Shipwrecked
He was Japanese, smiled politely
and took his shoes off
I smiled also, it was the right thing
for us to do, shipwrecked sat
in a rubber raft of the type leaving
Tripoli
Libya, where we murdered Gaddafi
and made a mess in the smaller
states he helped
All this because Tony Blair and the
loathsome French president bored
money from Gaddafi but didn't
want to pay it back
We had harpooned a whale with
a pen knife and a cycle pump
but we didn't have soy sauce and
let the beast go
A blue balloon in a sea of calmness
The setting sun teased us, throwing
gold coins into liquid jade.
At dawn, the Japanese gave me his teeth
and swam towards the rising sun
I gave the teeth to an elderly shark
that, in gratitude, piloted me to Mandalay
where i met another loser selling
pink oversized bra, suitable as tents
for the bombed-out people of Gaza
green plastic buckets and Nottingham
scarf,
The Japanese sent me a postcard offered
me, a Toyota at half-price
Racial harmony is about
common respect
Categories:
mandalay, 8th grade, absence, angst,
Form: Blank verse
I'd wasted the hours
between midnight and dawn,
By dreaming of places
where I did not belong.
Kept recalling the words
of an old country song,
About loving and life
and all that can go wrong.
Woke up on the new morn
to a grey colored sky;
Someone had said the sun
won't shine until mid May.
Down the street the old dogs
have been barking away,
Thought I should have then moved
to eastern Mandalay.
Listened to the news that
tomorrow will bring rains;
It's good news for farmers
while others just complain.
Weather does some strange things,
it can drive men insane;
They might find sanity
on the south coast of Spain.
I spoke to a young gal
in a calico dress,
Her beauty was quite soft
but it also impressed.
Said she'd never be kept
as she worked under stress,
Delivering the mail
for the pony express
Swear I once had the keys
to the kingdom in hand,
But I've since learned through years
nothing e'er goes as planned.
In-between lost hours
and distant shores of sand,
There's so much of life
I'll never understand.
Categories:
mandalay, imagination,
Form: Rhyme
Captain cook
I built a ship in a vale of stones and thorny bushes
It took 24 years and more to set sail on a dream
boat to China
I met her on the blue sea of Malaga, sailed on her
til she was 71, sought refuge in coastal waters
anchorage in the town of Mandalay
Deep sea ships have limited sails from port to port
are not allowed to stray from the chart, set by the man
in charge; every ship looks the same, is practical and sleepless.
Not. once did they let me be in charge; go back to your galley, you mad cook, they bellowed, you will only collide with the Dogger bank.
I built my ship, four decks, and a bridge
too far from shore to be of annoyance to anyone
The locals called me Captain Brave Heart, the man who
cleared the dale of snakes.
I'm tired, it took so long to be a slayer of words
ankle-deep in sad rejections.
I'm the master of my literary refusals, words
to feed the flame of elimination
Categories:
mandalay, absence, allah, april,
Form: Blank verse
Dancing in a grove of trees
South of Mandalay
Grooving to a southern breeze
In a happy way
Suddenly a mango tree
Strange as it may seem
Opened wide and spoke to me
Just like in a dream
Hey there Mister Mango Tree
Are you really true?
Tell me how you came to be
Almost human too.
"Ricky Lee, Ricky Lee
Sometime long ago
I was young and happily
Running to and fro
Then I tasted mango fruit
Strange as it may be
I became a mango root
For a mango tree
Ricky, you’re a worker bee
Living by your wings
Labor is your destiny
For the good it brings
Dancing is a great reprieve
From your drudgery
Living life as you believe
Is your dignity
Mango tree, mango tree
Can I be like you
If I trade my misery
For a sky of blue?
Ricky, Ricky hear my plea
I was busy too
All the world was needing me
For the work I do
Living as a mango tree
Has a saving grace
Though I wish that I could be
Running in your place
When I see that you enjoy
Things I used to do
Ricky, Ricky, be the boy
Growing up in you.
