Best Sarasota Poems
Florida is beckoning once again
The sun, the sand, those leisurely days
The total package, the change of scenery
The change of routine we all need and crave
There are many places on earth
Where this can be achieved
But this is MY paradise, MY wee bit of heaven
Everyone has their own favourite getaway
Florida has always been my second home
In particular, Siesta Key, just south of Sarasota
Those familiar with the area
Know when I refer to a white sandy beach
I'm not just whistling Dixie
Siesta Key is world famous
Think I'll head off to dreamland now
And pretend I'm there, in my own piece of paradise!
© Jack Ellison 2015
To my graduation as Massage Therapist from SSMT
(Sarasota School of Massage Therapy).
The year has passed. Whole year. Anazing.
At first, it seemed like so long.
But then the school, its stuff and training
Made year feel short and me feel strong.
There been some challenges and testings.
The Clinic. Positives and not.
But here's the thing where we have saying -
If hard in school, in life it's soft.
A year ago I wrote something
About energy... massage.
Then - I was young, but now got smarter.
Will say the same, but on level up.
To heal, we touch a body - super.
Next step to touch a Soul - so true.
So, lets start from the Matter,
That's where our school comes through.
I made great friends from the beginning.
And then I came to realize -
The whole SSMT has meaning,
It's one big family for life.
April 14, 2017
Mommy, why do you keep putting that needle in your arm?
Why do you keep putting us at harm?
Mommy why do you keep putting that needle in your leg?
How many times do we have to plead and beg?
Mommy, are we not enough for you to put the drugs down?
Are we not worth being around?
Mommy please, you have to let the drugs go.
We want our old mommy back and all the love you used to show.
Our beautiful mommy who was forever so lively and bright.
Can't be so weak to give up this fight.
Do you want to watch us grow up big and strong?
Do you not realize your teaching us wrong?
Slowly we watch as your slipping away.
All we do is worry more and more everyday.
Mommy, you need to face your addiction, no longer can you run.
You have two children who need you, a daughter and a son.
We are so scared that one day we will find our mommy dead.
With a needle in her arm, lifeless on the bed.
If your not strong enough to do it for us then do it for yourself.
Stop making us worry about your safety and health.
We just want our mommy back, the way she used to be.
Before the drugs took over, a loving caring mommy is what we need.
Mommy, we need you out here with us, helping dad.
We are so sick and tired of being lonely and sad.
Its not fair for daddy to raise us on his own.
So get your act together, get clean and come home.
We hope this time you can truly stay sober.
We hope this time it will finally be all over.
Once again be the loving mother and wife we know you can be.
We miss you so much mommy and hope this time you can stay clean.
Mommy, you are very loved by us but we cant accept the things you choose to do.
You can win this battle mommy, we know you can because we believe in you.
This poem is dedicated to my children: Daunavyn and DayonaLee
I wrote this while being incarcerated at Sarasota County jail. I am a struggling addict trying hard to accomplish my goal and become a recovered addict.
When I took the time to see my addiction through the eyes of my children I finally realized how much it had, is and was affecting them.
I. BISMUTH [83]
rainbow-sheened cubist castles -- silver-pink of hue
II. IODINE [53]
gunmetal grey crystals sublime -- and billow purple
III GALLIUM [31]
metallic grey and stiff -- melting in a cordial clasp
IV. HELIUM [2]
spent star-fuel -- alpha-ray remains – blimp-floater
V. RHODIUM [45]
brightly-burnished -- rarer than platinum -- dearer than gold
January 4, 2020
NOTE:
Many years ago, 1975 or so, I found a little book in the library of Pine View School in Sarasota, Florida, which contained mostly-humorous verse of an unusual sort: a quatrain each for every chemical element. (Whether the non-primordial elements were included, and whether the Rare Earth elements were treated individually or as a group, I cannot recall.) The name of the book has eluded my memory... a portmanteau or pun on "Chemistry" and "Christianity" of some sort, perhaps? I can only recall two of the quatrains; they went:
Xenon has a cross to carry,
Staying single his chief goal;
Now they've gone and made him marry!
Modern science has no soul.
and:
The melting point of Rhenium
Is high as a proscenium.
She plays the part and shrieks "Thou liest!"
When Carbon says his own is highest.
If anyone recognizes this, or could help me locate the book, I would be most sincerely grateful!
