HENRIETTA

I don't know where this came from. It started with one sentence and evolved into a journey trying to figure out what happened. Makes it interesting for me trying to solve the puzzle so to speak. This starts with a grusome discovery and then flashbacks to what led up to it. It sort of circles back to the beginning.

She was killed without any lingering remorse
far beyond the plains of redemption
Six bullets in her body
Seven days past comprehension
The sunrise lost it's luster this morning cold and bleak
When I found her nailed to my apple tree
Sweet angel sleeping in the land of the dead
Dreaming of a life without misery
They used a crooked crowbar to pry her lose
Wayward drops of blood fell to the ground
Crime scene investigators asking questions,
but she never made a sound
The happy harlot Henrietta belonged to the street
Giving her love in many a back seat
At sixteen she had seen it all
Done it in the alleyways and up against bathroom stalls
Turning tricks for kicks a job she enjoy
Young or old, she didn't care she was everybody's toy
But tonight it all went awry
Full moon madness beneath the lunatic sky
Reason unravels, sanity corrodes
Midnight burns it's fuse and the world explodes
Benny the biker with his switchblade knife
High on crack he picks a random life
Poor Henrietta was just in his way
She'd been safe any other day
A chance encounter at the Bayside docks
Another case of rotten damn luck
Wrong time, wrong place
His blade cuts to the chase
Benny's mad with untamed rage
still fighting the war in which he waged
Pulls out a gun, shoots to kill
When the muzzle cease to flash, the night again is still
He has slain the mighty demon, for that is what he believes
Vanquished the beast on this fine summer eve
As crickets serenades he carries her home
Somehow remembering a dusty memory of where he used to roam
A sacrifice for the father from his delusional son
Leaving me my daughter murdered by my gun
Benny's far beyond the curtain or reality's concern
Of his sisters fate he has yet to learn
Peacefully he sleeps under the distant stars
Oblivions blanket concealing his scars
And when he at last awakes
His soul will die, his heart will break
I wish I could still love him, I wish I could forgive,
but I am burning my bridges I don't care if he lives
What remains of my daughter are pictures without frames
Moments precious, captured a past before pain
My son Benny, they'll hang him soon
They put the noose around his neck at noon
There he'll swing, twist and twirl
his death will make this a better world.

OLD KING MOOSE

Some times when I go through my many notebooks I find discarded poems, that I've given up on or has abandoned for various reasons. Mostly due to a writers block or I think it plain sucks. Some times I come back to it later and try to salvage it. I decided to give this another go and do some re-writes and tweak a bit here and there. This is more of a limerick, and frankly very silly. Bottom line is I simply had to complete something with a name like Old King Moose.

Old king moose
was a big recluse
Who lived in the Kodal woods
He'd sit on a throne
made of pine cones
and bitch that he was misunderstood

He hates his queen
who is ugly and mean
Large like an overfed bear
She'd talk far too long
about everything wrong
How her life was in need of repair

She was seeing a shrink
a skunk with a stink
Who told her to have an affair
Instead of divorce
get it on with a horse
or cozy up to a deer

Old king moose
was guzzling the booze
What a miserable sod he'd become
Drinking his Jack
Smokin' his crack
Taking baths in a whirpool or rum

He'd pull out a gun
for a quick bit of fun
Russian roulette he would play
Squeezin' the trigger
as he did figure
If I die it will brighten my day

But with his luck running poor
He hit the darn door
Too wasted to aim at his head
With a bullet astray
wild on it's way
Killing his butler instead

Old king moose
was tying his shoes
When he tumbled out the bell tower
A long way down
But he landed safe and sound
Before being knocked dead by a meteor shower

The queen took it well
a conniving little Jezebelle
Was so sure she had it made
Put on a ball
Quite lavish and all
She even threw herself a parade

But Old king moose
Don't like to lose
He'd cut her out of his will
He gave every penny
to a beaver named Benny
who hangs out at the local gin mill.

THE PECULIAR TALE OF CORAL MISTY

One sumptuous Sunday morning Coral Misty walked into my life
She proclaimed without much ado she was my long lost wife
But I had no earthly recollection of who this woman could be
As I searched the catacombs to my past to solve the mystery
Don't you remember, the night, the beach in June
You said I do indeed beneath the cloudless moon
Then we loved, immersed in waves caress
While I listened to your heart fill it's emptyness

I wish I could recall such episodes of bliss
Where lips entangle softly to erupt in a carnal kiss
Held captive by her eyes what fool would ever leave
Even in sanity's absence I'd be caught in her weave
About memories she talks such wonderous merry tales
Any man would follow Coral on her trails
The life she's lived seems both innocent and sweet
I wish I were a part of that, the tenderness complete

We have a quiet moment then she tilts her head and smiles
Pulls us close together so we can hold each other for awhile
Uncertainty confounds me might I have known her before ?
Did I once abandon her on my mind's hazy rocky shore
I bury these questions in last summers sand
As the contours of her body begins to make demands
Please forgive me for what I am about to do
This feels too right for doubt to seep through

Three weeks later Coral Misty shares my bed
I've begun to love her and that fills me with dread
What if her delusion one day suddenly clears
I'll be the stranger she once seemed to appear
I can't help, but wonder from where she came
Did she torch her past with misery's flame ?
Is there a man she is trying hard to forget ?
Did she travel here on the roads of regrets ?

