Best Behave Yourself Poems
Her glasses perched on her nose, my old friend
the Bookworm proprietor, welcomed me smiling,
and then murmured. quietly.."behave yourself"
knowing I would end up at the poetry shelf.
Words, one word, a billion words..all for
me..all for the taking. Words of love and hate,
of brooks and fields, creatures small and great.
Words of sunshine and laughter ,sadness
and hope…of places and faces.
A coffee stain, a torn page patched with tape..
a loving inscription on a cover page.
Settling in my favorite chair, the tabby cat
at my feet, I loose myself in a land far away,
a land that grew from a poets mind and heart.
Tomorrow will come soon enough, but for this
time, and of all these words, I am a part…
8/24/14
When a man stepped out his childhood home,
Planting a brave foot in the open world
Not an age, not a generation, not a world ago,
There breathed and burned in him hope
Shared with mama's receding figure
Frozen in prayer by the doorpost to his back
That his way he would make through this mild wild
That law and claw both make the world
With flesh unmarred by scratch or patch.
"You'll keep out of trouble if you behave yourself,"
she would advise.
That, sure, was the wisdom of her world,
Her old world now long gone,
When the law was still a genuine ass,
Not a chameleon in ass skin
That turns deathly black when around blacks
And pristine white when around whites.
Black or white, all will rue the loss of that world
When a man was safe if he behaved himself.
Now he keeps out of trouble
Only if he behaves himself,
The police behave themselves,
And court behaves itself.
Believe in yourself
don’t dwell in the past
Until things become clear
Sail your ship
let the stars be your guide
Blue moon
Broken lantern
Bottle emptied
Black sea boots
Burn the bridges
Break the waves
- before they splash against the limestone
Behave yourself
Bubbly buddy
Be brave
Breathe
Blissful Billy
Blessing
A lighthouse’s light through the mist
the protector on the ocean,
wings and man
A fleeting remark ...
face the challenges as they come
- eclipse never comes alone
Ruby
Ruby Bridges was one of the first Black American pupils
in a 'White' school
after racial segregation was declared unconstitutional.
It was November 14th, 1960 when six year old Ruby sat in school alone,
children and teachers stayed at home.
RUBY......
'My Mother took special care getting me dressed that day,
new White shoes, stiffly starched White dress
and a White ribbon in my hair'
She told me:
'there may be a lot of people outside school today,
but there's no need to be afraid,
i'll be with you all the way'.
Four federal US Marshal's came to the door to drive us to school.
As we got in the car my Mother said:
'Ruby, I want you to behave yourself today and do what the Marshals say'.
As the Marshals extracted me from the Cavalcade
a jangle of jeering shrieks rose from the barricade:
2-4-6-8 we don't want to integrate, sang the protestors
I didn't know what these words meant
After school, I taught a friend this chant
I guess when I heard the tirade
that we had stumbled on the Mardi Gras parade
THEN.....
The Whites of my eyes shone
like those of a frightened Fawn
as a protester held a coffin carrying a little Black doll.
ON LOOKER:
As the sun burns away haze from the Mississippi River
large crowds began to gather.
White Women in Toreador pants
shouting hateful chants
at the small Black girl in a starched White dress
gripping her Mothers hand
Surrounded by racial turmoil
yet courageous and standing tall
Ruby is an inspiration to us all.
1.My familiar crow
A cheerful crow named Matryona lived in her small house.
I drank tea with her and observed,
As she played with a wind in leapfrog and chased the moon at night.
Probably, she thought, that the moon is cheese!
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2.Matryona and greedy Sasha
Boy Sasha went along the street of "the World".
He had two ice creams in one hand at the same time!
Suddenly he met a girl he knew.
She asked with hope,
"Is your ice cream tasty? "
" Of course, it is very tasty! "
Sadly, she said,
" Ah! I go to musical school. "
"All right, goodbye."
A homeless dog and cat followed Sasha for a long time,
And they asked for something through their sad eyes.
" Unscrupulous beggars! " Sasha said,
and has continued his way, enjoying his ice cream.
