Best Play It Cool Poems
Ride with me on my time machine to a different time and place
Return with me and let me see if I can put a smile upon your face
To the days of AM radio and the TV was black and white
To lying in a grassy field and counting stars at night
Popcorn and soda in the balcony at a Saturday matinee
Parades led by the High School Band on Decoration Day
Dressing up and going door to door on the night of Halloween
Cigarettes rolled in your shirt, pretending to be James Dean
Pep rallies before the football games, everybody stand and cheer
Going in the woods with your friends at night, sharing a quart of beer
That feeling inside, turning red, when she smiled at you at the dance
Wanting to kiss her goodnight, but you were afraid to take a chance
Playing chase tag at night in the neighborhood, hiding behind a tree
Holding hands with your first steady, so all your friends could see
Medicine Show at the end of town in a giant canvas tent
Saving pennies for a rainy day, fasting on candy for Lent
Going for a Sunday ride with Mom and Dad in the family car
Playing in the yard at night, putting lightning bugs in a jar
Drag racing on that long stretch of road, Chevy was hard to beat
Stealing peaches from a neighbor’s tree, always seemed so sweet
Riding bikes all over town, never knowing the meaning of fear
Identifying cars by their tail lights, make and model and year
News and Stooges at the theatre before the movie starts
Valentine’s day I love you written on tiny candy hearts
Easter bonnets and picking flowers for Mom on Mother’s Day
Opening day at the community pool the last weekend in May
Sock hop in the auditorium, collar up, trying to play it cool
Meeting friends at the usual place, everyday after school
Six for a quarter on the juke box, music that would move your soul
Return with me now to those glory days and the birth of rock and roll.
Are men supposed to show their strength
denying doubts and fears?
Should they pretend to play it cool
concealing all their tears?
When things build up would weakness urge
temptation to give in;
should one betray signs of defeat
because of hurt within?
There is a line where macho ends,
it’s there for all to see.
The mask is ripped and make-up melts;
emotions are set free.
For men are at their strongest point
when they are free to cry.
Why must a man lose confidence
when tears spill from the eye?
For men in touch with feelings are
a treasure trove to find.
Each woman’s dream and deep desire’s
to find one of the kind!
A man who’s strong enough to show
he has a caring side...
well, such a man is sure to be
a woman’s joy and pride.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Collaboration between Paul Callus and Eileen Manassian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Verse 1]
Hello, sweet brown-eyed girl
I'm just a guy with the midnight blues
Tryin’ to play it cool, but truth be told
I'm already lost in you
You gave the softest little smile
And I was halfway ‘cross the floor
Had a line in mind, a drink and some time
Maybe walk you out that door
[Chorus]
But girl, you lit up like the sun
Hit me with a look I couldn’t outrun
All my life, I’ve dreamed of this
Was countin’ down to our first kiss… tonight
[Verse 2]
That’s when he walked on by
With that easy charm and confident stride
You turned to him like a song you knew
And I felt the light leave the room
[Chorus 2]
Yeah, those sweet brown eyes
Never even caught these blues
It was just a dream, just a dance in my mind
A love I never got to lose
You smiled like I wasn’t even there
Guess hearts don’t always get to choose
So I’ll be walkin’ home alone tonight
Just a guy with the blues
[Bridge]
Maybe in another life
You’d look up and I’d be right
But fate’s a quiet kind of thief
And hope don’t always stay the night
[Final Chorus]
Now those brown eyes shine for someone new
And I fade back into the view
It’s me and this neon sky
Singin’ truths I can’t deny
Yeah, I’m just a guy with the blues
Still crazy… behind these blues
[Outro]
Just a guy...
With the blues
Do Men Cry?
(A Paul Callus & Eileen Manassian collaboration)
Are men supposed to show their strength
denying doubts and fears?
Should they pretend to play it cool
concealing all their tears?
When things build up would weakness urge
temptation to give in;
should one betray signs of defeat
because of hurt within?
There is a line where macho ends,
it’s there for all to see.
The mask is ripped and make-up melts;
emotions are set free.
For men are at their strongest point
when they are free to cry.
Why must a man lose confidence
when tears spill from the eye?
For men in touch with feelings are
a treasure trove to find.
Each woman’s dream and deep desire’s
to find one of the kind!
A man who’s strong enough to show
he has a caring side...
well, such a man is sure to be
a woman’s joy and pride.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
With knees deep in ice.
I keep deep in cold.
I was born lucky, am nice.
With dope I uphold.
You can't fool me twice,
But if you do, I play it cool.
With time you pay the price.
I can never call you a fool.
