At 18, you're considered an adult
,, but you still can't spirit drink
, but they'll give you a license to take a life or three.
Earn a medal, be decorated accordingly.
Return home with twitchy, black war eyes.
Get a liberal arts degree made from your blood
and Uncle Sam's dirtiest dime.
I think I'd be happy to live to 81
I wouldn't feel cheated or rushed to get things done.
I'd have a bit more time to drip into the bucket list.
That is, if chance, destiny, and health give full permission.
18
and
81 are stereoisomers of each other. I think.
Harold was 18 and Maude 81 when they became one.
Stereoisomers making forbidden love.
63 years between them, more power to them.
18 years to be a powerless child,
63 years to be a powerless adult,
81 is just fine with me; then it's all over and done.
I'm behind the bucket but not by very much.
*Harold and Maude is a cult classic from the early 70's
Did I learn a worthy trade? Study war as a warrior?
Was I a helper, a first responder,
nurse, nanny, priest, pumpkin farmer,
a horny handed laborer,
did I lecture nitwit’s on the liberal arts or economics?
None of the above.
Yet I claim the kinship of all these,
my esteemed traveling companion:
Master Walt Whitman agrees.
I extol all of you America! All scoundrels,
wasters, longshoremen, coopers, sail makers,
beef butchers, mechanics, farriers, truckers,
tech analysts, grocers, grifters and daytime hookers.
I offer all of you my theoretical talents
and apply them generously to you,
the heaving throngs, and huddled masses.
Praise be and glory to all impractical scribblers,
liars, disgraced philosophers, tricksters, and drunks.
We poets celebrate ourselves,
save the world for ourselves alone,
warn of the terrible dire in the good,
the terrible good in the dire, while distrusting both,
yet still and all, disliking our own works
even more.
Poet: Ken Jordan
Poem: I Am Venice
Edited by: Sparkle Jordan
written: May/2014
I am
Venice -
I am
a
west coast
oceanfront
town -
I am
the one
who
sing
and dance,
on the
boardwalk -
And
I'm
the one
who fly's
kites
roller skate,
fish
and surf -
I am
a
muralist,
I paint
pictures
of
legends
on
the city
walls -
I'm a
greeter
that
waves
to
visitors,
I say
welcome,
whether
you're
large, tall
big
or
small -
I am
Venice;
every color
in
the rainbow -
I am
culturally
diversified -
I am
everything
that
I am -
Free spirit
sophisticated,
with
a
quirky charm -
I'm
an actor,
artist,
comedian,
entertainer,
street dancer
poet
play write
and
painter -
I am
a
liberal arts
paradise -
I am
Venice -
I was read to as a child,every night at bed
Fairy tales, short stories, prose, or poems is what was read
Beatrix Potter, Mother Goose, Childcraft books were chose
But my favorite things to listen to were poetry and prose
I learned these things all by heart knew,when to turn the page
Mom thought I could read quite young ,was advanced for my age
But I was a fooler to those around ,cause I would memorize
Each page that was read to me, my reading was just lies.
I was fortunate to have a Mom that was well versed in liberal arts
I was read all sorts of things and would recite different parts
I listened to many poems from Percy,Keats,Frost and Thoreau.
Wordsworth,Longfellow, Lord Byron sometimes we wouldn't know.
When a child is read to when very young they get well versed in rhyme.
Then writing them as they age is something that fills their time.
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.