at dusk

by corinne delmonico

samuel was a spider felicia was a fly kenneth was a dragon with a twinkle in his eye leonard was a lion boris was a bat amanda was a little girl who thought the earth was flat they all got together in the old house at dusk pamela was the parlor maid who never had much lusk jenkins was the lawyer who was to read the will but he had a spot of bother and was nabbed by old bill out in the distance a train whistle cries carrying away the prophets who thought they were so wise they all sat in the parlor waiting for their tea they can wait there forever if it were only up to me

in the end

by corinne delmonico

everything comes out right in the end the sun comes out and the children dance in the streets st george defeats the dragon and the villagers go back to their homes clint eastwood guns down judas on the main street of jerusalem as jezebel and salome watch from the window of king herod’s palace anne frank takes down hitler with a few kung fu chops on the streets of leningrad as king richard the lion-hearted and his troops enter the city errol flynn and shirley temple are married by christpher columbus on the deck of old ironsides as genghis khan surrenders his sword to george washington sherlock holmes arrests omar khayyam just as he is about to slip poison into the teacup of florence nightingale bob hope is telling jokes to the troops when albert einstein announces a new cure for old age and death cinderella’s sisters give her a new car and a new washing machine and tell her they were always just kidding mother teresa and mae west wave from balconies as the troops come marching home from the war against the galactic empire mayor frank james and sheriff jesse james welcome billy the kid home from the war and treat him to a free strawberry ice cream sundae. billy gets to sleep in his own little bed again so do saladin and montezuma and andy jackson and nat turner and john brown and geronimo and john wayne thomas edison and charles lindbergh build a space ship and the whole human race gets into it and flies to heaven forever in the end

song for the end times

by corinne delmonico

humans were born to be free but are enslaved by society rounded up from meadows and fields and to kings and priests forced to kneel this has gone on for thousands of years as the priests feed the flames of fear and kings wave the flags of hate until now it is almost too late o humans rise up from the dust and the pit into which you have been thrust the earth has been looted and despoiled and now your bones will be boiled the masters are preparing their ships with smiles on their lying lips they are ready to blast off into space to destroy some other unsuspecting race the universe is vast and cold but the story is getting old and the trail of desolation you can not put a happy face on if you dispute the truth of my rhyme and only wish to have a good time the saints be with you my friend and my song is at an end

sunny afternoon

by corinne delmonico

laura had had a long day many of the children had lost the little red buddha dolls they had been given when they arrived in the morning the ice cream had run out unexpectedly but there were way too many hot dogs! would the catering company take them back? was it even worth trying? the president had still not shown up and neither had the ecuadorian ambassador it was obvious they were not coming at all how tired laura was of not being taken seriously! of everything! dr marlowe was still smiling beside the fountain what did he care if the children ran wild? laura had not spoken to edna all day but suddenly there was pamela coming across the lawn with two broken badminton racquets in her hand as the sun was setting behind the long green hedges and pamela cried, oh laura, we are all such silly girls!

why do you eat the same ice cream every day with the same chocolate sauce?

by corinne delmonico

where are you going, little human why do you walk so slow? heaven is smiling above you and hell is smiling below why do you look so sad, little friend turn that frown upside down the clowns have been subpoenaed and the snake charmer run out of town you are going back to the old dark house to read grandmother’s will uncle john has become a penguin and cousin brenda can not sit still they buried the butler in the gazebo when he started seeing ghosts cousin buddha is sleeping in the basement uncle satan still loves you the most every day is another day the wallpaper has turned pink the silver could use a little polish don’t you think? the lawyers play blackjack with the upstairs maids the cousins and uncles are the stakes the paintings on the walls are authentic but the newspapers are all fakes

an announcement

by corinne delmonico

brenda was concerned about the destruction to the environment and decided to be proactive johnny knew the leader of the centrist party and laura determined to confront him in the garden the gardener had been a violin teacher in another time and place he did not resent laura or brenda or johnny in fact he felt rather sorry for them when the leader of the centrist party was due to arrive an announcement was made to the assembled guests but a helicopter flew overhead and laura’s little dog ran across the lawn the gardener was quite fond of the dog and effectively silenced the murmuring crowd restless as it was restless as it always is in such situations look here, johnny admonished laura these things have a way of working themselves out