I was born into patience.
All I know is love.
I live each day with a difference.
Am still trying to evolve.
I am hard to love, I know.
Am equally hard to let go.
But I ain't too dumb to know.
That you reap what you sow as you go.
I put family first
For they are my everything.
I have issues with trust.
I hate breaking.
A seething summer morning in the oil boom trailer park
Oral Roberts on the radio with the gospel told by Mark
The reek of raw petroleum is everywhere around
We little oil trash urchins play marbles on the ground
He drives out here most every day around the hour of nine
Checking all the trailer windows for a little cardboard sign
He parks the canvas-covered truck and dons his leather vest
Throws a tow sack o'er his back and shows his Sunday best
Down the drive comes Danny, on his mighty motor bike
Hanging on the handlebars, his bigger brother Mike
The engine makes a ton of noise, a dandy double stroke
Two baseball cards and clothespins, hitting every spoke
Our ragamuffin gang was gathered, just waiting for the time
To contrive our evil strategy and carry out our crime
“The iceman, the iceman!”, I hear my sisters say
“Y'all be quiet!”, I hiss to them,” You'll give us all away!”
The iceman sidles round the truck and casts the canvas back
Scores a hundred-pounder block and cleaves it with a whack
Tongs the icy burden to his back and laughs at what is left
Chunks and chips of frozen jewels, the targets of our theft
We want so hard to play it cool and act like we don't care
All our mouths fill up with drool and it's tricky not to stare
The iceman winks his eye at me and hides a little grin
Then walks up to the trailer door where mother lets him in
The moment that the door slams shut, the bandits make their play
With eyes lit up, we whoop and shout like kids on holiday
We suck up all the chunks and chips and with our bellies iced
We swagger off to brag about our frosty jewelry heist
It's true we didn't have a lot, perhaps enough to just scrape by
But the visit from the iceman was like Christmas in July
And when I pass through oilfield country, it never ceases to amaze
How the scent of raw petroleum brings back those icebox days
January 30, 2013
My lala mal flats is skinking like that
Shimmy, Jimmy, gimme some of that hat
We're fleshing and flexing, cheek to cheek
meshing, on do-own
Shimmy, little Jimmy will ya break a my heart?
My pushaloopa swish swash skirt
gonna twirl you, swirl you, send you out a this world
Shimmy, Jimmy, don't you walk out on me,
Lay me low, down, lay me easy as pie
Shimmy, little Jimmy, got you by the tip of my nail
Oooh, baby, snickle down by my side,
shake it up, shake it down, and well shimmy
Ah, Jimmy, we skip and twirl like a pair
Your so sply, full eye, so debonair
I flutter and flatter and take to the air.
Shimmy little Jimmy, we can dance out of here
go on for ever, sasashaying praying and snicking
faster than we care. Oooh, play it blue, play it cool
Gonna wind up around you, get you all hot,
Oooh, play it baby, shimmy and skinny and dance out of here.
Don't try to be me
and I won't try to be you
there is only one of me
and there is only one of you
Don't go around pretending to be
somebody that you are not
the real you is who you should
let people see
and not what you've got
You don't need to put on a false identity
trying to look and act like a celebrity
you are who you are with your own personality
that's the way it so just deal with reality
Looking up to someone is nothing wrong
but when you try to become that someone
that's where you don't belong
just be yourself and play it cool
why pretend and make yourself look like a fool?
I won't try to be you
so don't try to be me
if others can't accept they way you are
then just let them be
I see you every day and wonder
If it ever could be, between you and me
You light up my day
You have such a glow
You've got me here thinking if it even shows
If you can see me or if you don't
We see what we want, not what we don't
Girl you look like you must be an angel
Girl you look like you love like a devil
Girl you look like you’re tryin’ to see
If we’re meant to be, you and me..
Perfect’s just a word to mean the one
A soft look, a soft smile, a soft laugh in time
Girl you look.. like you must be an angel
Be mine, yeah
Oh baby be mine
I’m tryin’ to say you’re it for me
I’ve fallen for you and it’s easy to see
Oh, I’ll play it cool but I don't know the rules
Not playin’ it safe or afraid I’m a fool
I saw a smile I think said a lot
If I got it right then please don't stop
Girl you look like you must be an angel
Girl you look like you love like a devil
Girl you look like you’re tryin’ to see
If we’re meant to be, just you and me..
Perfect’s just a word to mean the one
A soft look, a soft smile, a soft laugh in time
Girl you look.. like you must be an angel…
Be mine
All mine
Girl you look like you must be an angel
You love like a devil
Thinking of me, we’re meant to be, you and me..
