Best Ask Poems
“If I have to cry to keep you, I will keep weeping.”- The Temptations
If our atmosphere
Becomes a shattered animosity
If our cumulus clouds
Become wrecking balls against our Sun
If the touch of your hands,
Turns into rabid, feline tongue
If your messages of clarity & “I love you”
Translate into a Mime’s distress signal
If the sway of your rosemary breaths
Disappear
I ask you
Would your love
Your real love
Really
Truly
Make me shed oceanic leaks
While you ride leaky canoe
Above our water garden
Never tossing raft
Never diving in
To become my lighthouse savior
Because love
Real love
Should never
Ever
Make you embrace torment’s cry
Nor should love
Ever reciprocate
With muted stanzas
Date stamped:
“Return to Sender”
©Drake J. Eszes
A Vague Question
Bleary
Query
A Dull Question
Dreary
Query
A Positive Question
Cheery
Query
A Tired Question
Weary
Query
A Doubtful Question
Leery
Query
A Strange Question
Eerie
Query
A Sad Question
Teary
Query
A Question for Hubbie
Dearie
Query
With enlightenment, not inhalation,
drawn from Jefferson Airplane's (Starship?) 'White Rabbit.'
(written by Grace Slick)
A Monotetra ~
Don't be drawn into that fairytale
with the Cheshire Cat's grin and tail
He'll lure you in and leave you frail
To weep and wail To weep and wail
If you're in the Red Queen's palace
Don't sip wine from her gold chalice
Her evil thoughts reek of malice
Go ask Alice Go ask Alice
You look weak, skin sallow and pall
Your White Knight's steed is in a stall
Alice won't save you when you fall
She's ten feet tall She's ten feet tall
Don't chase white rabbits down a hole
Deep descent will devour your soul
It's time to wake and take control
Don't pay the toll Don't pay the toll
O' Shadow, This Soul Dares To Ask Of Thee
O'
shadow,
pray tell more
before midnight clock scores
and in its echoes lays to waste
souls yearning for life's sweeter taste
hearts pining to youth and romance's deep appeal
not those never ending sorrows from which this dark world steals.
O'
shadow,
do not delay
truth I thee pray
of dark clouds spinning now
about life, love and black ship's prow
shorelines weeping loud and in hot red-spit flames
pleadings from ravenous and ghastly pits, savage accursed games.
O'
shadow,
do not deny
terror and the why
your master in secret demands
death and pains grow upon bloody hands
as it tempts we of earth and sad mortal breath
through our desires even until our woeful and weeping sad deaths.
O'
shadow,
do these pains explain
waves of loss, life's stains
storms born from Hade's deep dark abyss
ravaging through our world as truth we dismiss
I beg do not laugh at crying heart and turn to flee
nor attempt to utterly destroy, small light flickering within me.
O'
shadow,
fear not its wrath
nor losing way in its dark paths
speak to me, let truth thy lost heart save
as wisdom dictates, hope rewards heroes truly brave
listen as grieving heart asks for this needed reprieve
and sets about sweetest of divine mercies, saving both you and me.
Robert J. Lindley, 7-14-2019
Rhyme, ( What The Shadow May Know But Never Dare To Tell )
All the things we are on earth-
And all the things we're not.
All the times we've hurt our Lord,
By word and deed and thought.
All the days we've made Him sad,
Through hateful acts of spite.
We need step back a pace or two
And make the bad things right.
For heaven's not that far away-
Could be . . just round the bend.
And none of us can ever know
The moment of our end.
Be grateful for the blessings
He's bestowed on you this while.
Offer thanks by honoring Him,
In ways that make Him smile.
Ask for His forgiveness
For the times you hurt Him so.
Accept the blood He shed for you
Before your time to go.
Our days are but a platform,
Where we stage the life to come.
Thus all the joys of heaven
Are not there for everyone.
So bid the Lord come to your door
And then invite Him in.
Ask His grace as you confess
To all your earthly sins.
He will know what's in your heart
And if you are sincere . .
You'll have your place in Heaven
And dispel death’s dread and fear.
My vacant stare was sure to be
a giveaway to anyone that saw . . .
I was a Pilgrim there to the land of techno-jargon,
of icons, Help instructions meaning nothing,
and a world of young and savvy operators.
Our teacher wasn’t there.
Certain that the worksheet explaining all the basics
would be a breeze for us to carry out,
he’d arrogantly left the room
and left the lot of us to the mercy of
a keyboard and computer.
