Best Asphalt Poems
Upon tomorrow's arrival,
today fades into yesterday.
And apathy spurs denial
as endangered animals die.
Wherever concrete cities rise,
collateral damage occurs.
And as jets traverse open skies,
wild birds get annihilated.
We dedicate our existence,
to a utopia of steel.
And survive in asphalt jungles;
shadowed by lofty achievements.
Reality is a mirage;
projected on collapsing hopes.
And yet, safe in our cubicles;
we tout our plastic paradise.
Our planet's irrevocably
changing into a barren sphere.
And as the legacy of fools,
greed defines profit as progress.
Categories:
asphalt, earth, environment, feelings, imagery,
Form:
Blank verse
We played sports
on asphalt fields
drains and sewer lids
for bases
Billy’s house the right field line
Tommy’s porch
a short left field.
We diagramed
football plays
bottle caps, fractured marbles,
Mikey’s favorite button.
The ball was scuffed
bladder worn
sticking out where it was torn.
The jump rope slapped
sidewalk cracks
sneakers tapped the beat
“Double Dutch” amazingly
twin passing ropes
a double feat.
Baseball cards trilled old bike spokes
roller skates click-clacking by
racing as street lights curfew
silenced the hum of play
returned the quiet of the night
to those who’d worked all day.
John G. Lawless
©2/10/2019
Categories:
asphalt, city, growing up, kid,
Form:
Free verse
On the fringe of the morning
the neat rows of wheat fields,
with sweet fragrant grasses,
are caged with barbed wire
reflecting the fire
of a tangerine sun
Fences and grain
still damp from the rain
are home to the masses
of rodents and rabbits
where the sage used to grow
and the wind sweeps the plains...
Categories:
asphalt, nature, seasons,
Form:
Free verse
Driving through this endless desert
I feel so alone,
Thoughts of you float through my mind
But worse are thoughts of home.
Home? The shelter? The streets? Parking lots?
Just close enough to what matters most
They say to spread your wings and fly but
I chose the freedom of my small town.
Now I run from you, from them
From the painful memories
Run to more streets, a place to put my head and
sleep
A slave to asphalt and concrete
I tried so hard to make it
Tried to be what you wanted
What they wanted
But in the end I never got it.
The miles click by, tears fall
A new beginning beyond the next mountain range
Is it possible?
I tried before when things weren't so strange.
Categories:
asphalt, absence, adventure, anxiety, change,
Form:
Blank verse
Around the benches
the young and the not so young
are gathered
The bodega is open for busingess
Someone is talking loudly
into a cellphone
disturbing the peace of the shoppers
The sky is growing darker
We have not as yet reached
the summer solstice
On the FDR drive cars whizz by
rapidly
Bringing their occupants towards
their homes, their lives
The Williamsburg bridge stretches
across the East River
As cars cross over
on their wasy
A thin veneer of hope
covers the metropolitna scene
Another evening has arrived
Thousands head home to rest
from their daily toil
In the distance the sound of an ambulance reminds us of our mortality
Categories:
asphalt, urban,
Form:
Ballade
Winter
the remaining snow
of the last
brutal
storm
is now absorbing
the dirt and detritus
of the asphalt homeland
That homeland
where
plants struggle through cracks
in the ground
and reach up
to feel the winter sun
on their petals
Winter
and the masses taste
bitter winds
which chill them
right through their bones
The asphalt homeland
where dark eyes peer through
the blinds
of small city
apartments
Spring has not yet
manifested itself
and the hopes
of the urban dwellers
hinge on cloud formations
It is still a truism that
There are many things
which remain beyond the
power
of frail humans
to understand
Categories:
asphalt, urban, winter,
Form:
Didactic
Ouch! Ouch! Hot asphalt
My bare feet barely touch the ground
Like a cat on a hot tin roof
Categories:
asphalt, cat, fun,
Form:
Haiku
Mom
I've heard that Earth and the time are making asphalt of very old.
Categories:
asphalt, life
Form:
Lyric
Boy gets up at six
Needs no alarm of complaint
To shake
The brief night of sleep
From his hay-cropped hair
Brushes his teeth
Smokes a two dollar holler of cigarette for breakfast
A pack a day is like tax day for him
Paid by ten in the morning
Then the day is free and clear
Holds down his car as it bucks to life
Lurches away
Stops at Starbucks
Spends another hour’s dough
On two large black coffees
Picks up three buddies at the far edge
Of the Walmart parking lot
Drives two hours to arrive
At a dismal road to tame with asphalt
The boys dissolve and stick to the road
Buns of thick shoulders
Rise and fall in the oven of sun
Shoveling boils of oil and coal
Throwing
Their boots to stomp the steam
His car limps back to his driveway corral
At 9:45 in the summer evening
Devours another hour
Of Coors and McDonalds at his kitchen table
Prays very hard to God
Maybe it could rain tomorrow?
His girlfriend stands behind him
Rests her head on his shoulder
A dim light buzzing from the ceiling.
