101 Silly Pills

101 Silly Pills: #1-25
by Joe Shaboo

Circa. 1995 : "MasterWork" Project 100 'Silly Pills' submitted for Dr. Newton's Creative Writing Class @ Naugatuck Valley Community College. 


1. Big Den
Town is where the tall clock tells
whose death this time has rung its bells.
Then it sings, right along,
to history's favorite two-note song.
"Ding-ding, ding-dong."

2. S.O.S.
"Mayday" after every prayer
can always harbor help
from Lord or other ocean vessel
not tangled up in kelp.

3. A Square Deal
A wheel is just a circle.
A means to get around.
So I'd like to wheel and deal
and buy the bar a beer.
I'll pay for it in circles.

4. Mousetraps
This crazy maze
of mind and matter
is more than a game
of chutes and ladders.

5. Shoemaker
Depression jockeys mares at night.
Oh, how he grabs the reigns!
Another race, a different face.
The horses have no names.

6. Food Before Thought
The starving seamen saw the shore
from their crippled ship.
Five jumped off while one slipped.
The sharks were hungry no more.

7. Just Do It
The boundary is off limits
until you are there.
Then what is left is nothing
but a dare.

8. A Lazy Marionette
Indecision suspends action.
Thought is a puppeteer in disguise
dangling reason from reaction.
Mush! Tasks will yield surprise.

9. Whoville
Who has never died and
been born only once?

10. Sun to Son
"Sorry is the moon indeed
if daylight's never done.
Then the moon can never shine,"
Sunshine whispered to her son.
"So speak of love while you can,
time is running out."

11. Betsy Knows Best
Nimble fingers sew with thimbles
on each fingertip.
Needles then can never harm
or ever nip or prick.

12. Big Bird
Once again, Opi ate all the seeds
Poppy left for him.
Opi always etas the seeds
Poppy leaves for him!
Opi has no gums!

13. Goliath
Detest a murky monster
if the monster frightens you.
But what if that murky monster
lives inside of you?

14. In Ertia's Shop
Building Blocks
for all the clocks
sit on top of space.
A planetary wind up toy
for all of human race.

15. B.C. Corral
Time is a tumbleweed
living in a ghost town all its own.

16. Purpose?
Rubber bands
that stretch so far
from sea to shining sea
are only good, my friend, you know,
is the good is there to see.

17. Scared
A broken maiden
heart in hand
stumbled to the gate.
Take no chances,
Lock the door.
Chance is only fate.

18. Another Ology
Double meanings
salvage reason
when logic is to doubt.
Number one is always one
number two can do without.

19. The Human's Fox
Chase your pleasures,
grab hold of their tails!
Never let go.
Unless, of course,
the chase is just that.
A most dangerous game, indeed.

20. Inca's Liquid
Buried treasure
was the mother
in her older years,
for all the children
left behind
counting all their tears.

21. Simple Request
A silver raindrop dripped down from a cloud
and landed in my tea.
I said, "Have you any sugar instead?
That's really all I need."

22. A Skelteon's Temple
I am the Pharoah.
And you the mummy,
well preserved all these years.
All your bones,
like life in death,
are all your souvenirs.

23. Lithium Plunger
Here I sit with broken brain
stuffed up nose and backed up drain.
Can Liquid Plumber cure my ills
before I overdose on these pills?

24. The Witch's Garden
Dusk and dawn with magic brooms
sweep days away into their tombs
where there they rest in numbered row.
Each day must die for one to grow.

25. Casino Conditions
Pavlov, with his one arm you know,
plays the bandit in those Vegas shows
rewarding doggies just like you
with silver biscuits that none can chew.