LA VANGUARDIA

ALWAYS DIFFERENT

Very own private hideaway spot

Dancing beneath rainbow’s ecstasy arc

Garden hose nozzle sprinkling glee

Recoiled serpentine sod thirst quenched

                                                                               NEVER THE SAME

                                                                               Invisible barbed tight-wire balancing act

                                                                               Bent umbrella spokes thumbnail slivers

                                                                               Playing hopscotch avec imaginary friends

                                                                               Lions jumping through blazing hoops

ALWAYS DIFFERENT

Recollections secreted in stonewall cracks

Demons sneaking through uncaught crooks

Hurling rocks skyward falling on

Shrunken heads turned away coughing

                                                                               NEVER THE SAME

                                                                               Uncharted path thorny bramble cleared

                                                                               Paved bike trails filling void

                                                                               Yellow-line logic bypasses common sense

                                                                               Ground rule taboos flexibly stretched

ALWAYS DIFFERENT

Somebody else’s mother slitting throat

Skinning childhood stirring cocoa dreams

Chalky constellatory stardust scratching blackboard

Fortune etched onto unread palms

                                                                               NEVER THE SAME

                                                                               Skipped heartbeat pulsating What If

                                                                               Dedicated to Have Nots who

                                                                               Aren’t now never will be

                                                                               What might have mere reverie

                                    UN-SO-MN-IA

UNfears almost grown out of

Lying awake afraid to sleep

Boogeyman lurking undercover bedspread flounce

Nightmares bucking stacked UNeven odds

                                                                               UNholy ghosts leaving vapor trails

                                                                               Behind smoky mirrors passed through

                                                                               Quick exits revolving door entrancement

                                                                               Hunchback shadows UNtimely warp bent

UNtying Gordian knot oracular promise

Square root Scout merit badges

Naively idealistic do-gooders eagle-eyed pragmatists

Enigmatic sphinx riddles best UNsolved 

                                                                               UNanticipated quirky twists cork-screwing Fate

                                                                               Sliding up spiral staircase banister

                                                                               Popping quixotic bubbles fermented sparkle

                                                                               Destiny watered down expectations UNmet

UNgathered bouquet dawn’s early light

Morning glory dewdrops funneling dusk

Cul-de-sacs reaching afterlife impasse wherein

Dead ends are most UNlive

                                    **TRA, **TRA

**HAUSTED

     Inverse sky afternoon evening nap

          Yawning horizon past future stretch

               Bordering on off flip-flop switches

                    Outcast infinity **PECTATIONS beyond limits

**TRAVAGANT

     Flea market haggler trading places

          Shakedown upscale tipped over under

               No refunds bargain basement attic

                    As is **AM was weren’t

**PLORE

     Fading golden nugget prospects rise

          Discovering rainbows where none exist

               Flimsy negligee dusk dawn shed

                    Shamelessly naked **POSED skintight loose

**TINCT

     Endangered struggle for against survival

          Urban rural safari wildness tamed

               Humanimal species criss-crossing breeds

                    Leopards tigers **CHANGE spots stripes

**TREME

     Infrared ultraviolet micro- macro- spectrum

          Living dead lenders borrowed time

               Ghosts race black white cloudbanks

                    More most **CESS too much

BEYOND INFINITY

Black hole swallowing third planet

     From smoldering Sun nebula unplugged

          Sending ultraviolet shock waves through

               Firmament emitting gamma radiance aglow

               Even time can’t escape gravity

          Being sucked into swirling abyss

     Amazing beast Minotaur labyrinth entrapped

Journey of No Return passage

Inter-galactic world collide fusing together

     Giant vacuums cleaning stardust carpet

          Innermost soulful anima Fantasia medley

               Shrunken neutron Snow White dwarfs

               Angels and Demons unpardonable sinners

          Wingless glossy beetles crawling through

     No exit skylight shattering windowpane

Peeved solar masses reflecting vengeance

Ripping through stellar space faster

     Than Lone Ranger’s speeding bullet

          Kick started by Supernovae implosion

               Gas spiral centripetal whirlpool vortex

               Moonless night eclipsing miserable despair

          Self-loathing sorrow venting pent-up rage

     Unfed hopes becoming utterly extinct

Final merger million eons away 

                                    EITHER / OR

