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  The crow has problems of ego.

  The grasshopper will have to release envy.

  The bullfrog presents a multiplicity of personality.

  The salamander expresses your weakest aspect.

  The jellyfish goes its own way.

  The rabbit is idiomatically correct.

  The mockingbird comes face-to-face with its brother.

  The cicada gets the concert notes and playbills, too.

  The turtle would just dump all this stuff and move on.

  The crocodile keeps other things clear.

  The shark is ready for a martini.

  The goat has outdoorsy potential in a traditionalist manner.

  The crow remains somewhat of an antiquarian or a classicist.

  The grasshopper is a National Merit semifinalist.

  The bullfrog thinks himself the funniest guy on earth.

  The salamander should enjoy wearing bright colors.

  The jellyfish is a good listener, open to new ideas

  and independent-minded.

  The rabbit hallucinated this morning.

  The mockingbird can tell the difference between

  Cezanne and Gauguin.

  The cicada will revolt, no matter.

  The turtle becomes stingy in terms of money, praise, and time.

  The crocodile presents high-stress salesmanship.

  The shark sets up the game.

  The goat is fascinated with adolescence.

  The crow tells you my dream.

  The grasshopper adjourns for homemade ice cream.

  The bullfrog resonates strongly with my own bewilderment.

  The salamander removes the photographs as her portion.

  The jellyfish triggers memories

  once companions scatter to the four winds forever.

  The rabbit is concerned for your reputation.

  The mockingbird continues your coaxing and passionate pleading.

  The cicada helps me understand your baffling actions toward me.

  The turtle preys upon my defenses.

  The crocodile simultaneously injures friendships

  hundreds of miles apart.

  ~*~

  LXXIX

  I sing as I undress.

  I shout when my life turns.

  I weep like lunar phases.

  I curse a note arriving a few years too late.

  I laugh, not for the reasons you assume.

  I sing, leaving her dormitory suite at three in the morning.

  I shout, watching others behave.

  I weep when I think what might have been.

  I curse the small-town prattle of your neighbors.

  I laugh when I brush your curls.

  I sing, dancing the four male parts of a quadrille.

  I shout when you hair tangles wildly.

  I weep when we meet in Manhattan.

  I curse when you run, panicked.

  I laugh as pinpoints of blood appear beneath your skin.

  I sing when your face transforms in the darkness.

  I shout before your irises blaze with anger.

  I weep, because sometimes you reveal your real nature,

  no matter what.

  I curse forenoon sweltering on your block.

  I laugh when we rediscover the reptilian part

  does not belong to me alone.

  ~*~

  LXXX

  Forget the epidemic decorum.

  Sometimes there's just

  too much past to carry.

  In the end, all those shortcuts

  got me nowhere.

  And now, we start over.

  # # #

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND MORE

  A veteran of four decades as an American newspaper editor, I now live and work in a former seaport in New Hampshire.

  The name Jnana, reflecting my developing gifts of spiritual intellect and discernment, was bestowed on me while living in a yoga ashram in the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania. In America, it's usually pronounced "jah-na."

  If you liked my book, please leave a review at your favorite ebook retailer.

  Friend me on Facebook.

  Follow me on my blogs, Jnana's Red Barn and Chicken Farmer I Still Love You, where you are definitely welcome to visit and join in the discussion.

  ~*~

  I am grateful to the editors and publishers of the following journals, where works in this collection first appeared: Ambit (LVI, LIII, LV); Apalachee Review (LXIX); Black Roses (XXI, XXV); Brutal Imagination (LXI, LXII, LXIII, LXIV); Castalian Spring (XXXV); Christ in a Wheelchair (XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII); Comrades (XI); Crimson Leer (XII); Deep Cleveland Junkmail Oracle (XXIX); The Hold (XXXVIII, XLII, XLV, LXVI, LXVIII); Joey and the Black Boots (XXII); Ken*Again (XL); Marymark Press (X); Miller's Pond (I, IV, V); Mojo Risin' (LXXVI, LXXVII, LXXVIII, LXXIX); Not Dead, But Dreaming (XIV, XV); Opossum Holler Tarot (XXIII); Pedestal Magazine (LXXII, LXXIII); Pierian Springs (XLVI); Plastic Tower (LXV); Poems Niedergasse (LVI, LVII); Portfolio (XXX); Rattle (LIX); Red Coral (LVIII, LX); Reuben's Kincaid (XVIII); Shampoo (LII, LIV); Sheila-Na-Gig (XLIV); Sometimes City (XLIII); Talus and Scree (XIII); Thunder Sandwich (XLI); Tin Lustre Mobile (XLVII, XLVIII, XLIX, L); Way Station (LXVII); and ZXY (XXXVI).

  ~*~