Paradise lost

Bread buttered

Filling added

Sandwiches made

Snacks added

Wine packed

Blanket selected

Car loaded

Journey starts

Busy traffic

City streets

Moving faster

Countryside views

Radio playing

Summertime music

Parking car

Riverside trail

Carrying basket

Holding hands

River bank

Shady tree

Laying blanket

Opening wine

Sharing sandwiches

Sipping wine

River flowing

Birds singing

Fish jumping

Laughter sounds

Finish eating

More wine

Loving embrace

More wine

Long kiss

More wine

Eyes closed

Holding hands

Heavenly bliss

Found paradise

Loud noise

Alarm clock

Waking up

Dream over

Empty bed

Dark outside

Feeling cold

Mid winter

Snow falling

Dressing quick

Breakfast snatched

Frantic commute

Arrive workplace

Co-workers nod

Work begins

Paradise lost 

Attention all bounty hunters

I like to wake up early

Harness the power of the morning

Get big things done before breakfast

And some more soon after

Leaving almost the entire day left for other challenges

Sometimes it does not work out

When I am sick for example

Even a mild sickness like a cold can disrupt my morning time

Laying in bed late today after a restless night of coughing and sneezing

I tested negative for Covid a few days ago which left me elated

But a simple cold virus still knocked me down

Unable to capture my morning today

I watched it slide away from me

Like a drifting ship in a light breeze

Quickly out of my reach but still visible

Teasing me for not getting aboard earlier

Looking out of my window

I see early morning joggers and cyclists returning home now

Reminding me that I missed boarding my own exercising boat today

My bike hangs on the wall waiting for me

He is giving me that sad puppy eyes look

I will have to avoid his gaze for the rest of the day

With low energy and feeling fatigued 

Even writing becomes a tiring task

My fingers groan at every keystroke

My mind is in a fog and refuses to unlock my imagination

I suspect my imagination has been put into mandatory isolation

For fear that he too could be infected with my cold virus

I wonder if this is an early taste of very old age

When your body is no longer able to keep you active

And your mind is too weary let your imagination run riot in your head

Shudder the thought

Its too soon to surrender my eternal youth

I have so much more to do before surrendering to old age

In the meantime I am putting up a wanted poster

For all you bounty hunters out there

Wanted

Ian’s morning

Recently escaped

Reward only if captured alive

Try magic

So you find yourself almost penniless

Spend everything left on lottery tickets

The repair shop gives you a huge estimate

Fix your car yourself with duct tape

Don’t worry about that leaky roof

Just do a no-rain dance

Lost your job

Maybe you will find it soon

Taking too long to read that book

Skip to the last few pages

You forgot your anniversary

Maybe your wife will forget it too

Your cellphone just broke

Perhaps it will repair itself

That recipe was a total disaster

Have a fasting day

Your house burned down

Too late to buy home insurance now

When you are completely down on your luck

Pray for a miracle

If all else fails

Try magic

I want to be

I want to be the pop in your corn

I want to be the polish on your fingernails

I want to be the icing on your cake

I want to be the key to your front door 

I want to be the pillowcase on your bed

I want to be the lipstick in your purse

I want to be the man accompanying your hattan cocktail

I want to be the spice in your drawer

I want to be the knight in shining armor on your white horse

I want to be the talk of your town

I want to be the brightest flower in your garden

I want to be the snowy peak of your mountain climb

I want to be the music that you dance to

I want to be the keyboard on your computer

I want to be the olive in your dirty martini

I want to be the sand between your toes

I want to be the meat in your sandwich

I want to be the flame on your candle

I want to be the poached egg on your toast

I want to be the wind in your sail

I want to be the bubble in your bath

I want to be the raindrop falling on your face

I want to be the twinkle in your eye

I want to be your everything

Hemingway

Hemingway liked short sentences

With few adjectives

Minimal repetition

Telling big stories

Using few words

For sale, baby shoes, never worn

A poetic hand grenade

Tossed into your mind

Exploding your imagination

Shrapnel adjectives sting

