Best Strongman Poems
When I was young, I wanted to run away to the circus. Then one day I realized the circus was life! Are we not the clown, the strongman, the freak, the daredevil? Is there not personal sorrow and the desperate search for pleasure? The flying trapeze man and woman are in love, and every performance, they risk the breaking of their heart. When one almost falls to their death, the audience cries out, and then claps even louder! The freak show is hidden in the back, though its location is well known to local politicians. Then to play the games on the midway, with its crooked carnies, rigged set ups, and worldly women. The city is 'the big top', its chaotic gyrations and jaded excitements, all part of the show. The grandstands are filled with 'television head' people, buzzing with excitement. See the eye of the tiger, hear the trumpet of that greatest of beasts, cowl at the jungle kings exclamation! Later that night, a young boy lying in bed, wonders if it was just a dream. Then, far off in the distance, a whispering growl was heard!
At some point we'll all break
under the dark weight of living..
from the purple hearted soldier
to the people of a wayward god
the circus strongman with
a muscle wasting disease
the plastic family melting away
sisters of the blistered rosary.
At some point we'll all break..
then we'll whisper desperate prayers
to a disappointed God.
This is our fractured fate
brave in the sunshine
curled in the shadows.
At some point we'll all break
under the black weight of living
under the pale wing of not living.
We'll all break...eventually.
My snarling flash drive
numbed my approach
as I drove fifty clicks
into the morning, still dark.
I did obeisance
to my tyrannical inbox,
it showed no mercy
to either side of the screen.
Everyone had an axe to grind,
not least of all me,
but the futureless kid at the traffic lights
would probably have settled for a pie.
I shovelled some cholesterol
into the gash in my face
and chased it down with coffee,
strong as the strongman
from the travelling circus,
I can't drink it any other way.
Much grinding of axes continued,
some of it by me,
but the forgotten old man at the traffic lights
may have settled for a pie.
My inbox, by late afternoon,
was plainly laughing at me,
and obeisance continued
on both sides of the screen.
As I drove fifty clicks
into the evening, now dark,
my snarling flash drive
hypnotised my retreat.
1st August 2018
Two rats can have over a million descendants
In eighteen months, talk about prolific
Don't know about all youse guys out there
But this guy finds that quite horrific
You'd produce enough gas for an atomic bomb
If you farted for 6 years and 9 months
Know a guy that could produce enough gas
For an atomic bomb by farting just once
Tigers have striped skin as well as striped fur
Now how damn interesting is that
A Ronald MacDonald once robbed Wendy's
I would guess he got his order fast
Tipping at Iceland is considered an insult
Sounds really civilized to me
The longest flight of a chicken is 13 seconds
It crash landed and broke a knee
Ribbon worms eat themselves if they can't find food
Now that's pretty desperate to me
Guess they start at the bum and work their way up
Don't think I've ever felt THAT hungry
Bob Hope and Billy Joel were both once boxers
Now I don't mean the doggy type
Chained dogs are 3 times more likely to bite us
Guess they have a reason to gripe
Clocks made before 1660 had only an hour hand
The world didn't have seconds back then
A jiffy is the time it takes for light to travel
One centimetre in a vacuum, I'm overwhelmed
Mahatma Gandhi wrote for advice on diet and exercise
To strongman Charles Atlas, I kid you not
Whoopi Goldberg's real name is Caryn Johnson
That can't be, we all love Whoopi a lot
Who said "I’ve watched a lot of baseball on the radio"
Yup! Good old President Gerald Ford
Way back, people threw eggs at the bride and groom
A custom that today would be deplored
© Jack Ellison 2015
As thoughts travel from the mind to the heart,
And spoken words cause my lips to part,
Spewing forth praise, honor and glory as an art,
This is the way everyday needs to start.
Are you docile, are you humble, and are you meek?
It’s The Kingdom of Heaven first you must seek,
Before anything else will ever be done,
Genuinely pray to the FATHER through the SON.
Those who do not give GOD the glory,
In the almighty name of JESUS Christ,
They will not share in the promise,
For the gift of eternal life.
Holler, shout, jump, jive and wail,
The Kingdom of Heaven will soon prevail,
Don’t be caught standing in the wrong line,
Only the FATHER knows the exact date and time.
You will not conquer the strongman without a sneak attack,
Never being able to subdue him unless it’s behind his back,
On guard, be ready, for the second coming of CHRIST,
There will only be one time we don’t get to do it twice.
