"A YEAR OF SUNDAYS" - SUBMISSIONS - August 2023

[Michael Pendragon]

Start posting.

[Edward Rochester Esq.]

On Wednesday, August 2, 2023 at 8:53:50 AM UTC-4, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> Start posting.
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Harvest


How many young ears
will be harvested under this
Green Corn Moon?

Not quite edible,
they hang until the smoking scythe
removes earth's nourishment.

Crow's call -- it's a matter of time
before thoughts and prayers are sent
to the fallen yield.

ER

[Coco DeSockmonkey]

[NancyGene]

...

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Edward Rochester Esq.]

On Wednesday, August 2, 2023 at 9:00:14 AM UTC-4, Edward Rochester Esq. wrote:

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Four More for the Road

Too many times he pulls
a Wallenda act, balancing that curb
outside Joe's Cocktail
where laughs can be found
gulping a five-dollar beer --
that missed bus home,
kicks up dust on a dull shine
and he heads back in
to finish the job.

ER

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

,,,

[ME]

[Ash Wurthing]

VESSELS
Up to lofty blue aeries my hope carries
My spirit aspiring to be free of haughty ivory spires
conspiring against the heavens, while my will, it tires
and into dark dread so deep it will slip into sleep
to be interred in a hidden reliquary of lost dreams
repository of that desperately held dear still gleams*

A seemingly disturbed surface only hints at what is hidden below-- murky depths churning with frigid undercurrents flowing forth from shells, husks, reviled vessels of virtue, an undertow threatening to snag, drag down into its drowning depths, those seeking their mysteries.*

and they became small humans, packed in brine, their curious search into the black void
where no one prays to a particular god, no sign of squid or killifish. no blade of sea grass
dare grow as the implode scattered simple flesh and bone to rest on ancient hulls,
where sleeping skeletons barely moved.**

~~ *Ash Wurthing/Ecthrois Grimm & **Edward Rochester Esq.

* * * *

[Edward Rochester Esq.]

On Wednesday, August 2, 2023 at 9:00:14 AM UTC-4, Edward Rochester Esq. wrote:

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Distribution


I do believe cows
eat better than some of mankind
while some of mankind enjoy
eating cows.

I'm guilty, I eat cows and pigs
and chickens, not giving a thought
to their slaughter before the roast.

I see children with distended bellies,
flies taking a sip of moisture from
their piercing eyes of fear as I burp up
last night's rib-eye.

I'm nothing more than a well-fed hypocrite.

It's too late to change my ways
as I sit back and write of the strange ways
the 'creator' has laid it all out --
never an equal distribution outside the barn
where cows are treated as royalty, until I eat them.

ER

[Jordy C]

it's never too late to become a vegetarian! personally, stopped eating meat as a New Year's Resolution going into 2020, and am thrilled and pleased and gratified that I did so! there is still an abundance of food options to chose from... not sure I would ever have the desire or willpower to be a vegan, but nevertheless am satisfied to be vegetarian...

[Edward Rochester Esq.]

On Sunday, August 6, 2023 at 12:27:00 PM UTC-4, Jordy C wrote:
> it's never too late to become a vegetarian! personally, stopped eating meat as a New Year's Resolution going into 2020, and am thrilled and pleased and gratified that I did so! there is still an abundance of food options to chose from... not sure I would ever have the desire or willpower to be a vegan, but nevertheless am satisfied to be vegetarian...

You are not welcomed on this thread...leave.

[NancyGene]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

SUMMER TIME


One Summer afternoon at Herald Square
I watched Forever basking in the sun
To ragtime melodies from days gone by.
Commuters bustled by me unaware
That time had stopped before it had begun;
That none can leave this moment; none can die…

A Summer breeze blows salt-and-pepper hair
About my temples as I wonder how
The noonday shoppers strolling past me now
Can't see that they aren't going anywhere.

I watched Time close his eyes and drift to sleep,
A schoolboy smiling through his noonday nap,
While Summer yawned and traffic ceased to flow.
It seemed the universe was set to keep
The moment frozen like a fading snap-
Shot pasted in my Father's picturebook.

