This week’s Little Vines.
4903.
pumpkins fade and
flustered ewes crowd the water trough.
Winter bites the moon. I howl.
4904.
a shake a shuffle a shambles
a shoebox of shushes
and all of it over a plate of under-fried shrimp
4905.
The hive bends to persuade
a family member vanishes in the night
now the whole place is abuzz all right
4906.
the flutes mumble and fate grimaces
you sign your will
in malodorous ink
4907.
It was mine,
my heart. I gave it away
I do not want it back.
4908.
the fading lady reblooms
the gentleman with gout rises from his chair
at the sound of a song they danced to at their wedding
4909.
a bit of flirtation and giggling and suddenly I am a chaperone
at the dance I host at my wet kitchen floor –
The mop and the bucket, they do make a nice couple.
4910.
a chaotic pattern emerges
the gelatinous images shine –
a slide-full of amoebas in full stampede!
Look at them go.
4911.
collecting the stories of
a lot of bragging saxophones
the ear delivers them, free
4912.
the rain soaks him while
the rainbow slaps his hand away from the pot of gold
the miser flees
4913.
the third grade
the third goldfish
the third time the class pet died
4914.
a modest rainstorm making few claims –
its lopsided raindrops moderately effective –
the puddles fill slowly and slope to the right.
4915.
the dissipation
the reminder
the foolishness
and even a good hair spray can’t fix any of it
4916.
In his delirious dreams
deadly dolls chewed him up and spat him out
grinning their blood-streaked fake-pearl plastic teeth.
He screamed. For more.
4917.
ponderous shapeless bridesmaids frowning
pale groomsmen squirming like worms in a bait bucket
flower girls running flat out flinging bruised petals
minister mumbling incantations. Now you’re married.
4918.
they meet and they part:
the sharks staggering away happy
the new amputees wailing darkly
Claudia McGill Writes Poetry, Did You Know That? 
4908. My favorite!!!!
We age, but some things never get old, I think.
There are lots of wonderfully dark images and vignettes among this collection of LVs. The first poem made me think of a werewolf observing a flock of sheep and I enjoyed the brutality and the juxtaposed feelings of the sharks and the swimmers in the final poem. I think my favourite, however, was #4916 because it feeds into my fear of ventriloquist’s dummies.
Yes, I don’t know where the noir effect came from on this day, but I was enjoying it. The deadly dolls and their strangely appealing digestive habits kind of makes me laugh. It hurts, but please don’t stop…And the shark one, well, I don’t know where that one came from but – I do like it.
hairspray was useful in its day…(K)
I particularly remember how it could stop a run in your hose if you sprayed it on in enough concentration although then you smelled sickly sweet for a while…
Yes, that smell lingered.
I laughed loud at 4916. Amore gave me a funny look, as if he were reading along.
Lovely, all. Always such fun in your company.
I had written down the phrase “deadly dolls” in my notes and then when I was working on these, it came up. I thought of some battered looking antique dolls sitting in a small trunk and looking peeved and dangerous that I saw in a store window some years back. It still scares me to think of their expressions. And suddenly this LV was born.