Ossified

a well-behaved queue
waiting to see the Wizard
a cowardly line

all out of bath oils
the Tin Man gets squeaky clean
goes through a car wash

Scarecrow has no brain
his coldhearted maker’s worse
straws from winter wheat

Witch misreads the script
seeks the role of a lifetime
that brings down the house

Dorothy has a plan
based on relativity
hopes to get back home

thinks of Auntie Em
anti-M as in matter
tells Toto to fetch

Toto’s distracted
believes he’s in Wonderland
goes down rabbit hole

John H. Dromey has contributed humor and short fiction to a wide variety of publications. His speculative poetry has appeared in Star*Line, Scifaikuest, Eye to the Telescope, The Lorelei Signal, View From Atlantis, the Dwarf Stars 2022 anthology, and elsewhere.

Find more by John H. Dromey in the Author Index.