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

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

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.

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

background

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

Inspired by Rashmi Pluscec's 15 word


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

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.

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