I looked up from his worksheet
to a screen that stared right back at me,
awaiting my commands.
I was on the starting path to what is often called
the Super Highway,
and my boarding pass, tuition to the class,
was non-refundable.
Overwhelmed, I started out. Then I hit a rut
and didn’t have a clue what next to do.
My learning peers already seemed to know
the route quite well.
Some, in fact, were calling it a day
while I stayed on, ashamed to bother
any of the others there for help.
I looked around the room, my tired brain
a hot plate in the midst of younger minds
with the speed of ovens made for microwave.
Perhaps they’d all conspired to put
the older lady at unease.
It seemed the more I tried to understand,
the more pathetically off course I’d go. . .
Till finally (longing for a time when
“cut and paste” implied the use of scissors),
I got up from my seat and left behind
the self-instructing worksheet which
that egghead teacher said would be “a cinch.”
Two big words were scrawled across the top
of its first page, two big words in red,
written with the one tool I could trust:
SCREW IT.
For Natalie Whitlock's
"Talkin' Technology" Contest
What does it take, to be so kind,
to every fault and flaw, be blind
a goodly word, always to find
and wounded heart with love to bind?
Ask Richard!
What does it to take, to give a smile
To stop and chat and hug a while
and kind words on a heart to pile
to make encouragement, a style
Ask Richard!
What does it take to be real sweet
With words of life and light to greet
To leave behind a tasty treat
of loving words, it's not a feat
Ask Richard!
For Richard does it all so well
His kindness works a magic spell
If you want truth, it's truth he'll tell
He'll help the storms of life to quell
That's Richard.
Yes, oh yes, that's Richard!
Eileen Manassian
This poem was inspired by Richard Lamoureux's comment on my poem, Don't Belittle Me:
I would never! I only wish to build you up. I enjoy being in the company of Royalty.
What is that wonderful smell
when a rain shower passes
on a warm summer day?
Is it the fragrance of a new beginning,
quenching us with the exuberance
of youthful joy, a sweet wisp of hope
for the earth to embrace,
a cleansing, a freshness of favor,
a cause for the celebration of life?
I ask you then,
if it is all of that,
why would anyone
with any sense of poetic license
want to own an umbrella?
Ah, Divine influence, it has come to many, so they say,
as to their nameless or named God’s they do pray.
The light came to Carroll, he said he could see,
for raised by a Vicar at Christ church was he.
Dodgson was his surname an apt moniker
for he veers of from his father, made math his liqueur
Lewis was Charles tongue in cheek, he wore hats
and from his birth place, he transformed Cheshire cats.
Lewis Carroll wrote “Alice” sure, he was also Charles Dodgson
but who wrote the marrow, now that’s where the God comes!
Now, many men wrote the Bible or so we surmise
and the pages they garnered came in random sizes.
Yes they picked, they plucked, these men were right scary
and what do you know, left out the Book of Mary!
Now you modern readers just might take a note
the resemblance twixt Alice and Mary's no anecdote.
Dogdson, yes Carroll, knew Mary so it seems
yet, Alice sweet Alice is who came in his dreams.
Carroll clothed Alice and it's no surprise
that in Chapter 3:21, her dress he seeks dried!
For Alice, dear Alice, did not wish to die!
“She would catch a bad cold if she could not get dry.”
Carroll being the kind creator, he would
had the mouse read to Alice the driest of books.
Again and again, his benevolence is shown
when he sends Alice a rabbit to soon lead her home.
So, we are lead on in most delightful detail
to Chapter 4:15 where her flight is curtailed.
As Cain slew Abel, so the Queen beheaded prates.
Yet, she’d no power at all, over bodiless cats!
Now, Chapter 12 is truly my favorite, as you may surmise
Lewis Carroll has dreamed much of caterpillar size..
He dreamed a whole world full of goodness and villainy.
As anyone can see, men will see what they see,
and the Looking Glass has as much meaning to me
as the Bible may have to the Christians, let be.
Have you ever had one of those days
On the wrong side of the bed, bad days
When everything right went wrong
Cause the ding had lost it's dong
Ouch, Mr. Sun came peeking in
Up from bed and banged your shin
Leaky, full toilet overflowed
Damn, you stubbed your other big toe
Times like this: don't you love those days
Hardly anything seems to go your way?
Is little Johnnie turning green
Splat! Is that doggie ice cream?
