songanddancegirl

ONE MORE

ONE  MORE    ONCE

I carry earplugs now    & remove them

when I hear my heart beating    arrhythmically

It does that on close Summer days when

squirrels threaten  and you can walk into a   happy ending by following the applause

My mother & I  think that maps are a good

idea   Each of us should be given one at birth

with a slice of angelfood cake   The crumbs will

forever lead you home   And you will know where you are going    at all times

With all of the ease that certainty bestows

you may even:  a) choose your battles

b) collaborate with the time you have left

c) learn to fly in your spare time

d) listen until the end of  April In Paris (Count B. & Ella F.)       and  wait

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Late Summer 2013     For  M. Bird

THE FORTUNATE

THE  FORTUNATE ?     FALL

I read today that 2 small boys were

killed by a Python    as they slept

This was in a small New Brunswick town

in an apt. above  Reptile Ocean   They were brothers     5 & 7

While in Pakistan the host of a TV show will

give a new born baby away   each day    He said: 

These babies would otherwise be eaten by a cat or dog

I don’t really know what I want from this world    Can the bar possibly be lowered?

On the other hand   both the TV host & the pet

shop owner were  affable  men   Should I even be

placing blame  upon them?

Today I am sitting on a bench  watching young

campers play   The girl in a floaty dress is the  aggro-leader

She shouts in the face of a blonde little sprite

who reddens   then bellows: You’re not the boss of the world      

No    clearly  he  is    A small urchin in purple who barks: 

I’m gonna chase you &  kill you

I grow pale  and look around for a counsellor

as Urchin-boy eyes me malevolently    While a

tiny lad in a blue Tilley hat runs around the periphery

gawky   & alone    If second chances are ever handed out       He is getting one

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Late Summer  2013

BEWILDERMENT

THE  LAST  BEWILDERMENT

I don’t know where I am going

Don’t worry you will know when    you get there

But there is no way back  

Don’t look out the windows   save yourself from being afraid

Greet the new arrivals with gusto   as you were when you emerged

naked   from the tunnel    It seems that you should know how to do this

There is mounting evidence to suggest that you have done this  at least  once before

It is circular not linear   Doesn’t make it any easier    You get comfortable in this skin

And do not put your feet up     There is flurry of wings      Go home

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Late Summer  2013

WITNESS

CAN  I  GET  A    WITNESS?

She has dead eyes and so does    her son

What is this phenomenon?   Is it a sign of

the times?     Modern citydwellers    in a

permanent  state of  OFF      Too many

bizarre crimes   terrorism   hedonism    materialism    =   death of 21C soul?

Maybe it is not so simple   At what moment

did their eyes die?   We must re-trace our steps

adjust our blankets   the  night sea journey  crouches      in nearby bushes

In China seniors wait in death houses   while in Toronto

it is dangerous for 110 lb. young men  to have their    1st psychotic episode

on a city bus   Please Exercise Caution  when you

walk out your door   our police force is      armed & dangerous

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*(even if they kill you with 10 bullets   you may still be tasered     just incase)

Late Summer  2013

SELF – PUBLISHING

SELF – PUBLISHING  IS  NOT      FOR  SISSIES

This isn’t really the season for that    

Spring would  be better for a biking book

I have stumbled upon  Booksellers   & wonder

if I will be discovered    like an old time movie star       at a soda-fountain

They bandy about famous author’s names  & I see

a folder poking out of a bag   with the name of my

favourite  Press (ecw)    

The woman has a pink pedi red sandals   & the guy

a Twiggy haircut  like mine in      Grade 6      Wait!  

She has just noticed my shoes  pink metallic brogues

She tells me that they  catch the light so perfectly    

My stomach does summersaults there will be instant

recognition when I arrive at her door     My book will be

ready December 1st    Patios empty & BBQ’s moaning in

the cold    But I will appear sockless in my     pink  metallic brogues

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*(Lana Turner skipped a typing class and bought a Coke 

at the Top Hat Malt Shop located on the southeast corner

of Sunset Boulevard and McCadden Place   where she was discovered)

Late Summer  2013

BELIEB

BELIEB – ER

Today a tiny dog   with

beady eyes    gave me an

uncanny stare   Stopped     dead

in it’s tracks  & for 63 seconds

positively identified me as

someone needing care?

