Wednesday, December 30, 2015

submerged

what if this gentle fool you know
reached out a hand placed it just so
upon your cheek
and ran his fingers through your hair

would you lean into his caress
closing your eyes take in a breath
and cup his hand in yours

day after day
this intimate exchange
below the surface is restrained
he holds his breath
and slowly goes insane

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

PAD Nov 2015 day (8) http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides/november-pad-chapbook-challenge-2015


Sunday, December 6, 2015

down the line

uncomfortable truce
syncopation of desire
and nature's leavings

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

Inspired by sma river's Feedback and Forth

Saturday, December 5, 2015

elegance

treading softly is a skill
we need to cultivate
taking cue from context
we don't need to dominate
each other or the natural order
plenty if we share
and live within the framework
deity placed in our care

Sunday, November 29, 2015

nefarious triangle

the model and reality
diverge on former's acc'racy
'til the chasm in-between
reveals itself a lie

though intent may not have been
the author's errors have crept in
to fuel a third's perception
of an eddy to be robbed

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

Inspired by the poem No Words by Michael French

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

simmering

on an odd midweek holiday
when both could have slept in

she awoke with a start
to the sounds of pots and pans
banging
liberal - in the sense of magnitude
swearing
and water
running

she found him in the kitchen
cleaning oatmeal
from the crevices of
their twenty year old range
flustered

oatmeal rice
any kind of grain
potatoes pasta
all turn out the same

on high 'til they bubble
cover turn it low
then there comes the trouble
soon they overflow

silly turn it lower

he lost his steam
and pouted

she took him gently by the arm
headed back upstairs
and proved his point

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

festive

the thunder of artillery
mechanical annihilation
grim reports of all the costs
this human degradation
the armistice has morphed into
a glorious celebration
of victory
with fireworks
and toasts
of sailors kissing nurses
as we revel in the slaying of the dragon
while the fire still burns
low
in each of us
keep the watch

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~All Rights Reserved

in my fevered dreams

once upon my head your hands
your pleasure gently helped me find

where swell of breast my lips and tongue
and teeth do help give rise

while knowing fingers ply a course
which brings an indrawn breath
then draw away to make this play
last longer with a rest

once upon my head your hands
your pleasure gently helped me find

where nibbled lips an arch beget
with moans not far behind

and soon the earth does shudder
as the waves lap flower's bud
deliberately slowing
to extend the rising tide
and pause
before the waves do crest and break

once upon your hips my hands
do gently guide to higher ground
ecstatic revelations
of carnal joys that may be found
as paradigms and prejudice
in love
come tumbling down

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

cleave

and so they sit in seminal divide
though quarters close and likely to remain
united in the penance they provide
from fellowship at all costs they abstain

two students theologically inclined
at seminary to expand their view
by fundamental precepts each confined
and so each other's sect they must eschew

on campus noted for embracing all
and architecturally well endowed
the students sit in silence like a pall
in dorm betwixt two domes of great renown

the bosom of our Mother's sacred Grace
her cleavage chilled in that divided space

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

Saturday, November 7, 2015

weighty matters

two words "Why not"
supported by a dagger laden stare
mid sentence stopped
I closed my mouth
surveyed the evidence there
the latest weight with all the rest
described a great plateau

and so beneath that daggered stare
surrender
Weight Watchers has another
candidate

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

ellipsis

the day before was birthday cheer
a little in excess
today I hold my head in hands
a green and bilious mess
but through it all this quirky smile
is plastered on my face
wish I could just remember what
it was that earned its place

alas I must draw comfort from
the fact that it is there
for that's the cost
the memory's lost
I'll toast it with the hair ...
... you know ... of the dog

© 2015 Frederick Andrew. ~ All Rights Reserved

Saturday, October 24, 2015

turmoil

reaching where i shouldn't
for delights i cannot have
promises implied spread damage
where there should be salve
despite the cold reception
i can't tear myself away
hoping beyond reason
for a sign that i may stay
and at least pretend
to share a dream

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved 

Saturday, October 10, 2015

late autumnal lament

with fading sun
my hands grow cold
no respite save
my morning coffee mug

cold hands 'til spring
which through the night
earn little more
than recoil of my love

