Best Bern Poems
A true story, based on family oral tradition
from the oldest part of the city of Bern,
capitol of Switzerland, where my mother was
born and raised, in the Nydegghoff)
He lighted the candle with a quivering hand,
his overcoat seeming to weigh down the old man.
He paused in the aisle to genuflect,
and wondered if God knew his heart was a wreck.
He found a pew and got to his knees,
hands clasped together, he sent out his pleas.
He is old and he's tired, now he's alone,
his wife died last Spring, now his house wasn't home.
They'd been blessed with one son, he'd died in the war,
and now there was nothing for him to live for.
He prayed until his knee pain was great,
then sat back in the pew and tried not to shake.
The cathedral was beautiful; he loved the stained glass,
but, oh, they brought memories of Sundays past.
How could he make it through Christmas alone
in a house that was empty, no longer a home?
The kitchen was silent and cold as a tomb,
but her scent lingered on in their modest bedroom.
He said one last prayer, then rose to his feet,
genuflecting again, he went out on the street.
He walked home near blindly, not even aware
of the snow that was landing on his shoulders and hair.
He was cold inside, his heart like a stone,
and he felt completely and utterly alone.
He turned down his street, saw his porch light's glow,
and only then realized it had started to snow.
He opened his gate, thought of making some soup,
but froze in his tracks at the sight on the stoop.
On his porch sat a basket, the old wicker kind,
he thought for a moment, he was losing his mind.
Inside the basket that sat on his mat,
were three tiny kittens and one momma cat.
What a pitiful sight, so cold and so thin,
he scooped up the basket and hurried them in.
He found some canned tuna and warmed up some milk,
gently petting the babies, whose fur was like silk.
He never discovered who left those cats there,
but, as his love grew, he no longer cared.
His wife had loved cats and this comforted him,
as they slept on his head, or tucked under his chin.
The kittens grew quickly, as they're wont to do,
amused by their antics, his love grew and grew.
There was laughter and joy 'til the end of his days,
for God works, as you know, in mysterious ways.
"It is almost impossible to watch a sunset and not dream." – Bern Williams.
The spacious vales shimmered in crimson hues
The tired, reddish-orange sun tinged the sky,
As it yearned for rest and descend
Into the darkening horizon below.
There, the soothing river flowed, calm and serene.
No boats sailed the tranquil, gentle waters.
Some birds drifted on its current; others flew above.
Not far away, a dilapidated bridge crossed
From one side to the other, where a person
Stood still, eyes fixed on the cerise horizon.
Along the dark river bank, green trees
Seemed to sway slightly in the light night breeze.
A picture of calm portrayed the scene.
And so, I painted and dreamed.
Placed 1
Einstein imagined chasing a beam of light
It was while walking through Bern he got that insight
Thinking in images in that beautiful place.
He pursued paradoxes and entwined time and space.
Niels Bohr paused a walk to draw circles with his cane
He muttered about quantum jumps but he wasn't insane.
In one walk he realized levels must be discrete:
Orbits quantize, then he continued down the street.
Barbara McClintock walked through fields of corn
She looked at the kernels and an idea was born.
She saw the pattern of a jumping gene:
Many walk in cornfields and miss what she had seen.
Feynman walked one night and got a new notion
that electrons travel in a strange kind of motion.
He imagined each particle trying every route:
and Quantum Mechanics took a reboot.
Alan Turing walked across meadows under a Cambridge sun
sometimes he'd walk sometimes he'd run.
He came up with the Universal Turing Machine:
It could compute any code a programmer could dream.
Michael Faraday walked by the Thames in a rhythmic pace.
He realized forces act in fields spanning space
River ripples looked to him like lines of force
Others walk by rivers without insights of course.
To Helmholz certainty came like a physical blow:
He realized energy can't be lost wherever it might go
he was walking in the Tiergarten in Berlin
a good place for ideas to flow from within.
Mandelbrot walked by clouds and trees
On the coast of Massachusetts he felt the sea breeze.
Saw fractal patterns at every scale
I've walked on coasts; my mind stays stale.
it seems that for some a walk brings insight
Like emerging from a tunnel and viewing the light.
Like a broad field of view that starts you to think
A falling into place where concepts link.
It can be in science, it can be a song
So go on a walk bring the fragments along.
It is grand that new worlds arise:
When you walk away from your desk under blue skies.
Triangle of Swissness
On a rage for softness
Bern of mythical sweetness
Legend of the wilderness
Echoes of milk and honey
Remnants of caramel chimney
One Matterhorn mountain peak
Nougats of Iron tweak
End of logo, rise in solo
Once there was a dame called Anne “the bane”
Her trick “God-promise .My words are true & sane”
“Sam and Bern are prophets.God-promise!”
