Teacup

Candle

Supernova

Big Bad Wolf

Big Bad Wolf

By, Carol Pelizzari

I didn't actually want to do it, promise,

Just, I was really hungry

And that little girl in the red

She looked so delicious.

Honestly, who let her out of the house - 

Looking like that?

Didn't she know that it's dangerous - 

Waving a red flag in front of the wolves.

I was so nice to her too,

I told her where the best flowers were.

She's lucky I found her first,

Others wouldn't have been so polite.

That lumberjack had no right

To cut my life in half,

To throw my budding sports career

Into the river.

"Big Bad Wolf"

They used to call me.

Those were the days.

Just one moment of hunger.

and now that's all gone.

She's dead but - 

I've got to live with it.

Context Needed

Context Needed
By Carol Pelizzari

"I'm going to murder him"
She said with a drink in her hand
and a joke in her eyes.

"I'm going to murder him"
She said with a tremor in her hands
and tears in her eyes.

"I'm going to murder him"
She said with a knife in her hand
and death in her eyes.

Passive Aggressive

Passive Aggressive

By Carol Pelizzari

That's okay,

That's alright,

I have no problems here.

No really,

Yes really,

We're totally cool, I swear.

I'm good,

I'm fine,

And I absolutely understand.

It's not you,

It's just me,

It'll all be over soon.

Any questions?

Of course not

Why would I ever?

It was you

It was me

But that's all done now -

And why would I even care?

Save The Blobfish

Save The Blobfish

By Carol Pelizzari

Protect the panda,

Defend the dolphin,

and keep the rhino around.

Preserve the eagle,

Conserve the jaguar,

Before there's none to be found.

The fluffy leopard,

The clever otter,

And all those baby bats.

Give refuge to the winners

of nature's beauty acts.

But who will save the blobfish?

That grotesque gelatinous lump?

Oh, who will save the blobfish

The moist, mostly mucus clump?

For surely there is no person who would ever throw a fuss,

If the blobfish simply perished and was never again discussed.

How to Survive a Walk

How to survive a walk

By Carol Pelizzari

Grip your keys tightly,

Grit your teeth sharply,

Walk slowly but do not stop.

Keep your eyes down,

Keep your head bowed,

Don't talk to anyone else.

If you must wear hoodies do take care,

If you must be female please beware -

For there are crooks in every alley,

There are monsters in every square.

Every stray suspicious shadow,

Has a plot to plan your ruin,

Every bump and every grimace,

Invites your quick impending doom.

Don't draw in their attentions,

Don't drop your rightful guard,

And when weighing in all the danger,

All the peril and the risk,

Honestly, it's probably better -

Best not to take that walk at all.

How to Fail Exams (Zero)

How to Fail Exams (Zero)

By Carol Pelizzari

First don't study,

Don't study at all,

In fact, skip class entirely!

Think of the extra time you'll have -

Time to absolutely not study.

The night before, stay up late.

Drink some coffee, add more red bull.

In fact, best not sleep at all!

Next, forget to write your name in,

Some teachers actually give you points for that.

Fill every bubble in as 'e'

No flipping any pages,

No double checking any math.

Only babies bother with short answers,

Only wimps will read the charts.

zero effort, zero payoff -

One fat zero to your name.

And if you're feeling rather lazy,

Or the sky looks kinda glum,

You don't actually have to go there,

Or even take the test at all.

A Seed

A Seed

By Carol Pelizzari

Two thousand years ago

No person now alive was there to see it -

Even so, a date palm dropped fruit

A traveller picked one up -

Perhaps a child, craving the sugar.

Tossing aside the pit,

Mundane at first,

Tiny and fragile,

But a vessel of life.

Twelve years ago

Others picked it up,

A scientist, an archaeologist, a botanist.

They did not crave sugar,

Their reward was sweeter.

After the unimaginably long wait

Two thousand years after its mother -

Long after the child and their children –

A seed was planted.

And it grew