Best Chattanooga Poems
We boarded for the long ride on that train -
It brought back memories of being young.
Conductor: "Passengers will please refrain!"
Now 'City of New Orleans' on each tongue,
We sang through all those train songs we'd once sung:
The 'Loco-Motion', 'Marrakesh Express',
Then 'Peace Train', 'Love Train', 'Crazy Train' (a mess!)
We sang, 'Last Train to Clarksville' just for fun
And 'Chattanooga Choo Choo' (more or less!)
"We're gone 500 miles when day is done".
Categories:
chattanooga, song, travel,
Form:
Dizain
For some reason
I really like to drive,
and ever since I was sixteen,
when I get behind the wheel
feel free and alive...
Only once had an accident
when I was seventeen,
pulling out too fast of the driveway,
into my parents car I careened,
thank God it was minor damage
and my Dad was able to pop
the dent out with a hammer,
got a stern look and talking to
but kept me out of the slammer,
Have driven some Dodges and Chevy
cars in the past, but lately drive
a Ford Focus because its
much better on the gas...
Have driven in about all of the
states on the east coast,
and when I go once a year
to visit some family
its destination L.I., New York,
Out west have driven through
Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona
and even California,
reason being my husband
back then went to a school
called UTI in Phoenix, Arizona...
Probably the most traveled
interstate in the east being I-75 and I-24,
which is one of the biggest
trucking routes that I know of by far,
and I truly admire truck drivers
driving their 18 wheelers
up and down the highways and interstates,
they just scare me a bit
when they get too close,
driving as if my car was
truck driver bait...
I even thought once about
becoming a truck driver
but that was a fleeting idea
that lost most of its appeal,
because the more I thought of it
wouldn't really like that career,
especially since they're all
probably pretty heavy from
constantly being behind the wheel,
and when I stop at those truck stops
I can't help but notice,
that the truck drivers not only
buy toothpaste for their teeth,
but also preparation H
for their hemorrhoids...
My son and I just came home
from Chattanooga, Tenn.,
and thank God we both
arrived home safely and in one piece,
because even though I love to drive
can't understand why people
fly by me doing 80 like in an emergency,
unless someone in the car
has to use a restroom or
is about to deliver a baby...
and lately when I drive
around Moccasin Bend
feel a little more on edge
and on the offensive,
because its like driving on the autobahn
or being in the Indy 500!
Remember, don't text and drive because you want to arrive alive…:)
P.S. Happy 60th Birthday Interstate System!
Categories:
chattanooga, car, travel,
Form:
Light Verse
Was just a young'un in the big band era
But it seems just like yesterday
Listening to Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey
Still love it right to this day
Miller's Modernaires, and Dorsey's Pied Pipers
With their smooth harmonic blend
Chattanooga Choo-Choo and The Trolley Song
Brought me so much pleasure no end
Guess I was influenced by my older sisters
Was not even ten at the time
It just goes to show the impact they had made
For those long ago days I still pine
It wasn't until Elvis debuted in fifty-six
When Rock'n Roll took over
The Big Band era came quickly to a halt
And ended it's popular exposure
Don't even know what is popular today
Or even if they've given it a name
Guess I'm just an old guy living in the past
Progress is the name of the game
Categories:
chattanooga, memory,
Form:
Rhyme
Dennis Cummings
1844-1920
To my friends of the 41st Infantry!
My men, my brave brothers from Wisconsin, are invited!
Invited RSVP to my domesticated, but dignified digs
On south Milton Street in Whittier town,
There, above the tracks of the Southern Pacific
There, surrounded by my better half’s tulips and pumpkins
There, surrounded by unequivocal respect and love
Of my loyal and nagging better half, Ellen, and
Of my dutiful and loyal son, Lee Roy.
There is a window upstairs facing north,
North to the rising green hills of Whittier town,
North even to the Stars and Stripes
Of my Wisconsin brothers
Of my fellow Wisconsin freedom fighters!
Nightly there, I light a candle for my friends.
My intrepid men, my brave brothers!
Those charging advancing storming souls
Those rampaging, death-staring warriors of the 41st!
