Best Walkman Poems


Tonight

Tonight I sleep in solitude, every thought is filled with you;
       And yet you would not believe the magnitude of the desire I have for you..
Tonight as I think about the comments you made,
       I realize I haven't wanted a woman so bad in over a decade!
Tonight I put my pen in hand and wrote a rhyme.   
       About me being your man and you being my sunshine.
Tonight I wondered about the color or your eyes.
       Even the curves in your hips and the thickness of your thighs.
Tonight as I layed back listening to my walkman.
       I imagined you were Jane and I was Tarzan on a tropical island.
Tonight I let my imagination run free;
       Of all the possibilities if you were here with me.
Tonight although I could not see your face, I created an image of profection.
       You took my hand and we embraced in this heavenly connection.
Tonight is the night you will feel every inch of me.
       So close your eyes and inhale the energy of my spirituality....



*14th Place Win in "Breathtaking Love" Contest
  sponsored by A Rambling Poet 2010

I Feel So Settled In Your Presence

i feel so settled in your presence
it seems so definitively calm here
i want to go on excursions never experienced with you and just discover

once upon a time i was a lonely soul yearning for any type of communication
i remember the footprints in the dust at every corner that had the scent of stale talcum powder
i remember the cable fluctuating between being off and on every other another
i remember listening to my old walkman under a few layers of cover when the power was cut off on a very cold day in winter
i recall sitting in the dark of my dusty, cobwebbed apartment letting the streetlight conceal the truth of my loneliness
i recall the draft coming into the screen in the living room and becoming painfully dizzy from daydreaming
i heard creaks on the stair steps and crackling in the walls
even introverted the darkness has a thousand eyes to truly see
even in hiding i cannot hide the from the strong stance stare of the obvious
knowing this, i decide to take a chance to makes bells ring like the freedom flapping of each wing....

....i feel so settled in your presence
it seems so definitively calm here
i want to go on excursions never experienced with you and just discover....
© Marty King  Create an image from this poem.

Hospital Bed

If you were to find an old 
calendar, strap it to a hospital 
bed,
tie it down by its weak ends, 
and then sea section the belly 
of it's pages, you'd find the 
winding roads of my intestinal 
past.
I used to be a ballot box filled 
of everyone else's opinion 
except for my own. My swagger 
was like watching a Walkman 
trying to swallow a DVD. 
When I was a little younger,
I walked as if I were concerned 
about how the ground would 
feel about my footsteps. And if 
I could just find a way to write 
a letter to myself, when I was a 
sweater with itchy sleeves that 
I would someday grow out of,
I would say, 
"There will be days you will feel 
like a peacock with no feathers.
You will feel flightless, and 
undeserving of attention." 
But listen, listen to me. LISTEN. 
You have to stop getting out of 
bed like you are an oil spill. 
You're not a flat tire at 2 am, 
so stop acting like an accident.
Spenser, you are an apple on a 
pine tree in a room full of 
lemons, and you come from a 
line of authentic Swiss army 
pocket knives; Men who are  
rare, sharp and dangerous 
when not handled carefully. 
Somedays I wish my arms were 
a few years longer so that I 
could reach back, grab you by 
the shoulders, punch you in the 
chest, and say, 
"Listen. You are the main 
character in a movie that I 
watch every time I see the 
inside of my eyelids."
I told myself a million times 
that I wouldn't spoil the ending, 
but I will tell you this:  Your 
story starts off really slow, but 
it does get better. 
You don't have to believe me. 
Someday you'll see for 
yourself. 
I will see her again soon. 
At the apex of her driveway 
that I can now see in my 
dreams,
I will ignore the washing 
machine in my stomach. 
I'll tell her that she looks 
beautiful. 
I will extend my arms like a 
drawbridge to a castle no one 
has visited in years. 
Pressure washing my fears 
from my hardened heart, I will 
show her how far I've come 
from the hospital bed.


Geeez, I Feel So Old

That record player my older sister tried to hide,
with Foreigner, The Bangles and Madonna intensified. 
Me only ten, yet in love with the sexy New Kids,
remember Z. Cavaricci pants and oversized Lids?
My journaling started; I couldn’t put my pen aside. 

Scrunchies in every color for the girls to wear,
with fresh cut bangs and long permed hair.
A lunchroom mom my mother was in school, 
I was unpopular and lame, called “uncool.”
For those “After-School Specials”, I didn’t care!

