concrete slabs
hot and gray in the sun

lifeless non entity
a dandelion with tree dreams
finds a miniscule crack
in this anonymous shield
pokes through
her head crowned
in a golden haze
and nature’s claim
on what is hers begins
who will Gaia send
as the next warrior
probably the bird armies
conveying more seed soldiers
who stalk the weakness
of the spreading enemy

©  Sandy Vrooman

The Chili That Died In My Freezer

Cooking for one can be difficult

Washing pots and pans

After just one meal

Tedious

So I started cooking big pots

Of stews and soups

Putting them in containers to freeze

Handy

One day the freezer was full

But of what

I had neglected labels

Mysterious

Those that had become, politely

Freeze dried, their liquids zapped

Into ice crystals on top

Tossed

Some were not identifiable

While others bore a slight resemblance

To what they had been

Desiccated

I found the chili way in the back

Dried little beans sticking up

I buried them

Sadly

© 2007 Krystall Knobbs

Persephone consort of Hades

Decided to throw a party

Before she left for her summer holiday

They invited Jaguar, Donn, Afallach, Osiris

And others to a take out pizza fest

Sepphie, as they called her

Ordered extra peppers and garlic

Tlazolteotl chatted with Pwyll

And consumed twelve pieces of the delectable repast

Scathach said she preferred haggis

While Odin, on a dare, ate five heads of garlic

And ten packages of peppers

It is predicted that the cumulative fart

From the underworld will erupt

Some time soon near Pompeii

Mahui Iki thought they should concentrate on Oahu

Kalma is still waiting for hell to freeze over

© Krystall Knobbs

morning's low fog

wrapped around the bay

just waiting

for the curtains to open

and the show to begin

beach cut cliffs

towering up from the sea

like book pages

revealing a vast expanse

of journeys and time

like a lover's caress

beach waves seduce land

into giving

part of herself in return

for perceived affection

making love

is similar to playing bridge

it is best

to have a partner

with a good hand

© 2007 Kitsune Miko

Rosie

Rosie was my first baby doll

I got her when my sister was born

So I could act like Mommy

They got me a puppy too

The puppy and I would sit

Under my sister's crib and pee

I got spanked and the puppy vanished

Afraid to ask lest I go too

I took off all of Rosie's clothes

Put her in a box in the closet

And said she was napping

They were worried

I never liked Rosie

I supposed that was because

I had to like my sister

Displaced displacement anxiety

Many years later for a kid

My evil boy cousin and I

Took Rosie outside to play

Swung her round and round

Tossed her into an empty lot

Never to be found again

It was only as an adult

That I regretted this last act

I wonder about the decomposition

Of her composite head and arms

The rotting of her cotton stuffed body

How others still have that first doll

Reminiscing on the fact that

It was thought natural for a girl

To know what to do

With a baby doll back then

These instincts we are taught

By watching others with children

How do we learn then

If we are the first child

Of an only child Mother

Isolated from the pack

With their human puppies

And alpha instructors

Why are we found lacking

If we don't know how to

Be appropriately mothering

Until so much later

© 2007 Sandy Vrooman

divested of all possessions trees prepare for meditation autumn leaves.

round about midnight, revised

short circuited wireless memories

play love songs in my second molar

by a baroque calliope orchestra

in inverse reversed orders of being

and the dancing bananas trip ‘n split

into ringtone rap chamber quartets

in bits and bytes of caramel syrup

oh! nuts, I forgot the maraschinos

no virgins this sundae for sacrifice

without spoons we will have to improvise

© 2009 Sandy Vrooman