Like the fiercely flowing rapids of the Tennessee
There in Chattanooga, and thereabouts,
My brothers and my friends braved the bullets,
Faced the fusillade of fire, the unspeakable violence, and
Even found glorious sacrifice,
Found glorious death in battle,
In the suffocating smoke and sulfur
Of fifty thousand muskets.
Yes, you are invited my brothers! My friends!
Come to my humble home here on South Milton Street
And look to the upstairs window.
There is a candle burning there for you.
Burning with respectful gratitude.
Burning with a proud silence
For my brave brothers,
The storming rampaging men of the 41st.
Categories:
chattanooga, conflict, death, war,
Form:
Epitaph
CHALLENGED OR CHALLENGED?: AN UNRESOLVED DANCE LINGERS ON
By: Agnes Dalton - 28 minutes ago
API RELEASE: CHATTANOOGA, TN -
A challenged waiter and a forgotten child
are alone in an empty diner -
when suddenly, a spotted lark
glides through an open window
and carries the child's voice away.
The challenged waiter rushes the baby
into the burnt kitchen and gently bathes him
in a vat of silky buttermilk.
There is no need for a candle now.
The infant silently sleeps.
He's dreaming of a holy nest -
sacrament to a testament?
A resurrection of majestic trees unfold as
apnea prevails – when the waiter
finally awakes - he unlocks
the rusted magnesium gates -
stained with the blood of a combed innocence.
Finding himself abandoned again,
the babbling steward
slithers through the dusty shadows
of hammered pots and pans - like smoke rings,
slicing celestial godsong sung by dappled larks.
A forgotten waiter. A lifeless infant -
an empty diner...and all the senseless,
napkin-tucked angels, who witnessed
this timeless debacle, are now
dancing and crying - a quiet waltz...
for one.
Categories:
chattanooga, loss
Form:
Narrative
New Orleans thieved my heart at the start of spring,
my stomach dropped along the bayou
across to Mobile on train.
She stopped long enough to sing
in keeping with the rain.
Atlanta's pink sky roaring,
sore throats to spotted ring,
caught a cold thru Chattanooga
winding north then west thru mountain bends.
To Tennessee, the accident,
where money grew on trees.
Stashed my pack behind a bush
til night passed by in a rush.
Waited for the sun to rise,
high above Tallahassee plains,
to warm the fire ants and cement
to return south on blacktop highway.
Categories:
chattanooga, life, travel, write,
Form:
Our roots run deep into the Philadelphia bells of acoustical waves of your musical melodies, sound in my distant ear, the sailors storm on the wooden ferry I ride, into the depths, of a swamps crossing, saved by the mind, we traveled together with a song in a line, oceans wake we travel across to a hay ride wedding and chowder horns of blessings we dine.
Rings true to the bells of a flashing red nose of St. Nicholas flight we sit and fight occupied by the Christmas Night. Songs we would sing from an Old English Story carried on by our families from generations ago. A musical history of wooden winds along with an Indian Pipe we remember from back then, the long journey of the stalagmites of millions of years you shown to me. Nature we live to see, what's right in front of me, horses we gallop to the lake filled with trout, and into the rivers of the Chattanooga with a stripped root beer of truth in its colors are bound into a saltwater taffy candy entwined.
Built from the foundation, a brick and a pebble, we rise through the years of lessons we learned, the barrel of two guns and logs of fire on a cold night.
A loss so great grief long and hard two people so young and so soon they were gone. Torn apart into a new life and it begins with the truth that lies beneath. From the strength above we pulled through.
Snowy rooftops and a seasons leaf, roaring rapids and a bridge line of cobble, a Water Wheel and Indian Tales in a Grey Stone Prayer of a white candle lit. We move along through it all filled with adventure and love carrying the music within to find ourselves back to the oceans again deep in our hearts. The Tropics we know.
Constructing the intelligence broad waters rise and a house from the 20's you kept alive, hard as it was a paradise you built, home you always were where ever you went.
My heart sank when the news came, I never have thought of a day without you. Brave I was with all that you survived, I made it through, darkness came and they attacked with secrets people never knew, I almost died, but came through because of you.
As years went by then at last comes a son I thought who lives in the memory of you. Lessons we learned will carry on to him too. Bless our lives with many more of you. As I sit here today missing you, all I can do is carry on...and hope to make you proud as I am of you.