I remember the exclusive Walt Disney days,
We used to travel there with our parents.
Stayed at a beautiful timeshare Limetree, Sarasota.
Then we visited the Walt Disney kingdom.
Father Dr. Wolf would drive us there,
We bought tickets for Walt Disney world.
Our parents were just the nicest parents you could know,
There was a parade when you came to visit.
They had many activities, my recollection of those days is limited.
Many nice boutiques, I purchased two T shirts for Kirk and Erik,our sons.
We would walk along the white sandy beach and collect sea shells,
Then we would travel to St. Armands on the bus for twenty-five cents.
We dined at the exclusive harbor restaurant and the hotel restaurant,
Our mother and father used love to take us dinning.
Our timeshare was right on the beach,
You could walk for hours, what a beautiful sunrise and sunset each day.
Author:Gwen von Erlach Schutz
It's Thanksgiving Day down in the States
Here's to all my many Yankee friends
Wish all you folks have a wonderful day
All my good wishes I do send
Florida was mostly my destination of choice
The Gulf Coast almost exclusively
Siesta Key is just a little south of Sarasota
Where the theme is semi-nudity
Those vacations are less common nowadays
Money's not flowing like it once did
However before the big man calls me upstairs
Wish to relive my days as a kid
Nostalgia I guess is what you would call it
Actually been there on your Black Friday
No offence but you guys are nutso
“Sorry, didn't mean that!” he said slyly!
Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving, I'll say it again
Enjoy this day with your families
There's nothing more loving and rewarding
Than to share a day of geniality
Here's to all my many Yankee friends!
© Jack Ellison 2013
I almost went to Florida
To visit with my aunt
Until the virus landed
And my plans it did supplant.
I almost got a chance to see
A Sarasota treat.
The Ringling exhibition
Would have made the trip complete.
I almost got to quilting class
To start on something new
And as to when I’ll get there,
Well, I haven’t got a clue.
I almost got to go to Greece,
A long-awaited tour.
Perhaps next year I’ll have the chance
To get there and explore.
I almost got to see my play
Produced up on the stage.
I almost got to celebrate
My birthday’s special age.
I almost got to keep
My Friday babysitting dates.
Though FaceTime helps a bit
A lot of hugging yet awaits.
I almost got to live my life
Without this daily fear.
I’m hoping that these almosts
Will, at some point, disappear.
Feathered Brazilian brown hair with eyes that match.
Red lips,Skinny brows with mascara thick on each lash.
Skin tone honey roasted cashew.
Body scarred from self harm and all she had been through.
Felonies,misdemeanors and a diploma.
From Great kills,Staten Island to the beaches of Clearwater and Sarasota.
Vodka on the rocks with a splash of diet coke.
Mirror, a straw and lines of coke.
She always made you laugh With every joke.
Even though,Throughout my childhood my mom was an addict.
There is no other women, I would of rather spent my life with.
Taught me how to be ok with surviving by myself.
Showed me some life choices will have you buried or displayed on a shelf.
I’ve learned from all your mistakes. So, I choose love over wealth.
I was born the black sheep to break the family cycle for my own health.
To ensure, I face the life. I try to create with my best self.
No Longer Need A Circus
There are things that may make me nervous;
Something was now missing from the surface;
Has gone away and can no longer be found,
Even though as much as I often look around;
Did disappear the presence of a great circus.
So sad that in May the B and B Circus
will be having its last show. Am not
sure where it will be at though. There
headquarters is in the Sarasota, Florida
area.
James Serious Mysterious Horn
Retired Veteran and Poet
While basking in the sun at Sarasota Bay
A couple approached Cathie and me
Nicest two people you'll ever want to meet
Welcomed us to the land of the free
They were from the town of Elmira, NY
A couple of miles south of the border
A small world when you really think about it
Us guys are one and two in that order
Sadly we didn't even catch their names
No matter, we were really impressed
Two of the warmest most charming individuals
As they welcomed their Canadian guests
We really wish we could meet them again
It proves I'm right on with my belief
There's a bunch of nice people wherever you go
But our encounter was far too brief
© Jack Ellison 2013
Beautiful days with our parents
We lived at the beautiful house with our relatives.
Swimming was a favorite hobby,
Our parents had taught us all to swim.
We would go to the fitness institute,
I would like swimming the breast stroke, the crawl, the back stroke, the dolphin.
