NO POEMS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS POST (MOSTLY)

 

 

AFTER THE WAR

It’s after the trial

when you’ve passed

their test,

whatever will come,

will still be our rest.

 

POTS

Another cracked bowl

finished. Perfect!

 

MACHINES

There’re machines that fly

And machines that scry.

But those that I fear

Are machines that die.

 

BOILED WINGS

Murder from the skies.

Then darkness,

as a witch’s vat

bubbles and boils away

everything.

Soon, flesh will fall from bone

and the lights go out,

leaving earth, as they must,

for the distant stars.

And in those final breaths,

voices will sound out

like the breaking of bells.

 

FATE

Fate dropped a penny,

then the other shoe.

Both fell to heaven,

To land beside you.

 

ORBIT

It had been coming for a long time.

You could see that now.

If you’d been more observant

you would have seen lines of doubt

etching themselves across her face.

You might have taken them for a sign,

or a guide to look deeper.

...

Then one day (suddenly it seemed)

you notice she frowns around you,

how she’s given to moods and fits

of impatience.

You began to quarrel over things like flags

and rain and other bits of the inconsequential.

 

That glow, once always upon her

whenever she moved about you,

grew cooler, fainter.

She became distant, aloof,

regal, you once criticized,

though she was never your queen.

 

Over time, you grew to resent her.

But you never thought

to wonder why she changed.

Or how it was done.

 

In the end, she became an irritant,

an unpleasant reminder.

So, you chose to ignore her

and grew indifferent to her presence,

sundering the final gravity between you.

And when she left

you neither mourned nor rejoiced.

You simply looked elsewhere

for your reflection.

 

PERSPECTIVE

“BE GONE!” roars Elephant.

“GET OFF!” parries Ant.

If one could just see

What the other still can’t.

 

SPARE THE ROD

Rap for the knuckle.

Pinch for the nose.

Bullet for my baby,

plucked like a rose.

 

ENGAGING THE VOID

Death is currently busy

at this time.

Please stay on the line

and a Grim Reaper

will be with you shortly.

 

AT HOME

Home.

“This is home.”

A stranger sound

than “alone.”

 

 

 

  

  

SPECIAL STUDENTS GRADUATION DAY

 

 

    Justin and "Vulva"

AP—Huddlenutts, Ontario Canada. Mrs. Rhodes Elementary Class.

 

"TWIN BROTHERS, Justin and Volodymyr ("Vulva"), who were separated at birth are at last reunited decades later at this "special" graduation ceremony where these two finally ‘make the grade’, receiving twin diplomas in our Beezer Heights Elementary School Special Class “Summa cum laude” category. These two twins, so alike physically and academically, have lived vastly different lives on different continents—one lived his whole life in Canada. Justin was raised in a Catholic family as the son of a wealthy Quebec lawyer who was our fifteenth Prime Minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau. His 'son', Justin, carried on the family tradition by becoming our 23rd Prime Minister in 2015! 

His twin, Volodymyr, who uses “Vulva” as his nom de guerre, was raised by Jewish parents in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast of central Ukraine, an ocean and half a continent away! Vulva, in a remarkably similar life path, became President of his adoptive country, Ukraine, in 2019. These boys were world’s apart, yet somehow their lives were always interconnected. Whether it's by chance or providence, ours is not to wonder why. We can only marvel at how the fickle finger of fate points (and occasionally prods!) us in its mysterious and unfolding ways.

 

    A striking resemblance!

WHO FATHERED the two boys and how they came to be separated is not known at this time. BUT a recently surfaced archival photo of Justin as Prime Minister alongside a picture of an unnamed soldier, possibly Cuban, may be a clue. The resemblance between them is telling. Equally telling is the resemblance the soldier has with Vulva, right down to their love for facial hair and khaki green uniforms! 

JUSTIN, who spent his early, formative years in Mrs. Rhodes' Special Students Class, will today be awarded an honorary degree alongside Vulva, his long-lost and now much-loved twin. It should be noted that synchronicity exists between the two boys’ in the type of education they received growing up. Vulva thrived in “special” education classes in Ukraine, though he never completed Grade Eight. Just like his brother in Mrs. Rhodes's class!

THUS, on this happy occasion, Principal Piffle, myself, and the Beezer County School Board offer our heartfelt congratulations to both boys who, as grown men, step boldly across life’s stage. For their work, they can proudly receive all of life's laurels including this "Certificate of Completion" for technically passing Grade Eight's challenging curriculum. You are winners, the both of you. Bravo, gentlemen! Bravo!"

 

—Arnald Triffart, Chairperson. BCSB, 2025.