797-799 - Whores Day Trilogy, 2015.

Whores Day, July 2nd.

Whimsical reflections.  

There’s nothing to be sombre about.

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: obedient, somber (sic), and raspy.

797 – Pasta Puttanesca

“Harlot’s Spaghetti”

Some sauces require expertise

But puttanesca is really a breeze.

It’s easy to see 

The whore’s pedigree:

Easy to make and so quick to please.

◊◊◊

798 – Sexual Dragons

Curiously today’s Word of the Day 

at Dictionary.com was “Dragoman”.  

But, no, I wont translate.

Do other animals also have whores,

Females who run sweaty stores?

And how do they arrange

Their rates of exchange?

Something that Google ignores.

What of the raspy dragons we find

In books of the mythical kind?

When dragons are scarce

Can whores flog their wares

Or are the he-dragons not so inclined?

And the question that continues to vex

Is can a dragon really have sex?

Do they have genitalia?

Is there a gender femalia?

The books are coy in these respects.

It’s hard to imagine

As the beasts are not slim;

Sex needs planning,

Not an action of whim.

And at the climatic high

Does the she-dragon cry:

“Oh,  Brothers Grimm! Brothers Grimm! Brothers Grimm!”

And can dragons be experimental?

Are they rough or sometimes even gentle?

Though a blowjob could earn

A third degree burn

In a nether region that’s quite sentimental.

◊◊◊

799 – The Lady in the Red Coat.

A scarlet woman

Was the term once used

For a woman who,

Shall we say,

Was often used.

Dressed in red

Often with leather boots

They stood to the side

Both in view

And in the shadows.

“The Redcoat are coming”

Paul Revere got it quite wrong.

(Or so I’ve heard.)

They seldom do.

Just their clients, it’s said.

But that’s what they paid for.

The oldest profession

According to who?

Or to whom.

Purity in language

If nothing else.

They have been around,

In both senses,

For quite some time.

More compliant

Than obedient.

Money for jam.

A receptacle

Of convenience.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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796 - Tears

Haiku Horizons has the prompt “Tear”.

A quick decision.

Spontaneous.  Regretted.

We shed salty tears.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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795 - Jerk

Mad Kane has a weekly limerick challenge.

She provides the rhyme word, this week it is “jerk”.

The rest is up to us.

She had a few drinks after work

And then slept in the arms of a clerk.

She then dreamed of a life

As a happy young wife

But, alas, woke up with a jerk.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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Apologies to those who pronounce 'clerk', 'clark'.

Call it poetic license.

You could replace 'clerk with 'berk' but it weakens the jerk ending.

794 - That man Todd

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: nervous, puzzled, and lump.

That man Todd.

The nervous will oft close their eyes

As the barber deftly applies

The edge of the blade

To the lather he’s made

And to move is considered unwise.

But one barber with a habit most odd

Would dispatch all his clients to God.

He would then disguise

Their bodies in pies

Which puzzled the homicide squad.

To his credit, the cops all confessed

That his pies were considered the best.

What brought them up trumps

Was the absence of lumps

And a sauce that always impressed.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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793 - Daintree

A potted haiku summary of a brief but very pleasant 

visit to the Daintree region of northern Queensland.

Daintree.

Wheels leave the tarmac,

The plane defies gravity

As we hold our breath.

The louvered windows

Of the tropical villa—

Quaint yet comforting.

It smells different

When rain falls in the forest:

Earthy.  Primal. Close.

An electric blue.

The brief but colourful life 

Of a butterfly. (1)

A walk on the beach

Followed by a lazy beer—

Could get used to this.

Let go of your home:

When in Rome (or Daintree)

Drink the local beer.

Warm cuddles in bed,

No need for any nightwear,

A gecko tut-tuts. (2)

The morning chorus:

The birds, the rain, the children.

I go back to sleep. (3)

Ancient wilderness:

Diversity worth a look…

What’s a little rain? (4)

The boat glides along.

On the bank, a crocodile

Pays close attention.

