Two poems by Michael Brandonisio

Pier Paolo & the Death Squad

Lowlife scum embrace him
Saint Pier Paolo of the Slums
Preaches his Gospel thus:
Pimps priests prostitutes politicians
Flip sides of the same coin
On every street an open market
Buyer and seller under the gun
Players at the service of the elite
Smug in their indifference
The buck stops at their groins
Their secrets are not filthy only yours are
Be wise and speak your words muted to survive
But that is not what he did

Near a November shoreline in Ostia
Murderous henchmen arrive
Putting into action their will to power
A travesty of freedom for all
A dissident left in a dumping ground
Another pinko commie in the common dust
A new age St. Sebastian thus canonized

“Hey kid, you can have the Alfa Romeo
Just keep your mouth shut,
if not
We’ll have to take a stick to you”

++++++++++++++++++++

Undying Romantics, Vorsicht

While breaking bread by river at city’s edge, Midnight ponders its memories.

Abaz inz leet sels
Ecre tpoli cewiret
Apst earga sbaton
Scivi lunre stricro

My dear dead Chatterton, dead alone in a wretched garret on Hemlock Street.

Bewa reth emadm
Angazi ngin tocr
Ystalb allwh ofo
Rse eswh ath efute

Beauty tangos deliriums in netherzone with dreambois Werther and Rimbaud.

Rhol dsaur geiz
Undu quik dez
Izt of pard’ze
Eta liban izku

Ligeia lives entombed: scratching, clawing, hissing in stone coffin, breathing.

Mitr zor cezie ika
Dmic crochi psze
Engd erdoz zolvu
Bkauz quie jeder

Amidst night clouds in transit for you a pale moon upon a nebulous gravesite.

Newwo rldord ern
Ewwo rldor derne
Pe perga sstk gbyo
Urpa permif iveda

Surveillance rules cryptic, with RFIDs tracking you unearth a kaput Debussy.

Ura za zuc im alz
Erfom zeze nciatn
Ewwo rldor derne
Wwor ldorde rija

Those twinkling stars above that once guided you have left the stage old boy.

Author bio:

Michael Brandonisio's visual and written work has appeared, or will be, in Otoliths, kill author, PenSpark, 971 MENU, Word/For Word. He enjoys listening to The Threshold HouseBoys Choir.