a friend to lizards
Behind my house
in the winter lettuce
lizards sunbathe until
clonk clonk clonk –
Here comes the devil
sending them racing
toward leaf cover
cursing man and cold
asking their reptile god
to rain grasshoppers –
A miracle to restore them
to their faith in the sun
©Daniel von der Embse
lizard gazing through
you have nothing to fear from me
tiny fellow
save your fear for bird
you hide from him then you run
to catch up with him
haiku hushpuppy
i only wanted six
they gave me seventeen
bird bee me
equidistant fence cement pool
they don’t tell me stories
when birds and bees meet
they’re supposed to talk about
the birds and the bees
solo clear blue pool
she has never sung before
and forgot the words
“don’t worry be happy”
twice the size of other pools
warm pool cool wind
middle name worry
entire pool audience
splash yourself clapping
hardee’s hamburgers
charcoal broiled burgers hot dogs
saltwater fragrance
you can see the wind
blowing the smoke in the
opposite direction
yet entire pool
smells like hardee’s hamburgers
superhuman sense
three footlong hot dogs
taking up most of the space
in my mind and grill
.
red and blue circles
intertwining kite tails
circle each other
pirate voyage plane
too much action in the sky
flying above kite
parasailers float
“hot blooded check it and see”
playing hotel left
twin banana boats
do not stand between the signs
exit or enter
you are too cruel
if you play ” don’t be cruel”
again carolina girl
hot donna summer left
right side “don’t be cruel”
yesterday’s choices
donna summer wins
we “celebrated the times”
didn’t “back it up”
champagne five raccoons
will not celebrate on my
roof top anymore
nor hurricanes
entering through the baseball diamond
cutout in roof
bright green bobblehead
lizard bobbing head three times
every step he takes
chase your peanut butter
crackers with pretzel rod
nice hawaiian punch
–
Blue Jay
standing top pool shed
bossing me around
i don’t know what you’re saying
–
*
(lizard’s first appearance
since he was a baby
dancing poet mate
knowing three lizards
they’re all different colors
so we don’t get confused)
twenty cheerleaders
hot pink bikini circles
d j plays for me
party on rooftop
forgetting it was friday
changing days around
never have you seen
so many hot pink bikinis
in one blue pool
cheerleaders remind
family guy’s peter griffin
water ballet
in another life
i was a gefilte fish
pike whitefish and carp
how very polite
extremely wrong “you don’t mind
if i smoke do you”
why would i mind
came outside to cough sawdust
plaster and mold away
why would you pick me
entire reason i’m here
is for clean sea air
three mormon women
ottie and annie also
join me for cocktails
mine was water
they were discussing shots
but probably were joking
world war two movies
writing book about the war
ask if i’m mormon
“my bitter friend is”
so i know you couldn’t be
drinking alcohol
–
if you have your health
nothing more to want than
sky saxophone floating
most beautiful pool
two three dimensional kites
saxophone plays jazz
warm “bathwater” calms
cool wind blows everywhere
you don’t want to get out
people are shouting
at me like they usually do
not in haiku
“your favorite color
is purple isn’t it”
man on white sidewalk
laugh and shake head yes
even though you were thinking
blue after he left
purple wrist key
noodle top sandals was his
logical reasoning
silly raccoon
sleeping in Y hears toes grass
goes down inside tree trunk
dive at your peril
escape seventy degree
Hawaii five O
toes feeling like ice
Canadians swimming
tropical twenty winds
chilling bad to bone
jumping flash handstand “too cold”
wet heart felt shrieking
had to get close
husband and wife visor
Furman University
cannot believe eyes
even her ninety year old
mother had gone there
one never sees this
dave barry being last guy
purple comedy
blond actress SNL
Brooke Shields was said to have
thought about going
uncamouflaged bright
green lizard red opening
black pool rail cheez it
The Only Thing For
Vegetarian French Fry Restaurant
is open
Uno counting cards
wishing it was pizza
eggplant stacked pizza
sorry Pondering Mind
meant mozzarella parmesan
wrong olive
Bitter Ben doesn’t care
for sun dried tomatoes
likes pepperoni
now for the landing
stop talking to me there’s
a mallard in the pool
swimming sideways lap
“oh he does that every day
around this same time”
hurriedly takes off
over dune straight for the sea
was that my pierre
bird or superman
kissing hand that feeds him
no itinerary
and now pitch dark
12:10 am a cannon blasts
over and over
six very loud bangs
I don’t ever want to know
if that was gun fire
please state your purpose
you have a special purpose?
steve martin the jerk
they are so busy
diagonal zig zag left
hundreds hovering
up down all around
if their pants are falling down
invisible ones
honeysuckle fragrance
keep doing what you do
carrying on task
alphabet U’s
training for the olympics
perhaps jumping rope
think bees want chinese
balcony screen stops their bite
allowing me mine
…
(how not to get stung
no running no bare feet shade
they like drinking coke )
…
bear necessities
cock gun
hen party
card shark
play opossum
duck your head
silly goose
elephant walk
fowl ball
chicken out
lion around
snake eyes
kid around
monkey around
cat walk
dog tired
puppy love
seems fishy
rat out
squirrely
tiger in your tank
come out from behind
your dough is all there Pierre
you don’t have to count
stop shadowing me
you just bring the cards tonight
willing to bring dough
crab pastry puffs
croissant baguette and bagel
everything you like
pumpernickel’s best
you don’t have to count the carbs
you just count the cards
paradise posing
photographer’s pictures painting
peak perfection
uninhabited
having the beach to ourselves
no one can build here
her will giving birds
the sands next door forever
beautiful conch shells
mile of ecstasy
no one in each other’s way
quiet roominess
birds in the trees
whispering thank-yous while egret
poses elation
___
(thinking they’re egret
walking like an egyptian
steve martin king tut)
why shape perfect wye
opossum posing in his dream
sleeping ten to five
neck tail tip touching
forming ball parallel sea
changing point of view
facing me next pool
hammering causing him strife
sleeping in tree top
plantation opossum
how do you keep from falling
may i spoon with you
disturbing noises
cannot crawl out from under
adaptable friend
can’t imagine finding
new home in five minutes
gifted tranquil wise
valentine opossum
watching animal planet
sipping club soda
sharing lite lunch
“my heart BEETS for you salad”
icicle free nap
your heart won’t thank you
take fave opossum to lunch
heart cookie cutter
dagger through my heart
stalactites verse stalagmite
doesn’t matter which
self-possessed opossum
narcissistic traits
destroying roof crest
___
(he showed me his mask
animal dyslexia
he was a raccoon)
(still two syllables
too tired to change his name
raccoon plays opossum)
errinspelling 