Although an unGODLY world our GODLY Conduct can still be right,
The only thing that matters is your name in The Book Of Life,
It’s up to you to choose forever where you’ll dwell,
A mansion in heaven or an apartment in hell.
Woe be to those who will experience the grief,
An eternity of weeping and gnashing of teeth,
Infinity in suffering with Satan and his kind,
Choosing to act on thoughts he shoots in your mind.
For 24 hours a day are here then they’re gone for good,
Don’t live tomorrow for yesterday thinking well, I should…
Eternity begins but never ends even with life on earth,
Live everyday through JESUS CHRIST knowing what you’re worth.
A seasoned grain of salt that’s pleasing to the taste,
Never allow a day to go by where you sit and waste,
The sun, the moon, the stars, whatever the weather may be,
FATHER in the name of JESUS thanks for all YOU’VE done for me.
I know that I could never send a child of mine,
To suffer the likes of JESUS for so many who are still unkind,
It’s not my place to tell YOU those who are doing dirty deeds,
For while I lived my sinful ways YOU still smiled down on me.
Never will there be enough pleasing words to say,
For there are still only 24 hours in each and everyday,
Days turn into months and months continue on for years,
Bang the gavel. Bang it again.
It's Judgment Day for my children.
Bang the gavel. Bang it again.
I sit on my Throne, a figure on High
To pronounce Judgment from my seat in the sky.
It's Judgment Day for my children. They tremble before me.
I sit on my Throne, a figure on High.
Three sons and a daughter down on their knees. Begging for mercy.
It's Judgment Day. Bang the gavel. Bang it again.
The first defendant arises. My only daughter.
She kneels before me, head bowed, hands clasped. Begging for mercy.
She recites her litany of offenses against me.
Should I cut off her head or merely sever her knee?
Now my first son, a strongman, comes to his feet
Massive muscles trembling before me
He cut me off hard at age thirty-six
Not a phone call or test, not even a card
I ponder whether I should burn him to death in a tub of pig lard.
Let him beg for mercy.
My last two sons stand up together. They're good boys, respectful,
kind to me and kind to my wife.
There's no doubt in my mind that I'll be sparing their life
It's Judgment Day for my children. They tremble before Me.
I sit on my Throne, a figure on High.
I call my daugher to the bench: "What do you have to say
in your defense, miserable wench?"
She breaks down in tears that melt down her years. Before me stands
a mere lass of nine.
"I'm so sorry, Dad," she whimpers. "I treated you like dirt," she simpers.
"Off with her head," I shout, proclaiming her sentence.
I sit on my Throne, a figure on High.
******************
But I am not God. I have no gavel to bang nor Throne to sit on
Neither am I any figure on High.
My judgment is flawed, as are my decisions
All of them models of judicial imprecision
Only one thing I know and I know that thing only:
God, the True Judge, requires us only
To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before Him.
So, my just action will be
to love mercy and walk humbly:
"Come back, my daughter.
Return, my son.
I forgive you completely!
~ Can you forgive me?"
June 28, 2018
With apologies to Albert Camus
I once was a circus strongman,
Sovereign of midway spectacles.
I wore a leopard-skin loincloth
And a lion-claw necklace.
My club was seasoned hardwood.
I proudly dragged my knuckles
Through the sawdust and straw.
I wrestled the orangutan
And boxed the kangaroo.
I tore phone books in half
With my teeth.
I became a star promotion
With elevation from sideshow freak
To a main ring attraction.
My charisma was marketed
By carnival barkers and snake oil shills.
My future in show biz seemed bright.
My manner was summertime light,
And then came the fall.
There was a tall strongman called Tony; he lived in
the tallest storey building, in a lulu town known as
Lorry Town. He always spat down at people and
coltishly belittled the skies, because; the sky almost
shook hands with his tall storey building. One day,
his storey building got bleeding tired of his
arrogant pomposity and crushed him down while
asleep, to slave for those whom he took as pigs
and pits.
The end
Bleecker Street, a name associated with New York City in the section of Soho
But makes Bleecker Street many don’t know
Just what made Bleecker Street unique?
It’s straight out history is what makes the street complete
It was a Goldsmith shop
Just a gallop hop
The shop was the most famous on the block
The Goldsmith owner being Manny Strong
He was a man who knew how to get along
Mr. Strong was also a professional strongman
His strength was always in demand
Mr. Strong could bend bars to shape horseshoes
However, he could lift heavy weights and even horses himself
Now Manny Strong was ahead of his time, but not like everybody else
Mr. Strong was a valued Circus strongman being the star of the show
But a good glance of his physique was just follow the flow
He would often lift weights over his head
But he would often break chains instead
Mr. Strong had no trouble in getting a female date
But it always had to be a woman who could relate
It was Mr. Strong’s strength that was his build up
His massive muscles were his character in making female’s feel safe in his arms
Yet it was his confidence in don’t be alarmed
Mr. Strong was all strength in being a sturdy solid man
The call of his trade, a business man in demand
One of the strongest in the land
This was Manny Strong’s life that made Bleecker Street his caravan.
