Best On Work And Workingwriting Poems
I started in to writing
In my home on Lovers Lane
Yes – the one the poet wrote about
You know – old what’s his name
The lane was still arch covered
With elm trees giving shade
But now it is a major street
For progress must be made
No lovers in their carriages
No – they’re not there any more
Just cars and truck and dogs and cats
And children by the score
But then again at my house
By the time I was a teen
I thought I was a lover
But I stayed behind the scene
I started writing love poems
And since I was really shy
If I ever shared them with my “loves”
I knew that I would die
So I started writing parodies
Or poems with a comic twist
The kind that won’t embarrass me
And some poems just like this
So my early inspiration
Was that street and that well known poet
I have that poem still on my wall
What’s his name – oh I know I know it
Oh wait, I think I’ve got it
My memory finally yield
The poem was “Lovers Lane St. Joe”
By the late, great Eugene Field
Mdailey 6/20/11
For: Miranda Lambert's contest - Inspired - Honorable Mention finish in contest
BTW - I do have a print of that poem that shows Lovers Lane back in the 1870s along with the complete poem. I no longer live in that house but it is still in the family as it has been for over 90 years.
The Copyreader
I have been here a month,
sitting in a circle with others,
reading copy and writing heads.
Today I'm convinced
crime in the streets
will never stop
as long as
someone can write
and someone can read.
I spell "ukulele" for Ulrich
and a strange continent of sweat
breaks out
on the back of my shirt.
"It's as big as Australia,"
says Ulrich.
At that moment I know
I'm letting another July
die in Chicago,
reading copy and writing heads.
Donal Mahoney