Perfect’s just a word to mean the one
A soft look, a soft smile, a soft laugh in time
Girl you look.. like you must be an angel…
Be mine (Girl you look like you must be an angel)
Baby be mine (Girl you look like you love like a devil)
Oh, I see your glances
Girl please be my lovin’ angel
Girl please be my lovin’ devil
We’re meant to be, just you and me…
Be mine
Oh Baby be mine
Be mine
Baby baby be mine, just mine
Twirling around and around in the Night Sphere
Creepy eyes that scream out for a Partner in Loungerie
Two
plus 2
6 and then Twenty
The Boogeymen of the night
Catching the souls of the departed in flight
Sending them to the loneliest corner of Hell
With a Dunce Cap on every head that read:
HERE YOU ARE STUPID..AMONG THE ZOMBIES AND THEIR DEAD
A quiet empty trio of fools who did not play it cool while they were alive
Who refused to submit to the booze,the Pot,and all that Open Up Jive
Sweethearts on the dance floor where the Dead party all without a smile
Takes us back to that Halloween Trick or Treat town,at least for a little while
Mothers swing their Fathers
The Grim Reapers do their do-si-do
Harper Valley 1-800-NEXT-OF-KIN
Biting Teeth on a Harker Jonathan
Sipping blood with a grinning Mina
She is lovely in that shade of dead
Vein vessel blood all around her neckTAR and thy Head
Here in the ram shackled Studio 50 for DEAD
Dancers are the Boogeyshoes
With one eye alive and the other socket popped out
Sleep Deadly tonight Beneath the full moon and the Tango of cold Harvest Fright
It was the first day of first grade I met her,
I used to love to pull her ponytail.
Whenever I tried to speak my words would slur,
my plan to get her attention was an utter fail.
It was the first day of first grade I met him,
he used to pull my hair and stick out his tongue.
One day I saw a pair of scissors and decided that his hair needed a trim,
we were lucky to find true love so young.
By sixth grade I was finally able to speak,
I told her she was beautiful in front of her best friend.
At recess she loved to play games of hide and seek,
I despised all of the mixed signals she would send.
By sixth grade I decided I had a crush.
He called me beautiful and I ran away,
I told him that we were too young and did not need to rush.
I wish that I could rewind time back to that magical day.
The clock struck senior year and I asked her to prom,
she must not have felt the same way.
She told me she would let me know as she reapplied her cherry lip balm,
I never heard from her so I went with my friend Sharpay.
The clock struck senior year and he asked me to prom.
My thrilled heart almost leapt out of my chest,
stupid me had to play it cool applying my cherry lip balm.
I sent him a text but he never responded; that night I could not bare to rest.
Ten years later, I now know that true love is only a silly myth.
Now married to Sharpay; bonded after she borrowed my phone the night before prom.
Wonder why never heard back from the woman still hopelessly in love with,
I still dream about tasting her cherry lip balm.
Ten years later, I now know that true love is only a silly myth.
If only I did not play it cool; I should have told him how I truly felt,
I would have been with the charming man I always knew I should be with,
I dream about our destined lips meeting; it makes my demolished heart melt.
July 11, 2018
An Incomplete Love Story Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Faraz Ajmal
2nd Place
I saw her walking past me as if gliding in a mystic air of illusion, stealing my senses
like a thief in the night… reason I beg you, leave me not please!
Unlike my words, her body was properly structured in a magnitude of fluorescence,
I was afraid to approach her because of fear of getting burned, as she ravishingly
radiated heat in degrees beyond my years of studying, a diploma couldn’t have given me the
honours to become a master at this game called… love… is love just a game?
If so then playing it with her I’m sure to lose coz you see, she has mastered the game
If I hadn’t met her I would have wished for things to stay the same.
But the only thing at stake is my heart.
From her I should be getting further apart,
I gazed at her not saying a word; our eyes meet and lock,
But I still find myself unable to talk.
Could this be love at first sight or is this just another infatuation?
Feelings of lust developing within me, but how do I tell that we share the same chemistry?
Fear in my mind was inspired by fear of rejection
Words of how I truly feel about her lacks projection.
I desperately need time to adjust to the situation,
To help me deal with this untimely infatuation,
Which came too soon…
Soon, as I stare up to the moon, I realise that I’m just a fool,
No need to play it cool, wasted chances with her got me in a foul mood.
Depression settles in worse than a salted wound,
In solitary, my room provides such a comfy atmosphere
But thoughts of her bring memories and the experience is like rain under the bridge.
Contemplating a second chance is irrelevant,
Will I ever see her again? – Insignificant.