Our mother liked the breast stroke,
Father liked the back stroke.
I remember when we went to the Limetree, Sarasota,
The love for swimming continued.
They had a beautiful resort swimming pool,
Relatives and friends would swim there.
You would be very refreshed when coming out of the water,
They had a nice restaurant where you could get a lunch.
I miss those days, with my relatives, what a blessing from God,
Good memories stay with you forever.
Author: Gwen von Erlach Schutz
The sandy beach awaited the celebration,
We were with relatives and friends.
We had a lovely dinner together,
After dinner we went out on the porch facing the beach.
I had collected shells which I had displayed on the bench
Shells of varying shapes and sizes.
They had fireworks profiled with excellence,
The sky was the background for the display.
We were with our favorite companions,
Enjoying the warmth of the Sarasota weather.
A midnight swim in the swimming pool guested,
We all liked swimming, our parents had taught us.
i wore a royal purple swim suit especially for the Christmas holidays,
My relatives liked swimming in the swimming pool.
A glass of champagne guested where we celebrated the New Year,
With relatives, friends and good neighbors.
We retired in the evening to our very comfortable and somewhat posh
condominium,
These are good memories that God and our parents have given us.
Author: Gwen von Erlach Schutz
I have such good memories of our beautiful mother and handsome father,
Days and nights of growing up with them.
We lived in beautiful houses, the Magnolia house, the Chopin house and the Lorne Park house,
Grandma Elfrieda our very virtuous and good grandmother came to live with us,
She was a beautiful woman with silver white hair styled in a french role.
She cooked and sewed for us, styled and sewed my grade eight graduation dress, my secondary school dress,
I always had a selection of beautiful clothes, she knitted me a beautiful nordic sweater.
For my birthday one year she knitted me a sailor like sweater and sewed a beautiful flared skirt.
Father brought mother and I a coat,sweater and skirt one year, quite beautiful and a navy blue dress with a rainbow collar.
He was the director of a fashion company in the city of Toronto
Mother was an executive controller for a handsome builder of subdivision houses,
Summers we would go to the cottage together, our brother Tom would stay at his friend Eric's place,
When I married my husband Walter and had two beautiful children Kirk and Erik,
We went to the Limetree Beach resort in Sarasota, Florida with my sister Antje and my parents.
MY divorced years I lived in our parents' beautiful spacious house with my
children and sister,
They were such beautiful and handsome parents and kind to us all,
I will always remember them with love and friendship,
Their friendship continued and we went to visit my sister Antje and her children and husband at their beautiful house.
We visited my brother Tom his children and wife Gail at their house,
They got married at Pioneer village. i was a bridesmaid,
They drove in a horse drawn carriage, Tom wore a tuxedo and Gail wore a very
beautiful wedding gown.
My sister Antje was a pretty bridesmaid at their wedding,
She is very happily married now to Michael and has two beautiful and handsome children Esme and Evan.
Our parents blessed us with friendship and kindness,
We are all truly thankful to the Lord , our God.
Author:Gwen von Erlach Schutz
The beautiful St. Armands, Sarasota, Florida,
A holiday with my children Kirk and Erik and my parents.
The timeshare at the beach,
Owned by Dr. Erika and Dr. Wolf.
Condominium was exquisitely decorated,
My sons Kirk and Erik stayed with me.
There was a beautiful white sandy beach,
Where we would go for long walks and collect sea shells.
We would go dinning at the nearby restaurant ,
Which had delicious foods, my favorite was the place by the sea.
I collected sea shells of different shapes and sizes,
My favorite shell was the abalone which I received complimentary when i bought a necklace.
My mother and I went shopping together,
I also bought T-shirts for my sons.
Mother would also invite us for dinner, she would cook a delicious dinner,
That is a very good memory, we would visit with my sister Antje and mom and dad.
Those our days to remember , blessed by God,
We returned safely to our parents' Lorne Park house.
Author: Gwen von Erlach Schutz
99% pure quartz.
Finest white
Talc like
Sand beach in the world.
Sunshine’s rays
Rebound
To clear
Blue
Cotton
Puffy
Clouds
Hanging sky.
Pristine see through
Gulf Sea.
Underwater wonder life
Fishes
Seashells,
My wife and me.
Paradise coastline,
A day in Siesta Key.