Nothing is everywhere but here

     Homecoming befitting once upon stranger

          Return stumbling over flimsy excuses

               IOU’s compensating unsettled debts   or

Achingly familiar provokes mudslinger slide

     Wet soil oozing between toes

          Clay cracked footprint dusted off

               Frayed ribbon wallflower hanger-on   or

Overcast sky dirty laundry folded

     Prostrate corpses inhabiting old room

          Fast awake apparitions bedstead trapped

               Musty sheets pinfeather pillows   or

Prodigal ghost static clings to

     Diving rods no longer there

          Cardboard slide rule masking taped

               Toothless attic fan truths   or

Silent unknowns remain whitewashed cover-ups

     For another decade at least

          Wrinkled oak nestling robin stutter

               Anywhere else but here   or

                                                            RETURN TO SENDER

Stamped night enveloped in darkness

Skipped heartbeats softened to mush

Blurry postmark smudged lipstick gloss

Sealed shut with butterfly kisses

                                                                               Ukulele newfangled instrument trading places

                                                                               Steel guitar uptight twisted wires

                                                                               Unhinged case begging passerby alms

                                                                               Tosses coins rough edge landings

Strumming banjo pluck heartstrings tug

Fretting about nothing much matters

Metallic claws peeling off shadows

Crackly chord rhythms gone astray

                                                                               Intergalactic midnight blue velvet painting

                                                                               Lunarscape that glows in dark

                                                                               Leaning against some distant planet

                                                                               Fallen meteor mistaken for star

Unearthed jewels fake gemstone paste

Everyday colorful prismatic spectrum refractors

Crashing surprise party gift wrapped

Petrified rainbow overstaying friendly visit

                                                                               Galvanized mailbox slack jaw agape

                                                                               Awaited special delivery never arriving

                                                                               Tumbling moon somersaults over asteroid

                                                                               Cartwheels spread eagle wheel spokes

                                    UNorthodox

Icaghowan Bible getaway UNhappy campers

     Summertime blues acute longing homesickness

          Wet dreams mattress reeking bedbuggery

               Infestation wingless mites parasitic bloodsuckers

                    Gospel according to UNsaintly Matt

               Smirking pervert log cabin counselor

          Averted nervous glances Mantra testament

     Stiff pricks have no consciences

Ghost stories invoking UNholy spirits

     Powwow marshmallows burnt to crisps

          Graham crackers Hershey bar smores

               Wienies stuffed in Wonder buns

                    Moses cradling UNsung Ave Maria

               Marshy bulrushes vestal virgin swamped

          Pithy stems fuzzy pussy willows

     Fluttery butterflies coughing up phlegm

Horned toad chapped skin UNroughed

     Tailless amphibians playing leap frog

          Cinderella’s petit prince charming transmigration

               Itchy palm warts rubbed raw

                    Chances blown shotgun wads UNloaded

               Spit or swallow bent kneelers

          Stud poker wild Jokers tamed

     Cardinal sins red letter events

This poem is dedicated to John Nashville, the tenacious founder and inspiration

behind POETRY CEMETERY, with many thanks for his generous recognition

and support of aspiring poets and best wishes for continued success in his

always worthwhile author-itative ventures!

                             STINGRAY GLINTS

Running late smack-dab dewy kisses

Sun finally persuaded to rise

Yawning horizon crying out loud

Dawn’s early birds high-pitched chirps

                             Thinking we were we weren’t

                             Unreasonable existence striving for recognition

                             Almost but never quite knowing

                             Desperate to understand unraveled secrets

                                                            Passion flowers given cold shoulder

                                                            Crisp air exhaling frosty breath

                                                            Bellies tickled by icy fingertips

                                                            Daybreak navels turned innie outed

Crosswalk stoplight stuck on red

Amber tiger’s eyes lying in wait

Envious green on the blink

Buckling pavement flipping sewer lids

                             Once was wasn’t ever really

                             Dead man’s float sunken hope

                             Stillborn mummies wrapped in transparency

                             Embalming ointment soaking through gauze

                                                            The first of many goodbyes

                                                            Vowing allegiance to nightshade dreams                                     

                                                            Moonbeams hiding behind own shadows

                                                            Missing stars replaced by scabs