Best Concert Poems
Drumming along on steering wheel
And dashboard, to rhythm and beats
8-track drowning out giddy squeals,
Till butts plopped down in venue seats.
The buzzing crowd was everywhere
All walks of life surely present,
Deluge of Tie-Dye and long Hair,
Smoke wafting thick, the oddest scent.
When all light vanished, cheers ensued
As silhouettes shuffled on stage,
Anticipation…all eyes glued,
Mind numbing sound, coming of age!
They’d rocked our years, and now this night
Fans singing each memorized word,
Dancing, laughter—our teenage rite
Of passage, forever conferred.
Ten thousand flames, begged one more song
Two mega hits offered instead;
Then bows before worshiping throng,
Ended the show, farewells widespread.
Ankle wrapped, lipstick gleams
Music is heard in the backbeats of faint rhythms
This is just me, and myself
There are people there Lollypop prima donnas
Modern dance bare feet rebelrinas, SpicySalsa Latina Coke Bottles
Loud and HERE hip-hop mamas
Shadows, backstage
Just me, and myself, here
Girls surround the mirror, preening like ugly hens for a rooster
That only sees himself
Lycra glittering tightly stretched, no imperfections allowed In these bodies,
messing up is no longer an option, it never was a option
Just look at the pretty picture they are painting
Dancing, speaking without voices of their own
poetry in motion, they call it
"I just want them to look at me", she says.
Right.. go ahead and dance to the beat of everyone else
Feet fretfully practicing [Fake]French with an American accent
Jeté, pas, Chaîné
S'il vous plaît danser votre coeur hors
In Attitude
Get It Shawty
This is the very last time
Just me, and myself
Lost in whispers of melodies, movement strains and scents of
Righting lefts, lefting wrongs, up and downs to my
very own song
Stage right, upper wing,
Open up the Curtains
Cue and a one, two, three
Spotlight flashes in the eyes to hide all cynical opinions, judgments are blinded
this is my stage, don’t lie to me, this is my stage
There are no lies here
Four, five, six, seven, eight, and a
And All I Wanna Do
Is just slip away
Into my own
Beat
It's such a beautiful setting
there you are under evening sun
such a balmy sultry effect fills the air
indeed a beautiful moment bar none
Scenery's sublime sky's so true
what a picture such a beauty of place
it's so difficult to take such a image all in
looking at it's face entwined such lace
The sound's cover such beauty
this music indeed fills the air
caught within this love capsule
your hearts enraptured to such fair
All the instruments match together
making it a stunning beautiful night
this is scent made in the heavens
an experience of simply sheer delight
A summer evening concert
one unforgettable attraction so full
atmospheric sounds so majestic
takes one's breath shine as a jewel
Never wanting it to ever end
voices echo time to say goodbye
as this was to come to a close
where its memories may never die
(thoughts on a summer evening concert filled with beautiful music in the open air.)
They performed again
the aging Beach Boys
Conjuring up seaside
utopias
Caught their act
years ago
at Madison Square Garden
I remember a pretty young girl
-a bit drunk-
was kissing me during the
show
The life we led has
magical moments
which face into the box of memroy
Remembering days and "nights"(!)
at the beach
I pass into a nostalgic haze
escape briefly
from the worlds of science and tehnology
into a soft bubbles of joy -
concert of drizzle
raindrops dance on rocking leaves …
pearls absorb rainbow
______________
December 1, 2022
For A Brian Strand Choice Haiku
Footle Tanka Clerihew Contest
I stand in awe, paralyzed
Bottomless pit below, where feet should stand
Boundless steps, take one more, then another
Am I alone, in a sea of nineteen thousand?
I wonder, is it just me
Who's lungs compress the closer we become
Nearly there, complete the infinate descent
A memory perpetually imprinted, will not be undone
I contemplate leaving, turn back
The rush overwhelms me, is it too late?
I've waited a lifetime and a day, I'm here
A bumbling hum accumulates, then resonates
I understand how it unites
How it heals, destroys, runs fingers through nerves
Drags buried demons from shadows, kicking, screaming
A final standing ovation, the least that's deserved
I reflect as the curtains drop
Last wire unplugged, last light deluminated
Bottomless pit, where feet once stomped
Can't shake the music from my mind, I'm contaminated
25th August 2011
Wind whispers through leaves
Somewhere in pine scented shade
Tree of songs concert
This moment I've been awaiting for a number of years
To see ones heroes live see them crunching their gears
I'm on my way to Glasgow with workmates and friends
To finally see live their fantastic tracks they have penned
Anticipation now flows into the concert arena we await
It's the buzz, the hungered wishing, terrific time trait
The moments now close for the lights start to dim
For this three piece on song a most wonderful vim
Strobe lights, Bass intro, my awaiting now starts
To us fans they're our hymns soon singing our hearts
Shouting cheering hearing the first vocals now voiced
To the chorus now reached such incredible rejoice
Mellow chords to lead guitar which slice through the air
Decibels so loud for we simply sing and just stare
Drum solo so immense it's orchestral to our ears
So energetic melodic sublime, to magnificent tier
Thanks, plaudits are shared, encore after encore
It's not just their lyrics, it's their quite beautiful scores
This moment I've been awaiting for a number of year's
To see ones heroes live, I have to admit there were tears
.