©2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

Inspired by a g+ post by RC deWinter

Saturday, October 3, 2015

vessel

language is the stuff of thoughts
an ocean wild and free
in which immersed we swim or drown
both beautiful can be

some are content to stand on shore
and watch the roiling waves
majestic or just ripples
voyeurs of the written page

others choose to architect
to fashion vessels proud and true
conveying stories and ideas
emotional milieu

prose is a sturdy surface ship
of capable designs
afloat upon the sea of words
in weather rough or fine

propelling precious cargo
navigating between ports
always floating and upright
through sea states of all sorts

frigate schooner or canoe
designed and purpose built
short story novel biograph
if architect is skilled

in laying strong a keel of words
supporting her main theme and plot
on frames of sentences complete
which make up chapters of this yacht

but still as awesome are these ships
and literary boats
they ply the surface of the sea
conveying what she wrote

while leaving volumes unexplored
dimensions still untapped
the depth of ocean down below
for surface ships a trap

for this a vessel more complete
a ship that's free to soar
in darkness to the pressured realms
and yet return to shore

submerging in the sea of thoughts
evoking all there is to see
and feel with subdued elegance
that vessel's poetry

cadence rhythm and the shape
the meter as words flow
let slip the bonds of interface
and open worlds below

architects who wield these tools
with grace have practiced long
to shape their words with subtleties
akin to dance and song

that poet's vessels dance and sing
more than word's meanings there to see
the elegant complete design
draws me to poetry

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

Thursday, September 24, 2015

askew headgear

threadbare sailor's dixie cup
brim askew like Gilligan
or Robin

chapeau of the lifeguard prince
from summers at the pool

not unlike my Father's crown
from when his generation
saved the world

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

Sunday, September 20, 2015

waning

as summer fades
in dead of night
the barred owl calls
and calls again

though sustenance
I do not lack
the plaintive goes
unanswered

stretched thin I sit
barely awake
the meaning stripped
from what I've done

things achieved have
lost their shine
and I've begun
to ache

who cooks for you
she asks once more
as understanding dawns
it's less about
who cooks for you

and more who
you've cooked for.

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Saturday, August 22, 2015

again

there you are
again

like clockwork

if the clock
in question

is sprung
and missing
teeth
from several gears

why can't you
take a hint

like others

and keep
your clevers
to yourself

this isn't
about you

there's only so much
light
to go around

and you
are standing
in mine

now git
before I fall
in love

again

Friday, August 7, 2015

Monday, July 27, 2015

crabby

crabby to the core
callinectes sapidus
blue with attitude

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

Sunday, July 19, 2015

wrong

is it wrong to want you so
this gentle touch wish to bestow
slowly with deliberate measure
adding to the building pleasure
each caress timed to relate
with those before and resonate
'til rising wave threatens to crest
then back away a time and rest
let silken ties their charge restrain
once arch subsides begin again
thus spiral up to higher ground
where hidden treasure will be found
when cresting of the wave won't cease
and in crescendo find release

the mirror's glimpse my answer gives
my time is past in which to live
in hopes for warmth from that hot fire

lock away 'neath plate and mail
what would make others quickly pale
or worse proclaim their merriment
at what the clown suggests
perhaps forsake the armor
and amor
for the motley and its bells
then at least some warmth I'd see
from smiles my capers bring to be

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

ephemera

ephemera a lovely word
it slides right off one's lips
with nuanced meaning as it sounds
like fog on fingertips
substantial only partially
and brief its time in play
commands attention for a while
but then I look away
to something, someone that I love
more than all else I see
and in their fleeting glance I find
ephemera is me

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

Inspired by RC deWinter's ephemera

Saturday, July 18, 2015

authenticity

the burghers eating burgers
with their sides of coke and fries
complacent in the fabric
of their manufactured lives
slowly dying from the toxins
in accumulated lies

It's the tarnish and the fragments
which the struggle leaves behind
there's the measure of the yeoman
of the craftsmen of the knight
of the poet of the dreamer
all who try to set things right
in the context of their passions
and the things which they have learned.

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

Inspired by RC deWinter's Revelation in a Faux Japanese Garden

Sunday, July 12, 2015

manic in the mirror

laugh it up chuckles
your motley fools no one
least of all me
the burning glass singes
your paper facade
and reveals the beating heart
on your sleeve
so
drink your cup of bitter tears.
put a cork in it.
AND PLAY ANOTHER DAMN CARD.

