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

 

PoeArtry by: Dr. Charles Frederickson & Saknarin Chinayote