Best Hustle Poems
Because my brilliant hooks read indirect,
But bait directly one illiterate,
They likely slip stripped fish-net intellect,
Thus, now, I’ll lure completely different:
Just like the redwood trees that grow sooooooo tall,
Gapetto’s puppet’s nose Pinocchios,
And since I’m not a strung-out ancient doll,
I guess it’s you who picks the snotty rose.
You might believe you harness magic string;
The pixie dust of Pan in Neverland;
But don’t forget what came of Gollum’s ring
Once Frodo lost a finger from his hand -
It was rewound, re-reeled, forged gleefully,
Forever lost in false reality.
3/18/2017
Note: In keeping with John’s “Something Completely Different - Monty Pythonesque” theme I wrote this after randomly pointing to 14 different words in a Hustler magazine article that I then forced myself to integrate into a sonnet, one per line, in the order they were selected and implemented a rule of “no-edits” after a line was complete. The list went like this:
hooks, *****baits, fish-net, I’ll, grow, nose, strung-out, guess, harness, never, what, finger, glee, lost
THE ELEVATION OF TODAY'S GENERATION
By: Sikolwethu Mthethwa
Burning hotter than the flames of a furnace,
Surpassing the depths of the hollows beneath Earth's face,
Rumbling more violently than a million earthquakes.
Delicately constructed by our young minds
And conceived by our hearts.
It is more valuable than gold mines
Nothing surpasses this urge
With great authority it dictates to us,
With immense force like that of a storm it channels us.
Hurry now ,answer it's call, make no fuss.
The call to bloom like the flowers of spring,
To arise from our slumber.
The call to be the change we aspire to bring
To Earth our Mother.
This urge has assigned us a sacred mission,
To be the elevation of today's generation.
To ignite the flames of progress with our muscle,
To stay true and dedicated to our hustle.
Ahead of us lies hurdles and challenges
With the foul intent to batter us and leave us in bandages.
But worry not our father from above is watching us.
He has bestowed Upon us the power to trample these challenges.
Completing this mission will not be a breeze.
But do not let up,
Because when we conquer,all suffering will seize
And to the gates of success we will proudly hold the keys.
Let us use our muscle
To turn mother Earth into our castle
In order for this to manifest,we must stay true to our hustle.
You have not experienced things the way I have
Because you are not me.
My tragedies could be your testimonies.
My Egypt may be your promised land.
All of your that girl is crazy stuff. Take it up with the big man.
My struggles are different from yours and God's victory,
For us is grander than what you can see outdoors.
The floors that you may have to spitshine with tears,
Is different from mine. Your breakthrough may occur.
In days and mine may take years.So talk about me inside,
And outdoors. God is diversity and all of us He adores.
I will not knock your struggle because I don't know everything,
About You. So I suggest toward me this is something you
Should not do. If you do God got you. He got me too.
I still love you He does too. You can't knock my hustle.
I came here with a job to do whether I'm employed to the King,
Or something made by made who calls themselves incorporating.
You knock my hustle because you don't know my struggle.
3-24-11
They call you corporate?
Well then so am I
You’re that same guy I saw pass by
And cut your eyes in my direction
Like I was some kind of menace
But we’re both lawless
I run my world from where you wouldn’t dare
You run yours from that big corner office
Same hustle
Different size slice cut from the same seedy pie
The only real difference?
You run your sins from a hundred floors high
But you hustle just like me
Mr. White Collar critic
I may openly live it
But just like me
You push your product towards the weak and impulsive
So like it or not you’ve been right in it
Just like me
Supply and demand
Different trade, same plan
We target the same clientele
That same vulnerable man
Cause’ once that money changes hands
We both have no shame
All green money spends the same
You got your stocks, insider trade
I got my rocks
We’re both self made
You got your inside sources turned state’s witness
I employ the young and ambitious
Sometimes they slip up
And they too become snitches
So the flavor in your greed taste just like mine
Two people who at the end of the day
Pull up their britches in the same way
One crooked leg at a time
So you see
You hustle just like me
You got your “just in case” insurance
Stashed off shore, to be dispensed upon request
You launder
I make threats
Eventually,
What both of us want both of us gets
You keep a tight circle
I keep one too
But mine’s called a crew
In any case it keeps us less nervous
But they serve the same damn purpose
They help us sleep while our money stays in service
What I sell makes people believe they can fly
So yes,
My trade is predicated on a lie
But I guess
Your trade is just as cleverly disguised
It’s just that your lies are forgiven by less judgmental eyes
But both our business models have destroyed innocent lives
So in essence
When you stare at me
It’s like a mirrored view into your own scandal clad eyes
You know why?
Cause’ you hustle
Just like me
Copyright © 2014 by Daryl R. Gaines. All rights reserved
underwater life
flows like us everyday
unbeknownst to most....
Sometimes life just seems too tough
Gettin whats got is never enough
The road is rocky, the road is rough
But dat dont stop da hustle
Sometimes the tears, they blur my vision
The yellin and screamin, I cant seem to listen
Tryin ta finish da puzzle, but pieces is missin
But dat dont stop da hustle
Despair, struggle, hopes, dreams
Lies, cheats, un-savory things
Unloyal misfits on my team
But that dont stop da hustle
What may stop da hustle, my dyin breath
Taken with me, the secrets ive kept
Wishin a different hand was dealt
But dat dont stop da hustle
Da hustle is the key to life
The door is war, pain, and strife
Blood, sweat, tears, and deaths
But dat dont stop da hustle
Fog rolling spirits astir
Halloween on way?
