I'm very good at it
-- running that is:
Most my adult life
seems to have been
a treadmill of sorts:
Morning Gush. Got to love
those subway jousts! All us
elbow warriors fencing for
optimum position, wanting
fast entrance and propelled
retreat.
Elevating to the running-board of
city sidewalks and streets...step to the flow
or be bowled over, trampled upon. Tires, Florsheim, Nike, high heels~
They all mark deeply!
(Evening rush escape no less a trek)
Joggers make me laugh
heartily! Roadside exhibitionists,
inhaling deeply everyone’s
filth. I swear, that If there are
schedules and timetables in heaven,
God inadvertently has given
the Devil but another tempting card
to play.
"Not everyone who drinks is a poet ... some of us drink because we're NOT poets" - Dudley Moore, "Arthur"
Not all poets are lonely and envied, apart,
Broken, dark souls straining for light, outspoken and proud.
Not all musicians struggle with substance,
Or the need to be introverted exhibitionists, misunderstood.
Not all artists are quiet, brooding spirits,
Searching for answers in the intoxicated arms of promiscuity.
Not all bards are creative genius savants,
Pressed to the pulse of passion, fools for a provocative smile.
And not all multi-talents dance for demons
Under the wan of a mocking moon, resolving life with ellipses.
But if you look, feel and listen very closely ...
There are still, for stasis' sake, a foolish few of us, remaining ...
No star demure, all glow secure.
Astral exhibitionists
glint for full sheen of their own gleam.
Unabashed, stars flaunt their allure.
Quote 1: “The stars are not afraid to appear like fireflies.”
Valentine’s Day:
The annual sabbath of pacifists,
exhibitionists, and abiders,
conflated into a single wilting of wills,
destined to the jaws of a shredder,
or landfill,
blocking the visibility and scent
of sustenance for buzzards
and other parasitic organisms,
designed to sustain
the ecological balance of decay,
when if forgotten,
will leave one
in a similar state of graces
with the non-recipient
of manufactured gestures.
So don’t forget the impassioned poetry
stenciled across
a stock photo of strangers,
or the waxy bister
of formed chocolates,
or you might find yourself
listed among the outcasts
who take a break from love
on Valentine’s Day.
You reinvented me
giving me a rebel's energy,
providing license for my love to sing
the touch of your soul meaning everything,
From us wild words arose
speaking of history and stars we chose,
expecting too much of Destiny
venturing on through wilderness and purity,
Inspiration innocent in it's infliction
made us bleed for need of salted affection,
exhibitionists with effrontery for the eyes of etiquette
expressionism unfolding humanism from stellar grit,
When wisdom had no mercy
she was a woman feminine in fury,
wanting to be stronger than truth
when I said I love you she demanded no proof,
All she wanted was a pretty poem
poetry that brings happiness home,
so we made substance of swagger
feeding life gold mined from passion's matter -
J.A.B.
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.