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

for the WOF biweekly prompt.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

entropy

he loved them all
a state of grace
as fragile as a bubble
on a pin

their number grew
at quite a pace
he likened to forever
growing thin

and in the end
he lost the race
since nothing could remain there
save the wind

©2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

foray

moving on to something new
the draught does clear my mind
setting on another walk
to see what I can find
conveniently forgetting
one leg's shorter than its mate
the best that can be hoped for
a diameter that's great.

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

Inspired by RC deWinter's unchained.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Despite

the ennui finds the smallest cracks
and seeps into my soul
the warmth Inside lets it ferment
into something more dole-
ful and malignant with self-
loathing at it's core

despite the lateness of the day
my chronic aches and pains
and wasted opportunities
to use my brawn and brains
my brawn ... now there's a fantasy
on which I'll not digress ...
to better our humanity
not feather my own nest

with self- deluding promises
from bosses with white teeth
who represent the status quo
and siphon off the talent
of those willing to believe
into the maw of the machine
that powers inequality

despite all that
it falls on me
to use whatever's left
with smile or pat
or outstretched hand
to let you know
you're not alone and
friend we are well met.

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

Saturday, June 6, 2015

ember's promise

embers with the slightest breath
awaken in the night
the little bits of tinder
giving rise to cherry light
husband wife or lover
adding fuel to nascent blaze
hungers for the roaring flame
to burst from smokey haze

but slow

anticipation is as much
as arching moan in passion

gently
oh so gently

share the quiet ember's breath
linger in the teasing promise
of that ruby glow

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

Inspired by an Evelyn Elizabeth g+ post

Saturday, May 30, 2015

stuck

cusp of adventure
chasm between will and can
balance blessed or cursed

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

inspired by Sam Collet's Inhibitions.

Monday, May 25, 2015

bitter part of valor

feed an ego, starve a clod
or have i bent that round
no matter when it comes to love
i shouldn't make a sound

for when i open up my mouth
to utter words profound
there's always something in the way
my foot that's leather bound

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

Inspired by RC deWinter's Bitter Words.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

political savvy

even with both hands in sight
a smile upon his face
deftly through orifice of night
invades my pers'nal space

manipulating feelings
'bout the way things
should be done
shifting shape and posturing
so that I'll think
we're one

and why with tentacles so oiled
this fecund form of fishin'?
the answer makes uncanny sense
'cause he's a politician

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

Inspired by Paul Chapman's We Have Learned to Smile.


Saturday, May 9, 2015

in love and war

in love and war
not being prey
there comes relief...
...and then in time
comes bittersweet

©2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

inspired by an Eric Albin g+ post

Friday, May 8, 2015

threadbare hearts

threadbare hearts
are often clothed
in wardrobe harlequin
the patterns and the colors
give the lie to
where they've been

and form a shield of comedy
about the weakened thread
upon the point of parting
which would lead to being bled
of the little life remaining
'neath the manic, grim facade

threadbare hearts
so chafed and worn
deserve a second chance

the weaver and the seamstress
distant cousins to the fates
may sort between their charges
and transcend the bitter past

darning one from threadbare two
a garment that will last.

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

Inspired by Uma Venkatraman​​'s some ties

Thursday, May 7, 2015

aftermath

wired for the Bad Boy
there's naught that I can do
but quietly commiserate
clean up what's left of you
internalizing rage at whom
the answer is not clear
gluing pieces lovingly
and dealing with the fear
that next time there will be
an empty space I cannot fill
I'm here can you not see me
is my motley in the way
ever thus

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

Inspired by RC deWinter's pretty poison

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

three on a match

even though the fool
perceives the cool reception
he capers blindly

quiet tolerance
is no substitute for warmth
but to the fool hope

hope springs eternal
but in the depths of winter
even the fool cries

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

Sunday, April 26, 2015

submerged addiction

a cunning rhyme a subtle twist of phrase
ambiguous enough to give one pause
the hidden meaning more than likely stays
on verge of consciousness as viewed through gauze

beyond the rhyme what meter does bestow
a pleasing shape and cadence from the tongue
viewed with disdain some readers call it flow
the lines thus cast more easily are sung

of most import emotions here evoked
the contents which this clever vessel holds
and once dispensed leave reader feeling choked
or breathless as if viewing highland wolds

once bitten it is hard to shake this sprite
best don't admit just take up pen and write

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

so sorry for your loss - please email

Dear owners of the ship

My name is - - - - - - - -    - - - - - - - - -, ship graveyard caretaker

I buy hulk ship.

