I watched
As the long winter shadows
Grew past the travelers on the green
Touching the tinker street stores
Like an actor in a play
The evening light dimmed
While the early night lights appeared
One by one by one
Lighting up
All the stores on Tinker Street
As I listened
To the sound of music and drums
Filter past the growing crowd
The local Tinker Street musicians
Gathered once again
For another evening’s performance
All these things painted a picture
As I watched a mystical vision
Of shadows and visitors and musicians
And of course the townsfolk
Swirl and mix into the Woodstock night
It was flawless
The perfect country street
Magically remembering its roots
And passing them on
During a dreamy cool wintry night
All to the delight
Of Tinker Street
as the dark clouds
tear apart disclosing the moon
I make a wish , at the night sky
I wish to see you soon
I think of the times that we spent
and try hard not to miss you
I can't wait to be with you
hold you in my arms, and kiss you
I wish this night would end
and come tomorrow I'll be by your side
I'll tell the world that I love you so
My feelings I can't hide
I wish everything would move fast
and then I would be with you very soon
we'd talk, laugh and dance
beneath that very moon
Every night I rest my head
as dancers take center stage.
With a different act to perform
never a happy act or funny one.
It’s always an act about someone getting hurt.
Sometimes these acts are about murder.
Wishing I could stop the horror as
they play on for hours.
Looking forward to the morning light
knowing they are done until tonight.
Every night I rest my head as the nightmares start again.
quickly removing that
individual pizza for
one
from its box---all psyched for your night
ahead---
a night alone with movies & pizza and your favorite
beverage
&
no one else to demand anything of you---
yes,
a night for you
&
only
you---
and yet,
now as you open the individual pizza box
ooh
what do you see?
fantastic jello pizza stares back at you---
the kind of pizza that has been so freezer-burned by
throwing it back into a cooler,
then taking it out,
and back on a truck
and then taken out---
it now has been reduced to something of
jello---
a jello of disgusting half-frozen slop---
what could have been the start to a great evening
with
yourself.
and so you go for your phone---
a reflex to save your evening,
be it domino’s or a local yokel trying to make a few
more bucks on the delivery circuit---
what you need is for them to save the day.
but if they show up,
will your night alone suddenly be interrupted?
bright lights
faded face
catch your breath
before you take another drag
One shot for the pain
two just to kill the rest
euphoria
bliss
one night on top of the world
the next day everything will be okay
party people
party places
party faces
morning regrets
morning kisses
morning goodbye
in the heat of the night
we come and play
watch us
I had forgotten how crickets must sound
As on porch I had come at night to think
Wanting now to find myself all alone
Desiring to walk the damp woody road
Needing true companion with me to walk
Now I heard singing of a Whip-Poor-Will
As through this very long dark night I pass
Could in life there be a much better way
To walk with companship of another
Sometimes at night I
Sit down on my bed and I
Cry until morning.
Sometimes at night I
Run across the grass barefoot
And lay in the stars.
Sometimes in day I
Lay out in the sun and I
Just think about you.
Sometimes when it rains
I walk out in the water
And I just stand there.
Sometimes when you’re here
I can’t stop thinking about
How much I love you.
Sometimes when you’re here
I just stop thinking about
Everything but you.
I turned some heads
when I walked in
there you sat
in the noisy dim
you looked harmless
and I sat down
I found out later
I was dead wrong
we started to talk
the time flew by
my friends were late
but I didn't mind
the music started
you asked me to dance
that was the beginning
of this one night romance
the barkeep asks
if we would like another
one for the road
as we look at each other
you take my hand
my, how this night has flown
we kiss goodnight
each going home alone
once in awhile
that evening replays
what we didn't finish
with our dance that day
it is not with sorrow
but unfed wonder
of that night we met
and the spell we were under
wild in the streets
barely alive
take another drink
just to revive
riding the waves
out in the crowd
i'm singing along
i'm gonna scream it out loud
the night life
is my time
the witching hour
it's so divine
so get this
party started
for this night
is left uncharted
i'm in the pit
takin' 'em out
swinging left and right
this is the final bout
i let it go
i lose all control
i hit the floor
and the heads will roll
the night life
is my time
the witching hour
it's so divine
so get this
party started
for this night
is left uncharted
alright everyone, out on the dancefloor
sex. drugs and rock n roll
the icons we extol
with them we lose control
we reveal our soul
we're gonna call you out
leave you with no doubt
no need to scream or shout
THIS IS THE FINAL BOUT!
