“34 Syllables” and “In The Wink Of An Emoticon”

Chris O'Carroll


34 Syllables

Piled High Ku

40 days & nights,
two animals of each kind --
whose turn to shovel?

Who the Hell Am I Ku

My verse smells funny.
Whitman contained multitudes;
I'm full of something.


In The Wink Of An Emoticon

You catch my playful signal when
I semicolon right paren.
Colon left paren, I'm bummed;
Colon P or b, I'm dumb
(The plosive bump's a dimwit's lolling tongue).

When what I say's not all I mean,
A sideways grimace on the screen
Makes typographical amends,
Alerts emoticonscious friends
I'm really ;)

Chris O'Carroll is a writer, actor, and comedian. Frequently confused about the distinction between light verse and serious poetry, he does what he can to confuse others. You can see him on stage in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Measure for Measure with Theater at Monmouth (http://www.theateratmonmouth.org) in July and August and in Henry V with Lost Nation Theater (http://www.lostnationtheater.org) in September and October.  You can read his poems in The Barefoot
Muse (http://www.barefootmuse.com), Folly (http://www.the-buckeye.org/folly/index.html), Garbanzo (http://www.garbanzo.us), Iambs &
Trochees, The Raintown Review, and other print and online journals.