30/30 one last night at the Bridge Cafe

Creatures of habit
In life or undeath
Zombie poets know
When it's that other Friday
Flocking to the spot
Corner of Bridge and Elm
Even in the blackout
They could find it with their eyes closed
Yet they don't blink
Zombie Matthew arrives early
Out of habit
The rest trickle in
And start late
You know, they're on zombie time
Congregating out front
Their slack jaws let cigarettes fall to the sidewalk
Spurred inside by tonight's feature
They shuffle indoors to commence
After zombie Ryk had chided them
To "stop dragging their feet"
Zombie Charles stamps each hand at the door
DELIVERED
Zombie poets accept it silently
Appreciating the cruel irony with woeful moans

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29/30 Haliburton Zombie Sestina

The apocalypse was a genesis
Ravaged by a virus
A civilization ate themselves
Survivors fought the zombies
Defended our small plot
Til we were rescued by Haliburton

Pivotal moment for Haliburton
Like the serpent of Genesis
Put a twist in this plot
Spreading hope like a virus
We are saved from the zombies
By the Devils themselves

Making heroes of themselves
The new sheriff was Haliburton
Out-gunning the zombies
Martial law had its genesis
Spread in fear of a virus
Smaller than any point we could plot

Every graph they would plot
Foretold cash for themselves
Multiplying like a virus
New messiah is Haliburton
Not foretold as in Genesis
But neither were the zombies

We the people, like zombies
Went along with the plot
Bit the apple of Genesis
They had shined up themselves
United States of Haliburton
News spread like a virus

Wikileaks says a computer virus
Turned our PCs to zombies
Pentagon mainframes, installed by Haliburton
All succumbed to the plot
For the soldiers themselves
Undeath was no Genesis

They say Haliburton made the virus
That was the genesis of the zombies
In their plot to save us all from themselves.

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28/30 PTSD: When the Macabre Became Normal

At first it was in self defense
And then it was in fear
Soon after it was anger
That drove us to persevere
Preservation of the species
We, the fittest, would survive
In clearing zombies we forgot
That they were once alive
We ceased to mourn turned loved ones
And focus on the kill
Get the job done, no regretting
When this is over, though
We will

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27/30 Zombies at High Tea (haiku)

Darling, pass the scones
This brain paté's to die for
No pun intended

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26/30 poetic justice

We had once been band geeks together
Sang opposite one another in school plays
Even once shared a kissing scene
In front of the whole junior high
Les Miserables it might have been
They all run together now
It is the humiliation I remember
Not the lines or costumes
She confesses to me
Her feelings were the same
Kissing a geek in front of the school like that
Was practically social suicide
For a moment I am confused
Then hurt
Having assumed for so long she knew
As I did
Which of us had greater cause for embarrassment
It is past us now
We are compatriots
Manning our posts along the neighborhood barricade
Keeping the bonfires stoked
So we can see them coming
She catches me
Watching her figure as she shoulders her rifle
The smooth way her body absorbs the recoil
She snaps a new round into the chamber
She is all business
Baggy cargo pants have never been more attractive
I hope she hasn't seen me look away
And that the flickering light masks my blushing
When our eyes meet.
She is the only one with whom I speak of old times
Days without looting, gunfire, and undead friends
We recall our awkward kiss
She insists it was HMS Pinafore
I defer to her recollection
We are weary
Our replacements have not arrived for their shift
We know too well what that usually means
The bonfires are dying down
No one has brought new wood to fuel them for days
Through the glow and smoke
A dozen dragging feet become visible
We each shoulder a full bag of ammunition
Hoping it will be enough
Praying we will not recognize anyone
When we find their zombie faces in our crosshairs
Those shots are always the hardest
And to think my greatest struggle
Was working up the courage to kiss a girl in front of classmates
We stand atop the barricade
Shoulder to shoulder
Feeling, for the moment, invincible
We once stood in this pose on stage
Shoulder to shoulder
Looking off into the spotlights
To each of us, the realization
More thrilling than ironic
This is the moment of plot resolution
Of epiphany
Of a grand finale building
From one voice to a chorus
She begins it
A second before I muster the nerve
"Will you join in our crusade..."
I kick myself for hesitating
Then swoon as only a former band geek can
And join her
"Who will be strong and stand with me
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see..."
I find the first one through the scope
Wouldn't you know it
We knew that guy
He's the one that played Javert
She remarks casually that he was the cute one
CRACK!
Her bullet finds its mark before I squeeze the trigger
Javert falls
I look at her, in shock yet amazed
She keeps singing
And reloads

