[Roger Slater]

Wow, Ann, you've disproved your theory that a poem can be too well-crafted to be depressing. It's the extraordinary craft that brings the emotion of this poem home.

[Erik Olson]

Call of Duty [A Rondelet x 2]

In smoky chambers
was where their stars and plaques were dealt.
In smoky chambers
their errant raid slew honest neighbors
swifter than thought, the point man felt
threatened, loosed leaden death that dwelt
in smoky chambers.

In smoky chambers
they brought their 'man down' who was felled
in smoky chambers.
Iron-hearted heroes in their numbers,
they formed deep rows, all seen to melt
for him whose widow wailed and knelt
in smokey chambers.
g

[Shaun J. Russell]

The Bottom

I'm down here at the bottom,
looking up, I see no light;
my optimism's faded
and I've lost the will to fight.

[Erik Olson]

Nha. Never mind.

[RCL]

Blues Bits

Look at me:
been down so long,
it looks like up to me.

*

If I didn’t have bad luck, y’all,
I wouldn’t have no luck at all.

[Jerome Betts]

The Life Of Riley

Eton, Oxford, then banking, where soon
Sub-prime profits began to balloon
So I married a honey
Who also had money.
Now I work twice a week until noon.

I can have a safe seat any day
(The party has bills it must pay).
With my contacts and cash
I shall make a big splash
And, Brexit once over, oust May.

The Life of Murphy

I survived in a slum and sink school,
Drank and loved like a fish and a fool.
My brain was for hire
Until forced to retire
Deep in debt, and beginning to drool.

My care home’s the absolute pits,
The inmates have all lost their wits.
My relations regret
I’ve not snuffed it yet
And the court keeps on issuing writs.

[Douglas G. Brown]

Let us go then, you and I,
Beneath this dank polluted sky;
Life's not some poetic joke.
We grow decrepit; then we croak.