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Norberto Franco Cisneros Poem
He plays jazz as if he invented it
Arpeggios augmented, minored and majored
Transferring from one chord to another
Like flashes of lightning extracting emotional pearls
all from from such a young mind
One marvels how and from where did this child
Learn to play such complex music
On what spaceship did he arrive?
Where indeed did he come from?
Unbelievable technique emanates from a small child's fingers
Intricate sounds emerge from a mind not yet fully developed
Beats never missed
Always alert guiding his musicians with
a genius seldom heard in a youngster
The stage he commands demands mature efforts
a four foot tall boy towered over by six foot men
well revered in their own musical spheres
show unprecedented respect
Adult grown men don’t bother with children
but the old saying goes, a child shall lead them
Joey leads the way, he knows what he wants and they follow
Like disciples following the master
He plays jazz as if he were on fire
Or a devil chord was chasing him
His repertoire has preceded everything in jazz
New compositions being composed swirl in his head
His fast tunes streak across the ears as if they were ablaze
I asked him why his technical speed seemed to be chasing devils
He gave a shy smile and without a word
Began playing a sublime, improvised melodic ballad
His choice of chords and combination of sounds
Came from somewhere not found in any earthbound soul
pointing to the possibility that he might not be of
any DNA found on Earth
Older musicians were stunned to learn
he was only 10 years old
he said his name was Joey, was born in Indonesia
and taught himself to play at age six
He taught himself to play listening to records of
Louie Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie,
Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Wynton Marsalis and Billy Strayhorn; powerful jazz musicians to grace the jazz landscape
He emerged as a child oddity but quickly became a respected artist
a one of a kind, one of life’s wonderful mysteries, pegged to be an icon
Reminding us of that other genius of whom it was said,
"It will take a thousand years before we see another like him."
From his revered perch in heaven,
Mozart looks down, smiles and says,
“Well, there he is, you’ve got him now.
What are you going to do with him?”
***
Go to youtube>jazz>JoeyAlexander, prepare to be stunned, 14 now, but directs an excellent trio; artistry and maturity will astonish
Copyright © Norberto Franco Cisneros | Year Posted 2015
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Norberto Franco Cisneros Poem
The brook follows the path of least resistance
It does not confront obstacles
It embraces them
Nature knows not war
The landscape is tranquil, peaceful
Nature likes it that way
Rolling shades of green sprinkle the velvet hills with
A myriad display of colorful flowers
Flaunting the multi-hues of the rainbow
The eye follows the brook’s unimpeded meandering path
A Monarch jig-jaggedly flies in glee
Its life will shortly come to an end but
That’s Nature’s way too
A dark brown and brittle dry leaf
Detached by a tender wind
Floats and softly lands on a fallen twig
It remembers where it came from
Clear water caresses the rocks underneath,
Whispering sweet, gurgling, purling sounds
Its watery arms embraces the smooth stones
As it fills the cracks between them
This is Nature making love with passion
Subtleties which go unnoticed to the human eye
Are nevertheless relevant in their spirit
As life unfolds its evolution.
When we make love. who sees us?
Sometimes we don’t even see each other
We often forget that love is tender, giving,
Nurturing, healing and compassionate
Nature knows this –
We should too.
Copyright © Norberto Franco Cisneros | Year Posted 2017
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Norberto Franco Cisneros Poem
How many people with foreboding palpitations
have I seen slip from middle age and slide into old age?
They slither into their last refuge, the dirt hole,
and ignorantly nestle into the forever unknown life stream
The ones who grow old breath by breath, carry a last wish,
that life be sustained one minute more to last long enough to bypass death
in a quick and painless termination of life's struggles
The dead, even the almost dead, at this point know hope is futile
Hope is only for the living, the years brandishing hope
vanished in our last hours of life that dissipated quickly
decaying and filling our last, precious dying seconds
with a revelation that recoiling from death is folly
We are finite beings with an expiration date
Death always triumphant shows no mercy
and leaves no room for hope or idle prayers
it forges forward and onward like a blade mowing grass
At my age, death is my constant companion, I do not shun it
I welcome the old rattler without hesitation or fear
Life and death are just what they are, a before and after selfie,
what happens after that is anybody's guess.
Nothing more, nothing less, and in between the short and long lived years
my hopes were stuffed in plastic grocery shopping bags
I toted them fearlessly but with lofty aspirations of the future
thinking I had more time, as we all do
So I lived my life as a happy-go-lucky tourist in this beautiful world
seeing interesting places but learning people had minimal common sense
were avaricious to a fault, lacked compassion
and were ready to believe the worst of themselves
Questioning has been my guide to understanding this convoluted world,
but what I learned is that it's a war-torn Disneyland in chaos
controlled by wealthy men with a malicious agenda but as a curious visitor
I see man's folly and am sorry to see the suffering we created
The call to for humans to think critically is imperative for survival
knowing my departure is imminent I await anxiously
my next perplexing assignment in God's philosophical essence eager to explore the complete universe to satisfy this thorn that grinds at me
Repeating and repeating incessantly wearing out my mind
questioning that somewhere in this vast universe must exist
a more compassionate manner of living where astute
benevolent logic prevails and all life is sacred
Time brought age and wisdom to me, but also laughter and confusion
gearing me up for the next bewildering wonder to be revealed
as the universe is immense and perplexing
but it is also full of humor and deceit
Lead on, Grim Reaper,
I will follow your lead with bated breath
worried what other idiocies you have in store for me
in that mysterious, unknown theater called eternity.
