Contemporary Poetry

[Nanohedron]

rime, meater
what could be Sweder?
take it from me boiz
(an grrrls)
greeding cards
is the whey of the
few churr

[jim stone]

I will wake in the night screaming!

[Walden]

is the whey of the
few churr

Mmm... churros... never had them with whey, but there used to be a place in Manila that served them with hot cocoa.

[jim stone]

Hamlet in April

I would not praise your legs as fine
Had I not something more in mind,
For it is Spring...
The virtue sought
Has melted off with winter's melt
And nothing is as it would seem.
To sleep, perchance to rub,
Ah, there's the dream!

[Flyingcursor]

Very nice everyone.

This is a fairly straightforword, thing my Mom wrote in jest of the Foxhunting debate in England


THE NOBLEMAN’S LAMENT
by Beverly Buyce


"I’m bloody well peeved",

said the Lord of the Shire.

"They’ve banned my fox hunting

And that raises my ire!"



"I’ve all these fine coats,

bright red and impressive.

How can I wear them

If not being aggressive

In pursuit of a fox?"



"My horses will pine

for the thrill of the chase.

They will take to their stalls,

Hang their heads in disgrace."



"And to add to my woes,

I’ve not mentioned the hounds.

How shall I placate them

With the fox out of bounds?"



"And what of the foxes?

How will they fare

When there’s no one to chase them

Home to their lair?"



"They’ll wander bewildered

Through the woods and the fields

Longing for the days

When they took to their heels

At the sound of the horn."



"What do they know,

Those unwashed masses

About the needs

Of the superior classes?"



"Yes, I’m bloody well peeved,

I’d let everyone know it.

But I’m just too well bred

To have a fit and throw it."

[aderyn_du]

Here's one for ya...

I live my life in growing orbits
which move out over the things of the world.

Perhaps I can never achieve the last,
but that will be my attempt.

I am cirlcing around God,
around the ancient tower,
and I have been circling for
a thousand years.

And I'm still not sure if
I am a raven, or a storm or
a great song.

Ranier Maria Rilke

Enjoy
Ronaldo

That's beautiful. The imagery resonated within...

[dubhlinn]

More Ted Kooser please...

Slan,
D.

[Nanohedron]

I will wake in the night screaming!

I am inspired:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will wake in the night screaming.
All this, the trite and the evil,
The base and the self-serving,
The bills, the aches, the wretched tomorrows,
The regretted yesterdays,
The struggling now;
All the wrongs justified with the jujutsu of blinkered vision,
The bread and circuses,
The asleep at the wheel and the hamburger made of and by them,
The lives of JerrySpringer-esque proportion,
The strange joke that is life, the careening to annihilation,
And the children, o the children;
My beloved cat, unknowingly mortal,
The indignity of my aging, the loss of love,
The regaining of it amid absurdity,
The insanity at the helm,
The world tearing at its own throat
For God's sake, for godsake:
I swear
I will wake in the night screaming.
I have not yet, I am amazed to say.
Where does this urge
To make music
Come from?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jim Stone: my muse.

[FJohnSharp]

Reciprocity Effects by Geoff Bouvier

I am determined by and will change from a list___
...........................................................................................
.................------...................................................................
...---faced evasions....................................
----.....................................................
....----a fervor:
"........................................---backed.....................
...........................................................of..........................
.-----............................................................
..........of......................................................"

I wonder if in order to get the prose poems they had t take this one--like a package deal.

[jim stone]

I will wake in the night screaming!

I am inspired:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will wake in the night screaming.
All this, the trite and the evil,
The base and the self-serving,
The bills, the aches, the wretched tomorrows,
The regretted yesterdays,
The struggling now;
All the wrongs justified with the jujutsu of blinkered vision,
The bread and circuses,
The asleep at the wheel and the hamburger made of and by them,
The lives of JerrySpringer-esque proportion,
The strange joke that is life, the careening to annihilation,
And the children, o the children;
My beloved cat, unknowingly mortal,
The indignity of my aging, the loss of love,
The regaining of it amid absurdity,
The insanity at the helm,
The world tearing at its own throat
For God's sake, for godsake:
I swear
I will wake in the night screaming.
I have not yet, I am amazed to say.
Where does this urge
To make music
Come from?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jim Stone: my muse.

Well, if I inspired this poem, my life hasn't
been a total waste.

Here's one that's as heavy as poems get; the faint
of heart had best turn back now, while there's still
time.


Burning Ghat

Air black with seared flesh stench
And shimmering heat.
From a blazing pyre sticks a smoking foot.
Dogs quarrel over bones and bits of meat
While round the sizzling torso ragged attendants go,
Turning it with poles.
No camera! shouts a holyman sitting on the wall,
Holding a teacup.
I show him my empty hands.
A corpse on a litter is carried to a pyre,
Round head lolling under the shroud.

And they hustled him into the elevator on a litter,
Pressing the oxygen mask to his face.
Sometimes God needs more angels in heaven, she said.
Last night God took your father.
Later they said he went to Europe.
Here Death is at last!

I go to the pyre
And take the corpse's head between my hands,
Grasping through the white shroud its deadness.
No! the holyman cries
And I step back again.
A small boy,
Shaved head gleaming through the smoky light,
Walks by me holding a flaming wand of straw
To light the funeral pyre.

[Nanohedron]

Well, if I inspired this poem, my life hasn't
been a total waste.

Why, thank you!

And I'm published! FJohnSharp sez so.

[FJohnSharp]

[quote="Nanohedron
And I'm published! FJohnSharp sez so. [/quote]

I wouldn't put it the top of my CV if I were you.

[Reyburnwhistles]

Knowing nothing shuts the iron gates.
The new love opens them.

The sound of the gates opening
wakes the beautiful woman asleep.

Kabir says, FANTASTIC!!!!
Don't let a chance like this go by.

Kabir

[Tak_the_whistler]

The veil
ripped
now we
one
with the
Father

[jim stone]

Rishikesh, 1972

I bought a shawl in the market this morning,
Made of coarse grey wool with crimson stripes,
But do I throw it over my left shoulder or my right?
It always falls down.
I read the Upanishads
And meditate for hours by the Ganges,
But sometimes it is very cold!
The little birds hop trembling in the wind.
Oh Brahman, breath of the universe,
I hunt you even in the freezing moments.
Rise in my heart like a speckled fish
In the winter river.
Swallow this big of grain I offer you--
my self.