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42421 year ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
Here is an orchestra of forty-two -
not too many instruments nor too few.
What happened to the sixteen violins?
Each one has blistered varnish, streaks of soot.
Some reeds and horns have injuries as well.
But many shine and show no sign of harm.
Tonight there is a problem with the score -
the pages disarrayed and on the floor.
We look to the conductor - shreds of light
press in upon the darkness where she stands.
She stands with head bowed down for much too long.
A singer walks on stage - has this been planned?
And the conductor lifts her head and hands.
There will be music. There will be a song.
FallFall1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
Something fell. How could a sound so loud
have been a dream? Yet how could a sound
so loud have left a silence thick as this?
There is so little sound you might be deaf.
You say, "hello," softly, to the dark.
You hear your voice clearly through the air.
The lighted clock says four A.M.
Did something fall? It could have been a dream.
It may have been the picture in the hall.
Why did you hang it with a single nail?
Or was it something not so near as that,
whose size and mass you cannot say?
Was it here in the city, a block away,
a mile? There would be sirens, surely.
Or was it something both near and far -
did a world slip dow
Cool BluesI'm stopping at the stop signs,Cool Blues9 months ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
I'm signaling my turns.
I am trying to be cool,
I know about what burns.
I'm older than my daddy,
I'm not walking in his shoes.
He ate his milk and honey,
and you know he paid his dues.
Green glass on the sidewalk
that I don't always go around -
because my sole is solid
I just hear a crunching sound.
I sit at my favorite table,
it's the one where you are too -
I love to sit and listen
as you tell me what is new.
Soldiers on the street,
moon in the sky -
owl in a tree
getting ready to fly.
I hear voices in my head
as I fall asleep at night. &#
WhisperWhisper1 year ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
I went to the zoo and let some wild things out.
That was a whisper - do not make me shout.
I kept on driving when the road ran out.
That was a whisper - do not make me shout.
I erased my book and tore the pages out.
That was a whisper - do not make me shout.
I love my life but with a trace of doubt.
Can you hear me whisper? Do not make me shout.
Wild Place BluesThe place I live is wild, babe,Wild Place Blues2 years ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
and that is not just talk.
There are rattlesnakes in the bushes,
so be careful where you walk.
The place I live is wild, babe,
the dreams are ten feet tall.
They carry you just like a child,
if you can sleep at all.
The place I live is wild, babe,
there are poets on the street.
You may hear things never heard before
from anyone you meet.
The place I live is wild, babe,
no map can show the way.
But I will tell you if you ask me,
and you could come today.
You say your heart is wild, babe,
you don't know what to do.
Well, I think the place I'm living
might be just the place for you.
Getting Worse BluesI was broke when I met you, baby,Getting Worse Blues2 years ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
and now I'm deep in debt.
I was broke when I met you, baby,
and now I'm deep in debt.
They say love is full of riches
but I haven't seen them yet.
I was tired when I met you, baby,
and now I'm tireder still.
I was tired when I met you, baby,
and now I'm tireder still.
To get up in the morning
takes a great force of will.
I was sorry when I met you, baby,
and I am sorrier now.
I was sorry when I met you, baby,
and I am sorrier now.
I don't think this love is working
like it should somehow.
MissG'day.Miss2 years ago in Free Verse More Like This
Miss 'you're poetry'
walking in slo-mo,
fire-praising-tree.
'How do,
you do that voodoo to me',
Frankly, Sinatra,
sing your magic boat,
gently down the stream.
just for the sake of words,
just for the sake of it.
AbruptIn many moons,Abrupt3 years ago in Free Verse More Like This
away from here,
had lived a girl named Guinevere.
She walked the fields,
and picked locked locks,
while treading in her favourite socks.
Her words of choice were short, concise,
And that did come as some surprise.
To some.
Under WaterUnder Water1 year ago in Traditional Fixed Forms More Like This
I jumped and then I sank too deep.
I do know how to hold my breath
but the surface is too far away.
It happened on an August day.
I should have drawn a deeper breath.
I jumped and then I sank too deep.
A cruise for tourists round the bay -
a chance to sit and catch one's breath.
But now the surface is too far away.
The young crew with a sense of play
anchored for us to swim, no less.
But when I jumped I sank too deep.
I will not exhale, will not inhale,
I hold my breath, I hold my breath,
though the surface is too far away.