Time stopped that day, yet no one cares to know,
Nor gives the silent clock a second look;
Caught in midstep, like china figurines
One image from a film whose reel of scenes
Are tiny photos wound up in a can.

The story ends as soon as it began,
And time alone can tell us what it means.

-- Michael Pendragon

*****

[Edward Rochester Esq.]

...

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Edward Rochester Esq.]

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A Slow Dance to Sunrise


My eyes remain opened once again
studying a ceiling crack running fast
toward a deceitful curtain,
a curtain that does little to hide,
but frames a voyeuristic moon --
I squeeze my eyes shut
trying to end its midnight stare
as a down-filled pillow slowly becomes
more an accomplice,
to my insomnia.

 
I remember, with scattered thoughts,
those past sleigh rides,
carrot nosed snowmen
and an almost caught spring trout,
as friends laughed
at my ineptitude with
a fishing pole.
 
I have learned to sing
with owls over the years,
play violin with cricket
orchestras, their nocturnal life,
being mine
all while remembering 
I forgot once again
to call those I promised to --
they sleep tonight,
quiet sandman dreams,
as I watch minutes
become hours,
with that moon
slowly turning back
into a sun
and with all of that,
always the thought of time
shrinking in the rear-view
mirror.

ER

[Ash Wurthing]

Vessels, part II: Voyage End
Languishing in the lonely latitude of Gwylleery
amidst withered vines the sinister wind slithers
it's sworn that upon it, mournful words echo weary
lamenting waning hours while pallid Luna dithers
awaiting the arrival of long lost phantom galleons
from forgotten fathoms, arising bearing precious
treasures across lorn leagues of the perished halycon
~~Ash Wurthing

******

[Michael Pendragon]

[Edward Rochester Esq.]

On Thursday, August 10, 2023 at 8:15:41 AM UTC-4, Ash Wurthing wrote:

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Shackled


The dog has no bark
that sweet pussy cat, no meow,
above, the sparrow has no chirp.

Who roams this silent
menagerie, stirring some beans,
topping the toast
watching it all brew
into a cup of loneliness?

The echo shouts back stillness,
the wild roses, curl back
onto themselves as if embarrassed
to bloom.

This forest remains,
though fire has tempted to destroy,
but it's the quiet
when noise should be the symphony
that disturbs.

Who dwells inside this nature's jail?

Who dares walk into society
without a sound, without a mission --
who wades the streams as small fish
scatter -- who opens their mouths
with nothing to say?

The sun does not dare warm,
the rain does not nourish weakened stalks
as the candle burns dim inside a shack
where a heart barely beats.

ER

[Edward Rochester Esq.]

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City Canyons


I shall render all concrete
and brick, soft edged, slash in
a blur of yellow as cab's race
past the reds and greens
of a corner vegetable stand.
 
A white pigeon will dance
over the luncheonette sign --
its neon flicker,
a mix of solid, then scattered
blue.
 
A silver jet overhead, will leave its
curled contrail -- those viewing
never knowing whether it arrives
or departs the finished canvas.
 
Finally, the signature
announcing to all, I was there
for a brief moment in time.

ER

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

I love You Too Much to Ever
by NancyGene

Like you, I thought there would be years
of us and growing old with handsome sons
and everyone’s

problems not our path, but now we’re volunteers
in war, with chilled hearts demanding change,
which break so we can rearrange

our thoughts of love and what we vowed
and why our fairy tale concludes
with shaking heads and attitudes,

with parting goods and mushroom clouds,
be always friends, though love is through,
respect for each, but I won’t like you.

[roach]

lose the rhyme and speak from the heart

[NancyGene]

---

[Edward Rochester Esq.]

