BLOGETRESSA: October 2023

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

SUGAR-TALKING BLUES

Walking along the road one Samhain night

Saw something odd, gave me a weak-legs fright

Hot pink dragon glowing in moonlight

Stretched over its hoard, man, what a sight

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Now I don’t drink alcohol or smoke weed

Although decades in the past I partook of the seed

True, tonight I celebrated my control freed

Caffeine and chocolate imbibed with speed

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Dragon snored away so I crept near

Have to confess, did feel fear

But wow! Her hoard was oh so clear

Mounds of candy corn celebrating the solar year

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Orange and yellow and white sugar treat

My parents used to call it “chicken feet”

In prep for Thanksgiving I’d gobble it neat

I confess sugar and dye is my favorite eat

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Shoveled the hoard into my backpack

Pausing to eat a midnight snack

Until the sugar high made me slack

And I must’ve passed out on the dragon’s back

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Woke up feeling a pretty hot fire

The dragon yelling, thought I’d expire

“I didn’t do it!” I screamed like a liar

She wrapped her tail around me, I was lifted higher

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“How shall I punish you, my thief?”

“I’m so sorry, but I’m addicted,” I said with grief

“Well it is Halloween so we’ll stay in the motif”

“Yes, I will!” I cried in relief

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“Play me a song with your ukulele

Sing something sad and achingly lonely”

“I will,” said I gladly, “although I’m crappy”

Kindly she said, “Music is soothing even from a wannabe”

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So I played and sang and swore I saw

A few tears wiped away with her claw

I sang and played til my fingers were raw

And then she thanked me, the sugar outlaw

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I hurried home grateful to be unharmed

Swore I’d never steal, especially when unarmed

Sugar is my downfall but now I’m disarmed

And thankful that for once, I was charmed…

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IMAGE: My Samhain Effigy & Solar Ghost

Monday, October 30, 2023

HALLOWEEN TREAT (REVISED 2023)

When that thin gossamer veil

Between the worlds

Shreds impatiently

To let the alive and dead

Have their meet-and-greet

Be careful what you wish

Be aware of what you say

Trust no spirit if they be unknown

Dump salt from a neck pouch if tingly scalp

Light pastel candles if dark ones flicker and flare

Carve smiley orange kirbiso

And fish-feed your inky cats

Unless

Unless you crave

(If you are brave)

Excitement that may turn into

Fear

Because the spirits are bored

Powerful and jealous

And they may overcome

Whatever you believe

Who has the control?

Not us, my fellow-living

We can train, memorize, pray

But spirits have that spectral power

A necromantic way with words and wands

No, we’re no match

Unless

Unless you are blessed

With wisdom and purity

And you know the runes to

The banish spell

Do I know them?

Will I share?

Perhaps if you give me your candy corn

I can be persuaded to bare my soul to you…

IMAGES: Halloween candy/Solar pumpkin

Sunday, October 29, 2023

EARTH POPPET

Clay baked in an oven to make a face

Green represents Earth, no special race

Spanish moss from trees becomes her hair

Dollar store kerchief makes a robe so rare

Charms and beads enhance her appeal

That are used in sickness for us to heal

Flower glued to a piece of palm tree

She spends her time curing us willingly

Poppets are us, seeking good

Sacrificing their time on a piece of wood

Green is her color, using Earth’s herbs

To make us whole as diseases she curbs...

IMAGE: Earth Poppet work-in-progress

Sunday, October 22, 2023

HALLOWED SWAMP

Ghost of a song
Echoing down dirt lanes
Ectoplasming past my tin home
Dead-ended in the swamp
Classical Spanish music
Evolving into Flamenco
Three in the morning
More dangerous than midnight
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Proclaims it the ruling of lungs
Emergency Medical Services
Named it the heart attack hour
Both are right

Call and response
Tenor guitar slung on my shoulder
Wisp of a ghost, maybe two
No fear from me
I strum with the shadows
Exercising my lungs
In the dark, I sing
That moment
That moment one’s percussive heart
Keeps time with the melody
Music taking wing
Jolted by the strings
Controlled by invisible fingers
Chords seducing their
Gaggles of ghosts
Who suddenly surge
Down the road, into the muck

Last Quarter Moon glimmers
Through a pellucid sky
Glitters on wet swamp earth revealing
A crucifix, dirty yet untarnished gold
Wipe it on my long black shirt
Treasure forced to the surface
From heavy rain
Overflowing swamp