I break the surface. All is okay.
I take a breath, I take a breath.
And who has never sunk too deep
a
In the heartIn the heart2 years ago in Free Verse More Like This
In the heart, doubts
In the doubts, a small room
In the small room, a table
On the table, a map being soaked by rain
On the table
In the small room
In the doubts
In the heart
Love and Science BluesI had love and I had science,Love and Science Blues1 year ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
I thought those would be enough.
I had love and I had science,
I thought those would be enough.
Then the bottom fell out
and push came to shove.
They say love is never-ending,
and they are telling it true.
They say love is never-ending,
and they are telling it true.
But love can get so tired
it does not know what to do.
Science always has an answer,
or it says one can be found.
Science always has an answer,
or it says one can be found.
But your world may go to pieces
before they track it down.
I got no plan, I got no program,
and no comforter is near.
I got no plan, I got no program,
and no c
Streak of Bad Luck BluesI believe I am havingStreak of Bad Luck Blues1 year ago in Songs & Lyrics More Like This
a bad luck streak.
Yes, I believe I am having
a bad luck streak.
I went off a cliff on Monday
and I've been falling all week.
On Tuesday I was singing
a song that I wrote.
Tuesday I was singing
a song that I wrote.
But it went up too high -
I could not hit that note.
On Wednesday my lawyer
called me up on the phone.
Wednesday my lawyer
called me on the phone.
He said my case was hopeless
and he was going home.
On Thursday I thought
that things would be fine.
Thursday I was thinking
that things would be fine.
Then a six I had my eye on
turned out to be a nine.
On Friday I heard a trumpet
blo
The WorkersTheir happiness was amputated upon waking,The Workers1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
before the first fibres of sunlight trickled across
the cities early morning traffic,
at the bus stop the flesh carved robots wait,
stone faced, briefcase-anchored
with black and grey suits they stare so straight
unblinking,
forming neat mechanical rows
I followed the trail of the moon across the skyWait. What smells like blue? Do you hear it, too,I followed the trail of the moon across the sky1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
or is it in my head with the brainworms?
I lost Ladybug Joanie in the abyss, I told her
not to look.
Some days are not days at all, but extensions
of night.
Some people never see the day.
I see it, but it's always far away, just
out of reach.
Sometimes blue smells like you.
Sometimes, time does not exist.
Sometimes, I do not exist.
BirdtalkI know that the Starman will be waiting in the sky, butBirdtalk1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
I don't think about it under these fluorescent lights
I remember when Wal-Mart wasn't a hospital, the world
wasn't a graveyard, and my spine wasn't ripped out
Didn't the birds used to talk? I seem to remember that
Thom And The BikersThat thundered crescendo maulsThom And The Bikers2 years ago in Free Verse More Like This
those natural sounds more diverse and prolific than silence,
leaving the bruised ear to discover a muted state of shock,
The detonated eardrum stilled. Whitman sought the road
he dreamed all his Americans might tread, a road leading them
to the spaciousness of spirit, transmuted to fit
the form of humanity, heroic in the face of fate's immensity.
In California, the poet could but observe the progress
of this latter-day horde, deplore their defiant uniform of despair,
while envying their surrender to momentum.
HeadacheMy problem is a headacheHeadache1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
No, not a headache; an explosion inside my brain
A wailing, a crying, a lost soul's screams of despair
A jackhammer serenade, a machine gun sonata
Black canvases painted in a frenzy by a madwoman
Darkness at noon, dreams flying by in fast-forward
Crippled children trying to run from a sharp-toothed monster
Confusion of languages, religions, philosophies, all idiot blather
Chainsaw grinding of bone, packs of mad dogs yowling and howling
You see, don't you?
My problem is a headache
Always YouOpen my head, reach in, see what you pull outAlways You1 year ago in Free Verse More Like This
Nothing but images of you
You in the Hallowed Hollow, you in fancy dress
Flying with the crows through the winter snow
It's always only you
You're on my TV selling cars, fighting mutant worms on Mars
You're in my fridge behind the juice, on jar lids just a bit too loose
You're in my closet wearing my jeans, somehow they fit you better than me
You're in my car, you're in the air, you're in my dreams in your underwear
Open my arm, my vein, see what I bleed out
Nothing but platelets of you
You in the spotlight in New York, you dressed all in white
Healing, working, dancing, dreaming
It's
Sta.sh
