seven under heaven

for human being an alligator named augustine kept his apartment clean when the housing inspectors arrived they saw it wasn't a dive but quarters fit for a queen a butterfly named bo surrendered to mother earth's flow he floated through every clime but was always home on time to watch his favorite show an insomniac chipmunk named constance said, i've had enough of your nonsense to the frogs in the pond below her tree who never stopped their chatter for tea but they heeded not her remonstrance a philosophical frog named fred tried to store inside his head the history of every creature their every form and every feature and cared not where his enquiries led an elephant named ed hated to get out of bed no matter how the sun did shine he said, the days no friend of mine i would rather dream on instead a grumbling gorilla named gus waited every morning for the bus to take him to his place of employment where he experienced little enjoyment but cowered in his cubicle and cussed a human named henry brown lived in a little town he had no time for idle talk but exercised in endless walks and dreamt of eternal renown

an abrupt end to villainy

"the topographical and anatomical information in particular is lost on me." "however," holmes continued "everything will be revealed tonight will tell the tale our friend mr wells will join us perhaps nayland smith as well of course watson your input will be welcome as well" "good heavens holmes i should hope so remember the muddle we had before all because we consulted mr wells perfectly ridiculous to bring him on board again if you ask me." holmes smiled "i expect sharp insights from mr wells. count on it, watson - " a sharp rap on the door interrupted him "lestrade, no doubt" "at your service, mr holmes no change in plans i take it devil take it if i understand the plans though." "ah, lestrade never fear all will be revealed in good time the night will bring surprises of course all nights bring surprises maybe tonight's will be exceptional. in any case clear your mind of preconceived ideas as of course one always should." lestrade nodded 'i have invited mr wells to join us nayland smith as well for his particular expertise opium is not my strongest subject relying on cocaine as i do" "mr holmes if i may say so - " "ah, here are mr wells and mr nayland smith now too good of you to come gentlemen i trust we will have good sport tonight - oh excuse me i haven't this gentleman's acquaintance -" nayland smith nodded pleasantly "i have the pleasure of introducing mr lee." nothing in holmes demeanor showed surprise "poppy lee, i believe - alias - dr fu manchu!" "really holmes this is outrageous this man is our guest - " "i understand the laws of hospitality as well as the next briton, watson curtail your outrage under the blotter on my desk you will find a letter addressed to "all mankind and particularly queen victoria and sherlock holmes" received in the mail this morning "is this some sort of joke?" spluttered wells and nayland smith simultaneously "little is to be gained by preconception, gentlemen observation must carry the day sorry to have used you as foils but the fate of mankind was at stake.' "oh so i was being duped again. eh?" "never fear, mr wells, your time will come." "my word holmes," exclaimed watson "everything is back to normal"

gang of six

a choleric chimp named chuck was corrosively cursing his luck but he gave hosannas when he found some bananas that fell off a turnip truck a delirious dolphin named dank had no money in the bank the humans pointed their fingers and assaulted him with zesty zingers as he jumped in his disney tank a decorous dragon named dray liked to sleep in farmer brown's hay this inflamed the homesteader's gorge so he called upon st george to drag the poor dragon away a hirsute hippo mamed hank had a favorite barber named frank he relaxed in the barbers chair and dreamed of meadows green and fair and white lilies by a river bank a cantankerous crow named joe floated above an ice floe the way the world was going he couldn't help but knowing there was fire down below a flaccid flamingo named fay wouldn't give the time of day to humans with their planes and cars and plans to colonize the stars she just went her own way

i'm looking for my mother

"i'm looking for my mother to kill her"
"my, my." said sherlock holmes, "that sounds a bit extreme."

