Best Neighborhood Poems
I know we love to read of beautiful things
Hear early morning serenades the song bird sings
See buds blooming into roses perfumed
Within majestic sunset's horizons become consumed
There's another place I lived in for a little while
A neighborhood where somethings didn't make me smile
A child banging on the door, mommy let me inside
Things in the home, I guess from his eyes they must hide
I befriended a boy of ten riding his bike
Said he always went to me-maws to get a bite
For there was no food in his house to eat
Dad found other things to buy instead of meat
A few days pass, no sign of my friend
There he was riding down the street again
I asked where he'd been, was he alright?
He explained he was recovering from a bad dog's bite
I asked him what the doctor had said
He replied, I sewed it myself with a needle and thread
I reluctantly said, let me see your nice sewing job
He pulled up his pant leg, I choked back a sob
I asked him if his daddy was ever mean
He shrugged his shoulders, said sometimes it seems
It kinda hurt my feelings when he said to me
Finish him off - right between the eyes
I won't feed a dog that bites
Not worth the ground where he lies
Sitting on his bike, a leg began to sway
Eyes filled with tears, quickly he wiped one away
Remembering the killing shot he'd fired that day
Toughen up son, is what his father said
Advice given in love, maybe....
Then off on his bike he rode to have some fun...
I know in some places many families still really care
But Mayberry exists only on TV in shades of gray
I moved back to the country where buds bloom into roses perfumed
And into majestic sunset's horizons I can be consumed
©Donna Jones
“HELLO, MR. PRESIDENT!”
We had all been issued small American flags on sticks.
Jack was on probation, as was I, but we were, reluctantly by Mrs. Mengin, finally
Let into the mix.
“Now boys and girls when the big black car with American flags comes by
We will all stand at attention salute with the right hand wave our flags with the right
And say ‘Hello Mr. President.’”
“HELLO, MR. PRESIDENT!”
“Good!
Let’s rise and form a single line
No talking!
Jack! I’m not going to put up with it!
Stay out of the street folks!”
(what’s this? Hadn’t noticed Hadn’t been listening all morning –
the excited whispering all around)
Sudden shuffle Giggles…………………………………………………
Downstairs Outdoors……………………………………………….
“The President is coming!”
“Down 14th Street!”
“Boys and girls!
Stay back from the curb
Against the fence!
Don’t forget what we all say
Remember to stand straight”
“Do you think he well really come by this dumpy old school?”
“HELLO, MR. PRESIDENT!”
“Shut up, Earl…………..and it aint no joke!”
………………………………………………………………………………….?
“Is he coming Mrs. Mengin? He should oughta be here by now”
“I…………..I can’t see him……..yet………?
I wonder?.............
Oh dear!”
A half-hour passed
The futility of waiting began to be realized
“HELLO, MR. PRESIDENT!” Jack laughs
“That aint him Jack that’s an old lady….HAW HAW!”
“HAW HAW………………………HAW HAW!”
“HELLO, MR. PRESIDENT!.....HAW HAW!
Punishing Jack was put off because of the moment’s frustration
“Alright! Boys and girls let’s go back inside
Hurry!
Back to work!”
Mr. Roosevelt had gone down 17th Street instead
The crazy neighbor down the street from me,
always had her multi colored polka dotted curtains open for all to see.
Music is playing very loud,
there was a wonderful beat to that crazy sound.
This neighborhood is going to the dogs,
barking and croaking like the frogs.
House #1530 dresses her dog for a walk in a stroller,
instead of walking they go like a steamroller.
House #1515 has lost her mind,
bright colors don't match and could make you go blind.
The neighborhood has changed so much,
petting frogs is a common touch. House #1518 goes out dressed from her toes to the top of her head,
with huge pretty flowers on her hat made out of bread.
What can I say about my neighborhood, we sure are not ready for sainthood. We are one in a million, or maybe that is one in a zillion.
Stop on by,
for a laugh and a sandwich on rye.
