Best Polk Poems
“Where I’m From”
I am from pliers
from Tylenol and vanilla bean perfume.
I am from the budding rose bush,
the aloe vera plant
whose salve heals my burns.
I am from the tee-ball bat in the garage
the ballet bar in the studio.
I am from princess pajamas and my favorite stuffed animal
from sandy beaches and mountain views.
I’m from lessons learned and the hard way,
from spankings and timeouts in my bedroom.
I’m from wood flooring and hazel eyes
and southern cooking grandmothers.
I’m from the brewing of sweet tea and
the individual stitches on quilts.
From the “no no’s” and
the land flowing with “milk and honey.”
I’m from early Sunday mornings,
in a polk-a-dot dress and black patent shoes.
I’m from the foothills,
green beans and heavily buttered cornbread.
From the crown and sash of Miss Catawba Valley
the receding hairline of my father.
They are on the top shelf in my closet
a box of baby pictures and birthday cards.
It holds my memories, so that I may never forget
Where I’m from.
Here kitty, kitty. Come out and play
I have a new bow for you today
You tore the blue one out so quick
With angry paw…you seemed quite ticked!
I want to dress you and show you off
So all the other bows I now have tossed
No purple or green to match your eyes
Or orange, nor pink that you despise
Polk-a-dots were just not right for you
You tore them to shreds a time or two
No stripes or plaids are in my hand
For these I know you could not stand
The white one was lost in your white fur
When it came out you purred and purred
Here kitty, kitty, now don’t you tease
I’ve a red one here that’s sure to please
1/10/13
Written for “Hello Kitty (World)” members contest.
~~KAIROS~~
A rainy eve, soft tires pass us on the street.
June, you, the spring of my heart and my loins.
You, my eternal bliss with cascades of love in
just one kiss.
How Aphrodite caught us both in soulful bliss!
Standing in the rain on Polk Street.
We even stood in bare feet!
Forever afloat in love's sweetest boat.
My head on your soft, loving coat.
Why are you always intensely here?
Because you are my fate, so dear.
I try so hard in words to capture,
My love for you, who is my rapture.
Do all lovers feel this lost?
To love and never count the cost!
August 15, 2020
8:30pm PST
Sugar coated
Polk-a-dotted
Love is all I need
From my head to my toes
All I need is some love
Wrapped in paper or
Different flavors
Love is all I need
Give it to me in a poem
Send if off to me at home
Find it under your bed
Get it through your head!
Love is all I need
~~Upon the banks of big piney slough,
I recall a picnic with old blue,
and my granddaughter at age two.
and many blood sucking critters too.
~For a very short while we did picnic,
then we would bait our hooks and pick ticks.
while the ants carried our food off in nit picks.
Gets no better than this, can’t beat it with sticks!
~Mosquitoes demanded their rightful share,
for of the blood of we humans they are an heir.
Some dudes have no flair for this type of affair,
after a day or two they would need repair.
~Moms who let babies grow up to be rednecks,
raise children who can fish and pick blood ticks,
and kill big water moccasins with little sticks,
while picking polk salet for supper on picnics.
~Having caught a big flathead cat or two,
I called granddaughter Sue and my dog blue,
for I remember quit clearly when Sue was new,
was the dog days of summer, ninety two!
For and in Honor of: Carol Brown
And Contest: Picnic
Schools are closed, there is no mail
And stores hold special sales.
To honor our first president,
That’s what this day entails.
Though technically, our 16th prez
Is celebrated, too.
To make a Monday holiday,
That’s what they chose to do.
The 40-something other men
Who served the USA
As presidents were not awarded
Their own special day.
So sorry Adams, Jefferson,
James Madison, Monroe,
John Quincy Adams, Jackson
And Van Buren – all are no.
Poor Harrison and Tyler,
Polk and Taylor, Pierce and Grant,
Fillmore, Johnson and Buchanan,
Hayes and Garfield – no, you can’t.
Arthur, Cleveland and McKinley,
Harrison and Teddy R.,
Taft and Wilson, Harding, Coolidge,
Hoover, also FDR…
Truman, Eisenhower, JFK,
LBJ and Nixon, Ford,
Carter, Reagan, both the Bushes
And Bill Clinton – not on board.
