Next, if we should meet, it would take a great deal
of restraint to maintain a kind heart.
In all pleading and attempts at understanding,
remained an underlying distrust.
The disbelief of misplacing money,
extended by the feeling like a joke.
No room for Ha-Ha's / ain't a damn thing funny.
Sent into a position that would not budge.
Determination fixed, sent whirling and twirling with
zero fact 'n no time flat.
A suspicious umbra you put me on.
Fueled by a disbelief without reason.
The distance closing / violence quickly approaching.
Told keep it, all the while never having it.
no longer having it,
you let me have it.
Remaining respectful.
Shame on me / force of habit.
It's clear truth doesn't represent yourself.
Now I'll knock that picture off your shelf.
The cosmos keeps misplacing you in my sky,
A planet too near, yet forbidden to collide.
Our paths redraw like stubborn lines,
Sacred geometry, cruel design —
Close enough to burn, too bound to defy.
We split one song through borrowed wire,
Two pulses climbing the same burning fire.
Your shoulder brushed the edge of mine,
And silence swelled like holy wine —
A hymn restrained by higher choir.
Years pass; the ink refuses to fade,
A letter sealed, a promise mislaid.
It sleeps like a blade beneath my bed,
Sharp with the words I never said —
A relic of vows we never made.
You stand in pews of different light,
I kneel where faith divides the night.
Yet still we trade our careful hellos,
While under our ribs a river flows —
An ark that aches but won’t take flight.
So we remain in measured spin,
Two orbits tight beneath the skin.
If speech were freed, we’d both give chase —
Undo the stars, abandon grace —
But gravity is God, and God won’t bend.
Stars from my youth
Are falling like flies
To admit the hard truth
I wish not to die
My journey, it seems
Is trapped at the start
As if, weathered dreams
Just now, found my heart
The soul of a child
Dwells in my shell
Sensation not mild
Peter Pan spell
A brawny force
Akin to rip tide
Erases my course
I failed, when I tried
Unlimited rolls
Shield my gamble
Health takes a toll
My vessel, in shambles
My mind remains green
Misplacing past years
Hardships, unseen
Future looks clear
I fear, I’m naive
Painting roses on death
Seems I can’t grieve
I’m “aging”, bereft
Balance this please!
I'm on my knees.
Misplacing tens of thousands of people.
Legal tax paying people with families,
Across the seas.
Balance this please!
Businesses left to float,
While others begin to bloat.
Balance this please!
Is this too much to comprehend?
How about 1+1=2.
I'm not through!
Groceries and gas continue to rise,
Faster than hens on an upside-down slide.
Watching my 401K disappear in less than a year.
Balance this please!
I'm on my knees.
I've almost forgotten it.
It got too big -
holes appeared,
entire towns fell through
my memory.
The Forbidden City
is a convoluted red and gold ribbon,
my mind cannot now untangle.
Images float off the ink
of curling maps.
Snapshots flutter
like flags in a desert sky.
I recall in parts and pieces:
middle-aged couple’s street dancing,
no revolutionary strutting,
just Quickstep, Foxtrot,
and Bossa Nova.
The young watching,
taking notes, as if
studying for an exam.
A small one-armed boy,
riding a peddle bike,
weaving through traffic,
four black cormorants strapped to his back,
their necks craning out of their wicker cage,
like sight-seeing dogs.
A quick look at Mongolia
through a hole in the Wall.
China got loose,
it escaped the hotels,
the tour buses, the itinerary.
It went down a crowded alley,
draped with roast ducks,
and paper lanterns.
If I were now to follow it,
it might lead me,
to a restaurant in London,
San Francisco, or Toronto,
or like today
come together again,
in the eyes of a girl
who sells me a smart phone.
