Best Sodas Poems
A
saying that's been around forever
Where it came from I haven't a clue
There's many phrases just like this one
So familiar to both me and you
PENNY
is a word not heard much these days
Its value is less than a cent
We used to get a big bag full of candy
At the store, it was a big event
FOR
many years its value has decreased
There's a rumour they'll not longer exist
Where's this technological age leading us
The good old days I dearly miss
YOUR
thoughts are probably, what an old geezer
He can't keep up with the times
But us old guys lived a much simpler life
For those good old days we still pine
THOUGHTS
of sodas, ice cream and lollipops
Linger in the depth of our being
Tears can be seen trickling down our cheeks
A sad but a joyous a feeling
Muffins, Doritos and Cheetos, Oh My! (A Bulimic’s Tale)
There is a hole in her core she must sate.
So, she drives to the grocery store before it’s too late.
She steers the cart in search of junk food.
She spots a case of cupcakes that can ease her mood.
Powdered donuts on a shelf she can reach.
Next, she chooses Bottled sodas, she packs up five each.
Muffins, Doritos, Cheetos, Funyuns and Snickers she will par-take.
She must not forget about the Little Debbie snack cakes.
Once the cashier starts scanning her vittles,
She starts to feel a tingly rush form in her middle.
She pays her fee then rushes to her vehicle parked afar
Then unloads the groceries on the passenger seat of the car.
As she sits behind her steering wheel.
She appraises her edible saviors, then makes her appeal
She starts with the Snickers shoving them down her throat,
The empty void inside her fills as she lets out a choke.
The Funyuns and muffins are next on her seat.
She devours them in seconds, puffing up her cheeks.
Doritos, Cheetos and snack cakes are inhaled like oxygen,
She is slightly starting to feel whole again.
The cupcakes are the last morsels of her stock
She washes them down with the soda she bought.
When the food is gone she observes the food wrappers in her space.
She glances in the rear view mirror but fails to recognize her face.
Powdered sugar and Cheeto dust crusting around her lips,
A sob escapes her chest as sanity begins to slip.
There is one more mission she must forgo
Opening her car door, she shoves a finger down her throat.
Vomit is released from her belly’s lair.
Stomach acid and bile sting the night air.
She appraises the regurgitation splattered on the concrete.
Then senses the empty void is gone, her task is complete.
I always feel like a prisoner in the winter, banished from the outside by the jealous wind. As I get older, I continue to make peace with the cold, but I follow the spring. It is a different door, one covered with vines and stars, and to it I am drawn, as if to a beautiful girl.. no other days compare to her.
The flash of a disposable camera, clicked with young fingers, pink-polished nails. A yellow sun dress patterned with orange daisies. The basket on the bike is filled with stuff for lunch, sodas and sandwiches and things. Laughter resounds over the tops of trees as we careen, the children of May, across the sun-spotted road.
The compass points north
You know, this is Saturday
That means we go east
You yell to me that I run too fast, but all I hear is my heartbeat in my ears. I look back, you run faster. The evening begins to cast a spell in our town; the colors purple and orange appear like watercolor in the sky and we both stop to watch. Vapor trails crisscross above us, they're streaks across the fading day, pieces of the memories we've made.
Heat lightning at night
She's reading a magazine
Sarah's rare green eyes
To your door we go, but only you proceed. Your father doesn't trust me yet, but I tell you that I'll try harder. Maybe, one day, he'll give me a pat on the shoulder and a smile. It does hurt, I won't deny, to listen to the screen door wheeze shut and hear your bounding footsteps on the stairs. What comforts me is that I know tomorrow brings you around again, walking through a high archway, lovely enough to steal the sun's attention from the flowers.
These suburban dreams
The pink and yellow houses
Waiting with my thoughts
-For Debbie Guzzi's "Spring Haibun" contest
There they are__ made each day no shame, no disgrace...
Constant reminders of who controls the human race.
We wake up every morning and get hot on the chase...
gotta get the God with big numbers on his face...
gotta hurry along... got no time to waste...
gotta be first in line_ anyhow in any case.
Jamming down my food, pimping my style in great haste...
no time to pull up my pants or tie my shoelace....
grabbing coke and candy_ gotta keep up the pace...
sodas, coffee, caffeine_ smoking crack-freebase.
Looking up in the air, and down in any space_ ....
over here or there_ it could be any place....
cheating through life_ up my sleeve_ a spare ace....
lies are the present _ truth is gone without a trace.
There they are__ made each day no shame, no disgrace...
constant reminders of who controls the human race.
persisting un regrettable unabatedly to abase...
our plagued souls_ with anything antidepressant laced.
For only a few summer months out of the year,
I can always find a pretty girl working here.
She is the type of gal most guys see in a dream.
I see her every summer day scooping ice cream.