I was too old to love Care Bears and Rainbow Brite.
My first boyfriend made a mix-tape just right. 
For Christmas I got a Walkman to jam those tunes, 
and watched “Facts of Life” and “Silver Spoons.”
Folding notes in school when in another girly fight. 

OHHH! The frustration with darn phone cords,
and for chores I would receive fifty cent rewards. 
Do I wish to forget the eighties when in my youth?
I loved every second of it to tell the God honest truth.
Like I said... I won't forget those Madonna records.  




Remembering the 1980's Poetry Contest

October 26, 2018

The Turn of Progress

The bakelite disc revolved at seventy-eight
To end up in shards shattered, an inevitable fate
Heavy and brittle and full of opera
Was replaced with a vinyl at thirty-three
With covers a delight to see
Light and supple full of she loves you, yeah
And then came the cassette from nowhere
And pretty soon the Walkman walked
And less and less and less teens talked
But nodded heads as they made their beds
As Billy-Jean was not their lover
They were soon to discover
Shiny discs of digital delight
And very soon car tape decks were out of sight
But oh so quick the mp3 stick
And iPod player with iTunes click
Took over the world 
And we were lost
As the pace of progress counted the cost
And the Bakelite discs became collector’s items
And the vinyl’s came back as the nightclub dims
And eight track stereo was attracted to rims
And yet we are not done, as no-one has won
But we all seem to have lost
The times that we had
When it was still turning 
At thirty three
And seventy eight

Premium Member Remembering the 1980's

Barbie, Atari, He-man 
Batman, She-Ra, Ronald Reagan
Indiana Jones, and landline phones
The Dark Crystal and around 5.2 billion people 
Andre the Giant’s Honeycomb commercial 
Rainbow Brite, Jem, and Rose Petal 
Welcome to the Jungle, Cheers! Metal 
Mike Tyson, Debbie Gibson, Teddy Ruspin 
And the best Christmas carolers are Gremlin
Taxi, the DMV Scene, "What does the yellow light mean?" 
Young Guns, Russians, Charlie Sheen 
Sony’s Walkman, Michael Jackson, and Tom Cruise 
What was fake news or social media reviews?
Reebok, Converse and Keds shoes
Glo Worm, Nintendo and playdough
The Burbs, Rambo, and Willow
KB Toys, Sam Goody, And Gemco stores 
Return of the Jedi and Disney’s Star Tours
Floppy disk computer and Punky Brewster 
The Family Ties and spoiler alert Optimus Prime dies

Updated 5/14/2019
© G. Jay  Create an image from this poem.


1980's

Back in my day shell suits were the latest fashion 
And I made sure I wore my diamond socks with a passion 
The only sky I knew was the one up above my head 
No dvd player, just a betamax had to do instead 
The only laptop I knew was the tray my dinner was served in 
No sat nat to direct us, just maps and a lot of guessing 
My social network involved playing outdoors with my friends 
If I had an important message there was no text for me to send 
Instead I would simply go and knock on the door 
And enjoy a good game of hopscotch, drawn neatly on the floor 
If I wanted to listen to music I held my boom box to my ear 
And I felt like a millionaire in my latest pair of L.A Gear 
No ipod to shuffle or touch just my sony walkman 
No google to look for answers, just the library to depend on 
No Ipad, no playbook, just a good old storybook 
It may even be in hardback if I had any luck 
No freeview, no Virgin, I was lucky to even have colour tv 
And a rubiks cube would suffice, never mind an XBOX 360 
It was all about hammer time and wearing those pants 
And the theme tune to Fraggle Rock I would happily chant 
No cyber bullying, only cyber I knew was the tamagocchi pet 
No loading plates into the dishwasher as it hadn't been invented yet 
No cd player,  my cassettes were the in thing 
And to have a sovereign ring on every finger meant you had some bling 
The A Team,  crossroads, tiswas and happy days was the programmes I watched 
No series links or reminders to watch programmes like Lost 
No rewinding the tv or pausing whilst I nip to the loo 
Instead I had to ask someone and hope that they have a clue 
No Adidas for me, just my trusted bum bag 
My girls world doll and scrunche's were things I just had to have 
In my day the only kid I wanted was a cabbage patch kid 
Not a real one so that in a hostel I can live 
No PS3, no Wii, no Vita or Nintendo DS 3d 
Just my good old NES on my four channel tv 
Care bears, the moomins, playschool and dangermouse 
No crimewatch to make me afraid to be in my house 
In my days if I was rude I would get a good smack 
And I couldn't dare say the clothes you just bought me were whack 
No microwave dinners, No chinese takeaway for me 
Saturday soup was the best, one big bowl balancing on your knee 
The 80's and the 90's I enjoyed it while it did last 
But every now and again I take a glimpse of the past

