(After reading the biography of Lord Byron)

I don’t like ceremonies, madam:
They steal my precious time.
All men are rough since days of Adam,
And women are sublime.

I sense in you unuttered passion
That waits, like sparkling wine.
In most frank and honest fashion
I dare you: be mine.

I will be ardent, I will care,
I’ll make your life complete.
And then I’ll finish the affair,
Just as I started it.

You’ll call me cruel, reckless, vicious,
You’ll think yourself ill-used,
But even thus, the fruit’s delicious:
You want to be seduced.

All for a glimpse of true desire,
All for the touch of flame.
Then shameful gossip you’ll inspire
And stain your honored name.

You’ll buy a paradise vacation
At an expensive price
Of badly damaged reputation,
But hear my advice:

Your husband’s dull, your day is boring,
Your night is all but sweet.
Inside my…

Every two weeks – a set of limericks.

There once was an old man of Esser,
Whose knowledge grew lesser and lesser.
It at last grew so small,
He knew nothing at all.
And now he’s a college professor.

‘Tis a favorite project of mine:
A new value of pi to assign.
I would fix it at 3,
For it’s simpler, you see,
Than 3 point 1 4 1 5 9.

God’s plan made a hopeful beginning,
But man spoiled his chances by sinning.
We trust that the story
Will end in God’s glory,
But at present the other side’s winning.

Is it me or the nature of money
That’s odd and particularly funny?
‘Cause when I have dough,
It goes quickly, you know,
And seeps out of my pockets like honey.

A flea and a fly in a flue
Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the fly, “Let us…

It’s always time for tea, and when I looked

at you, that one time in October, while I

felt discomfited, I thought about black tea

and strange girls, the only ones I have ever

known, trance-like faces and eyes, terrors

gripped inside woven fabrics, mixed mesh

melded into colors – unnatural – tattooed like

bikers, and foulmouthed like trash day, but their

beauty beatified, saints and sinners grow up,

and on my lap I waited for them to return,

for their eyes to discover how you move, how

you choose to live, we accepted it, we knew

it was what you knew, I suggested we part,

after all, it wasn’t right, your object filled,

new found sex, but tea was always on my

mind, girls like you liked tea, and I knew

at coffee in the morning, I would put the pot

on, to see you sip oddly, just like…