Last, no day off for Obama.
As to he who’s right now serving,
I can’t think of anyone who might
Be any less deserving.
Molly’s Country Kitchen
~Polk stalks sliced, rolled in flour fried
Refried Pinto beans
Fresh Polk leaves rolled in eggs fried
Buttermilk, cornbread
One large Green onion
Apple pie
Yum!
Written 4-30-2011
For and in honor of: Gwendolen Rix
And Contest: Fast Food Epulaeryu
A is for Adams, second and sixth presidents.
B is for two Bushes who were Whitehouse residents.
C is for Clinton, forty-second president of nation.
D is for Davis, President of Southern Federation.
E is for Eisenhower, a president and World War hero.
F is for President Fillmore who was pretty much a zero.
G is for President Grant, a general in the Civil War.
H is for President Hayes whom we don’t speak of any more.
I is for Isabella, two queens of England, one of Spain.
J is for President Jefferson seen by some as being vain.
K is for President Kennedy who was assassinated.
L is for President Lincoln whose worth can’t be over-stated.
M is for Presidents four and five, Madison and Monroe.
N is for Naguib, Egyptian president of sixty years ago.
O is for Obama, who is USA’s first black president
P is for Polk .who was number eleven to that office sent.
Q is for Quezon, first president of Philippines.
R is for two Roosevelt’s with five presidents in between.
S is for Saul, King of Israel, and he was a very wise man.
T is for President’s Tyler and Taylor and Taft and Truman.
U is for Umberta, king of Italy before he had to go.
V is for Van Buren, 8th president, plagued by financial woe.
W is for President Washington, number one in every way
X is for Xuanzong, Chinese emperor in long ago day.
Y is for Yeltsin, elected Russian president in 1990
Z for Ziaulhaq ten-year president of Pakistani.
These men of fame and some of shame, were leaders in their time.
Their names in history are writ and fill this little rhyme.
I once was a beautiful lass
who captured every young man’s fancy
A nymph of the high Southern class
who practiced a belle’s necromancy.
They worshipped my haughty fine grace
they catered to temper and whim
A moment to gaze on my face
sent rent hearts to pain, prayer, and hymn.
But now I lie cold in my grave
festered and worm-eaten I be
With neither a knight nor a knave
to worship or lie beside me.
"Deep Memory" originally appeared in Wilum Pugmire's anthology Visions of Kroy'don (1978) and the same editors ***** Madness (1980). It was collected in The Ghost Garden (Liverpool: Dark Dreams Press, 1988) and in Sorceries & Sorrows (Early Poems) Polk City, Iowa: Chris Drumm Books, 1992, in a limited edition of 100 copies. It's included in my big forthcoming Hippocampus Press collection The Ghost Garden and Further Spirits.
Walking on a windy day ,in San Francisco,
I suddenly felt a hanger around my feet.
I looked down and no kidding, there were
my red underpants lying about my ankles
on busy Polk Street!
What does a lady do in such quirky situation?
My face turned beet red as the underpants in
Great social consternation.
The street shoppers, well, some stared at me.
I just wished I were high in an Oak tree!
Improv training, jumped right to the fore.
I picked them up and put them on with total
grace and galore!
Luckily, I did have pantyhose on.
My very short skirt and bottom warmed by the
West Coast sun!
