Sunday, January 4, 2015

Russell Streur- Three Poems



FLORIDA PUNCH LINE  

Two nuns and a clown walk into a bar.
Yasser Arafat and Minnie the Mouse walk into a bar.
The Devil walks into a bar.
Two Japanese tourists walk into the bar,
Julius Caesar walks into the bar with the naughty school girl.
Count Dracula walks into the bar with Bloody Mary.
That’s a good relationship.
The State Farm Mayhem guy walks into the bar with Little Red Riding Hood.
That’s trouble.
St. Patrick is in the bar blessing all the heathens.
He’s with a Follies girl.
She isn’t wearing much.
Charlie Chaplin’s in the corner booth.
He isn’t saying much.

Then Juan Ponce de Leon walks into the bar.
That’s when the Tequesta stop laughing.



THE HANGING WOMAN

They hanged Rehanah Jabbari
At dawn today at the prison Shahre Rey
Beheaded Rizani Nafeek on a different day
Did the same to Amina bin Saleem Nasser
Beat Saraswati Devi with sticks and stones
Killed Adolfina Ocampos the old fashioned way
Tied her to a stake and burned her alive.
Slit the throat of Kaushayla Sarder.
Shot Salwa Bugaighis.
Witches all they say.

They are hanging women from the mango
They are hanging women from the birch
They are hanging women from the cypress and the pine.

The day the sun
Crosses out of fish and into ram
We will set the table with painted eggs
Apple and barley
We will look into a mirror
Into sumac.  Into oleaster.



SERAFINE ROSE DANCES FOR THE TSAR OF ALL RUSSIAS

Serafine Rose pulls up her hair
With a red gancho
Lets fall
A thin black dress

Wearing coral on her toenails
Silver links around her waist
And nothing else
Dances for the Tsar of All Russias

Staring with green eyes
Into his blue
Thus unveiled
To a very slow waltz

Like fingers around his throat
Searching for bone.

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