BRACELET FOR SALE ON MERCARI

a found ghazal

They represent facing ur fear. Pearls.
U may not believe me but I'm here in pearls.

I like to take a HUGE chance on new pieces
to tell people about opiate deaths and pearls.

Great for anyone into classic skulls. No awareness
on condition. A high-end necklace with the taste of pearls.

Don't BE a skull, BUY ($$$$) this skull to remember.
I'm not stopping for lectures, those classic pearls.

Want u all to know, if u have an addiction
u can fix ur world. Use the freshwater pearls.

It's the biggest problem in the world and it's also
hammered 925 silver metal, platinum, pearls.

Maybe u will see me instead of being dead.
Go to a doctor to taper. Withdrawal kills pearls.

Don't let life go antique. Trust me there's a huge
following of all ages for inscriptions of pearls.

Please, Pearl, remember the stuff I've said about
pure crystal. Pearls don't let Pearls waste pearls.

__

EVAPORATING VILLANELLE FOR LABOR

They say we're essence but we're frost, bitter thrive.
They spread poison with every gesture.
We may have to confess: We're lost in this hive.

Hay, deadened grass that we toss in the sky,
is our bread. Pale dietary censure.
They say we're essence but we're frost, bitter thrive.

We play with presence;
they threaten intention.
We may have to confess:

This is the way sense
gets read, then forgotten.
They say we're essence

but we ray no suns.
Unheated, alien,
we may have to

stay blue, be
in the ascetic.
But they say
if we may.

__

on "Bracelet:" Mercari is a selling app and someone posted this very odd ad about a piece of jewelry. With so many repeating words, I couldn't resist turning it into a found ghazal that delves into the heartbreaking realities of drug addiction.

on "Labor:" The Evaporating Villanelle is a form that I invented before the pandemic, but never did much with until COVID had us all locked down. The repetition and rhyme that disappear piece by piece throughout the poem seems to work best with topics that we obsess about, or emotions that control us to some extent, like grief and anger.