Birthday Bash (2nd place award)
The thought of clean underwear never crossed my mind.
Upon impact my brain turned deaf and blind.
An internal voice had insisted he would stop,
but he’s outside the car window, callin’ a cop.
Immobile in my seat on today’s birthday bash.
No bodily injury, nor graveyard smash.
The meal served at my party is a T-bone crash.
His fault, Mr. Mercedes, with the gray mustache.
Frozen at the intersection of space and time
Cars try to pass, uninvolved in the crime.
I can’t drive away, or reverse to pre-disaster,
side airbag hangs, grateful we weren’t going faster.
Trembling hands drop the phone
in shock, reacting on their own.
I call my spouse on his way to the gym
Briefly, I whimper why I won’t be meeting him.
He comes to my rescue, limbs begin to thaw.
Observing him take charge I wonder in awe
the purpose for this interruption on this very day.
Could I have sped up to get out of the way?
If thought becomes real, what motive in my head?
I’m quite certain I didn’t favor myself dead.
Perhaps I desired a safer auto, yes please.
This one surrendered with the greatest of ease.
A Policeman intrudes, “Vehicle in neutral?”
Uncovering the reason is probably futile.
I steer as they push me to the side of the road
and start up my car with a keyless code.
Weeks later, I still hear the crunching sound,
feel the strain of my body being jarred around.
Then I smile with relief, recalling a mother’s lament.
I had worn clean underwear in case of an accident.
-FGood 10/17
Before You
Nourish the soul when you meditate.
Rapid heartbeats, warning to hesitate
before you act out of anger or ego.
Your family is the light of comfort and joy.
Provide loving knowledge to your girl or boy,
before you darken and shout a hurtful show.
Celebrate in the spiritual pew of your choice.
Discover your life meaning, bask and rejoice,
before you exchange cruelty in a senseless row.
It’s honorable to march for a noble cause.
Take conscious steps to wait, then pause
before you tread fiercely on someone’s toe.
The office grind affords food on your table.
Amid biting intensity, remain politically stable
before you knife a coworker for their raw dough.
Run the streets fit to achieve optimum form.
In your back waistband, a gun hides, sickly warm.
Stop before you disrupt a human blood flow…
…Forever.
-FGood 2017
Dog-Mind
How do I know what’s going on
in the mind of my dog?
I look, I learn and I discern
I watch him stretch to pee
Splatter on his leg
Then step in the yellow sea.
He sniffs the ground
Looks towards a sound
Chases anything with
A tail
He scares a bird
Without a word
Just cuz he does
He has no fear
Loves a scratch behind his ear,
On his belly and his butt
Easy to figure out this mutt
I’ve known many of his clan
As a different breed of animal we call man.
But I love him/them.
Shadows In memory of Tony