Thine thin equine quince

By Sarah Wolfe 
NINE EXIST,
PRATS MOXIE CHEMIST
WART WARTS
ROLE HIDE MOLE CURE
HEWED WEED DEFT
TONE TONED WEND
HELP FLED
QUININE DICE
THINE THIN EQUINE QUINCE
NOTE NOTES, SOFA
RARE.
FORE FOND FORM ROOF
TRAY GARE FUND
WHEN HARE NARE HEIR
NEST TWEEN TWEENS SENSE TENSE JEST
NAME NAMES
AMEN AMENS
DAME DAMES
SENSE MENSE SENS TOSSER ROOT
TORT TORTE
TORTS TORTES
ROSE MASH MESH
MITRE MITRES DART ROTE
BOAR BORER
SEAR SEARER
LEER FAME GUMP FARE
TAKE PEAKER
REMAKE REMAKER
MARE.

Jesus Put a Curse on Me

Jesus Put a Curse on Me
by Steve O’Keefe

Jesus put a curse on me
said I gotta love you
as much as I love me

     — when — 

as far as I can see
you ain’t worth but half o’me!
Still, I gotta respect ya
’til the good Lord perfects ya

’cause Jesus put a curse on me
said I gotta love you
as much as I love me —
not just now,
but for eternity

     — when —

as far as I can see
you ain’t no good!
Still, I’m s’posed to treat ya
like Jesus would.

I’d give up Jesus if I could

but Jesus put a curse on me
yes he did
yes indeed!

If I Fell – by Kelly O’Keefe

Below, find Paw’s installment for “Fly” week. Don’t forget to post your response to the prompt!

If I fell – by Kelly O’Keefe

If I fell
from the roof,
from the tree,
from the sky.

Would I drop
like a stone?
Would I sail?
Would I fly?

Would I float
through the clouds
into space
up above?

Would I miss
work I do,
things I own,
those I love?

Would the story
of my leaving
be too tragic
to retell?

Would the glory
of ascension
be remembered
if I fell?

And would I at last escape the bonds
of earthly pain and sorrow?
Would I lose all sense of yesterday,
the present and tomorrow?

Or would darkness be my only view,
devoid of time or place?
Would my lifeless form be empty
as it floated out to space?

Would I rise up
into heaven?
Would I lower
into hell?

Or would I just
crumple broken
on the concrete
if I fell?

Comics Exercise from Lynda Barry

Dear Cardbordivenous Rhinocerae,
This week I have accepted an assignment from Comicsperson Lynda Barry designed for speedy drawing with minimal thought and planning. I thought this might motivate time-strapped bros to contribute, following the same instructions. In brief: 45 second pencil sketches of 4 different objects/ ideas are done 4 different times, creating 16 panels of equal size on 1 page. Quick sketches are then inked and colored in. In detail: see scanned instructions below. It’s like a poetic form.
My chosen 4 subjects (1st drawings in lefthand column) are (top to bottom) 1-Bathtime 2-Rain on my train 3-Cooking dinner 4-Crappy umbrella. 

Melville Book Club: Some Civil War Poems

The Portent
by Herman Melville
Hanging from the beam, 
      Slowly swaying (such the law), 
Gaunt the shadow on your green, 
      Shenandoah! 
The cut is on the crown 
      (Lo, John Brown), 
And the stabs shall heal no more. 

Hidden in the cap 
      Is the anguish none can draw; 
So your future veils its face, 
      Shenandoah! 
But the streaming beard is shown 
      (Weird John Brown), 
The meteor of the war.

Ida’s Opera Illustrations

Ida has been obsessing on operas lately- namely, the Nutcracker and Mozart’s Magic Flute. She has been answering exclusively to “Clara”. She is also drawing as zealously and quirkily as ever. So, of her own initiative, she has begun to illustrate the operas. Some images are portraits, others full figure. She is very sure of what she is depicting, and I when I showed her them on the computer, she recognized all the subjects. Enjoy!