stings attached
dolls with big eyes
in disguise
one expression forever frozen
in a grimace or a wide smile
meant to beguile
watch the puppets dance
take a chance
enjoy the performance
and suspend reality
to watch their story
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!
Tourist Attraction
colored chunks of glass on the shore
smooth from the waves undulations
pulled up from the ocean floor
gleaming like jewels in the sun
in what appears to be a pristine beach
but isn’t, it’s littered with trash
a picturesque setting with broken glass
marred by the reality of the incongruity
of the dumped glass’s original source
trash heap to attraction for tourists
who have no remorse
Tammy McGee
(Editor’s note: apologies to Edgar Allen Poe for this updated adaptation of Annabel Lee)
It was many, and many a month ago
in a city called Miami
there was a woman living there who you may know
by the name of Tammy McGee
and this woman spent her time
loving and being loved by me
I was retired and so was she
living on the beaches of Miami
and we loved one another madly
I, and my Tammy McGee
with a love the world envied
her, and me
and this was the reason
she was killed by a Nazi
on the beaches of Miami
my gorgeous Tammy McGee
Her family came
and bore her away from me,
burying her in secrecy
the relatives were never happy with me
Yes! That is the reason, as all people know,
they took her away from Miami
hiding my beloved Tammy McGee
but our love continues on in eternity
and nothing can take away her love from me
she appears to me every night in my dreams
my darling Tammy McGee
and not a day goes by
when the sun raises high
when I don’t want to die
On Monuments of War
people say that they hate war
that they don’t want anymore
massive casualties and gore
yet monuments are built
edifices of national guilt
over the blood that was spilt
glorifying past wars
on distant shores
to settle old scores
why
build
any
more?
A Flock of Traveling Souls
unencumbered by bodies they passed by
a flock of traveling souls soaring in the sky
a grieving widow saw them giving her hope
of eternal life and the inner strength to cope
Call of the Coded Words
they’re a siren’s call to mystery and intrigue
laced with meanings from a special colleague
coded words that creep into conversations
secrets exchanged between rival nations
words so fraught with hidden meaning
can also contain something demeaning
peeling away layers of deep mistrust
that if decoded could easily combust
turning a questionably civilized society
into a maelstrom of vicious impropriety
Frog Night Serenade
ribbit! ribbit!
went the big bullfrog
while sitting on a floating log
ribbit! ribbit!
in a basso tone
making the lady frogs groan
ribbit! ribbit! ribbit!
the bullfrog sang
before he suddenly sprang
ribbit! ribbit!
taking everything he had
to land smoothly on a lily pad
ribbit! ribbit! ribbit!
excited girl frogs were arrayed
waiting for the bullfrog’s serenade
ribbit! ribbit! ribbit!
sang the bullfrog under the light of the moon
while his delighted audience tried not too swoon
Rebellion of the Clocks
time was lost when earth’s clocks rebelled
against constraints man’s science brought to bear
triggering deafening alarms and chimes everywhere
shattering clocks of every type and style
leaving broken timekeepers behind in a pile
of wristwatches
pocket watches
novelty watches
and other mechanical cousins
products of man’s efforts to capture time
such impunity
bending universal physics like salt water taffy
in order to control society
making people account for every hour of the day
and when to pray
until cosmic forces finally intervened
against the invention by human beings
The Rum Seekers
75 words
the bottles stood intact in a ragged line on the beach’s burning sand silent sentinels taking a stand as the hypnotizing waves lapped nearby telling a tale of drowned sailors and a ship’s sad demise so near paradise and mere meters away from an island fit for castaways to live out their last days after a lifetime of piracy on the open sea searching the beaches for booty and unbroken bottles of good British rum
Riffing on Living
205 words – free verse
life in the fast lane of concrete jungles weaving through cities and states seeking altered states and the key to paradise while cities burn from fires caused by climate change and a whole range of environmental disasters brought on by corporate behemoths that breath life into Wall Street’s secrets corridors of power looking down on the average citizen nearly powerless trying to fight Goliath with a cell phone tapped by the FBI and marketers vying for the masses money in cyberspace a dangerous place where saints and sinners trumpet their wares to the unwary visitors responding to special sales for limited times – but wait there’s more – in the pursuit of happiness religions and cults seek converts with promises of saving souls and access to elite Hollywood parties where the wealthy meet to greet one another and brag about big contracts and casting beds while women fight for equality and freedom from perverted movie execs soaked in their huge egos looking for the next star in an industry of dreams where viewers suspend reality to escape a world of lies that have formed like cobwebs in our society holding the average person victim with fake news and rhetoric straight from hell and premiering near you soon.
205 words – free verse
The Creative Chronicles of Dave Stancliff 