Bed of Secrets

  Listen to the thunder.
The rain pelts the pane hard and fast.
His calloused hand  caresses her delicate skin,
moving along her thigh.

She sighs.
He watches her smiling face.

Rain mesmerizes.

He speaks of his life.
Its joys and sorrow.
His women and their talents.
His many betrayals.

She heeds his words,
seeking truth in the telling.

Thunder bangs in the sky.

He strokes her silky hair.
Looks intently into her hazel eyes,
seeking her untold secrets.

Thunder peals. Rain pounds harder.
The lights are out, the room is dark.
It's 11 in the morning on a Saturday.
No need to leave the bed, so they don't.

Satie shapes the mood.
Scent of petrichor surrounds, somehow.
Sheets are tangled with love and heat.
The wind blows fierce, in the terrace trees.

Thunder excites their senses.

It's time to enter the day,
Leave the bed of secrets.
No one will know what's been done.
No one will sense their joy.

The storm stalks away.
The sudden silence rings out.

©Ellen Pepper 2026

TICK. TICK. TOCK.

 Tick tick tick...

A drunken worker laughingly claims that he's ok
as he drives his machine into a ditch.
Dismounts and topples over into the muck.
Nobody recorded it. It won't go viral.

Tick tock tick.

A mother walks a pram,
the holes in her soles are seen.
The baby squalls and she heeds not,
Her mind is on the money track.

Tick tock tick...
Tick tock tick.

Leaves are unfurling all around.
Birds are nesting.
Animals breed.
The greening ground is slick with rain.

Tick tick tick

A woman on a treadmill feels pain,
Chest, neck, jaw.
Wonders if the heart is attacking.
Decides it's too complicated
to ask for help.

Tick tick tock

An old man still abed at noon.
No movement or sound.
No snore or audible breath.
Suddenly, a foot shifts.
He's still alive.

Tick tick tock.
Tick tock tick.

A blade snicks out of a boot,
Slicing will open tough skin.
Blood is lost, rancour grows.
Running feet are heard.

tick tock tick...
tick tock tick tock.

Time is not like a river.
Time is a collected series of events.
Vignettes.
What was once... and will never be again.
Tick tick tock

©Ellen Pepper 2026

Cracks in the Pavement

 Someone who was once part of your life
becomes part of your memories.
There's nothing you can do,
they're gone.
She's gone.

There are cracks in the pavement of love.
People trip over them all the time.
You can't step into the future,
when you're  stumbling over what's broken.

He lowers the blinds in his moldy motel room.
He has no plans for the future.
He needs to break this addiction, this habit.
This want for her touch.

The sweet scent of her hair.
The heady blue of her dissembling eyes.
Her glowing aura of falsity.
Her aching betrayal of his trust.

He sits on the sagging mattress
 and stares into space.
So utterly alone. Bereft.
She went to Toledo,
She never came back.

Is it death or is it defiance?
He'll never know.
He pays his bill and gets in his car.
He's going to find her.

She's not in Toledo anymore, he finds.
She's gone to Arizona now.
He rests his head on the steering wheel,
He'll drive to Dallas, instead.

He'll release himself from this need.
He'll start a new life.
All he has left is the memory...
of trust betrayed.
He is broken...

©Ellen Pepper 2026

I Won't Say Goodbye

 "Play the Adagio at my funeral," he said.
We looked into each other's eyes.
"People will cry, " said I.
"I've waited my life for that, "said he.

We were walking through High Park in the Spring.
Cherry trees in blossom.
A chill in the air that the sun dispelled.
Passersby didn't see that you were dying.

(I won't say goodbye.)

Remember when we were young?
Remember all the plans we made?
We were going to storm the world.
We were going to make it in the wild.

Your plan was to write, act and direct.
I was going to tend to others.
We meant to succeed and change the world.
But now you're dying before...

Before you've finished.
And I only have time to tend to you.
Our dreams failed to come true.
And...I'm losing you.
(Let's not say goodbye.)

I was there when you learned your fate.
You faked nonchalance, but
I know you well enough.
We clung like limpets to each other.

The funeral plans are set now.
I mourn your loss already.
You're fading by the day.
The spark has left your eyes.

(You'll soon say goodbye.)

I wish I could go with you.
The world will soon be too dark.
You'll be fine on the Other Side, I know it.
I'll be here without you.

Where will I store the memories?
Where will be my home...
when you're gone?
I won't say good bye.
I can't say goodbye.
Please stay.

  ©Ellen Pepper 2026

Standing on Shaky Ground

 We're all standing on shaky ground these days.
What would we do without each other?
Minds and hearts are dark with grim thoughts.
(We're standing on shaky ground)

Fake wars, fake leaders, fake money, fake people.
It's all falling apart.
Some days are worse than others.
What would we do without each other?
(We're  just standing on shaky ground)

The slumlord presses to evict.
The supermarket raises  prices  20% overnight.
Fuel costs are rising exponentially.
We're all standing on shaky ground.

Tectonic plates are grinding.
Volcanoes girding to pop their lids.
Wildfires burning up the world.
What would we do without each other?
(We're standing on shaky ground)

We're losing our jobs to robots.
The kids aren't being schooled.
People being stripped of autonomy.
We're all standing on shaky ground.
(Standing on shaky ground)

People are stolen from home, school and work.
Sent to foreign prisons without trial.
Murdered by the leader who despises them.
Billionaires flouting laws and ruining the planet.
They know their time is coming to an end.
(They're standing on shaky ground)

Where do we go from here?
There's so much change to be made.
We must get to a place of loving security.
We can't fix anything without each other.

What would we do if we didn't have each other?
(We're standing on shaky ground)

 ©Ellen Pepper 2026

Eulogy for a Quiet Man

 He spoke righteously,
if he spoke at all.
Oh, how the plethora of charmed women
hung on his every word,
albeit his type, they were not.

His black,wavy hair will no longer impress
the ladies who swooned.
His stately manner of dress decaying,
forgotten in his musty cupboard.

George NoMan is gone from this plane.
His like, to be seen no more.
A quiet man, cards held close to vest.
Saying not an extraneous word.

No one can claim to have known our George.
He kept to himself. He liked it that way.
No ties that bound 'til life was snuffed. 
No joys that taught of impending sorrow.

George had no living companion.
He preferred to be alone.
No one to care for.
No one to care for him.

He spent his days creating,
a stockpile of witticisms
to share at arms length.
Not wishing for fame, not prideful.

So now we lay dear George to rest.
His mouth silent forever.
So many secrets kept within. 
So many lies untold.

Our beloved George is NoMan,
for now - he is but a fading ghost.

Requiescat in Pace

©Ellen Pepper 2026