Best Permanent Poems
I am standing naked on a crowded street
But nobody seems to be noticing me
I am less embarrassed by my nakedness
Than by my invisibility
They all seem to be looking right through me
Or staring down at the concrete walk
With iPod plugs shoved deep into their ears
Nobody can hear me talk
I try flagging down a taxi
But their “Off Duty” lights are on
On the black and white checkerboard
I am the sacrificial pawn
The Queen moves in every direction
The King is rooted in place
I try catching the eye of a policeman
But he has mirrored glasses upon his face
The world is swirling in circles
The Bishop runs off with a boy
My wife no longer lies with me
She prefers her electrical toys
The teacher wakes me up in class
Why am I in school when I’m fifty-five
I don’t remember being captured by the Rook
Is it possible I’m no longer alive
The King has no more safe squares to go
Laying him down is his only fate
Tangled up in a sticky spider web of life
I’m stuck in a permanent check-mate
An episode of birds hovers beneath
a marmalade moon , just for a while,
as cotton-clouds sweep
the brushed limbs of a sky ready
to cradle the cloaks draping avian settlers;
those who like us ascend on hammocks
of dreams windblown by heady seasons
gliding through embroidered spring, the livid
lust in summer, on to a pious psalm come autumn,
soon... opal stalagmites of winter:
how abrupt and immediate this leaving!
Here we are, beyond shadows tasting
the song of evening walks soaring with
Aurora’s mist vanishing into a world
where permanence of cycles returns and repeats
the refrains from humming rivers growing frail,
until buds explode into leafy twirls
sweeter than the scent of parsley
on a fresh daylight…. icy, spicy, tangy.
Birds tweet, to swivel back into ancestral nests
much like us... wandering then yearning to kindle
the fire and oil of sweet home. Somehow,
seasons change… but our children’s dwellings
and god ‘s grace do not.
............
1/28/2016
For Cyndi Mac Millan's Contest
FIVE PROOF: FREE VERSE
THAT SHOWS IT AIN'T NO PROSE
......................
Literary devices: Assonance, Alliteration,
Imagery, Mood, Synesthesia
Brain spatter smacked me in the face
Blood was everywhere, so thick I could taste it
I rolled to the left and with blurry eyes aimed
Eliminating the sniper five seconds too late
I wiped off my face with the sleeve of my shirt
And looked at my friend that lay in the dirt
Headless now, only his tags to ID him -
An image my mind refused to believe in
This jungle would be his makeshift grave
No cherubbed headstone for Henry Mave
Nothing to tell of the soldier he was
The best friend I had, or the son who was loved
I buried his body beneath leaves and vines
Then I went hunting for Viet Cong lines
I killed as many enemies as I possibly could
Like a kamikaze, death was understood
Somehow I survived and went back to New York
Where the horror of war bled into my work
Lost my job, my house, friends, and family
Trying to forget the engraved memory -
I always knew I’d be a permanent guest
Because the instant he died, I became homeless
**Susan Burch**
*Won 8th place in "World of War: Vietnam" contest
PERMANENT SCARS
Dads are supposed to be strong
But here he is
Eyes welling up
At the thought of his only daughter
Leaving so suddenly
In the prime of her life
Never to return
She would not come back
But her memories
Now haunt him
‘Fond’ memories
Giving ‘pain’
Keeping her alive
Even after death
While he tries to rid himself
Of her thoughts
Get immersed in work
But the void
Is here to stay
And not just go away
By false assurances
Who says strong man don’t cry?
In case it is so
It’s better to be a father ‘weak’
Than a man ‘strong’
He knows he has been wronged
By Destiny
But he also knows that
The father-daughter bond
Is permanent
But alas!
He doesn’t know that
So are the scars.
Vijai Pant.
a permanent scar
an earthquake crack in pavement..
the broken heart bleeds
one name no longer
appears in the new poem list...
sigh, heart racing gone
romantic poems filled
a gap in this empty life...
would you write love soon?
Sponsor: Poet Destroyer A
Contest: (Double) Valentine Haiku Plus Questionku #2
Written: February 2, 2015
Nothing is permanent
Baby to Toddler,
Toddler to Child,
Child to Adolescence,
Adolescence to Adult,
Old age then death.