I no longer make sense because she stole my senses,
leaving me feeling senseless.
I had walked away like a coward, now I’m wondering at what might have been.
Even though I put up a happy face and pretend that everything’s okay,
For lacking courage to stand my ground, this is the price I pay.
Indeed it turned out to be very costly,
And in truth she was killing me softly.
let's start straightforward with an A
and always be cool and demure that way
whisper nonchalantly what we have to say
of alpha to omega between bourgeoisie
'cause cool is cool 'n' hip-hop is hip
even if the straights can't get a grip
and pointedly roil with pointless guilt trip
to turning feng shui and sipping green tea
the patricians will try to be your killjoy
but play it cool boy - don't be a stool boy
you can be yourself here - sit back 'n' enjoy
picking fruit from your own berry tree
'cause the world has always been that way
old versus young with new lines to say
but it's really the same old verses to play
all bring experiences to life's tree
you sit, maybe stand and take in these words
maybe muse, WTF, the whole notion's absurd
the slope of your slant is patently heard
in your own sensibility to a tolerable degree
the universe is full of universal unknowns
yet naturally, we try to clone our own zones
still my mind is mine alone, ain't no bones
but everyone's here to live life ostensibly
so we work a way through our shared alphabet
and glean from our lives, all we can get
experiences and desires, our appetite to whet
always returning to what will be, will be
© Goode Guy 2013-06-16
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/240206
He was her part time lover
even though he was her only one
A man you could love
But she’d never let him know…
she had a full time heart
Although her strings
had some wear and tear
throughout her years.
She wasn’t going to let him put her heart in his pocket.
No, she wasn’t about
to give her heart away
She’d play it cool.
Never let him see her fears
Pretend she was tough
Never cry or show any tears
He was a man,
raised right by his mother
He’d lay a rose upon her pillow
He was a man like no other
There ain’t nothin’ better
then a cowboy lover
His name was Jesse from Montana
He had skin the color of lightly roasted coffee
from being out in the sun so much
His smile, a bit crooked
made him look a bit mischievous,
in a teasing sort of manner
It could knock your socks off
if you gazed too long
She met him at a little café’ in Big Sky
leaning against the counter
like a long, tall drink of cool water
Boots, hat and all the makins'
of a real cowboy
She had slayed the paper dragons of her past
Put them all behind her
She was bold and brave;
asked for his number
which he willingly gave
with a smile, a little bit crooked,
a bit mischievous
in a teasing sort of manner
They’d cuddle in their blanket
under the stars and the moonlite
listening to Hank Williams songs
drinking coffee around their campfire
telling stories from their pasts;
laughing, snuggling
Before she’d go to sleep at night,
he’d kiss her cheek
and hold her close in his arms
One night as she lay in his arms,
he stroked her cheek
with his tender touch,
kissed her lips and held her tight
He said, “What would you do if I asked
"Ask what”, she said?
"Little lady, do you know I love you,
would you kindly be my wife”?
When he said that to her that
wonderful nite under the stars
she realized...
She wanted him, to put her heart in his pocket
That was the night
she gave her heart away
She wasn’t playin’ it cool
She let him see her fears
She wasn’t really all that tough
Then, she cried and showed him her tears
He was a real man,
raised right by his mother
He laid a rose upon her pillow
He really was a man like no other
Nope, there sure ain’t nothin’ better
then a cowboy lover
*~The Sweet End~*
Once I wanted to impress a female friend
So I thought about a letter I should send
Then I sat down writing and writing
In my mind my thoughts were fighting and fighting
The ideas that came to me were not maintained
Due to nervousness, my brain had drained
Finally I got an idea , you might that I’m nuts
Because it was a consumer product
That’s how the starting was like-
Because of this don’t get embarrass
And I have no intention of you to harass
I might seem to you as a fool
Don’t mind because I just want to play it cool
At this stage I feel like Nike (Just Do It)
But I’m so nervous right now
That it seems to me like a mountain hike
Whenever I see you, I think my life’s L.G. (Life’s Good)
But when I don’t see you, I feel like world’s ugly
Just give me a chance and
I’ll prove you that I’m like Del Monte (YouAin’t Had Nothing like This Before)
If I don’t come up to your expectations
I’ll go away
At this time you must be like Coca Cola (Enjoy Happiness)
And I’m singing ooh laa laa ooh laa laa
Just take into your consideration my letter
I know you will make the decision better
I don’t care whether you like me or not
But for you with my fears I’ve fought
So just sit down and laugh
At this letter “not so better”
By the time I’ll go and study for my exams
Simultaneously checking my virtual farms