Could you tell me why most hippopotami
Weigh about as much as a truck
In the animal kingdom diets are not common
So they're really poop out of luck
A donkey with wings or an ass that sings
Quite an image I have in my mind
Some like listening to a cockatoo warble
But I think that's quite assinine
Now why do most newborns poop at will
They emerge without manners
Farting in front of friends and neighbours
Sure makes you stutter and stammer
When misplacing an important document
You find it in the last place you look
Why not look there in the first place I wonder
You'll be stunned at the short time it took
Admit I ain't perfect but who the hell is
Sometimes I dribble in my beard
Imagine it sounds quite disgusting to you guys
A snack for when bedtime is near
Why do we cringe at the sound of one's nails
Screeching across a blackboard
Sends chills up and down our li'l ole spines
Can feel 'em right now, oh Lord!
Could you tell me why most hippopotami
Weigh about as much as a truck
In the animal kingdom diets aren't common
So they're really poop out of luck
A donkey with wings or an ass that sings
Quite an image I have in my mind
Some like listening to a cockatoo warble
But I think that's quite asinine
Now why do most newborns poop at will
They emerge without any manners
Farting in front of friends and neighbours
Sure makes you stutter and stammer
When misplacing an important document
You find it in the last place you look
Why not look there in the first place I wonder
You'll be stunned at the short time it took
Admit I ain't perfect but who the hell is
Sometimes I dribble in my beard
Imagine it sounds quite disgusting to you guys
A snack for when bedtime is near
Why do we cringe at the sound of one's nails
Screeching across a blackboard
Sends chills up and down our li'l ole spines
Can feel 'em right now, oh Lord!
Merlin The Magic Cat
They said they chose Merlin early last month
Because of the colour of his ears,
Yet Merlin’s been stalking the gardens around here
For almost thirty-nine years!
They said magic was a myth, a story, a fable
But he and I both know that’s not the case,
If it were, would you mind explaining
Exactly how a cat ends up on a date?
They said he liked to go hunting at night
Just like any other average tabby.
When I told them last night I met a ‘Merlin’ at a bar
All they said was ‘how uncanny!’
They said magic was a silly concept
Something invented to wow little kids,
Meanwhile, behind them, I’m watching Merlin finish a triple axel
And land gracefully in the splits!
They said lately they kept misplacing things
Like chains, and watches, and rings.
Well, the Merlin who bought me that drink last night
Undoubtedly loved him some bling-bling!
They said magic was imaginary
There was no proof, no way, no how.
Then right there and then Merlin transformed into a man
They screamed ‘Merlin’, he answered ‘MEOW!’
A BUNCH OF “WHY'S”
Could you tell me why most hippopotami
Weigh about the same as a truck
In the animal kingdom diets aren't common
So they're really poop out of luck
A donkey with wings or an ass that sings
Quite an image I have in my mind
Some like listening to a cockatoo warble
But I think that's quite asinine
Now why do most newborns poop at will
They emerge without any manners
Farting in front of friends and neighbours
Sure makes you stutter and stammer
When misplacing an important document
You find it in the last place you look
Why not look there in the first place I wonder
You'll be stunned at the short time it took
Admit I ain't perfect but who the hell is
Sometimes I dribble in my beard
Imagine it sounds quite disgusting to you guys
A snack for when bedtime is near
Why do we cringe at the sound of one's nails
Screeching across a blackboard
Sends chills up and down our li'l ole spines
Can feel 'em right now, oh Lord!
lost
forgotten, out-of-place
misplacing, defeating, succumbing
disappearance, bewildered, result, conclusion
conceiving, discovering, observing
innovate, establish
found
Diamante Poetry For Fun - Your Choice Of Theme Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Caren Krutsinger
Date written: 08/23/2021
I've almost forgotten it.
It got too big -
holes appeared,
entire towns fell through them.
The Forbidden City
is a convoluted red and gold ribbon
my mind cannot now untangle.
Images float off the ink
of curling maps.
Snapshots flutter
like flags in a desert sky.
