UPROOTED TRANSPLANTS

FAN-THAI-SY ISLAND

SHIVER ME TIMBERS

Rock of Gibraltar tailless hairy
Barbary ape cage barring escape
Flipped 2-faced fake gold-plated coins
Contraband doubloon copies water logged

Pirated glory forced to walk
Precarious splintered gangplank blindfolded bravado
One-eyed Cyclops hiding behind patch
Cascading freefall rock crystal salts

Crow’s nest lookout atop teeter-totter
Spar menacing skullduggery crossbones decalcified
Futtock shroud bowsprit rigging masthead
Dispossessed no-man’s-land on uneven keel

Magnetic vortex whirlpool impelling force
Turmoil spiraling down unplugged drain
Pointless compass taking latitude tugged
In all directions at once

Indifferent stranded existence left alone
Unanchored fears holdfast driftwood clingers
Shell-shocked victims drowned in sorrow
Hopes capsize disheartened buoys sink

Mediterranean blackguard pearls dispelling legends
Uncharted future veering off course
Swashbuckler without fabulous happy ending
Crushed dreamland swagger violently dashed

GAZA STRIPTEASE

Stop look and listen yielding
To humankind same blood type
Pressure mindful hearts viscerally pleading
For immediate warmonger ceasefire dead-end

Tattered social fabric rent asunder
By decades of despotic conflict
Rebuilding its entire bombarded infrastructure
Dashed hopes daunting uphill task

Rest of civilized world demands
That Israel tear down wall
Audacious concrete monument to inhumanity
Yet zealots refuse to comply

Simmering anger has reached the
Boiling point lost temper meltdown
Powder keg about to explode
Short fuse gunning for revenge

As quaking fault lines deepen
Devastation falls into cataclysmic abyss
Huge reservoir of pent-up wrath
Surfaces from bottomless pit darkness

Too long deprived of homeland
Palestinians deserve genuine national integrity
With true Arab identity distinctive
Future of its very own

BEHEADED FAITH

Religious conviction on chopping block
Stranglehold released thinking fountain spouting
Heretical believer becoming own savior
Emotions already pent why repent

More mercifully honorable than hanging
Or being burnt at stake
Taking axe to unconvincing justifications
Time suspended like slipknot noose

Bloody Mary Tower of London
Infamous Thames Bridge scaffold site
Lady Jane Gray commending her
Spirit into Protestant Lord’s hands

French guillotine victims Marie Antoinette
Louis XVI Madame du Barry Robespierre
Romans beheaded their own while
Crucifying spaketh foreign tongue outlanders

Japanese performed Seppuku ritualistic suicide
By disembowelment exposing spilt guts
Until another warrior used Katana
To end suffering hasten death

Saudi Arabian public square executions
After midday prayers gleaming scimitar
Slitting cutthroats shackled bare feet
Kneeling toward Mecca unmarked grave

Doubting Thou Shalt Not Tomfoolery
Latitudinarian skeptic free wanderlust association
Elusive quick split second thoughts
Blink of eyelids going gone

BRUSHWOOD

Dense forest without trees denuded
Force majeure humiliation exposing itself
Abuse of power gang rape
Coniferous grove no longer evergreen

Desolate climes rendered unfit for
Habitation God-forsaken wasteland morally corrupt
Sanctum sanctorum private property trespassers
Unholy bullyragging crusaders keep out

Making deserted molehills out of
Majestic mountain tunnel vision hideaways
Reddish wood carved into totems
Shed needles crown of thorns

Resinating Cedars of Lebanon fragrance
Overpowered by gritty spitfire smoke
Scorched bark emblazoned tattoo scars
Plucked phoenix rising from ashes-to-ashes



Adapted Thai poEtpourri structural scheme
4-line 20-word write on stanzas
Befitting offbeat reason without rhyme
Un-author-ized style consciously punctuation free

