Swizzle Stick

Red Gonk Meets Morticia

April 18 Prompt: “Stop! In the name of love, before you break my heart!” —
write a poem where love turns everything around somehow, or stops a course of action, or stops everything!


Red Gonk, self-appointed King of the Shelves,
self-appointed King of Things since 1973,
he's a tube of cardboard wrapped in red faux-fur
the size of a soda-can, on grubby felted feet,
googly plastic eyed & bobble nosed,
& won at the Royal Easter Show, a big fair,
on the game of the Laughing Clowns

Red Gonk, this self-appointed fluffy cardboard king,
senses disrespect from other, younger figurines,
other bits of kitsch, white elephants,
bobs, bric-a-brac, & bibelots,
gewgaws & gimcracks, curios,
all this trash upon the shelves, his Domain;
his cardboard heart is pounding, he's enraged
with thoughts of darkest vengeance, in the night,
& how to knock things down, maybe break them

until I introduce him to Morticia,
perfect in her black & white vinyl

& as hoped, Red Gonk falls into instant love,
into beautiful love with Morticia
drowns annoyance in love with Morticia
sinks anger in love with Morticia
loses fury in love with Morticia
feels renewed by his love of Morticia
not confused by his love for Morticia
he has fallen in love with Morticia
thanks the Laughing Clowns for Morticia
prunes his fuzz and his fluff for Morticia
he is King of Being in Love with Morticia

Red Gonk's love is a brightened love
a knighted unrequited love
a silent & inactive love
a blighted & eternal love

Morticia stands at a distance,
with Wednesday, neither with care nor aware.

But Red Gonk is now King of Loving Morticia
& he reigns from his shelf with his love.