Best Utilizes Poems
There are parts of a whole and time undivided
A poet is more than an inkwell lost in half essence
Opposites contradictions and strife for harmony
An abundance of minutes and a scribe just the same
The nib scratches the surface and yet the fountain
Emerges from the bottomless depth of the well
When blotches and smudges refused to emerge from the pot
He utilizes festering wounds and heart blood
Treasures of hope joy and exuberant passion
Links dot to dot on canvass of words never lost
Fragments remain but he rearranged schedules
Measures rhythm rhyme and meters connections
Some call him a part time ‘unemployed’ poet
‘It’s just a hobby and foolish distraction’
Others reminded him that muse and artistic endeavour
Would not feed his body but he stomachs the pain
‘Irresponsible and insane’ yet one more accusation
A dreamer reckless idealist refusing to grow up and get real
A scriptorium can never be a half-way house and Tim is
A full slate writer whatever the say to diminish his craft
29th June 2019
An Obscenity Trial
by Michael R. Burch
The defendant was a poet held in many iron restraints
against whom several critics cited numerous complaints.
They accused him of trying to reach the "common crowd,"
and they said his poems incited recitals far too loud.
The prosecutor alleged himself most stylish and best-dressed;
it seems he’d never lost a case, nor really once been pressed.
He was known far and wide for intensely hating clarity;
twelve dilettantes at once declared the defendant another fatality.
The judge was an intellectual well-known for his great mind,
though not for being merciful, honest, sane or kind.
Clerics called him the "Hanging Judge" and the critics were his kin.
Bystanders said, "They'll crucify him!" The public was not let in.
The prosecutor began his case
by spitting in the poet's face,
knowing the trial would be a farce.
"It is obscene,"
he screamed,
"to expose the naked heart!"
The recorder (bewildered Society)
greeted this statement with applause.
"This man is no poet.
Just look: his Hallmark shows it.
Why, see, he utilizes rhyme, symmetry and grammar!
He speaks without a stammer!
His sense of rhythm is too fine!
He does not use recondite words
or conjure ancient Latin verbs.
This man is an imposter!
I ask that his sentence be
the almost perceptible indignity
of removal from the Post-Modernistic roster."
The jury left in tears of joy, literally sequestered.
The defendant sighed in mild despair,
"Please, let me answer to my peers."
But how His Honor giggled then,
seeing no poets were let in.
Later, the clashing symbols of their pronouncements drove him mad
and he admitted both rhyme and reason were bad.
***
A well-known poet criticized this poem for being "journalistic." But then the poem is written from the point of view of a journalist who's covering the trial of a poet. The poem was completed by the end of my sophomore year in college.
Dear New Poet,
Modern poetry to me engages readers in seeking their own deep or higher meaning to life experiences. It utilizes symbolism imagery and varied verse that speaks to intellect and emotion.
The best advice I have is that which was given to me:
1) Read all types of poetry every chance you can. Make notes of poets you like and why; note poetry forms that appeal to you.
2) Make lists of words, expressions, phrases you find fascinating, interesting, anything that grabs your attention. Also, keep lists of new words and definitions. I use phone apps for notes, lists, thesaurus, dictionary.
3) Write about your own experiences, beliefs, life. Write in a quiet place. Jot down whatever comes to mind, your feelings. Anytime you get an inspiration, write it down, record it. Those thoughts you just know you will remember forever will float away in no time at all.
4) Experiment. Try different word placements, edit edit, edit. Leave it for awhile or overnight. Edit again. Read your piece outloud. Pay attention to awkward points and edit those.
5) Have fun with it. Throughout the day, observe situations and people. Be open to suggestions and critiques. Poets never stop learning.
A workshop assignment led me to poetry at a time when I was emotionally on overload. Besides being therapeutic, writing poetry gives me a sense of accomplishment.
Favorite THEMES include the joy and pain of 1) Love, 2) Family, 3) Sobriety, 4) Death, 5) Nature.
My favorite REFERENCE sources are: 1) rhymezone.com, 2) howmanysyllables.com, 3) PoetrySoup Cliche Finder, 4) smallseotools.come, 5) shadowpoetry.com
Favorite poems I have written are: 1) Grandsons, 2) Absence, 3) Remembering Johnna, 4) Lady, 5) Surrender or Die, 6) Pocket Watch 2, 7) Time Of Us, 8) No More, 9) Girls of Halloween, 10) Halloween Birthday.
My literary BACKGROUND: Always an avid reader, journalism courses led to newspaper editing and reporting. After 25+ years of a successful medical research and transcription career, physical problems forced a change. As a member of a local writers group, two short stories were published, and in the last few years, as an aspiring poet, several poems have been published.
Possible Title - Let Your Poems Say It For You
May 15, 2018
Tips For Modern Poetry Contest by Line Gauthier
Third Place
JEZEBEL IS A REBEL
REFUSING TO REPENT
JEZEBEL IS RELENTLESS IN TACTICS
JEZEBEL WORDS ARE SOOTHING,SWEET,
AND SEASONED WITH FLATTERY OF INSINCERITIES....