11-17-2020
This is my fairy tale of a boy who I love,
and who I am with we are in the same house,
I am in love with him with all,
of my hate, and heart, we are together,
there is nothing that can tear each other apart,
we are sleeping together with each other,
my naame is Tameka Patrie Polk and, my
boyfriend follows me every where I go,
he kisses me always inthe night sky,
days when I am not thinking of him,
I like to stay to myself in love,
with him smiling above in all of the clouds,
in all of my alone time,
him being behind me is a scary thought, and
feeling,
hearing his nice, sweet, and lovely voice,
sent chills down her spine,
thinking about him is a favorite, by,
surprise into her eyes,
he makes her smile always and cannot,
take it back no one can take his place,
Tameka Patrice Polk do dream of hearts,
and take it alone with her flowing yellow rose,
down to her dress that she kinnie think of,
every day, there is no one else in mind,
for her only their love in between the
and then above the clouds in* arms,
I cannot wait to hear the next sound,
of smile I try to say he is for me,
we look into each other eyes,
every star that we see together, tonight
pulling the silk soft sheet cover over my face,
and, makes a little smile maybe a pillow to,
equal to a twilight beam,
of what I really think about him,
cause, I know that he is thinking of me,
every and always every day of his dreams,
I am happy to be by him,
squeeze, a heart until gone it necklace bleeds,
because kinnie belong with me,
only,
his only dream girl in the sea,
bloody dreams while being gothic,
I will write songs to think of,
willing to think of a song to write about,
that is made for only me,
I can only see out of on eye,
can only see out of one eye,
that is my eye, and eyes,
that is my eyes,
GothicelecktraVampire
made for only me,
* * * * *.
As the polk- salad grows in the blueberries
And the song birds entertain the morn's sun
The crows' lookout songs resounds quite merry
Poet's thoughts reach out to God and His Son
The day is lovely with comfortable air
Which will turn to uncomfortable heat
Peace in the moment let me absorb fair
Thou Presence bids me in Him to retreat
Work and problems of this day soon surrounds
The peace of a gentle morn dissolves
Let fleeting memories to my thoughts rebound
Of His presence in each breath evolve
Days can start peaceful, or wrapped in distress
God's presence gives hope if time with Him invest
Heat that frying pan with some cooking oil
we are frying eggs no time to boil
Crack them eggs and let them fry
polk the yolk and let the eggs slide
Flip it over so both sides white
salt and pepper to delight
Not to boost like mine on toast
Two slices of American cheese, yes please
Melt it on top of that egg hot, gooey yumminess enough said
Mayo? say no.
Shake on that Tabasco sauce, taste is boss
Top with slice of toast, fried egg sandwich is the most.
A delight with every bite
Taste good when you do it right.
I used to love walking down Polk;
Watching leaves fall to the street.
I feel I've reached the autumn of my life.
Even though my summer has just begun.
Crying for my lifeless winter.
Nostalgic early morning rains from my springtime.
I just wish there were more seasons for all of us to get together before it's all over.
Sorry, friends.
Sorry, everyone.
What a walk it's been.
He was a sort of a king, a man at the top of King Hill. He had the most food, and the most guns. He had servants at first, but they were too hard to feed after a bit, so he let them go. When he was younger he used to come out of his glass castle and look down the hill at the common people, but that got depressing as he aged.
All around him was famine. The common people were starving and fighting over food rations. He watched in curiosity as they fought over ham steaks and bags of grain. One day the almost-king watched the Theys round up the Bittles. First they rounded the Bittles up, then they tied them to trees, and let them starve and die of thirst. He could have helped save them, but he did not want to get involved.
They came for the Zygons next. The Zygons did not go as peacefully. They fought and clawed, kicked, hissed and spit. But They rounded them up anyway and locked them into stocks where the almost-King could see them, but he did not know anything about Zygons. Why should he help them?
The almost king was looking from his balcony one day, when something treacherous was happening to the Lillies. The Lillies had always been kind to him, and he felt badly about it, but he was afraid to speak because his castle was made of glass, and he was rapidly becoming afraid of the Theys.
So he hid inside, and did not open the door to anyone. The Theys were surprised when they came up the hill to round up the Polk Noses. The Polka Noses had weapons. They fought bravely, hurting some of the Theys. But in the end, they got the Polka Noses under control.
The Theys were becoming a formidable group. There were thousands of them now and more Theys were joining them every day. Joining is better than being targeted by the Theys, right? Ask my cousin, who used to be a We.
The almost king disapproved of the Theys now, but fear kept him silent. He was hoping they would not notice him or his glass castle. He hid inside, not protesting, not making any noise at all, fearfully silent until they started chanting as they came up the hill.
Moral of this Story: Speak up before they come and get you.