Friday Flash Fiction - Poetry

Auschwitz, 2018, by Sankar Chatterjee

18/7/2019

I stood in the middle of a gas-chamber, well-preserved
At corner, inside jars sat cyanide-pills Zyklon B, unused
They came down the chute, above.
I stood in the middle of a bombed-crematorium, now in ruins
Showers, head-shaving rooms, gas-chambers, and furnaces
All testaments to annihilation of six million Jews.

History repeating itself, same hatred, different place
“Send her back” strongman instigated, crowd cheered.
Hey, whom you’re telling to go back?
This country mine as yours
Slaves and Immigrants, blood and sweat built this nation
Heading to self-destruction in slow motion.

In which America am I living in 2019?

Those Who Forget History, by Sankar Chatterjee

16/7/2019

In the beginning, natives’ blood made the soil soft
Arrived the African slaves, more blood and sweat
Rice, cotton, and sugarcanes, the nation got rich
Then, men from Orient built railroads and bridges.

In modern times, geniuses of all origins
Bringing diversities and cultural identities
Placed the nation to its highest pinnacles
In capitalism, literature, and sciences.

Along came the Ghost of Fürer, raised hand
Escaping buried bombed-bunker in Deutschland.
Thunders he “Go back to where you came from”
Burning history, America prepares to burn bodies.

Visit, by Rona Fitzgerald

15/7/2019

The woman is small with dark hair,
a smile never reaches her eyes.

She knows I’m asthmatic.

I never allow smokers in that room,
you’ll be grand!

In the night I wake hot and edgy.
Strong smells are wafting from the floorboards.

A cat purrs, the bed shakes and the room goes smoky.
Footsteps outside my door recede.

In the morning she says; I hope the cat didn’t disturb you.
She was chasing something all night.

I notice her eyes are two different colours.
One is sea green like a cat, the other, fuzzy brown
like a barn owl!

Her White Throat, by Adrian McRobb

13/7/2019

A vein
Pulsed in
Her white throat
Even
As she spoke
Hiding
My eyes
From
Her bosom
As
Her
Velvet eyes
Spoke
To me; of
Smoke

Children In Cages, by Sankar Chatterjee

13/7/2019

(Image courtesy American Academy of Pediatrics)

Parents promised new toys and lollipops
Crossing the desert and swimming the river
A new beginning in a land of plenty.
Little they knew
America building walls for parents
Hauling children to cages.

Liana, Jose, and their friends
Snatched from parents’ arms
Waking up in cages guarded by rifled men.
Mommies and Daddies
Nowhere to be found
Forgetting even to cry, they draw pictures.

Phony outrages, life goes on
Intellectuals argue, lawmakers debate.
Violated basic human rights
Flow along with children’s throw-ups.
No basic amenities or medical care
Strongman busy in Twitter war.

In America, children remain in cages.

The Tidal Title, by J P Garza

10/7/2019

You’re always searching for your next prey,

It’s like you can’t wait to watch them pray,

We already know everyone must die,

Keep looking at us as fabric you must dye,

You think your status is so much higher,

Like a stingy employer refusing to hire,

You’re a shrink without a patient to counsel,

Like a leader who is missing a council,

Forget trying to learn what you don’t know,

No matter what is asked, your reply is no,

The books in your house have never been read,

So, grab a paint brush and make sure they are thoroughly red.

Summertime at Whitmore Bay, by Guy Fletcher

10/7/2019

There's an artist's azure sky over Whitmore Bay
brush-stroked with white wispy clouds.
Two old men in wheelchairs stare silently at the Channel
and children, the other side of life,
laugh and paddle in the placid water
as sparkling silver waves sizzle on the shore
and high above Whitmore Bay seagulls soar.

Red and grey cliffs show
time on an unimaginable scale
as I reside outside Bay 5 Café
just observing and most contented.
Here in all the seasons of the year
I feel unshackled and completely free
admiring the beauty of the sea.

My Life, by Philip Galfano

9/7/2019

My life is an impenetrable desert
of solitude,
barren
harsh
no boundaries,
a reflection of melancholy
drenched
hopeless
resigned.
My life is a sea of stormy water,
treacherous
rough
poisoned,
an inconceivable lake of sorrow
to no affections.
My life is a cow-web,
tenuous
frail
extremely weak.
I end there where I thought of beginning,
and in the fervor of who had believed
there is now no caress
nor simple smile,
just teardrops running down the face
and to the heart
before vanishing into the horizon.
Night is death
waiting wearily in the shadows,
not a thought crosses me
nor the joy of so many dreams,
the memories have disappeared
at the scent of summer,
one cloud has gone by
then another
and another......