Appearance vanishes,
No permanency in-
the growth of human.
Nature is there,
It’s destruction acts,
Change features.
New features,
New growth.
It’s appearance exists,
Permanency expires.
Happiness, Sadness,
Failures, success,
Never last long.
It’s like illusion.
It teaches,
Nothing is born-
to stay for ever.
Be calm and composed.
Changing world,
Accept it.
New generation,
New views.
In the name of development,
Changes take place.
Realise no permanent -
existence for anything or anyone.
Expiry date is permanent-
for everyone and everything.
THEREFORE-
Be more tolerant.
Be more forgiving.
Be not judgemental.
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad
No one is permanent.
You wake up, get dressed and go to school,
you walk down the same hallway
and go to the same class at the same exact time everyday.
You go to lunch, talk to the same people and then go back to class.
You go to practice then go home and do homework.
Repeat.
Before you know it,
you’re graduating.
the people you called your best friends,
you no longer speak to,
or see them ever again.
Your boyfriend of 2 years is going to his dream school
5,000 miles away.
you thought you’d be “together forever”
but this isn’t some sappy love story,
this is reality.
You finally see him after 6 months,
nothings the same
you grew apart.
You never see him again.
He’s gone.
It’s your first year of college
and you made a few friends.
You go to parties and have a good time,
but then it happens.
there was an accident.
“It wouldn’t happen to me.” she said
“it only happens in the movies.”
You couldn’t believe it happened,
especially to your best friend.
There’s nothing you can do.
She’s gone.
You graduate from college
the friends you made feel like sisters by now
but you’re all going in different directions.
Your best friends becoming a teacher,
and you’re a nurse.
With the busy schedules there’s no time for each other.
you never talk to her again.
she’s gone.
You’re at work and you hear the phone ring.
“Oh my god” you hear your assistant say,
“are you sure?”
A million thoughts go through your mind at once.
Your heart races.
“Your mother just had a heart attack.”
Your heart drops to the floor and you become numb.
You couldn’t believe this could happen to the strongest woman you know.
You get on the first flight back home.
It’s too late
She’s gone.
No one is permanent.
Why is life so complex?
Why am I feeling vexed?
Pulling one way,
Not feeling one has any say,
Too much involved
For the problem to be solved,
Not wanting to disrupt,
Feeling all is corrupt,
Fire stations closing across the land,
Waving goodbye with a heavy hand,
Hospital consultants contending to be at the top,
All feeling scared they’ll be given the chop,
Large organisations forced to accept a ‘reshuffle’
Making history in one big kerfuffle,
Nostalgia plays heavy in many hearts,
Watching their lives torn into ‘parts’
Thinking of others afar,
With dilemmas of this kind not on a par,
Absent family over the deck,
Drowned children in a shipwreck,
And in war-torn lands, pulled apart
citizens with broken hearts,
Earthquake destroying land in one tear,
People losing hope in prayer,
Solace is not easy to find,
Throughout humankind,
Just a quiet acknowledgment,
That nothing in life is permanent.
My first wife wanted more than I could give her,
My work she told me robbed her of attention,
All my energy focused on ‘provider, '
Caused much more trouble than I care to mention.
What wives really expect can be a killer
When you dismiss their tears as just invention,
Even if you love her like Henry Miller,
And serving marriage is your sole intention.
Believing her tears were just unreasoned whim,
My own efforts destined to save the marriage,
My selfless piety filled me to the rim,
And without outside voice, who could disparage?
Many years later, I can now see my plight...
Both educated, I feared she might earn more,
And her doing so would show me in bad light,
My fear wed me to my job, a loveless whore.
I lacked heart to say I feared losing her heart,
Which would surely reveal that I felt 'less than, '
Give her one more reason to think we must part.
So trusting in love wasn't part of my plan.
I suspect young couples oft make the mistake
Of really thinking that life's under control
They think what 'they' give is worth more than 'they' take.
And feel sure that 'their' path will honor 'their' goal.
But a couple is always more than just one,
The other's opinion surely worth seeking.
And yet when at long last your searching is done,
Don't be surprised if you find love is peaking.
It is good for the soul to release some goals
And friendship might just be found in the rubble,
Sometimes a rest to just see how the thing rolls...
