Howard Would Have Been Eight
She sat down at the kitchen table, but there was nothing she ate,
Wiping stray tears, today Howard would have been eight.
She missed his little body curled up beside her; all the books they read,
She missed his mischievous smile when his hands were stained strawberry ice-cream red.
Howard was always so selfless, offering to help with the dishes each week,
Howard was always so loving, comforting the kids in P.E. others viewed as weak.
Despite her lack of hunger she went to grab some cereal from the pantry bin,
Frosted Flakes brushed her hand, those were what Howard's favorite had been.
She laughed at the thought of her baby, he always said he'd add more sugar if he was on the "cereal council",
How upsetting it was that she was now the one seeking counsel.
He was just a sweet young boy, every night by his bed he would pray,
Such a sweet young boy, a drunk driver's prey.
She felt all alone on the morning of February 12, 2014, but she knew she was not,
The fact that 1,149 parents of kids under the age of fourteen were going through that same first birthday without their baby this year, left her stomach in a knot.
*Every time you drink and drive you risk tearing apart a family, don't take that risk.
America’s King
Bogus beast, demons unleashed
dark depths of netherworld explored
deplored, abhorred, waterboard
He rules the realm as he sits at the helm
Beware Americans, hold on for sanity's sake,
kiss the ass of our newly crowned sheik -
pretend you don't know what's at stake.
Not one of us escapes alive to survive,
to strive, to thrive, to connive, to arrive.
Predator King Trump lies as America dies
but he'll never waver in your favor,
slicks his hair to transform, perform, reform
into phantom of urban legends on history page
stands on center stage, traps us in a cage!
History grovels on its knees if you please,
blood shot eyes kick and scream with his dream
as he watches blood being shed, torture he says, okay!
Unwind, rewind, remind of blasphemy of kings,
catastrophe, politics and greed, planting the seed,
flailing nations's needs at full speed as we plead.
Curse the stench, breathe fresh air but don't despair
as American souls are sold in cold moves so bold
for fame and wealth and hidden stealth.
Don't interrupt with profane streams of dreams
clean your side of the street, he demeans.
Lullaby of death to humanity plays
as bricks are layered on wall, that's all.
Pacing man, stirring frenzy in air, doesn't care,
cut's off health care except for himself,
stays privileged on his own gilded shelf.
Cavalierly gives go ahead on pipeline
the Hell with Indian spirits so fine.
No funds for planned parenthood
forget birth control, have babies, babies, babies
but don't fund their cost, forget the loss.
Don't let anyone into our fair country
unless they think and look like Trump
a red-haired jackal of all trades, but
master of none, not even one!
Tax, tax, tax the middle class
Trump doesn't pay taxes at all
It's not fair but what does he care?
Trumpty Dumpty sits astride his wall
The bigger he is, the harder he'll fall!
But who will save America after all?
can’t help feeling you
you.
your name used to glide through my mouth
slipping out slowly and sweetly
like a million butterflies at once
the sound of it made me inexplicably happy
now.
it spins and twists and wraps around my throat choking me
i'm lucky if i can say it without tears spilling out
you have become a dragon in my throat
most nights are spent fighting
most nights it's not my fault
most nights it becomes my fault
i remember the nights you used to care
the nights we would stay up all night talking
the nights where all I did was cry, but you were there like an unwavering rock
now
i'm lucky if i get a text back
how can i be happy again
if i stay with you
if you've become the reason the dragon is here
but how can i ever leave,
if after the dragon goes away for the day, the butterflies come back.
When I Look At You
I look at you
And you take me away
Away from the pain
Of playing all these games
I look at you
And my heart surrenders
Your smile so tender
A look I will always remember
I look at you
And I finally feel safe
I know my place
Is in your warm embrace
I look at you
And I am certain
That I have fallen deeply
Helplessly
And utterly completely
In love
With you
The Danger of Run-On Sentences (222 word challenge)
As a teacher, I constantly comment on and correct my students for their tendency to overuse run-on sentences causing unnecessary confusion for the reader with constant, consecutive clauses and confusing prepositional phrases strung together without a chance to catch a breath, leading the reader to lose track of the original thought with which the author started before running on and on and on with that repetitious, repeated, redundant rhetoric that remains largely, hugely overstated causing skepticism of the authority of the author who tends to lean on hyperbole and repetition to prove his points rather than clinging to concise, consistent controlled thoughts with clear beginnings and endings by which the reader may understand and follow the intent of the author rather than wandering around on rabbit trails through endless ramblings and explanations that tend to hop around the main issues and bound into thickets of misunderstandings which frustrate the reader encouraging him to high tail it out of that particular work of literature and leap into something more concise that does not ramble on and on with repeated repetition, rendering him unable to remember the writer's original point and perspective causing him to have to return again and again to the original point of the sentence before it rambled on into those clauses and prepositional phrases becoming a run-on sentence.