On the bluffs above the Lorelei Rock,
Overlooking the Rhine River near Bingen,
Is the Lorelei Ampitheater.
While stationed in West Germany,
Towards the end of the Cold War,
I saw there an awesome concert.
The main band was one of my favorite bands--
Possibly the best band America ever produced
(The only band that ever gave the Beatles any competition anyway).
Cheerleaders from the University of Nevada Las Vegas
Strutted and danced on stage
In uniforms, sarongs, and bikinis.
Rain didn't stop the show or discourage the spectators.
A significant percentage of the audience were young people,
Who liked the songs their parents treasured--
Songs about hot rods, love, and surfboards.
The song of the beautiful Lorelei below
Harmonized with the California sound above.
The distant brass haystacks tune on shorn ground.
Vanilla fence posts chime in saffron sun.
Adjacent jonquils trumpet lemon sound
as amber goldenrod and china mums
in stil de grain complete a trio 'round
high jasmine shrubs, which in the octaves run
aureolin to beige. Nearby is found
a vegetable garden where blond onions,
squash and carrots in harmony abound
with notes of maize and amber. Faun melons
grace a clef of trellis where ecru-crowned
warblers and the sunglow-breasted Hutton's
Vireo twitter in tune with corn-downed,
bumblebees and drone: summer has begun.
Cooling evening air and the smell of naughty smoke,
nameless camarades all sharing beers and a joke
beneath a natural stadium roof of stars and midnight blue
massed ranks all sat by fires, just like the eve of Waterloo.
huddled expectation, leather jacket wrapped round tight
monolithic stage a silhouette in crisp moonlight.
Someone shouts for Wally, or a friend that has gone missing
giggles under blanket from some dreamy youngsters kissing.
Conversation halted by the two-word intervention
“one two,one two” Marshall HiWatt really gets the crowd's attention.
People racing to the front, they want to get there first
The noise as bubbling patience starts to strain now, fit to burst.
I shout out to the burger bar for brother, but in vain
the roar from eighty thousand like an oncoming subway train.
A single drumbeat, crashing chord, a fan of laser light,
the massed ranks rise, fists to the sky, guys, here we go- Alllllllllllrightttttttt!
One minute in, it's deafening, the front rows start to jam,
my raison d'etre plainly clear- I rock, therefore I am.
All thanks to William Wordsworth, one of our greats
I wandered in my kitchen round
floating high on cocaine broaches
all at once guess what I found
a nest of golden cockroaches
inside the stove, beside the fridge
singing and dancing on every ridge
Continuous gold in costumes fine
eyes a-twinkling; looks of gay
parades in never-ending lines
the bug-stards out in full array
ten thousand I would estimate
with spindly legs on roller skates
They weaved and waved in glorious tune
to Bug Stars' hit "We're wild and free"
well good to make a poet swoon
to hear such perfect harmony
I gazed in wonder at this troupe
outdoing any pro rock group
Skilled crooners crooned while chorus girls
in-sync tap-tapped and showed slim knee
with hoops and loops and swirls and twirls
each pitch they met with practiced ease
involuntarily I swayed
blew air kisses in accolade
Now oft in bed when sleep eludes
in vacant and depressive mode
their scrabble on my mind intrudes
as on my food their sh-t they load
and then my heart with rue is stocked
cocaine's a bug-ger!! I'll smoke my socks!!
The Band Concert
It was not a typical musical concert on an indoor stage,
but a marching band concert—and a very special one to me.
I sat with family on bleachers that sunny day as
the glorious band’s thunderous sounds filled my ears,
and my chest vibrated wildly with the powerful music
from brass, woodwinds, percussion, and resounding drums.
As my heart beat in sync with the strong pounding rhythm,
such deep patriotic emotion fully engulfed me, and I
could feel my heart fill up with pride as it beat with
the thrill of that music and with the vision of those great
young men and women in huge formations, marching
on their way to receive diplomas and off to serve our country.
Then I saw him, our dear son, marching within that "Long Gray Line",
stepping in unison with fellow classmates to that awesome music.
The wondrous relentless rhythm from those drums and horns,
together with the artistic and intricate merging formations,
engulfed my whole being as tears filled my eyes with pride and joy—
on that special day—at that one-time special event—in May 1981...
Sandra M. Haight
~2nd Place~
Contest: Any Poem Written in 2015
Sponsor: Laura Loo
Judged: 07/16/2016
~Honorable Mention~
Contest: The Concert
Sponsor: Craig Cornish
Judged: 06/10/2015
Buzzing instruments,
Serenade…golden petals:
Symphony of bees.
The noises you make,
The soundtrack to being you,
Compose them for me.