NO

He must not know.

No.

Does he?

Know?

Yes.

No

it may never be the same
we are modern man we massively react
altering changing in the face of
that which we call apocalyptic
simply because we have not experienced it before

SEASON OF THE WITCH

At the hour of the wolf

On the day of the dead 

In the season of the witch

The blood moon glared down

Through thick tangled branches

Of ancient oaks that surrounded

The stone altar incised with

Inscrutable petroglyphs

The sole legacy of some  

Unknown race and culture

Now drowned in the deepest

Oceans of time.

Dense murky mist rose

And swirled on

The forest floor

The calls of night birds ceased

The scuffling of nocturnal scavengers

Abated in anxious anticipation

The mournful howl of a lone wolf

Shattered the ominous silence.

Emerging from the thick mist

An assembly of apparitions

Garishly garbed gypsies  

Witches tramps crazed clowns

Pirates vampires elves and fairies

Gathered around the ancient monolith

To gorge themselves on

Sweet treats extorted from

Neighboring houses.  Happy Halloween!!!!

words

what is the word?
confused perplexed
flipping through my mental
Rolodex what word comes next?
I knew it last week, it perfectly expressed
 that feeling of . . . of . . . . of. . . what?
I used it once in a witty and elegant bon mot
to describe that elemental numbness
that abysmal dumbness
lacking the words to speak in my own voice.

Snow day 1952

Ermine trimmed railing on the porch;

frozen milk mushrooms out of tops of square bottles.

Black galoshes, corduroys, war surplus pea coat,

air corps bomber cap with earlaps and

lamb’s wool lined leather flying gloves.

Fifteen feet of sidewalk and the path

to the front door for a silver quarter,

fifty cents for the house on the corner.

Film Noir

The Automat was open twenty-four hours a day

because there had to be someplace to go

in that hour between five and six A.M.

when, by law, the bars had to close.

A nickel for a cup of hot fresh coffee the color of his old

camel hair jacket, luckily the stain wouldn’t show when it dried.

Four nickels for ham and eggs, and another one for a doughnut.

Two more which he rubbed together

between his thumb and forefinger smiling,

remembering the story the older kids told him

that new nickels came from the buffaloes rubbing

their bellies together like when he saw his mom and dad doing it.

Those and the quarter he had in his pocket

would pay for the first Wild Turkey of the day at 6:05 AM.

Big Bang

In that last moment before the creation of the Universe
The kitten fixed his gaze on the sweeping tip of the sleeping setter's tail
And shook his hind quarters.