Date Written: 9/19/2021
1 Place
Neighborhood
''N'' Poems, New or Old Poetry Contest Sponsored by: Constance La France
The many positives of Covid
Well for me there have been plenty
I live alone inside my home
The year is 2020
Just a soupcon of neighbours
in the past I have known
And if perchance
one day we meet
we smile
as we greet with
a welcome salutation
Though sadly little time is spent
in deeper conversation
as we rush off in a hurry
no time to share our latest worry
Since starting many lockdowns
within tiers one, two or three
We watch out for each other
Even meeting up for tea
Outside we meet on our green square
As each one brings a summer chair
Laughing and chatting to those who are there
and gently inhaling the fresh sea air
We are getting to know folks
who’ve always been there
Such a friendly community
now prevails in our block
of various apartments
I reside at the top
If we have any worries
On their doors we can knock
Social distancing practiced
with our masks and hand gel
We are all keeping safe
We are all keeping well
As we sit on our sun chairs
Friends come and friends go
But now if we need them
We know where to go
And during the summer
A talented man
Regaled us with music
Beethoven ~ Chopin
Enticing each note from
his silver Euphonium
A treat for our ears
so much better than tears
And discovering he lived
on the opposite side
Never knowing his name
or from whence he came
Playing music for our souls
We may never be the same again...
So seeing what Covid 19 has done for me
Making me aware of new friends that were there
For that I give thanks for many friendships forged
Showing my appreciation with a round of applause
But ending each day as I look to the sky
Remembering with sadness the thousands who died
Their lives have now ended in a terrible way
I’m eternally grateful for every new day
Reflecting…
13th December 2020
Contest COMPLETELY YOUR CHOICE 44
Sponsor Brian Strand
10th Place
Contest 'N' word old or new
Sponsor Constance La France
FIRST PLACE
NEIGHBORHOOD
It’s much about neighborhood
The kiss?
The hug?
Your household morning and night?
Yes!
Of course!
But!
Don’t build fences – the closeout sort
Don’t roof-out the sky
There is other life under the heavens and beyond
There are neighborhood children yearning to be touched
when only sleep can open things up
is “reach out” a mere spilling of words?
Is beauty to be seen only in parks and on mountain tops?
It’s much about neighborhood
The very old know about such things
They dream
In forced seclusion they dream
And their vision so often about neighborhood
About the closeness lost
Oh it’s much about neighborhood
And the taking care thereof
Cicada shells that sticky hands attach
to dirtied shirts
Humid evenings echo with jovial screams
and patient parents calling curfew
Morning dew and the crinkling of autumn
leaves on foot to school
Soon, blizzards bring free days for slippery sleigh rides
and endless sweet cocoa
The melting icicles mean days back outdoors
and hunting eggs on Easter
Then school would end,
and the cycle would begin again
Until it wouldn’t,
and I’d wonder when those times had reached their end.
There was a day
Long ago
Then we knew
Who our neighbor was
They were friends
And we were close
And we would
Help our neighbor out
They were there
In our need
You could always
Count on them
Those days are gone
Now we don’t
Ever know their name
And never talk
A neighborhood is
Just where we live
Rows of strangers
Living alone
Bikes clattered down our street,
summer ringing in our spokes~
a chorus of barefoot days.
Sidewalks warmed beneath our feet,
chalk ghosts fading as we grew~
the block our first small maze.
EMMA SUE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY
She’s looking happy for a change
“Emma Sue’s a ‘Four-Eyes”
We call her that and other names
First a threat the stick!
But then her Mother appears with some paper bags
Bulging within thick
Miss Mengin’s room is at attention
So early too then
It’s only 9:00 a.m.
The bags are placed within a closet
Then locked away
The entire LONG day
Her Mother wears some worried wrinkles
Says a word to Emma’s teacher frowns
But throws a smile before she leaves for town
At lunch on the grounds
Emma Sue as usual stands aside single
Doesn’t try to mingle
But there is something within
Hope in her eyes
Shoulders up elevated chin
By 2:15 excitement of the morning seems forgot
Not so!
By Emma Sue? Certainly not!
Both she and teacher rise together
All eyes are lifted puzzled looks
Quite forgotten the grammar books
Girls and boys begin to whisper
‘Four Eyes’ grinning see her cheeks bloom
At front of a thrilling room
“It’s Emma Sue’s Birthday
See what she and her mother have baked
One for each and every person little cakes
Put your books away
No more lessons
The rest of the way”
“HOORAY!”