Some times at night I can hear her cry
I wanted answers, but she begged me not to ask why
She'll sit by the window gazing out at the sea
Then turn around and just look longingly at me
There's so many tears in those emerald eyes
No sufficient comfort I can offer, nothing I can try
Then the shadows of her despair slowly pass and she heals
by the motion of devotion we share how we feel

One Monday morning I startle, my heart begins to race
I pick up the paper, staring back at me is her face
Beside her a man that could have been my twin
Terror digs a shallow grave as understanding's sinking in
The headline reads as follows, newlyweds lost at sea
Search has been disbanded, memorial at three
I see the future shatter into shards of crumbling dreams
I do not belong to Coral, she belongs to someone else it seems

We sailed upon a surface calm, guided by the sun
She stears with utmost certainty towards where it begun
Tiny ripples of remembrance struggles to take hold
From ancient depths memories dormant surges upwards bold
A boat looms frozen in the horizon as if anchored there by time
Bobbing gently in the water, pristine, in it's prime
She seems anxious in a hurry, her husband surely awaits
I'm the boatman, the ferrymaster, here to deliver her to fate

The knot I have untangled the mystery seems clear
Two lovers on their honeymoon drowned and disappeared
But the deck is strangely empty, no one is on board
The only sound is the creaking wood, straining for the fjords
Yet something is familiar, I have a sense of deja vu
Refusing to believe it, it simply cannot be true
I turn to Coral, she grins and nods at me
Yes, you are my husband, forever, that you'll always be

IF I WERE THE NIGHT

If I were the night
I'd dream about the day ?
and wish that I could see the sun
or at least a tiny ray

And what if my whole life
was someone elses dream ?
A castaway of circumstance
a memory unseen

What if I just linger on
in some subconscious state ?
A waiting room of fantasy
in the canvas of my fate

What if I'm a warrior
a ghost from ancient times ?
Or a lighthouse pirate
bringing darkness to the blind

What if I reside
in the outskirts of your mind ?
Perhaps I am the riddle
to the answers you must find

THE HOLE STORY

There's a black hole in my basement
so I painted it blue
Sent my cat through
Let me know how far, how wide
and if there's another basement on the other side
Had a cuppa java
Listened to some tunes
Tapping my feet all through May and June
Summer came and fall drove by
Then winter fell from the sky
I missed my cat so I crawled down the hole
with my night vision goggles, cause I can't see like a mole
As you can imagine it was rather dark
What trees see behind the bark
Would it be crowded this time of day ?
With minstrel miners who has lost their way
Perhaps wayward cannibals hungry for a snack
Got a craving like a junkie wanna smoke me like crack
Should have brought my corkscrew or my special 38
I have a permit to carry, but not to annihilate
I don't know where I'll end up, but it seems it may be far
I'm getting rather thirsty so I hope they have a bar
A whiskey neat, make it a double please
Any more and you better confiscate my car keys
Wait, I think I see the moon
Nope, just fire igniting in the eyes of a rabid raccoon
Another struggle, it's man against beast
Should I retreat perhaps, or call for a priest ?
Seems I left my last rites next to my will
and I'm stuck with a coon ready to kill
Gentlemen chose your weapons, swords, guns, or claws
Only one shall be left standing that is the law
I brought my fists and a rubber band
It was high noon in the low lands
He's going kinda crazy, going kinda nuts
That's what he was hitting, though he was aiming for my guts
So, I'm doubled over begging for a pill
Maybe he'll think I'm dead If I'm laying completely still
I'm not a pussy, but my cat sure is
I know cause I got a litter box full of piss
I can't believe what the hell I see
My cat and the coon gettin' bizzy
That's too weird even for me
Who wants coon kittens roaming free
So I crawled home and plugged the hole
I'm buying myself a goldfish that comes with a bowl
And if you see some strange critters outside your door
Don't blame me, blame l'mour

THE EMPTY PILLOW

Here's a change of pace. Something very depressing for a grey and rainy day. Found this in one of my notebooks. Such melancholy permeating these lines.


