Flowers Of Pain
From the seeds of despair
Understanding can grow
Displayed in gardens
To those who will never know
Those feelings
Hope distant they remain
Arranged for them
Flowers of pain
06/17/19
(Based on a roll of the Taylor Mali's Metaphor Dice that he did on Joh Fugelsang's "Tell Me Everything" on SiriusXM 's Insight channel, broadcasted February 13, 2019. The metaphor they chose was "I am a desperate trophy'. Each guest poet on that program recited a poem they made up on the spot. I decided to do the same on February 14, 2019, the day I listened to that show.)
I am a desperate trophy
Longing to be possessed
Praised and put on the mantle
Gazed and gawked at
Envied and admired daily
However, no one will compete
To win me...
I'm not a game worth playing.
Imagination
Oxygen of creation
Our breath... poetic
***********************************************
Where am I now on the road that winds
Gatekeepers motioned to me
Urged me to enter their world
I denied impulse,
I buried curiosity--
Fought with conscience....
Still on this straight and narrow.
Offers made through storybook eyes
On the shelves that keep
Pages turned toward me
Urged me to enter their world
I feigned interest,
I faked erudition--
Fought with conscience....
Still on the straight and narrow.
Dreams with hints dropped in my head
In the sleep that confines
Visions came up to me
Urged me to enter their world
I ignored prophecy,
I dissuaded symbolism--
Fought with conscience....
Still on this straight and narrow.
Classroom courage made its stand
In the school that drains
Teachers lectured to me
Urged me to enter their world
I defied wisdom,
I decried knowledge--
Fought with conscience....
Still on this straight and narrow.
Familial wars on neutral ground
In the house that hides
Sides cried to me
Urged me to enter their world
I disowned loyalty,
I dissipated love--
Fought with conscience....
Still on this straight and narrow.
Crowding walls took their places
In the room that fears
Voices were bribing me
Urged me to enter their world
I resisted temptation,
I rejected greed--
Fought with conscience....
Still on this straight and narrow.
Clean-cut saviors on their way
On the streets that hate
Psalms waved to me
Urged me to enter their world
I repelled faith,
I rebuffed salvation--
Fought with conscience....
Still on this straight and narrow.
Sinful masters laid me down
On the bed that heals
Bodies unveiled to me
Urged me to enter their world
I protested lust,
I repudiated ecstasy--
Fought with conscience....
Still on this straight and narrow.
Where am I at this point
On the road that longs
Conscience answers me
Urged me to enter no world
I detested this invasion,
I revoked its license--
Fought with conscience....
Still on this straight and narrow...
Always on the straight and narrow.
Balancing delicately on emotion
One more expression you'll tip
You felt too much up 'til now
How much more can you permit?
There are letters crowding a shoe-box
Waiting restlessly to make their trip
Do they speak of a long-dead past
To some allusions you haven't gripped
What keeps you from sending them
Why keep these words so tight-lipped
Come to terms with the fear, child
Sooner or later we all must sail that ship.
Pools of hate at your feet
Wrung from your desperate hands
They clench as you bend reality
In your head to fit your demands
The blood of your bitter torment
Flowing from the body of an icon
He is the target of your rage
The one you have seeked revenge on
Will his death seal the vault
Or would that add to the hole
All dying is temporary, my lady
Forever will last guilt within your soul.
Do you feel the loss of faith
That dwells under humiliation
There are no fruits on the tree
That was fed by your degradation
Do you feel a chill of remorse
For this script you have wrote
Will this evict all the demons
Be worthy of the time you devote
Consider the sweat on your brow
At what conclusion did you arrive?
Those feelings of hate are still there
All the labor-- the icon is still alive.
Reminders of the horrid past
Show up on your lovers' faces
Words meant for minor pain
Turn back some virulent pages
The ink is still fresh and clean
And the paper gleams flush white
From the margins a mist rises
You turn pale at this ominous sight
All she's done exposed in sky-writing
The message seen is still so unclear
Slowly you breathe in its meaning
But as words it doesn't come anywhere near.
Seas of disarray toss your mind
As this mystery grows ever vague
What you knew breaks its chains
Each piece falls away to stravage
Grasping for your scattered consciousness
Trying to assemble this evasive puzzle
All the pieces look the same shape
Perseverance and sanity is being guzzled
About to give up all dangling hope
The connection suddenly becomes plain
The answer lies within the victim
Time has come to end this outdated game.
The abuser was within the mind
Fists were fighting inside the brain
The fault was lying not in the scars
But wrapped and tied into a name
You made yourself the typical victim
Kept untold yesterday's violent truth
Held from others the whole story
That's when shame had secured its roots
At last the tale has been told
Here privacy will be guarded
Look around, this story's not unique
But its unveiling has only been started....
Crimson carpet
Always unfurled
2000 dreams
Of Disney World
A fantasy
For wistful some
2000 trips
To the Magic Kingdom
Everyday with Belle and the Beast
In your honor they host a feast
Special guests Cogsworth and Lumiere
Mrs. Potts and Chip also there!
Crimson carpet
Always unfurled
2000 dreams
Of Disney World
2000 dreams
For one came true
What would you trade
For this to be
You?
2000 dreams of Disney World
2000 dreams of Disney World
2000 dreams of Disney World
For one came true
For one came true
2000 dreams of Disney World
It's a small world after all
It’s a small, small world!!
