A mate of Musk, I’m told I’m going soon
(if NASA still exists, this side of June):
the lack of oxygen might make me swoon
- my rear end is as puckered as a prune!
I feel I ought to leave a happy tune,
an album by somebody who can croon.
That swallows effort, warbled by Pat Boone,
or Herman’s Hermits leader, Peter Noone?
Perhaps a piece of marble, nicely-hewn?
Amid the regolith, randomly strewn,
A DVD by National Lampoon?
The one with David Bowie – what’s it – Dune?
The Brooke Shields epic movie, “Blue Lagoon”?
That stoned director (Stone) gave us “Platoon” –
or how about “Five Weeks in a Balloon”?
Beta and the VHS
Could not be beaten years ago.
A childhood of watching tapes...
These were standard video.
Then throughout my teenage years
The DVD was made.
The quality was noticeable
Because of this upgrade.
Discs progressed over more years...
Along came the Blu-ray.
Evolution yet again
Of picture and display.
Ultraviolet and 3D...
Digital copies too.
Many ways to watch a film...
These are just a few.
These days, resolution lies
In glamourous 4K...
Up to four times better than
The typical Blu-ray.
From what I've heard of resolution
8K is the best.
I wonder how when the time comes
It compares to the rest?
It isn't looking to me at all like Christmas,
There's been no ice, nor sleet, nor snow.
I've heard no jingle bells in the air,
Or caroling on the square,
Or seen anyone anywhere
All bundled up like an Eskimo.
And I'm thinking no tree for me this Christmas,
My apartment's rather small.
Can't seem to get in the mood to buy
A fruitcake or even mince pie,
Or wade through crowds so I
Can shop for presents at the mall.
It's most likely to be just me for Christmas,
What with Omicron lurking 'round.
I'll miss my family on Christmas Day,
But now it's safer to stay away.
Besides, I don't like to fly and can't pay
To fix my car that's broken down.
But, hey, this isn't like me at all at Christmas,
So bid the Grinch and Scrooge be gone.
A pine-scented candle can be my tree,
I'll watch "The Nutcracker" on DVD,
And if there's nobody else here but me,
It still will be Christmas in my heart.
Feeling like Mac Miller should I pick a DVD
Or keep telling them leave me be
The stress is overwhelming, and I think it would be easier just to end it all
And then I think about everyone who I would be leaving or letting them fall
I feel bad and guilty which makes me want to keep going
But what about what I want
Seems to feel like Texas when it's snowing
Non-existent
That's how I feel sometimes or if I left that it wouldn't be that big of a difference
So, kill me now because some days I don't have the strength to do it myself
Other days I get a right turn away from going to heaven early
These are the thoughts in my head this Sunday morning
And I wish it was raining so I could go outside and walk in God's tears
And wipe all the bad thoughts away for another moment
Another day
Another tomorrow I will love my battle with depression
Embrace this counseling session listening to ascension
Continuing to move to the next mission
p.s. living is worth it, but you have to keep breathing to see what's next...
when i got home from school
my mother was watching
oprah again
with a shopping bag
of ice on her knee
when i asked her
what happened
she said
“i dont want to talk about it”
and later i found out
she was working out
to a tae bo dvd
when her knee
popped out of her socket
and nobody was home
and she doesnt drive
and she had no friends
so she had to pop it
back into her socket
herself and she said
it was the worst day
of her life
Confused by DVD interactivity,
Lost in soulless Internet chat-rooms,
Spied on by precision satellites,
Tracked down by mobile phone texters,
Hit by multi-media bombardment,
Tied up with twisted video tape,
Engulfed by ephemeral nothingness,
Brain awash with binary,
Consumed by CD ROM gigabytes.
Call me stuck in the past,
Say I’m not cool, but cold,
Because my ideal is a good book ...
To have and to hold.
Many years after leaving London
I return to the city
it is still dreaming of better days.
I am burdened with landscaped memories,
recordings taken with out-of-date electronics;
one is a Betamax video player,
the other by a VHS machine, next a DVD
that has no space for recollections.
An elderly Vauxhall Astra follows me
like an ever faithful dog.
The metropolis
is built on the brick-dust of era’s,
The young look dazed,
as if worm-holes in the River Thames
had closed
leaving them stranded here.
I imagine that nightly,
an older populace hang upside-down
from bell-tower rafters
to dream of Imperial Lions.
I have recorded the trip
on that clunky Betamax;
only I have the arcane skills
to operate it.
Back in Ohio
I store London in its original box,
then make my way downstairs
to photograph my wife
with a once brand new
polaroid camera.
Once upon a long time,
The silence blanketed my world
Like snow covering an arctic forest.
The nooks and crannies of my days
Were filled with the wispy webs of quietude
Worked by whispering limbs
Mine was a vast tundra
Of silence
Across which great unheard herds
Of thoughts could roam
Freely, gambol and graze
Encountering nothing to disturb them
Rivulets of words
Gathered and trickled
Over the schisty shingles
Of my mind
Eons passed
But one cold, silent, snow flaked January morning
A pioneer strode manfully, meaningfully
Into my wilderness without warning.
