Hello Again, October...

Hello again, October...
It's good to see your face
Oh how those umber-misted cheeks
They liven up this place!

Your scent of spice and earthen musk
Is magic potpourri
That sifts through all my days gone by
And sets the sweetest free

And how I fancy your caress
Of cool and gentle breezes
You bring relief from summer's heat
With playful winter teases

You're a soothing invitation
To bake a pumpkin pie
And sip on apple cider
By the season's first firelight

And never such a spectacle
Do these "awed" eyes behold
As you breathe new life to foliage
In shades of red and gold

And even as your colors fade
And make their great descent
How graceful they are falling
Like angels Heaven sent

And on your farewell's eve
In the nakedness of day....
Your beauty overwhelms me still...
Oh won't you longer stay?

Deadly Tongue

It’s funny how one little thing
A fellow man can say
Can pierce a heart and thrust it
Into spiritual decay

And most would never fathom
What torture they impose
With words that leave the mouth too fast
Like venom through a hose

She didn’t even know me
But couldn’t hold her tongue
And like a charmed and deadly snake
It slithered out and swung

But poised, I saw it coming
And I, too quick to stay
And wait for her to strike me dead
With what she had to say

One lunge left and one lunge right
And backward paces swift
I dodged those sharp, accusing fangs
Yet stepped right off a cliff

And in a canyon lying
In pieces on the ground
Could not command myself to move
Nor utter slightest sound

Now IRONY is circling in
To feed upon my plight
Where fear and self-preserving flesh
Save not, but paid with life