Category Archives: Poetry

Lame attempts at poetry, generally written to please myself or as a form of self-prescribed therapy.

Final Thoughts

What will you ponder 
When providence calls
And you must answer soon -- 
Passing beyond mortal life
And leaving all else behind

Concern for loved-ones remaining?
Freedom from sorrow and longing?

Fear that there's yet more to come?
Hope for what is yet to come?

Regret for things left undone?
Satisfaction in successes hard won?

Hot anger and spite?
Or calmness and quiet?

 

A Penny For Your Art?

Would you pay a penny for a poet's rhyming words,
That sent your soul up soaring in the heav'ns among the birds?
Or the beauty of the artist who had captured morning's light,
Painting a young mother who has nursed a child all night? 
And don't forget the music that inspires, calms or thrills, 
Took hours and hours of practice just to master simple trills.

So please do not insult us and demean a pricelesswork work,
With worthless bits of copper tossed with pity in your look.
The slighting little tokens meant to ease your inner shame
Are little more 
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Free Range Kids

Not quite feral and yet not tame
Undisturbed by hovering parents
Who watch quietly from a distance
And see the joy of discovery

Mostly free they wander the landscape
Exploring the wonder about them
Touching and tasting and seeing
Excitement in the plainest of things

Pushing limits and boundaries
Taking risks and meeting danger
Taught by nature to judge and adapt
Learning lessons no school could teach

Buzzword Bingo

Established by the vision board,
To trim the fat and make us lean,
Empowerment across the staff,
Sharpen swords and keep them clean,
Integrate and harmonize,
Seamless through the Enterprise,
Leverage strengths and globalize,
Responsive teams that synergize,
Framed in modularity,
With built-in scalability,
Lulls me to tranquility,
Of somnolent serenity.

Wanting

I wanted once a thousand things,
That seem never to be mine.
My preference doesn't merit much,
To fate I am resigned.

My course in life seems rigid set,
To shores I'd wouldn't see.
Blown away from hopes and dreams,
Created just by me.

So drifting fast in currents swift,
I'm tempted to give in.
And dream no more or cherish wants,
But follow with the wind.

Gypsy

Wandering widely with no fixed home,
Roots too shallow to hold through storms,
Suck sustinance without them.

Drift with the tide or run with the wind,
Scatter remnants and pollinate in passing,
Leaving a footprint or impression but no more.

The approach of comfort heralds change,
Pushed to stretch and shift again,
Never quite able to really rest.

Pause for a while with what can be carried,
Settle in and carve a place called home,
A refuge from storms while it lasts.

Malice Toward None

Rancor and tumult – spices too strongly used
Rancid and putrid but liberally applied
Flavor discourse and inflame
Destroying the middle
 
Division and anger brandished with flair
Garnering headlines and attention
Pandering to basest of instincts
Enriching the masters

This giant of men though humanly flawed
Had hope for a more perfect future
He spoke of reconciliation 
He would not approve

We squander the promise he fought for
Many men's blood spilled for unity
We ignore their heartfelt pleas
We polarize and divide

Reconsider the dangerous course we have set
Speak with softness and listen much more
Seek to understand 
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Let it Lie

A monster that devours peace
Fosters weakness, pains increase
Draining Joy from all around
Stealing smiles wherever found
Slumbers now just out of sight
Banished using all my might

What e're you do, don't stir the beast
Or give it reason in the least
From it's lair to venture out
Again to rampage, cry and shout
Just let the sleeping demon be
So I can heal the happy me.







Helpless

How do you soothe an injured soul just clinging on to hope,
Who just was dealt a deadly blow and is struggling to cope,
With private loss and shattered dreams all ruined in one blow,
And anguish, guilt and sorrow grave that none can ever know,
A  frightful future looming large looks nothing like the recent past,
Deep wondering if strength's enough and endurance can outlast.

While looking on I see the pain I nearly once went through,
Wishing against reason there was something I could do,
But knowing that there is no way to really comprehend,
Or anything that 
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