FELINE VETO

DemoCrazy Cat-astrophe bent on destruction
Cracked whip tame ‘em game
Israel / US versus everybody else
Unwilling to no-go-tiate questionabull panthers

Litter-ally cheetahs committing double leopardy
Lion about cagey wildcat motives
Jigsaw jagWar dropping misguided missiles
None too smart tiger balms

In-tents 3-ring circus minimuss animus
White elephant ringmaster aTom catalyst
Lab rats jumping through hoops
Send in the cloned clowns

WELFARE VS. WARFARE

Confused voices
Frantic screams
Wailing sirens
Cascading tears

Traumatized children
Indelible tattoos
Suffering shell-shock
Combat fatigue

Native soil
Shaken loose
Straggly transplants
Uprooted entropy

Bullyragging intimidation
Choking stranglehold
Misguided missiles
Uncivil wars

SCRAMBLED EGGS

Control freaks of human nature
Midway sideshow sword bayonet swallowers
Twin killjoys Siamese fighting fish
Bearded horny satyrs high-tailing fleers

Goliath cut down to size
Carved cedar slingshots far flung
Hard rocks gathering momentum rolling
Stones picking quarrels with eggs

Black hens lay white eggs
Cocksure wildings defending shell-shocked roosts
Ravaged empty nest straw mangers
Fetuses crouched in bunker corners

Wind wailing through denuded mountains
Felled stumps forest without trees
Shed evergreen needles prickly thorns
Dark shadows cloaked in shrouds

HOPE

Where flowers bloom so does
Hope seductive fragrance attracting courtiers
Sovereign queen domineering busybody hive
Premonitory honeybees sapping gold reserves

Amber pollen enticing servile workers
Humdrum drones abandoning prickly stingers
Nectar force-fed through pithy marrow
Secreted honeycombs dripping fervid passion

Candlelight flicker casting magic spell
Twisted crumbly wick shrunken heads
Meltdown hardening fast spitfire douse
Ominous surreal afterglow snuffed out

Uprooted straggly transplants climbing trellis
Purplish morning-glory trumpets dusky retreat
Native soil tendrils shaken loose
Creeping vine terminal shoots wilt

Where flowers once bloomed so
Did hope against hope wishful
Thinking sweet odor gone sour
Bumbling Eden garden denizens banished.

TO DAZE FLAVOR LEBANANA SPLIT

I scream for sherbet just-ice
Better chocolate than never fudge
Almond Joyless UN-just dessert Snickers
Marshmallow out cappucciNO MOcha WAR

Good Humor taffy credibility stretched
Bolton of bricks Baby Ruthlessness
Demanding Milky Way getting peppermint
Licks in Oreo else whiplash

US / Israel / French lavanilla ripple triple dips
Volcanic cone bargaining chips meltdown
Last strawberry tutti-frutti NO-GO-tiations
Iraqi road downhill tootsie roll



BIG FISH EAT SMALL FISH,
SMALL FISH EAT SHRIMP EGGS

Routine mucky water salts bent
On eking out meager livelihoods
Indifferent to seething elemental forces
Weathered pockmarks sunspot freckly eclipses

Traditional handicraft bamboo strip funnels
Tightly woven inescapable fungal snares
Rattan stem switches droopy wickerwork
Webby mesh ensnaring scalloped gills

Out of shoal truants snagged
On transparent lines wriggly bait
Dangled lures surgically yanked out
Flaky glisten scaled insides gutted

Arched neck muscles eddying catch
Bony skeletons cold-blooded naked truths
Secret belly treasures contaminated refuse
Unmistakable reeking smell acquired taste

Succulent fillet flesh diagonally slit
Flour coated zesty spice seasoned
Oily fried sizzle golden crisp
Daily seafarer sustenance net profit

SEASHELLS

Sand pebbles stretched azure tiderip
Vacant shells winding staircase evacuations
Homeless crawling into glazed carapace
Disoriented strangers forwarding address unknown