One and Thousand

One And Thousand


There once more it rises;
Rise with each beat.
Once more it has arose a storm,
A storm so strong can't describe.
Shaping wishes one after another, just
Like the beats that are created,
Each with its own pain, its own pleasure.
Creates in me a aroma that I,
Once prayed for, longed for, wish for;
Each with its own Resonance, Its own cadence;
Creates in me an urge to covet more, I
Once wandered for, cried for, begged for.
These endless flows of beats in rhythm
Like a wave on shore, winds on pinnacle,
Move me from Acme to Acme.
But lo! The count remains same;
One and thousand wishes, one and thousand beats,
One and thousand…
……………………………………………………………………….


Written more than a decade back, one day, when my friend came over and he was in 
depressed mood, that very day I had purchased ‘Taal’ Hindi Movie audio, for which AR 
Rahman gave music, and being hardcore music fan, and also that the Music of AR Rahman 
grows on you and one may not like on first instance. I gave my Sony Walkman to my friend 
to hear, and in few first listen he began to smile and seeing the joy on his face I took 
the ‘sandwich’ wrap paper and wrote these line. 

These lines are dedicated to those joyous that appear even after for some reason one does 
not get them fulfilled. Celebrating the joy of finding others happy.

Don’t know where this lines stand on poetical measurements, but for me this is one of the 
most memorable and valuable poems I’ve written. 
.musafirs

Your Boot

Your Boot

I sleep in the back of your car while you drive 
around the block to the shop.
Doze off as you park up for the night 
and go to your bed—
mine is in your car on a piece of old sack 
for a blanket and oily foam for my pillow. 

Not too bad when a tramp has a box. 
How did I become stuck here? 
All I can do is sleep or dream of escape 
when your key opens the lock. 

When? Got a car jack jammed 
against my ass and a spare tyre as a bed companion. 
I doze for a time, fall into a deep comfortable sleep 
to dream of enclosed spaces, of how I love them, 
always get into predicaments like this. 

Seven hours later I awake, switch on 
the inner light and have a strong beer 
I nicked in yesteryear. 
Got four more strong ones to follow. 

I turn on my old Sony Walkman cassette player 
and listen to the Bangles and have a real good bop 
in my your dirty old car boot. 

Must get a chick and do this with a girl! 
In a boot with a girl, what fun. 
Imagine the positions. 
When will it be the day, is this dark 
place warming up – daylight? 

You come and open the car and away we go. 
Where will I go? 
A shallow grave or another cooped up day?

Tail From An Old Man's Diary

"I don’t know where to go.
I just search for a friendly place to live.
The only things that I know to make are:
To love,
To feel,
And to walk.
I still search for my place.
Till I find it I have to walk.

The old walkman…"


Copyright Constantinos Grigoriadis © All rights reserved

The Bowstring That Passes Through the Centre

is the tendency of the  reddish sunshine 
to become drenched some more 

let us hear 
what the milky-way seamed by pins 
says 

and it’s you 
how much can you be able to read 
the venation of the Barringtonia acutangula 

can you touch the season of making apples 
in the aquarium 

the empty bottles without any co-ordinate 
that shoulder with endless grief 
the hands of the wall-clocks

in a sudden depression
they’re also making crowd 
at the beauty parlour

you have promised someday 
to present a flower-vase to display some drops of blood 
in the circled face 

do you remember it

you haven’t floated that turnip 
till now 

here the month of trumpet-flower 
covers everything 
with reedy grass 

with the festival of colours of the white horses 
the new leaves of bananas become associated 

the total dipavali rows 
along the evening-balcony

taking it as daylight 
will any bird fly towards it 

then send a walkman 
for the bamboo plants

you must go today 
in search of the source 
of the hand-woven lamp-post 

from the pitcher-worship to the kantha-stitch 
it is a  very large
twelve-horned deer

the mango-marrow 
demands more land 
demands more kingfisher 

the breath of the Ravenala
touches the chicks of the black-pepper 

in every evening 
the flood that tears the button 
touches the bowstring 

that passes through the centre of  magnolia

The Ancient

Things have changed worldwide today, but not the joy
Of spring. The sounds I heard when yet a child
Of cataracts tumbling with joy, the air rinsed of alloy
And magic in all things pastoral, all things wild

My son walks around the place a walkman to his ear
He will not hear the sparrow's song
Shall not know the canaries in gold are seen here
His dreams to the automaton belong.

