Hedge Apple

Up is down
Left is right
The umbrella drowns
And day is night

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The stars twinkle
The umbrella hangs
Calls sprinkles
Dryness rains

I touched it once, with fingertips,
Too clumsy for a grasp
I had it for a moment
Like drinking poisoned flask

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Exchange my soul for promises
Required barter’s band
From Mayan tombs the gold was dug
For diamonds African

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Precisely fit to finger size
The liquid turned to sphere
No Alpha, no Omega,
Could make this prize adhere

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Though time could never sweep the shine
From gold to black – I saw
Omniscient– with sight behind
The love that wasn’t spent

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All riches do not yield reward
A soul may come up poor
Unless the gift behind the gold
Is made of purest ore

Some call me a closed-form elitist
And might ask of me to delete this
Though free-verse may be a purple rose
I will often say, “this could be prose”

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Flowery words which at random break
Give me a feeling I just can’t shake
Stanzas that eschew a firm meter
Go with the Daughter of Demeter

.

On “lack of periods”, don’t be Harsh
My structure is clearer than a marsh
My words are bound precisely with twine
Showcased with breaks of stanza and line

.

All ascending alliterations
Dastardly driven derivations
Reinforce rapid repeating rhymes
That tell these things to temper their time

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Free-verse cannot bring this form of art
Though those who write it may be quite smart
Pattern is what can be learned by heart
Closed-form shall always be set apart

“Shall we dance?”
You whisper in my ear
Extend your hand
Tell me words I want to hear

.

Take a bow
As the music begins
Don’t lose me in the crowd
Keep me close with your grin

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Spin me around
Look me in the eye
In your movements, let me drown
Stay with me tonight

.

As the others break away
Keep us in the center stage
Move with me like there’s only today
Hold the story on our page

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Twist and turn me like a tornado
Lift me up to the skies
Ground me like fallen snow
Let me know that you are mine

.

Secure me in your arms
As the song comes to an end
Protect me from all harm
Ask me, “shall we dance again?”

Dad didn’t get it

.

when I sent him a letter
asking him to guide me through
repairing my mother-in-law’s old radio,

.

rather,

.

he told me to bring it to the wedding,
he’d take it home with him,
fix it in six to eight weeks.

.

Takes a lot of knowhow,

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equipment, requires good soldering
skills and WHAT to troubleshoot.
Must know knowledge of circuitry
of solid state and vacuum tubes;

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Electronics is NOT easy.

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Under the covers with my wife,
I wonder if I’m meant to try again
or let him dwindle day by day, clueless

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in his bedful of acquired tools and parts,

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keeping them for himself.

You’ll find me when the night is dark
You’ll find me shining among the stars
In every time and place that we left a mark.

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You won’t find me waiting just here or there
For you forget I’m a little bit of everywhere.

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You can find me if you search
I am here, I am there, I am Everywhere, but most specifically…
Find Me in your Heart and then for all days we will never part.

My aluminum skin is pristine.
Yet, I walk stiff and my metal joints creak.
The tin shell of the man I am sits upright.
But under my screen, my smile shines not as bright.

.

What good does it do
To be a liar, to be untrue?
A mask, a poker face, a permanent smile.
None would ever be worth my while.

.

What if I said that under my perfect exterior
My blood is inky black, intestines gushing sulfur?
If my insides are wasted, are putrid, are rotten,
Am I still expected to smile then?