nathan dueck
MORALE ABOVE COMPARE
Care and Bears share a syllable
Vibrating about welfare,
An understandable fable
Declared across land and air.
As Coldheart TM threatens Care-a-lot TM –
What lay beneath that mean glare?
Care Bears TM, all gathered and whatnot,
Prepare a radiant “Stare.”
Another character sans-Heart
Has an epiphany rare;
Care Bears TM charitably impart
Morale above compare.
Morale
Catchwords Care and Bears, a syllabic pair,
Animate hearts, making rascals aware.
DROIDS TM
Stupid astro-droid, stunted tripod, oldest friend:
radar displays dim, vocoder devices fade,
hard drives grind . . . indeed, degradation
draws doomed droids toward dubious episodes –
abandoned behind shields amid bombardments,
kidnapped outside barricades during raids,
dented lightspeeding around asteroid fields
and dismembered landspeeding down sand dunes.
Should Darth Vader TM jeopardize diplomacy,
Jedi TM would demand immediate surrender,
and droids could discourse, read, decipher . . .
Domed sidekick, droll and madcap confidante,
letter-digit-letter-digit, R2-D2 TM,
codes adventure inside gelded, golden disks.
PEGASUS TM
Zeus TM suffered under Daedalus’ TM rule,
until you summoned Pegasus TM,
mounting your last-minute
rescue.
Through quaint language you routed
our usurper cruel.
‘Plumed equine! Guard Mount Olympus!’
‘Uh-oh! Hercules TM!’
Thunderbolts struck around your knuckle.
Your muscles burst
abundant.
Our ousted ruler cursed.
‘Must you bluster thus? Must you tussle?’
‘Surely Zeus TM would return triumphant!’
nathan dueck’s middle name is russel, which means his initials spell “nrd.” His parents tell him that no one used that word when he was born, but dictionaries say otherwise. He is the author of king’s(mère) (Turnstone Press) and he’ll (Pedlar Press). His next poetry collection, A Very Special Episode, is forthcoming from Buckrider Books.