Look at them, their feet all wrap, expensive in plastic
Shoes, they cannot feel between their toes
The water river running free, cornered in this tragic
Sense of progress, full of unbalmed woes.

Here where the sun laddles her warmth down the sky
On bowl of stoops made from concrete
They collect to laugh, as maggots lad by a fly
While green grass and park lay obsolete.

Before there was a phone, my mother called down
The mountainside and telegraphed her joy
A new grandchild swaddled in the rising sound
Was introduced by what tradition employed.

We ran to school eight miles away and never grew
Obese, that training unclogged us to learn
Something each day by nature brought to view
Wrapped in beauty, and made us yearn

For things we could not make, love, honor, freedom
A sense of greatness beyond our state
A simple ant could teach us prolific vaults of wisdom
A patterned sky could be a living slate.

Premium Member Sprung In the Air

‘Get the motor running head out on the highway looking for adventure’

Well it is only the council road with potholes but Oliver races his pushbike

Walkman headphones sound ‘Born to be wild’ or Attention Deficit Disorder

But there is no doubt in the bikers’ mind that winter is recycling fast time


Orange banana saddle ape hanger handle bars and Che Guevara bandana

Another day for many revolutions as the wheels keep turning in tandem

He abhors bicycle clips as Oliver needs torn jeans to be one of the gang

No leather jacket so the hand me down brown corduroy one takes its place


Pedals turning downhill at full speed hard breaks and sharp swerve to the left

Another 360 degree circle wonderful skid marks adorn his pride and the road

It was easy today because morning dew and pink purple petals greased the path

For once the corroded chain has not come off after that creaking gear change


Countenance smirks on his face because has done it again and he feels so much

More achievement than if he was doing his homework left pathetically languorous

At home where his goody two shoes brother calculates tangents and radius

Oliver is an action boy full of mettle and metal and his scent is lubricant oil


‘Take the world in a love embrace and explode into space’ and dear emotions

Run high almost octane fuelled while his well-behaved sisters play octaves

From Amadeus on Bechstein or Steinway pined to bored ebony and ivory keys

Oliver hammers down wildly as the way forward beckons driven by freedom


He is oblivious to fragrances blossoms and bloom and the sweet scent of nature

Could not care less about chirping birds and the warm temperature resides only

In his teenage blood and guts as he rides through a pile of litter in which rusty

Debris mingles with pneumatic tyres and a very loose spring punctures the air


16th March 2019

Spring Is In the Air contest

Sponsored by Emile Pinet

A Familiar New Arrival In Complete Disbelief

look at me
water shoes on
beach chair buried in the sand
feeling like an overtly energetic six year old again
acting all shy as she grabs my hand as the water freezes our feet unexpectedly

remembering the loneliness
cable off
vhs on
same movie as the last four days
wondering how i got there
not caring about freeing myself

here i am
new swim trunks on
fast food gut rumbling in continuous anticipation
staring in awe at the ocean like she is a celebrity
acting even more shy as she lifts my chin up and brushes her lips against mine

remembering the darkness in the lights
electricity off
heavy blanket consuming me
1988 walkman playing 60s reggae sounds....perfectly blinding me
mental starvation for immediate escape
verbal starvation for immediate escape
wondering when the electricity man was gonna come and turn the electricity back on
imagining a gun and a few bullets....to shoot the dream i am suffering dead

wait a minute
i am totally on vacation
got me a beautiful blessing of a travelling partner....thick in all the right places
on the next to last day....still in complete disbelief that i am actually here
acting yet even more shy as she smiles at me with a look of sincere affection....as she rubs somewhere....she considers absolute, natural fun
© Marty King  Create an image from this poem.

Walkman

I see homes without men,
am courage but feared,
I can see and yet it's dark,
and now that I play my piano, 
why am deaf of it's sound.

time has come by,
with picture fashioned and passion by;
I go and who is coming with me
I no way on, who is that for me.

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