No Tony Danza

meeting some people’s eyes is bruising

socket shiners

windows to mud-streaked souls

all blind spot

whether stripping

(or)

cracked

blackout lids

you see too much

glancing blows

(that)

splinter

& fracture

spitting shards of pane

phreak house phantasmagorias

pupils

>the dead kind<

that learned stuff no one needs to see…

©Karen Robiscoe

Looking

through a telescope

(OO)

at grass that greened

a different slope

I thought I’d like a chance to see

if mountain was as nice as lee

and setting sights on

new horizon

the trail I trod

was quite surprisin’

It switched its back

at least 8 times

an 8 fold path

to newer clime

it ran a track

in loop de loops

this lane I took

from sod-less stoop

was lined with flags

I counted 6

flashing by on coaster trip

that fed into a Seuss machine

a twisted, belching

snaking thing

which stole my stars

en route to green

and detoured through

a cheeseless maze,

on road trip spanning

several days

then wended way

through house of freaks

with hidden ghosts

and stares that squeaked

a trafficked,

grid-locked

infrastructure

de tractors favored

but my pluck, sure

proved to putting

green–my aim

to see that

grass

up close

again.

a sneeze can let

the devil in,

but how does he get out?

Is it the sneeze,

or allergies?

that puff him out your snout…

would a pot of pepper

~near~

blast him through your nose,

would pollen,

call him,

back to Gollum’s

hellish rings & rows?

does it require exorcise–

to help you work him loose,

could cross and priest,

set free the beast,

and make that imp vamoose?

Is he like Drac’…

could garlic snack…

render devil dust?

would bait-ed breath,

insure his death,

and help your schnauz un-pact?

while all these tics

might do the trick,

if they should not prevail…

declare Puck plucked,

a mind construct,

–the devil’s in the details.

©Charon

rabbit-eared, Silhouette works a side job,

moonlighting as a hollow-gram,

–itself seeking Original halo, and substantial quest—

though Silhouette weights less

on gossamer headgear

than Shadows–

–somebody’s got to feed them, right?

employing light to show

what’s what,

to frame this selfless act,

to fill in the spaces between M and T

(that’s a lot of alphabet!)

but goes immediately undercover

(deep 6)

instead.

Silhouette endeavors to mirror

Hologram in tangible acts…

sweeping the tables clean every few minutes

the better to copy the basics

–a graveyard class Reflection teaches every other Thursday, and sometimes a seemingly pointless

reason to stay awake, but attendance is mandatory

(if you join)

deciphering chalk outlines

that fit awkwardly,

disparaging make-up,

and pretend,

and polished, nailed

thumbs

.a quasi-stigmata.

since Reflection requires use of all Silhouette’s

fingers–

even the rabbit ears.

by Karen Robiscoe
a copy…right…