Flogged Cassock

Dont know how to find a path
out of this moment into another
realm without reading a book or
conjuring a story - checking my
run-on agreement with its sine-
wave repetitions

Herewith Lessor agrees to lease to
Lessee, who agrees to lease from
Lessor said Premises which is
situated and shall be deemed -
Lessor entitled to do this
while interest accrue -

The greatest mathematician being
flogged by a man in a cassock*, a
towel on his head, I furtively saw
as I glanced at the book on my desk;
Enchanted Horse and Charlottes
Web lined up for the weekend

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poem by Margaret Alice Second
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How Shall I Escape

Allergy symptoms, eyes skew, world upside
down everyone I know is gone, only empty
shells of ourselves left, the iron clamp on my
Hail Mary head still tightening-mea culpa-oh
yes I know full well something is wrong with
my vibrational skills I attract problems like a
magnet today, every choice made is wrought
with great danger-although what will happen
next is Heisenbergian uncertainty

I suspect it will continue the pattern of Unheil
und schmerzhafte Leidenschaft* - my early
morning attempt to change life into a lovely
safe place exploded and now I am lost at my
desk, the iron clamp tightening, tightening,
tightening still - and how shall I make my
escape - get a cup of coffee and regard
the world through a caffeine-induced
clearer eye?

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poem by Margaret Alice Second
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I Was In Being

lifted off, flying away for the first time
in ages, reached the dream universe
where spiritual experience reach the
sublime - when my characters were
enclosed in the ambience of magical
feelings and conveyed the sensation
to me I was there, in virtual reality,
where I can experiment with
alternative ways of being…

so keep on whispering, it is working,
keep on flying, destiny is waiting, joy
indescribable - I thought it lost, but I
was wrong, it was here all the time
waiting for me to catch up - it took
all my imagination, conjuring a
myriad characters; only when I
discovered who was the key
and tried to use it

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poem by Margaret Alice Second
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We Evidently Did

With information to prevent a war
though the code seemed bizarre,
he could try to prevent the possible
events, or wait and wash his hands
in all innocence

Code matrix predicting the death of
Rabin also predicted atomic blast in
Jerusalem and instead of protecting
his journalistic reputation he warned
Israel of danger

He tried to save an entire nation based
on the fact that the date the Gulf War
started was found 3 weeks in advance,
on 18 January 1991 Iraq launched
the first Scud missiles

Drosnin was willing to warn others who might
scoff and he learned the future could be

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poem by Margaret Alice Second
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First Thoughts (Revised)

First morning back, holiday eyes strain through multifocals
which will not focus on a widescreen, work email won’t open,
password can’t be changed, no access to G-drive documents,
clearly some ‘me’-time here

Time to reorganise papers and drawers, fill in 2012 diary,
get ready for the Maya’s predicted end, should their
calendar be right – I sincerely doubt this as doomsday
prophecies have horrible tendencies to be wrong

Hunger pangs remind me I am far from my kitchen,
cannot make pancakes with cinnamon, sugar and lemon,
sudden cold shock realising I am once again at the
mercy of fast-food restaurants –

Oh woe is me, the only joy in life left the elderly, eating,
becomes a fight for survival whereas at home it is a
24 hour delightful pastime!

poem by Margaret Alice Second
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Words Which Hold Me Captive

Told Nici I had finished the first book, with starry eyes
she brought the second volume also, I have almost
finished the third one too, she said, and I could not
withstand the charm of this series written for teens,
beautifully sculpted to keep readers on tenterhooks
as hero and heroine were driven apart

Unwillingly at first, trying to withstand its spell, I began
to read, was sucked deep into the story world, every-
thing disappeared and I read until the second book
came to a discordant end, threatening tragedy, I would
have to read the third book also, no stopping this lovely
sheath of dreams from carrying my spirit away

No realism can penetrate or dispel the beautiful illusion
or destroy the magic words which hold me captive -
and I am such a willing victim…

poem by Margaret Alice Second
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Thunder Growling Softly

This hot, oppressive afternoon
I lay down on my bed and slept
exhausted - no thoughts in my
head, got up to find a sudden
strong wind had sprung up

A storm upon us, loud thunder
claps, rain started to fall - but
without wild éclat, quite demurely
in fact - my mind had followed the
weather’s build-up, I could not

Stand the tension in the end, thank
heaven it finally started to rain as my
fatigue had intensified so much, now
I accept the novelists’ use of weather
to illustrate their characters’ feelings

Even now thunder only growling softly,
no wild outbursts, the rain falling calmly,

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poem by Margaret Alice Second
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Intrigue

Not a single fictitious character in my head,
the inner monologue is dead - not a single
feeling stirring, no emotion except the dis-
comfort of boredom being uncomfortable
in my chair, in exasperation I wonder what
part of my wild diet is turning on me today

Why did my pre-physical spirit decide to have
allergies and pay for each sin of dietary indis-
cretion with physical and mental discomfort -
was this some idiotic pre-birth plan to keep my
life within narrow confines as happy all-knowing
spiritualists claim, wrongly, as far as I can see

I only turn into a self-pitying grumbler and that
can't be good, just waiting for time to pass to
eat again - if only my inner group of characters
would present a story again - life is so boring
without an intrigue in the mind!

poem by Margaret Alice Second
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An Explosion Of Emotion

What is love: tenderness, softly whispered
words, overcome with a sense of awe and
delight and joyous feelings spiralling deep
inside like a maelstrom increasing in power
yet also perfectly contained within the most
noble ideals & marvellous reverence - while
feeling affection - intertwined with electricity
magnetism and light in short - an explosion
of emotion -that increases in force as time
goes by and the distance covered is never
shortened by fading moments - every hour
leading to increasing ecstasy until slumber
claims the mind and heart just to renew the
power to repeat the performance and a new
jaunt on the stage of life with the applause
of invisible awareness accompanying our
every move augmenting the emotions to
create visual patterns expressing delight

poem by Margaret Alice Second
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Feel Better Again (Revised)

Still suffering youthful impatience, charging
a T-junction full-speed, my cursory glance
revealed no cars but a grey vehicle passed
where none should be -

Blasted woman ought to warn of her sedate
approach with lights on, I'm swerving and
manoeuvring competently, blue VW Golf
driving much too slow in the fast lane

A Mercedes overtook it, I followed suit zipping
back to the fast, road free for acceleration, a
lovely challenge lending spice to life, in the
office I seek to prolong a winning streak

Soda-cleaned my stained mug pristine, vile
document to be dealt with, French class to be
planned, schemes to prevent brain short-circuit
when facing subjunctives and irregular verbs

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poem by Margaret Alice Second
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