Thrills or chills?
The day when border of our world and the otherworld
Getting thin to let allow spirits to pass through
Maybe Satan, witch or the ghouls among us
Ward off harmful spirits by wearing costumes
To disguise as harmful spirit to avoid the harm.
Welcome to the Fifth Halloween Hustle of North Carolina
Get some treats, witch, Satan from above is watching you
Enjoy the race and a variety of other festive activities
With trail shoes, long sleeves, unless weather is warm.
10 miles marked route on tracks and footpaths
Some steep hills and some tough sandy sections
2 water stops en route, water and bananas
Spectators welcome with fancy dress for Halloween.
And then, loudly passes the procession of the town
Crowds drawn when politics and religion go aflame
Burgers filled with tender meat, colorful people
Drinking, laughing, singing, watching drifting by.
Ghoul’s hour past, mortals revert to their places
The moon returned normal sight smog lifted.
Goodbye my friends for another year for cheers,
And thank you for a night of love and passion.
+++
August 30, 2014
Form:Free verse
Hustle and tackle
Stepping out
Bright or stormy day
Wherever I lay
I am a champion
I don't know why you feel you gotta lie
learn to be real - you ain't got to steal
just cause you say - it really ain't that way
doesn't make it so - well you outta know
you think your one up, it's just another come up
here is what you must know, you need a new hustle
cause you say it's not so - doesn't change the fact yo
you say it's not true - still, I don't like being lied too
you try to flip the script - you think you're well equipped
it won't change my mind, you're yelling all the time
chaos and stress unwind, clarity not far behind
the more that you scream, it was you, wasn't me
trying to pass the buck, confuse things what the f***
whatever you took, wasn't by the book
karma is a b**** she'll throw you a hitch
all will be returned - no lesson you have learned
you were unconcerned, you hurt the one you burned
I don't even know though, how far you would go
you seem real concerned - that trust you have to earn
you think that your owed, that just goes to show
you are deranged - my opinion will not change
you'll still be the same - a hustler you'll remain
without any game - you will always come up lame
but without any dame - that will ever take your name
it will all be in vain - if the lying doesn't change
A joyride
Like that of a high speed rail
We may take our partners
Our small children
Or our old parents
For a joyride
Looking around
Scenery and nature
People and crowd
Shops and houses
Cars and buses
Highways and lanes
All are eye-catching
After a long time confining to
Walls and beds
While people are still hesitating to dine-in
Because of the virus
I love a joyride
I won't leave the outside world
Out of contact
I take photos from the car
I eat inside the car
I enjoy the hustle and bustle
Of life outside
Even though through
A small car window
I was bornt to this world
I was gifted
I won't leave it alone
Will it leave me alone
And I hope to live with it peacefully
Can I
I like to penetrate your soul too
Your world too
With my true love
Although only a little left
Can I
Hustle
I hustle
for my muscle
I hustle for the struggle
I am made of millions
that I juggle
I hustle for the poor
that live upon rats
right next to a damaged sewer
I hustle for what is right
so the poor children of the
future can be bright
I hustle only two things from
the affluent a book and pen
so they can read and write
I hustle to give
so they can live
for they are still
human
Epigram #63:
HUSTLE
Bamboo leaves rustle
Windy moves tussle
Late notes bring hustle
~~~~~~~~~
Leon Enriquez
24 May 2015
Singapore
12/26/13
Tis the season to perform the holiday hustle,
The dance of store to store shopping:
To the fluttering beat of wrapping papers’ rustle,
And lyrics of children dashing to Santa’s lap to confide,
In the spotlight of tiny beams of red and green on every tree;
To perform the prance of house to house, hopping
With the throbbing thud of cupid’s arrow under the mistletoe.
To gulp spicy eggnog, permitting the lips to wander free,
To hang crimson felt stockings by a crackling fire
To dodge balls of white like comets of fresh fallen snow.
But, as vixens and bears: sneaking away from the blitz of winter’s side,
Snuggled up in a warm bed to hide,
A nap is the gift which I most desire.
-Nicole Rodriguez
The hustle is deeper than you think
Whatever goes up has the ability to sink
And don’t expect a helping hand
From everyone you stay with
When you start to shrink
It’s okay to be surrounded by a convoy
But be careful with who you link
Everyone wants to be successful
They will take what’s yours if you blink
In years past and now, and those to also come
Close by, afar, where’er , all men are one
Thus affined well to all ‘good things’ on earth
And give their lives to hunting down some pence
He is aspired by her, and she is too
But not by him, by riches crude.
What has become of the true and simple
Where has been gone the pauper’s smile in truth
The pyramid – this curse of the human’s race
With all these beasts that run with men displaced
Oh! Mortal men, that strive for ‘god-ness’ here
Sing song for ends for you belong elsewhere
Working he’s found or digging out the clay
Or some job else that truly pays by day
These hoggish beings who never are fulfilled
Would have all things and still be found wanting.