A craftsman's bowl in glass
resting on the table
Unsure if for dainties meant
or for short-stem flowers, its intent
Her sides reach outward, fingers
beckon beauty to enter there and stay
No takers found she, but her spirit unbowed
sunlight-kissed glass by small setbacks uncowed
Love is a joke. A joke that is found funny by everyone but me. I would say that I am unlucky in love but I am so often told luck does not exist, so therefore I must conclude that love is just not for me. Never shall I find a kindred who harbers the same emotions as me, never will I have that which I give. Only pain, hurt, ignored shall I receive. I have such a hole in my heart I have tried to let others fill but no takers have sincerely tried and never shall it be. Much to give I do, but none interested or want to receive. So alone in this hollow world I shall ever be. Draped in my sorrow for the tenderness that shall never be mine, but forever grateful for those that have accepted a pitiful soul like mine to exist in their bright and beautiful world I will forever be.
Brother for sale twenty five cents.
Sister is in the free box. Come get her.
She comes with toys and a red balloon.
Sadie has been singing this song for fifty years.
No takers yet.
But she is buying bigger boxes.
On the flower petals of the blooming faces,
flutter the patina of chromatic luscious lips,
gracefully painted with alluring shades of lipstick,
the attraction amplified by the dazzling smile.
In the women’s winsome world of enticement
many things stay tediously the same unalterable,
but the colors of the lips is an option of change,
they all strive to try in various charming hues.
Realizing it’s a large fashion market worldwide,
I set up a modest factory rolling out array of lipsticks,
not competing with the products of L’Oreal or the like,
my business started booming, soaring to new heights.
But then comes the virulent corona virus from the blue,
making lipsticks for the masked lips rather redundant.
No takers, I have to close down my factory where now
I am making mask to survive in these difficult times.
May 16, 2020
If I weren't afraid, I'd pluck some dainty flowers
Be unashamed of mostly women at showers,
Stand with you dressed in choir robes and singing hymnals,
Be sweet like a kitty not roar like animals
Hold infant with both hands, and not catch a fly ball,
Be very nice and kind with my mother-in-law,
Chewing gum and smiling, not crunching jawbreakers,
Great in mid-life with no crisis, and no takers.
2019 September 10
The old man arrived a gleam in his eyes;
He announced with aplomb “berries are in”
The buckets are clean, the weather is fine;
Who wants to go berry picking with me?
No! No takers save one, I had the time.
So off we did go, to the berry patch.
My grandfather knew all the best places to pick.
Berry picking meant story time for me.
We picked berries alright, but the real delight,
Were tales he would tell of when he was young.
My imagination would soar to great heights;
Time stood still, as pails seemed to fill themselves.
Alas, time marches on; the old man is gone;
Gone are the stories, the pails lay in wait;
I still ask the question, no takers I get.
Sadly there are no berry pickers but me.
Gray days, cobweb clouds, skeleton trees through my frosty window
Cold coffee, a piece of half-eaten toast, butter puddles frozen in place
Cat rubbing against my bare legs, half listening to the TV-babble
Wanting to stay in bed all day, make the half-frozen clock hands speed up
A pillow for rent - no takers, a heart for rent - heart breakers need not apply
I follow the taxicab’s tracks in the snow – the one you took to the airport
They turn the corner, but my life moves ahead making its own tracks
One door closes, another opens, or so they say – I think I’ve lost the key
Sunny days, puffy clouds, trees blooming through my open window
Coffee brewing, strawberry jam filled toast, dog in lap waiting for morsels
Cat rubbing against my bare legs, love songs filling the room
Leaping from bed, a new happy day, clock hands keeping time to my heart
I follow the tracks in the hallway runner to the kitchen to find you waiting
My permanent pillow renter, my heart taker, my forever lover
One door closed, another opened – and I threw the key away!
I declare today
That my body is my body.
No government entity, private citizen,
Or business public or private
Has any rights
Or permission to use,
Abuse,
Regulate,
Deregulate,
Confiscate
Obliterate,
My body.
Law makers and religious shakers
I petition no takers.
My appendages are mine
I choose their destiny
I choose their function
Their purpose
I choose.
I enter no contract
I obay no edict
My flesh is mine
I enter in consensual unions
Without compromise
Without permission
From the state
From the clergy
From any finger pointer or tongue wager.
