breeding-
summer into
winter transforming
feathers change plovers
like story molds art.

Snacking

Poet

feeds world art

dry raisins

-Sunny-

raisins dry

art world feeds

Poet

The Agony and the Ecstasy

Low putts awarded

chipping in on the twelfth green

paid with nine iron.

Fine Art

 Motoring ahead
with the mind firmly harnessed
and all of its divergent frequencies

reined in

requires a large stone and a dash of genius.

To stick with a thing is to
cut deeper than anyone else
far beneath the surface of dim reality
uncovering the coarse dense layers
as each wedge further
manifests its own energy.

Only after
you have uncovered the truth

Only then does it release
the hostage
to ponder again transfixed.

Only of course

until the next precious pearl
is reaped from flatter tablets
to decorate cyber walls
for future generations to venerate
and complicate.