I recall in parts and pieces:
middle-aged couple’s street dancing,
no revolutionary strutting,
just Quickstep, Foxtrot,
and Bossa Nova.
The young watching,
taking notes, as if
studying for an exam.
A small one-armed boy,
riding a peddle bike
weaving through traffic,
four black cormorants strapped to his back,
necks craning out of their wicker cage
like sight-seeing dogs.
A quick look at Mongolia
through a hole in the Wall.
China got loose,
it escaped the hotels,
the tour buses, the itinerary.
It went down a crowded alley,
draped with roast ducks
and paper lanterns.
If I were to follow it,
it might lead me
to a restaurant in London,
San Francisco, or Toronto,
or like today
come together again
in the face of a girl
who sells me a phone
at Radio Shack.
Death shall bring loves
Life shall also too
I felt compelled to sniff the likes
Around the air, so cool
Eagerly I looked for the tenderness of you
Deep into that darkness kissing
What could there be more purely missing?
To warn me about the liking true
only this and a true friendship spiking
while I pondered, pushier and striking
LOVE
I have dreamed of the fancies
the laud blamelessness appreciating
Waiting, with my waiting
all my soul within me accumulating
Back into my memories desiring
all my soul within me stating
deep into that darkness worshiping
and its eyes have all the entreating
LOVE
Back into my memories straggling
And the loved one never bracing
The storms came misplacing
I felt compelled to sniff the feelings
Deep into that darkness daring
And the rubbing was declaring
The warier welcome whispering
Through which came chatting, chatting, chatting
I remember I was obtaining…
LOVE
7/2/19
Written by James Edward Lee Sr. 2018©
Written for project North Omaha Writer’s Group assignment 2019©
Copyright © James Edward Lee Sr. | Year Posted 2019
Single slippered Cinderella
Yesternight’s ball bella
Angelic voices heard a cappella
Followed by lovely clarabella
The dinner served was paella
With a side of shredded mozzarella
While faking a case of salmonella
Cinderella invited her fella
To follow her into the cella
Lingering aroma of citronella
With a pleasant tinge of canella
No secrets told near mimicking corella
Misplacing both shoe and umbrella
[ Clarabella = instrument much like a flute; Cella = a room in a temple; Corella = a cockatoo ]
AP: 3rd place 2025
Submitted on April 28, 2018 for contest ANY RHYMING POEM IN APRIL sponsored by LAURA LOO - RANKED 4TH
Monopolies, duopolies and oligopolies spell danger
Collecting scraps of personal data, averting due tax
Mingling with and tingling a ribald ranger
Displacing, misplacing and suppressing the affable axe.
Monopolies in information technology cyberspace
Slay democracy, lay foundations for autocracy
Manipulating and circulating data in stealth space
Pandering to and engendering artificial aristocracy.
Monopolies obsessed with data consolidation
For trade with bundles and blades of profits
On the back of tax evasion pursued with premeditation
Incinerate and vitiate users and account holders’ benefits.
Monopolies drunk with megatons of megalomania
Kill and spill incentives to build a fairer platform
Bereft of insignias of data kleptomania
Bent and meant to degrade and invade users data tome.
Watching it spin on an axis of shame
Collecting my thoughts in the cool summer rain
Whispering now cause I just can't complain
Well, it's the least I can do
Silvertone speakers that crackle with age
Finding the book but misplacing the page
Don't question why it is all of the rage
Merely just one point of view
Washing the sheets as the pillowcase cries
Shouting tomorrow, an early surprise
Gathering matchsticks, a sweet compromise
Turning my face to the wind
Cutting a rug even though I can't dance
Betting on four, might as well take a chance
Two could be better when thinking romance
Maybe I'll do it again
This might seem crazy, the phrases I write
Nothing too loose but some lines very tight
Not making sense in this poem tonight
All of the verses above
Here is the reason I wrote this today
Insane concoctions now put on display
Just blame my heart it has something to say
I think I have fallen in love
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