Heavy breathing, hoarse wheezing
Lungs pumping, thighs in pain
Gripping handle bar, squeezing
Stretching the squealing chain
Guts, strength & stamina explored
Cresting the flat road my reward
What traffic?
Din of metal pushing through air
nostrils flared from tail pipe spew
Tires squealing, engines roar, horns blare
as traffic mounts tempers brew
Snug in ‘my cell phone booth on wheels’
who bothers about traffic?
Electronic Heaven appeals
am perfectly seraphic!
Til someone cuts me off of course
purloined civility shorn
then I turn deep-rootedly coarse
hanging dumbly on the horn
+)
metal = here: vehicles
Grins above chins, scowls above jowls
Youth’s breezy wide grin:
‘Have got it handled!’ look
Chiseled upbeat chin
behold the crisp paged book
Aging’s wheezing scowl:
‘Can’t figure it out?’ look
Sagging dangling jowl
behold the well worn book
So act while you’re still a prancer
when got every quick, right answer!
In denial we act like a wriggling eel in tap dance spiel
Try bring up that with which we won’t deal
we’ll turn slippery like a wriggling eel
disingenuous with zany zeal
skipping away in a fierce tap dance spiel
Try mention what we won’t hear or face
we’ll spout anger quite invective
putting the messenger in their place
unguarded, jaws clenched, reactive
We’re shouting ‘arguments’ deflective
reasoning flawed & defective
then retreat in silence rejective
stuck, adamantly protective
Cyclist, a bravely balancing bull’s eye
Mere inches from apron sliver
impatient cars stream, squeeze by
Pedaling & sweat in quiver
we’re a balancing bull’s eye
In their ‘behind the wheel seduction’
impatient, sometimes arrogant
drivers may view us as obstruction
at best a minor irritant
As their foot the gas pedal kisses
do drivers know what he/she misses?
edited 06/24/22 0905
Personal immorality became society’s normality
When striving to grasp reality
how is it recognized if found
as surely abject futility
with life now in fantasy gowned?
Our personal credulity
shapes up what’s reality
Endless our gullibility
as we crave hyperbole
All faded to triviality
including hate’s lethality
Beware of life in frugality
hail corporate mentality!
Thus our personal immorality
became societal normality
Din of dim dinner
An exercise in civility?
No, we opt for instant reprieve
devolves in wordy futility
from ‘Holy’ takes decisive leave
Yield to that gut surging pull
again cheaply thrilling
to chomp beyond feeling full
of slumming in swilling?
In what lies the attraction
of gorging & natter
of shattering distraction
din of verbal clatter?
California beach town
Through 4-way stops
flashy cars glide by
past cutesy shops
Below happy sky:
Honk, honk
check my new wheels
clonk, clonk
watch my new heels
Bodies fit or sagging
Kids dragging, lagging
Spouses hugging, nagging
Machos swag, bragging
Watch both bouncing soft belly guts
& perfect bodies with boards
stepping out from their daily ruts
the beach culture’s serfs & lords
While lacking existential traction
dwell fleetingly in rhapsody!
Beyond ‘daily grind’ satisfaction
what fun albeit fantasy!
Us cansters curbside (in own words)
On Fridays before dawn
us cans are back at the curb
on the strip by the lawn:
A recycling cheering blurb
Listening for the garbage truck
while we’re bulging overfilled
how exciting, again in luck
now on our street, we’re all thrilled!
We get lifted, shook, tumbled
our bearings & loads lost
Elated, swiftly jumbled
back on to the curb tossed
Lids left open, gaping
happens every week
There is no escaping
recycling’s mystique!
+)
canster = a can being a member of a recycling ‘blurb’
Fulfillment finally
Been rotating with agility
while precisely ‘hanging in there’
in serviceable docility
next to gurgling porcelain chair
Squeezable white roll flowingly gowned
personality tightly bound
gradually becoming unwound:
Can’t handle one more flushing sound!
Then after no more sheets to be ripped
lost in predicament mirthless:
Tossed away naked to the core, stripped
abandoned, overlooked, worthless
But behold! By a tiny child found
the roll’s core now joyfully blown
Dreams of fulfillment finally crowned:
Roll reborn as gleaming trombone!