"A YEAR OF SUNDAYS" - SUBMISSIONS - July 2023

[Michael Pendragon]

Start posting:

[NancyGene]

Sea Sons
by NancyGene

His voice was deep, but he was shallow,
Despite being Neptune and ruling the sea.
I still considered being his gal, though

I couldn’t swim and he was dripping wet.
He didn’t wear many clothes and smelled of fish,
And he was the scaliest man I had ever met.

We had dinner in a cove and he served raw clams,
Dug up with his trident and covered with weeds.
He recited poems that were stuffed with iambs,

While I pondered how he could cast my upkeep.
He didn’t have a car or boat or credit card,
And I suspected that he had to swim in his sleep.

Was it worth giving up my lifestyle for a cave
With this guy, who controlled the water and storms?
I held my breath and said goodbye with a little wave.

[ME]

[Ash Wurthing]

Point Nemo

My heart measures the night in ounces
A drop for you, a quart for him
smeared into sigils and symbols littered across the moon's oceans
until there's nothing left-- aside
from a pound of flesh that is mine alone to devour
Salted and entropic and lush with the bitterness of
a dream that was never meant for the toxins of my touch

I tried to follow you even though I shouldn't
moving through the bathypelagic depths
speeding through your slow motion entrance
And then I tripped on my faith and my heartstrings
(surprisingly delicate things for such a punishing duty)
slipped around my neck and you laughed as I struggled
nighttime covering my eyes like an oil slick
and twilight a stone at my heels

(They say that Hope never dies but the harsh truth is that we are selfishly keeping its rotting carcass alive out of spite or necessity, waiting for a message that will never come)
~~Ecthrois Grimm

[Edward Rochester Esq.]

On Friday, June 30, 2023 at 8:12:22 AM UTC-4, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> Start posting:
----------------------------------------------------------

The Night I Cursed the Moon

I'm left with nothing but heartache --
that sadistic moon, illuminated all that gathered
to celebrate independance as I stand alone
watching Army bands compete with
colorful alligence knowing the enemy
is now us.

Our cheers and rah-rah should go quiet --
the dead in the streets pile high,
and the moon, that silly rock, coaxes some
to plant a ring on the fingers of lovers
who one day may bring the next innocent's
to die, for we are a nation of blindfolded laws
enabling the rights of those that seek to remove the rights
of others.

Cheer independance on a given day and lock the doors,
'independance' becomes nothing more than an oxymoron
as I curse the moon asking independence from what?

Edward Rochester Esq.

[MIchael Peadragon]

Good Will Hunted

Odd prey, Dockery strapped to the fender of a four-wheeler,
tongue flapping, eyes glazed over.

"Where you headed with that, brother?"

"Gonna have the head removed and mounted
over the fire place."

"Are you sure, Dockery is in season?"

"Dockery was born in season!"

"Save me one of those little feet."

"You got it, I'll throw in the ears, they look like good
chaw, seasoned real nice."

Edward Rochester Esq. as "anon"

[Ash Wurthing]

Clepsydra

Stains across the mirror
black waters slowly seeping
swallowing the error I am

Each droplet counts the seconds
devours all the aching
knowing you, you don't give a damn

But nothing lasts forever
even oaths can crumble
the lion will still slaughter the lamb

So sit and clock the hours
call on me tomorrow
in the shallows where my fading heart swam
~~Ecthrois Grimm

[Michael Pendragon]

BLESSINGS

Bless apple blossoms in the Spring
The burst of joy each birdsong brings
The blush of clover in an April field;

Bless flowers, bees, and butterflies
And trees that reach up for the skies
The friendly hand in which God is revealed.

Bless barefoot children, woodland streams
The lover's tears, the poet's dreams
That shake his thoughts to gain their voice in rhyme.

Bless lazy days baked by the sun
The hush of night when day is done
And love that lasts past the last page of time.

Bless wagging tails and robins' wings
The planets, stars, old Saturn's rings
Cool Sazeracs on Summer afternoons;

Bless kitten purrs and fireflies
The rapture in a woman's sighs
The ancient face that smiles down from the moon.

Bless snowy beaches, sailboat rides
Forever smiles of Juneday brides
Enchanted figures in a cloudy sky;

Bless deep-sea songs from humpback whales
Bless nursery rhymes and fairytales
The welcome smell of homebaked pumpkin pie.

Bless Christmas morning, Halloween
Saint Paddy's wearin' of the green
Thanksgiving, Easter, Samhain, Beltane, Yule;

July the fourth, all holidays
The Sunday service hymns of praise;
Bless rich man, poor man, tinker, tailor, fool.

