They left Southampton with a coal fire down below,
Olympic class of the White Star Line, little did they know.
Irish-built in Belfast, one iceberg was all it took as,
with insufficient lifeboats, the whole wide world it shook.
Departing Queenstown, compartments not all watertight,
unsinkable or so they said, until that tragic night...
(almost a six-day cruise).
She was poorly equipped and, as all good Captains do
(tho' that is not his due), Edward Smith
(and fifteen hundred souls or more)
went down with the ship.
And the band played on as the ship was going down,
were they blind (drunk?), out of their minds,
they were all about to drown.
Some thought 'Bravery,' others, 'Stupidity,'
(altho' cold as ice), I can say, quite categorically,
I would have jumped ship if it were me.
Tho' it's a deep subject, rock-bottom at very best,
the play on Broadway (take a bow) you won't see,
of lost lives and broken hearts
is... 'The Titanic, In Two Parts'.
Broadway Joe, Like Decio's
Design!
Broadway Joe Like Decio's
Our .... Climb!
Good day Broadway
Welcome to New York City
The first time stepping out on the Great White Way Stage
The wonder, dream and anticipation
Nervousness throughout
A Dream Come True
The stage was set
Dazzle and Sizzle
Spotlight search
Front and Center
Music leveraged up
The view of the audience
A breakout in song with a cast in sing along
Then words of anguish and desperation
Emotions overflow
Living the dream of success
Talent being shown
Name on the marquee full blown
Tomorrow seen at that moment
Broadway that was the here and now
Eyes of entertainment
Appreciation in loud applause from the audience
The Bow in approval
The Thank you
Curtain comes down
The regards to Broadway
The Male Belgium Blue
Spieciem #.0009-280
and Female specimen
Brown Swiss--290
( a deluxe wool Hat)
Swiss Maids Uniiform
west cotton that rots
but new she's a doll!
said Bisser Daned to have
the calf in the spring
but his wife wished it for
Christmas thyme and
all the joy it would bring.
Thought the cold winters
harshness
werst the chances
of success.
The newly built insulated
barn
was ready for the test.
He shall feed these cattle
the feed should last
until spring.
The joys of a new calf
and all the milk the calf
will bring.
Eggnog for Christmas
a rummy cultured drink.
Caroling and cigar
smoking.
While nature does
it's thing!
Go to a Broadway show; take a look
At the people who fill up the seating,
A mixture of tourists from thither and yon,
All together, with few of them meeting.
The old and the young, the fat and the thin,
The foreigners from varied places,
The blonds and the bald, the braids and the curls,
The smiles or the frowns on the faces.
No matter the crowd, when the theater goes dark,
They’re united in their expectation
That the show they’ll be seeing is worth it and will
Earn a well-deserved standing ovation.
Cats
the longest running musical on Broadway
the one that knocked A Chorus Line out of first place
After it had been the King of the Musicals for a long time
Cats
a musical my husband thought was boring
He walked out of it before the second act
Cats
a musical I always wanted to see
I watched for fifteen minutes on TV
before I also walked out
Flapping gay garment hung on balcony bannister
Trots obstinate flung spun over railing
Fixated brazen Brigette immune to embarrassment
Boosted bemuse formats never failing
Composed to procure prominence, step with stars
Stage bound show must go on motto
Constellation shift slides velvet curtain aside ajar
Planets orbit origin wins Lyceum lotto
Horoscope high hope performs fame premonition
Bright light box office tickets Brigette
Halcyon sky spiral beehive secures each audition
Sixties seductress frequency fills seats
23rd June
Absurd Truth
A theatre legend - Mr Stephen Sondheim
an icon of Broadway, ahead of his time
smart lyrics, lush music, bold rhythms and rhyme
the curtain has fallen on a writer sublime.
// Stephen Sondheim wrote lyrics and/or music to West Side Story, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, Company, Follies, and many more musicals //
Written 1/13/2022
I find myself humming Broadway melodies,
suddenly bursting into "I'm as Corny as Kansas in August,"
and "Wind Sweeping Across the Plains,"
while the miles disappear behind me,
and slight hints of dusk appear on the distant horizon
as I hurtle toward "Some Enchanted Evening,"
beneath the clean white sheets of a sterile
room in an expensive Holiday Inn Suite
a long, long way from South Pacific
and Oklahoma!
written August 18, 2021
He’d a fetish feline without doubt
so did Tom, his sick mania flout
make phantasmagorical
a new categorical
and then Andrew did let the cat out.
Twas a bargain at just half the price
Nunn and Weber made Memory nice
blending words of a poet
with some music to show it
to find lightning can sometimes strike twice.
___________________________________
1/3/2021
How Many Syllables
I do not see the poem yet I tried to post last night.
Is it too soon? The why's not clear, I feel emerging fright,
and I'm here blushing in the wings! Will curtain find its part,
an audience know love verse sings, mood synthesized by heart?
Is there some test I need to pass, a path I must repent,
a God to pray to? I'm so crass! I've virtue left not spent
to bridge the gaps in life's extremes? I'll bet I've gone too far;
what creds I had now flushed with dreams! My brain is so bizarre!
November 2020
PS: I believe that a 'blighter' can be either male or female. I've
certainly seen men who look buxom, and both 'Species' can be
cute, funny, shapely, political, and poetic, so my title feels like it
is more or less androgynous.
But if recent politics has taught me anything, it is that the inverse of
the old saw is probably more accurate than the original ever was,
i.e., "Time heals all wounds!"
The sun's shining brightly, what could go wrong
We feel like prancing and singing happy songs
Can't wipe off the grin
Once the day begins
It's a Broadway show starring me in a sarong
There is a young woman I met near Times Square;
She's five-foot-eleven with lovely brown hair.
We were both buying tickets at the kiosk that's there
For a show at the Palace that starred Richard Gere.
So she told me she dances, but that landing a gig
There on Broadway's not easy; Competition is big.
And she moves through the crowds with a natural grace;
Watching her's such a pleasure that I must hide my face.
But her style, you know, can scarcely compare
To those twinkle-ing eyes, and what they hold there.
It's to bask in her presence that's the purest of joy;
And I feel like nothing but a lost little boy.
But my feelings for her are not puppy love
Though she seems like an angel sent from above.
But, alas, I'm a pauper, who can't pay the rent
And she merits a man who's much more like a gent.
So I'll have to be happy with watching her dance;
As a husband with family I haven't a chance.
If I only foresaw that I'd meet her one day
My own life would have gone a much different way.
In a frazzled world, live art of Broadway becomes ..a mystic escape.
April 2019 Premier 10, Up to A Max Of 5 Lines
Contest of Brian Strand
When you smile at me
It feels like the lights shining on Broadway
Yes, you make me feel like a star
in a hit performance
Your smile brings me more pleasure
Than an audience of a thousand people
clapping
Words fail me when I think of you
You are marvelous and sweet
Let's feel the love tonight
Once again - you make me feel
like the shining lights
On the Great White Way
when I see you smile
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