You stay here, you're gonna die. Not all at once, but little by little. Eventually, you'll become as hollow as I am.*
Wished upon a falling star,
tried to catch the rainbow’s end,
bought all kinds of lucky charms,
but love always passed me by
outside the place where I dwell
in perpetual dreaming
under a torn paper moon.
* Vic Fontaine (James Darren), “It’s Only a Paper Moon, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine S07 E10, 1998
Je meurs de seuf auprés de la fontaine ...
I die of thirst beside the fountainhead,
and am least seen where most I am displayed.
Shadows are my substance. I am paid
in ghostly coin to counterfeit the dead.
Under a sagging sky, my dreams are fed
on winds blown far from lands where time has ceased,
in which alone still lives a present, pieced
together from the leavings of instead.
Where most my strength is needed, force has fled,
and those I’ve aided offer me no aid,
and wanting’s self is caged by having, weighed
down hopelessly in place by wings of lead.
Where most I hunger, I am nourished least,
a silent specter famished at the feast.
-------------------------------------------------------------
“Sadness flies away on the wings of time.”
—Jean De La Fontaine
...................................................
Heavy is this gray cloud above our heads,
Its weight like stone, it bows our shoulders low.
The robe of joy we wore is torn to shreds,
We're clothed in tears, in despair, ache, and woe,
Yet still we crave good hearts to love and care.
This yoke we bear clings tight like second skin,
Its presence felt in every breath we take.
Memories we thought were buried within
Still rise and pull us under when we wake,
Our hearts exposed—so empty and stripped bare.
But time erased our sadness, eased the pain,
The scar too faint for even eyes to see.
Now joy returns in true love’s gentle rain,
Its warmth and laughter set our spirits free,
The love it brings now shines with fun and flair.
Thor did not live up to his name
He was skinny, weak a petite Fontaine
Wren, his brother was a Herculean guy
Brawny and strapping, he caught many an eye
How did you get their names so wrong?
I asked their mother, Mrs. Wong.
Thor weighed ten at birth, Wren weighed three.
A cruel joke God played on me.
It was a sizzling summer of electric blues and vibrant hues
in a garden full of flowers inked in plushy spanking reds
a wall of buttress wood splashed with vines of green
a purple morning glory with a touch of dewy sheen
over by a mossy pond a mandarin duck of orangey blue
The sun turns amber like a big fat shimmering coin of gold
in a sky that often blushes fuchsia, pink, by a cloud's enfold
emerald blades of grass behind a white striped skunk
a gradient shade of orange, from a Siberian chipmunk
here by the royal blue bench, a vibrant peacock fans bold
It is a season of rainbow colored rain and red electric trains
in a terrace full of trellises of white, roses bright as Spain
blooming with vigor inside my bright oasis
happily connected to a Revlon kiss,
of cherry berry merry, on a girl named Mary Lou Fontaine
“A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.” – Jean de La Fontaine
Trials amid tribulation
failures, gradual adaptations
life a series of grafts
some taking, others left for dead
a simple weave
making their way thru your head
stitches try to make scars
more bearable
but the shameful still bleed
from within
where are you my destiny
as I battle life alone in this bed?
stars have come out tonight
and music begins to play
sync my soul with happenstance
our future sits at bay
sip slowly from her chalice
don't let this one slip away
dreams aren't meant for dying
let the living excite the day
POETIC JUSTICE
There was an old man from Fontaine
Who walked with aid of a cane
One night he was mugged
By a wannabe thug
In the graveyard, the thug was lain
11 April 2018
For the contest sponsored by Viv Wigley
last night I slept in a closet
with my coat made of tangerine desires
and visions of distant permafrost
last night I remembered
white noise in her voice
buried hopeless in a bureau of disdain
the apartment on rue Fontaine
has fallen into disrepair
embraced by anarchist movement
embraced by emerald seaweed
embraced by quicksand swirl
embraced by golden doll hair
and transformed itself
into the roar inside the hourglass
last night I slept in a foxhole
with ace of spades stuck in my teeth
with joker hidden in my sleeve
last night I woke up to the music
of orchestra playing at the riverbed
to the cry from the valley of the rivets
there is no time for purple parables
as rocking chairs bring eyes to my tears
they bring the winds of mortal gestures
they bring the equations
they bring the reveries
while my co-existence
remains a mystery
Monsieur L'Vampyre - FONTAINE DE JEUNESS
MONSIEUR L'VAMPYRE - fountain of youth
Into the night, committed to my way,
in sheer delight, and freed from light of day,
I bring no ray of hope for you
if tears are what you're coming to,
and if you're hoping love will ever stay.
I bring the passion! Love that's made from heat
and only physical, but never indiscreet,
if you'll allow my teeth to set
onto your neck, you'll not forget
acknowledging your life's been incomplete.
When it's all said and done, I'll leave you cold
but never will I leave you growing old,
and what's come from my loving bite
has brought the end, to your delight,
of all the death to which your soul's been sold.
A Question to La Fontaine
Was the ant free from debt to the cicada?
If she could live to work without a song,
Then her life was hardly worth living;
And let her gather to eat,
And eat to die.
If, on the other head,
She only garnered better
And the more provisions made
Because he sang to the world,
and her,
On his grass-blade,
Then the more to him she owed,
As part of her harvest
Was his
Who, too, had sowed.
Tunis, 2000
Born in Philadelphia as James William Ercolani,
James Darren quickly became a celebrity.
Hit songs include “Goodbye Cruel World” and “Her Royal Majesty”.
In films and television, he gained great popularity.
He played “Tony Newman” in “The Time Tunnel” for a year.
As “James Corrigan” on “T. J. Hooker”, he would appear.
Recently, he starred in a role that was fine.
This was as “Vic Fontaine” in “Star Trek-Deep Space Nine“.
He has worked steadily as a director and a star.
In his career, many would say he has gone far.
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.