Merit is where merit’s found,
Nor by convention bound;
Not from the hallowed halls alone,
Nor from the pathways tried and known,
But from the wilderness shall come,
Of odd construction, as think some;
For truth shall tutor such as seek it,
Though their semblance may not speak it,
As with Tesla, passing strange,
Nut to wit, he filled the range;
For, at times, the world must turn
Upon a patent clerk in Bern,
And greatly knowledge had been tardy,
Had Ramanujan had no Hardy.
Merit is where merit’s found:
Be careful, then, to look around.
I don’t tell you what I think
What drives me mad and to the brink:
Annoying people, noise and trash
And total strangers who are brash
Gold-digging women, joke that’s bad
And lack of money, latest fad
The losing team, increase in tolls
Plan for the country full of holes
Inflation, markets, kids who’re rude
My job is where I’m being screwed
Potholes, education boards
Retirement I’m looking towards
Newspaper nonsense, fish I lost
And life’s increasing daily cost
Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z et al
And daily traffic brought to crawl
Fake news, my weight and balding spot
Disliked Netflix with stupid plot
It’s Russia, China, Arabs, war
And whining how things were before
About borders, crime and health
The envy of somebody’s wealth
Oh, fancy meals with crazy tags
The marriage path that zigs and zags
The dog that barks and price of bread
And something CNN have said
Racism, politician’s crap
Them modern cars are total scrap
It’s rain, snow, tornado, ice
Long lines for phone with highest price
You don’t need me tell these things
Where Facebook, YouTube, X are kings
May 29, 2025
RAPHAELISTA
literary
stylized
symbols
highly
elaborated
in
extreme
detail
of wet white
in
bright
colours
CONCEPTUALISTA
impenetrable
fascinations
signified
ever
in transition
of the trivial
visions
validated
with
unnerving
perverse
provocations
subversive
& startling
extremes
generated
to view
inspire
awaken
surprise
of
one mind
into another
Diluted ink blots
splashed
in random
spontaneity
mingles with
in improvised
doodles
of white
writing
soak-stained
sponges
wet colour
in compulsive
spiked
abstractions
of looping
layers
from memory's
drawer
initiatives
to sparkle
as
conception
a convincing
illusion
powerfully
elaborated
a vigorous
scene
initiates
a
complex analysis
so visual
&
appreciated
in a
wondrous manner
humankind
'neath
the
divine
disclosed
the
unique
renaissance
of a pieta piece,
tactile touched
Frescos,
paint bright
fresh as yesterday
the
stupendous
suspended above
in space
multifaceted
&gifted
by God's grace.
a
painted
'dreamlike unreality'
stunning perspective
sublime
& so poetic
so stylistically
diverse
looking down
visionary
of earthly
life
mysterious
in every detail
a lonely genius
mused
by fierce
inspirations
tearing
imaginations asunder
visions
abstracted
delicate
of a willing mind
art
so sublime
prolific
persistent
intense obtuse
picturing
nature's scream
trembling anxiety
expressed of a dream
an hallucinatory
single inflection
to give some meaning
to life
DEBORAH &CO
Women of the world may
lead,teach and oversee.
Deborah a leader upon God’s
call with Miriam & Esther ,
females to name the famou three.
In later times these four
Anna,Phoebe,Priscilla
& Junia and many more
all freed by Jesus’
from patriarchal law.
In Him we see neither Greek
Gentile male female or the unfree.
Inspired by Gal 2:28 and Gen 2:18
I tried to thank Lisa Ricci for her friendship ... Cybermonsters ate all I wrote.
So, to recap:
Lisa Ricci Ricci Ricci
Namasthe Namasthe Namasthe
ShalOm shalom shalom
I'm rich with l. Ricci as penpal
From Rhode island to south Africa
Despite the miles, years fewer smiles
NOTE: this PS site now gavectwo copies if the above post. I deleted one,OL! COMPENSATION?
If it can happen for me,
it can happen for you
If it can happen for you,
it can happen for me
When it happens for us,
it happens for all
When it happens for all
—the world is set free
(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2019)
To Winkin’
Blinkin’
and of course nod.
