I just signed up for a boot-camp course in how to be spontaneous
In realms of regal radiance, I stand,
Embraced by whispered legends, a chosen hand.
A tapestry divine, my lineage does unfold,
For within my veins, noble secrets are told.
Cloaked in treasures rare, I step with grace,
A million faces, yet I’m singled out in space.
Bathed in blessings pure, bestowed upon my soul,
Destiny ordained, like jewels that brightly glow.
In life's boot camp, I've trained with utmost devotion,
Embracing challenges, fueled by an inner ocean.
Effortlessly, I conquer shadows that I find,
Emerging victorious, with strength defined.
A gilded aura cloaks my every stride,
Captivating gazes from those who peer inside.
From twisted corners, eyes in wonder stare,
Transfixed by beauty's spell, beyond compare.
Candy-coated hues adorn my very being,
Anointed with a brilliance, forever freeing.
For I am but a star, traversing heavens high,
A symphony of majesty, painting the sky.
One in a million, a walking sovereignty divine,
Illuminating paths, with love as my design.
With each step I take, my spirit's truth unfurls,
A poet's heart, my words a canvas of worlds.
Horrible, my map upended our time with boot camp son.
Horrible to get back to base, not be caught, had to run.
Horrible, to see Mom hurried into hospice, her hours few.
Horrible when we heard last sweet breaths, as time flew.
Horrible when a tree splintered the roof of our deck.
Horrible, the tree balancing, just above hubby, in check.
Horrible when eggshells were underfoot, a bad spell.
Horrible the slamming doors, curses and raising hell.
Horrible the gall stones and bladder, ended grand visit.
Horrible the nightmarish nettles that percoset gifted.
Horrible heaven’s so far away, like pot of gold source.
Horrible, like vagabonds, earthlings veer off course.
Horrible, the end of a savory and sweet meal.
Horrible the rancid leftovers of mortal ideals.
Horrible when poetry is no longer wielded, engaged.
Horrible when Armeggedon speaks, when war is waged.
Everything was pink for Zee when she was a child
Hot pink, light pink, medium pink, nothing blah or mild
Pink bed, pink pillow, pink closet, pink clothes, pink doll
If it was not pink, Zee simply did not want it at all
Imagine our shock when she joined the military at eighteen
Our princess was now a soldier, which was quite unforeseen.
She trained to be all black and white, there was no pink or gray.
We watched her boot camp video, laughing our guts away.
Zee got a corporate job, and rose straight to the top.
Her career was the best, it seemed her success would never stop.
What about pink? We wondered. Where is the pink now?
In her corporate washroom we found a pink toilet, it was a wow.
Not only pink, but shaped like an enormous kitty too.
You cannot leave yet we’d say; you have to use the loo.
Our daughter would roll her eyes, thinking we were crazy.
But we all wanted to see the toilet, designed by our Zee.
Everything was pink for Zee when she was a child
Hot pink, light pink, medium pink, nothing blah or mild
Pink bed, pink pillow, pink closet, pink clothes, pink doll
If it was not pink, Zee simply did not want it at all
Imagine our shock when she joined the military at eighteen
Our princess was now a soldier, which was quite unforeseen.
She trained to be all black and white, there was no pink or gray.
We watched her boot camp video, laughing our guts away.
Zee got a corporate job, and rose straight to the top.
Her career was the best, it seemed her success would never stop.
What about pink? We wondered. Where is the pink now?
In her corporate washroom we found a pink toilet, it was a wow.
Not only pink, but shaped like an enormous kitty too.
You cannot leave yet we’d say; you have to use the loo.
Our daughter would roll her eyes, thinking we were crazy.
But we all wanted to see the toilet, designed by our Zee.
At my first sight of him,
I saw such a benevolence,
the Cuban youth with mocha skin
and bright root beer-brown eyes,
he only loved me,
I, a frivolous woman.
He was nineteen, I was twenty-two,
his steadfast devotion of heart,
my UK heritage fire.
How I wish I could send him a message
through the timelessness of poetry,
breathed into his dreams by an angel,
to say, when I think of us forty-three
years ago,
I sing a song of the sea.
We were U.S. Navy recruits in the
challenges of boot camp.
He thought my plain looks were
beauteous,
he, so serene and gentlemanly,
what a man should be.
He gave me an engagement ring,
when we graduated that hot
Orlando, Florida day,
the loving man too good for me,
how I hurt his truest of cherish,
he only loved me,
the woman of a thousand fragments.
Not long after he went out to the
vasty romantic sea,
I wrote him ending our engagement,
I never saw him again.
The years a flash of decades,
that brought my sorrow in tidal waves.
When I set sail in my elder's nocturnal
sleeping sojourns,
I think of him as my memories soar
as if an oceanic bird,
and awake-
to sing a song of the sea. ~
It was work week in boot camp. I had a bad cold.
I was working with two sailors, preparing desserts.
I ate a cherry off one dessert.