Beside the empty pillow
alone asleep I fall
Only to awake each morn'
to longings never stalled
Cobwebs fill the hollow
across the vast devide
Undisturbed yet growing old
and crumbling deep inside

The narrow nights condemn me
accelerates my dread
Youth's ember flicker to a fade
as time lays still ahead
In a rock infested wasteland
In a future dull and bare
I'm on a pathway to perdition
to which my fate adhere

I've seen the perfect picture
it hangs not on my wall
Beyond my grasp it beckons always
testing my resolve
I peer in from a distance
as if touching from afar
Frailty, humbled seeping
from unhealing scars

COURAGE BEYOND ENDURANCE

Sometimes you find yourself in situations beyond your control and it takes much courage and strenght to endure the hardship heaped upon you. When the world is a big scary place, as it is for this young boy, it becomes terrifying. This is the tale of a young boys harrowing night.
I was going to end this pretty straight, but I am afraid I failed and it concludes as ambiguous as many of my other stories.

The headlight beams reflects
off the dank slick country road
Rain rages like a tempest
it is sensory overload
The gas pedal's pushed
all the way to the floor
She should be cautious,
but she doesn't care anymore

Her mind is gazing
at the immediate past
Pictures without purpose
it all flies by so fast
The present explodes
the car starts to skid
Over the curve
off the grid

Picking up speed
down the stone covered hill
Can't halt the bullet
once the trigger's squeezed to kill
The end is certain
clear for all to see
Abrupt and vicious
when you cease to be

An hour goes by, then another two
when a whimper is heard from the car
Little Billy is strapped in the backseat alone
banged up with bruises and scars
Soon darkness hovers
like a fence 'round his fear
He calls out uncertain,
but no one will hear

He longs for his mothers soft embrace
her voice familiar and kind
Yet doubt is a vulture pecking away
at his life's once perfect design
Unable to flee as he's locked to his fate
straining to peer through the night
A towering tree is faintly in view
the source of his miserable plight

Sinister sounds in a pityless realm
harrowing moans from beyond
A careening calamity thrust into his path
a terror he cannot outrun
Simmering madness strives for control
pushing him towards the edge
Staring into the inviting abyss
before turning away from the ledge

The tendrils of moonlight
through the forest it creeps
Glinting bleak rays penetrating the clouds
burrowing deeper than deep
For only an instant a second awakes
to reveal in haunting detail
In the naked glow of an errant beam
eyes look back blind and pale

The blackness is bleached by the clearing skies
revealing a chamber of grue
The body elixir sprayed like a mist
grimy droplets of a burgundy hue
Streaks on the windows, pools on the floor
infecting him with dread
Panic erupts when he spies in the corner
his mothers severed head

Tearing at the belt buckle
ripping his nails to shreds
No time to mourn her
or retrieve the tears he shed
A vice of emotions
holds him in place
Shackled to the reality
he doesn't want to face

The chill slips through
a hole in the night
First a nip and a tug
then a kiss and a bite
There will be no cavalry
no rescue here at dawn
No ticket to Shangri La
your future has been withdrawn

Sleeps seems enticing
remember how to forget
Lose yourself in the fog
of transparent silhouettes
Chose the dream solution
ride oblivions express
Back to the white washed past
away from emptyness

The cougar stops to listen
when the vily snow crow caws
A respite from his hunger
A rest for aching paws
The scent is growing stronger
it permeates the air
At last his needs be sated
his prey seems very near

Cautious he approaches
tempered in pursuit
Weary of the hunters
eagerness to shoot
Through the shattered windshield
like a ghost across the glass
Through the keyhole of temptation
the famished beast shall pass

Billy clings to shadows
beneath it's cloak he hides
Urgent in his fervor
not to join the other side
Quietly he listens
to the churning of the teeth
His mothers desecration
his heart rampant beat

He suffocates a tremble
supress the urge to cry
Flicking off emotion
determined not to die
Forced to be a witness
to watch, but still ignore
The harvest of his innocence
that no one can restore

Time has an agenda
against the wind it crawls
Caught in stagnant motion
momentum has been stalled
Billy's afraid to move
Billy's afraid to breathe
Billy's holding on to
the only life he'll ever need

Suddenly the cougar
detects the scent of man
What an unexpected pleasure
supply exceeds demand
He peeks behind the seat
where a young boy lies
The beast snarls, fangs glisten
Billy grabs a pencil and stabs it in the eye

Agony furls the fury
and the unforgiving pain,
but the sustenance to survival
is to abandon the rage in your veins
The foolish fiend retreats
to mend his scarred pride
He will always rue the battle
with the boy who tanned his hide

Again dawn is reborn
the sleepy sun awakes
Still the nightmare lingers on
too close to forsake
The morning mourns the memories
etchings of despair
Carved into the fabric
of many angst filled years

There is a rickety bridge
between here and sanity
It's a treacherous road
back to humanity
Far beyond endurance
courage claims it's reward
Flee while sorrow slumbers
omit what you've endured

Do not stop running
never turn around
There will be shelter
sanctuary will be found
Up the hill he struggles
as a car is slowing down
He sees a kindly old preacher
with concern on his frown

Billy seeks assurance
from a stranger heaven sent
Take me away he pleeds
on you I will depend
You're safe the preacher says
you're safe here with me
Then he smiles to himself
and puts a hand on Billys knee