Poetry Corner

[JerseyJohnny]

I remember a couple folks mentioning we should have a poetry thread, so I'm starting one. Mods, if this isn't the right place for it, please move the thread where it should be - thanks!
This thread is for you to post your own poetry or poetry of others that you think will benefit those who read them.

Here is my first poem that I will share to get the ball started. I think it is very pertinent to recent developments in these message boards and to peoples' feelings and attitudes, including my own:

Sirens In The Night
by Ogviolet

Here we sit at 2 a. m.
wondering once again if we will
be here tomorrow, wondering
how we can hate each other
so much

We watch our satellite TV and
just when we think we've got the
world in our hands, our lives
and existence are in
danger once more

Here we sit in out ignorance, our
world is the only one we know and
we don't even try to understand those
that live on our planet yet
outside our world

We take no time to stop, to
see that the things we value
are the very things keeping
us all apart with our accusing
hypocritical fingers

We sit here trying to help
where no help is wanted, taking
the most precious things
that we were trying
to preserve

The flocks don't know
the herd doesn't know
but the ones who do, fight
like jealous 5 year
olds in the sandbox

We sit here hoping
some praying, some wishing,
some longing+loving+hating
but it might just be
too late now to save anyone
so you'd better save yourself

sirens in the night
facades in the day
play the game, keep everything
running just as it should
instead of living like this
could be the last day
of your life . . . and this

could be the last day . . .

of your life.

[SuperRad]

I like the idea of a poetry thread! And in hopes that more people will start posting their poetry, I'll post some of my lame poetry.

I used to like to write cryptic verse-libre (Archie and Metihable inspired) slam style poetry like this:

To My Friends, My Family, My Galaxy, and Myself.


They call them weeds but dandelions
Make the world a whole lot more beautiful
As the bright yellow puff of soft petals
Bobbles gently to an unknown rhythm
And a field of dead grass
Suddenly becomes a dream world
And when it begins to seed
The dreams could all come true
A weed is just a plant where you don’t want it to be.
I’m not where I want to be.
Pluck me from my soil and cast me aside
So the beautiful people can have their way
And so can I.

The stars are small from far away
But to them you’re not so big
And on them, other forms of life
Who know their place, and yours
Are laughing
From morphed green mouths
At the little blind speck
Of dust
Floating aimlessly through the air

A speck of dust can float forever
And no one could ever see it
Care to notice it
Want to be near it
And when the sun blares
And the rays shine through
The dark that seems determined
Sometimes it is visible
Whether or not it wishes to be seen.

And when I was still in a band, I liked to write cryptic lyrics like this that only made sense to me very late at night (It's about being a silly superstitious little kid with parent troubles):


Where is my Night Life?

So just what exactly has been going on,
And what’s been happening to me?
When we used to be young and sweet
Then did we ever believe?
Now the buildings climb too high up there
Like walls with no end in sight
And our jaded little planet
Is too cluttered with intelligent life
And will we ever believe again?
Before we’ve come to our end
And we’re staring up into the sky with fear
That they’ll come and take us out of here
Take us to somewhere better than this
For our work to disappear

The Martians landed just last week,
We could watch it all from the streets,
And I jumped off all the high buildings
Just to try to save the world,
To try to find some sleep
I remember this road from before
The potholes that shook us all over
And it’s importance had long since faded
From that time he couldn’t save her.
And they had assured me they hadn’t come far
They had landed from a nearby star
And they said, ‘there is no such thing
As intelligent life,
You all are just thinking you are.’

I’d been feeling the need to run
And I begged them to please let me come
And they laughed when they saw
The tears in my eyes and they went
Back to where they were from
And I climbed the highest buildings once more
All the facts then I tried to ignore
The highest buildings were only three feet high
And the fall only made my feet sore.
So I wandered the road like I had
The day he had made her feel bad
And the potholes were still there
But they just couldn’t even
Shake me any more.

Also, a poem about my goldfish.


Gill Manfish and the Whimsical Terrarium


Gill Manfish had a terrarium
Where he kept a couple men
And every night he’d watch it’s glow
From his water bed

And every morning when they arose
They’d make an offering of a pinch
Of fishy flakes just to say thanks
For being such a kind fish

He’d watch them over with buggy eyes
And fawn over their peachy skin
While every day they would smile
And they would fawn over him.

Oh, he admired all their innocence,
How they really seemed to believe,
They were in control of Mr. Manfish,
When they were silly human beings.

[Kasdeja]

Drone

Munching popcorn and watching the world pass by,
Fake smiles and empty hello’s uttered in sheer habit.
Idiotic ramblings from passersby, droning and repetitious.
Asinine comments as if someone actually cares.

Day in, day out, same routine over and again.
Perky, smiling, programmed so nicely.
I fit right into your world, seemingly perfect.
Like a puzzle piece that has been altered to fit.

