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Poetry & Free Verse
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Profile avatar image for ts735b
ts735b in Poetry & Free Verse

Oh my gawd!

Person(s) of interest linkedin

with Stash Capital Management...

committed bank fraud,

and if witness to such thievery

stun gun of mine drawed,

which word archaic

or nonstandard past tense of draw,

(I would make exception

if perpetrator knock out broad

asking such out of character

to at the least buy me supper),

and retrieved from her bag of tricks

ranging from physical devices

that steal card information

to malicious software

that targeted online

checking account of mine

feverishly employed (courtesy

sophisticated state of the art

computer hardware and/or soft-ware,

whether solitary lone wolf,

hacker collective or group,

or more specifically a hacktivist collective,

cybercriminal group,

or state-sponsored group (like APT groups),

nevertheless whether culprit acted alone

perhaps to impress geek squad

or maybe punk created for extra credit

accessing their own innovation

or thru the agency of groupthink

pulled off an electronic heist courtesy

when he/she they/them

went blithely cruising along viz -

(short for "videlicet,"

which comes from

the Latin phrase "videre licet,"

meaning "it is permitted to see)"

the information super highway

the figurative bottom line

being intent to inflict shell-shock

with cake-walk ease

pre-meditated or acted out ad-hoc

to withdraw and exhaust account,

no matter impossible mission

fraught with peril he/she hell-bent

to extract every last red cent

personal or quota established among posse

set their sites to undertake

what would rank to them

as an every day event

no matter novelty wore off

after initial initiation

to apply malicious codified

byte size criminal activity

bitta bing bitta bang and expedite

just a routine unauthorized use

of a computer or network

to take property,

obtain property through deceit,

or manipulate digital information

for personal gain or to cause damage

explicit singular dirty deed done dirt cheap

illicit complicity among gang members

earns collective figurative stars and stripes

despite humdrum hitting virtual pay dirt frequent

car - reed out videlicet reputable maverick

or notorious den of thieves

celebration of natural high

compounded by assistance

from storied legend of Molly Hatchet

wreaking invisible havoc

among telecommunications infrastructure,

especially hi-jacking kick as*

payload after breaking

user name and password

or stealthily getting hold

of credit card information

also known as skimming,

the act of using illegal devices

or software to secretly capture financial data

from credit cards, debit cards,

or PINs during legitimate transactions,

and on the sly (and the stoned family)

criminals install physical devices on ATMs,

gas pumps, or POS terminals

to steal card information

from the magnetic stripe,

or use cameras and overlay keypads

to capture PINs

also using malicious software,

known as e-skimmers,

to capture payment details

from online forms, which stolen data

then used to make fake cards

or conduct unauthorized

purchases and withdraw cash,

leading to financial loss

and identity theft for victims.

Profile avatar image for ts735b
ts735b in Poetry & Free Verse

Our refrigerator ought to be declared a Superfund site...

whereat the subsequent lines

lack any relation to the title

but like most every poetic endeavor

immediately becomes tangential

re: irrelevant to main subject of discussion,

digressing to unrelated points

characteristic of my trademark

swiftly styled and harried tailored,

and failing to return to original idea

with embedded symbolic logic

to better confuse the unsuspecting reader

which remaining written material

best understood after quaffing inxs of xylite

a liquid hydrocarbon

found in crude wood spirits,

or it can describe fossilized wood

that resembles brown coal

a natural sweetener

about 60% as sweet as sugar

often used in sugar-free foods

and beverages, such as chewing gum,

candies, and mouthwashes

distributed as door prizes

after elbow grease applied

leaving the inside

of the refrigerator

spick and span.