Categories:
chattanooga, adventure, appreciation, dad, death,
Form:
Free verse
INSPIRATIONAL ADDRESS
Winners never quit, quitters never win, they say.
We must always go on because it’s the American way.
We must go on now like famous guys before us
So let’s step out and stop wasting time with all this fuss.
This may seem philosophical, but it’s the kind of dog I am:
Were gonna do it and we don’t give a damn.
Did John Wayne quit in THE SEARCHERS?
Do Antarctic penguins give up cos it’s too cold in their breeches?
Did Columbus give up cos he found the Bronx instead of China?
Did the Chattanooga choochoo diner stop serving ham and eggs in Carolina?
This mansion is our Big Horn and the spooks are Indians in numbers ample
(Oops sorry, forget it, that’s a bad example)
Anyhow, you get what I mean I’m sure -
So let’s get the lead out cos were in deep manure.
( Written for the WHY WE MUST GO ON contest)
Categories:
chattanooga, funny
Form:
Couplet
Well I am called Captain Owl Talons and my ship is called the phantom dragon
I carry precious jewels, incenses, spices and priceless works of art
And hide my booty in the wide open caves no one else knows about
But the Cherokees to this day....
Well I've traveled every river in the United States of America and
Caused quite a ruckus and riots by bigots who still fear the way
Of the pirate...
Well I may look a mess and smell to high Heaven, no I can't remember
The last time I took a bath, it might been about seven but the joke
Is on you I am the wealthiest man in the world, someday I might
Retire and live as a hermit at the top of Signal Mtn. Maybe I'll go to
Church and repent and sing a choir but as of today I'm not ready to trade
These waters for a fireside rocking chair...
No 'cuz I love the smell of Chattanooga and its clean fresh air, I love
The thrill of standing at my ship's wheel, I love being a living legend and
Wanted men...so catch me, catch me if you can...
Tennessee River Pirate, Tennessee River Pirate and I'll die as I am!
Categories:
chattanooga, adventure, fantasy, metaphor,
Form:
Free verse
Well I love Tennessee, the mountains, the rivers and the valleys.
Knoxville, Chattanooga and Nashville. But Memphis is a disaster
Waiting to happen again like it did in the late 19th century when the
New Madrid first made its presence known. The Mississippi river
Ran backwards for days and days and Thousands of Indians and
Pioneers lost their lives and homes as the liberty bell tolled the hour.
The whole east coast felt its power!
Heaven have mercy on our souls because it is overdue to shake
Things up again! Only God knows when but it's destined to come
Around again...
It seems like not too many people are unaware of the NEW MADRID
And the devastation at hand or is it we are just too preoccupied with war and
The carrying on of the other lands well I don't know but I do know one thing for sure history
Has a peculiar way of repeating its self. So let’s not be so quick to put this book back on that
Shelf. Take care in all you do don't you know we are not promised
Tomorrow and the NEW MADRID is a bombshell about to split America into
Could be the gates of hell and we're all as good as screwed!
Categories:
chattanooga, crazy, natural disasters, surreal,
Form:
Free verse
WISE ASS
You know this person!
In middle school his perfect sarcasm
seems funny and bold and wise to our ears,
makes adults and institutions seem hopelessly
inept, disingenuous, insecure
By high school, however, his wise ass
negativity wins lots of first dates but
never real girlfriends, even the bad girls
back off, and the jocks and jazz drummers
have better things to do than hear a bitter
monologue about the social studies teacher,
the new librarian’s hair-do, the gym
teacher’s twitching left eye
In college or the service
he gets to see the nation, gets to
travel overseas and build a bulging catalog
of every quirk and fault in every community
and culture – the languages and the hair,
the religions and the traditions are simply stupid
or depraved, insipid or immoral, patently unworthy
of the exploratory tendencies of the intellect
or the heart
Newly in the workforce
he is the unanimous selection for union representative
but elected only once because he actually loves fighting,
not negotiating, for the salaries and the benefits
that his colleagues surely deserve
The neighbors are sure
that his wife is a saint, that the children are scarred,
everyone hoping that she moves to New Zealand
and the kids change their surnames, melt into the
fabric of Chattanooga or Dubuque, perhaps Orono
or Las Cruces leaving him alone to nail everyone he
encounters with his porch signs and t-shirts, his
infallible ability to see through good intentions
to the deceitful, the liberal and the miserable
among us who make everything so wrong!
