Friday, August 1, 2025

“Electric Chair”

 


c. 2025 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(8-25)

 

A breath of edgy, arctic air

A buzz of voltage in the electric chair

A spritz of gasoline sent by the fuel pump

A wafting essence, ebbing from the garbage dump

These things are signs, oft ignored

By thinkers talking of being intensely bored

 

A mandrake oddly of no use

A detective lost on a hunt for clues

The snout of an anteater, plunged in dirt

A physician asking, ‘Where does it hurt?”

The cavalcade of purpose does not cease

While I make a meal of chicken fried in bacon grease

 

A major-league pitch, sent high and hard

A shower of stones tossed across the side yard

A fist raised along with challenging words

A seagull’s cry is easily heard

But I can guarantee that some will declare

That there was no sound from under the stairs

 

Quirky quarks defy description

A police constable says, “Assume the position!”

Hands crossed, back against the wall

A moment of pause in between summer and fall

I thought that, it must be a dream state

Dusty fingers from chalking the slate

 

Dipped in oil, to cleanse old sins

Knocked about, like static bowling pins

There was a crash at the corner traffic light

Someone missed out on a turn to the right

Now there’s a trail of scattered debris

From the intersection at Route 83

 

Hail! Hail! The gang’s in charge

Steering this ship of sods like a tugboat and barge

A floating mass of castaway cares

Soon to find its way to a graveyard, somewhere

What isn’t seen can be conveniently ignored

A patch of mud, clinging to the running board

 

Spit on and laughed at, just for fun

That is the fate, inherited by one

A kind of herding for cattle and sheep

Whenever such acts are lawfully meek

At first it seemed to be an identity, mistaken

But then I realized that my photo had been taken

 

Looking both ways at the hotel curb

Under a sign that read, ‘Do Not Disturb!’

I didn’t bother to ask about getting a room

I knew better than to perch on a mushroom

That spot was taken, quite long ago

By people of a better breed than I’ll ever know

 

A crow calling from a cloudy sky

A crack of thunder when the ground is dry

A professorial prod to think on my own

A bogus solicitation, texted to my cell phone

I yawn while wishing to see my bed

The flickering bulb turns smoky, and dead

 

Throw the switch, let the watts take hold

Flesh on fire, exit the soul

I tried to avert my eyes, but saw the event

A passion play, under a circus tent

It made me tremble, stumble, and shake

Like the sound of a rescued bird, pulled from the clay

 

Going away... far, far away...

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