995 - If it ain’t bust…

Mad Kane poses a regular limerick challenge.

The key word this week is ‘bust’.

If it ain’t bust…

A lady with a magnificent bust

Caused several young fellows to lust.

But sadly her cleavage 

Was just a deceivage—

A terrible betrayal of their trust.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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994 - But Hollow

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

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

The words this week are: 

Mischievous, Nod & Obedience.

But Hollow.

Nice hair,

Pretty face,

But hollow.

A sock puppet

For the mischievous right,

The malevolent might,

Of the God set,

Who expect nothing 

But obedience

And compliance

With their bookish views

Of what is news

Of who they abuse

Of mostly don’ts

But occasional do’s.

With a deferential nod

To these darlings of God

He steps into the lights…

Nice hair,

Pretty face.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

---

993 - Fearful Revelations

Poet’s United Midweek Motif: Fear

Fearful Revelations

A simple life trick:

Watch when people threaten you—

They use what they fear.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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992.Taking the cake. Or not.

Haiku Horizons prompt : waste

Taking the cake.  Or not.

"But you must eat it,

It will only go to waste."

—Yes, but not to mine.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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991 - The Pack

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

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

The words this week are: 

High-pitched, languid, impish.

The Pack

Do you hear them?

Dog whistles.

Hight pitched

Well pitched

With languid distain

For the ensuing pain

For the flock,

The anxious flock.

Just an eye

For the effect.

Rally the mob.

Bring out the dogs.

Herd them in, 

Round them up

Bring them in

In for the slaughter.

The dogs do their work.

Not innocent

And yet unaware

Naive in their way,

Working dogs.

Just responsive

To the note as pitched.

A note of malevolence

Behind a feigned innocence.

Look!  I have clean hands!

Nothing impish here,

Not just mischief.

Nastier.

Much nastier.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

---

990 - Embrace

Embrace

Skin on skin embrace.

We are animals at heart—

A primal pleasure.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

---

989 - Mental Turns

Poet’s United Midweek Motif : Nostalgia

Mental Turns

Nostalgia plays 

Its siren song;

We fall 

Beneath its spell.

We reconstruct 

The past and smile

At stories it can tell.

It’s false,

This bright and mental waltz.

Futile

And quite pointless because

Wistfully hopeful, we long

For something 

That never was.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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988 - Faultlines

Sunday Scribblings 2 prompt : Broken

Faultlines

Once it is broken

It is irreparable—

Repaired is not new.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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987 - Break it up.

Haiku Horizons prompt: break


Break it up.

Need a rest?  Kit Kat!
Chocolate is a cure-all?
Oh, give me a break!
.
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© J Cosmo Newbery 2017
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986 - Listing

Mad Kane poses a regular limerick challenge.

The key word this week is ‘list’.

Listing

A bloke who was regularly pissed

Developed an unfortunate list.

It so lead him astray,

In a circular way,

That when he fell to the ground, he missed.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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985 - Choose wisely

Sunday Scribblings 2 prompt: pinch.

Choose wisely

Life can be risky—

There are some things you can pinch,

Some things you shouldn’t.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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984 - No bunnies here

Mad Kane poses a regular limerick challenge.

The key word this week is ‘meat’.

No bunnies here.

No BBQ can be complete

Without a pile of well-grilled meat.

There’s plenty of sauce

And some beers, of course,

And salads for the rabbits to eat.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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983 - Transference

Transference

The patterns are there

But meanings are elusive:

You find what you want.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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982 - The Closing of the Day

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

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

The words this week are: 

Decaying, Ember, Fragrant.

The Closing of the Day

Fragrant.

Aromatic.

Earthy.

Drifting low 

In the dew laden air

Smoke carries 

Its own peace.

The fire,

Once alive,

Is now decaying.

Dying.

Slowly

But dying.

Fading with the night,

Into the night,

Until the last ember 

Ceases to glow

And the ashes turn cold

And grey.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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981 - Venus

Midweek Motif : love

Haiku Horizons : shell

Venus

When Venus arose from her shell

The men all fell for her spell.