On Wednesday, August 2, 2023 at 9:00:14 AM UTC-4, Edward Rochester Esq. wrote:
> On Wednesday, August 2, 2023 at 8:53:50 AM UTC-4, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> > Start posting.
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Harvest
>
>
> How many young ears
> will be harvested under this
> Green Corn Moon?
>
> Not quite edible,
> they hang until the smoking scythe
> removes earth's nourishment.
>
> Crow's call -- it's a matter of time
> before thoughts and prayers are sent
> to the fallen yield.
>
> ER

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Jingle Jangle


That’s it, all that’s left,
the jingle jangle from the right pocket
as I head out for cheap wine and a smoke.

I paid the dues, my Uncle Sam said,
served the country when called
but they want more, one leg wasn’t enough
to leave in some grass hut, laying blue
next to the black pot holding
a mix of potatoes and onion.

Her teeth were black, those unfiltered
tobacco, killing the kiss, I settled for a hug
and was swept away by a whirly-bird
back to pot holes and rusted railings
of sky high places of healing.

Some bitch about the humidity,
some the rancid meat left to thaw
and eat after that steel leg gets a work out.

Jingle jangle sounds sweet, enough to toss
into the bucket of those forgotten.

I’ve paid, still pay, freedom demands it.

ER

[roach]

what are you guys doing up???

[NancyGene]

[NancyGene]

[ME]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Coco DeSockmonkey]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

DARK BEAUTY

Dark Beauty walks in ragged widow's weeds,
In whispered teardrops, shadows from the moon;
In misbegotten dreams, back-alley deeds
A glistening blade, the hurdy-gurdy tune
Of sideshow freaks with tumors on display.

The rotted-rubber scent of spent balloons
The creeping darkness when the day is done,
A pinprick curse, the casting of the runes
A waiting hearse, a date carved on a stone
A blackened church where no one goes to pray.

She sings in rabbit shrieks and banshee screams
She paints in blooddrops, sighs in spiderwebs,
Finds poems hidden deep in troubled dreams
Draws strength from groans when life is at its ebb,
And dances with the rats behind night's walls.

She glides on raven's wings beneath the stars
Tiptoes through graveyards when the stars have fled,
Runs bone-white fingers softly 'cross the scars
That mark the wounds from which life's martyrs bled
And laughs with nightmares rearing in their stalls.

She's there when bolts of lightning split the sky
And morning stormclouds shroud the world in black,
She smiles at phantom witches rushing by
Delights in every fearsome thundercrack
That calls her presence like a trumpet blast.

She's in the hush that greets a dying breath
Each smoke trail from a snuffed out candleflame,
She teases me with secrets pried from death
-- From dreamless sleep that mortals dare not name --
When time has stopped, and all the hours that passed

Have vanished like a footprint from the sand.
When tearful love words bid their last "Farewell"
She thrills at every tremble of the hand
That reaches out as one caught in a spell
Then falls on satin bedsheets and is still.

She stands beside my bed to watch age drain
Each drop of color from my hair and skin,
Then with a voice as soft as April rain
She'll speak my name and bid me rise again
To join her in the dark where dreams begin.

