Piker Press
Submissions
Mark W. Swarhout

As part of the comradarie of NaNoWriMo, friendships spring up based on all sorts of bits of commonality. Among them was falling in with the Piker Press Crew.

I have listed here some of the items I have submitted to the Piker Press and they have been kind enough to print them.

Visit the Piker Press for a wide variety of writing, pictures and poems.

Blue

Mark W. Swarthout

A graduated blue, in many a hue
Stretches from horizon to horizon.
Clouds scurry by, to darken the sky
The sunshine cannot be relied on.

The ground is mud, covered with crud
The grass is all brown and depressing
The call of a bird, can now be heard
As it welcomes the arrival of spring.

The lake and bay are a dirty flat gray
No home to the ducks and the geese.
The new spring melt can hardly be felt
As the ice struggles hard to unfreeze.

The waters of the north will soon be seen
In wonderful shades of azure and green
Reflecting the sky that sits up so high
The grass will once more be clean.

Published on 2005-04-17 and on 2006-04-24

 

Memories Of My Father

Mark W. Swarthout

Bermuda shorts and black socks,
Dancing down the produce aisle,
A soft tune whistling from behind
The teeth, joy enveloping the face.

The picture of composure, anger so uncommon
But when it flashed, it was at those doing wrong
Censoring books and stiffling creativity.
Topped with a receding hairline passed on

His hearing, long gone but not admitted
Now restored, the small pink amplifiers
That rest snug and firm in his ears
Eating batteries on a regular basis.

The patience that has grown
Poring over the jig-saw puzzles
And through many hours of reading,
Both to his children and himself.

Not afraid of hard work, no carpenter he!
A good example, a wonderful man
Who taught us all when to take a stand
Just don't follow his fashion sense.

Thanks, Dad!

 

Published on Fathers' Day 2005-06-13

Copyright 2003, Mark W. Swarthout