Falling in love with all that he saw
He began to sharpen his axe.
Now the hordes of herds have all but disappeared
And the rivulets have been dammed and channelled
Into a thousand subterranean pipes
And there is TV and MTV and DVD and MP3
And my world
Is rich with sound.
Once upon a long time,
The silence blanketed my world
Like snow covering an arctic forest.
The nooks and crannies of my days
Were filled with the wispy webs of quietude
Worked by whispering limbs
Mine was a vast tundra
Of silence
Across which great unheard herds
Of thoughts could roam
Freely, gambol and graze
Encountering nothing to disturb them
Rivulets of words
Gathered and trickled
Over the schisty shingles
Of my mind
Eons passed
But one cold, silent, snow flaked January morning
A pioneer strode manfully, meaningfully
Into my wilderness without warning.
Falling in love with all that he saw
He began to sharpen his axe.
Now the hordes of herds have all but disappeared
And the rivulets have been dammed and channelled
Into a thousand subterranean pipes
And there is TV and MTV and DVD and MP3
And my world
Is rich with sound.
© Barry Freeman – April 1984
HUT
Selling poetry without rhyme,
without foot or head
to be able to buy
a hut in
the moon ...
PASTRY
I sell 3 leather belts
of cloth still possible
to be used ...
2 half-shaved sneakers,
hipsters on the sole but
you can apply super bond ...
Several pirate street vendor DVD
a little scratched ...!
It is so you can buy
Fair Pastel...
SHIRT
Selling a punctured ball,
but you can put a super glue
I sell alfalfa ice cream
for your horse ...
I am selling a flag
tattered, but still useful
to demonstrate parade ...
I desire to buy with sales,
a striped lash shirt I saw
at the thrift store ..
What do dogs do when watching DVD?
They press paws for all animals to see.
ACRONYMS
In 1970, Philip got land phone connection with STD.
Later he bought TV set along with player DVD.
In service, Philip was posted as SDO
As social worker he was attached to an NGO.
His son John when child was vaccinated BCG.
He was particular to monitor regular ECG.
John when admitted to college joined NCC.
At that time Philip became an agent of LIC.
With Economics Honors John completed BA
Soon he took admission in MBA.
John had applied for US VISA,
as he earnestly wished to visit NASA.
John is acting in a TV serial with high TRP.
Since then, he has been treated as VIP.
Second son Jack got Degree in MBBS
Later he became an FRCS.
Third son Tom quizmaster holds lots of FAQ
and always depends on his own IQ.
He allots question asking who is WHO?
What do you mean by ‘I see you ‘ or ICU?
04/05/21
First Place
'All Yours ( May 20 ) Contest by Brian Strand
Got tired of watching MTV
It’s now World News from BBC
I’m watching with an OAP
Who thinks I’m with the KGB
I think that she has OCD
Is that a case for A&E
Then I discovered... OMG
Her cell phone is PAYG
Can someone pass the TNT
Or get me to an SUV
I think I need a KFC
Which might soon mean an ECG
But if I get a DVT
Then show a little TLC
And bring a portable TV
Perhaps even a DVD
Get one with a USP
And pay for it with USD
But if your high on LSD
Watch out I’m NYPD
18 March 2021
Contest: Acronyms in Couplets
Sponsor: L Milton Hankins
As a great lover of classical music
over many years the violin became ace
one particular lovely lady enchanted me
Anne-Sophie Mutter classically first place
This lady appeared in the Yellow Lounge
a night club in Berlin, she did astound
the Club Album played out such true class
covering composers splendidly crowned
Classical music doesn't normally appeal
in such an establishment it is pretty rare
but the clientele loved this classic treat
as Anne-Sophie served them such fare
Thankfully this performance was recorded
being on CD and DVD covered release
composers like Vivaldi, Gershwin and Bach
stunningly superb richness on each piece
Love to watch this many times over
never fails to hold me in it's grip
such musical feast left in wonder
takes one sailing aboard strings ship
(This piece I have written of my favourite music album by the great German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter who performed her repertoire at a night club , "The Yellow Lounge" in Berlin, Germany.
It's available on youtube if you would like to watch as it last just over 30 minutes. )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vKA8LW8NxI
On the DVD, I’m topless
And relaxing in the pool
With a metal bucket in my hand,
Too young for ridicule.
While in other scenes I toddle
Or get jiggled for a smile
And I get to rock some outfits
Showing off a sense of style.
“Family Movies” is the title
Put together by my bro.
What a kick to see some relatives,
Their younger selves aglow.
All my grands and even Zaide*
Plus my uncles and my aunts
Laugh and mug so that the camera
Can record each circumstance…
While, along with several cousins,
I clap hands or sit and stare
At the future that awaits us,
Of which we are unaware.
*Yiddish for grandfather but in this
case, my great-grandfather (pronounced
“Zay-dee”)
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