Sundaes, cones, sodas, there is nothing she can’t serve.
I want to speak to her, but I can’t get the nerve.
Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, or peach,
many other flavors are within her reach.
A sundae or cone she can serve me any day.
If I could get her attention, is there a way?
I always look forward to the summer season.
Susie at the ice cream parlor is the reason.
Dear friend it’s been eight years since you left the world, but it seems that you have only just left yesterday. Oh, the things I still want to tell you but then again, I’m sure your other family and friends have things to say to you too. Maybe some will be good maybe some will be bad. All I know it’s things that you should be here for. Again, it still doesn’t feel like something actually happen unless I tell you about it. But you would just say “I already know that.” With that same smirk on your face, you have had since first grade. I do have to blame you for giving me a kick in the pants to get me to write. I’m sure you just laughed at that in the only way you could to make others join in. Friend, you have stayed with me even though you have left the world. You are immortalized in the poems I have written for you and the characters in the stories. Maybe the next character I create for you will have your bowel hair cut with the blond dye job. Perhaps give the character your smirk as well then again, the last character did have your good heart. One thing for sure no matter how many characters I create for you they won’t ever compare to who you were in life. I just hope when we meet again one day we’ll be able to catch up on all the things of years gone by. The first round of sodas are on me if you get the first round of pool. See you at the little store in the next life.
Love,
Jess’
When my Mom told me I was so glad
Going on a train Ride with Davy and his Dad
I was so excited when the day finally came
Leaving for Connie Mack Stadium and a baseball game
At the Tamaqua station boarding one of the cars
On my way to see some of my favorite stars
The day was special like a magic dream
I had saved some money for a picture of the team
We had hot dogs and sodas and cheered for the Phils
A foul ball dropping near us was one of the thrills
We knew all the ball players by number and name
Someday Richie and Robin would be in the Hall of Fame
Though years have passed, I still remember that day
With Davy and his Dad, watching the Phillies play
Just enjoying life, not knowing what's in store
I lost my friend Davy in the Vietnam War.
Ethel Hurst
1889 – 1918
I saw the town rise up
Like a single blade of grass after a spring rain.
I played a multitude of hop-scotch games
With my best friend Hannah on Penn Street.
And sipped a hundred ice cream sodas in the Mercantile at sunset.
My mother took me to Jacob’s Grocery every Monday
And it was I who picked the plump oranges
From the big rickety crate.
On Saturdays we worked the fields at Strong’s Ranch,
Harvesting the pampas in the walnut fields.
And on Halloween I was the girl in the moon-face costume for five straight years.
When Christmas brought its luminous lights to the town,
Mother dressed me in red with a bell on my bonnet.
And father sang the carols with a guitar and a tambourine.
I graduated from the big high school in 1907
And in celebration,
Rode my bicycle to Bassett
Still in my starched graduation petticoats.
Jesse Forbes,
He being five years younger than I,
Was the love of my brief stay on this earth.
But when he ventured to steal a kiss that day in Black Canyon,
I used my calloused hand to convey my stern disagreement.
But what wild regrets I’ve entertained since Jesse drowned that day.
In the wild currents by Pio Pico’s crumbling Adobe,
His body bobbing like a sea bird
In the punishing plume of that old deep river.
Beyond the muddy banks and the wild flowers,
Jesse Forbes left this life with a surprised frozen grin.
Why Jesse? Why?
You never knew the truth, my love.
You never really understood what I meant
When I said nothing.
I said No to you when I said nothing that day in Black Canyon,
But I really meant Yes.
The influenza incinerated my heart and soul
With a 106 temperature in the winter of 1918.
Twenty nine years I dare say
Is nothing in terms of eternal life!
I had so much more to do!
I had so much more to dream about!
I walked and talked on the streets of my town,
And on the funeral-dark avenues of my innocent days.
And I planned and I schemed
And all for nothing!.
Indeed, I felt the pulse of fleeting time
And the never-ending,
Ever-turning circle of endless days.
But now I rest here in Clark Cemetery… a virgin corpse
Flirting shamelessly with the bow-tie worms,
Still wild with regrets.
And forever haunted in reverse
By the same recurring memory
Of Jesse Forbes holding a rose.
Under the old oak tree in Black Canyon..
How I danced and I sang when I saw your tooth was loose!
So long I had waited for your pretty tooth.
Many children have given me lots of their teeth,
But by far, yours is the most pretty that I have ever seen.
I’m so happy that you brush your teeth with such care,
When you give them to me I know that it is because of your love for me that you
share.
Your teeth become so shiny with each scrub of the tooth brush,
That I can see them under your pillow when I come in the night
I do not even need star light because your teeth are so shiny and bright.
Thank you for pulling your tooth while being so very brave my dear,
I do not like it when you cry your precious little tears.
