12 ounces
of golden oak
topped with steel

visions
dancing dreams
of garden sheds

foundation
battened walls
fresh cut wood

gabled
red metal roof
rising tall

hot sun
beer for the builder
measured twice

and still
somehow askance.

another round boys
be it whiskey or beer;
or that fine keg of sherry
in the tunnels below.

pour it out; fill it up
guzzle it down in a gulp.
no pain only sweet numbness
filling my aches and my head.

i’m old and i’m lonely;
wearing my cap and my bells.
everywhere that I stumble
dull ringing above in my ears.

this barrel still loves me;
brick me in with the wine.
i’ll tell no more secrets
i’ll hear no more lies.

concrete and mortar make
chill solid comfort
truth is this hollow shell
enfolds all that i am.

you promised me
things you never had:
this imagination
mixing that mythology…

invisible friends;
teleportation events.
i so wanted it all
to be my reality…

you took me to see
free lunar circuses;
next beneath the sea
to Nemo’s submarine…

octopus venues;
calamari cuisine;
you in a red dress
playing the queen…

you the complete
fantasy package;
and me the believer
who paid for it all.

slate stone skies sneering
scurrying people below
wind twisting clothing
around about askance

April promises
then threatens loudly
glowing warmly
moaning coldly

do I dare venture
out for some bagels
old cheddar cheese
bottle of Sangiovese

rat-a-tat rattle
across my rooftop
cancels any thought
of opening doors

pellets and ice balls
cover the walkway
inside it is warm
here I will stay.

diabolical
I wander streets
and shadowed alleyways
crook backed out of sight

you stand alone
to contemplate
waxing gibbous orb
reflected solar light

ravenous predator
cosmic caricature
craving humanity
unsuccessfully

Esmeralda
I whisper
whimper
mournfully
in obscurity

morning light
disintegrates
any hope I had
metamorphic
frozen calcified

I watch you dance away.