What was that? I said to the

owner   He likes to make sure

we’re all okay   I have read that

certain dogs can smell  the onset

of seizures   same for cancer

So was this odd little   trolldog

sensing something sinister?

It seems that dogs and young

children respond to me as kindred

& it did feel as though Pip read my   Apocalyptic  mind

He  seemed to know  that ghosts &

angels have appeared with regularity

also the   dead    as doppelganger

Or was he simply sensing that my

theme song is no longer relevant?         Can I get a re-write     Justin Bieber?

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Late Summer  2013

THE WORLDWIDE

THE  WORLDWIDE  ASSOCIATION  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  PEOPLE

Obama called for calm after the acquittal of George Zimmerman   in the shooting

of an unarmed African American teenager   Trayvon Martin   And while I am white

there are certain parts of the U.S. & the world   where if the yellow star of David

were pinned to my chest my life might be in danger     Does the invisibility of my

minority make me safer?  I am also a woman  so there are places I should not walk

alone   at any hour   in my Canadian city     Hannah Arendt who coined the phrase

the banality of evil  said that since Jews are humans  the Holocaust should be

considered a crime against Humanity   Obama said if he had a son   he would look

like Trayvon   And if Hannah Arendt had a daughter    she would look like me

Why not all don hoodies   & wear the  yellow star    And would someone please

stand guard  as I walk through my deserted moonlit park?  How about    you?

Or are you endangered   too?

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Oh, Woman is the slave to the slaves… yes she is…

If you believe me, you better scream about it.

(Woman Is The Nigger Of The World     John Lennon)

Mid-Summer 2013

WHERE’S YOUR MOSES

WHERE’S  YOUR  MOSES     NOW?

It has been an inferno   with fires & floods

19 elite firemen died in Arizona   It’s   Mid-Summer

here in the North   but my eyes are already

turned toward Fall    on the lookout for new

sentences   an epiphany or 2    and a breeze

Yesterday a man at  Canadian Tire  warned of

the  Apocalypse  & said he is preparing to flee

He encouraged me   to join him   Later my    husband

wondered if it is time to start worrying    about me

The Summer asks too much of us     and in the sky there

are clouds upon clouds       upon clouds

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*Humans happen to have a lot in common with many of

the species that have made it through mass extinctions    like sharks for example

Humans and sharks will eat garbage in order to survive  and humans will also eat

bugs and slimes.  

Mid-Summer  2013 

NEW BEGINNINGS

NEW  BEGINNINGS  MAY  BE    OVERRATED

Ultra Modern    It’s going to be   Ultra Modern

This phrase pierces the doom    Clean lines &

Ghost Louis’ materialize   I’m finished with URSA

he announces    Stars fall       The appearance of

Hale-Bopp in 1997  was seen as a cue for     mass suicide

by 39 members of  Heaven’s Gate         Omens are a dime a dozen

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Mid-Summer  2013

LET THE GOOD LORD

LET  THE  GOOD  LORD  SHINE  A  LIGHT  ON  YOU

There is a patch of light between couch   and wall

that keeps catching my eye   It is a nostalgic-light    late afternoon

Conjuring up rooms I have lived in & people I have

been linked to  before my  level of trust  plummeted

600 metres (in a single day)

And when I stop     mesmerized by the glimmering      it is as though a switch

has been thrown   The one marked:   Throwing this switch can prevent darkness

This would be a good time to end the story   while we

are all still alive  &  too big for our boots     I heard

on the  News  last night that there is a   1 in 3 chance

of a meteor crashing through Earth’s   atmosphere

(trust plummeted another 200 metres)                                  THROW  THE  SWITCH

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May the good Lord shine a light on you

Make every song you sing your favorite tune

May the good Lord shine a light on you

Warm like the evening sun, yeah     (The Rolling Stones)

Mid-Summer  2013