In terms of
symmetry
prose and
shish kabob.
The tricks and twirls
and polar light;
the flip and flare and star
of kiddy sleepless night
can rip and roar
and rankle up
a juicy fight,
in the twinkle of an eye.
Forget wit and woe
and places to and fro and
things obscure in fuzzy
wuzzy lights to
swing and sway in
wrinkled tights
or sit boldly still
daring you to
a contest of will
hanging in a drop
of drool falling from
yon wounded whipporwill.
Will he will or will he won’t, or
do the thing we don’t?
I see again in terms
of symmetry you see.
But mostly for the rhyme
I hear inside the room
just made for me
in terms of speech and
in the song of my
sweet cooing babe.
© 9/17/2016
Charles G. Henderson
There is a devil they call Jealousy,
he hides behind many faces you see:
One is driven to envy,
the next gets so haughty;
and the other's made childishly bitchy.
There is a demon tormentedly jealous,
his ways that beguile are insidious.
His wrath knows no bounds,
he’ll destroy those around;
his words aimed to hurt and quite callous.
To one I give warning, still with some grace,
the Jealousy devil who wears poet’s face:
Enough with your thievery
of fine prose and poetry;
your plagiarized poems do not deserve space!
04 September 2015
SKAT A's Jealousy Contest
THIS IS JUST A PUBLIC THANK YOU FOR MAKING ME FEEL SO GOOD
AND AT LAST, IN LARGER NUMBERS, BEING UNDERSTOOD
I WRITE WHAT I FEEL AS YOU ALL DO
AND THAT'S WHY I THANK YOU
MY NUMBERS HAVE INCREASED EXPONENTIALLY
AND THIS HAPPENED SUDDENLY
THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER PEOPLE I WANT TO THANK
AND YOU CAN TAKE THAT TO THE BANK
BUT REMEMBER, WHATEVER YOU TAKE COULD END UP IN MY ACCOUNT
BECAUSE I'VE GOT A LEAGUE OF HURDLES TO MOUNT
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH, KEEP READING ME IF YOU'D LIKE
I KNOW I'D LIKE IT
AND REMEMBER Y'ALL---BE COOL AND BE NO ONE'S PHOOL
THANKS AGAIN, VIA CON DIOS
P.S. THERE'S ONE LADY WHO I KNOW IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MY LARGER NUMBERS, SHE KNOWS WHO SHE IS BECAUSE I AM HER SHADOW....THANKS GIRL (EXCEPT I THINK THIS TALENTED WRITER ISN'T POSTING SO SHE PROBABLY WON'T EVEN READ THIS, BUT I WISH SHE COULD BECAUSE I OWE SO MUCH TO HER COMMENTS THAT SPUR MY POETRY AND CHALLENGE ME TO WRITE TO PLEASE ONLY HER, BECAUSE IF SHE DIGS IT, SO WILL A LOT OF PEOPLE..I BELIEVE THAT.....EVEN IF I'M TALKING TO A GHOST, THANKS GIRL ~f!~
Hail friend and fellow well met!
Are ye inspired yet Taz?
Are ye ready to post one yet?
With your usual pizzazz?
Well perhaps if we goad you,
And your boss unloads you,
You’ll both write; you and your love,
If, you know,. push comes to shove.
So I’m offering a prayer,
For y’all over there,
That you become unwired,
And therefore inspired.
Both of your talents are missed,
And that’s just one of the list,
in the Soup of things that you bring
About which we can sing.
Try to post one once in a while,
Along with your Josh juvenile,
We enjoy your poems and his too,
Now, at least for the time being,
.. this poem is through.
A tribute to our Poetry Soup friends, Richard Pickett (Taz)
and Mary Meade Stephenson.
Famine Foretold
(Stalin, 1930, 30 million, and Mao Tse Tung 1960, 42 million, et al)
The land is the lord of men who live
Near yellow and lime-green fields,
Who plant it and till it and gladly give
All their toil, for crops it yields.
Dictators forced them to the modern way,
Profaning ancestral farms,
The land did avenge itself one day
With the prophesied, ancient harms.
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