Mr. Morris Coming to Town, by Sankar Chatterjee

9/7/2019

Mr. Morris, the gentleman coming to town
Not a Royal, still dreaming the jewel crown
Gaelic or Welsh, none wearing English gown
No country for an immigrant, black or brown
Hate with lies turning motherland upside down.

He takes his cue from a faraway Yankee clown
Leaving EU, he’ll change the capital to a shantytown
Jobs disappearing, businesses fleeing, factories blown
Citizens in amnesia, letting the country drown
All hail, Mr. Morris, the gentleman coming to town.

The Night, by Philip Galfano

6/7/2019

I hate the night
because it brings thoughts
that unveil doubts,
fears and uncertainties
deep inside its shadows
slowly settling to torture
my afflicted heart.
As I see myself wavering
between memories and remembrances,
I think of us together hand in hand
along the unsettled paths of our life,
and now as I quest for you in the dark
that peeks over my desolate life of today
the memory of you has slowly vanished.

City at Night, by Adrian McRobb

5/7/2019

Now the nightclubs empty
streets littered with rubbish
detritus that escaped the bin
neons stutter brokenly flashing
their unwanted welcome message

Silence now broken by odd shouts
as late go-ers drift homeward
lamps move in wind miscast shadows
letters darkly gesture in yellow paint
'no-parking' either needed or wanted

Ozone filters back exhaust gas
while in subway (much beloved)
of civic planners lurid graffiti
beckons in innuendo and slander
saving Facebook harassment in court

Silhouetted denizens disrobe, as
one-by-one lights extinguished
cats whine and patrol restless
walls topped with broken glass
the city hums into kilowatt slumber...

The Old Book, by Guy Fletcher

4/7/2019

Idylls of the King by Tennyson:
whose hands have turned the pages
of this little tome from 1878?
They escaped into the land of Arthur,
Merlin and Lancelot but whoever
bought this copy has long since passed away
yet this classic shows few signs of decay.

It is Aegean blue, page edges red
and I purchase it for merely a pound.
Its scent is from the past yet feels petal-soft
and now I too can lose myself
in a medieval world of kings, knights and magicians
wondering if long after I am dead
this fine hand-sized old book will still be read.

#UnwantedIvanka, by Sankar Chatterjee

3/7/2019

Image: from Paramount Pictures' "Forrest Gump", (adapted)

It was bound to happen, Forrest would traverse
From screen-life to viral-world of Twitterverse.
In a rendezvous in a park, Mr. Forrest Gump
Meeting new American Royal, Ms. Ivanka Trump.

No diplomatic skill whatsoever, she travels with dad
Greeting famous world-leaders and dictators gone mad.
Photoshopping in historical moments, Twitter now ridiculed
Forrest would remind her what his Mama had always said.

“Life is like a box of chocolate.
You never know what you’re gonna get.”

(Author’s note: The inspiration for the piece came from Mr. Gordon Lawrie.)

Why Do Trains Have Windows? by Adrian McRobb

1/7/2019

Why do trains have windows
when no-one wants the view?

They sit and stare at laptops
plugged in, connected, hooked up too
would the fares be cheaper
if the walls were no longer glassed
would we miss the cattle
and villages we passed?

Engineers would be happy
to alter the design
trains would be much faster
because of the streamline

You wouldn't notice tunnels
no sunshine on your face
on this blanked out journey
at this slightly faster pace

Someone would eventually be forced
to write a protest ditty
Why don't trains have windows
when travelling Intercity?

Cat Nap, by Ian Fletcher

1/7/2019

The cat dozes off above
on the back of the sofa
unencumbered by the worries
preoccupying my old head
from the time I get up
to the time I go to bed.

Perhaps I should heed
my slumbering companion
with his simple wisdom
and so nap my life away
as he does day by day
to drift into oblivion.

Your Song, by Philip Galfano

29/6/2019

If you sent me from faraway shores of an ancient sea
floating over wandering waves
a song that whispered verses of love
my life would suddenly erupt into deep emotions
that tenderly healed my weary body
and consoled my grieving heart.
Day of scattered clouds quickly passing through
reflecting over my face drenched with tears not wanted.
I search for you from distance
and anxiously I await for your song.