Categories:
mandalay, appreciation, childhood, freedom,
Form: Rhyme
TALKING WAVES.
The sound the waves make on the shore
Seem like they’re trying to say,
“I’d never seen this rocky beach
Until I did today.”
“Before that I was out at sea,
Miles and miles away,
Racing with the ocean,
To talk to you today.”
“I’ve seen the cliffs at Dover,
And the road to Mandalay.
I even passed Australia
To get to you today.”
“I’ve seen the gentle humpbacked whale
And a giant manta ray,
I even saw a penguin
In a cold Antarctic Bay.”
“But now we’ve had our little chat
I really must not stay,
I’ve got to talk to someone else
A thousand miles away.”
Categories:
mandalay, 4th grade, 5th grade,
Form: Rhyme
IF YOU PULL A LONG FACE : Part XXII
IF you pull a long lonely face
Standing all alone near or on a busy airport flyway
Sans kith ni kin nor traffic police or friends en surplus
Hell you'll be mowed down by plane's landing gear out-lay
Now if you pull that lone long face
Since with none you can co-habit you say
Too true as that might be do as penance purchase
A man-sized mouse-trap stick neck in and pray
But if you pull long neck out to save long face
Don't blame me if by chance the spring gives way
Mouse-traps are made only for rats running in rat-race
If you want out post (on this site) your sworn statement apostasié
Yet if you pull your changed-mind long face
Take vows of celibacy eat nor enjoy flesh either way
Even as anthropophage Andromède chew on Ethiopian rock face
None'll make a shrine out of bones buried under compost pourrée
So if you must pull a lone long face
Seek not other lone long faces who pray and flay
Their backs and with cat-o'-nine-tails their face
Lacerate till Antonioni films Sophia L. with St. Francois d'Assis in Mandalay
© T. Wignesan - Paris, January 22, 2019
Categories:
mandalay, friend, humor, loneliness, metaphor,
Form: Dramatic Monologue
Having one's person embellished with tattoos is all the rage today.
Used to be that only carousing tars got tattooed in old Mandalay!
They might have an 'Anchor' or 'Mother' tattooed on their chest,
Their ship's name or a naughty quote of which they were obsessed!
As an inquisitive lad I paid a dime to see tattooed ladies on a dare,
Where they 'bared' their gaudy hides at a carnival or the county fair.
Nowadays, for free I can see tattooed ladies sashaying down the street;
Some are very discreet - others flaunt tattoos most everywhere replete!
Let me hasten to say it's none of my affair - I think they're very brave,
But do they realize they're stuck with the things 'til planted in the grave?
I can hear this question from their grand kids when they become a granny;
"Nana! What are all those funny pictures gracing your arms and fanny?"
Categories:
mandalay, grandmother, humorous,
Form: Rhyme
Fidgety Cats And Feline Pets
(A Parody)
Fidgety cats and feline pets go out for a midnight run,
Siamese are to rare to ever dare to
And in Bali and Mali cats retire from dawn till one.
Persian Blues prefer to choose to snooze in the noon day sun
And there’s a rumour the Puma will sleep when the day is done.
Fidgety cats and feline pets go out for a midnight run.
The Ocelot, cares not a jot for the heat of the noon-day sun
And the Bengal rarely sleeps at all.
At mid-day in Mandalay the Tiger will hunt for fun,
But fidgety cats and feline pets go out for a midnight run.
The Lion’s roar is no more when the clock strikes one
And you will never meet a Cheetah after the setting sun.
The Maine Coone will bathe at noon and the
Burmese is quite at ease in the rays of the Asian sun,
But fidgety cats and feline pets go out for a midnight run.
Adapted from ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ by Sir Noel Coward.
Barry Stebbings
07/03/18
Categories:
mandalay, cat, parody,
Form: Rhyme
THE LETTER PARODY
(MISTER MUELLER WROTE ME A LETTER)
(To the tune of THE LETTER by the Boxtops 1968)
Gimme a ticket on an aeroplane.
