from the conch
whispers come
dissect
distract
blow upon
scintilla branch to intrinsic thought
weighed down
consumed
overwrought
mattering - so magnified
that I can't turn away my eyes
reach for able hand to soothe
what dread could deed undo, disprove
kisses stolen
by long lost words
explored lactic fallacies
become absurd
til endings are not the body expired
but exposure of every cell and every wire
cathartic grip held in awe
control depletes as hem and haw
til sadly swings
and bridges to shame
call time
I must
on the lugubrious game
Hem and haw, Mr. Candidate
Just beat around that bush
When all you do is stall for time
You surely cover your tush
You open your mouth and words fly out
I’d swear that you said something
But as I reran your speech on Insta-Gram
I see that you meant nothing
What is harder, the border, the pictures
or the brightness of light and dark pieces?
It is a mishmash, sordid assortment of
escapism, scrutinized under illumination.
Piece by piece, I fall to pieces, pick them up,
scatter them to my mind’s wind, hem and haw
over the nuances; why do I torture myself so?
In the vice of the big picture - resounding parks.
Two canvas frames, two boxes, tepid waters,
the need to complete, competing only with
me, myself and I. Now, I see everything in
tabs and blanks, even as I count sheep.
Even as I watch t.v., the pixels penetrate my eye,
portion into die-cuts. Dioxyribonucleic acid flesh -
are we pixelated…like paper doll cut-outs with
wardrobe and accessories, my own Barbie palace?
Soon, I will finish this 27 by 20 preoccupation.
With a stethoscope and head mirror, examine
each rectangle - 63 squares; my hope - not
one morsel is lost, pieces of my life complete.
Thin Mints, an oxymoron
Heavy Mints is spot on
I think willpower deserves a badge
Never can eat just one
My goal? To make a Scouts’ pledge
I hem and haw and hedge
No more cookies, I wail
Try as I might I fail
So I eat the whole sleeve instead
The world is filled with some fancy dancers
who'll come a prancing through your bedroom door
They'll do a pretty good job of makin’
you think they're spot on what you're lookin’ for
But they'll hem and haw and skirt the edges
never quite proving what they claim to be
They’ll never give you any straight answers
when you tell ‘em just what it is you need
The words will roll cross their tongues so easy
they'll try to hide behind a white toothed lie
Watch ‘em primp and prune their fancy feathers
while promising you the moon in the sky
Just keep on looking for the kind of man
who’s only promise is a life of love
And asks for nothing but to share that life
under a wide Montana sky above
You'll know for sure my dear when you've found him
the right cowboy will treat you like he should
Never take a single breath without you
and no one will care for you like he would
So I’ll toss my hat into the circle
though I can never promise you the world
I can make darn sure to never hurt you
if you’ll only be this cowboy's cowgirl
All nature’s linked, the heavens with the earth,
in star formations, gas, galactic dust,
elusively in roles of death and birth
however random seems their wanderlust.
We peer in space with telescopic sight
that oft may miss the tracery that’s there
as when our past assumptions take to flight
in view of being further made aware.
Vast fabrics interwoven in the sky
that starry gazers spy amidst the mists
and what immensities they might imply
may only be a whit of what exists.
…The poets with their phrases hem and haw
…yet fail to other than profess their awe.
~ Harley White
* * * * * * * * *
The poem is in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet…
A source of inspiration was the following…
NASA’s Webb Reveals Intricate Networks of Gas, Dust in Nearby Galaxies…
Those who are ever-persistent
take pride in being consistent
Never quitting what they start
they're considered quite smart...
Others hem and haw, never sure
if they should move on or stay put
Yet whenever they choose to move on
they feel they shot themselves in the foot...
As for me, I'm nor twixt nor between
'cos based on the evidence I've seen
These words be my epitaph
~ He planned; God laughed
Wearing her nine-inch stiletto heels,
stylized and polished to a high gloss:
she absolutely loves how she feels.
In her high, sexy shoes, she strikes awe
within the hearts of unwary men
who get tongue-tied, as they hem and haw.
Granted, nine-inch heels may seem extreme:
but this seductive siren on stilts,
comes off as anything but mainstream.
In heels, she stands out above the crowd,
leaving some women green with envy:
while for the most part, men are left, wowed.
Ordinary moments
for ordinary people,
living inside the dream
Like comfortable shoes,
a dog that won’t leave you,
treasures to esteem
Ordinary moments
for ordinary people,
the rest to scratch and claw
To get to a place
they’ll never find
—condemned to hem and haw
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2020)
Ordinary moments
for ordinary people,
living inside the dream
Like comfortable shoes,
a dog that won’t leave you,
treasures to esteem
Ordinary moments
for ordinary people,
the rest to scratch and claw
To get to a place
they’ll never find
—condemned to hem and haw
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2020)
Tis all
shilly-shally, dilly dally
wiffle waffle, willy wobble
quiver and dither
teeter and twitch,
which whatever, wherefore wobble
hem and haw, ho and hum
Tis all a dithery tizz
When a pregnant woman gets on a bus,
Be the first to give her your seat.
When you see an old lady on a busy corner,
Help her across the street.
When someone's carrying a stack of books,
Open the door for him.
When your colleague starts to sniffle and sneeze,
Bring him a tissue; don't ignore him.
When you see a car stalled by the roadside,
Do you pull over to help?
Or do you hit the gas and accelerate?
When your best friend needs a sympathetic ear,
Do you try your best to commiserate?
--Or do you hem and haw, then pontificate?
When the shopper in front of you's short by a dime,
Do you whip one out of your pocket?
--Or do you give him a hard time?
Small acts of kindness cost next-to-nothing;
--The blessings and thanks begotten
Are really something.
Black lives matter
yes they do
Blue lives matter too.
Green and red and yellow lives
I’m all on board - no lie.
But when you say that “ALL lives matter”
you’ve lost me, and here’s why:
I seriously doubt that you
agree that every life
is as important as the next
Oh really, Barney Fife?
So tell me - and I’m sorry for
invoking Godwin’s Law
but what about that Hitler guy?
Now don’t you hem and haw!
You said “ALL lives” - so do you mean
that people like ol’ Dolf are just
as valuable as you and me?
Why shouldn’t he be dust?
And what about the Ku Klux Klan?
And what about the Taliban?
And what of ISIS (or ISIL)
who stay up nights to plan their kills?
So all lives matter? Really now –
That just seems very wrong, somehow.
There aren't many games I play
For most of them require
Some patience and some strategy
Or, at the least, desire.
I quite enjoy my "Words with Friends"
But usually I lose.
The very first word that I see
Is likely what I'll choose.
Of course, I should peruse the board
And calculate the score,
But doing that would make the game
A stultifying bore.
My mah jongg buddies hem and haw
Before they make their move.
I play real fast so rarely win;
The pros would disapprove.
For competition means that all
The effort we extend
Should serve to help us play the game
And win it in the end.
The only real advantage
Of my non-competing flair
Is that when I see the outcome,
If I lose, I hardly care.
I know it was a long time ago
In a place now far away
But way back then I had a crush on you
That I remember still today
I never acted on it then
And am in no position to do so now
But thought I would just let you know
And maybe make you smile some how
I would write your name next to mine
In my spiral class notebook
Along with poems about making love to you
On pages nobody else could look
I tried talking to you a time or two
But the words just got in my way
I’d hem and haw and shuffle my feet
Trying to think of something clever to say
I don’t even know if you knew me then
Let alone remember me now today
But I’m glad to learn from mutual friends
That your life turned out okay
I am married now and much in love
So my life turned out just great
I wonder sometimes what you’d have said
Had I the courage to ask you for a date
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