Best Jacksonville Poems
Synchronicity woven by fate’s volatile hands
Gave rise to calamity in deceptive, calm skies
Creating tragedy so harsh that reason defies
Into a nation’s sad heart, a mortal arrow lands
"Hear ye, teachers," the benign invitation had been sent
Demonstrate the right stuff, be the first launched into space
Compete they did earnestly for this distinguished place
To young mother Christa McAuliffe, NASA gave consent
That same day Florida’s governor prepared to launch
His much anticipated U.S. Senate campaign
En route to his first stop in Jacksonville on a state plane
Bob Graham’s speech was well prepared for supporters staunch
From the air, Graham watched as a sudden flash appeared
Souls of seven astronauts dispatched to heaven’s gate
His campaign aborted as circumstance would dictate
And the hopes of a traumatized country disappeared
First teacher in space lost abruptly, never to return
Husband and daughter left behind, forever changed
Profound tributes to a beleaguered space program arranged
Perils of space travel countless mourners would discern
* Written February 1, 2019 for Emile Pinet's Enclosed Rhyme Contest.
* On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded just seconds after launch from Cape Canaveral. Ironically, Florida Governor Graham, accompanied by members of the Capital Press Corps, did not understand what they had seen in the sky until after their plane landed in Jacksonville. The excitement of a campaign launch was quickly dispelled by the depth of the tragedy that claimed the lives of teacher Christa McAuliffe and six other astronauts. His campaign postponed, Graham returned to the state capital to observe a period of national mourning. The last words the astronauts heard from the control tower were, "Throttle Up, Challenger."
Wafting on the morning breeze,
During manufacturing
Our whole town enjoyed the scent.
Maxwell House Coffee.
Freshness permeating air.
Aroma percolating.
Infusing memories of…
Grandma’s coffee pot.
June 3, 2012
Dane Ann Smith-Johnen
"The Lobster House" on the St.
Johns River in Downtown-Downtown 1950s
Jacksonville, Florida, was where
"The Creaturefrom the Black Lagoon" crawled
up from the deep onto a riverfront
deck to howls of derision at Hollywood
hucksters from an island girl and her
Friday-night, dining-out friends.
In her just-married uber-sophistication
she would order a MANHATTAN,
unaware of the eminence of that dark
and delicious libation: a cherry
within for a small town girl with a yen
for New York City, never dreaming
she would one day stand, island-girl-
awed, for the first time ever in the middle
of Times Square: riveting heart of
Manhattan as swirling headlights of
cars spelled consummation.
My Saint John flow on
Through forest, marsh and town's spread
Tablecloth of stars
Conquistadors gone
The blue herons walk alone
In moonlight's silence
River and lone night
Memory is a wind's hope
Rustling swamps for gold
Let us keep our thoughts
In slow meandering lakes
The salt sea invites
Less Timucuan
Waken find us new remnants
In Ferdinand's dream
Love wilts in salt tears
The heart snakes the bush of grief
Tense as beauty stares.
Waleka, Rio
De Corrientes, Rio
De San Juan, the same
A gaudy green thrill
Peace sanctuary of births
Life from life flowing
Still at Sawgrass breast,
The Seminole blood of strength
I from Afric's tent
We the better ore
Than gleaming figment of fort
Lovers on this shore
Sea abandoned child
Scarred and aching love consoles
Tributary feasts.
O otters swim deep
Beneath the currents I weep
But a shrimp of tear
What is gone is gone
The sun makes still day's new dawn
Oceans carry on
Ships cargo joy fresh
As pines from which warblers sing
Magics of today.
My Saint John flow on
O'er fertile grounds of sweet love
Blooming moonlight still.
First of all, it’s a big responsibility,
especially in a city like Jacksonville, or Philadelphia, or wherever really.
So think long and hard before deciding on love.
On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:
when you’re walking down the street late at night
and you have a leash on love
ain’t no one going to mess with you.
Because crooks and muggers think love is
unpredictable.
Who knows what love could do in its own defense?
Broken glass bottles.
On cold winter nights, love is warm.
It lies between you and lives and breathes
and makes funny noises.
Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.
It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.
Love doesn’t like being left alone for long.
But come home and love is always happy to see you.
It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,
but you can never be mad at love for long.
Is love good all the time? No! No!
Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.
Love makes messes.
Love leaves you little surprises here and there.
Love needs lots of cleaning up after.
Somethimes you just want to get love fixed.
Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper
and swat love on the nose,
not so much to cause pain,
just to let love know “Don’t you ever do that again!”
Sometimes love just wants to go out for a nice long walk.
Because love loves exercise. It will run you around the block
and leave you panting, breathless. Pull you in different directions
at once, or wind itself around and around you
until you’re all wound up and you cannot move.