In the senior housing complex
he has friends for three months
then takes his meals alone in the company
of others, his only real exercise the occasional
walking back of an asinine comment or a bitter
observation, and when moved to assisted living,
his behavior is so bad that staff wishes out-loud
for his early demise, a desirable situation
which in spite of their strong commitment to the
God of all good things, they successfully engineer
for the good of all concerned!
Categories:
chattanooga, people,
Form:
Free verse
When it's just too hot for comfort,
and you can't get ice cream cones,
it ain't no sin to take off your skin
and dance around in your bones.
(from my Grandmother in Chattanooga, TN)
Categories:
chattanooga, childhood, grandmother,
Form:
Rhyme
We know this world is the devil's playground
And he will do anything to turn people away
From our Lord and savior Jesus Christ almighty
But good will always conquer evil so have heart
And let the bright white light of the Holy Spirit
Comfort you and me, only love can save us now
Only, only love...
From Chattanooga to Paris here's sending you
Our deepest sympathies, ours may have been small
In comparison to yours but you can't place any
Value on any lost life for every life is a miracle and
God has a purpose for everybody, just like the birds
In the trees and the fish in the sea, it really doesn't
Matter what religion you are, what matters is the love
In your heart, no God that I know of would want you
To kill yourself or anyone else in his name, yes these
Are trying times and its puts the Angels to shame...
But
We know this world is the devil's playground
And he will do anything to turn people away
From our Lord and savior Jesus Christ almighty
But good will always conquer evil so have heart
And let the bright white light of the Holy Spirit
Comfort you and me, only love can save us now
Only, only love...
Be a peace keeper and lets all come together
Nothing is more powerful against Satan and his
Handmaidens if we stand united with one another
In the name of love, ONLY LOVE, ONLY LOVE...
That’s the only way the world will ever change
In the Lords name...
We all are a part of God and God is love, ONLY
LOVE, ONLY LOVE!
Categories:
chattanooga, beauty, love, spiritual,
Form:
Free verse
4 Marines Murdered and I am wondering why? He killed 1 Police Officer and I still have no clue but let’s continue and move on, looking back at what is at stake I pray for the families who will be crying each and every day remembering how this coward took 5 lives that fought for us day by day. Protecting us we need more help, remembering how we all felt. On 9/11 many were killed, still wondering why they had to kill. Looking back the violence needs to stop how can we change For Chattanooga sake? Shootings are getting worse people are dying is it really worth that time for the families who are crying? Praying everyday it always works but for some reason someone ends up dead why does it hurt? Never looking back seems to do no good praying for the families to stay strong we all should. Waking up is kind of hard knowing that it is not all good, praying For Chattanooga is all we can do because fighting back and killing wouldn’t solve a thing or two? Looking back will we will ever be ok scared for others that protect us till this day. For Chattanooga keep your head up because God knows and please don’t ever give up.
Categories:
chattanooga, america, conflict, confusion,
Form:
ABC
Glimitz!
According to your order - pronounce,
I weigh less than an ounce.
As gratchens flame and fly, to my disdain,
I wonder, have you got a light?
A conference call,
a violin,
a gently rappling, nightly nappling, finger poppling, ripe penguin,
all of them, on ice,
or would slipslod them on rice?
Catch a tory,
a chicken allegory,
seizing up, all oblong,
I don't belong,
I am more a scroodle square - don't glare.
Chattanooga,
What's it to ya?
Blampart on rye -
as I sit and sigh,
a bicycle goes by.
Oglethorpe in greeches,
idly ironing breeches;
say aloud:
I'm not unproud.
Morebly, I am constitutional.
Cribble, Crabble, my friend Jasper,
grasshoppers of alabaster,
frogs from South Chicago,
a ballpark frank for Joe,
did I stub my finger?
...or my stomach?
Saskatoony
on the half shell,
Pinkerton gets all wet.
Could I ever master
Vogon without regret?
Categories:
chattanooga, nonsense,
Form:
Vogon Poetry