Submissions by Spanker
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
The experiments continue; elements combine and react; new substances form; old ideas disintegrate; lenses filter, focus and reflect; the scientist and the lab rat – indistinguishable.
Poetry Court
You are hereby accused
Of crimes against poetry
How do you plead?
Not guilty you say?
Let us hear the evidence
Did you or did you not
Wilfully and recklessly
On more than one occasion
Resort to rhyming couplets
And is it true or false
That you did knowingly
Use that word - ‘love’
And try to deny if you will
That you showed complete
And utter disregard for
The laws of modernism
By negligently and with
Malice, fail to mention
Or even allude to one
Myth or mythical character
And to make matters worse
Not a whiff...
Of crimes against poetry
How do you plead?
Not guilty you say?
Let us hear the evidence
Did you or did you not
Wilfully and recklessly
On more than one occasion
Resort to rhyming couplets
And is it true or false
That you did knowingly
Use that word - ‘love’
And try to deny if you will
That you showed complete
And utter disregard for
The laws of modernism
By negligently and with
Malice, fail to mention
Or even allude to one
Myth or mythical character
And to make matters worse
Not a whiff...
39 reads
0 Comments
World at War
I
The world is at war
It has always been that way
And it will always be that way
Since life began
There has been a struggle
To exist and survive
We are all at war
Bacteria, fungi, insects,
Animals, humans, viruses,
Grasses, flowers, trees
The earth and other planets
The stars and the moons
The oceans and the rivers
All at war
The battles rage every day
There are moments of peace
Where wounds are treated
And the dead removed
We pause and reflect
But even then we fight
We fight back tears
We compare...
The world is at war
It has always been that way
And it will always be that way
Since life began
There has been a struggle
To exist and survive
We are all at war
Bacteria, fungi, insects,
Animals, humans, viruses,
Grasses, flowers, trees
The earth and other planets
The stars and the moons
The oceans and the rivers
All at war
The battles rage every day
There are moments of peace
Where wounds are treated
And the dead removed
We pause and reflect
But even then we fight
We fight back tears
We compare...
35 reads
2 Comments
What Is Left Unsaid
We carefully speak
Around the painful loss
As though the words
Form a distinct outline
Of what is gone
Like a graphic photo negative
The background defines the image
The darkness focuses the light
The blackness surrounds the white
Out of respect we avoid mention
Of the dead
Around the painful loss
As though the words
Form a distinct outline
Of what is gone
Like a graphic photo negative
The background defines the image
The darkness focuses the light
The blackness surrounds the white
Out of respect we avoid mention
Of the dead
34 reads
2 Comments
In Between
She was everything
And I was nothing
And her friend
In between
My heart so right
My head so wrong
And signs of truth
Flashed by unseen
Such were the sights
The sounds the dreams
The rights the wrongs
The in betweens
She came she went
Or so it seemed
The lies the truth
The in betweens
The birth the death
The in between
So weak so strong
So in between
So many ways
To live to die
So few days
So few nights
To wonder why
To be the dark
To be the light
And all the colours
In between
And I was nothing
And her friend
In between
My heart so right
My head so wrong
And signs of truth
Flashed by unseen
Such were the sights
The sounds the dreams
The rights the wrongs
The in betweens
She came she went
Or so it seemed
The lies the truth
The in betweens
The birth the death
The in between
So weak so strong
So in between
So many ways
To live to die
So few days
So few nights
To wonder why
To be the dark
To be the light
And all the colours
In between
28 reads
2 Comments
How to Spot a Pervert
We are masters and mistresses of disguise, and most adept at looking normal.
• We have excellent eyesight, might still wear glasses, and may or may not have mentally undressed you, while looking you straight in the eyes and without you knowing.
• We are highly fashion conscious, and dress so badly we neither make statements nor try to be ahead of our time.
• We are experts in the bedroom; however this only applies to the subtle moving and positioning of furniture.
• We are great lovers of food and can cook, eat and drink, all in the one kitchen; but...
• We have excellent eyesight, might still wear glasses, and may or may not have mentally undressed you, while looking you straight in the eyes and without you knowing.
• We are highly fashion conscious, and dress so badly we neither make statements nor try to be ahead of our time.
• We are experts in the bedroom; however this only applies to the subtle moving and positioning of furniture.
• We are great lovers of food and can cook, eat and drink, all in the one kitchen; but...
51 reads
3 Comments
The Lady and Me
We met long ago
In a previous life
The lady and me
When she was a cat
And I was a flea
I was her itch
And she was my scratch
The lady and me
When she was a cat
And I was a flea
Sometimes she’d let me
Sleep in her fur
So soft a bed
The tick of her heart
The lick of her purr
Sometimes she’d let me
Drink from her milk
From her special dish
Me just a pest
With her wrapped in silk
We were so happy
Such an odd pair
A fat little flea
And his feline queen
Her tail in the air
...
In a previous life
The lady and me
When she was a cat
And I was a flea
I was her itch
And she was my scratch
The lady and me
When she was a cat
And I was a flea
Sometimes she’d let me
Sleep in her fur
So soft a bed
The tick of her heart
The lick of her purr
Sometimes she’d let me
Drink from her milk
From her special dish
Me just a pest
With her wrapped in silk
We were so happy
Such an odd pair
A fat little flea
And his feline queen
Her tail in the air
...
