"There's not much doubt in any of our minds that no complete idea springs fully formed from our brow,
needing only a handshake and a signature on the contract to send it off into the world to make twenty-five billion dollars.
The germ of the idea grows slowly..." - Walt Kelly

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

I got a rock

For NaPoWriMo Eve - prompt here

This commute is killing me - 
pronounce me dead
at the water cooler, entomb me
with my half-empty coffee
and remark that I passed
doing what I loved - 
bringing truth to absurdity. 
(Or perhaps the reverse.)
Ask Camus if I am like his hero, 
steadfast in pushing my boulder, 
smiling in descent
after it rushes back past me. 
They tell me it is unwise
to build a existence upon
a foundation of the mundane - 
I wager it far more foolish
to end my own life
and persist only in servitude. 

Saturday, April 13, 2024

Alexa, what's an "epigram?"

Today's prompt. I'll be working with this pool of words: 

Bright-Smooth-Silent-Rancid-Smoke-House-Quarry-Boat-Fly-Blow
_________________________________________________

I. 
A duck indeed may float,
but no joy on this boat
for the supposed occultist
the haggard villagers smote.
II. 
The chase began late - quick was the quarry,
but darkness would never hinder a hunter,
nor temper his hunger for glory. 
III. 
They called his poor attitude rancid, 
none he called upon ever enchanted, 
but try as he might, no matter the fight, 
a great victory surely was granted. 
IV. 
In all the woods, smoke - 
and so the great earth squeezed out
it's last breath, to choke. 
V. 
Sleight of hand, incite demand, 
what shade may hide, reveal inside, 
a spell of luck, let fate untuck
bright fortune wide; delight applied. 
VI. 
No more echoes inhabit this house,
incense burnt, water sprinkled, and such - 
but skitter still does the scavenging mouse, 
she's never put faith in these, much. 
VII. 
Violent were the waves pursuing
escapees dozing at the helm, 
silent dreamers drowning soon. 
VIII. 
What else may fly, unsuppressed
by the wet heat of midday in July? 
The quintessential, the stereotypical, 
and the frog's late and echoing cry. 
IX. 
The stone was smooth - it cooled his touch, 
but what still burned, it never could soothe. 
X. 
Begin the show - those in the know
return the favor before the blow
may even land. So rouse the band, 
and send the offender to hell below. 

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Is this better?

Hammer
and chisel, 
a great giving-way, 
and then, 
the trauma of creation,
born again
and delivered
unto nonbelievers.
Router bits
and dull blades
reciprocate, 
blood is strewn
into art, and eyes
embrace the enlivening
brutality 
of renovation. 

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

An ode to the ants in my entryway

It is,
by all metrics, 
a most 
ineffective 
invasion. 
Waves of three
or four
obsidian intruders, 
specks
among specks - 
indistinguishable
from tiny rocks
and dirt
tracked in
on shoes and 
paws, 
but for
the scurrying.

Drawn
by some
imperceptible 
lure, ignorant 
to danger, 
infiltrators
find the
tiniest
weakness and
exploit it. 
But
bravery, 
even most
stout, 
ruptures
under the
weight 
of a shoe.