Jack on a rainy day,went on his toes
To show his bravery to friends and foes
He sang,danced,hopped,jumped and smiled
He slipped hard,though rarely styled
With back upside and downside with flat nose
Living close by the Coryndon Museum
(Nairobi National Museum, ca. 1960)
on Forest Road, Museum Hill,
(where The Queen Mother, she once waved to me)
entrance for kids was free
how well I remember it still.
There I met Mary Leakey
and where Louis Leakey
(unpaid curator)
requested reptiles of me as a lark
and they were soon to be
(ca. 1961)
denizens of the Nairobi Snake Park.
I stalked colourful chameleons,
several species even walked our washing line,
but that's not all
I collected and contributed anything and everything
that hopped, skipped, jumped or crawled.
The little dog laughed to see such sport
And the dish ran away with the spoon
I stared at grandma as she read to us at court.
Wait! I said, the cow jumped over the moon?
Grandma looked less pleased now.
Yes, a gentle, good-natured dairy cow.
How likely is that? I asked I was not trying to be a snot.
She wanted me to take it playfully, but I could not.
I am studying to be a physicist or geologist you see.
If there is anyone who is scientifically-minded, it is me.
My grandma soon chose nonfiction books and carefully.
Which I understood much better said my cousin Lee.
At least I was clothed when I arrived I think
The rest of them are not
Neanderthals or pre-Neanderthals? They communicate with grunts
Whistle, burps, farts.
I wish I was kidding.
I am serious.
I motion that I would like some of their meat.
One of them slams me on the ground.
They take turns kicking and punching me.
Am I being jumped into their gang?
Or are they tenderizing me?
I do not stay long to find out.
I sneak out that night and survive on berries and flower buds.
Until I accidentally taste the wrong mushroom.
Have you ever seen someone walk into a pole
Happened to me once while out for a stroll
Had a poem in mind
To all else I was blind
Should've paid attention, dirtied my camisole
Dragging myself out of this unmade bed,wanting to climb up that mountain,just sitting on the edge..No shouts of " please dont do this" no echo of " please help me"gone forever over the edge,gone gladly to the sea..
Her son was drowning in the bay.
She jumped right in.
There's much more to this matinee.
She could not swim.
A mother's love is fiercely strong.
Her whole life through, she'll sing your song.
And as he sank where eddies spin,
She jumped right in.
The print has started to decay,
Rain, snow and wind.
Two hundred years of stormy days
On gravestone thin.
Green moss is growing in the cracks
To hide the tale upon their plaque.
The mother only thought of him.
She jumped right in.
I am the ghost of my past life.
I feel hollow, empty, incomplete,
No one can hear me speak.
I jumped
From a rooftop in budding May,
A beautiful time of year.
I jumped,
Then I changed my mind.
Nothing hurts as much
As seeing the lives
I could have been a part of
Playing out before my eyes.
I jumped
From a glass tower
Shimmering in the summer’s sun.
I jumped
And then I changed my mind.
I wish I was still alive
I jumped there
into her heart
with both legs
knocking a rock
With both legs
broken, ailing
she came to me
arms on shoulder
Smooth words
caring concern
she gave me
but empty shells
they were
I was just a kid
Lost in a world of grownups
I was often with a sad eye
I never admitted the cry
The street was not a happy place
Seekers of the dark
With adult leers
I was so so filled with abject fear
Twm mocked, even though de-frocked
Chasing the pains and nightmares
Glamorgan was full of bridges
Under which the trolls held vigils
For Twm chased many to death
As I ran and I ran, as fast
As my little feet can
I reached the bridge
On top I stand
A child’s fear drowned
I jumped
How do I know you? I can't remember to tell,
When I looked into your eyes, the soul that I felt,
The zipline of chills that ran through my spine,
I couldn't explain it, it scared me inside,
A love screaming for help, locked away,
The buildup of words your heart needed to say,
I never felt such anguish and love at the same time,
I felt so much it brought tears to my eyes,
A heaviness so unbearable, my heart jumped from my chest,
I could not understand, the pressure was intense,
I jumped the gun and got shot in the ass, A life lesson I guess I didn't pass.
No longer in gods good graces, I must play my hand forbidden any aces.
.
.
no!
never, would reach
to the moon
- the scorpions!
Have you ever seen someone walk into a pole
Happened to me once while out for a stroll
Had a poem in mind
To all else I was blind
Should've paid attention, dirtied my camisole
© Jack Ellison 2015
Lonesome, sustenance impaired,
Whispers echoed, undeclared,
Overlooked and unprepared,
Caught off guard, I thought you cared.
Regarded gone, inanimate,
Benevolence inadequate,
Self destruct, abandonment,
My ego, my antagonist.
Recreant, my feet retreat,
Unable to admit defeat,
Tenebrous, distant concrete,
Starlight shows abyssal streets.
Breezes flurry overhead,
Strands are stirring 'round my head,
My minds museful heed misread,
Wet streams down cheeks of words unsaid.
Legs fixed in place eternally,
Sunrise peaks beauty fervently,
Night's thoughts now an absurdity,
Abstain death's fall, uncertainty.
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