Black oyster pearl scooped out
Carried away by abandoned echo
Accompanied by bivalve mussel castanets
Break dancing surf’s humdrum beat

Fossiliferous beaches embedding piscine spirals
Seascape riddled with sedimentary boredom
Fabulist enigmatic true grit mercreatures
Cerulean wrapped in fetal seaweed

Composite dolphin equine sea mini-monster
Tiny hippocampus saddled bony plates
Cyan white caps Neptune ridden
Grasping prehensile comet tail reins

Bone dry skeletons craving tans
Burnishing driftwood into petrified agate
Barefoot print traces wiped out
Sluggish frothy wake waving goodbye

RE-CREATION

Singing wordless songs off-key humdingers
Capricious children instant replay romps
Ascending stairway bent heavenly glide
Slippery downward slide hindsight first

Swinging higher and higher one
With enveloping pastel sky twinkle
Toes kicking at spent daystars
Creaky overridden chain suddenly snaps

Coming unhinged no obvious reason
Walking barefoot across broken glass
Long slivery plank seesaw twosomes
Central fulcrum off-balance tottery teeter

Trusty heartbeat hop skipping jump
Banged up kneecap turning bluish-green
Pinning radiant smile on still-trembling
Bruised innocence pouting lower lip

Not so merry-go-round speeds up
Gyroscope spinning out of control
Prancing fabulous unicorns blurry figments
Calliope steam whistles blowing cover

LIFE SENTENCE

Life is a new bicycle
Spokes wired wheels spinning fortune
In order to maintain balance
One must constantly keep moving

Life is an uncultivated wildflower
By nature growing spontaneously free
Joy and sadness constant friends
Growing separately without growing apart

Life is a bulbous onion
Concentric layers of translucent skin
Peeled one at a time
Pungent odor may cause tears

Life is too short to
Be taken seriously nonsensical absurdities
Inflated universal smiles bursting into
One size fits all laughter

Life is a crazy quilt
Colorful patchwork scraps recycled discards
Symmetric design multifarious textures all
Stitched together by common thread

Life is like putting together
Giant jigsaw picture puzzle while
Riding on a roller coaster
Scattered missing pieces forever lost

Life is a parachute like
Minds most effective when open
Feet firmly off the ground
Free floating above see level

PURPLE ORCHIDS

Clay pots filled with resistance
Soiled tentacular roots shaken loose
Straggly transplants awaiting re-dug grave
Forced Indoors bypassing outsider nature

Woven hammocks slivery rafter suspended
Swooning rapture drowsy hemlock trance
Mesmeric appeal for tender mercy
Rebuffing like every other similitude

Tucked in decaying organic compost
Soaking up ravishing beauty accolades
Snug lullaby rockabye nursery cradlesongs
Don’t let bloodsucking bedbugs bite

Phallic charm on the blink
Unisex amulet warding off evil
Fluttery eyelashes flicking stymied flies
Unchangeable leopard sunspots freckly specks

Style conscious form Asia oriented
Adapting traditional Thai rhyming scheme
Five word lines structured stanzas
Spicy seasoned Bangkok Bard poEtpourri

Dr. Charles Frederickson is a Swedish-American pragmatic idealist, chronic
optimist and heretical believer who has wandered intrepidly through 206
countries, an original sketch and poetic impression for each presented on
http://imagesof.8k.com.  Having spread rejuvenated roots and wings in
Thailand, the past year has been devoted to providing volunteer comfort and
supportive relief to children and families affected by the tsunami. 100+
publications on 5 continents. Pax vobiscum.