Gas oven took a dump
Everyone’s oatmeal was in clumps
The kids were late AGAIN for school
Wasn’t that traffic cop a tool?
Oh, you should've just stayed in bed!
Rolled back over and called in dead…
Shoot! An hour late for work
Emptied Starbucks on your shirt
Dare you ask how this could get worse?
Others think you're such a jerk.
Next, the boss comes barging in
Tells you,"Look for work again"
Everything was going wrong
Vacation's gonna be a little long
Even your wife’s rope is at an end
Now she says, "Let's just be friends"
An asteroid fell from the skies
Smashed the beer between the thighs
Kick yourself for getting out of bed
3/24/16
Collaboration with Daniel Turner
Where do all the great poets go?
If you ask me so, I would say, "I don't know"
There must be some hidden pain
Writing poems relieves their brain
Dear ones are their poems greatest foe
Where do all the great poets go?
Ask the river, ask the melting snow
They may say, " He was just here
With his grief - eyes full of tears"
Writing poems does not pay also
Where do all the great poets go?
Ask the sun, ask the shining rainbow
They may say, " He was just here
Got caught with his write - in fear"
Dear ones are their poems greatest foe
Where do all the great poets go?
Ask the moon, ask Marugu Mo
There are problems in their life
They can't help but face the strife
Writing poems does not pay also
27.02.16
P.S. : Poet Marugu Mo, himself is a great poet and his name rhymed with my poem nicely. A great poet can only give us some idea where the others have gone, so I have used his name in the title too. My respectful greetings to Poet Marugu Mo and my dedication goes to him.
Don't ask me to apologize for being the monster inside
I refuse to set any agony i have aside
Don't ask me to torch out the fuse i have growing
There is so much torment behind this face without anyone knowing
Don't ask me to unmask this demon i enshrine deep in the dark
It fuels my spirit, whats left of me creating a tiny spark
Don't ask me to let go of the past
All the exploitation has been passed
Don't ask me to neglect the flashbacks you put into my head
So many wounds on my arms from the times you made me bled
Don't ask me to excuse all the sin you created
Cause my heart is buried distant enough it has to be gated
Don't ask me to uncoil and live a little
For how many times you beat me till my bones became brittle
Don't ask me to not dread all of this
I'd have to count the times of deaths i'd nearly miss
You've made me the monster
now don't ask me to apologize
They ask me why I love you
I stop and pause a while
Could I say that everyday,
you gift me with a smile?
You're always there beside me
No matter what life brings
and when you're near, it's all so clear...
My heart and my soul sings
Chorus:
I love you for your beauty
and I love you for your grace
I love you for each moment that
I'm blessed to see your face
I love for your kindness
and for how you've made me see
I love you just for who you are
and who you make of me
You're like a ray of sunlight
that warms my frozen soul
your starlit eyes, that twinkle bright
is how my heart you stole
You're like a rolling river
that flows right to my core
immersed inside your passion is
what makes me long for more
Chorus:
I love you for your beauty
and I love you for your grace
I love you for each moment that
I'm blessed to see your face
I love for your kindness
and for how you've made me see
I love you just for who you are
and who you make of me
They ask me why I love you
and I don't know what to say
the reason that I take each breath
is to see you every day...
They ask me why I love you....
Eileen Manassian
We know knitters knit wool from skeins,
and when wet, us the wearer complains,
for our pullovers shrink,
and so this made me think,
why don't sheep ever shrink when it rains?
When I’m with you love me and care
unconditionally
Don’t hurt, play, laugh at my feelings or take
advantage of me
When I cry you’ll cry because you’ll feel my pain
and anger
Don’t complicate things and not be there and act
like a total stranger
Be my friend, understand me, touch and tease
me
Say the words I want to hear like everyday saying,
the little things, these are the words that please me
Don’t rush and be my lover like we did in your dream
before
I’ve been broken by love and I need time to heal from being
treated like a score
YET I STILL ADORE…
The love I feel when someone makes me smile and
laugh
It’ll finally feel good to not sit up and cry not kiss
everyone’s a$$
All I ask is for you to hold my heart honestly in
the palm of your hand
Not asking for much only for you to be my friend and
understand
That I am human and I make mistakes and it
seems
That everything can’t be right all of the time because life
is a cold breeze by any means
So what I’m trying to say is that all I ask of my lover is for
them to hurt
because if they understand how I feel or felt maybe
the happiness for me will finally work