April 6: The Devil Came Down to Washington

The Devil Came Down to Washington

The Devil came down to Washington,
Looking for more souls to steal.
"Got that one," he grinned a wicked grin.
"Truth don't matter, it's all about the feel.

"Nope that guy's been in the tank since '73"
"Oh, real proud of that old bastard, there."
Real potential. Would have made him prez,
By now, but he's lost too much of his hair.

"Think I may have overworked this patch.
"Hard to find an uncorrupted soul these days
"Well, I might get him, but why bother?
"I've got my media team already on his case."

"When those guys are working their magic
"I've seen genuine heroes bow the knee
"Under the glare of that spotlight
"While claiming it's the land of the free.

"What about that one over there by the statue...."
"Hmm? Maybe we could pull it down on his head.
"Disgrace is almost as good as outright possession.
"It's all about how he can best serve alive or even dead."

"That idiot? "You kidding? Some of our best work I admit,
"But I think we broke him, maybe dropped him on his head.
"The old boy can't manage a coherent sentence anymore.
"Like the Witch of the East - he's really most sincerely dead."

"There's the law of diminishing returns that applies here.
"We should focus where there's uncaptured souls to roast.
"Maybe Texas or Florida. A lot of them are piling up there
"Trying to escape our most excellent work along the coast.

They Devil comes down to Washington to fish;
And finds the pond fished out; beginning to smell
And anything coming in is pretty much already hooked;
All of them joining the fight for the same throne in hell.

©2024 by Tom King

© 2024 by Tom King

April 5 - Ladies of the Gael

 

 The Song of the Ladies of the Gael

Out among us I hear them;
The Ladies of the Gael raising,
Their plaintive songs in the night
Flowing through America like blood,
They sing of home and hearth
Of love and the ache of losings,
Of the joy and pain only women know
Of living with the cost of their choosings.
From Erin, Britain, Caledonia,
They move from yesterday to tomorrow
Like sweet perfume the sound and scent
Of mothers, sweethearts, joy and sorrow.
The men who love them stand helpless
But to cherish the ladies of the Gael
And see the land changed and bettered
Their wistful airs flow o'er valley, hill and dale.

© 2024 by Tom King

April 4 - Berry Cobbler on the Hoof

Berry Cobbler on the Hoof
by Tom King

Down our gravel lane on a summer day,
In the Pacific Northwest another late growing season.
Pink and white blooms scattered among prickly vines,
That some Washingtonians consider weeds,
But I'm from Texas, a veteran berry picker,
So I recognize blackberry cobbler on the hoof.
Well worth the bleeding and purple stained fingers.
And every summer along our vine strewn driveway,
We gather infant berry cobblers for the winter.

(c) 2024
 

 

April 3 - Prayer Walking

 

Prayer Walking
by Tom King

How do you pray when you've ADHD like me?
I've found that walking alone along a road through the darkling wood
Early or late in the day is my best most sacred place
To talk to God and make sense of what I have to talk about.
The sounds of the wind, the birds in the trees, the leaves rustling
All nature's choir create a kind of cloak around me
That, unlike the walls of my closet, don't close me in,
But open up my heart and fill my chest with the clean air
And yet dampen the sounds of the noisy world around
Giving me a quiet place where I can hear my own thoughts
And send up coherent prayers to Him.
My knees are shot for kneeling anyway. I'm old
And I've worn them out so that If I sit or lie down to pray,
I'll drift off to sleep or become distracted.
On my walks with Him, my eyes are drawn ahead down the road
Or trail And up to the patches of blue sky scattered
Above the shifting verdant leafy canopy.
It's there that I can talk to God most easily and naturally,
Often out loud so I can hear myself think. It helps
For one as distractable as me to talk to Him in His own house.

© 2024

April 2, 2024: The Day After Fool's Day

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Limerick by an Irish Descendant

April Fool's come around with the usual jests
And which are jokes, though I've usually guessed.
But twixt the fake and the real
This year I can't tell.
It's gotten crazy out there I attest.

April 1, 2024 - A Year of Living Drizzly

 

 

 

 

 

Seems like it was a year with little sun,
Or rain for all that that may matter.
I think it's mostly drizzled; we've been stuck inside
Steadily getting older still and fatter.

It's been a year since last I ventured
Even some bit of anything not required.
A year to clean, maintain, repair, improve
The space in which we find that we are mired

Some years are like that. This was one;
A year to surrender to the weather.
A time for bookkeeping, dusting, organizing.
For getting all our stuff together.

Drizzly years tend to be about
Maintaining, enduring, catching up.
Uneventful weather often sets the tone
The meteorological and emotional matching up.

When one has a season of that sort,
A year of tedious maintenance of the nest,
Probably wise to get your tools and plan
To do whatever housekeeping you do best.

Next year may be more satisfying,
A year to let your spirit break and run.
For once your life's again in order,
It's time to celebrate; perhaps there will be sun.

Have another go at drinking deep,
Of what's out there and waits for you
And from your newly ordered nest,
Strike out for challenges anew.

© 2024 by Tom King

April 30: A Bridge and the Falls (a haiku)

 

A Bridge and the Falls

Footbridge suspended
Frail perch sways above thunder
Rising from below.

© 2023 by Tom King