But love makes you meet people wherever you go.
People who have nothing in common but love
stop and talk to each other on the street.
Throw things away and love will bring them back,
again, and again, and again.
But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.
And in return, love loves you and never stops.
The trip was worth all of the diffulculties that we esperienced in arriving to gran'nny
house, such as first the day my dad left us, and then mama telling grannie that she was
examine by a specialist in NYC for ovary cancer and that the test were possitive. Saddly
mama was scared that she needed surgery and then my two aunts...Brenda & San-san
came to Jacksonville to support her during her ordeal. And at the hospital there were
prayers and crying during the procedure and momma came out just find, O'K !!! For-real
for-real..{!!}.. About three months later john-boy took seriously ill and was rush to the
emergency room and the doctors amitted him immediatedly into the intensive care ward,
andso for weeks and more prayers john-boy was diagnoised with a case of walking pnu-
moniea and he is sick guite often, but God does answer prayers and soon he is back to his normal self and is driving the nurces crazy and they all just luv's him. "But as soon as
the lil raskel is home again.." Grann-nie is the one now in the hospital and once again they are at the hospital to be with her my aunts..(brenda and sandra) arrives and were
crying quite ferriously when they were told that she has a stroke and her heart was weak. So they were in the Cafe at the hospital and me and my cousin Destiniee were
alone in the room with our gran-ma and she is trying to be strong for us, but her angel
has arrived as she say to me. "{Lil} Wesley take good care of your mother and you too
destinie-ee and don't drive your Mom's...Crazy..(??).."
Because where I am going__________"there is..No room for Crybabie's..???.."
One Family
Parents, two daughters and a son
Children were young and loved learning about life.
Together, they explored the world…often visiting the zoo.
Lover of: the first child with her scientific mind; she loved to watch animals and hear their sounds.
Lover of: the second child and her big heart; she could make life-like elephant sounds as a child.
Lover of: a son with strength; he enjoyed the zoo from his stroller and listened to us make animal sounds.
Who feels: happy when orangutans swing close enough to almost touch, connecting.
Who feels: ecstatic when the elephant takes a peanut from little hands…imagining a safari on its back.
Who feels: uncontrollable laughter when a baby chimpanzee swings and flips around in trees.
Who fears: the pacing tiger’s glaring look.
Who fears: the alligator’s thrashing, splashing and swimming close.
Who fears: the grizzly’s growl as it echoes through the park.
Who would like to see: the whole zoo while riding on elephants’ backs.
Who would like to see: family parrot pictures with birds on heads and every arm.
Who would like to see: the king of beasts preening a little lamb.
Resident Visitors of the Jacksonville Zoological Society
Zoo-Ville is the place where my family found much fun.
© Dane Smith-Johnsen
September 18, 2010
NOTE: I stuck to the bio poetic form format as closely as possible to the Poetry Soup definition.
Smoke-filled noisy bar,
debauched disciples of dance,
I do not fit in.
tilly fowler missed
jacksonville not the same town
empty office,heart
Young visitors
to his grave
at Pere Lachaise
wonder why
an old chick like me
gets up on his tomb-
stone which is littered
with wine bottles
stuck with flowers
and written upon
with loving graffiti
to take a photograph.
They stare,
hide smiles,
not knowing that
while my babies slept
I played The Doors,
dreamed of un
buttoning my blouse
and walking with Jim
down the dark streets
of Jacksonville.
If you're trying to push your Coupe' DeVille
from Panama City to Jacksonville
You've got to journey through Gadsden County.
So you better mind your P's and Q's
if you plan on driving through
and keep both eyes wide open for the County Mounty.
'Cause Gadsden County Jail's no place to be
it's overcrowded and dirty and it smells like pee
and every dime you have will surely be taken away.
They'll impound your car and arrest your wife
the kids will all get twenty-five to life
and your family will surely rue the day
You decided to take a Florida Vacation
and you all came back sentenced to probation
just because Gadsden County was on your way.
If you're guilty or not doesn't matter with them
their bank accounts are mighty slim
and they're gonna get your money whatever it takes.
There's a booking fee just to get you in
you gotta pay for your food which is awfully thin
so friend, avoid Gadsden County for goodness sake.
A story probably most of you already know.
This took place on a football team not too long ago.
The owner and all the coaches together agreed,
that a star receiver was their immediate need.
The best all-pro pass catcher played for another team.
To have him render his services here was their dream.
Just picturing him wearing their uniform was nice,
as the team knew his presence would come at a high price.
There was competition from others to snare this guy,
but the offer from this owner turned out the most high.
Everyone on the team knew this man was a winner.