Not one square inch

of the once pristine

inside fridge no longer white

the wife begs to differ, whereby

even the pestiferous vermin

did protest and unite

against the glop and goo,

plus she claims

to be selectively color blind,

and thus defers her husband (me)

to tend to arduous

back breaking task tonight

since she knows how much

I like to bend over,

but actually on my hands and knees

while reaching with scrub daddy

(courtesy the famous cleaning influencer

Auri Kananen strong as an ox

a professional cleaner from Finland

popularized and touts said product),

but yours truly experiences back pain

that radiates to the sacral lumbar,

(and thus while reduced to crawling,

maneuvering left and right

on all fours, or tabletop position

I pray for Mary Poppins) quite

who hopefully can catch

the next umbrella express outright

and show up before night,

where dark shadows from

the outer limits of the twilight zone

within the bishopric of the king,

there once a pawn a time

accorded quite a bit of might

and as his mentor

lived a tarnished knight

essentially his incognito

cause at heart he claimed to be a Jacobite

stood about 182.88 centimeters in height

a rather diminutive chap,

and the proud papa

who never liked to quit

despite being diagnosed

with Parkinson's disease

a chronic, progressive neurological disorder

characterized by accumulation

of a protein called

alpha-synuclein in the brain

where respected researchers

suggests that alpha-synuclein

may trigger an autoimmune response,

leading to the destruction of brain cells

since questions arose about his death

a funeral director, a forensic archaeologist

or anthropologist, a medical professional

(like a forensic pathologist),

an Environmental Health Officer (EHO),

or a specialized exhumation firm,

depending on the circumstances

and jurisdiction his body electric

exhumed from gravesite

exhibiting more than one odd tick,

and new breakthroughs did excite

the biomedical engineers

discovered his essential tremors

perfectly synchronized

with Foucault's pendulum

and thus allowed, enabled,

and provided an excellent opportunity

for the author of these words

to surpass his prior appellation

linkedin to questionable supposition

he got erroneously hashtagged

and mistakenly reported

by Walter Leland Cronkite

an American broadcast journalist

who served as anchorman

for the CBS Evening News

from 1962 to 1981

unwittingly and accidentally uttered a faux pas

back in the day as idiot savant

now referred to as savant syndrome

or, in some contexts, autistic savant

nevertheless when here along,

he did rank (cull) as king of blatherskite.

Cover image for post Why Do We Have An Open Mic?, by Bunny
Profile avatar image for Bunny
Bunny in Poetry & Free Verse

Why Do We Have An Open Mic?

Because society has us zipping along on our heels

From one sale to the next, until we finally keel over

With our tongues slack from our mouths,

And our ever clutching fingers

In an unhealthy confidence with

Credit cards, and I-phones...

Like the old west gunslingers

Or a prohibition rumrunner

Who's been shot down where he stands...

....This is why we have an Open Mic.

Because there use to be a place you could talk to people!...

Because you have to be homeless,

Or a dog tied up to a tree to see the world

Like it really is,

Or else your just going through the motions...

Cooking up some half-crazed notion

From the outside looking in...

It's a game of sink or swim...

And no one here gets out alive...

...This is why we have an Open Mic.

Because Poetry is our last defense...

Because Palestinians are being shot in the face

While we decide which pose to take

In the ever growing comedic nightmare

Which is our U.S. Head of State...

It's like America's Funniest Home Videos

On tranqs, because everyone's too scared

To react, or has forgotten how to...

As we tumble down the cracks, and haunted halls...

We must decide which rock to cling to,

Because there is no turning back...

...This is why we have an Open Mic.

So raise all voices high!...

Speak your truths!...

Draw down the energies

From the harvest moon,

As that great Blood Moon casts

Her shadow on our backs...

And the lies that we've been steeped in

Will surely make us ill

If we stand still...

Don't let controllers in...

We must ignite!...

...This is why we have an Open Mic!...

9/15/25

Bunny Villaire

Profile avatar image for godslight
godslight in Poetry & Free Verse

Death Is Our Only Option

There is no real religion.

If you're in-tune, check your spiritism.

There are no real Christians.

Only Christmas manscaped from July.

Divide the people by bullshit, then you divide the pie.

So opinionated, so offensive, so abrasive.