For Emma Sue I must say
Those tasty cakes made all the difference
Well? At least for one day
white faced mimes protest...
falling leaves noise pollution
fierce finger pointing
Brian Johnston
November 17, 2015
Sister Josephine, our neighborhood nun.
No longer fit for ministry;
although she’s quit the nunnery,
she sits at our day camp nursery.
Go Jo uses every amp of energy
so as to champion or otherwise dampen
the spirit of grit in our scamps.
Sister Josephine, power shavers couldn’t stun.
Noise is born in my son.
Enjoying his horn on the run
from morn till night with the sun,
Boy Roy is fun, delightfully won.
Toys are Sprite cans, squiggly egg whites,
old cobs of corn and badly worn kites.
Sister Josephine, our savior you’d want.
Nursing their aches and their sprains,
reversing the stakes in their games,
she takes on blessing their brains.
Interspersed with pain, her tests will train,
coerce and arrest their thoughts with some stress.
Her heart makes and breaks their quests.
Sister Josephine showers favors - on good done.
Rhyming Words:
Stanza one:
no, although, Go, Jo, so
fit, quit, sits, spirit, grit
ministry, nunnery, nursery, every, energy
camp, amp, champion, dampen, scamps
Stanza two:
noise, enjoying, Boy, Roy, toys
born, horn, morn, corn, worn
son, run, sun, fun, won
night, delight, Sprite, whites, kites
Stanza three:
nursing, reversing, inter/spersed, coerce
aches, stakes, takes, makes, breaks
sprains, games, brains, pain, train
blessing, tests, arrest, stress, quests
Random rhymes in the the single lines:
our, power, showers
(neighborhood), (shavers could), (savior you'd), (favors/good)
nun, stun, want, done
I knew a killer,
He went by the name
of not guilty.
He was supposed
to be a neighbor in the hood who watched,
But instead got caught up like an alcoholic
salivating over a bottle of scotch.
When he saw a black teen
he dismissed his orders
and hopped,
Onto the bandwagon to comfort his desire
to activate that racist gene that initiated that shot.
Any coincidence to others lost on the spot?
Excuse the New Kids,
We have another innocent teenager dead on the block.
TAKING CARE OF THE
NEIGHBORHOOD
Journal VII
“Citizen know thy
neighbor”
Yes, maybe in the
days before radio,
television,
and the
internet but
In today’s warped
use of indoor
activity, few,
saving those
devoted soul-saving
souls, will
go about
knocking on doors
No walking along
outside, each
cloistered
domicile
presents an air of
mystery to this
searcher
What paralysis grips
these families?
I firmly believe in
taking care of the
neighborhood
If each block-pair
throughout the land
were
properly
treated to loving
care by inhabitants
would not a
multitude of
problems be
solved?
One is limited to
the homeless, those
cast out
in our
touchless, indoor
society, mainly by
citizens
refusing to spare
time or a dime
In these last few
one is limited to
tramps, cats,
birds and
squirrels
Unimaginable design begins, in such a quiet fashion.
Just a hint appears, shaded, quivering upon limbs.
Which spread quickly, Mother Nature’s chilling whims.
Delightful colors explode, over hillsides, with passion.
Delivering sweet, falling spectacles, spreading compassion,
Blanketing countryside with color before each one dims.
Spreading stories, beautifully creating, countryside hymns,
They fade, slightly ashen, to prepare a winter ration.
Autumn season has the ability, to slow time down.
Allowing hearts, that see, to enjoy everlasting hue,
Dropping their worries, taking away any frown.
What a glorious season, that bids warmth, adieu.
True cascades, bright and cheery as a carnival clown.
Just stop, look around your neighborhood, for this view.
written 08/19/2012
INNER CITY – old neighborhood today
Not at all what it was
Not yet what it must become
Voices once so dear drowned out
by decadent color
Noise so disgustingly near
Sit and think longingly on old neighborhood
Shrug
Shed a tear