I carry monopoly money.
It's not bright or shiny.
When I go to the gift shop.
They ask me, where is my plastic?
A dollar today is not worth the dollar of tomorrow.
And its exponential decay gives me so much sorrow.
I miss the good old days of where I could trade my trade.
For milk, eggs, flour, and sugar, honey.
Now I scrap from the bottom of the barrel.
Just for sh*t and giggles.
What's on my mind is the new kind of money.
But I would rather have love come to me naturally.
As long as the sun will rise and set in between the crescent moon.
Poetry has left me again
I’ve bled the hills and trees for words
I’ve searched for verbs in the hours
When someone fills the emptiness
I will have no need for pronouns
No talk or fragments fulfills you
I woke frenzied in the morning
Put on headphones to muzzle thoughts
Anything but to hear your silence
When coffers are empty of nouns
I scrape the bottom of the barrel
Hoping for slick prepositions
You goad me to write an opus
To paint my vain adjectives true
To color not wanting replies
Resurrect wordly as Jesus did
Real as adverbs without fullness
To ascend to servers in glory
Craft a mind razor-sharp each day
Cutting through pronoun’s bull
Swinging conjunctions as swords
This poem has hemorrhaged me
I’ve bled for you till nothing’s left
Grammar paler with my emptiness
Careless of my prideful sharpening
Decimating mourning subjects
Fill me when objects go empty
*** Ecclesiastes 1:2
'Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.'
We thought it would last forever,
not a kink in the endless chain of supplies;
Now more than the store shelves
are coming up continuously empty;
Still the menu is good to change,
maybe get out grandma’s old recipe;
No amount of money in the world
can buy you food that doesn’t exist;
We thought it was just gonna go away,
the trucks would always deliver more eggs;
Then omelettes became a luxury item,
‘Snickers’ were all we could afford or find;
Starvation ended with ‘We are the World.’
Western civilization? That’s impossible;
North America is flooded with resources;
Regrow endless crops on soil rich land;
No amount of money in the world
can buy you food that doesn’t exist;
Bottom of the barrel no trash to steal;
Private property gardens, no trespassing;
Outlaws armed with skills and dirty hands,
Off grid not for sale, can’t steal from them;
The wealthy can get whatever they need,
or so the one percent always thought;
No amount of money in the world
can buy you food that doesn’t exist.
The moral compass is spinning
Democracy’s light is dimming
The country faces ruin
The lies just keep on coming
No honour, dignity or integrity remains
In this government that fails and wanes
Scraping the bottom of the barrel
Our leaders are the worst kind of self-important, sociopathic rabble
Lies for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Just keep feeding the lies to the dim witted.
Make sure we get all their money.
Let them starve and suffer, it’s so funny!
Throw parties while they’re dying.
Laugh and joke while they’re crying.
Lie about anything and everything.
Lie about lying.
Let the people die crying because thanks to us England is now dying.
Out with infighting and lack of general respect,
Let’s restore our Congressional reputation
Rank partisanship and grandstanding
While padding their own coffers, I expect!
Let’s rid ourselves of all the current trolls
“Let’s throw the bums out,” it has been said,
Not a one of them worth saving, I suspect.
Better off with zombies at the controls.
Let’s start by ditching Mitch; Pelosi, too,
Right down to the bottom of the barrel
Grifters, the shysters, and arrogant fools
Send McCarthy and Schumer to Timbuktu.
Greene, and Gaetz, and dummy Gohmert
Publicity hounds and holier-than-thous
Let’s start with a clean slate this year
Out with Cruz, Cotton, and Lauren Boebert.
Repubs and Dems—all those fat cats alike,
We need to start with a clean slate now
Hire those who will make government run
Let’s tell Madison Cawthorn to take a hike.
All of them! – I’ve just named a very few
But I can’t think of a single one I’d keep,
Clear out the entire House and the Senate
We need to clean up this despicable zoo!
HONORABLE MENTION
"Religion or Politics No. 7" Poetry Contest
All Poetry.com
April 24, 2022
Written April 9, 2022
people insist on speaking French to me c’est la vie
smelling salts in a ten gallon vat that’s not to be sniffed at
the mouse met an elephant so prim she looked down her nose at him
I must learn to type more quickly before the grimy rapper gets me
in prison no convict would moan if all rooms had a cell phone
scrape the bottom of the barrel and you’ll find the one who emptied it
I can’t have an inferiority complex I’m not man enough
only the good die young heaven must be tedious
If we learn from our mistakes I’m some kind of genius
behind every great man is another with a tongue tan
limericks float in dirty little creeks
a sucker punch to the face of peace
similar to silent farting
in a lacy wedding party
bottom-of-the-barrel poem?
Once again you slide inside
to chiv me,
to stick me with a blade.
Cold steel is not
when your blood's running hot
but the signals get mixed
then we're fixed
fine? it's dandy.
