Memory Of a Nightcap

All around Hotel Gansevoort’s rooftop terrace

A city lit up with liquid neon in its veins

Canoodling couples let libations lasciviously slip

From nectared lip to nectared lip

And all that ever stays with me

Once morning lifts her lusty lash

Is the beauty of this unimaginable place

Shared with some handsome, nameless face

~kfu

Travel

(A haiku collection)

Tiny specs of soot

Settle on a sweaty brow

City fingerprints.

_

Walking New York streets

Transported to foreign lands

By strange tongues in my ear.

_

Small take-out boxes

Scattered on living room floors

Map out travel plans.

~kfu

City Heat

(A haiku collection)

The calendar turns

Heat clings tight to bare, moist skin

Singeing autumn dreams.

_

Russian bathhouse heat

Follows me through city streets

My sultry escort.

_

Pavement burns my skin

Searing deep into my flesh

Like our last good-bye.

~kfu

My Postage Stamp Addiction

Tenement walls crumble down on me

Scattered stones fill flooded wells

Urging roaring rapids forward

Down aged fissures into hell

A hell of postage stamp proportions

One constrained corner of a cube

On an island stacked tall with millions

Haunted by loneliness and solitude

Was she just as unforgiving

To the ancient beasts that tread her soil

Tossing chaos at quadruped creatures

Basking in their strife and toil

How foolish man must seem to her

Settling like swine into her squalor

Drunk off her balmy stench

Willing to toss her every last dollar

I look up from these debased depths

Light peeks through boarded up skies

Tempting me to claw my way out

From this coffin where I’m buried alive

But Manhattan’s mire pins me down

Stuck like a fly on a strip of trap tape

Wings futilely fluttering, trying to tear free

Realizing for certain I’ll never escape

For she enchants me like a demon

Intoxicated by her potent charms

Swooning in lustful adoration

Like a heroin hit shot in the arm

I try quitting her cold turkey

Watch life’s beauty start to fade

Rush back in a New York minute

Regretting I ever strayed

She’s like no other lover

Keeps me awake so I never sleep

Digging deep into my pockets

Her entertainment isn’t cheap

No matter the cost, I pay the fee

Offering my soul upon a platter

Whispers of back rooms with privacy

Discovered through underground chatter

Her hidden gems like sunken treasure

Buried deep beneath the streets

Tumbling down the rabbit hole

For “Drink me” and “Eat me” treats

Sliding further into a dream-like state

I question the tears I shed

A life without these blissful retreats

Is one I would surely dread

So I climb back into my magic box

With secrets I’ll never reveal

Lips spread wide in a Cheshire grin

Caught in this Wonderland’s web of appeal

~kfu

The Banshee’s Call

I waited until a black hole swallowed Apollo

and then me to call on you

letting my voice erupt like a banshee’s howl

bursting forth from a dark cave

bouncing through a grid of steel beams

bringing glass castles to the ground

broken

I sent smoke signals swirling languidly

into an already tumultuous Gotham sky

where the Hyades washed them away

patrolling the air space between you and me

extinguishing flames before they grew

preventing further fires from erupting

defeated

I buried my thoughts in a field of flowers

digging holes filled with Forget-me-nots

pulling their petals until truth was exposed

covering it back up with fertile soil

nursing hope to life with Persephone’s tears

then crushing it underfoot like a worthless weed

destroyed

Finally, I bottled up the laughter from those days

tossing it to the murderous Sirens of the sea

and as it vanished, sailing out of sight

I wondered if you would attempt to retrieve it

wrestling those infamous mystic monsters

for one more chance with me.

~kfu

Somewhere Over Skyscrapers

She landed on this isle

Blown by a twister from the West

No pup or shiny shoes on feet

Just a smile and unrelenting zest

She danced about the grid

Falling into cozy quarters

Encountering a spectrum of strangers

Unlocking doors to foreign boarders

There’s been no omnipotent wizard

Granting her every desire

She’s traded in a lot of hats

To find one that inspires

At times the brick road lost its luster

As hardships and greedy monkeys swept in

But she stayed her course and wrote it out

Finding her strength in paper and pen

Skeptics may laugh, call her a dreamer

To which she simply replies,

“I’d rather be swept up in lofty pursuits

Than regretful of paths never tried.”

~kfu

Happy Hour Meals

My belly’s full of dollar deals

Happy hour specials made into meals

Shells stacked high on icy cubes

Sauces and creams if you choose

Hurry up!  Crack ‘em open, let ‘em slide

This seafood smorgasbord won’t last all night!

~kfu