Drumsticks Poems | Examples

Block Party

Double-dutch ropes slap the sidewalk -
snap - snap - snap -
braids whip air,
girls jump in, counting
uno, dos, three,
feet flick like drumsticks.
The ice cream truck jingles off-key,
icy lady shakes paper cups,
piragua man shaves ice into snow -
his knife scraping the block awake.
Pastelillos pop in hot oil -
spit, sizzle -
plastic cups clink with rum and cola,
congas crack, maracas shake salt in the air,
horns blare like chisme in heat.
Heels click-clack over concrete -
punctuating each spin,
each swirl of hips.
Whistles split the air -
one from the lifeguard at Jefferson,
two from the men on the corner,
three from abuela
when the coals are hot.
Somebody throws meat on the grill -
ssszzzz -
smoke climbs windows,
neighbors bring foil trays -
yellow rice, ribs, roasted corn -
each dish a downbeat.
Kids yell cannonball,
water smacks back,
lifeguard’s whistle cuts through splash.
Old heads tap dominoes on tabletops -
crack, slap, smack -
hands older than the stoops they sit on.
The block fills itself
the way music fills a drum -
the street hums under bare feet.
Tonight,
the moon will smell like charcoal
and sweet ice.

Misgivings

Remember us?
We were not invited to your plenty.
Remember us?
Our Bounty was far less than empty.
Remember us?
We tilled, we toiled, we too wiped our brows.
Remember us?
We sang, we joyed, we too danced our bows.

Have you forgotten us?
With what's left of our dollar thirty six.
Have you forgotten us?
A can of beans and toast for drumsticks.
Have your forgotten us?
Lifting higher than everyone does.
Have you forsaken us?
To burrow through time as Cicadas.

SO SIMPLE

         Apples, apricot, blackberries, biscuits 
         Children ! Cheese cake, donuts, dozen drumsticks 
         Enjoy eating :  Food for friends - fellow , fun !
         Got guava- grapes ? Have hotdog honey- bun.
          Irish Ice-cream ! Jam - jelly , juice in jar.
         Jack, Jill, Junior John , jubilant joker !
         knife in kitchen : Kids in knickerbocker.
     
       Lying lazy lovely little lizard :
       Laughing loud lion -lioness - leopard.
       Micro- macro- minimal-maximal
       New- naval-nascent ! Oblate or oval ?
       Ostrich offered old owl, olive - orange ! 
       Proud  peacock playing  prompt pretty plumage.
      
      Quiet queen : Rabbit runs, restless rapid.
     Swift squirrel ! Soft snail showing so slow speed.
      Top topples !  Uncle under umbrella !
     Vintage vehicle visits village - villa.

     Wow ! Wonderful  ! World wide website  was won.
     Yellow yak yawned in zing at  zig- zag zone .

It's Always the Drummer

He beats on the drum
The vibrations thrill
It makes me succumb
He goes for the kill

He sways as he plays
and beat after beat
puts me in a daze
He brings on the heat

My body's in time
to his every move
We are so in sync
This is a great groove

My eyes are transfixed
to him in the band
Drumsticks are flying
in capable hands

His eyes are shut tight 
Lips? Slightly parted
Oh, how will he know...
what he has started?

Thumping and thrashing
his instrument quakes
Just like my body~~~
that quivers~~and~~shakes

I squirm in my seat,
wipe sweat from my brow
I get up and dance...
the moment is NOW!!!

Oh glory, oh me!
He opens his eyes
They fixate on me
can't hide his surprise

My fire consumes
Drum beat entrances
I want him so bad!
What are my chances?

His eyes fix on me
That look takes me in
I'm know what it means
Tonight is a win! 

The beat, it dies down
He talks to the band
Comes down from the stage
takes me by the hand

He pulls me to him,
both dripping in sweat
We go on back stage
Make music? You BET!

Eileen Ghali

beating drumsticks

like beating a drumstick she beats  her  own heart. she  bashes it around by lending it to others, but the wood splinters striking people. what people don’t know is that is just her  hard front personality being worn away, to reveal the vulnerable raw stick underneath. the stick that used to beat to others hearts and had to be repaired again and again by the damage others did. they wore all of it away until it was bare. no one can see a drumsticks broken until it snaps. until it is undesirable and unable to be used any longer. even then people take beats out of it for fun, slowly hitting snapping her heart. can no one see her drumstick is bare, that it is all an illusion. but everyone is too concerned with their own drums to care about this one.

Fresh Veins for a Chameleon

The con man wears a greasy, porcelain grin
trumpets like a swan but the soul of a raven.
From paper mâché pulpit. he'll surely sling 
thrice tainted blood drops passed off as gems.

His compliments are marbled with plastic
spray painted over in fool's gold
from your bones he whittles drumsticks
his words are Luke-warm but the heart rattles cold.

Simply, he's flaccid and just fancies attention
a little imp tugging at the locks of his fantasy.
Wait long enough and the porcelain cracks
leaking out a blackness and horrible stench.
When exposed he'll suddenly slink away
but rest assured this vampish chameleon
will re-emerge and sniff out a fresh vein.