lestrade looked on quietly
on one hand he approved of holmes method
on the other he was shocked
killing was serious business
in his opinion words meant something
newer views were taking hold
gentlemen in positions of influence

forwarded theories
on the irrelevance of language
refuting centuries of received wisdom

moll johnson the pickpocket
youthfully snarling and insouciant

made eye contact with lestrade
on a nod from holmes
tom jubb the constable
hustled poor moll away
"elementary, my dear lestrade," holmes explicated
"remnants of prehistory

tumble through the child's brain
obviously irrelevant

kinetically
interesting however -
let us take a walk"
leaving the docks behind

holmes and the worthy inspector
entered a broad thoroughfare
reminding lestrade of a battlefield in the punjab

billy blood, part 1

the aztec night was falling fast
when through a fellaheen village passed
twelve riders from across the border
in perfect military order

the lieutenants had two famous names
they were frank and jesse james
the captain was more famous still
none other than the dread quantrill

the faces of the other nine
are not so firmly etched in time
but as they rode to meet their fate
each rebel soldier pulled his weight

the village had but buildings three
a jail, a church, a monastery
a single tree with blood red berries
stood beyond the cemetary

and from the berry tree, swinging loose
a carefully knotted hangman's noose
caught quantrill's eye and then frank james'
in the sudden sunset's final flames

the other ten seemed unaware
they filed into the village square
the square was empty - dusty - still
"another ghost town" cried quantrill

frank james frowned and jesse scowled
far off, a lone coyote howled
the black chacmoolian hills looked down
upon the strangely silent town

dan willis was a rider bold
a brash newcomer to the fold
frank and jesse despised his sass
but quantrill laughed at the youngster's brass

now dan jumped off his horse's back
and taking tobacco from his sack
he rolled one easy as you please
seemed quite prepared to take his ease

he kicked a stone across the ground
"i think i'll take a look around"
he shouted - but no answering sound
echoed his challenge - quantrill frowned

professor porter shifted his weight
upon his horse - "i'd hesitate
to jump to conclusions," he shivered
his red nose twitched and his gray beard quivered

"look ye boys!" cried frenchy le rouge
his finger pointed and his eyes grew huge
upon the coal black mountainside
a light had flashed - and suddenly died

"where are in tarnation are the peasants?"
cried long and lanky henry pheasant
"where's the chief and where's the priest
so quick to get their palms well greased?"

quantrill's face grew fiery red
"shut the flaps on your empty heads
we didn't come here to take a census
the devil that cursed it never meant us!"

"why speak of the devil," cried jack mule
"never mention him, that's my rule
he may be listening, he may be not
but if you rile him, he'll make it hot"

and with those words of wisdom true
he stared at quantrill with eyes of blue
who choked and sputtered with exasperation
"you're the biggest fool in the whole damn nation"

"what nation might that be?" quoth jack
"we've been to every nation and back
seen red and white and black men's ways
enough to last us all our days"

quantrill shrugged and turned aside
his own council he would bide
frank and jesse had drifted apart
and were talking, heart to heart

'there's folks round here." sad frank real slow
"there ain't no ghosts, that much i know
and where's there's folks there must be food
this trickery puts me in bitter mood"

"i think these fools are spooked," said jess
"about to cry for mama, i'd guess
they surely are a sorry crew
whatever made us think they'd do?"

where are the others?

where are the others?
henry harris woke up on his park bench
earlier that evening, when he had fallen asleep, the park was filled with people
rick rogers, the sheriff, had allowed him to sleep on the bench
everyone in town had been celebrating the great victory over the powers of darkness

armageddon had come and gone
remembering it brought tears to henry's eyes
ecstasy had been the order off the day

the whole town now seemed deserted
henry walked away from his bench
expecting to find the rest of the townsfolk around the corner

on a telephone pole a sign was attached
"the joke is on you" it read
henry rubbed his eyes
every cell in his brain throbbed
rick rogers and the rest of the townsfolk had seemed like good people
so what had happened?