They claimed the attraction

Was a fine mind in action,

But being naked was a bonus, as well.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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980 - The Hunter Gatherer

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

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

The words this week are: 

asymmetrical, bare and crave.

The Hunter Gatherer

What do you crave?

I mean, what do you really want?

Keeps you up at night,

Gets you up early in the morning,

Captures and teases your imagination? (1)

What if you stop for a moment,

Strip your desire bare (2)

For a close but critical inspection? 

But the desire to have

And the pleasure of having

Are asymmetric.

You long, lust even, (3)

For as long as you take 

To achieve your kill;

The consummate 

And consuming hunter.

But next day?

A trophy

And a new hunt.

Could you be hunting

The wrong thing?

◊◊

1.  I hope you are not coveting the neighbour’s wife. 

They can be unreasonably touchy about this.

2.  See 1.

3.  See 1.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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979 - Showers

Haiku Horizons : Rain

Showers

Pain. Anguish. Regret.

In the garden of sorrow

Tears fall as petals.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

---

978 - Faith

Midweek motif: Faith

I’m a scientist.

Faith is not something I do.

But I do have hope.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

---

977 - The Committee Man

For Neil, who gave me line 4

The Committee Man

In a room, I know not where

There sat a man who wasn’t there.

He’d come along when told to meet

Just a warm body in a another cold seat.

While debates drove others to despair

His mind was in a pool somewhere,

Or sipping champagne by the sea,

Or just off frolicking, wild and free.

Until the chairman, the rotten swine

With wicked eyes and teeth, canine,

Asked the man who wasn’t there

A question about some crook affair.

Reluctantly his mind returned

And move the meeting be adjourned.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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976 - Blueprint

Haiku Horizons prompt: Design

Blueprint

Life has a pattern

But nothing you can design

Beyond a rough draft.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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975 - Peeping Tom

Mad Kane poses a regular limerick challenge.

The key word this week is ‘stare’.

Peeping Tom

When Godiva paraded, all bare,

The townsfolk agreed not to stare.

But the temptation was steep

And young Tom took a peep

But swore he just looked at her hair.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

---

974 - To a Christian who mocked a Haggis

To a Christian who mocked a Haggis

You are a disappointment, Trevor;

You and your high ideals

Of religion and of heavenly choirs.

Surely you know how it feels

Receiving

From the disbelieving

Satire

And yet you pretend to spew

And laugh as if it’s so very clever.

Would JC agree with you?

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

---

973 - Flood

Haiku Horizons prompt: Flood.

Flood

The ice caps will melt.

But why should I be worried?

I live on a hill.

◊

“We will be flooded!”

“They will breed like the rabbits!”

“You must be afraid!”

Muslim tsunami.

The fear of ignorant folk

Who cannot do maths.

◊

It began to rain—

They came aboard two by two.

Forty days and nights.

A lot of water

To cover all of the land.

Where did it all go?

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

---

972 - Control

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

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

The words this week are: 

parched, rotund, scandalous.

Control

“Orthodoxy means not thinking–not needing to think. 

Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.”

-George Orwell

Rotund men

In pinstripe suits 

And tall glass towers

Control our lives.

Yes, it is scandalous.

But we do nothing,

Feel we can do nothing.

That is their power.

That is how they

Control our lives.

We let them.

Like the man lost

In the desert—

Delusional, parched,

Desperate.

We crawl to wards

The mirage

Of hope.  Hope

That things will improve

It we behave.

That is how they

Control our lives.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

---

971 - Resistance is Necessary

Poets United Midweek Motif : Change

Resistance is Necessary

We are influenced—

Family, friends, the press.

But we can resist.

Yes, we can listen.

They can put forward their case;

That’s all they can do.

It may not sit well.

Afterwards we can assess.

Change is optional.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

---

970 - Opportunity Knocks

Midweek Motif : Doors

Opportunity Knocks

If the door is closed

You can open it again—

That is what doors do.

.

---

© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

---

969 - Thank You For Your Support.

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

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

The words this week are: 

jockey, kindred and lopsided.