The cassowary:

A large lumpy sort of bird

That hides in the wild.

Cassowary plum

Betray the odd bird’s passing:

Fowl bowel graffiti. (5)

Unusual sounds

Of the unseen bush dwellers,

Oddly comforting.

Cape Tribulation.

The place an early Cook’s tour

Came stuck.  And unstuck. (6)

Holiday chaos—

That fateful, distant message:

“Gone into labour”. 

Technology beats

The tyranny of distance:

The coming of Grace. (7)

Good travel advice:

Take nothing but photographs,

Leave only footprints.

Dinner in the trees—

The jungle meets fine dining,

Daintree à la carte. (8)

The final packing.

I wonder what will be left?

There’s always something.

Familiar smells 

Welcome us back to our home.

The kettle goes on.

I know I am home

When I can kick off my shoes,

Order a pizza.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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1. Ulysses Butterfly

2. Geckos, a type of lizard, makes an odd clicking noise at night.

3. Neighbours had a crying child.  Felt sorry for them.  Nothing more.

4. No rain, no rainforest.  But warm rain.

5. The plum needs the cassowary to eat and pass its seeds for them to germinate.

6. Captain James Cook got stuck on a coral reef in 1770.

7. Grand-daughter, Grace.

8. Nautilus restaurant.

792 - Relationships

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: Erect, Blemish, Lop-sided.

Relationships

Multi-sided

No relationship

Is a pairing of equals:

Different talents.

Lop-sided

Two unequal halves,

Although perfectly aligned,

Asymmetrical.

Open-sided

Life is like a dance—

Not a tango, more awkward,

Like a three-legged race.

Subsided

Just one small blemish

Can block out all the good points;

Out of proportion

Blind-sided

Fearing the unknown,

And sometimes knowing the known,

We erect fences.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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791 - The Woods

Photo by Oer Wout

Mindlovemisery’s prompt.

The Woods.

Life is seldom

A straight path

Through a copse of trees

To the light.

Reality meanders.

Shadows call.

Enticing sounds call you

Through the mists,

From the trees,

To come and visit,

Come…come…

Come away from the path,

Away with me…

Come…

Curiosity 

Abhors the normal.

Sirens of the woods,

Ulysses would understand.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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790 - Trust

Haiku Horizons has the prompt "Trust".

Trust only yourself.

All others must be suspect,

Experience shows.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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789 - Erectile Dysfunction

Mad Kane has a weekly limerick challenge.

She provides the rhyme word, this week it is “pad”.

The rest is up to us.

Erectile Dysfunction

They thought that the Rajah was mad

For building a solid gold pad.

This golden emporium

And fornicatorium

Used all of the money they had.

The place was built to rehearse

Karma Sutra, chapter and verse,

But the exertion required

Meant that the Rajah expired:

Premature ejaculation, 

Only worse.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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787 - Drama Queen

Drama Queen

(to the tune of Dancing Queen - Abba)

You can flounce, you can pout, always having your nose put out,

See that show, watch that scene, mocking the poor Drama Queen.

Every night and the swoons are fake

Looking for some offence to take

It doesn’t matter what they say, interpret it the other way,

You come to create an affray

Anyone can cop that flack

If they don’t protect their back

With a few mocking words, sarcastic too

You have your sights upon your prey 

With any sense they will slip away…

You’re the Drama Queen, ruddy faced, like a tangerine

Drama Queen, feel the heat of your venting spleen,

You can flounce, you can pout, always having your nose put out,

See that show, watch that scene, mocking the poor Drama Queen.

You’re a teaser, then turn on them

Leave them stinging with your venom

Looking out for another, anyone will do

You have your sights upon your prey 

With any sense they will slip away…

You’re the Drama Queen, ruddy faced, like a tangerine

Drama Queen, feel the heat of your venting spleen,

You can flounce, you can pout, always having your nose put out,

See that show, watch that scene, mocking the poor Drama Queen.

[fade]

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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786 - Pond

Haiku Horizons has the prompt “Pond”.