It is a great way to stay out of trouble.
Bureaucrat's wonderland, admin sensational!
Dealing with legions of forms immigrational
Fill 'em out, print 'em out, copy each copy
Certify, verify, check it's not sloppy
Ensure that your mug-shots' dimensions abide
By strict regulations, for proof bona fide
Designed to deter and deny the defrauder
Tho' he is from England, not South of the border
Questions for terrorists, questions for spies
Questions for arms dealers (unsavoury guys):
“Do you like bombs and explosive devices?
Do you sell drugs at unbeatable prices?
Are you a Communist, socialist ****?
Do you intend hiding crack up your butt?
Your shotgun's permitted (so long as you've brought her
For wasting wild bison and Indian slaughter)
Hoping to join the best nation on earth?
Show me your balls and certificate of birth
(Not just the awesomest, also the wealthiest
And if you have money, we're even the healthiest)”
Fingerprints, medicals, primary screening
Interviews, vaccines and queries (well-meaning)
“Tho' thousands of dollars you've paid for this pleasure
Now enter and exit our country at leisure”
Forgiveness has no need for a court system.
But tell that to the Brontosaurus snarling in my face.
My wounded heart, my soaring heart.
Freedom is a smile away.
Beyond your own gate
Are no more gates.
All of it melts in her cinnamon eyes anyways.
Where once my heart seemed shattered
(A million shards of crystal deflecting light)
My eyes, as well, remained so dim
(For nothing to any longer gaze upon)
Yet, somehow I had known, we’d reconnect
(You are the light that does so shine, still)
As the attraction that once was, would win
(You simply are the reason, you’re as the sun)
contrary to popular religious belief
our universe was not created in a week
the universe did not spring from nowhere
spewing out planets and breathable air
that which constitutes the totality
has forever defined reality
difference lying within the constant changes
which evolution by any other name is
this world was not created for humankind
we adapted became physically aligned
to survive the environment our planet provides
what is possible becoming the ongoing guide
humans forgot their place within being
only themselves they now seem to be seeing
fortunately this universe does not care
if species is self-centered and unaware
that not one condition is ever permanent
including the so-called human experiment
no matter who or how long faith denies
fabricates larger, more intricate lies
self-righteousness and all consuming prayer
realty destroys it layer by layer
coming down to final analysis
existence shall always be all there is
O Lord our God,for Jesus paid the price in full
Now your Children are killing one another
To make your earth looking good very dull.
Starving children , homeless famines on the freezing streets
For them to have an hour in our shoes
In warmth safety be plentiful, would be an amazing treat.
No situation is permanent whatever you are going through
Its only for a season, just do what you MUST do .
And that is to cry out to Jesus, he holds open doors for clear paths
Trust in him, cast your cares worries fears all your burdens to him
He has already done the equation and the math.
For surrendering everything to the Lord, for all that you are
Here has already overcome the world, so let him in the driving seat
And jump in the back seat of the car .
Because no situation is permanent, he turns hate to love anger to peace
He came to set the captives free from sin
For there to be an imminent release .
Intelligence, it seems, is very expensive.
It makes you work to gain advantage.
It makes you pay to find success.
It’s the law of supply and demand.
To learn, one must also be willing to lose.
The scarcity of human resources,
Even in a world of eight billion souls,
Requires that smart be given a price.
Whatever is gained in acquired intellect
Must be paid for in common currency.
It must be exchanged in honest trade
For worthless things like obsolete thought,
Small-minded prejudice, childish superstition,
And limiting, hidebound tradition.
One can never get something for nothing.
Everything needs to be earned.
Everything comes at a cost.
Everything. Everything, except dumb.
Dumb is free. Dumb is free and abundant.
Dumb is free and attractive.
Dumb is free and easy.
Free dumb. Free dumb all day long.
Free dumb through the night.
The supply of dumb never runs out.
Get your free dumb here, folks.
There’s plenty free dumb to go around.
Free dumb yourselves into
Thoughtless, trivial oblivion
While watching The Price is Right.
Ignorance is always in fashion
In the land of free dumb.
And though it costs us nothing,
We’ll ultimately pay with everything.
That’s just how the market works.
Special discount in aisle five.
Let free dumb ring!