Litter Box

tending to the litterbox
is not a task preferred
for it truly is the shittiest
this much, you may have heard
’tis a piteous endeavor
for regardless of one’s diligence
attempting to remove each clump
will only beget new remnants
which make it near impossible
to execute a thorough riddance
fomenting one’s obsessive compulsive
hyper-vigilance
enveloped in the vortex
like a kuiper belt of quantum droppings
spiraling into eclipsing suns
where time refuses stopping
then, of course, your kitty cat
will promptly perpetrate intrusions
seeming to have lain in wait
to vitiate your trial’s conclusion
which, perhaps, is preferable
when compared to their predilection
orchestrating olfact’ry affronts
upon Edesia’s token
flippantly forgoing such civilities
as inhumation
leaving fumes to waft
into the window of your sustenation
scarcely does exist a tool
designed for proper execution
in the realm of undoing the wrath
of your kitten’s ablutions
then there is the consequence
inflicted by toxoplasmosis
subjecting one to a life
of perilous subconscious motives
disavowing dignity
despite one being none the wiser
all the while as wit and wisdom
wither into states most dire
some might think to situate
the litterbox afar from self
who all too soon then acquiesce
to errant marks of tacit tell
with expeditious ardor
one must hearken to the litterbox
pray barter not
for any act thus subsequent
will end in loss
in this, I have said enough
to warrant any Dalek’s malice
were that one could graciously
exterminate me of this VALIS
render me a willful interfusion
as the litter’s fodder
so that we might revel
in the vortex of a river, godless
lo, a life indentured to the servitude
of any feline’s ward
shall verily be filled
with languid litter duty
evermore

The Cali-Cat Committee

yes, my custom Cadillac
is always packed with cuddly kitties
as we cruise around the city
kickin’ back & lookin’ pretty

bucket seats of brimming fur
powered by purrs and cosmic catnip
cursing coppers can’t catch up
and never will, we’re just too damn hip

local brawlers make a fuss
i trust it’s cuz they want to be us
let ’em eat our dust
as we go peelin’ past their pappy’s Janus

drinkin’ soda pop and drivin’
pedal-pushin’ on the floor
sportin’ pompadours so epic
cuttin’ through the kitty-door

and let me tell you
when we do, our doos are truly pussy-magnets
all the other dudes are duds
who look like cast rejects from Dragnet

our swag is so intricate
that none have yet to comprehend it
but that doesn’t seem to stop
the onslaught of cads caught pretending

leave ’em be
it’s best to look upon them
with a quiet pity
not all cats are qualified
to join the Cali-Cat Committee

[image credit: Louis Wain]

Illusion of Civility

the sentence of silence
so few dare to ponder

untold worlds so scarcely beheld

presumed to be something
altogether non-existent
if even regarded in any respect

a consequence foregone
not of their own doing

encountered, in most circumstances
thought only a burden

this, by the very ones
who had begotten their very existence

at best, ignored
at worst, and most typical, degraded
ridiculed
teased
bullied
harrassed
taunted
mocked
thought of as nothing
the list goes on
without end
as they are made to suffer
without further thought

taken only at face value
and that, of what merit?

living, breathing, feeling individuals
of infinite complexity
reduced to the confines
of our grave misperceptions

tucked away neatly in alternate circles
so that we might safely know not of their existence

shuffled away into quaint little busses
a vacuous vaunt to avail our insecurities
by insulting our peers

and them
were we ever thus made to withstand the affront of their presence

how callous and cruel could we possibly be?

and to dare think ourselves as being human

humanity begins in our wasteland of disregard

it is there where we will find
the base truth of our sympathy
empathy
compassion

these words offer nothing
but titular arrogance

ever so smitten
with our sculptures of charity

nary do any of us stand to comprehend
the scope of our blaringly blatant indiscretion

if such is the case
that even those closest related
are most guilty of all
in their failure to see
what their own eyes bear witness to

in its full scope

then what hope
if any
do we stand as a species?

