Home. Haiku

please carry me home
I hear lush childhood meadows
softly call my name

© Jane Paterson Basil

Another Tasty Morsel

my daughter’s in the grip of a ghastly ghoul
which cannot be constrained by the laws of the land
it grows fat on the flesh of those careless fools
who have staggered onto its chemical hand

once it has grasped them it won’t let go
it consumes the flesh and it addles the head
and fear and conspiracies enter the soul
they all end up crazy and some end up dead

and while greedy governments ignore our young
in their bid to find excuses to starve the poor
the outlawed crystal lewdly wags it tongue
grins at his victims then squeezes some more

with feline cheek he plays with my offspring
he stretches her tether then he sets her free
but within his reach, confidently offering
another tasty morsel, dispite the guarantee

that the next fix will bring more devastation
she’ll be stalked and abused by invisible foes
her madness will drive her into isolation
she
ignores
the
inner
warning
and
she
takes
another
dose.

© Jane Paterson Basil