Heterochromia

Shapeshifters do exist
I’ve seen them
with my own corrected vision

bloodsuckers by day
kissing children goodnight

multifaceted poker faces
warmly greet you
mood swings eat you

alive
(laughing, dead inside)

frown through shitty grins
and shake hands, firm
as foundations

altars and shrines
decorations for
good old-fashioned grime

inspiration’s heart’s not in it
I’ve seen it with my own good eye

chameleons rule the terrarium

Astronauts & Firemen

In grade school I was
hung up on astronauts & firemen

digging up dinosaur bones
and writing pretend books

nobody ever asked me
what I don’t want to be

for example, a sample of society:

spanging on the corner;
circling blocks for squares

arm slung & scarred;
a pushpin graveyard

face leathered like
a gunslinger’s boots

toothless, homeless;
heartless, soulless

hands stranglehold;
prey on young & old

a child unloved
and whose bruised hands stay gloved

a deadbeat dad or an unfit mother;
a self-appointed one to judge all others

a faceless naked mime
behind a pizza-box sign

just a few things I don’t want to be;
a cautionary tale to just be me.

Mio

We adopted you from shelter
and this is how you repay us?
pissing on our bedding
every few days
to wake us up
three loads to clean
sheets and get stink out
thought we broke this
habit months ago
and now I have to break
my children’s hearts
stupid cat, we love you
but what are we to do?