DON'T EAT THE WICKEDNESS OF DECEIT
A STOMACH FILLED WITH MISFORTUNES...
JEZEBEL UTILIZES THE GIFT OF FALSE PROPHECY
SPOTTING THE WEAKNESSES
JEZEBEL SPECIALIZES IN THE GAME OF MANIPULATION......
JEZEBEL IS A BALL OF TEMPTATION DON'T GET
IT TWISTED IT'S NOT A PRETTY LADY DRESSED
PROVOCATIVELY WEARING RED LIPSTICK PRESUING
GENTLEMAN CALLERS....
JEZEBEL IS A DEMONIC SPIRIT BARING GIFTS OF:
CONFUSION,INFIRMITY,CALAMITY,FEAR,OPPRESSION,
DEPRESSION,DIVINATION AND A SPIRIT OF RELIGION
JEZEBEL HAS MANY TRICKS TO WOOOO YEAH BE CAREFUL
OF OLD JEZEBEL IT WILL QUENCH THE ANOINTING....
JEZEBEL THE BACKSTABBER,AND CON ARTIST TO THE HIGHEST
DEGREE DON'T LET THE OUTTER BAMBOZZLE YEAH......
JEZEBEL WILL SQUEEZE UNTIL YOU'RE LIFELESS
NEVER SECOND GUESS THE SPIRIT OF OLD JEZEBEL
It is evident
in all aspects of life
The Miraculous
Power of Art
It can encompass,
transcend reality
through all it's phases
Causes one to
change the direction,
focus of their life
Digs deep inside
your inner being
Utilizes the creative juices,
helps you to
truly feel your Soul
Opens mindfulness in
your consciousness all
the while putting you
in a happy
state of existence
I know who I am and love me even more… ripened like the finest wine never pop my cork.
I love harmony and don’t mean a tune, but a life from harmonious view.
I don’t tolerate the devils dirty work disguised to hide the shallow blue….
Looking like the sandy blue seas once hitting the coast with such beauty, but once unhidden is
truly a Tsunami. God utilizes my time more wisely.
I am God’s special gift, so I feel sorry for you if you choose me to mess with.
To mess with me is to harm yourself stop trying to understand and understand yourself.
Understand God lives and shines through me... do you now understand me, now try to
understand yourself.
I know a man who went to the zoo but they wouldn’t let him out,
So hairy was his body that his heritage was called into doubt.
He asked to have a lawyer but none of them would take his case,
None of them thought that he had a prayer after looking him in the face.
“I am not an animal,” he pleaded to them, “I’m just a hairy guy,”
“If you’d only check my DNA you’d know that it’s no lie.”
So a judge ordered that the test be run to see if he was a man,
To confirm once and for all that he belonged to the human clan.
When the results of the test came back and the answer could be seen,
The man was surprised to learn that he carried the grizzly gene.
“Hmm,” he said as he pondered upon his own reflection in the mirror,
This sheds new light on my life and I can see things so much clearer.”
It helps me to understand why it is that when I visit at the park.
I feel the need to scratch my back by rubbing it against tree bark.
And why when I get the urge to eat seafood it always seems to be,
No restaurant ever can serve raw Salmon that’s fresh enough for me.
It explains why when a driver cut me off as he dialed to make a call,
At the next stoplight I pulled him out and devoured him phone and all.
I guess now that I think of it I’ve suspected it for quite some time,
But what can you do if you’re a Grizzly bear? It certainly isn’t a crime.
The court decided that he had a point and that his upbringing was the cause,
So they couldn’t bring themselves to remove him from his teeth and claws.
Even though his violent ways were something that couldn’t be neglected,
There wasn’t much that they could do because his species was protected.
So they tagged his ear and fastened a GPS that utilizes satellite high tech,
And now his wife and kids can track him by the collar around his neck.
You might think that for them this situation might be something terrible,
But they are all adjusting quite well and their lives have become bearable.
Us humans are delusional, in believing that we are the most superior
species than the rest of Earth's inhabitants. We are absolutely wrong!
We Exist
We exist and with fragmented knowledge proclaim
Power that bestows life most insouciantly measure
Beneath bones desires flourish inside a tumultuous
Paradise nurturing addiction and corporeal pleasure
Any notable achievements in no way measure up to
Towering ancient sequoias blind eyes must treasure
Pterodactyls soared first however mankind callously
Utilizes deceptions to shield indelible lies and failure
We exist and affirm that evolution manipulates form
Breathing or frozen designed with a magical process
Considering last Earth dragons significantly primeval
Man still heralds his species the apex amongst races
Creatures pervaded with such a narcissistic obsession
Convey and define this very biased principle pointless
Relinquish the crown and abandon a tyrannical stance
Or inexorably descend to the void of meaninglessness
Penned: Year 2009
West Palm Beach
Florida USA
Lines 1-2:
generally a request,
a plea or a confession rooted in his disregard for his own feelings
/his lack of self-respect;
Lines 3-6:
repeat of the request,
plea or confession from Line 1,
this time with altered details,
causing often a drastic extension of the thought;
Lines 7-11:
attempted 'volta',
changes feel, often posing a question
in order to gain sympathy of the reader;
Last Line:
dramatically minimalistic statement,
attempts to shock the reader/invoke feelings of desperation on his part,
often utilizes vulgarity;
(f uck this;
he's done with patterns.)