“my comprehension is the truth.God-promise!”
Bloody are we in “stone age” or “iron age” dame?
Wish to wake up surrounded by the snow-capped Alps
Sipping tea in the quiet, quaint villages of Switzerland
Watching the glittering ripples of sapphire blue lakes
Staying in picturesque lakeside hamlets
Overlooking emerald valleys and majestic mountain peaks
Wish to climb the summit of the Matterhorn
To ride in horse-drawn carriages in the village of Zermatt
Journeying through train to Jungfraujoch
Riding cable cars and gondolas over the Lauterbrunnen Valley
Visiting flourishing flower gardens in Interlaken
Enjoying the Swiss Transport Museum in Lucerne
Wish to write about the beauty of Lake Geneva
From within the halls of the famed Chateau de Chillon
Skiing and snowboarding in St. Moritz’s Cresta Run
Stopping by in the Rose Garden and Bear Park
In the stunning Swiss capital of Bern
Wish to go to the Zurich Zoo with my family
Walk the cobbled streets of the Old Town
Strolling toward the Swiss National Museum
Call on the tennis great Roger Federer in his Wollerau home
Watch him practise his game and spend time with his family
Wish to enjoy some Cheese fondue and Älplermagronen
With Rosti and Zürcher Geschnetzelte, a veal dish
It would be wonderful to eat Engadiner Torte
Taste some Huppen wafer biscuits
And some sweet Swiss chocolate
If I were to go on a vacation,
I would choose Switzerland
without a second thought
Dreamy and inviting
That’s the place I wish to see.
28th March 2022
For L Milton Hankins' "My Dream Vacation" contest
Tussled snow-haired gnome flies over the land,
A moonbeam daydream, unicorn soars high.
Pulling bread loaves from the air with his hands,
Weaving through clouds shaped like marshmallow pies.
He’s the master of all he imagines,
To his fantasy you are invited.
To be pragmatic is to be tragic.
It’s story time, kids, let's get excited!
This governing’s not as hard as it seems,
Don’t listen to the doubters; they’re just mean.
Who needs economics when you’ve got dreams?
My flock, put your hands on the TV screen!
Too bad your policies aren’t logical;
You’re a damn sight less pathological.
3/18/16
The story of Hezekiah Munny
Is one that’s really kind of funny
He married Olive Eo
First cousin to McMar
She didn’t have much money
And she didn’t have a car
She loved dear Hezekiah
She would gladly have his name
But also quite attached, she was
To her given maiden name
Tell me what you want, my love
And what is your new name
Said she to Mr. Munny
Not glory neither fame
My desire and my name
Are the same, Mr. Munny
What else do you think it’d be
Olive Eo Munny
And so they bred the finest brood
Not fond or Mr. Munny
There was Bern, DeMar and Helwit
I told you it was funny
Copyright © Mike Martin 2015
Climb the Hill
By Franklin Price
2/6/2016
Climb the Hill(ary), feel the Bern
We're Cruzin' to the Fall
Trump through the Bush
Find a Rubi Oh! God please save us all
Began this trip with many more
New POTUS at the end
On election day November
Hope for the best my friend
Elephants and Asses
At least they claim it's so
Conservatives and Liberals
Democratic Socialist you know
They all have their agendas
To you a word of note
Not all truth in what they're saying
Study hard before you vote
The President's elected
By the majority
If that's less than half the eligible
Is up to you and me
YOU ARE IN A CAR WITH CHARCOAL BLAZING IN THE BOOT....DID IT EXPLODE :)
Bernie Kinnear was a blacksmith who needed charcoal
so they brought some by car to the smithy...trouble was it came to life and set fire to
the boot of the car
Bernie Kinnear
Dirranbandi Blacksmith 1900 +
Mark said it was smoking and Harold laughed with glee (Harold was a bit slow)
Bernies charcoal was a blazing so much smoke you couldn't see
Bernie Kinnear wanted charcoal for his forge at the smithy shop
So he burnt a tree and waited for the fire and smoke to stop
Harolds flivver it was loaded Harold drove and Bernie talked
Poor Mark was worried, he'd really wished he'd walked
The spare tyre was a blazing and the paint was burning too
So they baled out at Bernie's from this fire ball ooh..
Some time later...
Bernie went to meet a client at the café Pippos...(local Greek cafe)
Bern tapped him on the shoulder and said Ill see you out side boss
Nervous habit of Bernie's was a rolling up his sleeves
Stevens thought a fight was on, Bernie buckled at the knees
When the fight was over Bernie said to Stevens gees!