Ain't got time to take a freight train.
Ima leavin home! Never go back home!
Mister Mueller he wrote me a letter.
Well he wrote me a letter
but I throwed it in the trash
and I shredded trash today.
Tell him maybe that I died
or I been Shanghaid
or I'm lost in Mandalay.
Mister Mueller he wrote me a letter.
Gimme a ticket on an aeroplane.
Find me a boat or a wagon train.
Mister Mueller he wrote me a letter.
(be the first to record this Parody I hope you make a million dollars. LOL)
© ron wilson aka vee bdosa the doylestown poet
Categories:
mandalay, parody,
Form: Lyric
My ship is set to sail next morn
We are headed around Cape Horn
Can’t say I welcome this trip much
Ten thousand leagues or somewhat such
Liverpool to Shanghai for tea
British Sterling’s the master key
The world loves the Fujian black leaf
Of China’s many kinds it’s chief
From Mandalay to London town
The markets thrive with no let down
We're going to leave tomorrow”
And I have a bit of sorrow
I hate to leave my girl behind
She’ll find another bloke that’s kind.
I’ll not blame her forgetting me
My trip will take a year or three
So it’s heave ho, a way we go
“Haul away, Oh haul away Joe”
Make mine a double mug of rum
It’ll take me through this loathsome glum
Categories:
mandalay, ocean,
Form: Couplet
"Two kinds of people in this world, my friend,"
as that great thinker, Tuco, used to say:
the road to Wigan Pier has reached its end?
We're staying on the road to Mandalay?
The first type jabber of equality
but (humans being humans) there's a throne,
and someone grabs it. "Hence, so shall it be,"
he says. And as So-Shall-ists are they known.
The other lot have hides as tough as shellfish.
They have a ton of chutzpah, but no shame.
To cap it all, they're really rather selfish,
and that's why Cap-It-All-ists is their name.
So, which are you? A nervous-nerd-Ralph-Nader?
Or do you kiss the coccyx of Darth Vader?
Categories:
mandalay, satire,
Form: Sonnet
Lets go down to the sea my friend
And listen to the gray gull's anxious cry
We'll watch the surf beat its never end
And admire the pelicans as they fly
The blustery wind will lift our kites
And then we'll dream of sailing away
To far lands full of nameless delights
Where the mermaids and dolphins play
Can you feel the salt that bathes your skin
And smell the scent of sweet Mandalay
Follow the path of the gray backed fin
And greet the heart of the sea each day....
So lets go down to the sea my friend
I want to go down to the sea........
Categories:
mandalay, emotions, sea,
Form: Rhyme
Having one's person embellished with tattoos is all the rage today.
Used to be that only carousing tars got tattooed in old Mandalay!
They might have an 'anchor' or 'Mother' branded upon their chest,
Their ship's name or a naughty quote of which they were obsessed!
As an inquisitive lad I paid a dime to see tattooed ladies on a dare,
Where they 'bared' their gaudy hides at a carnival or the county fair!
Nowadays, for free I can see 'art' displayed on gals sashaying down the street.
Some are very discreet - others flaunt tatoos most everywhere replete!
Let me hasten to say it's none of my affair - I think they're very brave,
But do they realize they're stuck with the things 'til planted in the grave?
I can hear this question from their grandkids when they become a granny:
"Nana! What are all those funny pictures doing on your arms and fanny?"
Entry for Carol Eastman's "Humor Contest"
Categories:
mandalay, funny,
Form: Rhyme
If I met you, Dalai Lama,
I’d know what to say.
I would compliment your mama,
‘Cause she did okay.
Though she didn’t raise Obama,
Who, to us, holds sway,
She had you avoid the drama
Leaders might display.
I’ll bet that if she had a llama,
She would not delay
From sending it to Yokahama,
Rome or Mandalay,
Avoiding trouble, tears or trauma,
Which makes hair turn gray.
Categories:
mandalay, people,
Form: Rhyme