Yet my mind aches to be free of this place.
This Peyton’s Place of petty rumors and happenings.
Peeking over shoulders and reading incognito.
Automated voices from security doors keep me awake.

[AutoPilate]

"The Changing of the Hafaza"

Fire sinks
Into the far-off curved sand
While balls of noble gases float in the bloodstream

Clay, decay, scorpion tails and dragon wings
Poised like so many pointy-eared archers
Waiting for the signal to fire at will

So shove a finger, a microphone, a fist!
Into the puckering anus of history:
The initial resistance, the buttery ease of the rest of the way,
The mad shrieking--
Yes! express orgiastic delight by yawping ciphers
And algebraic formulae
Into or against the hot winds of progress
In tune or discordant with the flatus of acquiescence

Explore the smoothness of the drop
The venomous walls of the universe
Climb onto the hollow fang, the forked tongue
That tastes the air and creates

Blink in idiotic awe
At the moon that hovers overhead
Original Sin
The first of seven gates
The olives and pomegranates underfoot
Mealy stew spiced with flakes of dead skin

Weave the web, the flesh that crawls
Like tense needle-thin legs across primordial seas
Skittering above the chaos
The head that swallows the tail
The steaming carcass that defines heaven and earth
Clay, decay, beehives and pressed leaves in a bronze mortar
Leaden plates and bowls that kill

Fire rises
Out of the distant curved sand

[gelb9]

Alright, I'll bite.. here's one of mine:


LAKE

Together quickly they rode
The open night
Spreading before them
Fear building with each step..
What had happened?
How had it been allowed?
Pace quickening now
Breath falling harder, faster
Cool night air
Tearing at this sweat stained brow
Though, Malevolent and looming
Oily and still
It stood next to him.
As the hours passed
Rounded fingers
Spreading from heart to shore
And back again.
Over and over, a cycle
Mockery and mimicry
The soft gentle lapping
Immediately gave way
To Sinister voices
Echoing throughout the ripples
Contorting his sanity
To do their will and bidding.
Ah, again, the silence became too loud
This time he saw the clouds
Felt his heart floating
All the while not realizing--
From his hands her blood,
From it's hands his blood.

[AutoPilate]

Very nice!

[AutoPilate]

Aurora Means Dawn

And in your eyes I find
Indiff'rent light:
The fires that raged
Parsecs away
Millennia ago

The studied, unknowable arcs of the universe
Have nothing
On the Big Bang
Your warm curves create
Each and every picosecond

Peeking,
Just over the horizon,
The pulsar of your cunning wink, mad glint!
Peaking,
Over the crests, hoarse sighs,
Hot vowels that sound so like
"I love you" and "I love you so much!"

Bathing in the nova of your ev'ry touch

O! what beat this
That slinks its sinuous way
Into my melting heart?

What dominant rhythm this
That makes hungry magma
Of my quivering extremities?

How thirsty my tongue
That would flip about your receptive mouth,
Scraping free of planetoid plaque
Your perfect constellation of teeth

Finding in each loving jiggle
Another reason to breathe, to feed the haggard spirit,
To fuel a starving white dwarf
With your beatific light.

[agent_fondue]

We have one less day than we did yesterday.


I don't mind you don't know where your going.

I want to go with you.



I'd love to change the world, but



I look farther than I see

I'm so aware of where I am, but I don't know where that is.



I thought I was the only one moving in slow motion

This place is paradise, I'm sure.



I do the best imitation of myself.



Wait for me, I'm nothing on my own.

[agent_fondue]

The Things to make me whole again.



Looking back, it seems so clear now.

You could rule the world if you wanted to.

And yeah i'm lost, but maybe i'll be fine.

Tell me you feel just like I do.

Make me laugh again. I need you around.

I like your eyes, they say your true.

You have so many scars and you hide them like they mean nothing.

Tell me you feel just like I do.

Excuse me if I tried and failed.

I confess I was such a mess.

Will you try to water this down?

What could be, wouldnt be now.

And tell me you feel just like I do.

[agent_fondue]

I never learned enough to know

Its almost summertime and the wind is blowing outside.

You tell me these things and say you know I will understand.
I see the way your face has changed and the clouds are building.

Do you fake a smile when you dodge the blows?
I wouldn’t have.
I don’t understand.

I know there is a reason to change.
You think about the good times but you live with the bad.
So you harden your shell, and you slowly lose yourself.

I know you get so lonely in this crowd.

But, I don’t understand.

[nobackspacebutton]

These are from a few years ago...but here are just a few:

Our Neverending Story
You say you''ll never leave, and that I will never lose you.
But that doesn''t mean tonight won''t be your last.
I don''t take one day of our love for granted,
But just in case it all gets ripped away,
And something goes wrong in this dream,
You''ll know we''ll always be together.