You are such a big girl and a pretty one as well,
I am so very lucky to have your tooth, it is swell.
Remember to brush and to floss everyday,
And I shall return when your next tooth under your pillow hides away.
Remember how important it is to not have too many sweets,
Because too many sweets puts black holes in your teeth.
Flossing and brushing and going to see the desist on time,
Will ensure that your teeth stay healthy and theywill shine.
Candy and sodas are bad for your teeth and your gums,
Remember to only have a little whenever you want some!
Love,
The Tooth Fairy
I AM A COUCH POTATO
By Roy Merritt
I am a couch potato, but not russet, red or white
I’m the kind of potato that sits up late at night
And I watch the TV shows the shows I really dig
And sit there in my chair and eat just like a pig
I eat hot dogs and burgers and sometimes even fries
And though we are related none of them ever cries
The only problem I see the problem with this place
Is how I might get more food to shove down in my face
And how I might get it to come right near to me
For its in my refrigerator some distance from me you see
And I know if it could hear me it would no doubt balk
If I dared to ask it to get up from there and walk
Bring me some bologna with mustard spread on bread
Bring me milk and cookies I need to be quickly fed
And get me lots of sodas the sweetest ones the best
The ones that keep you up you never need to rest
And please tell the potty I’ll need it really soon
I’ll no doubt need it morning, night, and noon
So don’t stay in the restroom come near to me as well
But stay far away enough so I can avoid the smell
A few feet should do it and I won’t much have to try
While I eat my pumpernickel and my chocolate apple pie
And no doubt my big belly will turn me into a grouch
As I sit here and eat content upon my couch
Yes I sit here eating sealing my certain doom
While I should be out and playing I’m in my living room
I should be out and running or playing with a bat
Instead of sitting here and getting really fat
So take a fool’s advice heed my greatest fear
For I know if I keep this up I won’t have many years
I’ll be like most potatoes then whenever they are found
I’ll be a couch potato buried beneath the ground
And should they dig me up I’ll be a terrible sight
And certainly something that would spoil your appetite
And certainly something that would spoil your appetite
Surely something to spoil your appetite
Copyright 204 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Poetic Lyrics By Thomas Lam Hsi
THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOD...THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY...WHO ALONE CAN
SAVE FROM Satan...who plays 'all' roles...the devil...the 'Lord Jesus'...
the 'Father'...the 'Holy Spirit'...all 'Other Gods'...and 'alien gods'...HE...THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF IS FULLY GOD AND MAN...AND HE ALONE...
IS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD THE FATHER...and to an Actual Heaven!
IF LIFE were only played out on a RACE TRACK,
WHICH CAR would you choose…BUGATTI, FERRA)RI…or an…easy DEATH,
CAN IT be so simple…THAT YOU never KNEW ME to be ANY…THING,
FOOL…YOUR TIMES UP…AND I’M coming UP…I’M COMING UP!
YOUR HEAD’S full of PROBLEMS…while I was…PLAYING MY OWN GAME,
You NEVER knew it…NEVER KNEW IT…while I was PLAYING MY OWN GAME,
And I’M coming UP…I’M COMING UP,
FOOLS that you were…I’M coming UP…I’M COMING UP!
CHORUS:
DIAMONDS, jewels, and FURS…WERE ALL YOU KNEW,
TIN CANS and sodas…were all I ever knew,
And I’M coming UP…I’M COMING UP,
In a FLASH of red, yellow, blue, and green,
And a checkered yellow flag…TO MY OWN NAME…TO MY VERY OWN NAME!
And IF…in my FINAL race…it ENDS in a TORTURED FLAME,
I was beautiful…AT LAST…AT LEAST…in my very OWN NAME...AT LEAST in name!
FLASHING round the track…JERKING all the same,
YOU…were coming up…YOU WERE COMING UP,
HUMPING YOUR OWN ASS…was the blue Bugatti…that I ALONE DROVE,
And I TORE on the PETRO [GAS]…I TORE ON THE PETRO [GAS],
In TIME…the checkered yellow flag…was ONLY MINE…ONLY MINE,
Bubbles, BAUBLES, and furs…were ONLY MINE…they were ONLY MINE,
And the scarred horror of my FINAL CRASH…and the press that BURNED MY VERY OWN BONES,
To them I was beautiful, and I WAS…and I WAS…BEAUTIFUL at last, BEAUTIFUL at last!
I grew up in a very small town,
A small town in which I still live,
A town where even my parents grew up,
A town for which all I would give.
Down on the corner, the small barber shop,
Where 'Grandpa Jones' first cut my hair,
And then next to that is Pop's Ice Cream store,
Where sodas were made with such flare.