53 reads
1 Comment
Little Lamb
I am wolf
In shepherd’s clothing
I see ewe
Little lamb
My long tongue
Drips …
With anticipation
Diamonds for ewe
Just one taste
And lick of fleece
Feel my rough
On your soft
Pink white skin
My plan …
To de-flock
And chase ewe
Into submission
Through blood red eyes
With ears pricked
I lust & listen
Beneath my panting
Your little heart bleats
And for one mad second
Ewe is mine
I show mercy
But fear
Takes ewe from me
Fleeing fast
Ewe scampers away
Don’t look back
In case...
In shepherd’s clothing
I see ewe
Little lamb
My long tongue
Drips …
With anticipation
Diamonds for ewe
Just one taste
And lick of fleece
Feel my rough
On your soft
Pink white skin
My plan …
To de-flock
And chase ewe
Into submission
Through blood red eyes
With ears pricked
I lust & listen
Beneath my panting
Your little heart bleats
And for one mad second
Ewe is mine
I show mercy
But fear
Takes ewe from me
Fleeing fast
Ewe scampers away
Don’t look back
In case...
32 reads
0 Comments
Down Under
Death came
As a gardener
With fork and spade
He smiled and seemed
Happy to see me
Wish I could say the same
But I was ready
My work was done
I’d sowed my seed
And lived too long
So where’s the fire?
You see
I had flames in mind
Oh that’s below
He said
So I said
Lead the way
So he did
And before too long
We were deep underground
In a torch lit tunnel
Winding like a serpent
It took some time
He was in a hurry
I wasn’t
Then there we were
It wasn’t like I’d imagined
Hell it was huge
And...
As a gardener
With fork and spade
He smiled and seemed
Happy to see me
Wish I could say the same
But I was ready
My work was done
I’d sowed my seed
And lived too long
So where’s the fire?
You see
I had flames in mind
Oh that’s below
He said
So I said
Lead the way
So he did
And before too long
We were deep underground
In a torch lit tunnel
Winding like a serpent
It took some time
He was in a hurry
I wasn’t
Then there we were
It wasn’t like I’d imagined
Hell it was huge
And...
45 reads
1 Comment
23
They gave me days
They gave me 23
To live and breathe
And really see
They gave me days
They gave me 23
Days of calendars
And clocks
Twenty-three
Twenty-three
And after all
His miracles
He still believed
In twenty-three
Has he?
Smelled your fur?
Quite possibly
If it were only
Twenty-three
But it’s all a big if
Whether or not
She’s true
Twenty-three
I don’t know
But twenty-three
One last hurrah
For twenty-three
They gave me 23
To live and breathe
And really see
They gave me days
They gave me 23
Days of calendars
And clocks
Twenty-three
Twenty-three
And after all
His miracles
He still believed
In twenty-three
Has he?
Smelled your fur?
Quite possibly
If it were only
Twenty-three
But it’s all a big if
Whether or not
She’s true
Twenty-three
I don’t know
But twenty-three
One last hurrah
For twenty-three
35 reads
0 Comments
Hide and Seek
Here I am
In my mind
Again
Still
And you’re here
With me
Again
Still
I’m hiding
From you
With you
Again
Still
Count to ten
Maybe eleven
One more minute
With you
Again
Still
Did you find me?
I’m a good hider
Not as good as you
I can’t find you
Again
Still
In my mind
Again
Still
And you’re here
With me
Again
Still
I’m hiding
From you
With you
Again
Still
Count to ten
Maybe eleven
One more minute
With you
Again
Still
Did you find me?
I’m a good hider
Not as good as you
I can’t find you
Again
Still
54 reads
2 Comments
The Wild-Wild West
Every day’s a gold rush
And you can’t trust no-one
Coz they’re all double-negatives
And hanging’s a spectator sport
And writing’s for tombstones
And real men down whiskey
And everyone’s your friend
And its drinks all round
The gunslinger’s in the belltower
And women hike up their skirts
And wear boots over fishnets
But it’s not like the movies
Where the sheriffs aren’t crooked
And the villains all don black
And everyone’s your friend
And its drinks all round
It’s a dry argument in a dustbowl
And you can’t take a...
And you can’t trust no-one
Coz they’re all double-negatives
And hanging’s a spectator sport
And writing’s for tombstones
And real men down whiskey
And everyone’s your friend
And its drinks all round
The gunslinger’s in the belltower
And women hike up their skirts
And wear boots over fishnets
But it’s not like the movies
Where the sheriffs aren’t crooked
And the villains all don black
And everyone’s your friend
And its drinks all round
It’s a dry argument in a dustbowl
And you can’t take a...
28 reads
0 Comments
Street Music
The city’s his sheet music and lights his notes
And at the end of every line there’s a bar
Where rain pisses razorblades on a cat tin roof
And he punches drunk through fresh chilled mist
With nothing but an old rolled blanket of shame
Steel wool beard rust stained and frozen with guilt
And he smells like a corpse down from the cross
And his holy mitts shake for no reason except habit
And his mind won’t remember questions or answers
But somehow his lips shape words when needed
He knows it’s a lie but the truth just the same
Can you spare me a dollar...
And at the end of every line there’s a bar
Where rain pisses razorblades on a cat tin roof
And he punches drunk through fresh chilled mist
With nothing but an old rolled blanket of shame
Steel wool beard rust stained and frozen with guilt
And he smells like a corpse down from the cross
And his holy mitts shake for no reason except habit
And his mind won’t remember questions or answers
But somehow his lips shape words when needed
He knows it’s a lie but the truth just the same
Can you spare me a dollar...
85 reads
0 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by Spanker