The company doesn't make them anymore.
It was supposed to be a gas saver.
So, believing it to be a good buy,
I put up the 5000 dollars.
But never again.
It wasn't about the dollars.
It wasn't about the style.
It wasn't about the color.
It wasn't about the size.
It was really about location.
And it really was about me.
But never again.
It could perform well in the flatlands;
But it was a flop in the hilly places.
At first, I was upset with the car.
But later, I was annoyed with myself.
And I learned my lesson on economizing.
I bought several vehicles over the years,
And learned a thing or two about cars.
I don't often say 'Never', but about this,
Never again.
Raging tornadoes
coursing the land
They enter our psyches
low pressure at hand
To flatten our tinder
and rip out its studs
Our entry and exit
left deep in the mud
They hail from the flatlands
of thoughts we disperse
And leave in a cyclone
of verses they curse
Attempting to stop them
we close our eyes tight
But ears bid them access
— to welcome their blight
(The New Room: July, 2026)
Home is down south and a little to the west
Where the flatlands,dusts, and winds are the very best,
Inside Texas resides the place of Lubbock
Where the sky and earth are a nice russet,
To live inside the bustling city
With the restaurants, shops, and big college building
Or out in the outskirts of town,
Where the farmers plant crops in the earth that’s dark brown,
Although it may not be a thrilling place to be,
It is what I call home and it means the world to me.
Damp linens flung aside
sodden cushions
Flank by flank
She was damp
Nickel sack and bark rings
Verdant gaze meet hazel orbs
Ripe late April Northern Flatlands moisture
Slaughterhouse savory mist perfume
Slender dull rose covering on the pane
Cooling unit recirculating
Coral beams groom her visage
Midday vernal noon
the drizzle ceased the light slivered in
Naked gourd blossoms adhesive juice
Lurching brined
The toddler flesh on her abdomen
She didn’t cleanse
Just exited my one-room lodging
Infatuation perspiration,
Empty uterus,
Pixie sperm dribbling,
Contraceptive device
Marriage band fabricator.
The sun is getting hotter now,
And snow begins to thaw.
A trickle of water runs down.
Soon, it finds its usual track.
One may call it a stream,
But soon, it swells and starts to tumble
Over the rocks, carving its landscape
Only to join other streams downhill.
It swells into a tumbling river,
Divide into parts, run to a water mill,
With a force to grind the wheat.
The other pours into flatlands,
Where occasionally small lakes form
And living nutrients abound.
Survival depends on strength.
Snails, water fleas and shrimps
Become the food of predators.
Roaches, pikes and other fish
Make heyday of their food.
But they are not the rulers of the river.
Let man find such lakes and ponds.
A large fishing rod and tasty bait
An attraction for the various fish.
Men make a lovely lunch with their catch.
The land lies
Chilled and stilled.
Whether flatlands
Or rolling hills.
Damp, cold, and alone;
She doesn't feel at home.
It's hard to feel at home
Where warmth and purpose seem
To be in decline or have departed.
The land knows that she was made to yield;
To yield grain, nuts, fruits, and vegetables.
But when she gives pause and thought,
She realizes that she's right at home.
She surrenders herself to a state of rest,
And when thought upon, she no longer feels
Bored and alone, but very much at home.
She becomes pleased that yesterday's yields
Are being utilized and feasted upon. So, she
Reclines and anticipates the yields of Spring.
She can't wait for the sprouting seeds and blossoming
trees. But until then, the lifeline of the land's present
season will thrive on patience, trust, sleep, and anticipation.
010624PS
Hey Giraffe, I wonder how tall you are!
In height no other animal, on par
You're the tallest of all seen so far
Though not popular, to me you're a star
Some think you are lean and lanky
But I love you as you're never cranky
None can accuse you of being whacky
Shall I call you by the name Jackie?
You can reach up to any tall tree
Everywhere you can roam free
On flatlands you're rarely seen grazing
With your long neck you're amazing!
Love to watch you with your head up in sky,
Chewing green leaves stationed high.
Flanked with a coat of tawny spots,
Skillfully God has assembled your parts.
given a double whammy
they wanted to double down
on double talk
in the
torrid gust
the summer solstice
its sundry insectile eyes
seething with sultry scorn
in this weather channeled
source of telegenic storms
seasonal shifts are
lost in translation
poisoned neural flowers
the root of
rotting neurosis
the Earth becomes
Venusian
profoundly tragic
hypersonic horses
fly out of the digital barn
they sail over the
northern hemisphere
firing blinding arrows
into the dead brains
The Tropic of Cancer
and Capricorn
relax in the tropics
the Sun lords it
over the equator
precession calmly proceeds
(23.44° is the Magic Number)
all is well
in the best of all
possible
flatlands
Beautiful View?
Through the transparent glass in my window I stare,
Among flatlands, the sight of a hill is quite rare.
At last, in my view, a small mountain, no stump...
Magical still, though it’s the city-owned dump!
Contest Name: “Your Best Four-Line Light Verse, No.2 Poetry Contest
I come up from down the mountain
Where the sky is always green
And the trees are a showy pink
Up toward the valley down there.
Often I seldom wonder how
Cat fishes can fly so high
While the birds swim gayly past
Going up river while I raft down.
I come up from the mountain
In the flatlands of Appalachia
Where cattle swim in birdbaths
We toss cowpies like frisbees.
The grass is purple in the field
The roots of the oaks grow high
So we pick our acorns off the ground
And spend our summer swatting flies.
written July 11, 2021
for "Word Play Poems" Poetry Contest
sponsored by John Anderson
"Silken Planes"
Simplicity in silken planes
Silence took a flight of fancy
Sensate entranced me
"Flatlands" / Lannegan & Wolfe
https://youtu.be/pq47_j82iEo
"Flatlands" / Lannegan & Wolfe, Lyrics
https://genius.com/Mark-lanegan-flatlands-lyrics
LUX VITAE
BELIEVE
https://youtu.be/xubCItLvNhE
Snowbound roads and cold flatlands Eastern shores blowing Hurricane fans Hot and sweaty in the Gulf Plenty of storms makes you tough
Fires, floods, and smooth western tans
08292018PoetrySoupContest, Celebrity Limerick, Tania Kitchin
7,9,7,7.7
low looming clouds drape
rich fertile furrows
loaded with buried tulip bulbs
launching necessary nourishment
to carefully cultivated beds
scores of fresh Spring blooms
arise in symphonic, harmonic accord
awakening serene landscape...
blanketing verdant flatlands
with sheets of vibrant colors
for a brusque season
I pause in awe
at Earth's lavish artistry
utterly bewildered
I stood by the nightfall
of stilly midsummer
withering away
with my
westward companion
the glimmering light
of former fears
and penitent pocketbook
faded in a distance
and the imperious presage
of perfunctory morrow
drifted with driftwood
into the vast greenish seas
then the evening was renewed
with foliage flavor
willows and poplars
entwined and enthralled
and according to accordion
divine divers live in flatlands
Where the fields meet the sky,
Where ears of golden corn reach high
And winding tree-lined lanes pass by,
See the flatlands which stretch away
On a sunny, blue-sky day
With wind-blown, snow-white clouds at play.
Where sounds of Summer fill the air
And showers sprinkle water where
Young flowers flourish without care.
Where daylight overcomes the dark
To welcome the ascending lark
Whose song is England's living spark.
Country beauty fills all the view
With shades of green and golden hue
And scents of fragrant blossom too.
Old men sit here and reminisce
About those bygone days they miss,
Evenings spent in Bury and Diss.
Suffolk countryside lies at rest,
Of all East Anglia the best,
Constable-country treasure chest.
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