Pond

Darkness, lying still,

A pool of tranquility—

To reflect upon.

◊◊◊

Lilies, frogs and reeds,

Hidden from the broader view

Lives another world

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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Repost: Cups of Joy

Sunday Scribblings 2 has the prompt “Teacups”.

Here’s one I prepared earlier:

Cups of Joy

Seldom in the daily rush of life

Do you meet with such perfection;

Beautifully displayed, with love and care,

They arouse a deep affection.

Such vessels are a joy to hold

And warm the cockles of your heart.

Lovingly filled, sweet and warm and milky,

They are a most wond’rous piece of art.

O glorious porcelain saucer and cup

I swoon, en route to fainting,

Now, if the woman will kindly step away,

I can look more closely at the painting.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery

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785 - Deeply Distressing

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: Absorbed, Deeply, Frantic.

Deeply Distressing

Leaking, 

Sinking, 

Far too much 

Weight.

Frantic 

Scrambling 

Follows.

There is no 

Stopping 

Its demise

The ocean 

Always 

Swallows

The scared

The unprepared

Their cries

Absorbed 

By their watery graves.

◊

A small child 

Resigns to its fate

And slips 

Beneath 

The waves.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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784 - Detachment

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: misery, privilege & stale.

A cheery bunch, but here goes:

Detachment

Dedicated to Smokin' Joe

Men of privilege laugh and joke

About their balance sheet,

Inflicting misery onto those

They hope to never meet.

Far below, in the poorer parts,

Life is far from merry:

They’re born, 

They work, 

They struggle on,

Until, finally, they bury.

They hear the laughter from the hill,

It adds to their despair.

While the stale smell of good cigars 

Hangs heavy in the air.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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783 - Vacant

I went back again.

They said it was a mistake.

I understand now.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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782 - You Never Know

Photo from Nepal by Samantha Chin.

You Never Know

You never know the prints you leave

Or even if the snows will grieve

When time and times erase

Your clear but superficial trace.

When we can no longer perceive

That certain presence you would weave

Only then will we believe

But hope still lives in that empty space—

You never know.

We harbor the hope that we can retrieve

That sense of life, that joie de vivre.

An enticing thought we can’t erase

And draw comfort from its warm embrace;

Maybe simple, maybe naïve.

You never know.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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"I may be gone a while..."

In the late '70s to mid '90s, I wrote to companies,

poking the finger of scorn at their advertisements

and published the letters and the answers here.

In the mid '90s until the early 2000s,

I wrote letters to Nigerian conmen

and published the letters and the answers here.

From 2006 until recently,

I wrote various poems.

You know where they are.

My muses are no longer what they were.

My recent writings here have been forced,

heavy and unsatisfying.

Time to move on,

Time to write something else.

Thank you, all of you,

It's been fun.

Cos.

781 - Hard Pressed

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: content, evolve & sober.

Hard Pressed

The media makes a great hullabaloo

About things they wish to pursue.

The content is skewed,

However it’s viewed,

And the truth is rarely on view.

◊◊◊

They assume that their readers are dead,

And are wanting a distraction instead,

So the page three depicts

Some extraordinary tits

Evolved for a double page spread.

◊◊◊

The truth is the promise, rehearsed,

In fact it’s just the reverse:

They create a great flap

That is one-sided crap,

And if watching it sober, it’s worse.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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780 - No Relation

Wordle 199: empty, held, memory, saintly, crack, track,

wrestle, pebbles, cue, act, science, angel

3WW : Devious, frown & venomous.

No Relation

Politics have no relation to morals. 

Niccolo Machiavelli

Act I

Promises made,

But not held,

Fall like pebbles

Into a black lake

To ripple briefly

And then vanish 

From sight

And memory.

“No more questions”

Says the minder.

The guy with the tie

Turns, on cue,

Walks in side

Protected.

People frown,

Wrestle with the 

Devious ambiguity

Of what they think 

They may have heard.

Ripples fade.

Act II

A pit of vipers,

Venomous, spiteful,

Spit empty words,

Across the chamber.

