Overheard at Table 3: A Man and Wife and the Cliffs of Moher

 
A man and his wife take a vacation to Ireland.  They go to the Cliffs of Moher, magnificent and austere cliffs that stretch for miles and gaze out into the broad, wild waters of the North Atlantic.  Standing on the very edge, they peer straight down – a sheer drop of 3,000 feet.

The man stretches his arm at the view and says, “Ireland, babe!  Did you ever think we’d make it?”

“It’s absolutely beautiful!” he wife replies.

“And hey, you know how you’ve been wanting to redo the kitchen?   Well … you’re looking at it!  Surprise!”

The next day, the Irish Times reports that another body had been found at the bottom of the Cliffs of Moher – another apparent suicide.

The wife reads the article, smiles to herself, folds the paper and places it carefully into her bag, and then pulls out her ticket to board the plane back to the States.

Overheard at Booth 3: Avacadoes to Almonds

https://www.marketplace.org/2022/11/11/dont-avocado-prices-ever-go-down/

In the article, the mention of water consumption reminded me of something I'd heard on the radio over a decade ago, when almond prices went through the roof and many California farmers started growing almonds, even though they used more water and there was already a water shortage.

I heard the interviewer ask directly if this would exacerbate the situation and the farmer said that money needs to be made.

Years later, and California is in a huge drought and almost year-round wildfires and there is still a debate on whether almonds were to be blamed or not, but the simple fact is: water is become a scare commodity and we as a human race truly need to allocate it more efficiently if we are to have enough for all.

Overheard at the Counter: Jet Blue (Two Demos)

 Jet Blue

An hour late board and I’m never getting home
Jet Blue
It’s not for you
Jet Blue
It’s not for me or you.

This station’s utter chaos
There’s no plane at the gate
When it comes they’ll have to clean
They always make us wait
Jet Blue
It’s not for you
Jet Blue
It’s not for me or you.

Some guy in the corner
He don’t know what to do
The airline sent his luggage
All the way to Katmandu
Jet Blue
It’s not for you
Jet Blue
It’s not for me or you.

They said that we’d be boarding two hours ago
Jet Blue
It’s not for you
Jet Blue
It’s not for me or you.

Another hour gone I’m never getting home
Jet Blue
It’s not for you
Jet Blue
It’s not for me or you.

Overheard at Table 1 - Ribbons of Blood

ribbons of blood
spray from my 
knife across its
face,
the beast got my 
leg, but i
took its 
eye - 
yeah! run off
ye beast!

Now, i'll 
jes' crawl
over 
here - wassat?

that growl?

Ah Chroist!

Its mate!

MR

2023-1118

[for a horrorprompt, but can't find an horrorprompt prompt word - so I think it was free-written.

Can re-work it into "Anomaly"]

Overheard at Table 1: Poem - Words ...

 Poem

 

Words
more
destructive
than 
bombs
rain
d
o
w
n 

 

 

MR

2022-1118

#7wordspoet

 

Overheard at Table 3: Lucky and Otis - Pirates or Ninjas?

Otis Redwing: Pirates or Ninjas?

Lucky Moran: For what?

Otis: Just saw it online, someone asking which one is cooler: Pirates or Ninjas.

Lucky: Pirates of course!

Otis: Why "of course"?

Lucky: 'Cuz no one ever sang sea shanties about ninjas!

Otis:  Sure they did ... you just couldn't hear 'em!

Lucky: Ohhhhh good one!

Overheard at Table 4: How We Abuse Ourselves

How we abuse ourselves
    with food
    with alcohol
    with drugs
    with lack of sleep
    with stress
    with coffee, sugar, whatever
and then expect to be healed
by that next fuck.

 

MR

2023-0912

Overheard at Table 2: A Terrible Tragedy

It is a terrible tragedy
that we do not have 
sufficient years
to read all the books
that we want to read.

 

- Giuseppe Salinghetti

 

 

 

Overheard at the Counter: American Pie (November 8, 2022)

AMERICAN PIE (NOVEMBER 8, 2022)

A long long time ago, I can still remember
How Democracy used to make me smile
And I knew that every few years
I could vote for or against my peers 
And they would be in office only for awhile 

But this November has made me shiver
With every post on IG and Twitter
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step

I can't remember if I cried
When I read about this Fascist Pride
But something touched me deep inside
The day Democracy died

So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Lexus to the Nexus
But the Nexus was dry
Some good old boys were eatin’ burgers and fries
Singing, "This'll be the day that it dies
This will be the day that it dies”

Does your front yard sign say LOVE IS LOVE
Or do you proclaim faith in God above?
If the Bible tells you so
Do you carry a gun with your Cross?
Do  you think Springsteen’s still the Boss
Or just another Libtard so and so?

Well I know that we’re all in love with sin
We just disagree on which we like to enter in
We both put up our fists
Wishing the Other didn’t exist

Well as a centrist, I was stuck
With a rainbow sticker on my pickup truck
But I knew that we were completely fucked
The day Democracy died

CORO

Well for eight years we had Barack O
Which made all the Republicans say Oh hell NO!
And that helped them gain unity
The Electoral College installed the Orange Clown
Our institutions started crumbling down
And walls went up between you and me

Now the Lizard look down at the border
And took away babies from their mothers  
Which the Clown thought was fun
He said, “Lookit those babies run!”

And while the clown sent love notes to Lil Kim
Impeachement shadows lurked over him
Pastors prayed for the Seraphim
To usher the day Democracy died

CORO

Then a little bug from Wuhan flew
across the world, killed a million or two
Everyone around the globe was falling fast
The Clown didn’t know what to do
“Wear a mask?  Well it’s up to you!
Drink some bleach and shine a light up your ass!”

Now 2020 ended with perfect sight
We thought we’d stopped the wrong of the Right
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance

'Cause the losers tried to take the field
Because the Clown refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day Democracy died?

So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Watched my Lexus change its sexes
But its sexes was bi
Some good old boys were eatin’ burgers and fries
Singing, "This'll be the day that it dies
This will be the day that it dies”

Now out in Arizona there's a crazy Lake
Who says she won’t concede the race
And vows that the Clown will run again
And in Georgia a Walker’s gonna go far,
This mentally bifurcated football star
Gonna give the Reds a touchdown in the end

Now the Wizard sold magic weight loss pills
Now the’s the cure for Conservative Ills
Even though he was late
In moving to the state

And as the votes were contested into the night
And we all were blinded by the Right
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day Democracy died

CORO

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
She said her pronouns were them and they
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
Store was closed, cuz everything’s in the cloud, anywayyyyy

And in the schools, the children scream
As the bullets fly and the rifles gleam.
So many words are spoken
The church bells are just tokens

And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
They said, “Good luck, fools, ‘cuz your country’s toast”
The day Democracy died

CORO

Overheard at Table 3: Poem of the Day "Thoughts on When We Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil"

Thoughts on When We Shuffle Off this Mortal Coil

broken bottle
empty pockets
fingers around the last throw of the dice
time to check out of the casino
neon lights sputtering in a few spots
we all get up as one
and lumber sluggish toward the door.




MR
2022-1101