Dashing round and round the gravel track
Until there's no energy left to expend
Perspiration streams down taut limbs
As vehement momentum begins to plummet
Like a vulture pouncing on his defenseless prey
Then ascends the final course with steadfast gusto.
AUSPICIOUS RESULTS
She approaches the blackboard
With shaky hands and a crimson pallor
Uncertain how to solve this algebraic enigma
But as the soft chalk hits the shiny surface
She begins to hear sparrows chirping
At the classroom window
As she looks out, they have flown away
Suddenly she can hear them
Singing words of wisdom and assurance
In her ear
As her mind behinds to comprehend the answer
To this elementary equation.
HABITAT OF ENLIGHTENMENT
He walks up the steep hill every morning
With his heavy backpack of books and papers
Arriving at the tall dark manor where no one dares to visit
To be taught by an eccentric but brilliant man
About archaic fundamentals:
The lessons of history
The essence of literature
The logic in mathematics
The rationality of science
The depth of music
And as he walks home each late afternoon
He is ever so anxious
To return to this extraordinary fortress
Of amazing wisdom and boundless knowledge.
HYPNOTIC SPHERE
She bounces the green rubber ball
Hundreds of times
On the blacktop surface
Her eyes never leave its sight
As she watches it rapidly fall
And then boomerang back into her miniature claw
For another round of catch
Never once becoming distracted
By children riding bicycles on the sidewalk
Or the next-door neighbor's barking St. Bernard
For there's nothing she'd rather do
On a sunny May afternoon
Than play with her favorite ball.
JOVIAL JAUNT
I just want to hop in my car
And cruise the verdant countryside
With my golden curls waving in the wind
While my devoted collie sits beside me
Barking in unison
To the classic tunes of Eric Clapton
Yet eager to escape from this mechanical contraption
So he can playfully prance around his beloved backyard.
NEWBORN NOTIONS
The rose petal lips of her ebony flesh
Turn slightly upward
Showcasing a toothless grin
As she leans lovingly
Against her mama's chest
Her onyx ringlets
Bob to and fro
While chestnut child eyes gaze
In curious wonder
At each new patient
Who enters
The hospital waiting room.
PERUSING OF PROSE
Surrounded by stacks of French literature
We sat for hours in the Sorbonne Bibliotheque
Reading and conversing in our second language
Feverishly reading Balzac, Baudelaire and Descartes
Sneaking bites of luscious pastries
To nourish our exhausted minds
Ready to take a break
And dance the night away
At a local discotheque
Or see a musical at the Opera House
But we chug along
Until our brain cells have absorbed
Every last piece of necessary information
And before long
We are back in our dorm rooms
Getting a good night sleep
In preparation for our end of summer exams.
RIM OF SECLUSION
She sits on the curb of isolation
Waiting for someone to find her
Hungry for scraps of undivided attention
Thirsty for sips of mutual admiration
Desperate to be human again.
STREET SPONGE
The hobo has no place of permanence
He meanders through deserted alleys
Scrounging in filthy trash cans
For scraps of sustenance
Then falls asleep on a cement mattress
Trying to drone out the urban clamor of sirens and gunshots
Night after dismal night.
TRACE OF INJUSTICE
The chalky silhouette of death
Still marks the cracked granite
Of East Ferry Street
Several days after the fatal assault
Between an African-American and a Caucasian man
Life snuffed out of one hapless casualty
While freedom is demolished for the hostile vanquisher
Reminding you daily about the grim reality
Of racial animosity and intolerance
Which still runs rampant among our diverse nation.