Sharp though.

Meant to hurt,

To wound.

But it’s all an act.

Acting out a battle

With no winners

And no end.

Act III

Two tribes

Core troops

Crack troops

Face off

Meanwhile,

In the middle ground,

Between the two,

The undecided 

Swither.

Which one

Is the lesser?

Act IV

Science is wrong.

The facts lie.

Trust me.

Act V

The lighting.

The make up.

Flags.  

Suit.  

Tie.

The saintly presentation.

I am an angel.

I will save you.
I promise.

Trust me.

Love me.

Vote for me.

Act VI

Behind the saintly façade,

Black dogs,

Attack dogs,

On the track dogs,

Bring down 

And maul

Their prey.

No prisoners.

[Repeat]

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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One of the reasons people hate politics 

is that truth is rarely a politician's objective. 

Election and power are.

Cal Thomas

779 - Desire:Shiver:Wilt

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: desire, shiver & wilt.

To Desire. To Shiver. To Wilt.

Desire.

The wanting to have and to hold

That which is beyond you,

A fact you’ve yet to find,

A thing or a person who

Appeals

Irrationally steals

Your mind

Leaving fog in its place

Leaving you to run blindly, controlled

By the challenge of the chase.

Shiver.

There is that first moment of doubt

When what you think you saw

When viewed a bit obliquely

Displays a worrying flaw

A crack

It takes you aback

To see

What was perfect yesterday

Now has brought the shivers out

And you take a step away.

Wilt.

Everything living must die.

But love can linger on.

While it too is a living thing

The substance it feeds upon

Is care

And regular repair.

This brings 

Us to where most tears are spilt—

If nourishment is not oft applied

Love will quickly wilt.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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778 - The Captain

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #197) presents a list of words

that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:

rescue, patron, day, measure, spread, race,

state, host, spend, ticking, cloud, humility

Ther might be just a little bit of Australian politics in this...

The Captain

“Who will rescue us?”, the people wailed

As their ship is tossed yet slowing,

“We don’t well like where we’ve been

And have no idea where we’re going”.

“The Captain’s lost his marbles

Since the day he came to power,

It’s not what ticks that makes us fret,

It’s the cuckoos, on the hour.”

“His guiding light is Saint Lizzardtongue,

From the land of Déjà vu;

The patron saint of those remorseful folk

Who should repent but never, ever do.

Humility is a foreign state

As he races around the deck,

On a bike, in Lycra shorts,

With a knighthood around his neck.

In fairness to this hapless dolt,

He hosts a motley crew,

All of them are a slimey lot,

Like pots of playschool glue.

The people fret in the cargo hold

While the crew ignore their howls

By any measure, they distort the truth 

And then spread it on with trowels.

So the days are spent on the cloudy seas

With a Captain, none too bright;

The compass points them straight ahead

But he steers them to the right.

“Who will rescue us?”, the people wailed

As their ship is tossed yet slowing,

“We don’t well like where we’ve been

And have no idea where we’re going”.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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777 - Modest Ambitions

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: modest, distracted, and genuine.

Modest Ambitions

A modest little man 

In a modest little house

Had a modest little job

And a modest little spouse.

Early every morning

He would tumble from his bed

Shave his prickly face

And leave to earn his bread.

The little modest man

Had a genuine desire

To move to Moonee Ponds

And comfortably retire.

Moonee Ponds was fabled

As a land of milk and honey,

Gladioli grew there abouts

Though the water tasted funny.

The little modest man

Toiled throughout the day

Never distracted by the thought

That his dream was far away.

The little modest man

Shuffled off his mortal coil

They had his ashes scattered

Upon his longed for soil.

But the little modest spouse

Of the little modest geezer

Banked the insurance cheque

And moved to Indonesia.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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776 - Much haiku about something.

Illustration by gipi.

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #195) presents a list of words

that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:

capitulate, ennui, sense, end, condemn, list,

single, inky, smell, render, generate, channel

Much haiku about something.

A true God is love,

Or so the story is told.

Actions disagree.