It is a sudden-mail.  I am sorry.

We are looking for a hulk. 
Unnecessary ship I'm looking for.
Ship to go to the grave I'm looking for.
If ship die.
Ship dead go to the grave.

If tanker unnecessary, please email.
Unnecessary cargo ship, please email.
please email if you have hulk. 
Please email it to know the hulk.
Ship to go to the cemetery, please email.
When disposing of the hulk, please email.

Please email hulk 5,000 t.
Please email hulk 10,000 t.
Please email unnecessary ship 15,000 t. 

Please give me a dead ship.
Please give me a boat waste of death.

What are your requirements?  Please email me. 
1) Destination; Name;delivery port FOB 
2) ASK Amount Price?

I was very rude.
I'm sorry mail suddenly.
But there is no way because it is life.

Please leave me.
Your company is a respectable company with us.
I will support future growth.  Please email.

Best regards

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

Administrator of the ship graveyard

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

pause

oh where to begin
or not
for to begin implies an end

perhaps it's best
to stay afar
and savor what could be

anticipation is
an agony far sweeter
than the ashes
of a fire gone cold

Inspired Ignited by an Eric Albin g+ post.

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Cold Ashes

somewhere between the fourth
and fortieth conversation in

on the cusp of of ignition

the warmth of her voice
her innocent smile
the light in her eyes

replaced by something cooler

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Change of Scene

mobile app and website screen
different lands, so it would seem
functions lost and others added
learning curve so steeply padded
once with grace I danced so nimble
simple two step now I stumble
soon my powers will turn right
unless I find some kryptonite

Inspired by a conversation with M. Zane McClellan

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

Friday, April 17, 2015

Tarnished Knight's Lament

In his can without a wrench
No wonder that this knight is tense
And just the slightest bit aloof
Truth is he's feeling like a goof
Chessie Cat please be a dear
And fetch me yon can openeer
Odds bodkins! doubt if that will work
This metal man is quite a jerk
I'd trade a kingdom for a wrench
Nevermind ... balbriggan stench
And so I lumber on.

A tongue in cheek response to RC deWinter's 
So Glad You're Here ,  a Midnight Poetry offering.

Emo Poet's Curse

by ink on parchment only
do I know what's in your heart
and yet you've made the leap
and captured mine.

Inspired by Timothy Street's Ode to Emily D.
Dedicated to all the wordwrights.


Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Sounding

wrapt in the solitude of free dive's grace
descent relieves the burdens of the day
the moon alight in surface mirror calls
with aching lungs that portal to access
and yet I tarry in the sea's embrace
the tides of time slack 'twixt the ebb and flow
beyond the cold terrestrial demands
beyond the reach of human cares and woe

Inspired by RC deWinter's tides of time.



Thursday, April 9, 2015

Cephalopod Spectrum

bright-eyed little octopus
you're clever, but you’re small
and in your size and empathy
the bully can stand tall
leveraging humility
against your natural gifts
to keep you down and in your place
while he obtains a lift

octopus your looks are un-
conventional it's true
but when you blush your feelings are
a symphony of hue
don't let his banal judgments
keep you caved in your self-doubt
his power will turn into ash
just let your kraken out

© 2015 Frederick Andrew All rights reserved

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Slipstream

tick

a study of the universe
its constants and its laws
is said to give us insight
when it doesn't give us pause
and pause is just where I am stuck
as deadlines loom and tasks accrete
and things that I should care about
rain with an unrelenting beat

tock

the speed of light is constant
independent of the frame
time's the rubber band
upon who's snap depends the game
depends a pretty potent word
hangs cutlery above
and us the game above abyss
await a little shove
or snip
it's only details in the end
the rest's the same

tick

so time or its perception
often stretches and contracts
to preserve the constant speed of life
through waters calm and cataracts
the cataracts like pinball bumpers
endless pings and ticks and tocks
we bounce between considerations
attain no purchase only knocks
emerging in the waters calm
we left less than an hour before
to find what has in fact elapsed
a week a month a year or more

tock

and finite is allotted time

tick

that's Deity's punchline

tock

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Cold Rivalry

I miss the Union Soviet
our rival bad and bold
who focused all our energy
on war not hot but cold

we raced in arms
we raced in space
we raced on land and sea
we raced to demonstrate
system superiority

one might say we won
when Gorbachev
tore down that wall
but one hand clapping's
all I hear
since rival took the fall

