Listen……hear
the distant hum
of early morning traffic
on Westgate Bridge,
a chorus of birdsong
and that eastbound
aeroplane flying high
overhead en route
to Wellington
or Christchurch.
The clink of rigging
on those moored boats
riding a passing wake,
nearby footsteps,
the tap of a stick,
the jingle of a spoon
inside an empty
coffee cup.
Voices spilling out
of an open window,
someone blowing
their nose,
the scrape
of a soapy squeegee
across a cafe door
and on the edge
of hearing,
the deep throb
of a ferry casting off
from the end
of Williamstown pier.
How wonderful it is
for all these sounds
to have found
a way to my ear.
The thing I do to be nearer to him,
Commuting even in weather so grim.
The things I do to have more acceptance,
Cleaning his home for a much better chance.
The bus I go northbound in drives down memory lane,
As I reminisce about what he and I once were, in silent pain.
The bus I go eastbound with shows me where he's recently been,
As I daydream of a future wish I deeply hold within.
The commute may not always feel worth it,
But I want to show him I love him every bit.
The way home always fills me with sorrow,
But I always know there is another tomorrow.
The things I do for him, despite coming and going,
It is because it is him whom I will never stop loving.
The things I go through for him doesn't make him obligated,
But the least I hope for is my love is one day reciprocated.
I frowned when I found my new pup was gone,
so, I searched all around for my little foxhound,
listening with profound intensity until dawn.
I was gowned but changed; headed to the pound,
in the eastbound lane that would take me there.
I yelled to expound, '"There's no time to spare!"
Traffic moved slowly, so I found a way round it,
now westbound, my nerves were coiled and wound.
I stopped at a campground and called his name, "Jit!"
I heard no barks or mewling. Not a single sound.
Pup, where are you? Hiding behind a hill or mound?
Did you dig holes in the ground, earthy and browned?
Pup, if you're lost, in salty tears I would be drowned.
Fears abound that I would never see his face again.
My spirits low, not much further can they be downed.
I heard, "Woof!" and my heart beat in quick refrain...
Quickly, Jit ran to me, faster than a racing greyhound!
All this time he'd been asleep in my car's backseat.
My pup continues to astound me with kisses so sweet.
He follows me everywhere, hoping for a doggie treat!
~ April 26, 2022 ~
Nursery Rhyme 3 Contest
Sponsored by Eve Roper
A man, quite renowned, came into our town;
He tried to expound on matters profound.
He frowned when he found as he tried to expound:
drowned by the sound of a hound in the town.
This was indeed a hound most renowned!
The sound from this hound, when on a rebound,
knocks a man down in a mound on the ground.
He looked all 'round: northbound, southbound, eastbound, westbound.
Nowhere he looked could that loud sound be found:
the fairground, the playground, the foreground, the background.
Finally he found himself down at the pound.
A foxhound, a coonhound, a bloodhound, a greyhound:
all of these hounds could be found at the pound,
but none of the hounds made that kind of sound.
A boy came around and said while he frowned,
his puppy was wound up, would not settle down.
"Your little dog too! Ha, ha," he clowned.
A little chihuahua made all of that sound?
Well, he dropped his jaw when he heard the chihuahua.
Now, he expounds on this hound most renowned.
----------
For the Nursery Rhyme 3 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Eve Roper
Written on 04/14/2022
for Jim*
Equinox is past, yet the wind
blows cold. From a veranda swing
he watches pansies, daisies, snapdragons
color-up his garden; Smoky Mountains
so far distant he cannot see. He hears
the eastbound train echo warning. Rain
tomorrow.
*My late husband was born in the hills of North Carolina. Among his people was a belief that when the air was so calm and clear that the sound of the whistle of a train was amplified and echoed loudly, the sound was a harbinger of rain.
In 1970 Jim moved from North Carolina to SW Washington state. He lived there until his death in 2011, but once in a while he became homesick for his home in the Great Smoky Mountains.
The desert sands blow soft and warm
As wispy clouds begin to swarm.
I watch the skies for signs of rain
To ready for a springtime storm.
My mind is numb, my soul in pain;
My love is on an eastbound train.
The joy of cool April days
Has turned now dusty, brown and plain.
The sun swirls through in gloomy rays
That often last for days and days.
And while at night I hide inside,
Coyotes howl while moonlight plays.
My eyes now burn as long I cried;
They're red of rim but long on pride.
I don't want anyone to know
She broke my heart with one lone ride.
So days pass by now hot and slow,
And why she left I'll never know.
As loneliness will grow and age,
My soul absorbs a fatal blow.
But loneliness made me a sage
While I sat in this lonely cage.
So I must learn to turn the page,
Then climb back up upon the stage.
"Now,Red, no doubt you are a handsome man."
Said in a throaty voice behind her fan.
"We both know you're a cowboy through and through.
I need a man at home and that ain't you."