Their contract he signed while being treated to dinner.
All greeted him when he appeared at the training camp.
As he went through the drills, they felt the team was a champ.
Throughout the season, he coupled with the quarterback,
Together, they composed a high-scoring pass attack.
Best winning record in the Conference they achieved,
To go all the way was what many fans had believed.
When the team played in the Super Bowl in Jacksonville,
that great big coveted trophy eluded them still.
This receiver stayed out of camp before next season.
His thought that he was worth more money was his reason.
The owner said “You signed a contract to play with us,
so report to the training place and end all this fuss!”.
So his demands for higher pay were then retracted.
Soon, the team became annoyed with the way he acted.
The coach said “We’re suspending you without any pay.
Clean out your locker; I‘ve had enough of you today!”
The fact that this man has played his last game for the team
is quite apparent now, and a big shame it would seem.
There are some other teams with a wide receiver need.
If he gets a new chance, then this advice he should heed:
Please control yourself, and keep your mouth in a pucker;
should you get the urge to call the coach a ____________.
(I’m letting the readers fill in the blank.)
The cold air blowing through my frail body,
puts goose bumps all over me.
Walking through large snow drifts,
making time seem longer,
and each step taking away
my energy.
Time drags on into the night,
searching for shelter to hide from
the bitter cold winds.
Finding a cave brings relief, seeing
some logs, I start a fire to warm my
frozen hands.
Looking outside I see blizzard
conditions.
The warmth of the fire keeps
me warm, but will the the logs
let me make it through the
night or will I freezed like everything else.
Will have to make them last,
I refuse to die on this bitter cold
night.
In just a few hours dawn will be here,
and I will catch the noon train
to Jacksonville, where its been
in the 80's all week and not
a trace of snow.
So this will be my last night
and winter in this dreadful
place, I will see a new day
and smile once again.
Times had turned to worse after my dad left, and after their fight of many fights !
I hear him say to mama, "I am going to the store and he slam-mss the front door..
...and he is gone...(poor) mom...she will see him...no more.." (Now) we - yes...the
three of us, that is..my (Lil) brother....John-Boy, Mom and I. (Hi) my name is Wesley, and
this is my story. "As a....Angel came from.....Glory{!!}.."
With two hungry mouths to feed, there wasn't no other choice but to packup what little
we had and just leave. From the rigid-tundra of E.Orange, NJ...andso we hopped on a
big Greyhound (bus) and mama say that we were on our way to Jacksonville, FL to
Gran-Ma....Rachelle house. Immediately I felt like smilling, and john-boy say's some-
thing in little kid language as I tell him where we're headed too. But within an hour
into our trip...john-boy is peacefully asleep and so was I when we gets to grann-nie
house as me myself took a lil-man nap and granny comes joyfully running to the cab
and she snatches..."the little raskel from momms grip...(saying)...Julie give me my baby!"
She hands the cabbie some money ($$) and hushered us into the house where there's the smell of good-ole-southern fried chicken and a large (4)gal. pitcher of
lemonade that's already prepared. Alone w/chocalate cake...yes-3 layers of cake-cov
ered w/thick lumpy frosting, and did I mention...absolutely...deee-licciii-ious.." "Momm
(complained) aaah-h Mama..you did not have to go through all this trouble, just for us..!"
"Hhhuss-ss hush your mouth (julie) cause I luv's to cook for all of my gran-babies say's
grann-niee...Chelle." "And that's...Straight-UP." They both (laughts) haaa-ha...{!!!}.."
As the sweltering heat finally simmer's down to it's most modest degree. I notice some
one resting right beside me, someone who once had a home and family, now we're
both are homeless-both are distraught. Upon the rise of the sun we are off to a jour-
ney-whereas disparity is all around us and it has us caught. Caught in the Ville, other-
wise Jacksonville, and on this journey, "all of these journey's", the homeless face
that irractical fact, that there is a epidemic that is so real. Yes, real in the Ville.
Yeah! hard to realized, harder to concieve, drugs and alcohol have laid down be-
side us. Sad, this great nation has made cost to cry & fuss. Not all have made bad
choice's and many do get up. But the tear's of a lonily man-three tears that fall on the
ground. "Homeless in the Ville", asking for help no-one is around. Homeliness is every-
where, and please don't dare think you-you and whomever, may never face this mess.
"Three tear's of a lonily Man", may one day finally see success. Then if ever one get
himself back into the realignment of the grace of God as he is called. These tears,
those fears is replaced by the assurence of the groundwork of endurence!!. For yes
they feed us, give clothe's too. Believing thing's do get better, to overcome your de-
mise, those tear's of they that need no longer cry will find shelter before the darkness
kisses the rise.