America’s Bird
In all honesty, the extent of my turkey knowledge begins and ends with their unique sound and their great taste.
Come Thanksgiving and Christmas, turkey fragrance fills the house and nothing goes to waste.
I know that the dove has symbolic meaning, one being that of the Holy Spirit.
I also understand that the dove must be a gentle one, spoken of as being harmless.
No one takes kindness to being called a turkey; and a dove-like defense is rather limited.
But the eagle is really my kind of bird, and he would certainly be my first choice.
The eagle has the eye to target and lay hold of his prey, and quickly return to the heights.
The eagle knows how to repair and rebuild himself, renewing his strength for longevity.
He knows the ways of the wind and becomes its partner, as he mounts up his wings to sour.
No, I think that turkeys are birds of choice for smokers, ovens, and tables of holiday feasts.
I wish our world could be as harmless as doves, and fly about feeding its hungry and caring for its young.
But our world chooses not to be at peace, and we fall short at feeding, loving, and caring for the needy.
Yes, give me the eagle who reaches for the high places;
Who observes and listens, communicating with the winds.
He's hi-tech, working not hard, but smart, by spreading his wings
He does not seek to change, but he works 'with the wind' and soars.
He’s aware of the winds of change and utilizes divine resources.
I choose the eagle for America, and may we forever mount up higher.
May we keep flying high, soaring above and beyond, until our days are done.
Cj10102015(Contest)
avid arm-wrestling against awesome Allie
brave Billy Bouncer balks a bit at Ballet.
cocky courage cancelled, civic concentration.
during Des Moines Diamond demonstration
energetic efforts enthuse eager Eddie
facing fearless frog-legged Freddie
gracious Greta grants gorillas gratuities
harry harpoons happy harpy Helga Hanuities.
ignoring ignorant Insignificant Inglewood Iam.
juggling jockey Jacque justifies Jan’s jelly jam
keeping kangaroo kilos in Kalamazoo
linking luxurious llamas left loving the loo
marvelous Maude mixed montana’s merry moo
nevil’s nearby newts kneaded the nightly news
octagonal Oscar ostrich operates an oily ooze
practical pigeon Pete patrols Perry Parkway Poo
queluz quarrelsome questions quiver and quack
rustic remnant of Ruby respectfully resides on the rack
stellar starlight of steeple stallion stares on in the stack
twisting twosome Twiggmeister ties Terry’s Tennessee tack.
universal understanding utilizes utensils in the USA.
varigated variety of venus villians verifying
wild winsome windsurpers willing werewolf whying
‘xact ‘xperts ‘xplaining ‘xtra ‘xpenses ‘xasperatingly
young youthful yellow yaks yawning youthfully
zealous zealots zinging. zipping and zagging zestfully
My kind of girl
Understands who she is
Stands for what she believes in
She cannot be broken
No one can belittle her
When trials come her way
She remains unfazed
My kind of girl
Walks with confidence
She exudes excellence
An epitome of elegance
She does due diligence
Being mindful of her intelligence
Because she knows her importance
My kind of girl
Builds her own future
A certified trailblazer
Who utilizes the power within her
To be of good influence
Always on top of her game
Yes, she keeps soaring like an eagle
My kind of girl
Takes charge of her own life
Secures her name in historical archives
For she is no ordinary woman
An extraordinary being
She dares to dream
In the world, she makes a difference
That is my kind of girl
light and lively
ethereal and enthusiastic
valuable variables
intricate indicator of idealism
tantalizing tale of temperance and truth
youth utilizes levity gladly
He wears that thick black belt
but that doesn't make him a man.
He does heavy duty work but
he never goes, is he a man?
He is tough and talks a lot of trash,
does that make him a man?
He provides,utilizes,and compromises,
with his child and keeps child from going
through denial,come to think of it,he's a
man now.
I'd never need a holiday
If you were by my side
Every day would be like one
For me from your provide
I wouldn't want a break from you
You'd be at my right hand
But if you'd need a break from me
That's fine, I'd understand
It's just that you're so special
In all the years I've lived
I've never met another who
Might want all I could give
I wouldn't be a nuisance
I wouldn't cling to you
But I know that all the things you like
Are things I'd want to do
I'd even go to Sheep and Wool
To pick out pretty yarns
I'd try my skill at knitting
And start with both our hearts
I'd learn to code a program,
To make a small website
That utilizes MailChimp
Then try with all my might
To understand just what's the Cloud
And why it works and such
I'd want to be your right hand too
Because I love you much