He is kind of a gangster, our daughter told the family
We were set up to wonder about her man, Lee
He was not an angel, but he had brilliant dreams
Wanted to head to California with oceans, not streams
They were in a lowbrow motel, not a great place to meet
He used terms like “baby” and “darling”, wasn’t that sweet?
The moonlight that evening was coral, a wonderful sight!
My husband got out a cigarette, Lee offered him a light.
I looked for tattoos, because his hair was rather calm and tame.
She gave him a kiss, and called him a romantic pet name
He did nothing to bother or concern us, we liked him a lot!
They stayed together thirty-two years and they never fought
The confirmation hearings are lowbrow theatre.
Wolf packs of C actors and bitter stone-throwers.
Getting off by degrading, disgracing, and humiliating.
Transparency and truth are a pale afterthought.
Do let your children watch the theatre, though....
Explain that this is how not to treat another human being.
Then take them to a playground.
Leave your cell phone behind.
Let them teach you the art of playing all over again.
From time to time I feel low,
Low in self-esteem, low-keyed,
lowest man on the totem pole,
I have acrophobia, I often
descent to a lower level…
The higher I aspire
The lower I fall.
Life mostly lowball me
as such, my spirit keeps a low morale.
Maybe I come across as
a low bred and lowbrow person.
Conspired by my stars and the moon
My sea always rests at a low tide.
Shell-shocked by my low-minded destiny,
My fate and I must have
a high level showdown soon;
In the meantime,
I'll keep a low profile.
Be that as it may,
My soul is not doomed to wander
in the netherworld forever,
I am the patron of high hopes,
high cholesterol, high blood pressure,
and high sugar level.
I am also a high-strung person,
But, thankfully not of any highfalutin jargon.
Shy of highways, I frequent
the by lanes and side streets.
After the high-handed takeover by Time,
I live a high-pressured life.
Methinks, now is the high time
to lay down the highlights of my life.
From the descent and ascent of life,
this I have learned:
Not to gaze so high as ambition,
And to look no lower than despair.
Apologies for my antics,
I am told I am a sphincter,
once in a while I pucker and kiss,
leave something on your face.
Lowbrow nasty, gross seepage,
poetic disgrace, for good imagery.
Street Vendor (Shouting): Fresh fruit! Mango, papaya, all ripe and sweet!
Executive (Dictating): To whom it may concern, regarding the recent...
Teenager (Texting): OMG! Did u see the new meme? LOL!
Grandmother (Humming): A lullaby from a forgotten time…
A child's delighted shout: “Look, Mama, a rainbow coming out!”
All (Clashing): A cacophony, a symphony, a market of tongues!
Scholar (Whispering): Heteroglossia, the chorus within,
Each voice is a thread, a social spin.
Highbrow, lowbrow, a vibrant fray,
Meaning shimmers, born of the play.
Politician (Booming): Together we stand, united and strong!
Activist (Chanting): Whose streets? Our streets! Fight the wrong!
Lover (Sighing): Your name, a whisper on my lips tonight...
All (Clashing): A cacophony, a symphony, a market of tongues!
Poet (Observing): Discord and harmony, a tangled song,
Where language dances, righting and wrong.
A tapestry woven, rich and alive,
The human chorus, forever to strive.
All (Fading): The voices mingle, a murmur, a sigh,
Heteroglossia, the voice of all in unison, beneath the open sky.
The Divine Victims
There have been so many battlefields mostly forgotten
there was Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan Libya, among the many
battles and millions of dead civilians some were children
Yemen is a graveyard for children killed by Saudi bombs
Yes, the same nation we do business with.
Myanmar, ethnic cleansing is working overtime, but it is
in the east and nothing to bother about.
We have in Europe a clear-cut war, Russian versus Ukraine
Russians are bad lowbrow people, Ukrainians upright
defending their homeland; nothing could be simpler, right?
Ukraine is the victim of Russian aggression
enough said. Stop thinking, take out your prejudices and call
anyone asking questions traitors, dismiss them with contempt
when the hit the fan stop looking surprised.
This weak-minded control freak has a plan.
To elevate himself at everyone's expense.
He's causing the very problems that he claims to fix.
But he's nothing more than a brown-nosed little prick.
Tossing everything around him on the pyre.
He's forgotten that we've got time and karma on our side.
That sweet little honeybee with the powerful sting.
That deems bad intentions as lowbrow, poisonous things.
One day, sure enough, that karmic bee blitzed in and stung him in the nuts.
(his brow beat wife bloodied his nose and left him in the dust).
He's too conceited to believe that his dirty ego...
Raped itself and leaped into the ditch.
Now guess who's rising from the ashes.
Guess who's spinning on the spits.
You’re jealous of my passions
Don’t think I haven’t noticed
‘cause I don’t keep up with fashions
And I don’t eat of your Lotus
I don’t fall for your heroes
Hook, line, and sinker
Don’t worship in the shadows
Of your latest hit dead-ringer
I’m a little bit out of step
And that’s okay
I’d rather be a cripple any day
Than join your march into oblivion
And join the empire of your setting sons
You eye me with suspicion –
I’m a curiosity
A weird anachronism
In the real-time that you see
I don’t fall for your answers
Or your ancient, lowbrow wisdom
As you blare your scripted scriptures
From your belfry in the mission
I’m a little bit out of step
And that’s okay
I’d rather be a cripple any day
Than join your march into oblivion
And join the empire of your setting sons
Every sucker, two to take him
Every culture, paved to wasteland
Every sucker, two to take him
Every culture, paved to wasteland
You question my conviction
And dispel my sense of freedom
‘cause I don’t sleep with your women
And I don’t dream of your Eden
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