I declare today
From a starting point of now
Until my end
That my body is my body
I will defend my flesh
My growth
My every carbon
From those who wish to dominate
Regulate
Seek to enlist the state
I am not a part of any collective thought
Nor am I unionized by fear
That wilfully drives to steer
Anything that can be bought
By sanction, or divinity, or code.
I declare today, all days
That my body is not yours
No one shall limit
My abuse or use or purpose
I will not obey
I so declare today.
Do not go too far unnecessarily
So to unable to be followed by others
There you do not go where you are only one
Lonely and alone
Do not walk the road even a step on which
You don’t get any companion
As you know even to do things wrong
Persons are needed at least two
One is for doing the act
And the other for being acted upon
You may go where you desire
And speak words as your wishes are
But if there are no takers out of greed or fear
Then it will be taken for sure
Your endeavor is a waste and you are a failure
No matter how you there do round
Jump high or dive deep
And like a bubble go for a blast
No one will be there even to listen the sound.
Bus stop sensations
Where's the bus?
Tardy connection
~~~~~~~~~
Old contact hearsay
Not much to say;
Silent confrontation
~~~~~~~~~
Frangipani sunrise
Pink, yellow, white --
Magical moments
~~~~~~~~~
Smoky stray wind
Grim echoes;
Stale air descends
~~~~~~~~~
Shoppes in decline
Ancient wares loiter;
No takers
~~~~~~~~~
Evening settles
Noisy commotions fade;
Mahjong excavations!
~~~~~~~~~
By this old quay
Modern face lifts greet;
New watering hole
~~~~~~~~~
New dreams stacked
On old faded sites;
Cool revolution
~~~~~~~~~
Play school toddlers
Exchange play things;
Rude awakenings
~~~~~~~~~
Leon Enriquez
17 October 2014
Singapore
The fields lie barren
The cultivated produce
Lay in vain
Our families are in pain
With pangs of hunger
In their veins
Tied to our debts
No takers for us
In markets
there is scarcity
In our houses,
There is poverty
Some fast for glory
Some fast for a cause
Some fast for their
Near and dear
We do not fast
Yet we suffer
Our stomachs are empty
No one to bother
You may call us cowards
We do not mind
We will end our lives
Can’t live without self-pride
Do not ever desire
To be born again
As a farmer
We can’t live the pain
I’ve set up a mammogram service
On a stall outside the bakers
Been sitting ‘ere for hours
But I aint not ‘ad no takers
I can’t understand their reluctance
‘cause, it only takes a minute
To put my hand inside their bra
To check what they keep in it
Now this simple operation
Could put their minds to rest
If only they would let me ‘ave
A quick feel of their breast
Holy cow
The night sky
Is filled with shooting stars, wow
Splendid, my reply
Honorable display
Seeing white specks
Flying across the canvas, yay
There were no takers on the bets
Finally, as I must
I depart the darkest sky
Leaving a grand memory, just
I'll never forget, and I won't cry
Russell Sivey
The water was
dark and brown,
two turtles rested on a nearby log
soaking in the sun.
A large grey heron swooped lazily down
landing effortlessly
while looking around for a tasty morsel treat.
Overhead a squawking jay served as sentinel
to warn of my intrusion into its domain.
All I wanted was to sit and dip a line
into the cool brown pool.
Perhaps an unsuspecting fish would seek
the dangling worm on the end of my line.
Even if there were no takers
I wouldn't mind.
It just was a chance to visit
the calm and quiet of that dark and cool
pool as it just drifted by.
Thoughts of nothingness clouded an
otherwise empty mind.
It was just a lazy day,
warm and friendly sitting by that
dark and brown pool
with a drifting line.
Cares drifted away
like the white fluffy clouds high above.
So why spoil a beautiful day.
You love skin
that cannot feel
a mannequin
she isn't real.
She ripped herself open
to find what was beneath her
maybe a heart she was hopin’
but, she is a plastic little girl
she'll never feel
her skin's plastic
she doesn't heal,
even if it’s drastic.
She cut skin away for you
maybe then love would mean something more
but you left her in the shades of blue
was she nothing but your little whore?
She is a mannequin
lost in the reflection
used for her skin
of twisted perfection.
She peeled back all the layers
to find raw red creed
to find she had no takers;
never knew she could bleed.
Don't let her forget
you don't love this mannequin
make her a regret
just wanted her for skin.
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