Dr. Charles Frederickson
230 Soi Asoke; #5B
Bangkok 10110 Thailand
(662)261-2068

charles_frederickson@hotmail.com

HORN OF AFRICIA

Dark Continent lost cause rebels
Desolation and despair ember ashes
Slow burning wars singeing consciousness
Smoldering conflict mired in neglect

Where government dams bloody rivers
Blue headstream conjoining White Nile
Political frustrations percolating for decades
Oily motives shamelessly disclaiming rights

Brutal faithless ethnic cleansing campaign
Black voices silenced throats slit
Marooned in fruitless arid wasteland
Traditional means of livelihood destroyed

Cross-border refugees fleeing for survival
Attempting to escape marauding Janjaweed
Makeshift camps overcrowded tent cities
Innocents held hostage to deadlock

Meager access to potable water
Bare necessities in limited supply
Hand-to-mouth existence reliant on strangers
Incommunicado muffled cries forcibly raped

Furrowed brows creased with dust
Tribal scars dimpling ruddy cheeks
Wounds that never heal cover-ups
Festering open sores crusty scabs

Dirt poor mud hut cracks
Soiled future fertile as sandbox
Desert battered by windswept grit
Sunstroke nomads begging for mercy

Dr. Charles Frederickson

ILLUSIONS WORK BETTER THAN TRUTH

Illusions work better than truth
Plight of in limbo stateless
Emigrant workers pledging out-of-bounds allegiance
Homeless refugees abandoned by Fate

Fault lines run deeper than
Ever before pressure cooker tension
Boiling over aflame with rage
Steamy ethereal options evaporating scald

Wages of evil attention unpaid
Sick & tired squeeze play ghettos
Boxed in bottom falls out
Rat infested hoods uncollected garbage

Nothing to talk about betrayals
Avoid violence at all costs
Congress slashes budget impedes progress
Vexing quandary cagey motives barred

Fight discrimination bullyrag intimidation tactics
Prick ballooning clouds of Fear
Disheartened attacks soul searching reprisals
Promises unkempt signal fires ignored

Unexcused absence of malice victims
Declared youthful innocence pardon exonerated
Pre-sentenced guilt unable to cope
Illusions work better than truth

Dr. Charles Frederickson

INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE

High noon in Bangkok becomes
New York’s last midnight ago
Virtual reality not yet dawning
Shooting stars forbidden landing rights

Flying east long haul voyage
Extends from today until today
Arriving before departure twenty winks
Morsels of shut eye sleeplessness

Narita stopover crews change hands
Transit lounge lizards switching tails
Climbing out of shed scales
Turned into reversible lining skins

From forty thousand feet looking
Down deep Pacific shallow dreams
Enveloped by brooding clouds traversing
Unstable turbulence cosmic race course

Seat belt fastened passing time
In slow motion sitting standstill
Rising creaky joints stiff smudged
Window shades blocking outer limits

Navigable ceiling lowered dark hook
Unable to snag moon’s cusp
Stellar close calls overtaking unforeseen
Runway lights endlessly divisible strip

Dr. Charles Frederickson

WELL-NIGH

Well-rounded old reliable full moon
Works night shift as usual
Washing face loofa sponged with
Cleansing water of lifeblood essence

Well not deep enough to
Drown stoic lunar resilient buoyancy
Reflective hope rising to surface
Escape steeped in concave walls

Exhausted by pretence sleep depletes
Dark empty pockets picked clean
Well wishers’ loose change tossed
Sunken depths oozing hidden source

Keen sense of smell repulsed
Sniffing distilled air for clues
Fish gutted and beheaded well
Versed in procreation levitational miracles

Scum harvesting stagnant fester afloat
Spawned offspring bitter hellish aftertaste
Hidden deboned bodies left behind
Release well beyond hollow confines

Eternal promise also wells internal
Lid pried off edgy digs
Heaving draughty sigh of relief
Fortified barriers visible support slings

Resurrected ribs dilate puffy chest
Expanding lungs to re-spin vapors
Entering agape well ravished mouth
Jaw core where it connects

Thirst having had its fill
Reservoir of what might be
Underground refreshing cool wellspring tapped
Silent litanies trapped in stone

LUNACY

Flooded eventide heaved with moonquake
Eruptive asteroids imploding black holes
Passing will-o’-the wispy runaway fugitives
Fog thinly veiling heavenly mystique

