It was a memorable evening, bright
with my beautiful, charming fiancé
(once my wretched, tormented heart's delight)
near the old village of Fatheringay.
Drawn by the lilt of a whispery voice,
we found ourselves in a dark, rustic pub.
An inner misgiving questioned our choice.
A man served drinks from a hook on a stub.
After imbibing a strange, bubbling brew,
we dawdled the full moon-lit countryside.
In the lunar light, her eyes shone light blue -
mine, a phosphorus glow, like Mr. Hyde.
We gazed at the Hydra constellation,
where the Ghost of Jupiter nebula
somehow unfastened my reservation,
as its image fell on my retina.
That my grandfather was a lycanthrope,
and a mad cascade of serpentine thoughts,
this myriad of disclosures doused hope
(a demented disconnection of dots).
The vile dreams would slither back to their hole
too late for my near bride of eighteen.
The strong brew's effects had taken their toll.
My love was never again to be seen.
No, my true love was no more to be seen.
Categories:
hook on, evil, magic, marriage, moon,
Form: Rhyme
The snake and the Rat
Saturday night Deep the light minds of the night flow
In the pines of trees
In tales of make believe
The funk is in the trunk
Given up on a pseudo memory
Takes a woman to make something beautiful
You cant do it Trump
Change my life before life changes it for me
Freedom's prison
Pirates wont go to church
Can't quit euphoria Can't quit dope
Blind to that fight Friends will make you see
Its that look
Gods celestial dreams
My motive vation won't let me sleep
When I see
A dropout valley
The tops on tree
Collapsing spirits
Strap on to me
Soaring over
See where it all begins
Those 3 letters
Mott gives to us
The cat on the hook
The hook on a rat The king of rat
Is Ra with a T
Silly face looking at me
The window peine
Sitting as
An a embodied likened of real
Looking through this classless tease
A window of sleeze
The cat never left
You cant touch me
I am the real deal
The meow cow
Programmed to be nice
Soon to take over the world
Meow
Categories:
hook on, beauty, cat, identity, visionary,
Form: Free verse
My first test in what we shared
too easy and too perfectly paired.
The part of us that is immortal
ran holding hands through a portal,
quick to stumble and trespass upon
a duplex that kept the blinds drawn.
Your covenant before my time,
had me pray for that exception of mine,
but my ladder to Heaven with rungs of hope
couldn’t bear the weight of sin—no matter the slope.
So no from scripture to your mother,
from every hand we were to suffer,
fools bound in a tortured trust,
nothing was going to change the unjust.
Given the faith and a mind to discern,
but my wicked heart still welcomes your memory's return.
Its pulse echoes a buried refrain,
the hook on the end of a chain
will dangle this dream forever,
a rearview horizon’s tether
from our last day—these thirty years,
ghosts recite testaments of tears,
for it was only I or they, that cared.
I never found again, that shared.
Categories:
hook on, christian, girlfriend, lost love,
Form: Couplet
Early 90s a friend of mine was some kind of Teamster working on the Sony Studios lot in Culver City. I was in town visiting and invited out one day to the set of some stupid show but I met William Devane and he was cool. So, Sony was shooting the treehouse set for the movie Hook on a stage near by. It was a secured set bc the studio didn't want photos getting out but my buddy knew a guy that snuck us both in. We were in the wings checking out this thing and noticed a group of Japanese executives taking a tour, stereotypical looking, black suits, thin black ties but NO CAMERAS. After a just few moments it became apparent that Robyn was on set and he had gathered together some crew members armed with poles, brooms, a boom mic and we watched him march these guys in front of the Sony execs while all whistling the theme to The Bride on the River Kwai. It was eyewatering hilarious but the 3 of us held it together until we got out of there. True story
Categories:
hook on, funny, inspiration, power, surreal,
Form: Free verse
Slipping and
Sliding with a hook on the beach
Silvery gray skin with
Special triangular shaped teeth
Should I keep this catch or
Send it back
Somewhere, someday, somehow
Categories:
hook on, appreciation,
Form: Pleiades
Little red riding boots hang from laces
on a hook on a wall,
a warning for my granddaughter.
I want to say that there are wolves out there,
that abandoned footwear are occasionally found
in the backwoods.
I don’t want to scare her
so I just mention that not all Fairy Tales are true.
Today while we were walking
we found several discarded children’s shoes
along a forest path.
I shivered
suspecting a new grizzly tale unfolding.
The little girl looked at me and grinned.
To my surprise I saw for the first time
that her teeth were very strong and sharp,
she was drooling,
and her eyes glinted with a wolfish anticipation.
Categories:
hook on, poetry,
Form: Free verse
Little red riding boots hang from tiny laces
on a hook on a wall,
a warning for my granddaughter.
I would tell her,
there are wolves everywhere.
I would tell her
that there are empty boots everywhere.
I told her that the Fairy Tales are all true.
Yesterday while walking
we found several pairs of empty footwear
some merely discarded,
but other’s obviously the remains
of a new grizzly tale now unfolding.
The little girl looked at me and grinned.
To my astonishment I see now
that her teeth are strong and very sharp,
and her eyes glint with a wolfish
anticipation.
Categories:
hook on, poetry,
Form: Free verse
eudaimonia-
cat's in the birdcage;
bird has lit away;
anxiety outlet;
as the dog chews away;
that old beat-up rug;
shag as it was;
the cat used to roll around in
hook on dark and light;
spilled sour milk from the cat's bowl;
WOW
bArk
Meow
Now
withered clumps of fur;
Scrambled empty soul
bird tweets at the clock;
as the cat watch;
as the doggy scrapes he itches;
needs his medicine;
in grief no hope nor apologizes;
as the bird tweets and burps;
the bird twitadee-tweets and just flies away
Free
11/04/19
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2019©
Categories:
hook on, analogy, animal, conflict, confusion,
Form: Free verse
There was a pirate from Limerick
Who had a hook on a wooden stick
He stole with one hand
Now it’s contraband
Sold by a one-eyed Bolshevik
Categories:
hook on, nonsense,
Form: Limerick
Autumn arrives
Like calloused hands
From Canada,
Squeezing
The summer sogginess
From the air
Like a wet rag
Wrung
From a pail of warm water.