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25/30 Passing the time

Santa failed to bring the gift
I'd placed first on my Christmas list
I'm starting to believe that he
Isn't real after all.

The twenty-sixth and still this menace
Roams our streets, is ever-present
Lurking round every corner
And dark alley.

Perhaps he didn't get my letter.
Web is down; US mail's no better
Guess I'll just have to
Do the job myself.

(You'll shoot your eye out, kid!)

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24/30 Formerly Live Nativity

prologue:
We've mocked the militias
Of the deep south
And with good reason
But in times like these
When vigilantes are needed
We regret our snobbery
When those crazy flyers
Hit the streets, literally,
Dropped from an airplane
To "spread Christmas cheer
Even to damn yankees,"
The thousand flyers read.
No food, no supplies
Just these Christmas cards
Pictures I'll never forget
Zombie corpses posed perfectly
Almost as if taxidermied
Dressed in robes and cloaks

image:
Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus
Fetid flesh in perfect pose
Shepherds knelt in adoration
Missing fingers, eyeballs, toes
Zombie magi bringing gifts
Riding camels, holding reigns
Bearing gifts of frankincense,
Myrrh, and possibbly brains
Serenading from on high
Zombie angels strung above
Complete the adoration scene
Photo spreading Christmas love
Though it was hysterical
Complaining is considered rude
Wish that godforsaken militia
Would've airdropped beer or food!

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23/30 sleet

A zombie who walked in the park
Stayed outside in the cold and the dark
When it started to sleet
He could not move his feet
When he tore them off, that left a mark!

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22/30 Wars and rumors of wars

We've learned the hard way not to believe the rumors
However certain and rational they may sound
There is no media presence left to fact-check
Just scattered survivors and gangs of hoodlums
Using the state of emergency
As excuse to plunder without consequence.
So when an army tank lumbered down the next street
Turret spinning, machine guns spitting in the night
Loud crashing and grinding of destruction
If seemed like proof.
The good guys were still out there.
Salvation was iminent.
After dawn we ventured out
It was still on the street
Half embedded into the pawn shop
The engine running
The ammo spent
The hatch open
Like our trusting, unguarded hearts
Bloodied, from the inside.

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21/30 Zombie Santa

We're not sure how it happened
But it's hysterically macabre
That someone's pot a Santa hat
On what used to be Old Bob
In life this would have been a crime
To mock the homeless and insane
But now it's wholly justified
Since he's out to eat our brain.
He staggers as he did in life
From 4th to Central Ave
The only difference being now:
How many digits he should have
At first it was a left pinky gone
And then the thumb and ring
For a while he had a peace sign left
Now he's lost the whole darn thing.
He staggers, handless, up and down
In tassled Santa's cap
Though we fly to our windows to see this sight
There's no long winter's nap.
This santa has no reindeer
And can't tell naughty from nice
We watch him pace the snowy streets
And fall down on the ice
We're shocked that we can see him
Since all the lights are out
Then suddenly we city folk see
What that "luster of mid-day" stuff's about
We hope he'll skip our chimney.
His present, he can keep
But whoever dared to don him
With that hat, we almost weep
In the terror of this crisis
Population cut in half
Just the sight of Zombie Santa
Man, we needed that good laugh!

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20/30 Ornithology in these troubled times

It has spread to the pigeons
They said it was unlikely
But not impossible
And to be honest
The pigeons seemed soul-less in the first place
But having seen them
Clawed and featherless
Eyes even more lifeless
I have come to appreciate the delicate beauty
In the rats of the sky
I once loathed.