Categories:
asphalt, career, character, conflict, courage,
Form:
Free verse
not looking to left, or right, another rider drove
straight into her, knocking her off her blue Yamaha
and out into the asphalt sea,
then…looking quickly round, (for steam rollers)
she jumped up, like one of those sea-gods in a
Japanese movie, slashing the mountain of stares
with her katana... those grim-faced drudges who’d
never erred themselves: and she shone her light
back at them, refusing to look at the ground,and
shouted out aloud,
”KISS MY ****!”
and they bravely looked away. .. except the owner of the hair
and nail boutique, who smiled as she walked her way.
Categories:
asphalt, humor,
Form:
Free verse
The city is in chaos
these days that Love
has felt tired of walking
and has decided to take a nap
on its asphalt
The sidewalks are full of people
who came to see what is going on,
and since no one takes the risk
of stepping on so strange a visitor,
streets are not being crossed,
traffic has stopped existing
no car dares to move
or to pass through, the crowd
has become almost impossible.
No one can get anywhere.
So, a pact has been made
unanimous and silent:
thieves cannot run
so they don't steal,
sick people are being carried
by the nearest group of policemen,
we stop fires using buckets
we fill with water
and pass hand to hand.
We are helping our neighbors
because we know we need them strong,
we are working together
for food and confort
of this frontierless community
that has arisen.
As long as we don't get to our offices.
we don't get any money
and we are exchanging everything
Priorities by now have changed
and all the rest with them
Oh my God!
The city is in chaos
unrecognizable these days when
Love has lain down on its asphalt.
Patricia Evans
Categories:
asphalt, allegory, faith, inspirational, life,
Form:
Free verse
I was sipping on some whiskey when a black cat crossed my trail;
There was a black magic woman that liked to swish her tail.
It was a black Cadillac that took my daddy to his grave;
It was a black beauty potion that almost made me out its slave.
A black night was falling the night my baby went away;
It is a black phone I’m using asking her to stay.
A nasty black tarantula scared old Harry half to death;
It was hiding in bananas but then it turned and left.
I saw a black panther prowling, for a bite to eat;
I saw the black panthers armed and marching down the street.
Black Betty had baby, blam-a lam;
And when she has her toast, she spreads blackberry jam.
There’s a story of some black birds, cooked up in a pie
The Raven that was at the door, would stare with crocked eye.
There’s a dark midnight calling, I’ve seen this once before;
There’s a black colored squad car, parked at my front door.
A black rain is falling, that’s turned to sleet and ice;
And Black Death is calling; He’s been knocking once or twice.
A bruise will turn to black, from the dotting of the eye;
It’s a black gun I’m buying, making sure that he will die.
A country crooner singing all dressed up in black;
There’s a long train that’s coming, up along the tracks.
Black colored liquorish, in a baby’s hand;
Black colored activist, trying to make a stand.
Business that struggle, to get into the black;
Secrets that you’ve gave away, while riding in a hack.
A leather black address book, filled with women’s names;
A divorce decree that’s typed in black, that’s listing all his blames.
The dealer on the corner, who will sell to you some crack;
The black cracks on sidewalks, that will break your mothers back.
This is all that I have to say, about the color black;
And any new ideas, unfortunately I lack.
Categories:
asphalt, funny, imagination, parody, night,
Form:
Couplet
Asphalt inherited
The new world,
From the stamped bricks
That lie sleeping,
Beneath it.
Categories:
asphalt, america, dark, history, introspection,
Form:
Free verse
I bought an RV , that's where I'm living these days..
Living and learning all the RVing ways.
When I awoke this morning it was raining 'round here.
But my RV wasn't leaking and that filled me with cheer.
Last night I fixed the fridge and I filled it with food,
I'm a warm, dry, well fed, RV having dude..
Aboard this vessel I'm the captain and crew.
King of the castle ? Hell yeah I'm him too !
My ocean's made of asphalt and my ship's got wheels,
And I'm here to tell you just how good this all feels..
I've finally found freedom on the asphalt sea,
Where it's where it's good to be captain and it's good to be me.
I'm free to drop anchor and I'm just as free to roam.
Wherever I find myself I'm always at home.
Ain't got no mortgage, don't gotta make the rent.
And wherever I am it's cause that's where I went.
Every day is an adventure , or so it would seem.
Life is made for living and I'm living the dream.
Yeah it's all good on the asphalt sea.
It's good to be captain and It's good to be me !
I got a fantastic woman along for the ride.
She's here because she loves me, man that fills me with pride.
Yesterday is gone forever and tomorrow never comes
Today is where the action is so fare thee well my chums.
As for me I'll be sailing on the asphalt sea,
Where it's good to be a captain and it's good to be me !!
~~~ Ernie Rodrigues - 04/16/2022
Categories:
asphalt, happiness, poetry, travel,
Form:
Rhyme
Grid city
closed in streets
congested.
every man
it's a subject
in the maze
symbiotic...
the city attacks
with volcanoes
steelmakers
industrial plant...
without trees,
the city if
plant in
posts,
steel beams...
no harvest,
fertilizes
in concrete
fertilizer
bizarre...
The city
smokes,
the city
screams...
But she
causes shock!
Magic City...
the whistle
from factory
it's flute
candy!
and everyone dances...
the horns
are orchestras
spontaneous
where all
touch... and mine
throat a lump
seeing the crowd so alone...!
Categories:
asphalt, allegory, allusion, analogy, appreciation,
Form:
Prose Poetry