Come on, step into the light, let me take in one more sight
I shall miss you when you depart, but we have time before that starts
Come sit and let's talk awhile, all those roads and so many miles
We went through too much together, drained every sun, defied ill-weather
So the last thing I need to see is the sign of you leaving me
But, in time, this pain will pass while I'm turning ivory into glass.
Come here, let me stare a bit, especially when the moonlight hits
Haven't seen you this way before, always for granted.... but not anymore
Come closer, right into your eyes, so sky blue I could forever fly
Why didn't I notice this deep, this other world, this infinite sweep
So the last thing I had to know was how much farther I could go
But, in time, this pain will pass while I'm turning ivory into glass.
Come forth, tell me every secret, every silent joy, every last regret
We haven't talked for so very long, sometimes I felt you didn't belong
Come near, let me testify now: No one else ever knew how
How much I loved you here, hearing all my delights and fears
So the last thing I want to hold is the notion of stories left untold
But, in time, this pain will pass while I'm turning ivory into glass.
Come down, don't leave me alone, there's much more to be shown
Your all, we have never explored-- think of those minds we'd reward
Come back, we can begin anew, rewrite mysteries, change the clues
But, alas, I must let you fade, everything that must be was made
So the last thing I will allow is your freedom after these vows
Yes, in time, this pain will pass while I'm turning ivory into glass.
Forget about
Red Wave conversion—
Foster reduction of
The silent aversion.
Can't find my way around this house
The rooms are continually rearranged
Every morning I wake with the sun
More and more I feel further estranged
A copy of the floor plans, I copped
All the lines on the print were blue
So I keep playing this blind man's bluff
While I continue to wear two left shoes.
The animals rely on instinctive intellect
To perform their duties in this world
While I must subscribe to hit and miss
In order to have my role unfurled
Climbing trees with red herrings as leaves
Entering caves of suspicion with a strobe
Sailing questioning seas with concentric currents
Searching for home on an anamorphic globe.
The books I've read, poems I wrote
All in the name of defining the ego
If they were to tell me what and why
Their messages have all gone incognito
Looked to the sky and wondered why
The answers couldn't pour down as rain
No use in asking assorted gods for help
I don't want to know Andromeda's strain.
Still I sit within a room of open doors
Each one as jet-black dark as the next
Besides them all is a book of directions
It's written in Confidence-- I can't read the text
Slowly spinning, deciding which way to ad-lib
Any step I attempt might well be my last
So, I recommend to myself to do nothing
Keep hidden, wait for this moment to pass.
Haven't found my place in the working-class
Would never let some job define me
Maybe it's because I retreated from them
Before responsibility set sight upon me
Pink-slips or conflicts were never a problem
Unless you count the ones from within
Always looked over my shoulder for eyes
People make so many judgements with them.
Is satisfaction truly within the grasp
Of those seeking this holiest grail
Some will have reached its golden rim
While most will fall short of failure
For me, satisfaction will never exist
So, maybe I'll get the next best thing
Go out and claim the ceiling and floor
That finding some meaning will bring.
Saxophone plays a sultry tune,
Two lovers make images in the moon,
Autos trace lines of the highway
As I stand alone in the gateway....
All is peaceful and serene
Upon this lonely stage,
I'm afraid to get down
To upset this proud heritage....
You, midnight, have graced my skyline
With a blanket of cool ebony,
Made with the finest blends of silk
Only worthy of one with your celebrity.
Spoken words of wisdom
The Sermon On The Mount
Took a vicious right cross
Now it's down for the count
Morality now wears
A bloody crown of thorns
While the red wave riders
Unveil their hungry horns
The new order emerges
Through sulfur, flames and bile
One face grins acceptance
Other feigns denial
Agents of hate and scorn
Evangelical glee
The Sermon On The Mount
Means not a thing to thee
Quote the Bible daily
Justify the Crusade
See the bodies of Love
On pikes in a parade
Snowflakes descend silent
But moments to decide
If the red wave riders
Will rule the countryside
One voice can turn the tide
Best time to sing the blues
Sing loud in harmony
Time has come to change hues
07-02-18
The Great Divide
In what truth do you abide
Along the Great Divide?
They're different everyday
Which color are you beside
On the Great Divide?
Each has a shade of gray
How many laughed or cried
At the Great Divide?
Can't keep either at bay
How many have been denied
Escaping the Great Divide?
Count how many still stay
Is there a map or a guide
Through the Great Divide?
Some will lead you astray
How many staffers have lied
During the Great Divide?
Their buts clog the ashtray
Who's felt shame or pride
For the Great Divide?
It depends on the day
Who is the Jekyll and Hyde
In this Great Divide?
All faces on display
Which wave should one ride
Upon the Great Divide?
The one above the fray
Who will take the big stride
Across the Great Divide?
One without feet of clay
How many leaders have tried
Changing the Great Divide?
None—afraid to lose pay
Anyone measure how wide
Is this, our Great Divide?
Well, this I will say...
The Great Divide can cease
By opening our minds and hearts
Maybe, then, we will realize
As people, we're not that far apart—
Some are trying hard to
Make us fear our differences
And to be sure we will
Forget our similarities.
06-23-18