-- Michael Pendragon

*****

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

```

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

---

[NancyGene]

River’s End
by NancyGene

I’m a Navy Man and I know how to swim--
The river is daring me to jump in.

I wade and then swim and I’m carried down
The river to the falls and the dam by the town.

I’m slammed into rocks and dead trees slash my chest.
I’m gulping in water and can’t take a rest

From the devil current that boils in this river.
I’m bloodied and torn and starting to shiver.

I tried to cool off on this blasted hot day,
But I’m drowning instead and the waterfall spray

Is pushing me downward and over the falls,
And I hear my mother and her warning calls.

Oh, Mother, I’m dying please help me to live.
I’ve so much to offer if rescued and give

My word to be good to man and to beast,
Then I hit the bottom. Navy Man, now deceased.

[NancyGene]

Sissy Boy
by NancyGene

I was a sissy boy, who worshiped Hello Kitty,
who envied his sister’s dresses,
and toddled in his mother’s shoes,
and wondered if he was pretty.

Now I am a man, protected by the laws,
of equal treatment of
and accommodations for
my predilection cause.

No one asks me if, they always seem to know
that this is who I am,
and I still am what I was,
when I try to say hello.

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

*****

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

“Look on My Works”
by NancyGene

I can do it.
Look at me! I can write!
I can paint!
I can sing!
I can do everything
easily,
naturally,
splendidly.

They’re so jealous
of my looks, of my gifts.
I am smart!
I am rich!
I have everything
without trying,
just by saying
that it’s so.

Do you doubt that?
Read my books. Aren’t they great?
Hear my poems.
Speak my name.
You won’t forget me—
I won’t let you.
I’ll live on,
written in air.

[NancyGene]

I’m a Loser
by NancyGene

I prefer “didn’t win” to “lost;”
It sounds less like I was tossed
out the back door of the election
and it really wasn’t a rejection

of me personally. I have to reason
that what the voter sees in
others may not be in my bag of tricks
or maybe it’s the fault of candid pics

of me and my really bad haircut,
or my platform made voters say, “What?”
I’m up to eighteen didn’t wins now.
and I think that I finally know how

to win, but that would be if I was
the only candidate and because
that’s not likely to happen soon,
I’ll just continue to fine-tune

my acceptance speech, which
I will update soon after I pitch
my policies for the well-earned position
of the Mayor of Misguided Ambition.

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

THE NIGHT CAFÉ

Half hidden in the aftermidnight haze
Of bourbon, Moscow mules, and whiskey sours,
Where minute hands push back against the hours
And backstreets twist into a funhouse maze,
Staccato footsteps in three-quarter time
Trace sidewalk gullies down familiar tracks;

Deep in the night, a flickering neon sign
Shines through the shadows like a guiding star,
Welcomes night's scarecrow children as they are
Like ragtag pilgrims to a martyr's shrine.
There, in the stench of day-old piss and grime,
Where pain rides like a monkey on your back

And dreams are served up straight or on the rocks,
They sit in shadowed splendor, all alone,
Sip bottled sleep while weighted hours drag on
And curse the crooked smile of the clock.

But just before the morning sun takes flight
They slowly fade away into the night
Like shattered dreams tucked in a miser's box.

[Michael Pendragon]

KISS MY MIND

If you could kiss my mind with words of love
Share chocolate conversations, speak bouquets,
Or take my hand with whispers meant to move
My silent heart, then take my breath away
With songs as gentle as a Summer rain;
Touch me with tones warm as a hearthfire's glow,
Fill me with sighs, then sweep me up again
With secret words true love alone can know --
Impassioned pleas that hint of foreign shores;
Capture my soul with sonnets, murmur low
Then close my lips with those that I adore,
Gaze in my eyes and let my looks bestow
The rapture that my words fail to convey --
That burns anew with every passing day.

-- Michael Pendragon

*****

NAKED NIGHT


Come walk with me beneath the wide-eyed moon
Whose gaping jaw and cherry-blush exclaim
Her wicked wonderment at mortal love
That neither god nor man can hope to tame,
A flame that burns an hour, then all too soon
Is lost within the labyrinth of time.

Come walk beside me in a moonlit grove
When nightbirds fly and faeries dance in rings,
Where hoot owls sound their mournful churchbell chime
That floats above our heads on sable wings,
While fireflies form a golden treasure trove
Of sparkling lovelight 'round our mossy bed.

Who knows what rapture love's enchantment brings,
What ecstasies of passion lie ahead?
When hearts take flight in kisses that expose
Our naked souls as though the clothes we've shed
Were cloaks wherein the dark, unspoken things
We've felt but never said were sent to die.

Come lie with me and let our hearts disclose
Their hidden longings in the arms of night;
Just you and I, and only stars in sight
As we exchange the wordless vows love knows
And lose our souls within true love's delight.

-- Michael Pendragon

*****

[NancyGene]

August 2023
by NancyGene

August, you have well lived up to your name this year,
hurtling water, wind and fire.
Is there anything left in your arsenal
to make September even more dire?