Sourballs
by Gary Hardaway
May Day
Bright mild weather claims
its fees: thwarted dreams of leisure,
recurrent stifled sneeze.
Distracted by Your Watch
You cannot hear the groan
of the elastic space-time continuum
plucked like a huge rubber band
by the careless hand of God
because of the steady tick tick tick
of the Timex on your wrist.
Space-time Curve Ball
I had a sure hold on time once
but lately it grows slippery
folding in upon itself
when it should stretch
or stretching, endless,
toward the work day's end.
It is no lounger accountable to me
and twists in lethal curves
like the space beyond
this safe-seeming little cul-de-sac.
Petri Dish
The planet turns into the dark.
Lights of human occupation burn
in patterns like the growth
of a bacillus, lethal and prodigious,
across the agar surfaces of continents.
Debtors
We are born indebted to the stars
whose dead bodies we inherit.
We then spend our brief time
as singular objects
dependent upon the fire
of our small, yellow, living star
which would incinerate us all
without the spin and volcanism
of this happy accident, earth.
Heavenly Body
The body that will break all bodies
circles unseen,
following the thrust and tug
of gravity,
serene through parsecs and centuries,
awaiting its
torrid introduction to the Earth.
Lather, Rinse, Repeat
Wash the day's dishes.
They will l return tomorrow, dirtied.
Wash the jeans you wore
to weed and trim the yard.
And after that, the white
undergarments of the work week.
Routine and repetition are
the little prayers of civilized life.
The wage of sin is squalor.
![Endcap](/images/endcap.gif?1354054149)
Yes, sweet and sour, but wonderful to wake our taste buds like this!
Thank you.
I connect -
"Routine and repetition are
the little prayers of civilized life.
The wage of sin is squalor."
&
"It is no lounger accountable to me
and twists in lethal curves
like the space beyond
this safe-seeming little cul-de-sac."
Yes.
Good pieces, Gary.
I like esp. like "Petri Dish." Experiment indeed. Grim. *
I liked "Petri Dish" too, and of course the strong strong finish with "Lather, Rinse, Repeat."
Fine pieces. I especially like our "happy accident" with all its debts. *
Thank you, Patti, Sam, Jake, Steve, and Beate. I am grateful for your responses.