CHERRY CHOKEHOLD
the cherry chokehold
acute asphyxiation
black curtain climax
i’m fascinated
unexpectedly unafraid
heimlich births
a hapless cough
i return to my barracks
my life saved
my hero unnamed
unappreciated
many years later
it sinks in
and I routinely
ask God
to bless her
4/25/2022
Near Death Experience
Sponsor: Chantelle Anne Cooke
Taught to believe God dwells somewhere above,
we distanced ourself from source
No longer with love, were we hand in glove,
pursuing desires using force,
till in our heart, felt deep remorse
Trapped in the open, we were yet free within,
during moments of silence
Our conscience beckoned, so we went therein;
embracing soul’s innocence,
rekindling inner sentience
Not rituals then but silence the way,
receptive to the bliss current,
wherein seeking nothing, we choose to pray,
becoming self-luminescent,
our innate native element
Once head melds with heart, as it’s boot camp,
we instantly become free
God, who indwells within, lights the love lamp,
so with light of truth we agree,
each breath entrée, in joyous spree
13-December-2021
shaped like a boat,
a sock peeked out,
down under the rim.
a baby bootie,
a boot camp scootie,
befuddled the face,
bright red,
of a pale blond —
a mother on the side.
could have been undies
lining the sailor cap!
waterlogged laughter.
sea of despair.
however... i showed her up,
dereliction of my polished shoes.
barely an adult,
sneakering to hide
in the head,
luckily placed as a guest
in the gatehouse
and not out on my rear guard
or thrown in the brigg
for my lack of attention to detail.
the blond carries her family in a seabag
— not allowed —
can’t find the other sock.
9/3/2020
All In A Day Poetry Contest
Sponsor - William Kekaula
scootie means child that is between the stages of crawling and walking. Here I’m using it as a baby’s sock.
sneakering is a play on words as I had absentmindedly put on my sneakers
driving son back to naval boot camp —
miles and miles in wrong direction
8/24/2020
Silent One’s When plans don’t go to plan
Hard Time,
The Reward For His Good Time.
By: Tom Wright
1/16/03
It all started innocently enough,
maybe it was peer pressure, or perhaps curiosity.
At any rate, he knew better,
but he didn't think a couple of drugs would be that bad,
for a lot of his friends were doing it.
Kids from good families, some, even church kids.
So when asked, he tried it.
After all, he was a star athlete, and in the "In" crowd.
But little did he know, the things that were to follow.
Prison Boot Camp, made his life most unbearable.
He thought that he would just have a good time,
and ended up doing hard time.
I know of others from his circle of friends,
who also were incarcerated, while others died.
To support his habit, he lied, cheated, and stole.
He destroyed family relationships and now feels alone.
Drugs, necessitated that he go for the easy money,
should have kept his job and family,
which he no longer has.
Funny thing, he thought he could handle it,
but then, I suppose everyone does.
Now, I pray, he sees that Sin is progressive,
always leading to something else.
Sin, took him farther than he wanted to go,
and kept him longer than he wanted to stay.
/center>
Blazing hot
Blistering my skin
Can’t tell you where I’m going
I can only tell you where I’ve been.
I’ve been in green meadows
On a cool crisp morn
In a hospital near my wife
When our first child was born.
I’ve been to the bar with friends
To get drunk and maybe get in a fight
That’s just normal behavior
For a small town Saturday night!
I’ve been in love once or twice
Before I grew up
My favorite birthday present ever
Was a new little pup.
I’ve been to a high school dance
With my clumsy two left feet
And at that very dance
Is where my wife and I did meet.
I’ve been out on the lake
Fishing with my dad
And at that time in my life
Never appreciating all that we had.
I’ve been to boot camp
With all of the other new guys
I wonder where they are?
Or did they tell me a bunch of lies?
I’ve got to keep going
I need to fill my canteen
There’s nothing but sand everywhere
Sand and sun are all I’ve seen.
I’m so parched…I can barely move
Shap…feet are…hum fall
My arm…pur soi nop
Fop in siz…hot metal.
Pom bo…a pistol…lam bi
Tum…too weak to…
The early seventies was rather interesting
one minute hanging out with a pack of wolves
predators of the night... the next... nine weeks in boot camp
on the great lakes in Winter...so cold
then off to a very large aircraft carrier
where I spent the next two years roaming its flight decks
until..." Parker, are you, Parker "
you have fifteen minutes to get off the ship
and thirty days to make it to Memphis, Tenn
for aviation electronics school...problem...yes it was
we were in port in Naples, not Naples Fl, Naples Italy
so off I went to find the NATO base to catch a flight to Spain
but...being the red-blooded American boy I was
I decided to rent a room for two weeks in Naples, Italy
and enjoy the nightlife...so I did just that
after two weeks found NATO, flew to Spain
enjoyed a few days there, then flew to the states
made it to Memphis with a day to spare
2/23/18 contest Where were you in the 70's
Miniature beginnings are the scaffolding to mightiness
Just a pinch of yeast puffs up the dough
And little stars still light up big skies
No matter where you are "on the totem poll",
whether you are midway, quarter way or bottom last
don't pooh-pooh small beginnings
The little leagues is your boot camp to the Big leagues
One word doesn't make a novel, but one word begins it
And from that lone scribble, everything else flows
A single rose stem doesn't make a bouquet, but from a seed
can bloom a rose garden
happiness equals 20 pounds
this added weight is getting me down
once stick thin but alas, no more
putting it on was an easy chore
don't get me wrong, I'm not bitching
but for younger days, I am wishing
way back then I was much leaner
now flab is part of my demeanor
going to boot camp, eating low carb
so I can wear a lot less garb
losing ten would be just great
listing everything that I ate
the older I get, the harder it seems
to shed these pounds is not a dream
working hard, making calories count
it will fall off I have no doubt
up and down the spinner goes
maybe the scale is a lie, who knows
but I'll get fit and stay that way
and still keep happiness in each day
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