ritual

tofu pad thai
fried butterflies
pineapple rice

crab rangoons
chicken teriyaki
veggie lo mein
eggrolls

dinner Christmas Eve
leftovers through New Year's ...
well ...
Christmas Day anyway

© 2016 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

dojo shadorma

intertwined
their fingers describe
extensive
designs on
erogenous islands of
unbridled delights

© 2016 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

you

never doubt
you are an oasis
in which wet with tears
I genuflect
thankful for small miracles
miracles nonetheless

©2016 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

more

limbs extended open wide
a standing invitation
structural stability
upon which others'
infinite diversity
can grow
together
adding up to more

© 2016 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

Inspired by an M Macharia g+ photo promptt

patience

conversation begs for time
always in short supply
Caesar's demands wax out hand
leave little to get by
and so the ones who matter most
short shrifted say goodbye
don't go

© 2016 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

Inspired by a g+ post by Lucie Paris

short shrift

a long career
of constant strain
no herculean exertions
even
well thought out
with timely execution to a T
just as it should be

as twilight comes
the only sound
a rhythmic crunch of snow
as one departs alone
Festschrift empty

© 2016 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

overhead

Poe and Hitchcock
they knew
the perfidy of the stickybeak
whether singular or en masse
supplanting blithe confidence with paranoia
and even when they're gone
one looks skyward with suspicion

© 2016 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

face your fears

there is a monster 'neath my bed
and jagged teeth fill up his head
his arms are short but they have claws
they're best for scratching 'neath his jaw

when I was young he filled my mind
nocturnal terror all the time
'til when I reached the second grade
I found diplomacy was made
to build up trust and allay fear

a tête a tête one Friday night
my monster promised not to bite
except the cookies that we shared
and which I fed him laissez-faire

and so, fast friends without a hex
me and my asomatous rex

© 2016 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

golden

campanology can be quite lucrative
thought the bell-ringer with the kettle to give
as I passed him a five
on my journey inside
and said "stop when I'm near if you want to live"

© 2016 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

truth

reality has a complexion
that's far from an airbrushed perfection
if it's truth you would find
better salt what's in Time
with what's bruited in tabloid connections

© 2016 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

voyeur

methinks yon poet strokes his glass
the beer within sets head a-spin
and dreams his hands upon a lass
abiding from afar

or is she just the stuff of smoke
next verse's gleam in conscious stream
Pygmalion might share this joke
perhaps another round

© 2016 Frederick Andrew ~ All Rights Reserved

Inspired by Picasso's The Glass of Beer