Across the River, West 'tis that at the cliffs & clefts of Victoria above blackish waters slick as Legislation, of Verrazzano & not-so-merried ferries, the promontory sits of visage, resplendented of red deer & red bear & white Eagles' scat from Lady Liberty! Why, in the glare of where, opossum & red squirrel, vied in-passioned imposters of small virtue in deed sought, wrought of purloin for some vertu & bijouterie for Manhattan! - (The Chief Islander - so the Mythic goes!) - But Hey!, it's up-on the BigScreen, now playin' @ The Bijou, & in the dutri-plexes & plexes of plexiglasse & MegaPlexes of Tribeca, in the Tri-boros+2... Avaunt! Above Verrazzanovisage tramontane, There! The filth & flair urbanicide of City-fare, miasma which got us into insouciant Dutch! H.e.m. 4.19.MMvii. ("5.4.MMDCXXVI") - SHAME! -
Lady Holi'Day - "I Love You, Porgie/Don't let them take Me/..." her lush sad-voice, coarse & closed & the '40's "Strange Fruit" All and I am White, Shame!
H.e.m. 7.16.MMvi. (Revised - To Haiku/Senryu - 1.19.MMviii.)
- Barbara, Dear -
Jena? Jena...? Je?... BeBe?, wha' is It? I was aslee...Kin I come in with you? I'm...Sure, are you alright?Umm-hmm.I was wokedI didn't hear you, by what?A noise...by my bed...my head hurts Here, you can have my pillow, & sshh, we don't want to wake mom, 'k? Jen, where's daddy, how come...?BeBe.But, I miss him.We all...me too, he's... working, remember? Umm, I think so. Jen? Yeah?Dad flies in planes, right?Uh- huh. Sometimes he drives themWhere?Oh, to some places...Here?No.Jen?BeBe. Does daddy shoot bombs?
H.e.m. 1.31.MMix.
- BOUCHE A FEU - Carbon-forged steel appliance, fashioned to home & eject upon triggering... Lead-tipped, alloy missiles projected to a velocity of 360 mi./hour, roughly a .357 1/2 fast a 727, Boing! to shoot your ass! On contact, impacting the Human target to penetrate, flay sever & shatter lodge & murder render...! And this the initiates' pander to the seether's gunglamour, of neo's & diehards' machismo-alike upoverthere, everywhere on the plasma, how iron-ick! Faster than the batted-eye, a Buntline, smokin' Brown Bess, or Black Maria (Oh, Mother Of G*d!, "The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune...") We're Lost! H.e.m. 11.23.MMvii.
- SKYDRIVER? -
...Again, the traffic obese surfeit to say, as I cloy'd my way... slowed by the creeps, & crawlers of the serein morning... phones-in-hand or set to-head out powered opening windows searching for the jam, & blame for delayn', Oh, imprecating blare of WJAM, hip-pop & copter traffic-reports - Jinni!, Jeez, I'm in It! What's't now? - Strewn bodies, heads like mashedmallows 'crossed the stone-separator astain, overinseminated into deflating crash bags, "Highest-Rated", splinterglassed Accordian-cars prolapsed & pried of Death's-pride by Life's ironic Jaws... or Worse?... a Zorra-Babe's fire-red dressed flattened tire & a stalwarted, strident trooper (pisces notare docere - ecce interum Crispinus) - slaking on the swale? No! None of it!, no Wrecks' rubbernecks, Not this Morn - No wrecks' bottlenecks... (More at the deep, M. Mercoury's? never drive on Sunday!) - of SUG's' guzzle pride & F-151's Rum 'n cokers' "I Love My Truck Like My Wife's Girlfriend." So... What!?But through the serein Morn shows the stopper to the burlesque, of glancer & starer, of Blue-toothers & hybred diesels from Horizon to Horizon... The Arc, like an arched PrismAngel One primary Cray-hola! bridged and a-Burst Ribboning the Sky, West. Slowed by peer in thisserein Morn of meld & melting fog, thru the snarls & snarl, the BM'ers & dreamers to watch, No-Fault Hope, A fading Rainbow!
H.e.m. 10.15.MMvii. HML
- CUSTPIDYMAN - Was his weekend with our sinew-budding boy;Hey! Mom, he bubbled spill- ing through the door, guess what? I tried not to react... Dad & I had a "kickAss" time!What!?, I blurted.Yeah! he took me to the archery- gun range & then to his friends, we hung-out & swam in a big rock-carry & Dad & his friend & me we had some barbeque it was r-e-a-l spicy & stuff to drink.He was breathless!When I called my ex-joker for some more info, some clar- ification to the week- end, in a try to get us on the same page, he managed to almost only commentDid he also tell you I showed him how to spit!?
H.e.m. c.3.MMvii.
- EL CAMINO REAL - TRA, LA-LA... -
...OK, c'mon Kids jump-into the Conflict an' we're off! - let those seat- belts, now - lots of miles- 'n-smiles ahead (Jeez, glad we got the X-UL- E Model), MT V'll be on, you can Pod- cast to your iPods if you don't, & save to your LapCubes, wanna watch but listen later... just be sure your buds, we'll have our own iTunes...Jed, watch that swiveling Jess' chair, texting online... Dad?Jeff, the Gatorade's in with the Nutella - the Sub-Zero, um under the the swiveltable... Yeah, sure, I love those Pizzarolls - we'll be into Concentricity in a byte...Dad?, what about Midvale?Hey Jeff, is that U.S. Idol on the Plazma? oh, DVD?Hey, the GPS says - wait, wait I'm listening - ah, "Concentricity, SSE, right-off of the Superhighway 6."
Dad?Wait, wait, Bluetooth, er your mother "...yes, yes...no not ok...yeah, bye." Hey, did'ja see that blue Alienator blow- by!?, here, I'll get It- up on the Backtrack- monitors...blowin'-by like the MGibson R- W...I told yous, remember?...this are the good ol' ATV- ATM days - There!, It's on Dropdown...Wow!...there's a Class-DForestor... Dad?Jeff, is the Big Game on? Boy, whatta game! Boy, we're cruisin' now...Hey Dad!What, Jed?There's the Sign for Midvale...A Berry Farm, an' blackberries, too! Dad, can we...?What, Jed?Well, I was, uh, thinkin' about what you said... Said?Yeah, about "smiles of miles."(Hey Jess, know what's the definition of High Definition? ...C'mon, It's a game, girl, see? Oke, "HD Wells!" Ha!) ...Did I say that?Uh, well, I think...I'll just watch the scenery 'n stuff... (oI oI oI oI) "The Road Ahead/Lies Ahead, Lies Ahead/The Road Ahead, Lies Ahead..." (oI oI oI oI)
H.e.m. 11.20.MMviii. (Inconcinnus-Futurus) ###
H.E. Mantel has been published in print and online, including Ascent, Aspirations. Shampoo, Record Magazine, The Apocalyspe, A Hero's Jouney Anthology, Poetry Soup (Award), among others. Currently awaiting the publication of collections, "Bananas" on the Moon ... A collection of Revisionist Haiku" and Sophistigates: A New Book of New Poetry.
Mantel is an avid reader, athlete, and devotee of holistic health through Vegan lifestyle. He currently resides in Florida.