Black Morphs ~ Monday, September 14, 2026

‘We make out of the quarrel with others, rhetoric, but of the quarrel with ourselves, poetry.’

~ William Butler Yeats
‘Anima Hominis’ in Per Amica Silentia Lunae, 1918.

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Welcome to the grey, the red, and the black
endlessly bickering, squirrels quarrel

making quite a ruckus, losing focus
appearances during lunchtime, a fact
kings and queens of the quad wait on the grass
expecting free handouts, against the wall

orders not to feed the wildlife, I guess
understanding the administration
to offer food to animals, address

objective intentions, consequences
forms of volition, ideology

thank your lucky stars, you must build fences
honesty is the best psychology
even as squirrels bark, a vacation

questionable at best is a good start
until someone mentions retirement
as wishful thinking takes over my brain
remember that I have decades of hurt
remember that I have no faith in life
every time, I offer a nip of mint
little buddy, Juju Kitty, once lean

witnesses the feeder, as I am known
in certain lesser known circles, I loafe
thanks to your invitation, at my ease
honestly, in the city, I am ill

on the whole, I am always late, a choice
theater of disappointment, I fail
hold me close, mango lassi, garlic naan
exemplary in timeliness, I share
reproof with procrastination, the point
savor the moment, the pendulum swings

rhyme as a criminal offense, the shore
home sweet home, Huntington Beach, salt and sand
every day, I am sad, if I could paint
toenails for rich women, I receive spanks
ordinarily my payment, so poor
rich women look the other way, no sound
in one hand clapping, equanimity
causes me to read books on satori

but I lack the discipline, almighty
understanding, the end of the story
tough luck, I played my cards and lost, on par

over the years, I learned not to argue
for to quarrel with squirrels over nuts

there being a dwelling on earth, I find
heaven in the sea with blue green algae
empty of meaningless drivel, my mind

quarrels with poetry over slipknots
umbrellas hung upside-down, I defend
arguments by professionals, money
relatively seductive, in demand
relatively endless supply, fat cats
endless until hyperinflation starts
larks tongues in aspic, nevermore, deep cuts

with a small knife, whittles away grass skirts
in Tahiti, far from the demimonde
theater of La Belle-Époque, the shock
happily forgotten, what is the point

onerous debt to credit cards, the shelves
understandingly filled with books that stack
reasonably to the ceiling on war
sovereigns of exploitation, with their scant
epistemology of rot, of calves
left untended, neglected, forgotten
viewed as unknown, unremembered, a blur
evidently, time has the upper hand
sullen historians, out of a job

poets comfort only their trusty hound
only their favorite prostitutes, a jab
everyone knows Chas loves his black kitten
try again, fail again, fail better...lock
right, left, right combination, a squirrel
yesterday, turned to dust, left me aghast