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

Sunday, March 15, 2015

worry

harbingers through tiny cracks
peer into where we live
they worry 'til the gaps are wide
and do an access give

I wish my gaze was drawn away
to things of light and life
truth is I think my furtive glance
gives power to their strife

Inspired by Robert Horton's Silent Ravens

Choice in Love

madness it is to ever think
that choice had been involved
a slippery slope
determined stride
or leap into the void
all lead to that gravitic dance
ballistically described
arcing into the liquid plunge
dissolving into something new
in waters tepid cool or hot

and when the cup
has run its course
you sit in fading after glow
to contemplate the stranded lees
remorse regret or outright loss
let's not forget the strident sting
pursuit at any cost
regardless of the side on which
you found yourself this time.

© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All rights reserved

An itch planted by RC deWinter's Madame Exotic.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

beneath the mask

behold the bitter
tinged with sweet
an echo of the time before
look closely if you
dare to see
the sweet for what it is
remains of crumbled mask no more

response to +Mel -Mel​'s untitled g+ poem and Uma Venkatraman​'s If the Mask Slips.

harbinger

a single teardrop
poised on cheek about to fall
spring's ambassador

inspired by the poem emo's lament by Lynn Paden

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

background

the pop and hiss
of vinyl platter
is all but gone
'til last notes scatter

Inspired by Rashmi Pluscec's 15 word


Saturday, March 7, 2015

background noise

the noise of day's excursions gives way to evening calm
as decibels are peeled away
the roiling static comes
asserting into conscious mind
what's always lurked beneath
and colors every weary gaze
each furrow in my brow
it overlays each nightime scene
somnambulence displays
with lyrics to eternal tune
no answer just what if.

Inspired by RC deWinter's Lazarus Curse

Siren

you play upon the sailor's penchant
superstitious reveries
born of idle grog fueled watch
in gentle motions of the seas
visions mist obscured and haunting
taste of lovers out of reach
imagined plight of stricken vessels
hope for warmth within the deep
titillations barely hinted
sailor's lust fills out the rest
song just on the edge of hearing
irresistible request

Inspired by Denise Baxter Yoder's Quicken

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Nearly Parallel

nearly parallel is not
tracks running so
may linger in proximity
and gain familiarity
briefly share identity
lest one or both
deign to adjust
promise that exists between
will stretch and thin
'til it's unseen

Inspired by Lynn Paden's poem Soundtrack.

Monday, March 2, 2015

She appears

thus She appears
exposed yet chaste
distracted in the contemplation
of an unnamed inner pain
a vision unsurpassed
projected to this distal plain
where I my rounds in silence keep
sworn to defend her right to weep
and yet I ache to comfort

Inspired by an Eric Albin g+ post

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

tidal pull

betwixt the sun and moon
dark corridor bound with light
indecision reigns

Monday, February 16, 2015

The Sailor and the Windmill

windmill beckons
sailor's heart
a warped remembrance
of a wind driven life
on the waves

Inspired by Denise Baxter Yoder's untitled poem.

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Dry and Uninspired

No wink, no nod, no wry retort
nor agony exquisite
to spur us into diatribes
and capers in the harlequin
soliciting the slightest smile
perhaps a little pat
from angels fallen and aloft
whose beauty shines
in frequencies that make us ache

oh what a sad existence ...
no. not even sad
for sadness hints
it is a thread
a trail of crumbs
leading to that seething cauldron
in which we gladly bathe, submerge
inhale in hopes of glance
or even eye-roll

Instead a blessed even ness
continuum of gray
not empty but just full enough
to keep the wants at bay
to feed a blissful ignorance
a numbness of the soul

Inspired by one of RC deWinter's Midnight Poetry offerings

from chaos

love is not monolithic
nor is it uniform
it's textured and dynamic
not unlike an ocean storm

attraction irresistible
lacks perfect symmetry
resulting in a give and take
resembling coquetry

and from this fine imbalance
'twixt the ones who take the chance
we see an elegant display
in love there's room to dance

natural setup

the Valentine's Day blizzard
will surely snow us in.
oh my!
whatever shall we do?