Copyright © Norberto Franco Cisneros | Year Posted 2017
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Norberto Franco Cisneros Poem
The unpredictable yaw of rolling seas,
as in life pummels us from side to side
randomly dictating its capricious ways
lacking logic the tossing grips us and seeks to take our lives
Death, like the ghost of Christmas past,
comes and expresses a tale of coldness and desolation
under the guise of light the dues it extracts from the living
accumulate like wrinkles on our faces the years pile on
The uncertainty of pandemics sends people into despair
mental frenzy engulfs societies
people wring their hands with worry
what happens if I get sick and lose my income?
At night I hear the sound of eighteen wheeler trucks rumbling
On the blacktop toward companies that make copious profits
past the foothills where coyotes cry nature's lament
exacerbating my approach to a precarious and worrisome future
Sometimes, I feel like a watermelon cut in half
exposed to the desert heat slowly drying up
or a taco at Christmas time or a paraplegic in a footrace
exposed in those places where I don’t belong
Leisure time for the working stiff is so elusive
yet now all I’ve got is time and plenty of it,
but there’s no leisure in it only worry
and does not give me needed rest
The yaws of life
seldom deviate from its variant course
but like ships at sea rising and falling in a tempest
our minds proceed at an ambiguous yet dangerous speed
With our hearts frozen in a delirium of past disappointments
they vanish the happy times into the ether of regrets
still we cling to those cherished happy time memories
when Life was more accepting of our youthful indiscretions
Our Ship of Life moves predictably toward an unknown horizon
unsteadily shaking us from side to side, up and down
like loose apples bobbing in an ocean
with our paths uncertain unfolding as we hold on.
Copyright © norberto franco cisneros
Copyright © Norberto Franco Cisneros | Year Posted 2020
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Norberto Franco Cisneros Poem
LOVE FOR GREAT OR SMALL
Many eons ago, in minds far superior to ours
from a past Man never knew the earth became habitable
before the savage became Homo-sapiens
visitors had come from unknown worlds scouting earth for expansion
They carefully laid seeds of their DNA and planted green vegetation
returning several millennia later to sow their crops
the early laborers expressed love in the way they planted their crops
upon returning they saw earth had flourished
Mourn if you must for our present predicament
cry what we have become but our origins were borne out of Love
leave no unsavory emotion untouched all emotions have been earned
we must savor each emotion before we settle in our graves
"Stay brave," the space farmer said with affectation,
“Don’t become mindless dead meat enjoy the life you've been given
it'll be the only one you'll get, when you find a mate
love like you never loved before enough to last a millennia
and don't forget kindness, give your fellow humans much kindness"
Pundits and wise men have said it since Man could talk
there are no tomorrows in death
they also said death is temporary, souls are eternal
and experience of having lived before is not knowable
But care enough for someone at least once
and discover why love is so revered in the Universe
if you do not, you have lived a lonely, wasted life
and misused your life’s purpose and God's great gift of life to you
Nothing feels better to a person’s skin in winter
when the icy winds blow and snow scurries from nook to cranny
than body heat from both bodies cuddled, naked under warm blankets
it may bring forth ideas to commit to Love forever
Love is in abundance. just look around
yet Love is desperately needed but know there is someone for everyone
Love comes from the inner depths of one's heart
just don’t be so picky, experienced love has no equal
Love for all creatures, great and small, is desperately needed everywhere
nay demanded by the vast expanse
of this dark, cold and unwelcoming Universe
the place we call home.
Copyright © Norberto Franco Cisneros | Year Posted 2021
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Norberto Franco Cisneros Poem
AUTUMN LEAVES FALL
I folded my umbrella after the rain stopped
the little beads of water formed crystals
on the golden leaves of autumn laying on the ground
I put away my parasol and shook the water off
I really enjoy walking in the rain I get a good feeling
when the weather begins to chill giving the air a brisk coolness
I snuggle in my warm coat to enjoy the warmth of my body
it strengthens my senses
Coming alive from their summer hibernating lair they stimulate
I love autumn
to me it’s the best time of the year
I remember smells that foretell great celebrations to come
Glorious feasts up ahead with great expectations
are the best lead in to the holidays before winter
all wonderful pointing to the end of national turmoil
and the end of uncertainty, the end of doubt and a worrisome future
Happy endings are not always made on a Hollywood stage
people have a lot to do with creating happiness
happiness is there for the taking
if the spirit is willing and mindfully conscious of the alternative
Keep smiling, be happy
the alternative stinks
tomorrow will always be with us
so will sorrow but only if we give in to it perpetually
We are human and resilient
we can smile even laugh at adversity
we can even write songs to bad times
golden autumn leaves with beads of water give me hope.