◊◊◊

When a single God

Needs to be channeled through man

He’s rendered useless.

◊◊◊

Fundamentalists

Use guns to push old ideas.

Inky responses.

◊◊◊

Capitulation

Is not on the agenda

No sense of an end.

◊◊◊

While quick to condemn

The press smells a good story

And generates fear.

◊◊◊

“They envy our life”

Say our leaders, piously.

How wrong can they be.

◊◊◊

Feelings are aroused,

Anger replaces ennui,

But impotence too.

◊◊◊

All religions kill

And kill, time and time again,

The list is endless.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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775 - A Savage Awakening

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: savage, electric, and passionate.

A Savage Awakening.

The object of his passionate favours

Was a household labour-saver.

But the electric supply

Brought a tear to his eye

And a scream that woke all the neighbours.

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2015

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- - -

774 - Fragments

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: jovial, promise, and resolute.

Fragments

I

A pizza without any anchovy’ll

Be scorned by the cognoscenti;

The Maffia, never particularly jovial,

Will demand anchovies a-plenty.

◊

II

Everything has promise.

◊

III

New Year’s a time of reflection,

Seldom sober, often in sorrow.

Resolute, we chart the ‘better us’’—

But can we hold off until tomorrow?

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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773 - Early Morning

Early Morning

Early morning
Gloom hangs heavy
She's standing up
— I had to use the spray
That makes no sense
— My jaw hurt
xxxAnd my chest was tight
xxxI used the spray
xxxMy pulse was racing
xxxIt’s better now
She sits on the side of the bed
Bent over
Hugging a pillow
— What time is it?
xxxAbout five
xxxNo, what time is it exactly?
xxxFour fifty nine
The penny drops
— Use the spray they had said
xxxIf the pain doesn’t stop
xxxIn five minutes
xxxCall an ambulance
She’s waiting
— It’s easing now
She lies down
And sleeps
I lie beside her
Wide awake

 .

© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

Christmas 2014

772 - The Silly Season

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: alive, glaring, and misty.

The Silly Season

In a time of tinsel and of elves

The Press is pretty smitten.

Headlines shout, in glaring font,

Of folk with guns.  And kittens.

Perhaps, in their misty mental voids,

They dream to mesh the two—

Longing for gun tottin’ catty types,

Who (bonus points) are fond of vindaloo.

At a time when just being alive

Is a blessing we can use,

Should we really concern ourselves

With what passes for the news? 

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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771 - The Dismissal

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week (well really last week,

there have been distractions) were: blunt, drunk, and lethargic.

The Dismissal

Is it the case, 

In this modern world,

That courtesy and attention

Are suspect and derided?

That simple respect is dismissed 

With a lethargic wave of the hand

And a bluntly delivered “Whatever”?

Where are our manners?

What are we thinking?

Are we so removed from the 

Niceties of a truly civil society 

That we are immune to politeness?

Or are we so embarrassed by it

As to enquire as to the sobriety 

Of the unfortunate person

As if they must be drunk

To be polite?

That to show

Consideration or concern 

Is not the act of a person

In control of their own actions?

 .

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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770 - Corrupting a Miner

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were: compact, jubilant, and neglected.

Corrupting a Miner

Deathbed confessions of Mr Faust, Industrialist.

“There’s something I neglected to tell you;

It’s a trifling little thing,

But you probably need to know of it,

Before the death bells ring.

I made a compact with the Devil

And traded off my soul,

And in return he gave to me 

Vast reserves of coal.

I dug it up and shipped it out

As is an owner’s right.

The shareholders were all jubilant 

And danced into the night.

There were those who whinged about the smoke

And the supposed nasty fumes,

But they, like me, could have moved away

To a house of twenty rooms.

But now I’ve reach my twilight time

I feel a slight remorse:

If I’d dug it up twice as fast,

I’d die twice as rich, of course.

There’s a consequence of my actions,

Which gave the Devil mirth,

Having sold my soul for eternity,

I’ve bequeathed you Hell on Earth.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2014

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