Playing peekaboo with tempestuous cloudbursts
Risky move checkmating daytime Queen
Hide-and-seek evasive action blown cover
Finding refuge behindhand Solar Eclipse

Anchorless swans floating against mainstream
Curled white feather fluttering down
Half-asleep yet rapt attentive listener
Hearing lonesome voices muffled cries

Nobody can possess private moon
Free for all visionary spectators
Dispassionate ghosts haunting disembodied soul
Surrounded by nebulous spiritual aura

Afterglow shining through serene countenance
Winking man-in-the crescent moon silhouettes
Foolhardy lucent madness driven batty
Setting owls fireflies glowworms free

Whole world frightened to death
Grim reaper scythe handle unhooked
Tugging heartstrings reversing rip tides
Afraid of eerie downcast omens

Lopsided full-time moon tilted bent
Late shift workers on strike
Crustal scabs replacing spent stars
Vigilant guardian angel nocturnal watchman

Beyond mortal reach thank God
Untouched by predatory human hands
Save cosmonauts trampling placid contentment
Stealing rocks trespassing outermost limits

ALONE TOGATHER

1.
Transport me to another universe
Where mortals have never resided
Unfamiliar territory staking exploratory claims
Dreamscape without borders unlimited scope

Solitude where we’re least alone
Everyman’s land all trespassers forgiven
Coexistence based on mutual reciprocity
Eternal quest for meaningful significance

2.
Loneliness feeling uncomfortable with self
Not equated to being alone
Emotionally disturbed call to action
Overcoming fear discovering previously unknowns

Uniqueness makes one originally different
Exposing soul cherished silent virtues
Pastoral quiet dispelling societal dictates
Outsider nature begets troubled solace

 RED BAMBOO

Dense hard-walled thickets skyward bent
       Steadfast upright soldiers at attention
               Resolutely erect vertebrate spinal taproot
                       Hollow tubular echo bleeding green

       Plotting coordinates parallel lines merge
               Kindred soul mates clumped together
                       Reedy woodwinds shrill high-pitched flutes
                               Breezy swayback resounding moonlight serenade

               Exposed naked truths laid bare
                       Stalking lonely ghosts play hide-and-seek
                               Edible segmented worms timid creatures
                                       Peekaboo offshoots night crawler striptease

                                               Cylindrical ringed joints culm flexed
                                       Clenched fist brass knuckling underground
                               Entire grove singular tunnel plant
                       Antsy burrowers dig express subway

                                       Towering fronds holding up firmament
                               Interwoven fringe casting shadowy webs
                       Atlantean columns shrug shoulder blades
               Droopy nature terminal blossoms wilt

                               Elusive talc flowers flaccid cheeks
                       Six anthers fraying threadbare nap
               Seedy pollination sowing butterfly dismay
       Ephemeral fleetly existence spiritual regeneration

FACELESS CARDS


Beggars abundant as teeming flies
House of Cards baseless walls
On edge of windblown collapse
Stacked deck dealt losing hand

       Bet your lifeboat Titanic deathtrap
       Deuces wild destiny on hold
       Palmed crystal ball combustible friction
       Rubbed the wrong waylaid dreamscape

               Ramshackle ghosts haunting matchbox shacks
               Sulfur pick-up sticks rattling inside
               Dispossessed shadows on hunger strike
               Fed up with ravenous Fate

                       Grub worms wriggle through filth
                       Dung beetles condemned to squalor
                       Addicts desperate for quick fix
                       Recycled user needles self-indulgent pricks

                               Abandoned junkyard scrap iron cemetery
                               Corrugated roof steel drum fanfare
                       Downbeat thunderstorm percussion gutter outpour
                       Dripping rust corrosive values discarded

                               Desperate missing person blank stares
                               Overcast oily rainbow reflecting pools
                               Fake wishy-washy flipped coin tailspin
                               Tossed last chance su
                                                          nk
                                                              en
                                                                  ho
                                                                         p
                                                                    e