Suddenly from a tree a crow flew toward him,
seized his two ice creams,
returned to her tree and shouted loudly:
" Sasha! You are a greedy boy!"
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3.The Matryona and fashion
One day a crow cooked macaroni.
What for you, Matryona -,
put on them on your a neck?
In fact it is meal!
" You must not argue tastes-
I shall depart to a party
in beads made from macaroni! "
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4.Matryona is a ghost
Kolesnikov Alexey
Was not a pleasant child.
He was rude to adults,
He offended girls,
He teased dogs and pulled the tails of cats!
Crow Matryona decided to punish this small hooligan.
On the old sewing machine
She sewed a red, very loose raincoat
And she put it on, like a ghost.
When Alexey came back from school,
He saw in the sky, right above him, the awful monster,
Which flew and laughed , and shouted angrily,
" You offend the weak and should be punished! "
Alexey was very much frightened,
" The living ghost! Excuse me, please!
I will not do any more bad things!
" You will behave yourself?
Well, I believe you, good-bye! "
Catherine, behave yourself!
Can't you be like Bianca?
Somebody straighten her out.
Where's Petruchio?
Based on the play "The Taming of the Shrew" by William Shakespeare
Gilly darling dont do that
You don't know where it's been
And put our hat on there's a love
I'm fetching some ice-cream
Do you want a cornet child?
Or will you take a lolly?
Oh Gilly darling don't do that
I'll have to tell your Mummy
Now sit here on the beach towel
And do try to be good
I know you're keen on swimming
And I'd let you if I could
But Auntie Pam's a land lubber
The waters not for me
Oh Gillian for heavens sake
Just let your pig tails be
Now what is it to be my girl?
A cornet or a lolly?
A choc-ice? I suppose so
But if it melts we'll all be sorry
Chocolate on your pretty dress
A most unbecoming site
Oh Gilly child dont blubber
I shall get you one ,alright?
Oh look the van is going
Oh botheration damn
We'll have to have a sandwich
There is cheese or strawberry jam
There we are a jam one
Now do be careful please
Dont like it? Why, its lovely?
Oh ok then have a cheese
Finished it all up I see
There's a clever girl
Now have a bit of lemon cake
Or there's a Vienesse Whirl?
No I don't have jaffa cakes
No there are no crisps
Now Gilly just behave yourself
And still those quivered lips
I'm going to have a read now
Just play nice on the sand
And don't go by the water
Hold onto to dollys hand
Pam looks up from her book
No Gilly is in sight
Oh blast the child she murmurs
Then, Im sure she'll be alright
Gillian she hollers
What? Comes the reply
O there you are behind me
And the child begins to cry
Its sundown, the day’s been reduced to a crack of lavender and fiery pinks along the Massif des Maures mountains. This evening we’re sipping cocktails at “Les Toits,” the Hôtel de Paris’ rooftop restaurant. The French would call this a lounge.
Les toits translates as ‘the roofs’ and its stunning view overlooks the provincial rooftops that slope down the foothills to the gulf of Saint-Tropez and it’s world-famous beaches. The well lit boats are settling down and dropping anchor for the night as we complete our orders and get our second round of drinks.
This has been the best vacation. I think we’ve all reclaimed our calm after a tense freshman year. We’ve been at the beach for 10 days. Leong and Sunny are actually tan, Lisa and my hair are half a tone lighter and Bili’s black skin has taken on gorgeous, purple-ish highlights.
I’ve known Lisa now for ten months, but we share a deep connection that seems older. Lisa’s lovely, brazen, and naturally flashy, without trying. Unfortunately, though, Lisa draws men like a keig-light draws moths - whether she’s looking for them or not - I don’t envy her that. Young men, middle aged men, old men.
Lisa said it started when she was 13. She’d be in a store or restaurant with her mom or dad and a lady would introduce herself, “Hi, I’m with the Ford, or Elite, or IMG, or DNA modeling agency, has your daughter done any modeling?” And another business card would be wasted. Her mom nodded as she recalled this sordid past.
