Author: Dave Stancliff

Retired newspaper editor/publisher, Vietnam veteran, freelance writer, blogger. Married 51 years. A sense of humor. Defender of truth. Give my poems, essays and short stories a read. I look forward to feedback. Write on!

The Last Straw

when they came and took away his Irish whiskey

he stood up to them and said you can’t do this to me

when they came to take his driver’s license away

he warned them and said I’ll get it back someday

when they came after his ’49 Chevrolet one night

he was waiting for them and they got into a fight

when they came after his marijuana field

he made a deal to share the harvest’s yield

when his freedom was subject to a bogus law

the pending injustice was the last straw

he withdrew from civilization

and went into hibernation

My Iggy

we sit side by side in a state of serenity

my Iggy and me

he, a small version of a greyhound

with brown eyes that are profound

that look into my soul

his presence does console

we spend comfortable hours silently

contemplating many a mystery

my Iggy and me.

Spoiled Rotten

a generation of spoiled little creatures

the bane of teachers

the result of helicopter parents

coddling their adolescents

breaking rules to benefit their child

parents allowing their kids to go wild

our school systems now a joke

underpaid teachers going broke

respect for public education

is lacking in our great nation

Bright City Lights

city lights shinning so bright they light up the night, exposing activities you see in all cities. The harsh glow illuminates endless alleys and trash cans waiting for the morning light when they’ll be emptied of their rotten secrets and given new life.

skyscrapers stretch into the night sky like beacons burning brightly from a thousand rooms. Lights glowing like luminous ribbons on countless streets seeking to chase away stubborn shadows that escape the view of endless car’s headlights.

days turns into neon nights that defy the dark skies. People walking under an artificial glow in disguise. Petty thieves and gangsters clinging to the shadows like wraiths, waiting to catch unwary souls who venture beyond the incandescent safety of the radiant light.

tourists walking by glaring marquees that tease numerous delights in the always busy nights. So many things to see in the lucent city.

A Breezy Look at Fans

a propeller in a cage

on hot days it’s the rage

cool air on a sweaty face

it’s wind flow to embrace

relief welcomed anyplace

a boon to the human race

their use is commonplace

freshening an enclosed space

in many a working place

the breezy fan runs a race

in households and every place

The Survivors

-160 words

In the aftermath of the global nuclear war the earth wept toxic radiation, killing the remaining living things slowly and painfully.

Poisonous gases weakened the planet’s struggling species worldwide. Once lush forests were transformed into wastelands. Skyscrapers that once kissed the heavens now reduced to steel skeletons. Human shadows etched on concrete, gruesome portraits depicting their last moment of life.

The human race had finally fought it’s last world war. Chaos reigned as the last vestiges of civilizations turned to dust. History erased with no trace for space explorers from other worlds to see. No record of humanity.

No. The only survivors will not be able to talk with any celestial visitors. They’ll be flattened under surfaces of all kinds, scurrying around and scavenging in dark places unseen by prying eyes. Just like their ancestors for millenniums past. They were built to last. That’s why cockroaches survived man’s follies. They were the one species mankind could not drive into extinction.

First Kiss

heart beating like a drum

afraid of acting dumb

at my first dance

a chance

of romance

with lips dry

from being shy

she caught my eye

with a coy smile

a promise to comply

when my lips apply

young bliss

I’ll always miss

that first kiss

April Offerings

Aprilis – aka April – arrives every year

with rainy benedictions

for the atmosphere

it’s showers

bring flowers

and empowers

nature to revive

to survive

and thrive

awakening the land

to expand

nature’s grandstand

Epiphanies Don’t Always Please

sudden revelations and insights can be stifled by stupidity and jealousy

there’s always doubters that don’t see what others see

new ideas are often met with controversy

the sceptics scorn unaplogetically

visions kicked aside like debris

in human history

only

there will always be

a person with a sense of destiny

who will have an epiphany

that will set us free

Desert of Deceit

Burnt sands cover the liescape stretching between truth and deceit buried deep in a person’s mind. A desert of deceit. Unhindered by any convention, yet still possessing a conscience that sometimes asks questions about morality and sensuality.

Falsehoods, like scorpions and snakes, strike swiftly in the seething sands of a liar’s mind whose mission is to deceive. The liar’s soul, burnt by dwelling in the bronzed wasteland of duplicity, is shriveled and crispy.

There are those who dwell in this sandy hell by choice. Content to wander dunes of deceit. Content to live a lie. Content to vilify. Souls that were born bone dry. For these nomads in society, I have no pity.

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