And I see a long line led by
A history book explorer
Hernando DeSoto, I’m sure
Once memorized for a test
In a long-ago inner city school:
620 men from 9 ships
220 horses
Priests, farmers, soldiers
Up from Tampa Bay
Hiking through Safety Harbor’s burial mound*
To the Weeden Island Cultures’ mound**
A few miles from me
In New Port Richey
Mound to Mound

Looking down on the ground
Kicking with my black combats
Scattering pottery, human remains
Two skulls head to head
Holding hands
In moldy bed
Since 1539
Buried in a swamp of time
Forbidden love?
Oh, yes
In the shadows
An armored man
A doe-skinned woman
Holding hands
As a priestly spectre
Waving a crucifix
Shouts heathens must die
And they collapse
To the tune of soldiers’ muskets
Loudly exploding, drowning out the music
And the lovers become history
In a piece of Florida swamp
Encroaching on my future backyard
As earth is kicked over
Hiding the pair
Guitar notes evaporating

And the moon silently wanes
After a final wail
From wraiths
I pale
Among ancient bones and faded gold
Alone and not dreaming…

* http://seesafetyharbor.com/Philippe-Park/Indian-Mound/
** https://www.pascocountyfl.net/1193/Oelsner-Indian-Moun

KARMA

You were born in an old DeLorean

Found you on the free-kitten plan

So sad from your short life span

At your funeral we dirged with a tympan

Would you have been strong born on terra firma

Or if you were not named Karma

Beautiful cat and a charmer

Will there be liberation from your samsara

You loved eating cream of wheat

But you weren’t always sweet

Hoarding milk bottle caps as a treat

Purring a song your conceit

Your sister Toonces lived to age eighteen

Much stronger DNA genes

On summer mornings I see you eating greens

Gone thirty years, like a dream

Always thinking of you, Dear Karma…

IMAGES: DeLorean car (Wiki Commons)/Karma & Toonces

Friday, October 20, 2023

CUCKOO

What bird am I?

Years ago, the dove

Later, a crow

But aging gives us clarity

(Strangely, since we’re forgetful too)

And now it’s the Cuckoo

I think I laid my eggs in

Strangers’ nests

A Brood Parasite

And now, at almost the last gasp

As I try to grasp

The paths of my life

I feel my homelessness

My not-always-correct

Priorities of life

And I think I lived in a clock

Of intricately carved wood

Wandering on the off hours

Among smoke and mirrors

Popping out hourly

Counting Time

Still

As a fan of Dr. Who

Perhaps I am cuckoo

But part of me is a

Time Lord

That has influenced

In a decent way,

I hope,

My World View…

IMAGE: cuckoo clock 1885 Creative Commons

Saturday, October 14, 2023

HALLOWEEN WANING

Photo opportunity in

Waning crescent

Day before the

Ring of Fire

Solar Eclipse

Hours after a

Mini tornado

Darkening

But for once

I am not on high alert

Forgetting about potential

Swamp danger

Gators, moccasins, men

I snap pictures fiercely

And only when finished

Do I look around

Elated at the possibility

Of sharpened teeth

Now that the wildness

Of capturing wind and

Fiery, fading sun

Has ebbed

I can see

Fangs of the serpent

Inches away in the grass

Fangs of the gator

Gleaming with dripping water and

Fangs of a werewolf

Shirt torn as his body grows

Allowing for feral muscles

And I run…

Images: $ Store Solar Pumpkin/Swamp Hollow

Almost Halloween and my thoughts turn to Edgar Allan Poe. Here are two of his poems arranged into wonderful songs:

Sarah Jarosz on banjo with her rendition of Annabelle Lee and Phil Ochs on guitar with his version of The Bells! Drink some apple cider and enjoy the words and music xoxoxo

https://youtu.be/O-SLSZ-9748 Annabelle Lee

https://youtu.be/p3FzveBu_34 The Bells

Thursday, October 5, 2023

FRAGILE EARTH FRAGMENT

Breath of the dragon

Ice of the Poles

Civilization’s emissions

In sky making holes

Brine impregnating seas

Solar systems in crystal globes

Blessing or curse of silent lips

Poisoned by treacherous microbes

Seeds bursting shells

Travesty of a speech

Goddesses, Saints, and Mythicals

Your assistance we beseech

Vikings and Italians and Indigenous too

Columbus Day on the way, land discovered

Now we’re faced with exploring outer space

And myriad mysteries to be uncovered

Know that we bang the same drum

In our endless demand for freedom

But what is the high price worth?

Never destruction of our Earth…

IMAGE: Planisphere 2023