dusting dictionaries

three dictionaries
Random House unabridged,
Oxford English,
and an old Webster
on a shelf --

being removed often --
perused --
best reading material
in the house

rarely need dusting --
they don't stay in one place
long -- always being used

dust is one of the words
found within them
soot, smut, powdery dirt,
very small detritus

dictionaries care not what words
inhabit their pages
lexicographers do

.
.
DIDN'T THEY TELL YOU?

Ain't it funny how you sold your soul
For a paltry bit of miser's gold?
Your eyes have died, your face is made of wood...
Didn't they tell you now of Judas?
Didn't they tell you how he would as
Soon have paid back twice the sum... if he but could?

The love once shone pure white,
now forever lost from my sight;
A moment lost, I cannot gain back,
of the carefree innocence we now lack
That hour in time eludes capture,
I go on with a wisp of that wonderful rapture.

.

 .

THINGS YOU SAY

Oh , I knew you wouldn’t go without a whisper,

And I knew you wouldn’t go without a scene-

A love that was burning out, not turning crisper:

 A love that might as well have never been…

.

Oh, you bore me to the seams

With your sorrows and your dreams,

And the tales of things you gave up just for me-

You tell me when I came,

That I was bound in mental chains,

a thousand miles of silence

started with one step
over an edge --
never retraced

quiet, too exquisite
to leave behind
and return to cacophony's fray

still live in noise,
but silence is here --
a trusted friend who offers refuge

from helter-skelter of the street
outside the door --
never-ending it seems

cars going, people yelling, occasional gunshots
dogs barking, cat-fights at night
want to turn down the volume

a thousand miles of silence

started with one step
over an edge --
never retraced

quiet, too exquisite
to leave behind
and return to cacophony's fray

still live in noise,
but silence is here --
a trusted friend who offers refuge

from helter-skelter of the street
outside the door --
never-ending it seems

cars going, people yelling, occasional gunshots
dogs barking, cat-fights at night
want to turn down the volume

days later

days later they
found me.

I said I
would never
do it
again,
but I get
to edit.

the staff
of life is not
bread,
it is fear,

but I
get
to edit,

my
dear.

long time

wind knocks my windows
pleasing rattle in time
tickling syncopated thoughts
flaunting flirtatiously in
synaptic space

following daisy chain
melodies --
playing while cat
cleans its paws

Siamese voice refrains
guttural without question
asking none

but scratch just behind the
ears

Earth meets sunlight once
again
thing called a new day
begins its tick away tempo

metronome flurry
sound quails at immensity
of it all

FADED BLUE JEANS (UNION JACK MAIDEN)

Union Jack Maiden,
Have your jeans now started fadin',
Are they fadin'?
Colors and hues:
Are they still the same old blues-
Are those jadin'?
Does your heart feel just the same-
Are we playin' the same game-
Are we playin'?

TRIPLE-TWO-THREE-ONE-OH

We take long walks quite regular,
We sit around and chat-
But, since you boys are dying to know,
There ain’t nothing lovey-dovey
You know, we’re really not like that!
(But that girl is mighty good for my ego…)

And then, that night for all confessions:
I am- you are- the only one…
Did you know “Blue Jeans” were tailor made for you?
And, you seemed so sure
When you said you loved me more
And more and more than anyone before…