Dear Mr president
I seem to be in a spot of bother,
Would you please grant me a pardon
before you depart the oval room,
Seeking a change of reality
I ran away and joined the circus
well actually it was more a sideshow
Ringmaster said I’d fit in better with the midget contortionist,
however I was drawn towards the Siamese triplets,
joined together at their knees and elbows since birth
We got up to all sorts of hi jinx and Shenanigans life was great,
til the one in the middle decided to leave our troupe,
Me being their best friend they asked would I do the separation,
eager to help them I agreed to perform the operation
Not having a clue about surgery
I decided to knock them out with a sledgehammer
borrowed from the strongman,
and use the knife throwers sharpest blades,
I butchered them remorselessly for hours,
was a very difficult operation,
but wholly satisfying for me anyway,
Unfortunately but not unexpectedly,
the middle one suffered the most cuts and bled out pretty quick,
the other two died days later in multiple beds,
I was put in some hospital for the criminally insane,
and doped up to my eyeballs on potent medication,
actually settled in quite nicely here,
Worse part though is I had a fantastic combover like yours
now they shave my head every other day
Some say they’ll never let me out,
only occasionally do I think of going on killing rampages,
I’m not getting on to well with the parole board, “mostly democrats”
but hope to marry the midget contortionist, on our next imaginary visit,
The circus was disbanded, shortly after,
and they all live on welfare now,
bunch of really great guys.
I’m a republican
PARDON GRANTED
By David Kavanagh
Rats can have over a million descendants
In eighteen months, talk about prolific
Don't know about all youse guys out there
But this guy finds that quite horrific
You'd produce enough gas for an atomic bomb
If you farted for 6 years and 9 months
Know a guy that could produce enough gas
For an atomic bomb by farting just once
Tipping in Iceland is considered an insult
Sounds really civilized to me
The longest flight of a chicken is 13 seconds
It crash landed and broke a knee
Ribbon worms eat themselves if they can't find food
Now that's pretty desperate to me
Guess they start at the bum and work their way up
Don't think I've ever felt THAT hungry
Bob Hope and Billy Joel were both once boxers
Now I don't mean the doggy type
Chained dogs are 3 times more likely to bite us
Guess they have a reason to gripe
Clocks made before 1660 had only an hour hand
The world didn't have seconds back then
A jiffy is the time it takes for light to travel
One centimetre in a vacuum, I'm overwhelmed
Mahatma Gandhi wrote for advice on diet and exercise
To strongman Charles Atlas, I kid you not
Whoopi Goldberg's real name is Caryn Johnson
That can't be, we all love Whoopi a lot
Who said "I’ve watched a lot of baseball on the radio"
Yup! Good old President Gerald Ford
Way back, people threw eggs at the bride and groom
A custom that today would be deplored
Two rats can have over a million descendants
In eighteen months, talk about prolific
Don't know about all youse guys out there
But this guy finds that quite horrific
You'd produce enough gas for an atomic bomb
If you farted for 6 years and 9 months
Know a guy that could produce enough gas
For an atomic bomb by farting just once
Tigers have striped skin as well as striped fur
Now how damn interesting is that
A Ronald MacDonald once robbed Wendy's
I would guess he got his order fast
Tipping at Iceland is considered an insult
Sounds really civilized to me
The longest flight of a chicken is 13 seconds
It crash-landed and broke a knee
Ribbon worms eat themselves if they can't find food
Now that's pretty desperate to me
Guess they start at the bum and work their way up
Don't think I've ever felt THAT hungry
Bob Hope and Billy Joel were both once boxers
Now I don't mean the doggy type
Chained dogs are 3 times more likely to bite us
Guess they have a reason to gripe
Clocks made before 1660 had only an hour hand
The world didn't have seconds back then
A jiffy is the time it takes for light to travel
One centimeter in a vacuum, I'm overwhelmed
Mahatma Gandhi wrote for advice on diet and exercise
To strongman Charles Atlas, I kid you not
Whoopi Goldberg's real name is Caryn Johnson
Sure for most of us, Whoopi gets the nod
Who said "I’ve watched a lot of baseball on the radio"
Yup! Good old President Gerald Ford
Way back, people threw eggs at the bride and groom
A custom that today would be deplored
A wagon full of them
happened to pass by mine
at dawn
Their voices raised as one
attuned to match the demands
of the current social trends
"Jump on Johnny jump on"
they beckoned invitingly at me