Speaking volumes

Talented chef

Simple meal

Small portions

Bursting with flavor

Eat slowly

Party in mouth

Subject photographed

No background

Draws you in

Glorious closeups

Incredible beauty

Warts and all

Music plays

One instrument

Few notes

Long pauses

Empty silence

Full thoughts

Short walk

Becomes a journey

Marathon achieved

Without sweat

Empty finish line

No medals

Your brief nap

Filled with dreams

The spark does not control the fire

With a single spark

You can start a fire

If you control it

You can create lifesaving warmth

Cook a delicious meal

Relax by your cozy fireside

With a single spark 

You can start a fire

If you fail to control it

You will lose the ensuing battle

It will become a raging inferno

Destroying lives and property

With a single spark

You can attract attention

If you control it

Respectfully kindle the interest

Lifelong friendships will grow

Everlasting love will blossom

With a single spark

You can attract attention

If you fail to control it

Passion and lust will fan the flames

Creating an emotional wildfire

That will hurt those you love most

Do not blame the spark

Stay cheeky my friends

200 posts!

We now have over 200 Cheeky Monkey posts in our first 6 months online

A big thanks to Abby and Addison for keeping this website running smoothly

Thanks to all you readers for you comments and feedback, they are much appreciated

These writing are published daily, often written minutes before going out

Fresh poetry is by nature raw and ragged

So its not un usual for the odd spelling mistake to be missed by writer, the editor and the publisher

Especially when the same person is doing all three jobs

There is no particular theme to this poetry blog which includes short stories, prose and free verse

They are occasionally sad, sometimes funny, often reflective but always sprinkled with some cheeky monkey wild imagination

We all have a cheeky monkey running around inside our minds

I have trained my cheeky monkey to sit down with me daily and tell me a story

He never fails to amaze me

Stay cheeky my friends

a race without any winners

There was once a time in my life

When I was constantly comparing myself to others

Was I a better runner than him

Did I have more friends than her

Was he earning more than me

Was I a better driver than her

Was he more intelligent than me

Did I get more social invitations than her

Was he more liked than me

I resented those who appeared to be doing better than me

It made me very unhappy

Leading me into jealousy and feelings of low self esteem

It took me a long time to figure it all out

I am in a better place now

Having learned to see the world in a different way

I am no longer in a race to beat everybody around me

I have learned how important it is to trust those you love

And not to be jealous of their fun times without me

I am proud of my own successes

Equally proud of my valiant efforts that led to failures

I can feel genuine pride in the success of my friends

Without the urge to compare them to me

I have learned to measure my achievements against my own expectations

Awarding myself a bye whenever I miss a goal

I love looking at the sun the moon and the stars

I really enjoy the company of my friends

I enjoy good food and fine wines

I get pleasure from lots of simple things

All without worrying about which or who I like best

They all make me happy in different ways

My own jealousy race was called off a long time ago

Sadly I see others still trapped in theirs

A race without any winners

Billy reunited with Bobby – Part 5 Finale

Billy sat in the FBI cell with his attorney who said it was not looking good

THE FBI found DNA from the dead undercover agent on you and Bobby

You have Both been charged with murder and their case is solid

I could negotiate a plea bargain if you plead guilty and agree to cooperate with the FBI

Others you are facing the death penalty and will end up being recycled

Billy shook his head in defiance saying I am innocent and so is Bobby

The robbers killed that agent and Bobby even tried to help

The attorney shook his head and collected his papers leaving Billy alone

Billy was determined to fight his innocence all the way

He retraced in his mind every single moment leading up to the robbery

Trying to remember every word that was said and everything he saw there 

He requested his attorney to visit him again

Billy told him he remembered one of the robbers was taking pictures with a cell phone