Bless old folks, babies, adults, teens
Life's panoply of shifting scenes
All that we've learned and all we'll never know.

Bless brown-eyed girls on rainy nights
The cavalcade of city lights
And goodnight kisses when it's time to go.

Bless memories of days gone by
Where those we've loved need never die
But walk beside us like a second soul.

And when my world draws to a close
I'll spend my last breath blessing those
Who shared their love and made my spirit whole.

-- Michael Pendragon

*****

[Edward Rochester Esq.]

On Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at 3:40:40 AM UTC-4, Ash Wurthing wrote:
> They say that there's windows to the soul
> so gaze into these empty eyes and know
> that you look upon the light-forsaken walking dead
> our unfocused gaze stares straight through your head
> as if you didn't exist, unlike your vision can discern
> you stripped of your masks and self-important vanity
> We hear your undisguised tones, your true mentality
> callous disregard, helpless pity, hopeful concern
> ~~Ash Wurthing
-----------------------------------------------------------

A5

I could tell she wasn’t pleased
as I paid more attention to the cherry coke
over at Mary Bill's diner than her
and years later, to a rum and coke
over at the Steer Inn --
but a pair we remained until the end,
the whys I’ll leave to those that try
to understand such things.

Now I pay attention
when the music brings us back together,
for that’s all that remains, now that she’s gone.

Edward Rochester Esq.

[Edward Rochester Esq.]

----------------------------------------------------------------


Expectations

So, this is the closest
I’ve come to Miss Havisham
away from the printed page
and the expectations
are not great
when drapes are withdrawn,
that birds will be dancing in puddles
or Micawber will strut
and tip his hat as my stare
disturbs the new dust.

Tomorrow is another day, they say


Gallons have flowed
through foreign fields,
before coagulating
around bones of conquer,
stuck as if scarecrows,
dotting a brief silent struggle.

Victory is proclaimed in newsprint,
though the struggle
now reaches domestic shores
as if blood and bone are now proclaimed
a new strain of cancer.

Most wonder, behind masks of protection,
how blue skies seem more a distant pastel,
memory only serving yesterday's dilemma
while waiting patiently for a clearing to occur.

So we count the names, count the closed eyes
to disruption, pin medals on chests for bravery
while pointing fingers at those that deceive
or infiltrate in the guise of patriotism.

Listen to spring birds, their dance and chirp
proclaim hope still can be found though cats linger
in the shadows, ready to pounce
and scatter feathers into the new day.

Edward Rochester Esq.

[ME]

On Friday, 14 July 2023 at 00:55:00 UTC-4, Ash Wurthing wrote:
> LIFEBLIND

> They say that there's windows to the soul
> so gaze into these empty eyes and know
> that you look upon the light-forsaken walking dead
> our unfocused gaze stares straight through your head
> as if you didn't exist, unlike your vision can discern
> you stripped of your masks and self-important vanity

> hearing your undisguised tones, your true mentality

[ME]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

On Monday, July 17, 2023 at 12:58:40 PM UTC-4, ME wrote:

[ME]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

***

[Coco DeSockmonkey]

[ME]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

AFTERMATH

Where does a lover go when love has gone;
When life drags on as hours stretch into years
And each horizon spreads its shroud of grey
Across the heavens like a dying swan?
Where does one go when eyes run out of tears,
When joy and pain have long been washed away
And each new day has nothing to impart,
No rhyme or reason for the silenced heart
To keep repeating beats that just mark time?

How does the dreamer manage to ignore
The sickening taste that permeates the dawn,
How does he find the strength to rise from bed;
A morning after with no night before,
The senseless waste in struggling to live on
Long after life has ceased to hold a shred
Of interest for one who must abide
Although there's only emptiness inside
When love has died but still life's pantomime

Goes on unheeded and the stage is bare?
Why does my soul persist? Why am I here?
Must I exist, or can I disappear?
Why do I ask when I no longer care?

-- Michael Pendragon

*****

[Michael Pendragon]

SEASCAPES


The Summer skies are never quite so blue
As over noontide beaches in July
When ocean waves the color of the sky
Repaint the heavens in a deeper hue
For barefoot lovers walking in the sand.

I watch the shorebound breakers rolling in
Their seasalt-crested foam by mermaids spun;
While like a mad dog lying in the sun
That bakes my bones and burns my Winter skin
Brick red, I kid myself that I have tanned.

Soon sunblock-scented breezes tease my hair
I close my eyes and half pretend to doze,
Then brush away the sand between my toes
And wonder if I ever had a care
Or how the world could fleck my hair with gray.

