#107

#107

The wind blows away.

and an umbrella lasts according to its quality.

Down the street an organ grinds away melodiously

as Jackdaw Pete marries Freelove Jones.

What is the answer to the third question?

Is it destined to take the place of kluge in your mythology?

If only by way of information 

I’m at a loss for words the typesetter said.

The irony of a piece of the floor where Jesse James was shot

winding up in the dead letter file is lost in transliteration.

The way of the wine is a path to follow.

The way of the outlaw is a way to a dead end road.

The way to sleep they say is to think of nothing.

What are you thinking of now?

~

©️Mark W. Ó Brien 

25July2023

Trolley Dodger.

My Nana was withered at the end.

A fragment of crêpe paper caught in the wind.

My mother, much the same at that age

had been the picture of strength in her youth.

I recall Nana wrapping me up in her rollie-pollie arms;

smothering me in talcum powder and kisses.

It was a shock the way Nana transformed after Grandpa died;

as if all of her being had already gone after him ahead of her.

Mom, even in her grief, even in her sickness, was strong.

Don’t get me wrong, Nana could be a tough cookie.

She had to be, she was married to my Grandfather.

But Nana had a weakness. A laceration of sorts.

Nana never got over the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn.

Mom on the other hand, like Grandpa, was a Yankee fan.

©️Mark W. Ó Brien

11May2023

The need for friction:

Survivors of the next apocalypse

Will be free of social media addictions

Thankfully, the next millennia will be devoid of

Boomers who thrived on self aggrandizement

And life among the masses who do not care

If their condo slides into the sea ten years from

The moment she looked into his eyes

Across the dance floor at the villages meet and greet 

Why should I worry, I heard her say

I don’t even have a grandchild to

Show you pictures of-

Welcome to Florida

They’re playing our song

Stock photos and images are available at cost.

©️Mark W. Ó Brien

03May2023

14 things you don’t want to know about heaven:

A typographical error made a mistake appear to

An American President who’s dementia was post office so

Ask me how much I have fallen in love with

An infection caused by a parasitic tapeworm from

A famous actor who got started on the wrong foot became

A clergyman who entered the ministry in 1775 on

A railroad line that runs down the spine and shows

Archival footage of the Kaydeross patent where

An Iowa specific map is available 

At the end of the day when attractions are numerous and

Alternate realities often begin upon arrival for

A yellow wedding dress with a huge steel spring bustle and

A courtship in which among other things all the stars fall silent 

And anger is beginning to affect your relationships.

©️Mark W. Ó Brien 

02May2023

103:

I dreamt myself lost on the Albany Frontier.

was rescued by Blind Peter and Freeborn Garrettson.

They asked me what a Saint was face to face.

So I prayed the Lord make me one.

Said: “A voice moves me to do so!”

And I walked in the light for a time.

Today by way of six degrees

I have met them in person both.

Yet find myself still riding circuit endlessly 

crossing the Delmarva peninsula

taking the Delaware way

around and about Delaware bay.

Where did they ever get a name like Delmar?

Huh? What? It’s on the map you say?

©️Mark W. Ó Brien

10January2023

102: The wild poetic kingdom is no place for the faint of heart.

My poem didn’t get 

Picked for the big game.

There it sits on the sidelines

Kicking dirt and ringing hands

Knowing it’s true worth it moves on 

In search of a new anthology 

After mowing the others down 

With a semi automatic word gun

Peppering the audience with

Hollow point adverbs

And snub nosed infinitives

Emphatic fantastic ekphrases!

Ekphrastic spermatic poetics!

Take that! And that! And that!

Markle-

01September2022

101- Boomers:

We are winding down

Tooling the lane

Parking the car

Putting the cows in the barn

Walking the dog

Soaking the coals

Closing down the porch

Tidying things up

Switching off the front light

Calling it a day

Hitting the sack

Putting our heads down

and drifting off

“Good night my loves!”

Markle-

31August2022