Copyright © Norberto Franco Cisneros | Year Posted 2021
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Norberto Franco Cisneros Poem
IN HIS IMAGE
A fly landed on my finger
I saw its myriad eyes staring at me
Its many eyeballs searched my face
It was looking for answers
It asked questions
From what depths those questions came
I know not but instantly I I knew the answers
For the simple reason, I knew I was human
It was my sense of who I was
That I knew its questions
Hadn’t we all asked those same questions
But what I didn’t know was
Did this fly have a need to know
Sure, I was bigger, stronger, and more knowledgeable
But did the fly need to know those answers
I had asked those same questions in my youth
They were “Why am I here, who made me and where am I going?”
Questions to ask a God
Because to them I am a God
“By God,” he said, “ Flies
I - am – God
In all his fake humility he thought of himself the God in human skin.
Copyright © Norberto Franco Cisneros | Year Posted 2024
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Norberto Franco Cisneros Poem
Tomorrow is for dying
Yesterday was for dreaming and hope
Today is to stop repeating the violence of the past, but
This present hour is to experience beauty and happiness
Appreciating your beauty brings happiness to me
Makes me realize they are you, both inseparable, but
Only one hour of every day, for beauty, love and happiness?
We have no time to waste; the clock is ticking
Love is like trying to describe the drifting snowflakes
Or holding onto the sun’s rays that heat your skin
Love is like autumn’s shade that has smothered the summer colors
Leaving behind only memories to be locked away
I long to dream the dream of a lifetime
With you the centerpiece in my dream
You are the epitome of my love's aspirations
What I live for
Words sometimes belie our intentions, and
desired passions may be thwarted prematurely
by anticipation, but most welcomed
when they are reciprocated
Tomorrow is for dying
Yesterday was for dreaming and hope
Today, to avoid repeating the violence of the past,
This lonely hour is to acknowledge the beauty of the world, to
Love each other and find that elusive happiness
We have no time to waste; the clock is ticking.
Copyright © Norberto Franco Cisneros | Year Posted 2015
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Norberto Franco Cisneros Poem
In this tumultuous political climate
I find both parties irrelevant and obsolete
They do not speak to me and my families’ needs
Neither do these elites know the suffering we go through
Day after day we look for respite from the turmoil of war
Wrought against us and human kind
Their arguments for war aren't compelling, they don't persuade and
are not in the best interest of the American people or the world's
I cannot drink the Kool-Aid they serve in golden goblets
I cannot and never would
One speaker speaks with a deceptive facade
The other in hate and pseudo outrageous promises
We, the people, are in mental turmoil, confused in crises
The world is in calamity and chaos and they don't care
They speak in tongues foreign to the human heart and spirit
Jeopardizing our national integrity
The Constitution is clear and doesn’t need to be re-interpreted
The Bill of Rights doesn’t have to be changed, just followed
The world is in serious flux, hazardously in danger
Our Constitution and Bill of Rights are in danger of becoming irrelevant
The people in charge have jeopardized our national integrity
Forgetting the basic thread that ties us all
Humanity! The welfare of people is what life is about
Integrity is at its root, the heart continues to beat
Our life is not a valuable Royal Delft Blue Vase filled with fragrant gardenias
Nor the life the elite would dare to endure
We are not part of their extravagant life style, but
We do live in the last bastion of those freedoms
Democracy is striving to survive
but is quickly slipping away
Being vigilant and smart thinking is to take the predators to task
Looters seek positions in government to enhance their status and wealth
People should know America's Freedom is for everyone
The forever struggling Eagle of Freedom will rise from this abyss again.
Copyright © Norberto Franco Cisneros | Year Posted 2016
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Norberto Franco Cisneros Poem
The leaves are dead
The birds are dying
Fish are lying
Trying to catch their breaths
On the shores of the world
On unknown beaches
Deaf dolphins and whales
Gasp in polluted waters
Beaching themselves trying to live
Land creatures are having their problems too
People and animals are dying every day
Thank you fake progress
Polluting corporations deny climate change
though they continue to pollute the air and water
Impervious to peoples health
Can you hear life on this planet screaming in despair?
Big business and their shills repudiate apocalyptic signs
Killing all hope that living things in the future will survive
They hoard their ill gotten gains in secret accounts
Hoping to outlive the catastrophe and chaos they have wrought.
Do you hear the silence of the dead?
Copyright © Norberto Franco Cisneros | Year Posted 2015
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