You don't feel the stiletto
as it tiptoes in and your
life falls out,
and I thought it was
all about that.
Centurions in Century city
reaching out to the witty,
the pithy
and are you with me?
okay,
it's okay
I
lose it too.
On a heading due West,
of oblivion
colliding with starlets
like Vivien.
that's Leigh in case you were wondering.
no escaping
just scraping
the bottom of the barrel
the cider tastes better down here.
It is a bad place to be born,
the first breath you breathe
is drawn from dregs of scorn
And you get rolled from day one,
passed around like a bottle of rum
Then they toss you to the curb,
after emptying you when they’re done
You age real quick where I come from,
there’s always a full clip in an angry gun
And the jails are always teeming
with a can-I-bum another cigarette wasted bum
You have a lot of idle time on your hands
in the places where I became a star alum
Learned a variety of skills
that are not conducive to contributing
positively to society
Dennis wasn’t the only menace, believe me
When you’re locked up in a cage,
the only thing you dream about is roaming free
Each day you fight to control the rage
But in my conscious state,
the things I most thought about was:
What am I now,
and who will I be?
At the bottom of the barrel,
those life changing things
you can’t never see
THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL
She was scraping the bottom, the barrel was now almost bare.
No meal now to do all the baking, the last meal was now sitting there.
And then came the prophet Elijah who said, “Share the meal with me.
Fear not, for the Lord’s here to help you, just serve me and then you will see.”
The woman obediently responded, and the barrel replenished she found,
And each time the baking was finished, she still had some more meal around.
I, too, have been scraping the bottom, discouraged and feeling so bare,
It seemed there was no use for living; my hope was o’ertaken by care.
And then came my dear, precious Savior, who said, “I am still here, my son,
Fear not, for I still dearly love you; in me all your victories are won.”
I bowed at His feet and I worshiped; the tears, they flowed freely once more.
I knew I had not been forsaken, I was lifted, revived by the Lord.
So, friend, if your barrel’s near empty, just give what you have to the Lord;
You’ll find He will feed and restore you to fellowship and sweet accord.
ive been to the bottom of the barrel
it was in my head
the critical self hatred poisoned my well wishing
dare i strive to become whom I want
pasteurized and organized to fit
my odd ways having no polarity
id rather be this than that
inexplicably me
i watched my parents fail to stay stable
rotten to the core before the tree dropped me
i saw hard work end in poverty
people telling stories
only I can tell mine
drinking the salt water and swimming in brine
pierce my flesh
and you can see my stone gaze
take back what you thought had on me
my pain will be yours
i bend your impressions to rude awakenings
its my pleasure
ive been told by multiple people
id never
not without
watch me surpass you
and not wave as I go by
this fire and rage just a catalyst for visions
a quest within
Seriously thinking of calling it quits
I'm rapidly running out of gas
Dragging up stuff from the bottom of the barrel
Scrounging around looking for inspiration
Can't seem to find any anymore
Think to myself it'll pass
Not quite so sure this time around
Maybe just the mood I've been in lately
Lost my fun loving approach to things
Perhaps my age is finally having an impact
And I'm finally growing up
Well whatever the reason
It's not exciting and new anymore
Everything has a beginning and an end
I am not resigning from the site
I am just backing off a bit
I have too many friends here that I would miss
I hope you will all understand
You guys are and have always been
© Jack Ellison 2014
Make wudhu', she told her children
Lest you be killed today
And eaten by ravens
As the bodies lay still
The survivors searched for safe haven
And while the oppressor swings around his deadly mace
The people pray that God has made paradise for him forbidden
It's hard to stay clean
Under an evil regime
Palpably tyrannical and never keen
Sometimes, you need to endure and wait
Stop the debate until the Saviour storms the gate
While other times you must act to be free
Or else you will find yourself dying on your knees
While scraping the bottom of the barrel with nothing left
God promised I’ll make it, but not by myself
So when he gave me you, I felt heaven’s wealth
The vision in you took away my breath
It woke me up and guided me in the right direction
You gave me the knowledge before I made a selection
Of choosing choices I were meant to be best in
And the right paths to heaven, which I’ll later rest in
When the devil started messing, you were my blessing
She's not rich
but can have money in her pocket
She's not perfect
but she doesn't do everything wrong
She doesn't have the best attitude
but she's not the meanest person you'll contact
She may not be fine to you
but she's pretty to me
She's not yours
but she's mine
She's not at the peak of her life
but she's not at the bottom of the barrel
She might think it's taking too long
but she knows that God will step in right on time
She may not have many friends
but Mama Jo and I are numbers 1 and 2
She's not a counselor
but she gives me advice anytime
She doesn't have a college education
but she does have her high school diploma
She may not be the smartest person
but she knows a lot
She's not the Lord and cannot work miracles
but she's my mom,
She's the best mom
and no one can do it better.
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