Lou's Mummy

by Julie Kovacs

Heeeeeeeey Abbott!
Look out for that mummy behind you!

Whose mummy it is
Not a helicopter mummy
nor an attachment mummy
(not the kind that is classified as one that grows from your side like a parasite)

The name is Klaris
not Claris or Clarie's
where pre-teen designer bandages can be bought.

Look out for that snake charmer holding the medallion!
The serpent instead of Lou could end up eating it
without the digestive aid of hamburger
then it would crawl off into the desert
and end up inside a crocodile.

Klaris would have to scare the crocodile into
coughing up the medallion
that would not be easy
when Mel Cooley is teaching the reptile
how to cook using a microwave

while the dancers and worshippers
in the nave of Klaris
hip-hop to “Muskrat Love.”

What's On Television?

by Julie Kovacs

Grunting and braying
two donkeys fought over
who was in control of the remote
for the plasma screen.

“Boxing!”
“Wrestling!”
both wanted to watch one or the other
sitting inside the spacious
living room
next to the Nile.

Eyes glazed over from
reading the Rosetta Stone
mistaking it for a television schedule
they finally decided to
give up and use the remote
to change the weather
clicking buttons
and more buttons
until they saw rain on television.

Azurite Climber

by Julie Kovacs

Camel of Bactria
making a living climbing a steep mountain
the home of azurite
ancient gemstone
found in graves along with gold
Golden camel
your name is Zarathushtra
after the ancient Persian prophet
who spoke of
good thoughts
good words
good deeds
to the ancient world
long before the advent of the Persian Empire.