BROWNED BEAUTIFUL BRONZE BROWN NATURAL WOMAN-

BROWNED BEAUTIFUL BRONZE BROWN NATURAL WOMAN-

Soften tone medi
-um brown ever so her eyes 
Smiled all natural 
Skin fresh breast symmetric like-
-N grapefruits moisten lips speaks
~
 Softly tender breathe
 Arms like rubber bands chisel 
Stealth ears sweet legs as
 Turkey drumsticks firm moving
Melatonin golden brown
 


12/7/23
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2023©
Ekphrasis

The Minestrone Rock Soup

If Minestrone soup
Was a rock group...

The Beefy base
Would take the lead guitars place.

The Croutons crunch
Would be the drums - munch!

The Carrot bits,
The drumsticks.

The Onion's tang,
The cymbal's clang.

The Tomato infusion,
The keyboards inclusion...

Soup - Rock. Bread - Roll.
Minestrone for a musical soul.

Collarbone Symphonies

Pass me along 
a pair of drumsticks 
so I can create 
vibrating calypso melodies 
on the steel drums 
found within the bones of my collar

The Sweet Shop

There's a shop down the street
where all the school kids meet;
a shop of wonders and delight
all wrapped up in one big bite

Step inside this tasty paradise,
take a bite of fudge, take another slice;
jars full of gobstoppers and pear drops,
and in the freezer icicle pops.

Exploding mouths full of tingling space dust,
an amazing taste and a sugar rush;
cola bottles, flying saucers, and lemon sherbets
white chocolate mice, drumsticks, and candy cigarettes.

Spending pocket money every day
not worrying about tooth decay;
a bagful of happiness just for a penny,
keeping close to the chest, not sharing any.

Time to go home and enjoy the feast,
just for a few minutes at least;
until tomorrow after school
to the shop we all thought was cool.

Obianuju

I fear to tell you how much of your love
that has drown me into your lake—
I'm a body under water.
Each time i walk on the street
my body, a drumsticks playing itself
would feel the rise of sensual excesses
tingling the weak layers of my cells.
Should I tell you why I come out each morning to see you?
because my heartbeats recites in elocution
at the wordings of your songs
& I'll try not to escape the ligature of music
you keep preparing for me.
You devour my heart
I'm afraid to tell you.
I've wanted my diction to appease you, smoulder every ashes infusing your mind like coal to the pot,
but it keeps infusing francophone rhythm, broken vowels clusters & brittle brittle voice.
I don't know how I'll feel
If I thaw the instant gaze frosting
under the radiances of your countenance.
Maybe I'll sink into loneliness all day long;
why I travel to the dark house every night.
Do not frown at this poem I've become, obianuju
I'll no longer lurk privily like Cobra.
I've fortify my heart to harm you via my love
where we could get hitched in the wedlock of the church
reciting poems from song of songs
that spew out from the bosom of Solomon.

The Sweetest Stone

A shinning stone has left us 
skipping gaily toward heaven
tapping on Saint Peter's door 
with a pair of pearly drumsticks
leaving rift and ripple in our hearts
a million doors are painted black.
Rest in Peace-sweet drummer man~

Queen Mary of Scotland

Argyle socks, kilts,
Scottish tartan scarves
and Knox — aye
Mary, Queen Mary
shall you marry Darnly
for love? Nay...

Torches, kilts and song.
Heather in hands, waving
but Knox knocks their merry
socks off, eccentrically calling
Mary, a Jezebel queen.

Stuart clings to her Catholicity,
as she permits worshipping
as Protestants — not good
enough for Knox. Of kilts and tales
told, no dancing, singing or drinking fold —
bearded and bold John rattles.

Knox’s mentor burned at the stake.
His ire, his hand raised, will not accept
the same fate, so he rains down hellfire.

Kilts and bagpipes, boots marching,
music playing. Aye, Mary Queen of Scotland
with drumsticks banging, the pretty thing
rules with her heart...loses her head.

3/22/2021
Julia Ward’s Scotland

What Will We Teach Them

36 pencils
only 4 with erasers
they belong to the smart kids
you know....the one's
who take no chances.

Scattered crayons
mostly broken by those
who claim the color as their own
pressing it deeply
into a lonely corner
of the page.

Rulers
most commonly used as drumsticks
or to resolve a pirates fate.

Maps of a world
outside the Ghetto gates
faraway places
to tantalize a waking mind
taunt adventurous feet.

Classroom windows
streaked with city soot
the creak of floors
long past arthritic pain.

New hands holding
the hope of old books.
Children - blank slates
unsullied minds
awaiting the beauty
of knowledge.

What Will We Teach Them?



1/28/2021

Slytherin

All
the 
world’s snakes
celebrate
the discovery,
Trimeresurus Salazar!

See 
the 
planet’s 
snakes sliding 
from hiding places
in our cars, gas stations, and stores. 

Snakes 
are 
shedding
disguises 
as drumsticks, long hair,
guitar necks, and microphone stands.

All 
the 
earth’s snakes 
boldly crawl,
eager to be seen
because they want to speak to us.

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