It's all love and smiles until even the smallest

Disagreement.

I write to back you into a corner of thinking.

When could you ever take the Bible and twist it?

Even in my dreams, you all die, and by all, I mean all,

Myself included.

The world ended long ago, we're just here held

Hostage by a big thumb on the detonator.

There's facts, then there's narratives, and no one

Wants to listen, but everybody wants to be heard.

I just sit back and observe.

One shot to domestic violence.

One shot to gang violence.

One shot to police brutality and as long

As it's not any one of yours, you won't complain about it

One child dead.

Another one raped, forced to have a baby.

One woman can't even walk to her car because she

Don't feel safe.

One hero who paved the way for peace

Is a hero assassinated.

I've been studying the Bible for years.

But I keep failing tests,

So I still haven't graduated.

Because I don't understand how all these years later

We continue to fight over something as stupid

As hues. Let me phone in.

I need Blue to drop me a clue.

My answer is and always will be death.

As you know, none of you will ever change your ways,

And no matter who doesn't like it,

We are all the problem in some way.

Profile avatar image for rwraven
rwraven in Poetry & Free Verse

Teeth

I held onto you by my teeth.

Enamel tearing, bone chipping.

My friends stare in horror at the blood pouring from my maw,

wounds from a year ago that barely started to scar biting back.

I stand in the pool of it, shaking.

They tell me the wrong you did to me.

The wrong you continue to do.

The wrong my body was aware of when id flinch and bow like a beaten dog away

from joking flailing hands.

The way I would submit to anything you asked of me so I cant even use it against you,

because I let you treat me that way.

Yet around your body in my jaw, I shake my head profusely.

You wouldn't. You couldn't.

You would rejoice in my anguish. Flourish in my floundering. Barely blink at my distraught.

Jokes like barb wire left your lips saccharinely sweet with a smile, so I barely felt the honeyed prongs of metal in my skin.

Until you kept digging. The wounds kept bleeding. The honey was diluted by my pain,

until it was all I could taste.

Losing you was painful. I see you every day, and yet I don’t know you. You look at me with hatred. I look at you like I never knew you.

Cover image for post It’s Always Darkest Before Dawn , by Dionysian66
Profile avatar image for Dionysian66
Dionysian66 in Poetry & Free Verse

It’s Always Darkest Before Dawn

Psychological layers of thought

Run through obsidian nights

As colloquial phrases

Of inconsistent truths

Unknowingly sow disaster

Only to reap chaos

While death’s flower blooms

Sweating unmitigated hatred

Yet from the smothering

Dark clouds of dismay

The sun bursts forth

Refusing to relinquish

The light of goodness

Consuming malignancy

Preparing the way

For the resurrection

Of pure light

Profile avatar image for ts735b
ts735b in Poetry & Free Verse

The left handed adjustable monkey wrench...

(for not dominant with right hand

also known as southpaw and lefty,

as well as the more formal terms

sinistral and sinistromanual and another term,

particularly in Australian English,

hashtagged as mollydooker)

linkedin by various other names

as illustrated in the following fabrication,

which exceptionally well drawn illustrations

and instructions written in French,

thus necessitating a bi-lingual technician,

hook hood interpret the material

ideally an English literature major

top notch knowing grammar,

punctuation, spelling, et cetera

unintentionally impressing

madding crowd sitting on a bench,

who seem more fascinated by the logophile

a lover of words or a linguaphile

a lover of languages

who goes on a spontaneous ejaculation

delineating the history

of those twenty six lettered symbols

allowing, enabling, and providing

a crash (test dummy) course

to the transfixed listeners

totally (tubular) regarding their original intent

for initial inquiry

about the left handed

monkey wrench explanation to quench.

