Ruby Slippers

Dorthy surely had the
right idea
'cause if all you do is
chase Toto,
you'll never make it back
from over the rainbow
or find that elusive
Wizard of O
finally reaching end
of that ever-winding
brick road

Click your heels twice
good advice if you believe
in fairy tales, happy endings
like long farewells with sweet
kisses- and good always prevails
over the flying monkeys
after you drop houses
on the Wicked bitch-
Witch of the East

Auntie Em seems terrible, when
all you want is freedom
a place to roam free- all she
heeds is for you to steer
clear of Emerald City
because it's no place for an
impressionable young naive
girl like you to be

When greeted by the sweets
of munchkins carrying lollies
you can't help but be dazzled
by the candies which they
are offering, but you don't see
that all gifts they offer for free
come with underlying prices
and rot teeth

Without rubies to illuminate
you can lose courage,
or way home, maybe your
heart and brain- function of
vital organs, no streaming blood
you collapse like deep gasps taken
with punctured lungs

Our friend the Tin Man
came home early from work one day
and to his dismay, heard
his wife stir with nervous energy-
makes his way to his master suite,
he hears bedroom floor shuffling
of four feet
Knowing he's become a casualty
of adultering, he grabs his ax- uncertain
yet she was the one to
chop his love in half, saying-
"Baby, pay no attention to
the man behind the curtain!!"
Ripping his heart from
his body, soon after she left
with the other man-
and no Oil Can can ever
clear this rust from the
vacant hole in his chest

We're not in Kansas anymore?
Damn right, this is a dangerous
chaotic Tornado zone
left on your own, it's hard to
guard the cover of one's sternum
when you're deserted by some
whore, now that's a horse
of a different color

The Lion we know- was once
King of his pride, he'd roam
a stretching Savannah,
all his own- strutting proudly,
with his red bow & curly hair hourly
but then the hunters rummaged
the entire horizon- to kill, to poach,
maim and leave nothing its same
way, as it was before they came
Lion left impotent- no more of
a Panthera Leo's thirst
stripped the Alpha male of all
power, see- his pride castrated
he shrinks back, feeling trapped
this Lion's labeled Cowardly

Our posted Scarecrow would claim
watch over rows of corn, the
endless streams of maize
He'd patrol the field with
hours, days, months to kill
protecting from blackbirds
he'd ward off, but no substance to
days, he'd find other ways to
keep himself entertained
Grew some poppies in his own plot
of land, for the opium
although this possibly harmless plant
can cause sleep, eternal- he divides it
to two alkaloids: Codeine and Morphine
Taking his heroin flight
straw-filled trips to the sky
no ambition, but chase dragons
it may drag him to a dungeon
of euphoria and black light, but
there's nothing save for
Hydrochloride which can pull him
back from drugged-trips
but due to this, mixture of miosis
and intravenous kiss- he drains
every brain cell from his head, to
tip toes- now becoming
what he once hovered over
a mother fuckin' vegetable

And dear young Dorothy?
Sold those ruby slippers-
to the Wicked West Witch, did some
severely obscene sexual favors
for the Wizard as he promised
to float her home, using his magic
if she'd fulfill every position
he envisioned in his own pleasure dome

Passed out in the palace, our girl
lost her little dog too
Pigtails untied, her dress and stocking
astrewn, tears running
her face mud-sullen and bloodied
sometimes chasing
the Rainbow- all that lies
at the end of your journey,
is only just one large
and troublesome rain
puddle

Follow
the yellow
follow the yellow
follow that
yellow brick shimmering
road,
one last remaining
glimmer of hope
No matter what obstacles
stagger you- don't adhere
to the Wicked's words- that
return is impossible
keep your head up, hero
through the cyclone,
murderous trees, flying monkeys
a ticking hourglass, or poppy
fields which fill your head with
dreams to roam
never lose the trail back
because there's really no place
Like Home.





(c) Paul LaTorre 2010