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19/30 Zombie Halloween

When zombies trick-or-treat

They put on skin

Cover drooling mouths

With zombie grins

Hide ghastly necks with double chins

But when they knock,

Don't let them in.

18/30 twilight hours

When zombies dream

And dream they do

What do they think of

And are their nightmares

Scarier

Than their reality?

17/30 what remains of her

That poor poor woman
We met the day she shot me
In the dairy aisle
Or, rather, in my ankle
Which was in that aisle.
I was fortunate she missed
At least mostly missed
And that she only had birdshot
And she was far away
Cowering behind spoiled milk
What was left of it.
She did not answer my cries
And for a moment
I feared They had taken arms
Were now on the hunt
Until I heard her sobbing.
Only a flesh wound
It seemed I could walk on it
I shouted, "I'm leaving!"
The faint reply came,
"No, please, not you too. Please! please..."

16/30 Too late for smoke signals

Startled from our sleep

By a noise growing louder

We lurch for weapons

Vibrating windows

The whir of helicopters

Potential rescue

Scrounging for flashlights

Pale beam of light shot skyward

Fades into darkness

Startled from our sleep

The whir of helicopters

Fades into darkness

15/30 Vote Zombie

McCain Palin shirt

Same clothes he wore that last day

He has not bathed once

14/30 Spam (ghazal)

Fallout shelter Spam; never so thankful for mystery meat.

Holding the shape of the can, It is more edible the less it resembles meat.

Where I'd once looked for marbling, fresh redness, and bone,

I can stomach no carving, save this uniform pinkness that was once real meat.

We strike the balance, slicing thin, not mangling, sparing memories of brains.

We have seen too much carnage, too much tearing of skin from meat.

Craving protein, and sick of the taste of canned peanuts.

The whole city is a butcher shop, but now we are the sides of meat.

We dare not venture out. We see what has happened to the ones who've tried.

It is not said aloud. We dare not call them dead. It is too kind. They've become walking meat.

Sheltered below the theater, we empathize with the cattle we once consumed.

Reminisce about PETA propagandists, trying to guilt us into giving up meat.

We tell each other in Hawaii they love this stuff. We both know it already.

We dream we are there, insulated from this mess, that we could once again stomach meat.

13/30 Snow Day

There will be no school today.

We have dreaded the snow

It makes our traces harder to cover.

Gives away our location

Traps us further within walls.

The children press noses against boarded window panes

Eyeballs peering out through cracks in the boards.

They wish to build snowmen

Wish there was still a school to attend.

Last night's dusting

Still painting our street

We are reminded the plow will never come.

At silent noon

The cold, bright sun melts the thin spots

Black pavement screams through

A cacophony of

Drag-foot tracks

They've carved into the fresh blanket

Pacing all night

In search of

Us

12/30 The children (a redondilla)

Morbidity now normalcy,

Zombie children's tea party guests

Bring their own brains, wear Christmas vests

Beware, it's not a formal tea.

11/30 Gone Scouting (a sestina)

My dear and trustworthy brother,
If sunset has passed
And you are just now reading this letter
You must conclude I will never return.
Do all that you can to ensure your survival;
Barricade the doors, and set all the traps.

I know you hate the traps,
But I'm telling you, Brother,
They will guarantee your survival
Until this crisis has passed.
In case I don't return
I am leaving instructions in this letter.

Follow protocols to the letter
When setting the traps
When the zombies return
You'll be thanking your brother
For the lessons I've passed
To ensure your survival.

In this new world it's survival
Of the fittest, and this letter
Means I was unfit; my time has passed.
Don't fall into the traps
Of laziness like your brother.
Stay awake each night until the sun's return.

Don't keep awaiting my return
It there's any chance of my survival
Beyond sunset, my brother.
I'll shoot out one letter
Of the billboard you can see over the traps.
But please leave them set until night has passed.

You have been tested, and passed
Throughout this ordeal.  In return
You've grown stronger than the horde that traps
You alone in our home. You must fight for survival!
Don't be crushed by this letter.
I am proud of you, Brother.

Think of all the traps we have passed
Together, my brother, and return
To the task of survival. I mean every letter.