Said multi-dubbed easy to assemble a drone wannabe, not only a handy dandy blues clues all in one light-weight contraption (available at Hooper's Store on Sesame Street) to handle any job (mostly those requiring physical labor, but also very helpful as a defense against weapons of mass destruction - by enveloping the user within a radio active proof bubble after he or she presses a button, but mindful about opening any windows in close proximity lest the message "Abort, Retry, Fail?") appears and ceases up the gizmo, and of course only a child (just out of swaddling clothes), which an anonymous lad or lass could troubleshoot aforementioned widget with eyes wide shut and hands tied behind their back. Matter of fact child labor laws rescinded to keep abreast of said revolutionary technological enhancements visited upon the left handed monkey wrench, which matter of fact witnessed unforeseen initial applications such as transmitting via electronic signals wirelessly courtesy wisdom (versus blue) tooth taken from anonymous benefactors.

A recent dental discovery brought to light (figuratively) that said wisdom tooth made up of four primary components: the outer enamel, the underlying dentin, the inner pulp (containing nerves and blood vessels), and the cementum that covers the tooth's root, which layers the same as any other tooth, with the enamel forming the hardest substance on the tooth's surface, the dentin making up the bulk of the tooth's structure, and the pulp providing nourishment and sensation, when some severely introverted boy experienced an aha moment and realized (while playing dentist without anesthesia, and extracting hindmost molars - previously loosened, (and practically dangling like a modifier) by a sucker punch to the mouth of a bully, who got knocked out (Hawaiian punch swiftly tailored harried styled) cold play kisser.

The dual rooted wisdom tooth served as a miniature model to expand on the essential principle of the general monkey wrench, which occurred to a scapegoated ego bruised super smart grade schooler while he remained standing up like another brick in the wall until the (hells) bell went off indicating recess came to a close, yet not before unnamed youngster sketched out a remarkable rendition of this tool while monkeying around with various and sundry drawing examples until he hit upon (again figuratively) while quietly observing and witnessed an aggressive wren (cause said curious little fella a self taught ornithophile) wrenching loose a passive resistant worm.

Profile avatar image for godslight
godslight in Poetry & Free Verse

Infinity Of Hatred

It's funny til it's happening to you.

Figured we'd be all dead before

Humans catch a clue.

I bleed the same as you, but the hatred

That my suffering has bred may have

Drowned out the last shred of

Humanity i had within me.

The rest lay within the confines of the

Bible, which conveniently sits right next to

A rifle with bullet casings that has names

Etched into the shell.

When we are all slaves to an economy

Ran by the idolatry of men who feed you lies,

Take and hide your plate to slide you

Crumbs just so you feel like they

Are the reason you ate.

Surrounded by automatic machines

And android assistants.

When the job market consists of

Performing maintenance on your replacement.

Because as technology grows,

The humans become more unwise

As the day goes.

We cannot get along.

I used to think that we were smart enough to see

Through the bullshit that is spread through

The media, the religion, and the politricks..

Sadly, I'm afraid, we've lost the war

And we are all at our weakest at our core.

Get me off of this planet.

Never worship any man who isn't the Savior.

And yet here we are with posters and

Lasers to pinpoint something to virtue

Signal about.

Because let's be honest, everything you

Content creators do is for clout.

I'm exhausted with everyone and everything.

Because even as grown beings

You haven't figured out that we can have

Different opinions, but not be hateful.

If a blue crayon hated a red one, just

Because of a different hue.

Then, school supplies for your kids would

Be that much expensive.

For it's the dumbest thing to buy two boxes

Of crayons, just because one color

Doesn't like the way the other one looks,

So it's impossible for them to be

Packaged inside the same box,

Even though they serve the same purpose.

If you are too blinded to see this all

Asinine, then perhaps we should be begging

For God to burn this bitch down.

