Best Skates Poems
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* planets psyches
whilst Saturn’s in Pisces
the end of a long journey awaits
through the cycles of life she skates
aboard water ice of Saturn’s fragile rings *
spun out of control, fans gossamer wings
BECOMING * ———* AN ——*— ENTANGLED — *— — WEB,
* WHENEVER — * SHE — STARTS — TO —* — STRAY — *
a--pivoting--death--spiral--a--backward lay
* afraid in orbit to show a little discipline *
she performs an axel, with precision
* time to let go of the toxicity, it is *
skate or die h a r m o n i c i t y
* welcoming in challenges
of a new age
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A long, long time ago, when I was young,
on watching skaters move on Poets’ Pond,
(some gliding with great skill, some taking falls).
I donned skates of my own and I began. . .
Around, around I went, and in my mind,
a lilting rhythm came and said to me:
Go ON and ON and ON and ON and ON.
But I was youthful, restless, uninspired. . .
I left that pond and put my skates away,
to take a path removed from poetry.
Ten years became a decade, then ten more,
and suddenly, a new millennium!
My muse, now heartened, came to me and brought
those skates, which for so long, I had not used.
A bit unsure, I stood beside that pond.
The skates seemed more attractive now. They gleamed!
And something else - new thoughts came to my mind!
The things I’d dreamed and lost; the things I’d gained
came flooding over me; then said my muse -
Go ON and ON and ON and ON and ON. . .
I noticed all around me other souls
who often showed completely different styles!
Some glided with elaborate smooth moves
while others whirled and danced with arabesques.
The artists leapt and made me catch my breath,
another group did spins to make me laugh.
Some moved, at times, with jolts, and some fell down,
but rarely did a one of them fall out!
For all of them shared passion for one thing -
and so to Poets’ Pond we’d all been drawn.
Go ON and ON and ON and ON and ON,
my sweet muse whispered, and I could not stop.
I tried to model those who skated free,
for some of them made circles all around
me, and I dearly wished that I could be
among that group, glean popularity!
But all I really know and like to do
is move to my own beat. Iambic skates
are those that fit me best. No world-class star
I’ll ever be in poetry’s new world,
but ON I’ll go - and ON and ON and ON. .
A taste for winter
before it has neared.
Like a taste, remembered by smell.
Coats and scarves sitting alone, deserted in the summer light.
Fingers stretch to feel the wool of gloves.
Feet - free, running in the tall grass,
Will soon break-in ice skates,
Solid leather giving way to a practised grace.
An icy reflection of breath harnesses time
While the Black bears sleep their days away
Rivers cease their roars, frozen under winters metallic torch.
Frozen Ice Pond A Duck Skates- A Haiku
tedious hillside
skating frozen duck ice swims?
betrayed by the pond
~
tedious hillside
duck skating on frozen pond
because of the ice
~
tedious hillside
skating frozen ice swims ducks
pond liquid now ice
~
tedious hillside
duck skating on frozen pond
betrayed by the pond
1/24/20
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2020©
~~ Insomnia - relentlessly attacking throughout the endless night ~~
With ice under your feet...
The wind in your hair..
The freedom you have as you spread your wings..
Gliding along with no chains...
Feeling like a star in the middle of a ring...
feeling like a kid again with my ice skates on..
its the season
you have a reason
to go do it slow
up down and around
eat soup from soul bold
have the right date
its
ICE COLD WEATHER
AND SKATES
it that time
winter mountain line
you go its snow
ground is white
lts like rices
the wind blow
its
SNOW AND SKATES AND ICES
ROLLER SKATES
In a green and white gingham dress,
On beloved streets in Chicago on
noisy roller skates, I flew.
I forgot girls dressed like girls, back
when.......
It was acceptable to be a girl, to be
pretty.
Boys did not wear jeans in that long
ago.
At least.... not in the city,
Movies were so clean, you did not
need a parent there.
I forgot we actually wore real shoes.
