Poetry of Paranoia

Poetry of Paranoia

 

This poem is not too sure of itself

It’s always looking over its shoulder

Second guessing itself

Waiting for the other shoe to drop

It sleeps with the lights on

And is always on the lookout

For black cats and sidewalk ladders

And open umbrellas indoors

It is a “chicken little” kind of poem

Expecting the sky to fall

 

Snow Day

Snow Day

 

 

this poem is taking a snow day

a let the wind blow day

a curl up with a book and cup of tea day

an adagio kind of day

and if it finds peace in this day

this poem might take a snow week

 

 

 

Cat Nap

Cat Nap

 

This poem would like to fold

itself up, like a napping cat,

curl its tail over its eyes,

block out the raucous world.

This poem is tired of scribbling

words of peace that don’t work –

lines of ink that fade before its eyes.

 

 

 

 

Quadrille #186 – Fold 

No Frog, No Sound

No Frog, No Sound

 

This poem is a shadow of

its former self, shedding syllables,

leaving a trail of letters behind

as

it

fades

Its feet leave no trace of rhythm

There are no stanzas left, no

couplets standing in the moonlight

It can no longer count to 5-7-5

All that remains is an old pond

Day 15 of PAD has us writing a shadow poem

Out of Oz

Out of Oz

 

This poem is tripping down the yellow brick road

Stumbling over letters stuck in the cracks

Picking them up and filling its pockets

Saving them for a rainy day

Looking for some wizard to give it words

Of en(courage)ment, a phrase or two to

Send its ruby red heart spinning home again

But there is no one lurking behind the curtain

No one waiting with badges or magic spells

Only a little dog who remembers the way

So it spills words upon the bricks and

Writes a goodbye letter to this emerald mirage

 

Time’s Up

Time’s Up

This poem is not ready to move on,
but its adjectives have abandoned the rhyme
for warm, blue waters and sandy shores. The nouns are
running a marathon with the moon and it
finds itself no longer (verb)ose.
This poem is left with only two feet and no rhythm,
and the meter is almost on empty. It has become
un(in)formed and blank. Maybe now is the
time to stand(za) up, pack up its ink and go.
But it will be back to repeat the refrain.

One Last Chance

One Last Chance

This poem has one last chance
to play the game, make a name
for itself. It (day)dreams of fame and
glory, the hero of a story staring
moon and muses. It refuses to give up –
turns up, tuned up and ready to poem
It’s running out of time, maybe you could
spare a rhyme – a little rosemary and thyme
But don’t worry my dear, there’s
always tomorrow

Just Out of Sight

Just Out of Sight

This poem has seen it all
Trends the come and go – waiting


around the bend to return in
a slim disguise that can not


fool this poem
Long hair, short hair, no hair, facial hair


Wide pants, narrow pants, no pants
streaking across a field


Spikey heels, flat soles, flip flops that
used to be thongs, but now that is


something entirely different
Pop beads, love beads, crystal beads


Moon rocks, pop rocks, pet rocks,
Rock ‘n Roll


This poem has watched it all come and go,
but it won’t stop looking until


it sees peace