our civilization
can only be gauged
by our treatment of those
not given a voice

subject to the mercy
of choices
made by those left to speak for them

and by this
i submit
our civility
is naught
but the grandest
of all our illusions

[image credit: Georges Barbier]

Nomenclature’s Foment

hearti(kin drama, us
tin)ctures of (christ
in era y)et fallen
through (eyes + words)

with garish ha(lo

ise* linkens**)
aglow, a(toms latin)ise (jasper

kerk au)spiciously entered
and soon (chronos fer)vidly
slaked with fla(sk nichol

as) (my valiant soul)
had no b(yas sy)mbolically

it wa(s a man, Thaluc
ero)s and (weird weekend’s) (ward

clever) was his (first secret

draft)ed on (a nam)eless shore

still, it was (just

joan) of arc (me)ekly swore
that’s when i r(ann

a cottage), by loo(ks

be th)at, as it was
moored by the gl(aur

o Ra, Phoen
ix)tles wou(n)d
round my gossamer neck

my sight was a mino(taur
using EMI*** ni)ctitation

with ab(ash, “do u glas)sify god?”

i said “no. but my ser(aph
rol in a)sp tear’s radius

a blasphemous vete(ran
a kelly) green worn beret

etched astrobl(eme kao****

fili)greed (flo

raw ora)tory s(marts)

with leimoti(v i shal

dutia)ble, as (the perilous
reading society)’s fortune(s

and stars blo g)usts wayward

revealing such a (finding
kan dee)motivate every (child
of cynicism) sleekly polished

with ban(jo lies
in tic)-tocked drea(ms
jade-li)ke dianthus lament (living
as tan ya)rrow (little bird learns

to fly)te is to flourish
in full-fledged swara(j
dub)bed ledge-leaped freedom

the pande(mick hughes) fill the sky
more ohm t(hann ahm

unroe)mantic fi(ni

cole ly on s)oot-laden kisse(s
d)ismantling ana(malic

I c I
afro st)reets of ol’ (georgia
park)ed neath an amarant(h owl

D.A. vies) ever
to capture the (olde pun

k)nowing that soon
this will all come to close

•Key•
*ise 異背 – alligator (Japanese)
**linkens – left [transitive] (German)
***EMI – Electro-Magnetic Interference
****kao 顔 – face (Japanese)
∞Bonus oddity – combining 異背 ise with kao 顔 transmorgriphies into 異背顔 [ise-gao], meaning “heterogeneous face”

[image credit: Louis Wain]

Summer’s Stay

it is only
by your hand

that i have ever known
of happiness

in the days
of verdant fleeing

further
than could fill the eye

it was you
and i
as nature

sprawling Rosy Fairy Lantern’s light
through Mustang Clovers
endless rows
arose Sierra Columbine
and Blazing Stars
of Indian Paintbrush
lingering
on the lake
along with Larkspur
and Lupine

still
i must confess
the scented prism
of your tresses

mesmerized
my waking dream

unfolding
a golden emergence

in shaded respite
the world would shrink
like boulders slow succumb
to sand

analyzing every aspect
quantum flecks
to speckled skies

all i ever cherished
lay beside me

in the squander
of youth

not a word
was left unheard

as brief
as summer’s stay

[image credit: Ansel Adams]

Transposing

holding on
with humbled heart
the hills succumbed
before me

raging
like the devil’s hearth
the earth
left drab and scorched

once
while perched
atop these peaks
a piece of me
quietly departed

unaware
until descent
the direness
of this spiraled dream

e’er i shall
endure its depths
as death reigns long
in sorrowed rain

this fallow ground
on which i stand
alluring
with its thoughts
impure

now conjuring
a new entreaty

beading
upon burdened brow

the briars
of ambrosia

tortured truths
remain
untouched

as tempest
tramples all terrain

and virtue
proven
unavailing

sovereignty
disavowed

our souls
denied
a savior

though Nature gasps
in ashen breaths

her song persists
transposed

[image credit: Milton Avery]