Nobody complained, and we polished
them with great pride, oh my.
Nobody had purple or green hair.
We went to Confession each Friday.
Church carnivals were just lovely.
We listened to music and stories on
the radio.
And music was about love and your
country.
We were not prisoners, hurrah.
We knew how to call our friends.
These one line emails?
Give me a break....
I feel very out of place in this world.
Where is everyone going?
Under lockdown and will get worse.
Sometimes, I think we live under a
Hateful curse!
As if social networking can replace
the human voice and face.
Worse now, with children wearing
diapers on their face.
Get wings on your feet and to freedom
Do fly!
High, high, above this world ...
So bleak, you owe this to yourself.
Do not let laws, keep you on a
grotesque, humanoid shelf!
8/11/2021
11 pm PST
Feeling hopeless
?I lay frozen?
No rescue in sight?
Power within?
Drained like my battery?
On a bitter cold February morning?
Asking for Help?
I rose?
With trembling hands?
Reached out?
The ice still blocking?
Veins to my heart?
Hide run away?
An option long abandoned?
One meeting?
Share?
Two meetings?
Listen?
Three meetings?
Understand?
Went to bed grateful?
Love flowing now again?
Mr. Squirrel made a splash on ice.
He took no direction, no ideas, and no advice!
We watched him do twirls not once but twice.
The ones who were the most amazed were the mice.
Teach me! Mr. Squirrel the little ones said.
He smiled and waved, giving them a nod of his head.
They stood at the railing watching him pirouette in the air.
When he came down his tail was fluffed up without any care.
I once had this idyllic picture of children…in school…learning with their mates
or outside playing together…running, jumping, laughing…riding on roller skates.
But that idyllic picture has changed…it’s not so idyllic anymore….
as we’re faced with another school shooting…and parts of the world at war.
In the midst of war…death comes quickly…lives are lost…hearts are broken
In the instant death arrives…there’s no time to think…no words are spoken.
I wonder in the moment the bomb explodes…dropped from high above
If the last thought of those who died…were of those in life they love.
In the midst of a school shooting…living out their most horrible fears
students of all ages take out their phones…and fighting back their tears
they call their parents and loved ones…”Dad, Mom…there’s something I want to say.
I just want you to know I love you…if I happen to die today”.
In Israel, in Gaza, in Ukraine, on our streets…wherever the fires of hatred flame
when it comes to the last words on our lips…all our messages are the same.
We want those we love to know we love them…one more time before we die…
so we repeat to them the words they said to us…
the moment we opened our eyes.
If we fear we’re going to die…and those we love and who love us can’t be near…
we want the words ‘I love you”…to be the last words from us…they hear.
Leaving us to mourn a world that callously drops bullets and bombs on us from above.
A world that allows the ruthless killing of the children we claim to love.
And to pray for the day love will prevail…and no more children will suffer the fate
of dying beneath their school desk…or while outside…wearing roller skates.
Rhinos on roller skates
Who would create them?
The skates, not the rhinos.
Better yet, who would fit their feet?
Would they come to the rollerskating store?
If they did, would they trample the other customers?
What customers? My aunt asks. No one shops anymore.
Thanks to online shopping, I fear that she might be right.
If I see a bunch of rhinos heading for the mall
I will be the first one to turn my car around and watch.
From afar, with a video camera with a long lens.
For I have never met a rhino who liked me.
• We agreed to meet up at the frozen pond
• For he knows I can't be out in the sun
• I told him to dress warm and bring ice skates
• It wouldn't hurt for him to have a little fun
Grandma can do it! Henry insisted.
No one else knew it, but he persisted.
Grandma laced up her skates and took to the road.
She was terrific, her moves were all gold.
She’d won the skating Olympic gold medal in ’04.
Not 2004, honey, go back a hundred years more.
What is keeping you alive? We asked Grandma Lee.
Do not know, I guess it’s because I was born in 1883.