The Ultimate Sweetener

the ultimate sweetener, I am -but you won’t find meripening in sugarcane fields,living in lush ripe fruit,dripping in honeyed beehives, orcrystallizing in research labs -because I, the sweetestsubstance in the Universe,exist someplace else altogether… I take many forms:unconditional love, gentle toucheskind remarks, consistent effortpaying attention, chivalrous actsthoughtful gifts, and little things I am the kindness …

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Foolish Vigilante

Photo: Ray Reyes (Unsplash) ~ a battle of testosterone ~ as if mockingmy chaotic lifewhile I ran and holleredand waved my armsthe bus eluded me,scolding me with its breeze frustrated, I looked aroundand saw a tiny rocketfly out the window of an idling SUV,launched by abig red-faced manwho oozed entitlementand reeked of callous disregardas he …

Milk and Silence

~ for Bingo ~ what do you see, dear little Bingothrough eyes full of milk?once dark and shinynow white and hazyeyes that into spaceeyes that obscure your souleyes that search the carpet in vainfor undropped biscuits? what do you hear withears full of silence?once perky and alertnow useless and deafears that function no moreears that …

Master of Touch and Flow

Photo: Dad and Jim (his pet crow) at the water pump, early 1940s ~ for Richard Bedford Bennett ~ a Depression-era prairie child, you touched castles made of sand and grew up humbly on the land playing with quirky homemade toys when big-sky sunsets and sunrises pierced the distant flat horizons and phantom prairie winds …

FC Adverbus

we are FC Adverbusof the Grammar League,seasoned athletes ofthe muddy soccer fieldthe chaotic consciousnessbetween your goalpost-earswithin your writer's mind they say we're inferior toReal Adjectivus, Metaphoris United,FC Similium, Rhetoricaand all those other arrogantGrammar League squads - butwe're actually pretty damn goodat helping you to score oft-mocked and malignedby League ownersHemingway, Zinsser,Elmore and King(who once snorted …

Useless as Teats on a Bull!

ah, Springtime!sunshine, birds chirpingcrisp morning air, peace kissed Jane... later babe!happy day ahead!time for commute #1206 fired up Roddy'57 Chevy convertible!pulled out of the garagegathered speedlivin' large! yeah! uhh...what's that sound under the hood? sped up, louderslowed down, quieterstrange, eeriea thousand dollar sound back homeMike the mobile mechanicshrugged his shouldersfor ninety-five bucks phone rang.  Barry.“Where …

The Watery Path Not Taken

~~ Chasing the Rainbow ~~ (inspired by Jan LaFountain Melnik) two curves converged upon the distant shorewhere skinny pond engaged with bright rainbow...I knew a pot of gold would lie in store!to slosh through water, nothing pleased me more...but would the magic last? I didn’t know I wished that I could run that liquid trailbut …

It’s Your Day, Mom!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!With Love and Gratitude! well Dad, he calls you Marillynbut I just call you Momand to your now-grown grandchildrenit's Nana you've becomeback when I was a naughty boyI'd drive you 'round the bendyou'd spank me with that wooden spoonbut love me to the endtoday and every other dayI hope you'll feel admiredI …

Blue Skies and Sunshine

~ for Diane Hudson ~ They gave you blue skies Sunshine Opportunity and love Unlimited Now God's giving them blue skies Sunshine Togetherness and peace Eternal Love to your Dad Love to your Mom Peace be with their friends With your family And with you - Paul Raworth Bennett Image credit: Tim Hill (Pixabay)

Did Michael Just Call My Name?

here we go again eleven of us stuck in tiny black boxes built by servers and routers, from electrons, silicon and glass the usual yawnfest every damned morning at nine and I'm stuck in Box Three Jim just sits there smiling Dwight keeps interrupting while childish Michael our hapless boss has gathered us here to …

At the Beach

~ inspired by Jan Melnik ~ surfsong soothes my ears salty sweetness fills my nostrils whimsical breezes play upon my skin vivid pastels seduce my eyes, while your forge of creation mellows, sinks, and sleeps beneath the Earth Oh Mother Divine Gaia omnipotent, your sublime choreography whisks me away - if only briefly - from …

i say damn you, old Sol

"rage, rage against the dying of the light" Photo: Deborah Klein-deJong i say damn you, old Sol how could you paint us all in late summer's gold then just snatch it away and then ship it down South you've abandoned us leaves forsaken the forest it's November, it's dark and we're damp and we're cold …

She Sings my Body Electric

~~ for lovers everywhere ~~ she sang my body electric whenthat frosty January daybefore she slowly walked awayshe gave her phone number to meand to a date she did agree! two teenagers, we rode the bus -so many things we did discuss! I surely hoped in two weeks’ timeshe'd be my first real Valentine she …

Swimming Lessons

having almost drowned inseductive, opaque pools oftoxic relationshipsstumbling throughjungles of codependencyI feared I could no longer swim desperate for a way outI stumbled throughdark thickets of uncertaintyfound an icyriver of avoidancedonned a fear preserverplunged in andfloated downstream pastmissed opportunities until one daythe forest released its gripmy river of avoidance endedand I met you you beckoned …

The Angry Giant Zucchini

I hate you my little brother and sister zukes you're so cute, tidy, green, unblemished you seduce the gardeners winking your stupid orange blossoms whispering "Pick me! Pick me!" and then, enchanted, they'll carefully pluck you gently hold you slowly turn you around smiling, admiring cooing as if you’re some kind of newborn baby “Look …

Farewell, 007

alas, we've lost Sean ConneryThe Man Who Would be Bondepitome of braveryhe was well-brained and brawned by trading on his handsome lookshe'd bed a bonny lassand then he'd go and vanquish crooksand do it with such class when Bond would chase bad guys with zealGoldfinger... Dr No...it wasn't long before we'd feelthe thrills and humour …

El Diablo, Tailor of White Curtains

my eyes closed, and thenafter minutes, or maybe hoursfrom deep within my silent mindfrom behind gossamer, silken curtains the colour of fallen snow...faded by the yearsshe reappearedand her heavenly gazecaressed my weary souland her velvet embracewrapped me in anticipationand she drew me towards herand we joined, delightfully, once again my eyes opened, and aloneupon my …

I Can’t Breathe, Momma…

~ for George Floyd ~ breathing how miraculous! ever-present, reliable, obedient quietly keeping us all alive inhale, exhale, inhale exhale rhythmical, dependable feeding us with life-giving oxygen removing carbon dioxide in and out, in and out in and out I can't breathe... Momma!... Momma!... I can't... breathe... I'm... through... .... ... .. . Dear George …

Area Man Discovers the Joy of Shoes Without Laces

from: The Pepperville Tribune Tuesday, June 2nd, 2020 Pepperville resident, Ben Wilson, has recently discovered the satisfaction that comes with not having to tie up his sneakers every time he puts them on. It seems 47-year-old Wilson found this out only recently, while searching in vain for the eleventh pair of his usual lace-ups at …

The Birds of Aleppo

by Paul Raworth Bennett ~~~ a tale of hope, for the people of Aleppo ~~~ Before the summer of 2011, thousands of different songbirds - swallows, warblers, wrens, chickadees, nuthatches - would soothe and serenade the citizens of Aleppo, a Syrian city of almost 5 million. And while the sun twice daily splashed yellow and …