Our Neverending story began the day we met,
And will never compose its last page.
If love surpasses distance and time,
Surely death cannot block its path.
A light so bright doesn''t burn out in the darkness,
Eternal love doesn''t fade into complete nothingness.
A feeling so strong doesn''t just disappear.

I treasure each second we can share,
I memorize each feeling you give me.
What we have will never end.
Even when our physical bodies are gone,
Our spirits will sing our same song.
Soulmates of this lifetime and more to come,
Always and forever, you''ll be my only one.

Copyright ©2007 Bethann Jackson


Dedicated
Before I found you I was lost and destroyed
In a world where only hate was deployed
Darkness surrounded me, all colors had faded
As I fell deeper into a death that seemed to be fated

My heart was giving away to its final beat
My soul felt to have reached its ultimate defeat
Then you took me deep inside your soul
And gave me the greatest love I'd ever know

Never was a love so perfect
Never was a love so free
Never could the timing be better
Never could someone take you from me

I never remembered love feeling this strong before
With that I know, everything we are is worth fighting for
You're so perfect for me in so many ways
Falling for you was the best choice I've ever made


Copyright ©2007 Bethann Jackson


Your Bloody Valentine
I truely am your bloody valentine
You said you loved me and then you killed me
Right through the heart, you thrust your sword
All the while screaming you loved me.
You twisted it all so that I would believe
then let it all crash down on me
Glass broke through my skin
Knives carved into my flesh
My bones all shook
Then crumbled to dust
Those moments where our love was true
It was all a lie to you
Pain, grief, torment was felt
Here I am, your bloody valentine
your one love for all of time
The waters of my life tinted crimson forever
I sweat my own blood
Here I am, your loving bloody valentine
Here to haunt your dreams
for all of time.

Copyright ©2007 Bethann Jackson

[betz28]

the bud light label

last night i was sitting on my back porch drinking a bud light, peeling off the label of a somewhat lukewarm bottle and suddenly had a revelation. the label peeled so easily as though it was not really attached to the bottle at all. it just molded to the shape of the bottle.

my strange mind could not help but compare myself to the bud light label...i sat there for like 15 minutes staring at the bottle. yeah, i could not help but think to myself that i was a little bit crazy but let me try to explain. i think sometimes that people do not have a clue as to where their life is headed. we all just mold and adapt to the situation that we are put in in life.

we are like the bud light label...not attached to anything and can easily be stripped away of what is comfortable on our lives. i realize there is so much more i could do with my life and I do not need to sit around and just adapt in this environment...i need to make a difference.

[nobackspacebutton]

the bud light label

last night i was sitting on my back porch drinking a bud light, peeling off the label of a somewhat lukewarm bottle and suddenly had a revelation. the label peeled so easily as though it was not really attached to the bottle at all. it just molded to the shape of the bottle.

my strange mind could not help but compare myself to the bud light label...i sat there for like 15 minutes staring at the bottle. yeah, i could not help but think to myself that i was a little bit crazy but let me try to explain. i think sometimes that people do not have a clue as to where their life is headed. we all just mold and adapt to the situation that we are put in in life.

we are like the bud light label...not attached to anything and can easily be stripped away of what is comfortable on our lives. i realize there is so much more i could do with my life and I do not need to sit around and just adapt in this environment...i need to make a difference.

whoa

[AutoPilate]

The Passion of the Crust

Wounds of pepperoni slices
Scattered 'cross the twelve-inch disk,
Deep dish, deep! Deliver crisis,
Else you take a whiplash risk.

Having tossed the doughy crown up,
Stoke the fire and tend the heat.
Catch tomato sauce in clay cup,
Bread and fish and sprinkled meat.

Now, next Station, on the double!
Call came in an hour ago.
Shredded cheeses form a bubble,
Garnish with oregano.

Cardboard box, the secret garden:
Martyr's arteries don't harden.

[betz28]

the bud light label

last night i was sitting on my back porch drinking a bud light, peeling off the label of a somewhat lukewarm bottle and suddenly had a revelation. the label peeled so easily as though it was not really attached to the bottle at all. it just molded to the shape of the bottle.

my strange mind could not help but compare myself to the bud light label...i sat there for like 15 minutes staring at the bottle. yeah, i could not help but think to myself that i was a little bit crazy but let me try to explain. i think sometimes that people do not have a clue as to where their life is headed. we all just mold and adapt to the situation that we are put in in life.

we are like the bud light label...not attached to anything and can easily be stripped away of what is comfortable on our lives. i realize there is so much more i could do with my life and I do not need to sit around and just adapt in this environment...i need to make a difference.

whoa

That really wasn't last night...more like 2 years ago. but yeah, strange feeling.