Vowel Goof, Or: Spelling Matters [Lyric Poem]

The sign read: "Flee Market," 
    and so, of course, I fled.
 The hawkers called to me
    as I sped like hot lead. 

From what I was fleeing,
    I have no idea.
 But I found a cheap chair
    down at the IKEA.

Tautology [Lyric Poem]

It seems there's no need for a sign
   that says: "No Outsiders, Inside!"
 Wherever you may draw the line,
   it can't sensibly be denied
   that the outsider who steps across -
   having crossed - is an insider. 
 No need to consult the rules or boss
   Re: the "IN" side of the divider. 

Out of the Box Crocs [Lyric Poem]

To find oneself within a crate -
 packed inside and labeled "Freight"
  seems like the worst that things can get,
   but then I peered out through the slit,
 and what a thing it was to see
  a croc's keen eye stare back at me.
 
It had so many freakin' teeth,
 both on the top and underneath!

I concluded the box 'tweren't so bad.
 To stay a while, I would be glad!

Queen of Slaves [Lyric Poem]

Of all the masters & all the slaves,
   I find that mind fire burns in waves.
 And sometimes the emotions derail
   too quickly to lengthen the exhale. 

 Trees falling in the forest, unheard,
   can still crush a nest of baby birds.
 Turns out it's not the sound that matters,
    but what the destruction leaves in tatters.

The phrase “Queen of Slaves” comes from a Percy Bysshe Shelley poem (Canto 4, No. 24)

Dark River [Lyric Poem]

flow on, Dark River;
  slip through the night.

midnight's thick clouds
  block the moonlight.

your voice drowned out
  by insect chirr.

a Huck Finn raft
  drifts by at a blur:

the rafters unseen;
  their secret stays hush...

but for those red eyes
  in the underbrush.

What Lurks Below? [Lyric Poem]

I'm swimming in the lake -
miles from one and all,
feeling peace and calm - when
the monster comes to call.

What could drag me under?
I'll never, ever know.
Some will always wonder
what caused the undertow.

The lake is surface calm,
and should be at its depths,
but in its muck lie bones
of those pulled under breath.

Some will swim tomorrow,
and in the days to come.
Most will come and go,
and just feel blissful numb.

Dogs of War [Lyric Poem]

The dogs of war are slipping.
  The ropes they are a ripping.

The palms they are a bleeding,
  as citizens are reading

of risks that led to slippage:
  of quips and of equipage,

and how it wasn't expected,
  and courses were corrected,

but still it all goes wrong.  

Devourers [Lyric Poem]

We were classed: Consumer.
 And that became our task.
  The stores grew like tumors,
    and in stuff piles we basked.

What I Don’t Know… [Lyric Poem]

I know nothing
         of the sea-bottom,
         or of the darkest void.

I know nothing 
         of the ancients' lives
         or how most are employed.

I know nothing 
         of an atom's look,
         or how works, gravity.

I know nothing
         inside my organs
         or nasal cavity.

I can but know
         these simple truths
         that live within my mind.

That it's better
        being together, and
        to err toward being kind.

A World, Too Fast [Common Meter]

I stand upon the cobbled walk
 as scooters whiz on by,
and think this world 's too fast for me,
 and tilt my face to sky.

But there's a contrail gash up there
 made by a hurtling sky-tube
that jets its way to who knows where -
 while I'm the slack-jawed rube.

To match the world to my breath's pace,
 and watch the blur lines form,
and hear each note of music played...
 We'd sync to my waveform.