Presumably to record details how how much wine they were taking

We have to find those pictures to prove our innocence said Billy

His attorney confirmed that a cell phone was recovered from the robbers

But there were no photographs because the phone had been wiped clean

I know somebody who could trace those photos said Billy

His name is Hugo and he lives in a wine cellar in Potomac

I spent a few years in that wine rack alongside Hugo 

Every evening he jumps off the rack and uses the home computer network

Hugo is an expert hacker who can find anything on the internet

You have to go tell Hugo that I need his help

The attorney visited Hugo who listened intensely and agreed to help

Give me twenty four hours said Hugo and I will find the photos for Billy

Just give me the exact location of the vineyard where this all took place

That night Hugo was able to trace the nearest cell towers

He wrote a program to analyze all the traffic from those towers on that day

When the attorney came back the next day Hugo handed him the photos

The robber had texted the photos to his crime boss before wiping the phone clean

You can clearly see the agent being knocked off the table by the robbers

Billy was set free after his attorney gave the photos to the FBI

But Bobby and the Bordeaux brigade of bottles were not released

Under federal law only bottles of US citizenship can be refilled

All other bottles had to go to recycling so Bobby and his gang were all doomed

Billy however was not ready to give up on his friend and hatched another plan

He wrote to the President of the United States requesting clemency for his friends

Billy was taken back at the vineyard for rebottling and he prayed for a miracle

A few weeks later Bobby and the Bordeaux gang showed up

Their French labels were all covered in stamps from US immigration

Each of them was holding a US citizenship certificate after renouncing French citizenship 

 Bobby hugged Billy and thanked him for saving them all

Billy told Bobby it was time he dropped his dumb French accent

Soon you will be full of Virginia wine so get used to being an American he added

Maybe we can watch the nascar race on TV later and then shoot some pool

C’est magnifique replied Bobby with a wincing smile as he gave Billy a big high five

Billy reunited with Bobby- Part 4

The gang moved quickly to grab every case of wine

One of them whispered lets grab all the uncased bottles

There were a few dozen full bottles on a table

A full bottle fell to the floor while the robbers loaded the cases 

Wine spilled everywhere as the bottle exploded on the concrete floor

The robbers froze for a moment concerned that the noise might attract attention

Casing up the loose bottles soon resumed until they had everything

Bobby and his escapees lay motionless on the floor during the raid

Jumping up as soon as the big sliding door closed shut

Bobby ran over to the broken bottle to check on him

He could find no pulse on his neck and pronounced him dead

The Bordeaux ladies started to weep at the loss and Bobby comforted them

Bobby was covered in the spilled wine which stained his label

Are you still planning to escape from here asked Billy

Absolument declared Bobby in a strong French accent

Zis is no place for us fine French vintage aristocrats

Too many of you rougeneck peasants in zis classless old shed

Billy jumped down and grabbed Bobby by the neck

Nobody calls me a redneck you bourgeois snob yelled Billy

The other bottles formed a circle as Billy and Bobby exchanged punches on the floor

Suddenly the big sliding door slid open and a voice yelled FBI nobody move

A bottle walked in wearing a police cap carrying a gun

There were a dozen more following him all wearing FBI labels

I am FBI special agent Stone he announced and you are under suspicion

Bobby jumped up and defiantly screamed we are all innocent

We will see about that said the FBI agent as his men searched the place

Officer down yelled one of the agents as he knelt beside the broken bottle

Special agent Stone walked over and pulled off the local label from the corpse

Revealing an FBI label underneath he announced that this was now a murder investigation

The thieves were stopped on the highway and they admitted it was an inside job

We had this place under surveillance and one of our boys was working undercover

But now he is dead and we are going find out who is responsible

We are all innocent officer yelled Bobby as he desperately tried to disguise his accent

The FBI agent laughed saying its usually the guilty ones who plead innocence the loudest

He walked up to Bobby noting his label was all crooked and covered in fresh wine

And what might your name be under this badly fitting label he asked

My name is Bobby from Virginia and I swear I did not kill anybody officer

The French accent was a dead giveaway that Bobby was lying 

The FBI agent peeled the label off Bobby and placed it in an evidence bag

A very suspicious crude disguise Monsieur Bobby said the FBI agent in a mock French accent

We will have your label DNA tested to see if its linked to this murder

In the meantime all you empties are coming down to HQ for interrogation

The Bordeaux ladies burst into tears again as they were all led to the FBI van outside

What a mess thought Billy as he sat in the back of the FBI van