The movie theatre where soldiers did fight,
For the land of the brave and the free,
And in my backyard, all my friends there would meet,
In my clubhouse way up in a tree.
The schoolhouse with only one old musty room,
With a bell tower sitting on top,
We'd play in the courtyard for all we were worth,
Till the school bell would tell us to stop.
And when I got older, the town's coffee shop,
Where friends there would meet to discuss,
The state of the Union and prices of gas,
Which at times would cause someone to cuss.
I never would think of leaving this town,
Its life-blood now flows through my veins,
It was good for my father, for me and my kids,
And to leave would cause nothing but pain.
So I'll live and I'll die in my little home town,
And be buried up there on the hill,
My spirit now free to wander through time,
But in fact I'll be living here still.
-For Landscape and Towns contest - May 20, 2017
The average person laughs 13 times a day
I laugh a lot more often than that
In fact I probably hold the world record
Maybe three or four times that in fact
A katydid hears through holes in its hind legs
You really must be trying to jazz me
What kind of dribble is that, you silly billy
A few bricks short of a load, I see
In Tokyo, apparently they sell toupees for dogs
Wonder if lady dogs wear padded bras
Didn't know doggies had an image problem
If you've seen one you've seen 'em all
There are more plastic flamingos in the United States
Than real ones, surely you jest
If you'd said more plastic people existed than real
Without doubt, I surely would've guessed
We North Americans average 600 sodas a year
With an average of 4 burps per can
That sure seems like a lot of foul smelling air
About 2,400 burps in a one year span
Collectively we eat 100 pounds of chocolate a second
That is surely like paradise divine
In 32 years, there are about one billion seconds
No wonder I'm so damn tired all the time
A company in Taiwan makes dinnerware out of wheat
So we can eat our plates when we're done
Charles Osborne had hiccups for more than 69 years
I'd go loopy, I'd just about come undone
A cockroach can live weeks with its head cut off
It dies from starvation, big surprise
10,000 birds die each year smashing into windows
Seems they have pretty poor eyes
© Jack Ellison 2015
Copyright 2014 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Poetic Lyrics By Thomas Lam Hsi
THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOD...THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY...WHO ALONE CAN
SAVE FROM Satan...who plays 'all' roles...the devil...the 'Lord Jesus'...
the 'Father'...the 'Holy Spirit'...all 'Other Gods'...and 'alien gods'...HE...THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF IS FULLY GOD AND MAN...AND HE ALONE...
IS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD THE FATHER...and to an Actual Heaven!
If life were only played out on a race track,
Which car would you choose…Bugatti, Ferrari…or an easy death?
Can it be so simple…that you never knew, never knew me to be any…thing?
Fool…your times up…and I’m coming up…I’m coming up!
Your head’s full of problems…while I was…playing my own game!
You never knew it…never knew it…while I was playing my own game!
And I’m coming up…I’m coming up!
Fools that you were…I’m coming up…I’m coming up!
Diamonds, jewels and furs…were all you knew!
Tin cans and sodas…were all I ever knew!
And I’m coming up…I’m coming up!
In a flash of red, yellow, blue and green!
And a checkered yellow flag…to my own name…to my very own name!
And if…in my final race…it ends in a tortured flame!
I was beautiful…at last…at least…in my very own name…at least in name!
Flashing round the track…jerking all the same!
You…were coming up…you were coming up!
Humping your own ass…was the blue Bugatti…that I alone drove!
And I tore on the petro [gas]…I tore on the petro [gas]!
In time…the checkered yellow flag was only mine…only mine!
Bubbles, baubles and furs…were only mine…they were only mine!
And the scarred horror of my final crash…and the press that burned my very own bones!
To them I was beautiful…and I was beautiful…beautiful at last…at least beautiful!
As the pendulum swung at ‘haf mast…you laughed!
As my embers burned…it was my past!
You knew I died…but you lied!
‘Cuz I alone survived…as you all died!
In time...the world...surrendered...to my past...to last!
Now I...alone...am the last...the...very...last!
A Bugatti...alone...at last...a...distant...past...you were...too fast!
Now...I...alone...will forver...last...a distant past...to...live...forever...and...to last!
Isn't this a sweet picture my friends
Sipping sodas after the hop
Much too young to remember this music
Doo-wop was Mom's and Pop's
Was just a wee tike in diapers then
Sucking on my thumb
Still was quite the ladies man though
Traveling around on my bum
Seem to be picking up negative vibes
About what I'm saying here
Have I ever lied to you people before
I'm not giving you the gears
Okay okay I've decided to come clean
Sipped sodas after the hop
That's where I met my first true love
First ever to say 'doo-wop'
So beat me up with a bunch of wet noodles
I've led you poor guys astray
My evil twin is now running the show
Lost control of what I say
© Jack Ellison 2013