Downhill
From
Its hollow avalanche of wind,
We bang
With brooms
At the shins of the fleeing trees
Like shepherds.
The first scarlet leaves
Are stripped
And flow like rivers
Of snapping piranhas
Vibrating atop the sidewalks.
I put my dog on a leash.
He is not trustworthy
In crowds,
Especially in riots
Of ghosts
That flail
In spiral gales
Like newspaper pages
Sailing back to life
From gutters.
In my garage,
I take my rake
From its hook on the wall.
I stand as a scarecrow in his front yard,
Straw shoulders
Shaking from the introduction.
One by one,
Crows
Gather
And eat from the ground.
A raspy cawing.
I am coughing.
Categories:
hook on, autumn, color, goodbye, imagery,
Form: Free verse
A DIRGE TO A GREAT MAN IN CAPTIVITY
Like the morning sun you appeared in front of us with your glory
Like the satellite you outshone the stars while they talk of your story
Your shoulder was a mountain which gave birth to springs to flow
Even the grasses looked up to you like a fertilizer to grow
Difficult as it sounds you were a noise we listened to as sound
Your dark skin glitter like the diamond
On your head lies the dreaded hair of a Nazarite
So tall like the iroko you stood amongst other trees
The squeeze on your neck so thick like the Tigers skin
In your sight fear runs while brevity is your kin
How empty does thy name now sound
Your journey to your fall a reality we do not understand
The hands you put fish hook on used you as their bait
Your faith was decided by a mere soul
O... Thou great Father, your end a journey never foretold
Difficult as it sounds your memory will live on
While your Litany will be told as tales by your friends.
TO A FRIEND HUNTED DOWN BY HIS OWN CHOICE
Categories:
hook on, 11th grade, cry, faith,
Form: Epic
black reality…
maimed and killed on video:
daily news tv.
injustice must go---
what’s seen is no enactment;
it’s real as was meant.
all of this crap stop.
our lives are in jeopardy;
by hands of rogue cops.
no justice, no peace---
empty chants easily ignored;
when will the breach cease?
attempt self-defense,
and we’re a violent threat:
blacks with no damn sense.
next season will be:
keeping up with the new blacks---
hook on being free.
remember the dead---
no sequel will be for them:
they are really dead.
yes, we are alive---
fighting to the very end:
that our heirs survive!
let’s keep faith on set---
her flame must never go out;
she’s never failed yet!
faith---the horizon---
waits upon the rising sun
justice has been won!
Categories:
hook on, black african american, freedom,
Form: Haiku
Time travel, baby, set me free,
Time travel's got a hook on me,
Time travel, baby, set me free,
Time travel's got a hook on me.
In disguise as a young man
In the city,
But the bright young life
No longer belongs to me,
I'm a visitor
From a distant generation,
Doing some travelling...
Time travel, baby, set me free,
Time travel's got a hook on me,
Time travel, baby, set me free,
Time travel's got a hook on me.
Seeing faces that I knew
In youth's brief Heaven,
When I was young,
And in love with this old town,
But please don't ask me
Where those fleeting years
Have flown to, just gone travelling...
Time travel, baby, set me free,
Time travel's got a hook on me,
Time travel, baby, set me free,
Time travel's got a hook on me.
Categories:
hook on, age, city, london, nostalgia,
Form: Lyric
The Bedbugs Come To Call
By Elton Camp
All my life I’ve heard of this pest
In filthy houses they come to nest
Bed bugs you will never detect
Where people have self-respect
But now we find that is not true
Several things we may come to rue
First of all, we never can tell
Who was before us in the hotel
We must take the greatest care
Bed bugs can be most anywhere
On spreads or sheets they like to hide
On upholstered chairs they’ve been spied
Maid brings them on the housekeeping cart
Or aboard the luggage carrier they may dart
So when we leave the Marriott
Sneaky hitchhikers we’ve got
In the dressing room of the clothing store
Must never lay our garments on the floor
Use the hook on the wall
Coat, clothes, purse and all
In doctor’s waiting room never dare
Sit on cloth cushioned couch or chair
If we buy from any yard sale
Wash the garment without fail
Use water hot as can be
To help stay bed bug free
Don’t think it can’t happen to you
It may, despite all you try to do
But even if the pests we acquire
They cause no real illness dire
So try to have a restful night
Just don’t let the bed bugs bite
Categories:
hook on, august,
Form: Rhyme
He held my hand along the path.
I wanted to pull away running faster than life
slipping his grip, I raced to the creek
turning, jumping, "Gramps hurry"
It was one of those really big days
"Oh no way I'm touchin them."
Night crawlers in a cup of dirt wiggling
but it was a way to catch a fish I guess,
"Why can't I just throw em my sammich?"
I saw the tear well in his eye.
I hugged him, wondered if he was happy
or sad that or that I took some of his day away?
He didn't put a hook on the line
just tied a worm, even taught me how to cast.
This was more about us, than what we were doing.
We walked back to the house, nothing in the bucket
I wondered again, did I waste his time?
Gram came out, she was smiling
she already knew, dinner was going to be stew.
Gramps said "Tomorrow, let's go in the boat."
But that's another story.
Categories:
hook on, family,
Form: Enclosed Rhyme
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