> scouts lament

tender thoughts

childhood images

abandoned playgrounds

old tires, shopping carts,

playing where the dry weeds bind 

roaming hills
grades of innocence

homes take broader views

youth's path now covered  

now buried in middle age

scouts honor

badges of merit

sewn by mother's hand

gracing his uniform
now worn to a threadbare blue

-dp-
1-19-16hb 

> mrs. kravitz

poor Mrs. Kravitz

strapped to that gurney

and taken away

after all those years.

now she's back

but not the same
after all of that
electroshock 
therapy.

it tends
to scramble the mind
and  by all accounts
her mind
was not in
the best  condition
to begin with
she was clearly
delusional.

and now after
all those years
of intense therapy
and heavy medication
she knows
that all of the
crazy things
she thought
she was seeing.

all those things
she still sees
peeking around
her curtains
all those things
she's been told
are hallucinations
are still out there
and still
very real.
 
but now she's
pretty sure
that Samantha Stevens
and her mother 
Endora, and perhaps
even dear little
baby Tabatha
are witches.

but now she knows 
it's okay
that they
mean no harm
and she doesn't 
mention anything
to anyone
anymore.

except to her

nephew, Lenny
who is rich
and affords
her the best 
outpatient care.

-dp-
12-31-15

> angst

need some anger oversight
to cool these inner storms
this mess within an outer calm
wrecks health, upsets the norm.
these jokes and laughs uneasy
diversion's steady lure
anxiety tapped, uploaded
stewed hot and insecure
unload the trapped illusion
pour forth a finer urge
expunge wrong words unspoken
best look forward when at bay


-dp-
12-25-15

> Dr. Rumirez

First off, thanks 

for helping me out

with my prescriptions

while I was between jobs.

Second, during my last visit

you mentioned that

if my testosterone level

wasn't okay

that I might

require Viagra

to help with my

erectile dysfunction.

Is that something

you can prescribe,

or do I order it

from one of those

late night

TV commercials?

Thanks again

for your help

and diligence

and have a

very Merry

Christmas.

-dp-

12-14-15

> reach

from the deep 

of life

when danger

and hope

swim

side by side 

when

desperate lips

share breaths 
beneath the sea
mouth to mouth 
until oxygen fades

and panic strikes 
in silenced

final screams  

that dance

and rise

as bubbles
expiring

unnoticed 

on the

surface

until 

calm returns      

-dp-

11-19-15 

PUBLISHED: Scrypic 1.4
March 2018

> eagle rock

after the hearing, the final hearing

by the windows, in the corridor,
near the elevators (waiting to go down)
my now ex-wife began to rant,

she said- consider the elderly
lurking at bus stop benches
with walkers and canes, waiting
for unsuspecting riders and passersby

snagging their purses and parcels 
as they walk by, tripping them,
and hobbling off with their goods, 
these cripples, preying on the able-bodied.

It was then that I realized
I would never fall prey to these
elderly criminals, after all, 
it was the final hearing. I could take the stairs.

-dp-
11-3-15 

> line of sight

from the sidewalk

across the street
from my apartment

I can see
not far away
the top floor

of the building
where my lawyer
has his office.

unfortunately,
it's the wrong side
for a clear shot

-dp-
10-26-15