Cardboard lay’s upon the floor
In front of the shop it blocks the door
A tell tale sign of a poor night’s sleep
Warm and dry they try to keep.
Safe inside - we lock the door
Without a thought for the really poor?
When night does fall, the risks are great
A real cold night could seal their fate.
A wash and shave and comb the hair
What could we do to show we care?
But remember this, they feel the cold
And it gets worse as they grow old.
So think about what other ways
You could ensure your good deed pays.
Soup, blankets and toilet tissue
Or stop and chat when they shout “Big Issue”?!
(For people not in the u.k The Big issue is a magazine the homeless sell to raise cash)
Lost within a tangled wood
Where darkness does not sleep
Nor is the night eclipsed
No sun to gently steep
Dare I not to rest now
For the night is fierce
I hold each shining glimpse
Through limbs, the sun pierce
Although a ray brings its hope
I cannot here delay
Though shivering in the darkness
Still, I cannot stay
For here, upon the wind's back
I catch a sweet refrain
Called back to my home
Until then, I cannot remain
Wings of a monarch butterfly
erratically flapping against a breeze.
Slimy trail of a snail
leaving ground ooze below the knees.
Clear sky of night has a pristine cosmic
view beyond polluted industrial haze.
Highway clean and clear of litter
alongside pastures' luscious grass to graze.
Bottoms of rivers lakes and creeks
whose rocks you can view with ease.
Air is fresh and clear
nothing but your nose to please.
Gravesides’ loose dirt piled high,
mounds soon packed and dipped.
Breeze flapped laundered sheets hanging tight,
clothespins haven’t slipped.
Pollen packed on a bee’s legs knowing
everything it touches, new life will be creating.
Morning sun always shines brighter
after a night without sedating.
Fire of love burning in someone’s eyes
snuffed out by anothers continual berating.
Flamboyant dress of one, always out-classed
by anothers’ simple black understating.
Outrageous screams of a lunatic,
whose throat someone should grip.
End to his folly magically finishes
once the Valium starts to drip.
Nobody really knows
How my life used to be
Pot, cocaine, pills, crystal meth
They were my life
The feeling of being high
Was a thrill for me
Each day I looked forward to
That first hit, the feeling it gave me
Morning time was spent smoking a joint
By noon I was free basing
Evening time was setting up the lines
By night came out the glass pipe
My house was the place to be
Friends would come bearing gifts
And we'd drink and party the night away
You wanted it, I had it
I had my connections to everyone's needs
Then one day I woke up
Realized this wasn't the life for me
It took me so long
To admit what I had become
It has now been four years
That I have been clean
And tho each day, I still crave
I refuse to give in
For I am strong
And want to continue to be me
If memory serves we have a history
Of hanging on to manic mystery
Fingers of night that change into dawn
Tho' no one speaks it,the joy is gone
Seems centuries old yet moments late
It's not the time to hesitate
No wise men here-no star so bright
We're simply sketched in candlelight
Be that as it may-be quick as you can
It's time to end what the night began
Sleepy Dreams
Imagination roams beyond the dark.
When dreamy nights pass wistfully sublime.
And wings of heavens fly unto life’s shore.
Where sleepy thoughts to memories do climb.
Revising ill felt days with fantasy.
Reviewing deepest joys within life’s core.
Where sleepy thoughts to memories do climb.
And wings of heavens fly unto life’s shore.
Before night folds and yields itself to dawn.
Forgotten dreams remember stolen time.
And wings of heavens fly unto life’s shore.
Where sleepy thoughts to memories do climb.
The daylight too soon chases night away.
And puff! Reality is somehow famed by lore.
Where sleepy thoughts to memories do climb.
And wings of heavens fly unto life’s shore.
© © Dane Smith-Johnsen
March 17, 2010
Poetic form: Reverse refrain
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