                       HILL TRIBES^^^^^^^^^^^^^

What always was isn’t anymore
       Untold stories hand-me-down traditions waylaid
               Virgin spring trickle-down bamboo viaduct
                       Steamy teakettle puffs spouting change

       Besieged lowlands lost nevermore found
               Innermost feelings defiled by outsiders
                       Betrayed innocence seeks hilltop refuge
                               Humble upstarts above timberline bounds

               Supernatural beings govern every realm
                       Wild mountain valley spirits tamed
                               Possessed cave ghosts shaman exorcised
                                       Sacred circle dance celebrating joy

                       No fences only ceremonial bridges
                               Build for magical soul-searching rituals
                                       Sagging horizon lazy hammock views
                                               Eventually everything disappears including us

                       Nothing remains hidden behind masks
                               Groovy slits baiting nebulous void
                                       Desperate human essence leaking out
                                               Groundless soiled apparitions staking claim

               Raw opium oozes from scored
                       Pods up in smoke addiction
                               Cash crops tobacco coffee sesame
                                       Replacing poppies chili peppers sun-dried

       Wheel of fortune pointlessly aswirl
               Roundabout spellbound compass lacking direction
                       Stuck needle in limbo trance
                               Crossing over into borderless beyond

Shivering forest thick with refuse
       Full moon hollow trunk echoes
               Uprooted stumps bark stripped clean
                       What never was still isn’t

                                                             





IN REMEMBRANCE

Diseases labeled incurable consume all
       Those who come in contact
               Hearty grip on life survivor
                       Snow white doves providing comfort

                       Inhaling stagnant solitary confinement air
               Unmistakable medicinal smell overpowering senses
       Antiseptic scoured floors spotlessly clean
Toothless forced smile time-warp reflection

Frail motley bird’s feeble skeleton
       Railed in putrid rib cage
               Stainless steel-trap intellect keenly aware
                       Weepy cataract downfall eyestrain fatigue

                       Laid out atop bedfast nails
               Sterilized needles safety pin pricks
       Wings unhinged ratty feathers plucked
Hollow quill dreams whisked away

Grounded brace of partridge family
       Squirming helplessly in placebo isolation
               Spitting out regurgitated bitter medicine
                       Sugar-coated capsule grief bottled in

                       Pillow propped against padded headboard
               Wilted flowers needing intensive care
       Shy remorse most unexpected peck
“Something to remember me by”

Legacy of undemonstrative grandmotherly affection
       Stream of consciousness white cells
               Intravenous lifeblood yellow plasma transfusion
                       Merciful closure sent into exile

                       Flighty avian seeking otherworldly refuge
               Scavengers picking infected bones clean
       Marrow sucked dry ashes strewn
Rebuilding abandoned nest from scratch

                              FIELD HANDS

Endless uprooted sterile fields unfurl
       Soiled earth tillage licked clean
               Cast-iron calibrated sundial ticked off
                       Secondhand sere minutes turned to
                               Lingering hours stunted leftover spoils
                                       Meager cornucopian bounty dumped out

Fearsome crude ragged stick figure
       Petrified scarecrow nailed to stake
               Shadowy posed crucifix holding still
                       Scratching chelae grasping pincers snapshot
                               Harrowing straw boss stuffed cavities
                                       Murder of ravens strangely missing

Limp pointless fingertips clawing thorns
       Moonlit lunar scythe dusky silhouette
               Fenced barbs razor strand twists
                       Rust sowing corrosion piercing silence
                               Rats scurrying across clumpy trenches
                                       Gathered grim harvest reapers homebound

Hunched shoulder tattoos stooped over
       Unaccustomed muscle strains craving relief
               Furrowed sweaty brow dripping relief
                       Bloodstained clay clogging shower drain
                               Ingrained routine clinging to tradition
                                       Longing chap touch-and-go beyond horizon