Tag Archives: free verse

Jenga (has left the building)

It was Odd Jenny found herself in Petri’s fishbowl, but whoop, there she was–

shortcomings multiplying like

Rabbits

and everyone knows rabbits can’t swim–

the lacking, lucky paw lacked Web-bing, and was hacked anyway

an equal 2 Bits, you know, and Maps of Bits…

any remaining, luckless paws flaunted as rues

a Hugh•mungous failing–according to Hugh

an e•Greg•ious error–as far as Greg was concerned

though Himself was somewhat poorly hewn, and Greg, well–Greg. Him was so often confused with Crag, what difference did it make if not rappelling?

repellent

and quite Hein•ous (in Heinz-eye) but nevertheless re•Markable to Mark’s mind…

a soon to be he-she, Mark dba Marcia didn’t count

while in Mike’s view–croscopic as it was, Jenny•Jenny was purely pore,

spinstering tails from her own tuff•it as the Odd Miss did…

kinda her wheelhouse

Yes, things were Max•i•mized, and hung upside down

in the Window

–plucked–

(a la Chinatown, to mix references)

when Miss•Odd•Jenny

got whacked by the

boy’s Club.

©Karen Robiscoe

Oz Borns

tin_manOz never gave the Metal Man

mettle

but he did

find it at a souvenir stand there,

and Dorothy got a wicked

pair of vintage kicks

–made for walking

(and her little dog, too)

but where was she even going?

(her next shin-dig)

everyone knows you wear slippers around the house,

and the straw man,

well, the straw man 

he was proven liar

by his very instance

–albeit a clever one—

now wasn’t he…

while the lion

(rahr, the lion)

might have whiled away

his fearful existence in peace,

a dream away a dream away

had not that trio happened upon him

and taught him he was

afraid.

©Karen Robiscoe

Bread–as GPS

 
Hansel_and_Gretel_2
 
I am on the wrong side of my Looking Glass,

but at least the characters have changed!

There’s Gretel

that’s me
 
 
without the crummy bread, though

and Hansel

that’s nunya

without GPS, either, and you know he won’t ask directions

and the de rigueur archetype, off course, too

that’s lawless

Good, bad, or Clint Eastwood,

it’s hard to say

witch house

I’ll walk back inside…

if

~any~

©Karen Robiscoe

New Jacket

Note: this is a poem I posted before. As I sift through a couple years worth of files, I am noticing how many poems have *pOOf* disappeared here, and I heartily recommend all fellow bloggers keep multiple copies of their work–as I myself do.

Karen Robiscoe dba CHARRONs CHATTER

a barker at market

marketing parkas

told me to park it

beneath his marquee…

Remarking my burqa

was yesterday’s jerkin

and hurtin’ for certain

the way I’m perceived…

Shaking out tunic

in shaking down movement

he barked that most sheiks

are taken with frayed

–fringes and edges

as long as alleged

unraveling hems

are finest of suede…

Then trading my jacket

in bartering racket

before I could counter

my coat was replaced,

by fast talking honcho

hawking pseudo-suede ponchos

to passing by pawns

showing poor fashion taste.

©Karen Robiscoe

7th Heaven

Karen Robiscoe dba CHARRONs CHATTER

If 1 Day

is Monday

that’s never 2sday,

and Wednesday

> though midway <

lost 3 in translate.

while Thursday

which sounds trey

is really the 4th

—not Friday

(a free-day)

since that’s 5th

of course.

The 6th day

that sits way

—down in the week

is all about sitting

and “past tense” in speak.

And Son-day

is fund day

for God’s favorite sun,

who pulls triple-duty

returning to 1.

©Karen Robiscoe

 

Quitter Quotes

white flag

how many ways

can you throw in the towel?

~wave a white flag~

/ call the ball foul /

ca$h in your chip$

(call it a day)

how many ways are there

out there to say:

↑ hey, uncle ↓

(gone  AWOL)

<now left in the lurch>

* for giving up ship *

–& calling off search–

(to cop out & opt out)

† of state, law, & church? †

~to shy from~

/ resign from /

¡ t0 f0rfeit !

2 cede…

how many ways

does one really need?

* since powder *

once taken

~can come after wash~

<your hands>

of the lot

(of it)

with terry-cloth tossed.

©Karen Robiscoe

 

Woodburning

 

She had a parting of the ways

with her houseplants

—a falling out.

it bore no rePeating …

& she kicKed them out

—succulents, first.

everyone secretly hates succulents,

and in that regard, she was no different from anyone else…

creepy shop o’ horrors plant

and not even attractive

the plant for the:

I am too lame to have a houseplant plant-owner

Released to the wild, these plants were free!

Both deprived and granted rooTs,

it was their inability to ambulate that spelled disaster

since cities limit Trees.

 ©Karen Robiscoe