1.
Acid rain triggers gradual brain drain,
Successful transactions net satisfaction,
Wheat doesn’t mesh with red meat,
Sacrifice prides itself on being unreal,
Paychecks can’t catch runaway debt,
Existential atheists drift in fine mist,
Introspection quantifies intervention,
Angels play in the kingdom of glee,
Territorial wars waged on the fringe,
Light shines in as words chime out.
2.
Sasha studious but Trish cares less,
Permanence meant to assuage vitriol,
Rationale for distrust buried with lies,
Bobby sox outlawed in the sacristy,
Gull on the rail strangles a halibut,
Tonight she cries and he subscribes,
Contrapuntal melodies superb,
Slip and slide and rivet and trundle,
Malfeasance addictive to demons,
What the tide augurs never dies.
3.
Stranger to the day words debuted,
Twin twisters merge into one sphere,
Pain mainly stays isolated to yesterdays,
Man of the mountain a shooting fountain,
This laugh is the last chance he has,
Bald parrot cheeps atop a balustrade,
Ammo stashed in his amino acids,
Only the lonely control death’s density,
Mind over mantra adds substantiation,
On true love of others he sails the seas.
4.
Coleridge’s brilliance a sensible drug,
Murky ocean water dislodges doubt,
Absence of mayhem permits dalliance,
The bell thrice rung is locked in shock,
Beating Ned at billiards no big deal,
Empathy empties every ounce of malice,
Abalone and ozone a yummy supper,
No longer necessary to feel offended,
The well-kept discovery undisclosed,
Perfectly fine after a glass of white wine.
Thomas Piekarski is a former editor of the California State Poetry Quarterly. His poetry and interviews have appeared in Nimrod, Portland Review, Kestrel, Cream City Review, Poetry Salzburg, Boston Poetry Magazine, Gertrude, The Bacon Review, and many others. He has published a travel guide, Best Choices In Northern California, and Time Lines, a book of poems. He lives in Marina, California
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