"Looking Young - or trying to" by Laurie Molloy

She walks proudly

with her deep orange tan

and puffy collagen lips-

face confined by botulism

No one knows what she thinks

as she passes by

or converses

because her mouth hardly moves.

Her hair, blonde coated and gray

like golden straw gone bad.

Married to an old rich man-

and soon her lips will pop,

her skin will crack,

and the dye will fade.

Her captor will die

leaving her withered and alone.

"Mask" by Laurie Molloy

I've lasted so long

inside this facade

i have barricaded

myself inside.

One day the cement

will get weak

and lose strength-

piece by little piece

crumbling away,

leaving me naked

to discerning eyes.

If you get to see me

when it all falls apart

look quickly because

soon the new cement

will dry.

"First and Last" by Laurie Molloy

I wished you were my first;

then i hoped you would be my last

But sometimes wishes and hopes

are all they ever are-

and never amount to more

than things you once believed in.

"Trying to Think" by Laurie Molloy

Further i move - widening the gap

ever growing and deepening

and spreading, about to put a

crack right in the earth i stand on.

Quick to divide the broken world

i float above carefully

not to land on the ground;

Because i might feel the small

breaks and then slip into one

falling all the way down a huge crevice

splitting the solid dirt that lies below

my bare feet,

carefree wearing flip flops-

unaware of the mind above.

"Boogey Man" by Laurie Molloy

Awake - staring at you,

two eyes unfamiliar and startling.

Alive, alert blurting out something;

What happened? - leave me alone.

What's going on? - sleep interrupted-

creepy boogey man diving into

your soul - he is real

finally you see him.

"junk drawer" by Laurie Molloy

I meant to do that

so long ago

that it became

a forgotten task-

never completed

left in the unfinished bin

and eventually transferred

to the junk drawer

to never be seen again,

until i went to squish

one more thing in there.

And it spilled over

reminding me

of all that is left undone

and painfully, i take

each thing out, one by one-

remembering all the plans

i had for all these

useless items-

and throw them out

to make room

for new junk.

"Time" by Laurie Molloy

Time, a clock created, man made,

relative, untouchable-

changes from place to place.

Running out or moving slow,

inevitably approaching and

quickly disappearing.

Moving forward at a rate

that falls back and springs forward

to help out the farmers,

or at least that is the theory

i know about.

One thing for sure

is that there is not enough-

each moment precious,

most of us spending

too much of it

looking ahead to a future

event that may never arrive.