A very different tune to their staple
"Go home Johnny just go back where you came from"
Taken aback as I was, I reckoned
such a chance could come handy
in time
Sure beats the "crawl under that rock
Johnny play dead for now"
"Just while the flights are cancelled
at least"
So I quickly jumped on that bandwagon
without a second thought,
that's what I did
Went along for the ride and pledged
my loyalty to them on that day
Out on some patriotic duty
or so, that's the claim they made
A joint noble cause, I figured
could make a fertile ground
to sow the seed of a much needed
united front
It sure felt good to be included
for a little while
Until their strongman deemed it
the perfect time to gorge my eyes out,
much to my utter dismay
He swore it was proof of dedication
Anything to fit in, I thought to myself
But I soon found out thinking
wasn't allowed either
There was a ready made agenda
to be followed by all of us, in place
Worded just right to fit its purpose
All we had to do was regurgitate it
over and over on demand
Till it turned into our only truth
And to be sure to spread it about
Anyone who disagreed with it
was bound to be a traitor of sorts
It was the way of the order
or the highway
To make the cut all you had to do
was strap on a pair of blinkers
"Rest your sights on the insides of
the glorious tunnel, to reset your view
Then all will be well with you!"
That was our slogan by the way
Rather catchy don't you think?
Unfortunately my conscience
wouldn't have any of it
Being brainwashed somehow
failed to catch its fancy
I soon found myself longing for the old songs
"Crawl under that rock Johnny play dead for now"
"At least until the flights are back on air"
Then it will be "go home Johnny!
just go back where you came from"
Fitting in, for sure carried a price tag
too heavy for my pocket
How fast the years did clip and leap away,
till your Earth orbitz count ninety decades
+ uno journeys orbited around mister sun
encompassing metaphorical magnum opus
figuratively paginated bound compendium,
whereby chronology Boyce Brandon Harris
also known as papa san 'pon being drafted
his six foot 2 inch tiptop chiseled physique
(musculoskeletal frame shrunk) dada fought
the good fight one among many raw recruits
stationed south 38th parallel serving admins
Harry Truman, & Dwight David Eisenhower
bolstering strongman Syngman Rhee against
Kim Il-sung during 6/25, 1950 – 7/27, 1953
war (actually stalemate) whereby former and
latter controlled South and North Korean as
separate countries - father (soldier of fortune
(he art not yet in heaven, whatever Unitarian
equivalent would be) hoping to live at least
until Tuesday, November 3, 2020 to vote for
fightin Joe Biden, meanwhile Zayda to his 5
grandkids keeps low profile at Normandy
Farm Estates upscale retirement community
whose delicate health (i.e. congestive heart
failure) could (does) pose hardship visa vis
his immune system susceptible to microbes
(particularly strains) virile which could spell
death of beloved nonagenarian, whose dim
eyes sees approaching exit (stage door left)
out webbed wide world of living survivors.
Mayor presence be regaled as presents
courtesy second rate poetaster
born (only heir - hiss supple) while ye still
tread, albeit ably helped along with cane.
H-A-P-P-Y B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y
Mechandroid
Mechandroid
Eye was always small and never given much to physical displays or showing out
and fits of strength were not my style the strongman of the circus type is more the
type for that. As eye was a mechanic eye was learning how to handle tires. The
huge wide tires on some big trucks were heavy.
A man is given many things to learn and so eye handled them with scorn and
ease so quickly learned an android with a heart of stone and a belly full of beer is
capable of many fits of strength and aptitude for more. The mechandroid has a
tire adapter gun made for lug nuts not torqued on he zaps them off then he lifts
the tires back on when the real mechanic is now done with work to do the car
repairs quite threw the tires then go back on they must be torqued on with a hand
wrench the thing looks for all the world almost like a real magic wand. It's just a
metal stick with some fancy parts inside to adjust the tension of the hand
pressure we apply.
The number for the car is in a book. We learn to look the torque pressure number
up for every different job.
It's still different for a car than for a truck.
Every now and then upon the roadway eye still find a lost and lonely lug nut. They
still spin off the tires into outer space and people lose the race with time if they
do not take the car in for repairs and have them torqued quickly back on again by
an mechandroid type of guy.