A distant boat, half hidden in the mist
Sails just before the far horizon's rim
Unseen by bathing families who skim
Atop the waves like schools of flying fish
Lost in the wonder of a Summer day.

Each now and then a buzzing overhead
Tells of an antique airplane passing by
Its billboard banner twenty stories high
Vies for attention till the sun has fled
Beneath the waters of the western bay.

But it's just afternoon, for time stands still
As captured in a postcard photograph,
Bucket brigades of children squeal and laugh
And I'm a black-patched buccaneer until
My watch hand ticks and time moves on its way.

Each yesterday lives just beyond my reach
Like seagull-feather clouds and broken dreams,
And one sandcastle Summer only seems
Eternal when the waves that lick the beach
Bring dead men's tales of all that yet may be.

Somewhere upon a long-forgotten tide
The waves wound seaweed chains about my feet,
Somewhere a redhaired seamaid murmured sweet
Love stories as we lay there side by side,
Beside the ghost of lovers lost at sea.

I wipe a salty sweatbead from my cheek
Let Summer's sunbrowned memory linger on
One moment more, then scan the waves to seek
A distant boat, but find that it has gone.

-- Michael Pendragon

*****

[Michael Pendragon]

SPIDERWEBS

The ghosts of tattered lace, they strive to bind
The unstitched spaces linking time and place,
Their cobwebbed latticework runs through my mind
With interlaced design that seems to trace
Forgotten lovedreams whispered to the night.

As soft as petals plucked from baby's breath
They weave their webs from wisps of spent perfume,
Plot out life's path from cradle to the tomb
Set down the hour of doom when eight-legged death
Entwines the soul in threads of satin white.

For all that was, or is, or that shall be
Is woven in the cobweb tapestry
Spun from the dreams that make up you and me
Spun into words that no one can unwrite.

-- Michael Pendragon

*****

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

**********

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

^^^^^

[NancyGene]

^^^^^^^^^^

[NancyGene]

Primarily Gray
by NancyGene

He was a shade of primer gray,
with more than a few coats aerosol sprayed,
mixed with the smears of dried up blood
remaining after hitting the ground with a thud.

Another corpse to me, more urban crime--
unlucky stiffs meeting their time
to go at a crossroads, with a yearning to stay
just a few more minutes until today

Was their last as I started mine and at least
this one’s demise will help to decrease
the number of mosquitoes that are swarming and biting
at the used car lot with its LED lighting.

Another gray day with thick smoke in the air
and buyers stayed home instead of checking the wear
on the tires of my cars with their pounded out dents
so I knew that more bugs would be clogging the vents

of this week’s specials and Internet sales
with their loss leader prices and * details.
We dinos have thrived, out-competing the fur balls,
and we short-arm the rest, not honoring recalls.

The sky still looks dark so perhaps it will rain?
Now I see great red sparks and a fireball gain
in an arc on the cloudbank and it’s suddenly quiet,
could this fiery streak be the reason why it

is gray...

[Ash Wurthing]

BRAZEN AUTOLATRY
In this Age of self-deification,
over the Empowered, slavery still reigns
binds and blinds Nature's proud 'prodigies'
all for a pound of pleasures, a pound of pains
the toil and trade for these vain commodities
~~Ash Wurthing

[ME]

