CHANGE OF HABIT

They had dinner on TV trays.
They have been doing that for days.
It sort of plays with their order
but they didn’t care. It just felt right.
Every night, place settings for two
on separate platforms flying in the face
of familial norms and old habits.
Their kitchen table had become
a fable of decorum; they had one.
But, it had become their biggest shelf
upon which fragments of their lives rested.
Who’d have guessed it would be so?
The Wormwoods come to Buffalo!

© Walter J. Wojtanik – 2017

Quickly – Lose Yourself

YEAR ON THE FLOOR

Please don’t call me a drunkard,
it’ll only make me sore.
I much prefer “inebriate”
while I’m down here on the floor.

I’m usually an upright guy,
right down to the core,
but, my balance slides when I imbibe,
while I’m down here on the floor.

I haven’t gotten up in months,
the dust bunnies are a bore,
I hoped to sober up real soon
while I’m down here on the floor.

I have no use for labels,
I’ll show you to the door
if I could reach the table
from down here on the floor.

Well, today’s the anniversary,
I might go down in lore
and be that guy who yes, did lie
a whole year on the floor!

© Walter J. Wojtanik – 2017

Quickly – Open the Book: Year of the Flood

THE KREWE OF PYTHON

A small band of Brits what writ
a cavalcade of skits and silly things,
sometimes men dressed as ladies in frilly things
doing silly walks down Bourbon Street.
Giant cartoon feet stepping to flatten
bystanders as they meander aimlessly,
shamelessly exposing their naughty parts,
dressed as lumberjacks and tossing Spam
at the troupe of Vikings wailing, no sailing
today for the Camembert is a bit runny.
Saying funny things to all named Bruce.
(We’re all named Bruce!) Marching
down the thoroughfare with galloping coconuts
at the ready and a steady chant of “Ni, Ni, Ni”!
Dead ex-parrots pining for the fiord!
Bringing disorder to the French Quarter
(nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition)
as the locals taunt them a second time.
Searching for the Grail without fail,
silly twits, a band of Brits! Run Away!
They don’t really like Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam!
…And now for something completely different!

© Walter J. Wojtanik – 2017

Quickly – Funny Thing Happened

BOOK SALE

Stacks and stacks
of books without racks,
hard covered and paperbacks.

Their conditions are fine
all titled on their spines,
(But none of them are mine.)

Grand adventures to set sail,
grand words without fail,
it looks like they’re all for sale.

There’s romance novels and reference tomes,
historical tales of where the buffalo roam,
some hysterical farce, try taking one home.

Get a book, by hook or by crook,
Get a great deal, come take a look!
It’s a steal, come buy a book!

© Walter J. Wojtanik – 2017

Quickly – Quickly, Simply

HOMESTEAD DREAMS

An unfamiliar place with no trace
of anything you can recall.
So many thoughts and ideas
given birth as your mind unearths
sorrow with little hope for a tomorrow.
Webs cobbled in fine silk
milking memories from misty midnight menageries.
Windows to the world, a soulless place
replacing what once was held dear,
here where love blossomed
and sons and daughters grew in tune.
Airy, left in decay – a shell of better days
confiscated youth ripped from our hearts
by upstart degenerates and renegades
where as children we once played.
Zombied now and denigrated
waiting for a wrecking ball or overhaul.
In dreams you find your mind returning,
yearning for what once was your domain.
You can certainly go home again,
but why would you want to?

© Walter J. Wojtanik – 2017

Quickly – But It Seemed So Real

“I AM A GOOD-LOOKING GIRL, WITH MY UGLY HAT”

I am a good-looking girl, with my ugly hat.
I’m very svelte, what’cha think about that?
I’m a lovely young girl with millions of curls,
which I like to hide with my hideous hat!

Why would a girl who is svelte with such curls,
attempt to hide such a good-looking girl,
beneath such a hat that’s as ugly as that
to shield me away from the rest of the world?

When this good-looking girl so lovely and sweet,
would obnoxious fellows randomly meet,
I’d rather be hidden by this hideous hat
than to go sans chapeau with lumpy fat feet!

The temptation of beauty sets young men astray,
for this good-looking girl shouldn’t feel that way.
I know that my beauty is only skin deep,
and an ugly hat will drive even nice guys away!

© Walter J. Wojtanik – 2017

Bea Quickly – Too Much of a Good Thing

SONNET #1 – THE RETURN TO CHAOS

So I return to work on the first day,
and wonder what within this chaos lurks?
I’m here back to the grind with mindless jerks.
and chaos reigns, there is much hell to pay!
They’ve left a stack of papers here to push,
in this mess of chaos that awaits me.
Coriolis swirl you do sedate me,
I’ve cleared my desk with one chaotic flush!

The peace I find is found within my mind,
the new year’s come, and so I start anew.
And here’s another year yet to explore
so last year’s chaos gladly I’ll eschew.
I hope that no more chaos I will find.
but I’ll prepare as if there will be more!

© Walter J. Wojtanik – 2017

QKJ #31 – Re-Vision of Day Three’s Word (Non-Ghazal) into a Sonnet

THE VERY BEST ON EARTH

Her music stirs my senses,
a lightning bolt to shake me
from my malaise and break me
away from this crazy despair.

I find her there, and I have this need to listen,
though I am not required to pay her heed.
She has written lyric and book and I pine to read
all that she’s worth; the best value on earth!

© Walter J. Wojtanik – 2017

QKJ #30 – Use these words: bolt, shake, pine, required, music, break, earth, book, senses

COOL PRUNES

I ate plums that were
soon to be prunes.
They were cool.
I was moved by them.
They were good
(I had them for breakfast)
So, so sweet! Sorry,
but they were delicious!

(C) Walter J Wojtanik – 2017

QKJ #28 – Rewrite Williams

Assignment:

Rewrite
William Carlos Williams’ “This Is Just To Say”

This Is Just To Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

ILIO DiPAOLO’S RINGSIDE LOUNGE

A splendid little ristorante just outside of Buffalo, the ambiance was quaint and classy, the wait staff was quite pretty. The owner was a local legend, a friend to all who paid a call for the best Italian fare in town. Ilio DiPaolo, a wrestling god before all the theatrics, had such class. (He fed the masses with his fantastic recipes.) All the patrons knew him, or did when they were through, he would stop at every table and shake a hand or share a laugh and a smile. The gentle giant had such style. His Abruzzo charm and air was always his personality. But the reality is that Ilio now is sadly gone, a victim of his fate But his family still carries on the tradition. And Ilio watches over all from his portrait on the wall. This Greco-Roman warrior, to the very end a philanthropist and wrestler, restaurateur and friend.

Never judge a man
until you can shake his hand.
Greet a gentle soul!

© Walter J. Wojtanik – 2017

QKJ #27 – Your Favorite Restaurant