Etudes without Piano
the reign in Spain drives me insane
the moon jumped over the cow
spilling milky light
did you ever hop while swigging scotch
or make a wry word
while distilling whiskey
or behead a French roi
with a shot of Kentucky Gentlemen
30 days in jail
except for those with 31
and if you land on a square with 29
four more years of bad luck
never cross a monkey with a squirrel
never pack an elephant’s trunk
don’t hiccup in church
or say a prayer in a bar
the spirits aren’t kissing cousins
never break wind in an echo chamber
or tell old farts to plug it
or talk balloon test at the policeman’s ball
or fake a dance step when waltzing with Matilda
always take your guns to town
but never in banks or cell phone stores
always shake hands when greeting politicians
but watch their other pocket-picking hand
this is a poem
scripture
an anthropological study
graffiti
and verbal spaghetti
it is done
because it can be
anything is possible
even sleep
in a conversation or poem
remember the old adage………
Dan Cuddy is currently an editor of the Loch Raven Review and in the past has been a contributing editor with the Maryland Poetry Review, and with Lite: Baltimore’s Literary Newspaper. He has been published in many small magazines over the years, e.g. NEBO, Antioch Review, Connecticut River Review and online at Praxilla, The Potomac, and L‘Allure des Mots. His book of poems “Handprint On The Window” was published by Three Conditions Press