Attention just shifts to her, the party comes to her, she can’t seem to avoid it. About every 30 minutes some man comes over and introduces himself to us (to her). This man owns a local night club, would we (she) be his guest? (He’s looking at her like desert) This guy owns a yacht - “that one, there,” he points it out, in his Russian oligarch voice - he clicks a fob on his keychain and the lights blink. Oh, sure, join a strange foreign man on his yacht, what could go wrong?
There are 8 of us girls at the table with Charles, our escort and confidant. He’s a 50-ish, red headed ex-NYC-cop who just sits there quietly and sips his drink like James Bond. He seldom says anything. I lean in to him and say, “Maybe they think you're her pimp?!” Leong coughs in her drink and Charles gives me the same, serious, “behave yourself” look I’ve gotten since I was 9.
I wonder can you hear me?
Do you know when I am sad
I often think about you,
You're my Father, my friend,
My Dad.
I think about your laughter
The good times and the bad.
But most of all I think about
the fun we use to have.
I remember how you sang us all to
sleep sometimes at night.
And how you'd say "Behave yourself,
be good, and please don't fight."
I wonder do you know that your
Grand-daughter is all grown.
And that she has a baby now
A daughter of her own.
They say she has her mothers smile
And has her fathers toes. But Dad
I swear I see you in her eyes above
her nose.
She'll never know the man I knew
And never feel your touch.
But I tell her all your stories Dad,
she seems to like a bunch.
I wish she could have meant you
Just to feel the way we do. The love
And understanding came so easily
to you.
I'm glad we had this time to talk
And Dad before I'm through,
I want to say how you are missed
And how much I love you......
Behave yourself! Or what?
What if I don't, you sot?
What if I did misbehave?
Give the couriers more than a wave?
Ain't misbehaving, ha ha ha.
Imagine me and a Grandpapa!
There is a fairy tale I remember from my childhood,
the fairy tale of the delivery swans that worked for an evil sorceress.
«Behave yourself,» my mom used to say. «Or they will take you away.»
«Why does the evil sorceress kidnap only naughty children?» I asked.
«When you grow up, you'll understand».
I grew up but I still don’t understand
why they don’t come to take me away.
Don’t you see, my beautiful evil sorceress,
I misbehave,
I drink,
I play the fool,
I write verses
and I look toward the enchanted forest for days, looking for your swans.
Jacob's ladder
filled with angels
ascending upward
descending down again
like drops of water
in the ocean
evaporating up, up, up --
returned as clouds burst
deep into the ground
The cycle starts down here on Earth
Our every action sent to Heaven
On the wings of Angels, messengers divine
~ So behave yourself, and you'll be fine
Paralysed
Chandeliers hanging from the skies
Purple books within which you start all rhymes
Faded walls that drift away or when you push them they slide
Take this piece of bread and eat it but don’t ever let them see you try
Windmills circle glowing like electric neon signs
St Patrick’s Day is the day that you held out and became so wise
A Fishes eyes looked at you with no surprise on hook demise
Sometimes you know when it’s coming so behave yourself in lies
The matador waves his red cape and you run because you can’t hide so rise
In the stars you see all of the past and a glimpse of you and it makes tears in those eyes
A light bulb flies by you and in the confusion it starts again and you wake legs paralysed.
You think we are all dumb animals
That could not be less true
We know what is going on with you
We watch what you do to each other
We listen to what you say
You all hate each other
Working out new ways to kill
Yes, we may fight but we rarely kill
Someone always runs away
You are supposed to be the alpha species
But you are really just an embarrassment
No longer human
No longer humane
So please grow up and behave yourself
Before the future decides for you
© Poem – XXVII/VI/MMXXIV
LRET
Under the blood moon
beneath a lunar eclipse
darkness has a brilliant light;
When teasing becomes tangible
heartbeats steal the night..
Lost my heart as we fell to the ground,
I give you a whimper my voice found..
Your eyes said ‘Arch for me.’
with a very slow blink;
The emotion inside
was no longer dormant;
Destiny now awakened…
I give you a whimper my voice found
Lost my heart as we fell to the ground..
Tying knots in my stomach
then not letting me get a release;
Behave yourself and give in.
Don’t parade yourself around,
a teasing angel on top of me…
Caught up in what could be forever,
with a whimper I surrender..