In order to save some money
Which in hindsight wasn't smart
Me and my buddies got together
To make our own fireworks

And as luck would have it
We found all we need under the kitchen sink
The whole time looking to do this cheap
Instead we came out free

Knowing this day would draw a crowd
As soon as the rumor mill filled up
So in our vast wisdom with a few cells missing
We mixed the batch up in Jimmy's tub

Not being exact on science
As illustrated in that magazine
We felt no need to measure
And might have gone a bit extreme

As soon as the stuff started bubbling up
That thought did cross our minds
Remember at the start, saying it wasn't smart
And that little mention of hindsight

With the size of the flash, little wonder we're not ash
And still have all our fingers and our toes
It's hard to explain the size of the bang
And why now Jimmy's house is one big hole

But we did put on a show not soon forgotten
That could be seen from outer space
And where Jimmy's house used to be
There's now a community pool in it's place

So come and join us on this holiday
Burgers, beer, and of course fireworks
In fact we're heading to Davy's house now
To mix a few things up...

a flock of them we call a ******,
though not what I did to ****** men
I shot on the Mekong, who did nothing
but startle me a muggy morn  

I watched them float,
face down in primordial mire,
not far from the wire, which
split their world from mine  

birds came by noon
greedy passerines perching, pecking
on black clad backs; they sang not a word
of thanks to me

though I had made a meal of men,
for those who drop from blue skies--not even
when the flesh pulled swiftly from bone, and
blood flowed silent over their talons

July 4, 1970, Mekong Delta, Vietnam

just
as I reach out
for the glimmering light
it slips, in-
between nooks and cranny's
in every crevice
a ***** in my armor
Humpty Dumpty could relate,
fissures in my soul
just...CrACKing open,
releasing the past,
through painful rifts
seeping into veiny rivers,

until I am consumed-
by the beauty
of my own death
an rebirth
I burst,
from my chrysalis

stuck eternal
forever it seems
I will
continue to metamorphosize

an such are the pains of growing.

Ma Cherie© 2017

Your heart is a cage and not a home
In your company, I am truly alone.
I try to break free but you shatter my bones,
Won’t listen to pleas or the logic I form.
Foundation weak, bound to crumple on itself;
You take my body and turn it to dusty ruins,
Nothing left but rubble and disgusting sewage.
Inside my heart trembles from your gentle bruising,
Made from the ways you use me;
You love to love when it’s amusing.

Convince me that I did it so you’re not abusing;
You’re a gift that’s not worth losing.
I crawl into fault that belongs to only me.

I’ve never seen a prison that looked so comforting.
You’re a hungry wolf, though portrayed as a sheep.

-SLuR

I collapsed into this little girl fantasy
I didn't even realise I knew
Missing from me even when I was a little girl
And yet all of a sudden I was lost
In fairytales
Dreams of happily ever after
Foreseeing your name next to mine
And other names
Fit for tiny feet
Envisioned a future
All green eyes and curly hair.
But it wasn't just my mind
It seems our bodies did too
Kind of funny now isn't it
How everything envisioned it but you.

My life is now back as it was before
Standing on the outside, as the cold rains pour
I'm battle bruised and very sore
Tired of love's slamming door
As my heart gets stomped into the floor
I loved you right down to your very core
When I asked, silence was your only roar
Your silence it spoke so much more
Guess it's time to tally the score
Seems I was just your little *****

©Pauline Russell

I really don't like the idea of growing old.
Don't patronize me with the alternative.
You know squat about that.
There's the smell of bleach and ****,
And the lingering odor of soiling
Up and down the corridor.
There's the swish of mops,
And night comes early.
You say you'll visit, but when? You're busy with life.
I won't be seen at gatherings,
Perhaps a visitation for old friends.
The world should spin counter-clockwise
Before expelling me in its daily gyration.
I want a giant to hold me again,
And tell me I'm a good boy for eating,
For crapping in the toilet.
Soon enough, but you don't dare say so aloud.

Here the horse munches the grass
little knowing the trots of yore
for time when lays the bricks with curse
unhinges the strongest door.

Here the horse is tethered to feed
little hearing the neighs of past
for time when crumbles sows a seed
grows new order from soil of dust.

Here the horse lazes in sun
little seeing the shadow's growth
for time when ends a period's run
buries in the walls a lover's oath.

Here the horse walks in a round
little feeling the earth's spin
for time when shrinks the highest to ground
kingdoms fall in heaps of ruin.