Double Talk

I have a friend, Michael Fotheringham (a.k.a. "The Hermit"), who is a poet extraordinaire. Michael came up with his own poetic form, which I call a "Haiku Sestina" and he calls a "six pack." It consists of six three-line stanzas, each of which contain five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third line. He has exhorted me to try my hand at a "six-pack." This is my feeble attempt. If you would like to read some amazing "Haiku Sestinas" and some very beautiful free verse poetry, you may wish to visit the hermit at his empire: "thehermitempire.blogspot.com."


Double talk has be-
Come the accepted way for
Marketing people

To mask what they mean
By polishing words with tricks
Of their trade. Hiding

The fact that a spade’s
Still a spade. They convince us
The emperor has

New clothes as he stands
There naked and all exposed.
They convince us that

Nine-ninety-nine’s much
Cheaper than ten and that in-
Voices are the price

That car dealers pay
As they tell us we're crazy
For walking away


p.s. The mousterpiece below this entry depicts my vision of the "Hermit's Empire."