Introduction by Mintykiwi (My pen name) This introduction may come off as relatively small, because the book it precedes is no different. Furthest from considering that a flaw as one can get, I think forcing myself to write in brevity condenses the poem to its most important points. I won’t bore you with my personal life mostly because, honestly, I have no clue what would be relevant. To pour my heart into words is enough. These poems were written from 2020-2023 with the exception of the first draft of Clickety Things, which I dreamed up in the second grade. When I picked up a scrapbook from that year and saw my old poem again, the utter absurdism just seemed to fill in a very specific crevice I was looking for. I still don't know what a clickety sock is. Beige The firstmost dullest color's fate: you may assume gray claims this stake (as any neutral color may) but false pretenses, gray won't make of hue and shade and depth to shake- Beige, however, takes the cake. The Dinner Guest When acquainted with mutuals who Measure up to just over your shoe Don't spurn them from dinner Fix portions with trimmers And serve up "a meal, just for you". Headlights A car rides on its way Up to the haunted house The piling autumn leaves Convince it not to go. They slow it down until The road has had its fill The moonlight spills upon Its headlights full of life. Clickety Things Things with wings On clickety strings Clickety things Clickety springs Clickety click! Clickety clack! Clickety clocks Clickety socks? Tea Abstraction Ginger chamomile tea Sleepy and basic, but that's not all it's cracked up to be Juxtaposition Spicy and mild Safe in your home while you're out in the wild Not inside, but the safety of knowing to see Gorgeous blooming dichotomy Love, Decagon Your past is all ahead of you Your future’s far behind No need to choose a single path when both are intertwined Are you a vowel or a consonant today? Grab all the pronouns, put them in your bag and we’ll away Silly Freestyle Methamphetamine Ketamine also I think about salsa I carve balsa wood race cars In my dreams I salsa with girls Her lips taste like powdered pearls I freestyle to amuse the ladies My bath water’s so freezing, I thought I threw out a baby It's fun to skate at the park In 2018 I lost my skates in the dark When I imagine her hand in mine We turn back time 4:14 A.M. She tore her heart to pulp, they said thank you for the help Why does being useful desecrate my sense of self? If I leave now, will you be swept beyond the jaws of fate? How much longer do we have to grin and bear and wait? Sonnet of the Burnt-out Bard Open your ears, listeners, if you’ve time, Gents of politics, gals of petty crime Druids who knew the spirit world like home, Aspiring noble-armored knights renowned, A Preacher who followed his namesake true, A Vicious, war-worn, nonetheless anew On common ground yourselves may find one day Can I end this here? It exceeds my pay Morgue Humor Old blood, never bled, rots in its hole. She threw her phone at the wall. When asked for a cause of death Mortician shrugged and in one breath Suggested it just happened. Time Is A Place The good old days, waiting all but seven months behind us. Will an era’s resurrection move on, or warp before us? In 2020’s score, the 1920s roar. They cannot drag the dead ahead as though they run once more. Not Yet "Not yet", the cat whispers to the moon. The shell must not open. If it is found, it will be swept under the rug. If it is swept under the rug, it is nothing. Sunrise Creeping Turn the blinds a corner and the wall becomes a shade of lighter hue The morning comes, and how! It crawls across your window waiting just for you When the bloodstains on the pillow fade away, among the gentle breeze The old oak tree will sleep inside itself, embraced by shade from younger trees Have the bloodstains on the pillow faded? Has the sunrise flown again? Have the curtains parted after blue forever? The leaves must be falling I see gold Wind Fairy’s Lullaby Lullay, my sweet, can you hear the wind? A guiding hand carries the moon cross the sky So too may it carry your slumb'ring head For nights to pass you by Lullay, lullay, the red wind blows The hills divulge a sigh For far away, their ocean waves Lullay, lullay Model Ship I dream about The hills, the seas The valleys low, The olive trees The gorges deep The waterfalls The mountains roar The oceans call And yet they call Too far to chase And so I built A little place Painted oceans Blue and raw And I then placed A little ship To sail upon My dresser drawer Succeed or not What do we ought Without a dream to ride about? Silly Freestyle 2 If I could cast across the sky a sea of stars, Would they meet me in my dreams or would they follow me to Mars? If I could reach out to you, would you be all right? Quiet eyes, a quiet voice to guide you through the night. If you buy a wire fence I’ll put it in the ground If you buy a higher fence it’s hard to get around If you are real, will you climb into my head? Drawing sonnets, painting stories, normal people holding hands You may have missed one or a million chances But if you can, there is no shame in sharing your advantage Cautionary Tale for the Newly Bitten, or, How One May Hypothetically Meet Their End Children of the night, do take precautions as you dwell. The first new undead discovered they might die as well. ... Albert the Aggressor punched a hole into the wood. Bella the Believer saw the moon just 'cause she could! Chamomile the Catastrophic lived up to her name. Dolly the Divisive drove the villagers to shame! Edgar the Exact, he measured seashells more and more. He didn't see the sun 'til he saw the salty shore! ... Fanny the Fantastic hoarded blood and never stopped. Gloria the Glutton drank it all until she popped! Horace the Horrendous broke the mirror of a car. Ignatius the Ignited flaunted flames wide and far! Jeremy the Jealous poisoned up his rival's wine. Someone switched the glasses and they both ran out of time! ... Karen the Knife Han-dl-er made threats she couldn't keep. Lawliet the Low was softly lulled into a sleep. Marshall was a Marvel; he adored his silver 'specs. Nastasia the Nasty knocked the wrong man for his neck. Ophelia the Oracle had found an awful fate. She foresaw her next meal, but had no clue it was bait! ... Patricia the Petulant forced friends to hold her fort. Quincy the Quick was two syllables short! Ricardo the Rowdy used to romp in mornings red. Sebastian the Severer was handed his own head! Tabitha the Turbulent flew up the weather vane. A sudden gust of wind sent her downward with the rain! ... Umbra the Undone left her shadow to unravel. Valentine the Valorous brought relics to battle! William the Wanderer walked right into a fable. Xerxes the Xenophile didn't read all his labels! Yolanda the Yearning loved a mortal to the end. And Zinnia the Zany, on her gut, did not depend. Beached Lonely cottage Its old tree house axed down O lonely cottage Reeds and rushes drown The waves arisen Surely not to greet you Your brush forgotten How it longs to meet you Lonely cottage Elderbugs remember Days of willow Red-laced dolls and ember We will fail, but we will learn Whatever steals the rage from our hearts, the yearning from our souls, the tears from our eyes, it cannot steal the truth at its source: We are human beings built to understand and be understood, built to love and be loved. Our story is not over until nine becomes ten, and even then it continues still. לי חיים! Special thanks to: My family, despite everything, for introducing me to poetry My online friends, for keeping me insane enough to pursue it My offline friends, who still appear in my dreams after we stop talking The kids in elementary school who called me a word meaning “late” in French that I shall not give the dignity of a name, for giving me the opportunity to laugh at them behind their back Snowball And you, reader, for making it to the end of this book.