Best Formerly Poems
Formerly, dear,
my books like velvet-dressed
put aside, perfectly straight.
Last light flickers
dusk bids, “God bless,”
as I gently turn on the night,
the antique brass polished,
and symphonic-lettering hooks
harmonize in the gentler time
before the internet.
Roses flourish in crystal vase,
cranberries and ivy vines contemplate
the corpulent beauty of day’s end.
A table round in burgundy gown,
intricate lace cradles intimate thought.
My chamomile tea relaxes on lyrics bound,
stacked red and brown dust jackets burning.
I write and write and write.
In the end sits
my inkwell and quill,
a magnifique glass illuminating his name,
my spectacles
and a flowery letter to my kin —
all wrapped up as I go to bed,
in the romance of Victorian daze.
10/15/2019
LOVE KNOT?
There once was a girl who was smitten,
On a guy she always was hittin’.
He threw her a rope,
Which gave her some hope,
Until she saw how it was fittin’.
[Just a few changes -- new title, two changed words. Makes all the difference, doesn't it?]
My name is Charlie Munford
I am all Redneck, not a nerd
I have the gas sucking truck, big bald muddin' tires
I needed some money, so I sat my truck on fire
If you come over empty handed, no beer or snacks
Prepare for an old fashioned butt whippin' or you better make some tracks
Poor mannered guests make me mean
I am a legend in the Redneck community, they call me Niller Bean
I sleep among the empty beer cans and potato chip bags
I fall asleep staring at my Rebel flag
When I go grocery shopping, it is scratch and dent all the way
The discount food game I know how to play
I grab a bag of Fritos and crush them, then use a black marker and write crushed
on the outside
Every week I take the grocery store on my discount ride
I do these tactics where I can't be seen
I sign my credit card receipt as Niller Bean
People call me crazy, I am just misunderstood
If you get to know me, you will see, my intentions are good
Now I am Jammin' to some Patsy Cline
Women call me a pig, I prefer the term swine
We were born identical
When we were created apart;
In very different wombs.
Now my mind runs to where you hide
Unobscured by camouflage
In the bright dim light of
Morally decade manmade nature.
I was created as spares for you,
But I think, and therefore I cannot
Spare you.
Spent by this affliction I no longer
See with blind crystal clarity,
But instead I begin at this end.
The invalidity of science
Has caused its own creation to
Abandon the method
For the metaphysical instead.
Twin, fear not death,
For when you are found,
You will only die to live.
Used up, you will be spared
From that exhilarating mundane
Life of genetic originality.
inner city vacant lot
a diamond in the rough
3/23/2023
Homage to Poetry (Formerly PoET a Tree)
By Brett Somers
3/19/16
Poetry is everywhere
It’s in our hearts
It’s in our minds
It’s the purest expression
Of human kind
It’s the breath
Of our inner creation
A touch of the divine
As they sing the lines
Of Dylan, Morrison, Kendrick Lamar
To the base of their idling car
They may say poetry ain’t cool
Wiser – They know
For poetry at times
Is an abstract old fool
Don’t you remember when you were young,
I’d assume you recall tons of fun.
Snowmen, running, and baking in the sun?
Well, don’t you wish that were for everyone.
Now time’s come, and memories are gone,
And we all have a rather bitter song,
Playing in the back of our heads out of tune,
At least we do, at least we do.
Now I don’t know what a mommy is,
And daddy, he is in an abyss,
Probably much sweeter than mine,
At least he actually has some light.
Now here I am laying next to you,
And you stroke me with love and then with abuse,
I remember the feelings from before,
You ever came to knock on my door.
Back when daddy said he would kill me,
When mommy said she wished I would die,
And daddy pushed me down and walked away,
Can mommy love me even if it is a lie?
Cause mommy left and daddy left, and now you’re leaving too,
You’ll bruise me, beat me, hurt me, kick me, but you’ll be back, and I can count on you.
I wrote this poem with a special friend in mind who has recently undergone traumatic things from an abusive childhood and many abusive relationships. Also, for all of my friends who were abused as children, and for any child suffering from abuse now or ever. May you hold strong through it. It can all be over if you let it. I did, and I love you
Black canvas
Curved space
Sterling stars
Evolved grace
Painted planets
Yellow sun
White noise
Prodigal son
Bleeding brushes
Dripping plight
Solemn strokes
Sequestered light
Turgid sky
Acid rain
Burning questions
Dangling reigns
Charcoal commandments
Acrylic themes
Smeared signature
Scientific schemes
What formerly got celebrated as adventitious age of exploration...
1492 unleashed, jump/
kick started, and downloaded
a bittorrent götterdämmerung
spelling genocide of indigenous peoples
occupying Turtle Island,
now surviving tribes
just a shell of their former grandeur.
At present Columbus day
linkedin with high dudgeon
courtesy scattered remnants
of once proud nations
occupying contiguous United States
plus calling Alaska and Hawaii
their happy hunting grounds,
enshrine actual or mythologized
spectacular pièce de résistance
instances when counting coup.
I recollect needing to know
scores of years ago
when a student attending grade schools
within Lower Providence District
as an important bit of information
contributing to (white washed) history
of western civilization
(and never forgot)
recalling the names Nina, Pinta,
and Santa Maria associated
with heroic measures undertaken
by Cristóbal Colón,
(but also been referred to,
by himself and others, as Christoual,
Christovam, Christofferus de Colombo,
and even Xpoual de Colón)
five hundred and thirty years ago,
who purportedly "discovered"
the Americas, when in
fact native occupants of the land
already dwelled upon
the then island paradises.
He/him and subsequent swashbuckling
gung-ho high spirited men
set sail across expanse of ocean(s)
exhibiting eager intent to claim
untrammeled storied quintessentially
opulently magnificent kingdoms
intoxicating greedy Europeans.
Blatant exploitation inexorably nudged
courtesy trickery vis a vis hook and crook
to grab good & plenty treats
forcibly wrested by violence
sabotaging the delicate webbed wide world
constituting millenniums of heavenly bliss,
where marauders wantonly ransacked
indeed lacking absolute zero selflessness
forcing diverse autochthonous nations
to acquiesce and surrender
ancestral grounds to aggressive, coercive
and offensive Europeans hell bent
to populate occupied territory
commandeering, humiliating, manhandling,
poisoning, subdividing, triangulating
every square inch
encompassing fruitful grand home
of rightful heirs to stolen
near boundless tracts
eventually hashtagging uncharted
pristine green acres
spanning from sea to shining sea
becoming commercial real estate
falsely claiming a haven
housing home of the free
land of the brave.
I Call Out Poem by me Title by Richard Lamoureux Thank you Richard
When you left me
My tears filled the sky
It took many years, for me to fathom why
Now I do, I just sit here and I cry
It's not easy when love dies
I call your name out
Each and every night
I'd ask the Angels, but they've all taken flight
Why our star, is no longer very bright
When love fades out of sight
Our friends all hope
That it'll be over soon
That I'll stop drinking, before the clock strikes noon
But saw it written on an ancient Celtic rune
It's too late when love is hewn
Lovers past I see so clearly,
They are implanted in my mind.
He nuzzles her neck quite dearly.
Her beauty, rare, and hard to find
Their devotion, one of a kind.
He saw her not as love, but mate,
She observed this transforming trait.
There were truths he began to bend-
This revolution changed their fate.
Now their shared bond could never mend.