“Is Paris Burning?” by Sankar Chatterjee

29/6/2019

It was the climax in a Hollywood movie
Nazis arrived days before
Third Reich now thundering over the phone
“Is Paris burning?”

Brave Allies fought gallantly
The Nazi war-room lain in ruins
But the phone kept screaming
“Is Paris burning?”

Allies now fragmented and clueless
Lack of global action with no leadership
Citizens allowing climate change
Paris is now burning.

Third Reich smiled turning into his grave
Paris is finally burning.

When the Music Ends, by Guy Fletcher

27/6/2019

I keep the silver music box pristine,
it shines, a dancing lady on the lid.
It was a gift from my lover
many years ago, I open it
and the alluring music of Swan Lake plays.
She returns to me for a short while,
I caress her gold hair and watch her smile

but disappears like a spirit
when the music stops, then I
stare at the moon and the flickering stars,
they are quite indifferent to my woes.
I am a masochist so play it again
but when this beautiful stirring tune ends
a tear rolls down...as loneliness descends.

Children of God, by Sankar Chatterjee

26/6/2019

You’re drifting in strong current of the Rio Grande
Was your father carrying you on back?
Or happened to be nearby, to wrap him
Where was your Mommy, Valeria?
Oh dear, at least your Daddy was nearby.

Years back, Aylan, in a dingy full of migrants
Drowned in the Mediterranean
Washed ashore the beaches in Italy, all alone
He was a Syrian, you’re a Guatemalan
But what difference that made for the humanity?

Children of god
You made to the shores of mighty west
Though lifeless.
But Trump, Boris, Orban, and Bolsonaro
Didn’t invite you to be here.

Loneliness, by Philip Galfano

26/6/2019

Loneliness of the heart and soul
haunted by memories
that slowly and absurdly
reveal empty predictions.
My life is my torment
a choir of skeletons without poise.
I am not a god and I don’t have strength
to evade my pain.
Ancient mortal vanity
dragged by the wind crossing the earth
and fading away into nothingness.
We are born to suffer the sins
of what time has to offer.

Broken Pieces of a Lost Echo, by Philip Galfano

25/6/2019

By what path are you coming to me loneliness?
I don’t know where you are now.
Letting you perhaps live my days which have become
broken pieces of a lost echo?
Was this what I was given to bear?
A frail body barely existing with no will to go on?
And feeling you now approaching pale and silent
I ask myself how long will my painfully worn out soul last,
hoping only that my heart will heal what time pushed inside
and revive my dying lips
while dawn stands on the threshold.

Ode to Night, by Philip Galfano

21/6/2019

You always come down to breathe
over my weakened body
virgin night, and I from a faraway corner
await a dreary recurring of vainly desires
similar to a dream that has become stone.
A breath of wind in the sky
even the moon has risen
and you and only you candid night
can offer me the awaited peace.
But I am my own world
my own loneliness
and not free from my thoughts
I descend inside me and at every space
of my sterile delirium
I hear my heart beat voiceless
to the un existing shadows of my life,
and you are silent
perhaps forever.

A June Day on Cardiff Bridge, by Guy Fletcher

21/6/2019

I pause for a while on Cardiff Bridge
for the weather has been suddenly transformed,
the sun appearing and sky turning
the Taff azure with sparkling silver jewels.
Birdsong blesses the air, swans and mallards
drift through the four arches and this fine scene
brings pleasure to my soul but is unseen

to many of the people who pass me by
on Cardiff Bridge in late June.
A vast army of feet have stepped this way
whose troubles are lost in time
but I shall enjoy these moments:
from all my problems I can briefly hide
under a warm sun...watching the swans glide.

Carousel, by Adrian McRobb

21/6/2019

The horses run in unending circles
some gallop, some canter, going nowhere
like a giant timepiece cogs turn and whirr
each circuit counts down the wheel of life
snorting in yellow paint fetlocks strain
they rise and dive in that stiff necked waltz
at an endless pace with even stiffer tails
rushing into eternity with wicked leering faces
never quite able to catch the one in front
merrily going round the riders shrieking, age
faster now as hell hounds snap at heels
this whirling race, no one wins...everyone loses

Somewhere, by Sandra James

20/6/2019

Somewhere
on the other side of the world
it’s warm
the sun is shining
and skies are blue

but here down under
it’s dark
and frosty cold
the perfect time to sit
by the fire
and write…