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

~~~~

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

_______

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

Blame It on the Moon
by NancyGene

The moon peers down with a gray-fringed frown,
besotted by Evening’s parted nightgown.
The stars wink away, will no lovers betray.
Saturn spins its rings of passion display.

Venus acts as observer,
Mars is blood-red with fervor.
and Mercury swiftly turns ‘round.

The moon is half man tonight,
claiming droit du seigneur first right.
Without any love prose,
it falls on our shadows.

[ME]

Very good !

[Michael Pendragon]

AMARETTO

Let's drink to love on starry Summer nights
When candelabra stars adorn the sky;
Each starbeam whisp'ring of untold delights
Of love that burns too strong to ever die.

Let's drink to romance, sweet as almond wine
Bold as the moon and knowing as his smile;
To blushing cheeks that tell me you are mine
And breathless sighs that cannot but beguile

A lovestruck poet cast on passion's shore.
But love oftimes a bitter draught can prove;
And midnight promises of evermore
Fade with the stars when morning's eager dove

Sings his love song and vows to never part
With one that shot her arrow through his heart.

-- Michael Pendragon

*****

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

&&&

[NancyGene]

Out of Quarters*
by NancyGene

Soft drinks erode the esophagus,
like you burned a hole through our love.
The bottle of rum couldn’t tell me
why you weren’t listening whenever I talked.

What thought was so great that you did not hear me?
You would have been angry if I hadn’t doted on you.
Whether at the diner or the bar or in the bedroom,
I might as well not have been there, then I wasn’t.

It was years coming, but Death chose a last song.
You never told me what the number should have been.
You looked down while I measured our distance,
the wrong selection playing out all our lives.


*a companion poem to Edward Rochester’s “A5.”

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

+++++

[Michael Pendragon]

*****

[Ash Wurthing]

(reposting since the last line got hidden in a quote block)

LIFEBLIND
They say that there's windows to the soul
So gaze into these empty eyes and know
That you look upon the light-forsaken walking dead
Our unfocused gaze stares straight through your head
As if you didn't exist and unlike your vision can discern
You stripped of your masks and self-important vanity
Hearing your undisguised tones, your true mentality
Callous disregard, helpless pity, hopeful concern
~~Ash Wurthing

[NancyGene]

.......

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

****^^

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

&&&

[Michael Pendragon]

FAERIES


Sometimes on Summer nights when old man moon
Casts silver pennies wide about the sky,
And crickets play a wild, enchanting tune
I know the faeries will be dropping by
To spoil the milk and drive young lovers mad.

Sometimes when honeysuckle blossoms scent
The midnight air with amorous perfume,
When cobweb, moth, and mustardseed are blent
With love-in-idleness and witches broom
And spices from the court of Kakiobad…

When shadows slink between the forest trees
And nightbirds screech their dragon-clawed refrain,
When unseen voices shimmer on the breeze
And cherry petals fall like fits of rain
The faeries dance in toadstool-shaded rings.

That's when the poet reaches for his pen
And scribbles down their moonsongs, spells and rhymes,
Catches their tune, then writes them up again
In faerie language born of olden times --
The starlight words with which his spirit sings.

-- Michael Pendragon

*****

[Michael Pendragon]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Coco DeSockmonkey]

[Michael Pendragon]

[Coco DeSockmonkey]

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

~~~~~

[Michael Pendragon]

~~~~~

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

_____

[Michael Pendragon]

>((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

[Michael Pendragon]

))))))))))))))))))))))))))))> >

[NancyGene]

$$

[Michael Pendragon]

KA-CHING!

[NancyGene]

£ £ £

[Michael Pendragon]

%%%

[Michael Pendragon]

8P8P8P

[NancyGene]

€€€

[Michael Pendragon]

¥¥¥

[NancyGene]

> > > > > > > > د.إ‎ > > _____

> > > > > > > > > >((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
> > > > > > > > ))))))))))))))))))))))))))))> >
> > > > > > > $$
> > > > > > KA-CHING!
> > > > > £ £ £
> > > > %%%
> > > 8P8P8P
> > €€€
> ¥¥¥

د.إ‎ د.إ‎ د.إ‎

[Michael Pendragon]

ꝚꝚꝚ

[Michael Pendragon]

MOONTITS
(For Dessa)

White spheroids glowing in the lunar mist
Of nebulous splendor spread by dying stars,
Pink aureoles strain forward to be kissed
As Venus rises to conjoin with Mars;

Moon mountains pierce the night like floating breasts
While craters gape to lure explorers in,
Celestial argonauts bound for conquest
Their missiles launched with interstellar sin

The golden moonfleece of their midnight quest.
My spaceship hurtling half-past dread and fear
Flies toward its goal much as it were possessed
Trailblazing deep into the Great Frontier.

Goddess of night with silver charms outspread
Heaven awaits within thy starlit bed!

-- Michael Pendragon

*****

[Michael Pendragon]

[Edward Rochester Esq.]

On Friday, June 30, 2023 at 8:12:22 AM UTC-4, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> Start posting:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
June bug

June bug, June bug come sit right here with me,
this house is cold and dark you see but I sure would like
your company.

June bug, June bug she's gone, she's gone from me
come in, come in and sit right here with me
and we'll keep each other some company.

Why I ask, this silly, silly moon,
did she up and run away -- our days were bright,
the nights were right but now it's just a June bug and me.

June bug, June bug come sit right here with me
June bug, June bug come ease my misery.

L. Frizzel

[Michael Pendragon]

[NancyGene]

====

[Edward Rochester Esq.]

On Friday, June 30, 2023 at 8:12:22 AM UTC-4, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> Start posting:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Calling

Among brick and ruin,
I watched a butterfly's desperate search
for beauty -- there, resting between shade and sun,
a petal reached out, coaxing a delicate kiss.

ER