Pastilles

Mysteria wisteria
Dandy lions rampant
Dogwoods resilient
Bluebells transcendent
Redbuds in excelsis!

Don't go, don't go,
Don't get sucked in the undertow.
Don't let it pull you
Down below,
So low, below,
Where the starfish glow.

Live, breathe, and do not grieve,
Let teardrops dry upon your sleeve.
These brief eclipses do deceive,
Suggesting nights with haunting wraiths
Who seek the living to replace;
Belief in ghouls brings forth disgrace.

The tough-soled have such tender hearts,
Their sweet-sad ballads top the charts;
But when the lilac drops its blooms,
They trudge on through their private glooms.

Bums on the Silver Line,
Sacks of cheap wine,
Airport-bound,
In daydreams drowned,
Never boarding a plane,
Never leaving the train;
They don't complain
They doze through their journeys.

While others bunched
'Round tables and brunched,
The word-weaver, hunched
Over Underwood, punched
And scrolled out infinite rhymes.