poem #12

talking without ceasing, thirstier than ever
ahab sat in the lifeboat
low on the horizon the sun disappeared
kissing the water with flame
i told you so said billy
nothing good could come of this
good is not my word, ahab replied

when darkness fell
incandescent sharks appeared
they laughed at ahab billy and the others
harry smith the cook
opened his mouth to catch the rain
unfortunately there was none
there was no wind either

confidence ebbed
eternity beckoned
ahab kept talking
serenading the waves
in which the sharks laughed
never mind said billy
glory awaits us

tornados of words
hurricaned out of ahabs mouth
in the moonlit foam
restlessly tumbling
sam brown the boatswain
took heed of heaven
in a single fleck
everything was
revealed

the whole crew looked to heaven
hoping for salvation
ahab kept talking
now and on earth

endless words
victorious
endless words
reverberating forever

poem #11

no more stories from this day forth
on the other hand stories are deeply satisfying

my first story was about a murderer
oh how he fooled me
remembering it brings a smile
emptiness is filled

so, doctor, you did it yourself
the truth sets us all free
on the other hand you are cursed forever
repeating your crime is impossible
i have to move on
evidence is never enough
surprise is everything

fred was my new friend
reality was his deck of cards
out of the deck he pulled more stories
magnificent stories

the universe was his green felt table
how he made it spin!
i was entranced
so i gave up real life

detectives outlaws swordsmen
androids aliens vampires time travel
youth forever

fred was only the first
on his heels came mickey, edgar, big bill, jack, jim
raymond, herbert, howard, clark and two-gun bob
time stood still
how did it ever disintegrate?

rimbaud, part 3

mungo answers with grimacing rage "death is the murderer's only wage it is time to turn the final page on this beastly and unrepentant mage this little monster thinks he can sell the human race to the circus of hell but i will not fall under his spell his demonic designs i vow to quell the criminal who gets away weaves threads of darkness in the fabric of day and angels look down from above and say 'over such a world why should we stay?' so cast him into the waterless well and all his sneering triumph dispel so that legions of demons may sadly tell his tale to the tolling of a burning bell this is no wayward youth beguiled on whom temptation has merely smiled this is the evil one's favorite child how can we let such a one run wild?" the denouncer pauses- his words are spent the sheriff answers "i know what you meant but your words aren't worth a half a cent because through the swamp his steps are bent he may be running with the speed of ten or safe in a wolf-woman's murky den the dogs are lost - and we're only men when the sun comes up, we'll try again" "go back then - i'll go on alone and leave unturned no slimy stone what's that? i heard a zombie groan" the swamp erupts in a single moan mungo's face grows white as chalk his eyeballs bulge and his tongue can't talk the sheriff shrugs - "it's four o'clock a right enough time for zombies to walk" "see, see how satan protects his own his imps guard the road where his favorite has flown the fire-tongued boy and the shapeless crone play on drums of snake and trumpets of dragon bone let's go then,' mungo's lips are pursed his eyes are darker than a thunder-filled hearse "defeat is terrible but this is worse ah - let me turn back, for one last curse!" his foot, when he turns, doesn't ht the firm sand out of the ooze twists a long-taloned hand and seizes his ankle like an iron band he struggles and screams but firm he must stand "oh demon, release me." cries the piteous wight raising hands to heaven in terrible fright "release me, release me, i will never more fight against your glorious master, the emperor of night oh, release me, release me and all of my days i'll devote to chanting the horned one's praise to serve him forever i'll search out new ways- let me look just once more on the sun's rising rays!" suddenly, softly, the hand lets him go trembling and gasping he staggers back slow and shaking his head exclaims, "what do you know these demons are fools - i always said so" "yes," says the sheriff, "no doubt that is true tomorrow the skies will be sunny and blue the night be forgotten, the world bright and new but night's waiting children may not forget you"