Saturday, February 7, 2015

An Holy Exile

'neath my armor out of reach
where aerobe's sustenance does cease
a fungal janissary keeps
adversity at bay

balbriggan itch a minor change
accept I do this tiny bane
patrolling the abyssal range
at Chamberlain's demand

accompanist on arid rounds
abyss alone the normal sounds
absolute zero temp is grounds
for loneliness to bloom

accumulators keep me warm
ballistocardiograph informs
archaically abase the norms
of social privacy

araucaria I shall not see
while Jacobin adversary
my petronel and I make flee
who is the phantasm

so isolated in this can
in deep abyss might be the plan
to keep the masses well in hand
with Chamberlain in charge

come Sisters, Brethren on the line
awake accumulator whine
and target Chamberlain in shrine
accompanist no more

Thursday, February 5, 2015

My Pleasure

lay still, my love
eyes closed, my love
let hands and tongue
lightly caress
and slowly bring
through whispered agony
that glorious crescendo

Inspired by an Eric Albin g+ post

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Wicked Wintah Fun

snowplow is it love or hate
the berm at driveway's end is great
again
the road is clear and that's just grand
but getting to it that's a damn
near impossibility in time to make the start
of shift at work unless I shovel very fast with heart
attack in back of mind
oh please oh please just not this time

at last the shoveling is done
I'm winded but no chest pain fun
I turn toward warmed up car and run
thinking I've finally won
but what's that noise that diesel thrum
and scrape oh no it's him, or her, they come
again

Inspired by the morning's cardio and Jessika O'Sullivan​​​'s Clear and Cold Long Island photo g+ post

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

A Trick of the Light

another Monday is at hand
shaving mirror where I stand
water slap and razor pull
practiced motions let me mull
on things that are and might have been

reflection shows some lines of age
flesh a little soft these days
chins speak of diet rich not lean
sedentary it would seem
the path this life has wandered

eyes still sharp but now they glaze
journey back to other days
when water slap meant in the pool
teaching swimming that was cool
as lifeguard had it made

visions of what lay ahead
college, Navy, Dive School bred
to follow where Cousteau has led

on the bottom in the rig
marine archaeologic dig
umbilical providing air
from topside team all taking care
to keep the divers safe and sound

nearly time to decompress
shift's gone fast, I must confess
tools all gathered on the stage
signal pull for winch engage
return to surface nigh

focus sharpens with the pain
of razor nick blood flows again
Monday mirror reasserts
to old reflection it reverts
time on bottom just a dream
reality that's never been ...
... yet.


© 2015 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

Sunday, January 25, 2015

No Traction

Been awhile since my last write
though ideas have been in my head
the words that make them live won't flow.

so I've come to this special zone
reserved for times that I can't move
around the barriers in my head

it's here that I permit myself
to move the cursor or the pen
across the lines without constraint

to let the words just come and go
and fill the space non-sequitor
and act a kind of eductor

the ideas have been rather grand
professing love for those at hand
and seeing chaos in day's milieu

Monday, January 12, 2015

Absolute Conviction

absolute conviction often known as righteousness
a state of mind reflection has no business to transgress
a state of mind which human fallibility should render unapproachable
by any with a history of tolerance as checkered as the race which tolerated

pogrom
slavery
holocaust
internment
apartheid
inquisition
house committee on un-american activity

to name a few of our transgressions
in the name of truths which are clearly beyond our ken

reflect on that before you beat the drum
and instigate the next crusade

before you set in motion
another absolute conviction

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Circus Tricks

multitasking is a lie
unless you have a staff
an exercise in spinning
plates on sticks

the illusion of success
rests on them being round

it is the oblong platter
that will bring you to your knees
as all the plates slow and precess
and in procession leave you with
ceramic shards cascading to the ground

and an empty oblong platter

Inspired by RC deWinter's Life Interrupted and JJ Walker's deckplate ruminations

Sunday, January 4, 2015

talisman

though mute and still
the fire you light
illuminates a place long dark

its warmth unlocks
the bittersweet
tears fill an upturned smile

at season's end
lovingly stored
you'll light that fire again

Inspired by a g+ post by Jessika O'Sullivan



Friday, January 2, 2015

Rocks and Shoals

navigating rocks and shoals
never are there two alike
each its own configuration
light of day or dark of night

tide and current always matter
and the hand upon the helm
don't forget the lowly wiper
answering desired bell

more important than the outrage
or the spin of charlatans
is the need to work together
for the betterment of all

Inspired by Chris Flegel's Angry Men: Impossible Play