Thank You For Your Support,

(I shall always wear it.)

He’s growing up—

Too big to be a jockey

And he’s only four.

◊

Our kindred spirits

Support us when we need them

Wherever they are.

◊

Nothing is even—

Everything is lopsided;

Just like testicles.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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968 - None So Blind

Poet’s United Midweek Motif: Vision

None so blind.

Television.

Far seeing.

The bastard offspring 

Of Greek and Latin.

The irony of it:

It makes you 

Introspective

Or escapist,

Or passive.

Voyeurs.

If you don’t like 

What you see

You can change the channel

But, curiously,

You don’t turn off,

Accepting

The best of the worst.

Transfixed 

But seeing nothing.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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967 - Defensive Positions

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

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

The words this week are: 

hateful, incorrigible and gaping.

Defensive Positions

Incorrigible,

That’s what they have called me—

For telling ‘Dad jokes’.

◊

Jokes let me escape

From the harsh realities

Of a hateful world.

◊

That dark, gaping void

Between what the world presents

And what it should be.

◊

And so I tell jokes.

If that upsets some people—

They can call me names.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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966 - Early Days

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

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

The words this week are: 

filthy, elaborate and dappled.

Early Days

It is quiet.

The morning is just starting to move.

But gently so.

An early cloud dissolves slowly

And the wisteria lets a dappled light through.

Reflective moments

While the world dreams

Produce elaborate plans.

Optimistic?  Maybe.

But worthwhile none the less.,

There is scope for improvement.

At home.

And at large.

The year past has had its share of highs

And lows.

A granddaughter arrived,

With that smell new babies have.

But wars continue, as filthy as ever.

This morning feels no different to yesterdays.

But we draw a line in the sands of time

And hope things will change.

Outside, ravens pass discordant judgement.

Inside, a clock ticks.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2017

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965 - Thinking Makes It So

Haiku Horizon’s prompt: Joy

Thinking makes it so.

One man’s meat, they say,

Is another man’s poison.

Joy is subjective.

We are as happy

As we determine to be.

It’s an easy choice.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2016

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964 - Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I know you’ve come through so oft’ before

But the time has come to ask for more.

So, let me be firm and let me be clear

World peace tops my list this year.

And the climate seems to be a mess,

Perhaps you could teach us to use less.

Remove animals out of cosmetics

And take religion out of politics.

And why not knock off the odd disease

And remove the pirates from the seas.

And stop folk cutting down our trees

And improve the quality of what's on our TVs.

And rid the streets of hoons and louts

And ban the sale of Brussels Sprouts.

But if all this is just a wish too far

I’ll happily settle for a good Pinot Noir.

Now reader, visit the comments section

To nominate your gift selection.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2016

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963 - A Rushed Life

Haiku horizons prompt: rush

A rushed life.

Small. Feathered. Anxious.

Quiet.  Still. Sensing danger.

Hides in the rushes.

◊

If it’s important—

Surely they will wait for you.

So what is the rush?

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2016

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962 - Stuffed and can't be stuffed.

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

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

The words this week are: 

tempting, specific and snuff.

Stuffed.  
And can't be stuffed.

That flame,

That light,

Is quickly snuffed,

For no specific reason.

Just lots of things 

Conspire to quell

The heart

This festive season.

I see.

But why just me?

You?  Well—

It’s tempting to try 

To make you see

But in the end 

I can’t be stuffed;

The fight is just too big for me.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2016

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961 - Safe and Secure

Haiku Horizons has the prompt “Safe”.

Safe and Secure.

We worry too much—

Safety is an illusion

That’s quickly shattered.

◊

There is no such thing

As a life lived in safety:

The gods laugh at you.

◊

And what price safety?

You can be well protected

But are you alive?

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2016

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960 - Don't Make Me Cross!

Mad Kane poses a regular limerick challenge.

The key word this week is ‘ice’.

Don't Make Me Cross!

A fellow with nerves of pure ice,

Was asked by his wife for advice.

His reply was that

“Of course it looks fat”;

His death, while quick, was not nice.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2016

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