When I was a boy,
all I wanted to do was
dance. And I had
no fear in doing
so.
I'd dance in the morning,
I'd dance at night,
I'd dance inside,
I'd dance outside.
It didn't matter —
and it's all I cared
to do.
Then I grew up,
which doesn't always
mean growth.
And I started to
take notice of all
the other people
on the dance
floor.
Tall, short, skinny,
fat — it didn't matter.
None of them really
were, but they all felt
more beautiful to me
than I did to myself.
And so I took my leave.
I went to the corner
and started watching
everybody else have
a good time.
I started
feeling undeserving.
I started feeling foolish —
more and more so, the
longer I sat there and
watched.
The real fools of
this world, however,
aren't the ones who
continue to dance.
They are the ones
who forget how to.
And for me,
knowing this isn't as
deep as it is
debilitating.
Categories:
joining, 10th grade, 11th grade,
Form: Free verse
If we look up on a starry night then slowly turn a full circle,
it is possible to visualize joining all the gleaming dots,
then watch ourselves fade in and out, slipping
through infinity, leaving and returning.
All is travelling back to the beginning,
nothing is happening anywhere
Categories:
joining, poetry,
Form: Free verse
The body tires but not our mind,
in lucid dreams, to fears resigned.
Thought spirals grip us in their bind.
The peace we seek seems hard to find.
Why oh God, have we been born blind?
Though voice of conscience does remind,
our hardened heart's no longer kind,
with throb of love soul's misaligned.
Painful has become earth life grind;
we play not our role, as assigned,
wastefully having wined and dined.
Time’s now thoughts be to bin consigned,
thus with ego cravings declined,
we leave our feral past behind.
Fickle heart with bliss furrows splined,
we become the light God designed.
06-October-2022
SINGLE STANZA MONORHYME Poetry Contest
Sponsor: L Milton Hankins
Rhymezone, PS Grammar
Categories:
joining, spiritual,
Form: Monorhyme
Attempting to join the dots
we tie up ourselves in knots;
later try to untangle,
these barbs that scar and mangle.
Instrumentalising thought
we rest in silence, self-taught,
letting go of doership crutch,
enabling knowing by touch.
One with universal mind,
wisdom of another kind,
definitive, free from doubt,
deep in soul, clear truth does grout.
18-August-2022
Categories:
joining, silence, spiritual, wisdom,
Form: Jueju
I have decided to be more Christian
less anything else.
A tiny Jesus-voice,
or a bug inside my head has said:
'enough is frigging enough.'
Since Christians are derided, abused,
and killed without even a headline.
Since I am not 'saved' and don’t need to be,
since I will always stand for the
guy with the sweaty shirt collar,
the woman who has faith in her womb,
the dog under the fat man’s table
the individual not the rabble.
I have decided to join a church.
I am not going, just joining
no one needs to know,
it will be just my little chapel for one
and no one else.
And if some intellectual buffoon
with a simplistic degree in applied logic
derides my secret belief,
I will enlighten that pitiful person
with a curse horrid enough
to make the very devils-own blush.
Categories:
joining, poetry,
Form: Free verse
On your lips I kiss
I write on the wall of your heart
This we now embrace
are chest touch
Adjoining bodies intertwine
We do this with love in our eyes
Our noses are nostrils breathe
Breathe the breath the air that God has given us
adjoining life
3/18/22
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2022
Categories:
joining, analogy, dedication, inspirational, life,
Form: Free verse
I wonder if the “gods” have a union
a collective bargaining unit of sorts
to protect the language of their contracts,
mediate jurisdictional disputes,
proclaim that “all gods shall be compensated
in direct proportion to their minions devotion.
The “god” union would also have to discourage
any of the “gods” from breaking off to start another union
offering better or more lenient conditions.
Perhaps less severe response to crossing jurisdictional lines
allowing the minions to decide what union to join
which “god” to serve.
But wait, wouldn’t that open the door
for “open shop gods” who recognized no unions,
compensated “their” minions unequally,
offered little training, or job security?
But wait, shouldn’t all minions have the right
to work for any “god” they choose?
Who are these entrepreneurial “un-gods”
who choose to go it alone,
demand a slice of the celestial pie
and become a “god” unto themselves.
John G. Lawless
©11/24/2021
Categories:
joining, god, satire,
Form: Free verse
we lay beneath the evening sky
before the darkness comes and I
see God revealed within your mirrored face
reach to brush your hair
in one eternal moment full of grace
and know this day
we both may
be gone from such a place
forevermore
Categories:
joining, appreciation, body, emotions, for
Form: Rhyme
And here we have Baby J on the drums,
Goat had big teeth and was flapping his gums.
Can I join too?
I asked the Big Gazoo.
I took out my comb and started to hum.
Categories:
joining, 1st grade, 2nd grade,
Form: Limerick
Occasionally we might miss
Performers so admired
Their talents still get airtime
Though it’s years since they’ve expired.
A case in point is Leonard Cohen –
I knew of his existence,
But to his books and concerts somehow
I displayed resistance.
However, a museum has
A very moving show
Filled with footage of his singing
And so much I didn’t know.
I guess no one can stop me,
Though I have procrastinated,
From becoming one of Leonard’s fans,
Although a bit belated.
Categories:
joining, appreciation,
Form: Rhyme
Never Nervious Joining Service
You never ever need to be nervous,
Having wanted to enlist in service;
Big storm braving,
While us craving
Serve them and they do deserve us.
Jim Horn
Categories:
joining, allegory, analogy,
Form: Limerick
M-orn
A-nd
R-ays
J-ust
O-bliterate
R-ain
I-n
E-arliness
J-oining
R-adiance
A-fter
M-idnight
Topic: Birthday of Marjorie Jram (November 13)
Form: Vertical Monocrostic
Categories:
joining, birthday,
Form: Acrostic
I find myself writing once again,
With the empathy I show to myself – just recycling.
Every day adds another to the past,
I keep telling myself; enjoy the good in life while it lasts.
Why do I write – why do I share?
They read – they listen – but do they care?
Is poetry my escape to find those who understands?
Is there somewhere… someone wishing upon a similar soul to hold their hand?
Categories:
joining, care,
Form: Rhyme
She asked me how much I loved her
So I started to count
She asked me what I was counting
So I said the units would mount
She asked me the worth of each unit
So I said a million pounds
She asked me what I was counting
So I said the freckles she has
Categories:
joining, love,
Form: Free verse
Sometimes we sit alone,
quiet, trying to figure
out who carried a piece
of us with them, as we try
to put ourselves together again...
Date: 24/02/2016
Categories:
joining, humanity, identity, imagery, life,
Form: Free verse
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