"You'll be in some new, faroff cattle town -
I'll be here with the kids holdin' 'em down."
She kissed him lightly and strolled out the door.
Took an eastbound train and was seen no more.
Red drank his beer and scratched beneath his hat.
He said, "Bartender, who the hell was that?"
3/21/2017
Her voice dropped to a saucy tone
She spoke behind her fan.
She said, "Now, Red, don't get me wrong-
You are a handsome man.
"You're a drifter as we both know,
A cowboy through and through.
I need a man who's always there
We both know that ain't you.
"You've got to be where cattle go,
The world's an open range -
I wish there was another way
I know you'll never change.
"You'll be in some saloon somewhere,
In some new cattle town,
An' I'll be here just raisin' kids,
Tryin' to hold 'em down.
"So just be sweet an' let me go,
An' I'll walk out of here.
I'll find someone and so will you
An' we'll be friends, my dear."
She turned and left that dim saloon
Went through the swingin' door
She took an Eastbound train that day
Was never seen no more
Now Red turned to the bartender
An' scratched beneath his hat
"Texas is hard on womenfolk -
Just who the hell was that?"
April, 2016
He was her golden ticket out of that one horse town....
Behind that U-haul was her '79 Pinto and they were heading Eastbound....
He was a blond haired pretty boy who could tell her nothing but his lies....
She was just a kid of 19 with big dreams in her green eyes...
She worked 2 jobs to pay the rent and hoped he would remember to come home....
He would stumble in around 3 am with that smile and say " sorry honey, I couldn't find a phone"...
As time went by and more lies followed, she started to not come home...
Now it was finally her turn to smile and say " sorry honey, I couldn't find a phone"....
Poet: Ken Jordan
The night I found myself -
It was on March 26, 2006.
While traveling home from
work,
on interstate 80 eastbound at
Cherry Glen Rd. in Vacaville.
My car rolled over three times
in
a severe rainstorm, and rested
on it's roof about fifty yards
from
the initial rollover.
That's the night my life
changed forever, God has a
way of humbling
us.
I said okay God, you saved me
for a reason, I submit my spirit,
and soul to you. I will follow
you all the days of my life.
Now I walk in the light of
spirituality,
and every since that near fatal
night,
God has blessed me over, and
over
again with my health situation,
and
so much more.
I'm here for a reason, so happy
that
I found myself on March 26,
2006.
Lightning, lightning flash so bright lighting e'ery corner of night
Thunder, thunder from the sky rock me from my beddie bye
Rain drop, rain drop falling down saturate the thirsty ground
Windy wind whipping around tossing things west now eastbound
Tree branch, tree branch waving free knock out electricity
Darkness, darkness fills the house causing me to gripe and grouse
Flicker, flicker candlelight the time I wish you'd expedite
Onward, onward toward the hour when there once again be power
Kitty, kitty in the corner why so sad why play the mourner?
Soon oh soon this storm will pass ending your desperate morass
Lightning, thunder, rain and wind I wish your bane I could rescind
I'm the woman behind the man behind the wheel
Let's Giddy -Up-Go My phantom 309
Give me forty acres Eighteen wheels And a dozen roses
For this is a trucker's last ride Eastbound Westbound
Let's start us a Convoy I know there's a love story
in the making under the bright Kansas City lights
Roll on Big Mama This is your Teddy Bear from
the old home filler up and keep Cafe
Just put the hammer down and
let's see how fast them a trucks can a go
For Mama knows the highway And the girl
on the billboard too Rolling past on a trucking cafe
With my big wheels in the moonlight Rolling me
away from you For I'm a truck driving Mama
Looking for someone else I once knew
{ Over and I'm Goneeee } LOL
Tribute To
Our Truckers
Of The Roads
Also a song
again working on lol
"one day you must leave us,"
he was cautioned as a boy-
"to become a student in the city
perchance you should return here
a rich man or a priest"
as autumn waltzed with winter
the fields rose tall again
that child, all but a man now
frowned upon things outgrown
and saddled father's mare
the eastbound rail line led him down
lurching thousand lonely miles
into the jaws of metropolis
where heaven diminished
in a hazy, orange halo
wary souls called to him dimly
from cold brick roads and alleyways
through the double-doors of old town tavern
drawn in by distant strumming tunes-
the buzz and hum of low country blues
These eyes afire
of Heaven desire
greet the hand of Jesus
Receive the wings made by Him
World yawning
children mocking
WHY THE HELL SHOULD I STAY HERE,ANYWAY
Pointing their middle finger at my eye
Of what more this Old Gentleman has to say
Cackling folk
Think that my poems are a joke
Parading around me with syringes
Always their hand in that powder of coke
I am looking yonder to leave
Earth forever
Twilight station to receive
One more Soul
On an Eastbound train
God's Kingdom forever
Goodbye Earth and Pain
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.