Profile avatar image for ts735b
ts735b in Poetry & Free Verse

Twenty four years ago from 9/11/2001

Construction of Twin Towers began

with groundbreaking ceremony

on August 5, 1966,

but the towers themselves

witnessed vertical construction in 1968 and 1969,

with the North Tower

topping out in December 1970

and the South Tower in July 1971

subsequently The World Trade Center complex,

including the Twin Towers,

officially opened for business on April 4, 1973

and located in Lower Manhattan, New York City

immediately demarcated a distinct silhouette

defined the core of The Big Apple

with an august centerpiece

of the World Trade Center (WTC)

situated in the Financial District

near the Hudson River,

the complex occupied a 16-acre site

and graced the land that never slept

after September eleventh

two thousand and one,

where the spirits haunt,

especially on anniversary

that marked the deaths of 2,996 people,

including 19 hijackers

who committed suicide.

Once scheme decided upon

to blow to smithereens

said iconic complex edifice landmarks

(id est twin towers)

got sited within figurative cross hairs

after being chosen as ground zero targets

and after surreptitious perpetrators

honed specific details

of appalling terrorist attack

regarding when to pull off

what would turn out to be

the deadliest foreign attack on U.S. soil,

exceeding Japan's surprise attack

on Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii,

on December 7, 1941,

which killed 2,335 members

of the United States Armed Forces and 68 civilians,

whereby death knells tolled

for either sacrifice of countless lives,

even on anniversary number xxiv of former

of abominable debacle

The Twin Towers apocalyptic tragedy

crowded out every vestige of living social

for days, weeks, and months.

I happened to be housed upstairs

sequestered within the bedroom

designated for me after our (Harris) family

moved into the house

at 324 (formerly R.D. #2) at Level Road

on February 28th,1968.

After returning from her outing

mother, (who would succumb

to ovarian/uterine cancer

about forty four months later)

came sprinting thru the front door

like a bat out of hell

shouting to turn on the television

every channel broadcasting

the fiery maelstrom

watching helplessly as flames

engulfed the like a towering inferno

after two airplanes flew

into the Twin Towers

as part of the September 11 attacks

on the morning of September 11, 2001,

whereby American Airlines Flight 11

struck the North Tower,

and United Airlines Flight 175

struck the South Tower,

leading to the eventual collapse of both buildings.

Television viewers like me

kept eyes glued to the tube,

and watched in horror

attuned to the pandemonium,

a worse fate than death cab for cutie

while mayhem reigned supreme

fueling absolute zero escape

as the vast majority of people

panicked, yet perhaps

in feeble attempt to family and/or friend

with one final telephone call

to said loved ones

choking back tears

before they sought desperation measures

such as jumping out the windows

from the upper stories,

and plummeted to their immediate deaths

versus being roasted alive.

Round the clock coverage occurred,

and aside from the impossible mission

to keep the nation updated

since tragedy writ large

and so much dramatic activity occurred

any spare moment availed

an announcer to offer tidbits

such as the following:

The Twin Towers stood 110 stories tall,

with the North Tower (1 WTC)

standing at 1,368 feet

and the South Tower (2 WTC) at 1,362 feet,

but the North Tower's height increased

to 1,730 feet when a large antenna

added to roof in 1978,

but this being a nonstructural addition

not officially counted

as part of the building's height.

Profile avatar image for rwraven
rwraven in Poetry & Free Verse

Ink

I hear short tales, where you are nothing good and far from impressive and all imposing.

I try and see you diplomatically. But unfortunately, I feel you.

I feel your ache. The bruise ever-pressed. The expectations failed. The stale shock of chilled wine dripping into the dip of your shirt. The want for bleeding passion and settle for dry stability.

I stare. I can't help it. I want to know everything, but there is very little I can ask in the cage I am unsure how to free us from.

Your mouth raises on the opposite of mine dominantly. You scan like you're waiting for a threat that won't manifest but you'll cruelly deny looking for if it's acknowledged. Your hands are calloused from weight lifting and you hold a pencil funny, and with every trait, you become dominating in my mind.

I won't rewrite my story to fit you, nor will I try and force you to want my narrative. But you don't move away when I press against you, and you look a beat too long when you don't think I can see, and I think maybe you'd be happy to read the words your name constitutes.

You are not penciled into my life, you are the only thing that's written in ink.