every day and a sweet shop
On a plateau in the middle of nowhere, there was
a shop selling chocolate and week-old newspapers
I had no money, but in exchange, the man
accepted a hail of hay, the farmer gave when he
told me to go make my own bed, I had slept with
The milkmaid he had wanted for himself
as the evening gently fell over the desolate landscape
A horse came walking to the sweet shop that
also sell crossword puzzles and mouth harmonicas
It was the owner's transport, and he didn't like to stay
all night, asked me to take the shift, his main
The problem was all the rats that tried to break into his
shop, I could sleep on the kitchen table to avoid
being bitten
Nine, the next morning, he was back riding his steed
Categories:
harmonicas, absence, abuse, age, anxiety,
Form: ABC
It’s Thursday evening, almost nine
foot-tap, fiddle, and banjo time
with juke-box tales of love’s romance
the county jail, a second chance
for bourbon belles or backroad trucks
mail-box motels, living on luck
from one horse towns to city bars
acoustic sounds that drive guitars
harmonicas with prairie dust
Americana, steel mill rust
cornbread kitchen, joy, and sorrow
songs that long for bright tomorrows
it’s Nashville on my radio
Bob Harris and his Country Show!
Categories:
harmonicas, music,
Form: Rhyme
Our holiday was musical
(The food was yummy, too)
Because our grandkids each received
A shiny new kazoo.
To add to the festivities,
Another gift revealed
Harmonicas, which both of them
Did very proudly wield.
With latkes, dreidels, presents and,
Of course, the candles lit,
Our Chanukah was lovely and
My cookies were a hit.
We won’t all be together for
The candles left to light,
But the glow will carry forward
From the sweetness of last night.
Categories:
harmonicas, chanukah,
Form: Rhyme
Empty streets,
Naked trees,
Flowers,
Sighing,
In rhe chill autumn breeze,
With some gypsy ladies,
Dancing a salsa dance,
In a field of sunfliowers,
Surreal waves,
With windswept kisses,
Empty canvases,
And benches,
Waiting to be filled,
With hues and innovative styles,
A hymn hummed in a mango vineyard,
By an enchanting lady,
Tambourines and harmonicas,
Filling the cafes,
Miracle of beauty,
Miracle of you,
Miracle of rain in her damp hair,
Miracle of a poem read,
A kiss shared,
A song sung,
Miracle of nightingales,
Having evening daydreams,
With cabaret ladies playing violins,
In their translucent robes
Reynaldo Casison
Categories:
harmonicas, nature,
Form: Free verse
It resembles a long corridor zone,
Leading me from the known to the unknown;
Sunlight on one side; gloom on the other,
Like cream of butter smokes seems to smother...!
Around the tunnel-like long way are seen,
Calico, flame wine, jasmine climbers clean;
Whence these hedges of hawthorn and beech spring?
How strong, to the hedges, these ivies cling...!
Clouds creep in betwixt creepers like grey ghosts,
Are these ornamental palms holy hosts?
Roses, lilies, daisies, and dahlias,
Mocking at the olive harmonicas...!
Beyond all these, I see a narrow hole,
As though opened solely to draw my soul;
I know I walk through this xyst all alone,
I don't know what awaits beyond the known...!!!
27 April 2023
Rhymes Checked At: Rhyme Zone
Syllables Checked At: How Many Syllables
Categories:
harmonicas, garden, universe,
Form: Rhyme
Blood upon the keyboards
harmonicas in flight
Chasing notes across the score
horns that greet the night
Eighty eight’s to hemorrhage
reeds that bend and break
Music dying then reborn
—trumpeting our fate
(Dreamsleep: August, 2022)
Categories:
harmonicas, death, life, music,
Form: Rhyme
In love we trust
Limitless passion and joy
Overwhelms our senses
Violins and harmonicas singing
Endlessly we hum our song
You forgot about the time
Our attentions riveted to each other
Undying in its fervor
Categories:
harmonicas, love, trust,
Form: Acrostic
2 Dollar's of Whiskey Bourbon
My sweet Jubilee,
To toast
My throat is drier
Than Country Music Heartache
And tired double bass
In downtown New Orleans's
Backwater Blues
Scratching Cotton field tune's
Backed by Harmonicas and Flutes
Rag Time,
Swing Time
Jazz Time
Line Dancing
Play that Banjo Boy
Like its the 4th of July
Slide your slow hands down
Southern Soul
Put the needle on the Gramophone
Take me Home
Take me back
I yearn to hear the record scratch
1 last time
Before I walk the Green Mile
Dead Man Walking
Categories:
harmonicas, music,
Form: Free verse