Here's the part I made you and only ten quid if you please.....(quid Aussie pound )
Mark Johnson at about 17 worked with these 2 characters
In Dirranbandi bridge building.
People who went outside to fight rolled their sleeves up and tapped you on the shoulder
first .fisticuffs imminent ....back in the 50s
These old Blacksmiths kept things going and were good value in the bush country towns
Don Johnson
In Chicago, Mayor RICHARD J ruled the roost DALEY for 21 years,
Til he breathed his last, giving way to the 'next sir:'
A pol named MICHAEL, who was dull and B'LAND-ICk!
When a snowstorm paved the way for a female successor.
'Hurricane JANE'S' reign BYRNEd hot and cold alternatively,
Til along came a black-vs.-white race that EPTON made BERN (I)Even hotter;
In neighborhoods from Sauganash to Lawndale to Beverly,
HAROLD's whiteWASHING of his opposiT'ON caused the Machine to totter.
But then he died, and neithORR DAVID nor another pol SAW YER discomfort
At EU(r) Mayor GENE's toppling of storied Chicago traditions,
Til came the inevitable, a RICHAR(d) DALEY, JUNIOR landslide election:
Which 22 years later left the "City that Works' in near-bankrupt condition..
..Setting the stage foR RAHM, E-MAN-U'EL love to hate,
The man whom some call "Tiny Dancer."
Who's next after him it's a bit early to tell,
But I say it's PAUL VALLAS, unless he gets cancer.
Chicago's Mayors:
1955-1976 - Richard J. Daley
1976-1979 - Michael Bilandic
1979-1983 - Jane Byre
1983-1987 - Harold Washington**
1987 (8 days) - David Orr (Interim Mayor)
1987-1989 - Eugene Sawyer
1989-2011 - Richard M. Daley, Junior
2011-Now - Rahm Emmanuel
2019 - ? - Paul Vallas ?
**Harold Washington defeated Republican mayoral candidate, Bernie Epton, in a bitterly contested, divisive campaign, one which focused largely on race. Epton's campaign slogan, for example, was: "Vote for Bernie, before it's too late." The racism was pretty blatant.
I am small,
You are tall,
But does it matter at all?
No, Bernie!
My heart is Berning!
You see my vision.
I am a twig,
And you are big?
Let The Bern do his gig!
Bernie Sanders we can dig!
Hillary and Donald
By Franklin Price
7/29/2016
Hillary and Donald
The Clinton and the Trump
Run to save the country
Or send it further in the dump
Only the two of them are left
To run for president
We no longer feel the Bern
And sixteen have come and went
Clinton is establishment
Politics has been her thing
If she wins will be the first female
To wear the presidential ring
Brings years of participating
With the Washington elite
Where graft is most predominate
Among most everyone you meet
Trump is from the outside
Wants to change the status quo
Will make this country great again
Just how he'll do it we don't know
Being tired of Washington elite
Donald said the things we thought
He also was self funding
A billionaire who was not bought
Neither one is popular
Told so by the polls and news
Neither one is good for us
They're not the ones that we would choose
Who do you think it was that chose them?
Was not some little elves
It was voting by the people
Yes, we did this to ourselves
So now will come November
And on the day the polls will close
One will be chosen by the voters
What will happen no one knows
To Have Fun With the Candidates
By Franklin Price
1/25/2015
To have fun with the candidates
Should not cause any fuss
For after all most every day
They're having fun with us
Trump is a real playing card
Ted would like to Cruz to a win
Jeb's just beating 'round the Bush
Rubio thinks he's a Gem
Fiorina's whole wheat flour
Then there's honey Huckabee
We should be in a Santorum
There's a Christie cream to see
The taste could make a Kasich
Costing way too many Rand
Wouldn't like to drive their Carson
Maybe a Republican
The leprechaun O'Malley
Feels the Bern socialistically
If he's going to make it to the top
Has to climb the Hillary
So confused there are so many
Hard to see how I should vote
Who won't lead us lambs to slaughter?
Who won't be a Judas goat?
Guess that wasn't funny
Well it wasn't meant to be
Be careful what you're looking at
Is what you think you see
Heidi comes to mind the instant I hear the word Switzerland.
I see snow-capped mountains, sparkling waters, vast meadows
Bern tour will include medieval clock tower and Muenster Cathedral
I will include Lucerne’s chapel bridge and Montreaux, on Lake Geneva
Dare I visit the berg of Zermatt, named for Alpine’s meadows?
Do you realize this is a car-free resort town?
I may have to peek at Geneva, home to peacekeeping organizations
Peacekeeping and neutrality the mainstay of Swiss politics.