my identical twin sister is well-loved in a small town
she has been a nurse to most of the inhabitants
Corydon, Iowa where the average age is 72.
They all ran to her house when she fell off a ladder.
I am not sure what got them there
A scream? A thud? Or inquisitive neighbors looking out windows
But the ambulance pulled up and could barely get through the throng
There are 2800 people in Corydon
Most of them were surrounding my sister
Falling off a ladder in a small town
Different than falling off a ladder anywhere else
The ads and displays are everywhere
crowding entries and doorways.
There are even commercials on monitors—
I can’t escape.
I rush in for a few items and conversation
but choices offered seem bigger than life.
Signs that say save and save
implore that you spend more.
I pass by an aisle of more types
of bread than I could imagine
leading to a myriad of types
of peanut butter.
I must confess I couldn’t find
the peanut butter with jelly
that delighted my tongue
when I worked long, hot days
with construction crews
some other time and place.
Every small town I passed
nestled along narrow highways
had a name on a water tower
as it pierced the sky.
I long to go to a quiet place
and list my memories
a collage of the life
I’ve known.
Run, hurry up it's falling
The hope
A brighter future
Youths yelling
Yelling from season
To season
Without seizing
Inflation
Price
Tag
Rising
Each
Dawn without hope
For deflation
What goes up
Must surely
Comes down
Christ
Broke
The
Law
Gravity
Risen
Ascending
Just like
The
Phoenix
From
Ash
Nothing
To
Everything
Prayers,
Hope of
The youths
Better days
Bigger
Picture
Emerged
So
Pray
AMEN
I made it to vacation then it was all downhill after that
I told myself that you were off limits
I promised that I would not fall
But I lost that battle early on
With each joke and laugh we share, the less I want to hang on.
The edge is drawing near.
I don't want to fall, but I'm not ready to jump
My lifeline is growing shorter,
Each laugh is like a gravitational pull
I can't hold on much longer
The reason why I won't jump is replaced with an encouraging one.
The water is shallow and I know that
A leap of faith is all it takes
I keep drawing back, letting fear take over
I can't be scared forever can I?
To keep fighting makes me weak, but you give me the strength
One day I will let go, but how do I know that you'll be there to catch me if I fall?
Little do I know, I fell a long time ago.
Shhh! quietly I nodded off nearly sleeping;
Hush!! Dogs barking outside reeling;
While I nodded nearly napping;
Mom looks at me as I’m breathing heavily;
While I nodded nearly sleeping;
While I nodded well-nigh sleeping;
Fell, fallen off the chair yet still sleeping;
Sleeping while I nodded nearly;
While I nodded nearly sleeping;
So I nodded still well-nigh sleeping;
As I am falling to the floor intimately sleeping;
1/7/20
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. ©2020
Life on Earth was marvellous
It lifted me high in the sky
Explorations around I made
Happiness was at apex
Mandated to fall off, I got shaky
The world altered thoroughly
Thorns have developed in all lands
Will the prickles blunt one day?
Poem by Mugisho N Theophile
J-ust easy as falling off a log,
E-verything is simple to do;
S-o smooth to operate,
S-o soft to handle too.
A-s easy as falling off a log,
M-oving on isn't difficult;
A-fter the heartache and pain,
E-yes glow with the result.
O-n the twenty-fourth of July,
R-ising sun clears the fog;
I-n just a few minutes,
E-asy as falling off a
L-og.
Infatuation is what it's sometimes called
You can give it any name you'd like
I call it love, pure love sweet love
It's as easy as falling off a bike
No need for any special instructions
But your heart must be willing to share
All or even just a part of your heart
Almost everyone has love to spare
Nothing's really more important in life
It's the engine that turns our wheel
Can't think of anything that even comes close
For passion, for intensity, for zeal
Take it from me, an extremely sensitive male
Who loves life and the joys it brings
Once you discover the true meaning of life
You find all year round is spring
© Jack Ellison 2013
In the past during many a generation,
a horse has been used for transportation.
Usually obedient animals not needing a goad,
they are quite strong, and can pull a heavy load.
Horseback riding is a past time many know.
On a country trail, it’s the way to go.
Sometimes, horses are animals with a mind of their own.
If they don’t like a rider, that person can be thrown.
Horses can be insubordinate and very fickle.
If you fall off a horse, it doesn’t tickle.
These creatures can be a very faithful friend.
However, they can cause injury that may be hard to mend.
I struggled to be who I couldn't be...
I skipped over puddles that I couldn't see...
On the one last star that I had in your sky, I fell
off and and faded like so many goodbyes...
I tried to wave but the shadows hid my cries...
And stood invisble in a world with tattered why's...
So I floated away into the darkness like falling time...
And I only hoped I wasn't forgotten and that my
memory would remain kind...
Nothing was left as we were lying in bed.
She looked in my eyes "It doesn't hurt anymore."
These; the saddest words she ever said.
No more tears, she doesn't care enough to cry. I begged her to love me. I begged her to lie.
Now i'm on my knees in the street. Rain pouring in slow motion. Drop after drop, from my head to my feet.
I see her shadow in the window. She knows the edge i walk. The needle awaits, the
foundation is burning. She hands me the key, but i smash the lock.
My sweet sweet poison. My blue river flow. I caress oblivion, while I wait for a vein to show.
Oh... god. Now its done. 10 Years wasted. Happiness truly is a warm gun.
She was my drug. My habitual partner, my junkie love.
Its all dead to me now.
I march in the liquid parade.
I laugh at god and ask him if he needs saved.
I see it now, in the failure i sow.
Beautiful colors and sickness in tow.
This is my horizon.
My crystal lined sky shattering upon the wreckage below.
It's a little scary
These things that are going on
Like my CD player turning
itself on,
Or the excess noise from
the people upstairs.....
I live in a trailer, so how
could this be?
The CD player went on twice
Something wrong with me?
I wasn't even in the room
when the music started up
Next time something odd happens,
I'm fleeing like a frightened pup...
Is my trailer haunted?
Or my mind has finally left?
Did someone steal my senses?
Who's responsible for the theft?
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