Quite a Mess
It is true I have made quite a mess.
Complications I can’t even guess
Soon will fall on my head.
To the beasts I’ll be fed.
Even then, I’ll refuse to confess.
–Tom Riley
Weighty Syllables
I hoarded weighty syllables—
And all the words I said were light.
Viewing imaginary skulls,
I hoarded weighty syllables
Inside a soul whose gods were gulls
On empty seashores. Cold that night,
I hoarded weighty syllables—
And all the words I said were light.
–Tom Riley
Cuddly
(for Coleen and Jerry Cooper)
The Coopers used to cuddle rattlesnakes.
Difficult to believe? Perhaps – but true.
Wise herpetologists make no mistakes.
And wisdom? Well, that’s what the Coopers do.
Back then, gigantic Jerry always knew
Exactly how control could be maintained—
And Coleen had far more than just a clue.
The rattlesnakes were perfectly restrained.
Snakes can be vicious, and they’re peanut-brained
All of the time. But, Coopers, well you know
That human creatures you and I retained
As friends for years had wits at least that slow
And far less principle than any snake.
Even to learn their names was a mistake.
–Tom Riley
Big Mortal Is Watching
God, omniscient, was watching all day
And all night. People still dared to play
Games for which they were game
Without harboring shame.
So what shamed them? The damn N.S.A.!
–Tom Riley
Long Expedition
“I’m commencing a long expedition.
For my absence I’ll show no contrition.
It’s the future I’m brewing.
I don’t know what I’m doing—
But I do have a strong sense of mission!”
–Tom Riley
Irreplaceable
(for Debra Saunders)
Amongst those who can never be replaced,
You make the world uneasy when you go
Where hostile facts must be at long last faced,
Where chaos has been planted and must grow.
Reality is not indeed a show:
Real things occur and mostly go unseen.
What we most need to know we cannot know.
Vermin find homes in every neat machine.
Watch yourself, therefore. Where the gods convene,
They grant no safety even to their own.
The forest may seem all inviting green—
But it is not a place to be alone.
There are some gods who love a soul that dares.
Dare boldly, then – but watch out for the bears.
–Tom Riley
Causa Spei
(for Sheri Yee)
The night that I met Sheri Yee,
Conservatives were suffering.
The dark sky chuckled at our plea.
The future’s angels wouldn’t sing.
For there were facts – and did they sting!
The nation’s leader was a flake.
The GOP was dithering.
Liberty snored and didn’t wake.
But Sheri Yee brought chocolate cake.
In Bloomberg’s spite, I had my share.
Will voters learn, for Heaven’s sake?
To make predictions I don’t dare.
But to despair I won’t agree.
There’s hope. I just met Sheri Yee!
–Tom Riley
Infantile Yell
He will be, if he wants to be, loud.
He’ll expect the whole world to be cowed
By his infantile yell.
When it’s not – what the hell?—
He will not be a fraction less proud.
–Tom Riley
Make a Wish
Out of habit, you wish on a star.
But the star, my lad, views from afar
And cares little for you.
Take a far closer view:
Make a wish on my smirk and cigar!
–Tom Riley
Flammeus Gladius 