Joyce Wilson: Cicada Cuisine
“This year’s emergence presents an
opportunity to cook up the trillion
cicadas from two regional broods.”
–Tejal Rao, The New York Times
To make your lunch
I had a hunch
that with a bunch
of bugs to munch
their perfect crunch
would add a punch.
⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎
Martin Parker: Hairline Crack
Today I’m worried for my hair.
Tomorrow it may not be there.
For the tube of bath-side goo
Which I took to be shampoo
Whose name was hidden in the steam
Was depilatory cream.
⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎
Pat D’Amico: Spare Hair
A young man with luxuriant hair
Styled it this way and that with great care.
One day it was swished to the side,
Next, a straight down the middle divide.
But for baldness the fates had him charted
And, over the years, it departed.
⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎
Steven Kent: My Life In Music
Singing server, made good dough
Less than one short year ago.
Record label talks increased;
I got signed, then got released.
Album's in the Closeout bin;
Waiting tables once again.
⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎
Steven Knepper: Writer’s Block in the Garage
The tired thunder yawns somewhere
while shop lights dim and hiss and flicker.
I read a page of lines then tear
it out, pick at the pad’s price sticker,
sharpen my pencil to a spike –
thunder again, no lightning strike.
⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎
Alan Millichip: Modelling
How did they form the strategy that won the Trojan war ?
Did wise men write a formula like none had done before ?
Now modelling seems to be the way, it’s all about AI
No room is left for common sense no matter how they try
A quality of leadership was knowing what was sound,
But rubbish in means rubbish out as later studies found.
⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎
G. B. Pilferidge: Work From Home in Transylvania
Stoker made his Dracula a night-shift-working slob,
But draining life from other folks is not that kind of job.
Vampires need a sea of blood to keep themselves alive,
And suck it quite respectably from nine AM to five.
Conscientious to a fault, they talk while they are eating.
I’m going to their buffet now, the afternoon staff meeting.
⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎
Kevin Saving: The Countryman’s Reply
When he heard a tourist chide:
"This place is the backside
of the country in my view!",
The countryman replied:
"Damn right, it's a backside . . .
Are you just passing through?"
(First published in A Want Of Absence)
⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎ ⸎
L.A. Mereoie: Sticky Going
The village green, a cheerful place
Now sports day fills its grassy space,
Although the viewer’s eye may trace
Some yellow splotches on it face
As children strive to win their race –
An egg-and-spoon at cracking pace!