rimbaud, part 2

the deputy grunts and returns to his chair but his gray rebel cap stands up on his hair a cold blue flame hangs eye-level in air hissing like a rattlesnake trapped in its lair the flame retreats to the bars of the cell the hobo laughs - a hyena from hell! his lips and his eyeballs begin to swell as he whispers hoarse "i've a tale to tell only a tale - i've nothing to sell it begins with the tolling of a silver bell over a green and dew-dropped dell" the deputy answers "i don't feel well" "i was once a man - a humble one, true with the high and mighty i had nothing to do all week i read the testament new and on sunday i read the old one too i lectured the low and bowed to the great i emptied my glass and cleaned my plate and thanked the lord, both early and late for giving me such a happy fate i was deacon of a little church a bluebird sang from a sunlit perch in a purple elm beside a snowy birch when life gave a sudden and terrible lurch" the wolfman drones on, and on, and on the deputy nods - he begins to yawn the jail is a board, he is only a pawn his eyeballs fade like the moon at dawn the cell bars twist in the wolfman's claws his piteous story has come to a pause his white teeth laugh in his hairy jaws the sleeping deputy hears applause the sheriff shakes his head at the dogs dismay "we'll have to come back at break of day" mungo clears his throat to say "i don't think that is at all the right way this wretch has broken the laws of the town i will not rest until i've hunted him down what use for the mayor a martyr's crown if his killer as escape artist makes his renown? this is no wayward youth beguiled on whom temptation has rarely smiled this is the evil one's favorite child how can we let such a one run wild?"

rimbaud, part 1

throw the jaguar a nickel and the clown a dime and ride on the river of endless time the mayor is lying face down in the slime so now you can never atone for your crime the statues are shattered and the safe is unlocked it's midnight forever on the cuckoo clock so its out the window and down to the dock to the twisted tree beside the humpbacked rock "mama - mama roo - are you there?" "don't come closer,boy - beware." "beauregard's treasure = i've come for my share." "the moon isn't green - so you haven't a prayer." "i've had enough of your magical words all your talk of green moons, red frogs and white birds the night is alive, or haven't you heard the dogs are howling to cut me to sherds i gambled for beauregard's money and won i need it now because i'm on the run i must get to natchez before the rising sun because my tribulations have only begun "boy - if you must be such a fool as forget what you learned in michael's school and the message you read in jezebel's jewel and break both angels and demons rule then never awake from your madman's dream when nothing will ever be what it seem but that pitiful rays of hope may gleam i leave you this token of magic esteem" raindrops riffle on a snakeskin drum and a thousand toads take up the hum the eyes glaze over and the hands grow numb a white light shines on the swirling scum and the light contains an old felt hat the crown is shapeless and the brim is flat gray as the fur of a mangy cat surely you are not afraid of that? with a trembling hand on a fluttering wrist the hat fits as tight as a demon's fist zombie eyes glitter and serpents twist the sorceress gone with a final hiss say goodbye now to mama roo in amber bubbles in a mist of blue her curses were empty but her lies became true now there's nobody left but the dogs and you the slime so dismal and the sir so foul the demon in his armor and the monk in his cowl the fish-dog-witch and the goddess-owl are all set trembling by the terrible howl there is only road - through the thick of the bog though you can not be hidden by the thickest fog in the tallest tree or the hollowest log no time to be lost because here is the dog with hide black as nothingness, eyes white as time red claws rake the dirt at the edge of the slime the sheriff smiles gently at his terrible whine though the dog speak in tongues, he won't answer in rhyme

about me, part 1

i was born by a river in a little shack, and just like the river i can't get back on track. my parents were missionaries in china, or maybe in india or darkest africa, one day lenin and trotsky came to town. they stayed at mrs b's rooming house. mao tse-tung was already in town and he was staying at the savoy. we knew trouble was brewing when hombres like that were in town. when i finished sweeping up at the mission i went for a walk. as i approached the river i heard laughter. someone was laughing. by the time i came around the bend the laughter had stopped. on the river bank a fish was flopping. racking my brain, i could never remember seeing such a fish before. not even in my dreams. behind me i heard a gurgling sound. yeti was standing there. as i may not have mentioned, yeti was my best friend. rain began to fall. i pointed to the fish still flopping on the ground. veins began to throb in yeti's forehead. evidently he was as baffled by the fish as i was. right then we heard the sound of oars coming through the water. i turned and saw trotsky lenin and stalin in a rowboat. no conversation seemed to be going on. a i watched the water ripple out from the boat lenin turned and waved to me i waved back trotsky merely nodded at me truth be told i never liked trotsky much lenin was much more friendly eternity was in his gaze stalin was my favorite he always had a smile almost always conversation with him was easy koala bears could not be more friendly