Crosses on the side of the road;
Belief in passengers goes by —
Where wrecked light within flowers grow,
Crosses on the side of the road
That besides the glass window hold,
A memory's attest to time —
Crosses on the side of the road,
Belief in passengers goes by —
I had heard of flower power, but this was extra nice
I sat and stared at the bus as I enjoyed a pizza slice.
Who painted your flowers? I asked a hippie all gray.
My wife, he told me. Aren’t they merry and gay?
They are fantastic, look three-dimensional in a way.
He called for his wife. She was an artist named Fay.
I am glad you like them, this kind of made my day.
Excited too, I took a selfie of me and Fay by the bay.
I have lived on the side for so long
A life full of drudgery and misery
A victim of unfortunate birth
To a lowly stock of humanity
And to that soulless contraption of a fatherland
Destined to scrape along
On my daily shamed trajectory
Of the wretched of the earth
Living a good life has always been a mirage
Gleaned from pages of papers and televisions
In the heat of electioneering campaigns
Which fizzle out as elections are won and lost
Why has a creature like me
And my ghetto siblings created
And Condemned permanently
On the fringes of life if not to
Mock God’s creation?
Why has nature bestowed so much?
But has failed to bless all equitably
squirrel on the side
of the road tail waving so
wonders if it should
~
cross to inhabit
the tree must cut through yards in
grasses jump over
~
fences on the side
of the road he looks onto
squirrel on the side
~
ponders if he should
wonders could he beat the car
speeding down the road
4/27/23
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2023
If caution is the side on which
You are supposed to err,
It’s possible to overdo it,
So you should beware.
It may be better letting time
Or nature take its course
And then you wouldn’t suffer from
Annoyance or remorse.
There is a line to draw between
What’s prudent and what’s dumb,
But sometimes fear kicks in and makes
It easy to succumb.
Err on the side of caution,
For often it seems to me,
If something is overly hard to do,
Perhaps it's not meant to be.
If there are too many precautions,
More than seems normal to you,
It may be better to re-think your plans,
For what's done you cannot un-do.
Sometimes things may seem the opposite.
It may seem to be total bliss.
But sometimes when things seem too good to be true,
You'll find that most often it is.
Life is a hard task master.
Learn from those who've been there before,
From those who don't oft slip and fall,
For it's hard to get up off the floor.
So err on the side of caution,
For often it seems to me,
If too hard, too easy, too much or too few,
Perhaps it just shouldn't be.
(aka CAN NEVER BE UNSAID)
i’ve lived my life so far
with one simple guiding adage
it’s served me well i think
though i’ll never truly know
these days it seems somehow
to weigh heaviest on my heart
and seems to hinder more than serve
leaving me to rethink face value
you see i've always lived by words of caution
‘what’s said can never be unsaid
words spoken can never be unheard’
so most times i hesitate think twice and thrice
and won’t say what’s on my mind
for fear words misspoken can never be undone
now it seems i’d want to bare my heart and soul
yet those same words of caution still echo in my head
Published in my 24-page photo/anthology book ~CITYLIGHTS~ 2021
AP: Honorable Mention 2022
A car's pulled over on the road
And hidden by the door,
A child lets out an urgent stream
Within the traffic's roar.
The parent gets him back inside,
Their motions chop-chop-chop,
The passersby relieved to have
Avoided such a stop.
We've done this for our grandson
When there's been a pressing need
Although, of course, anxiety
Is surely guaranteed.
But when his dad is with us
We must detour off the road
In search of a facility
Containing a commode.
I'm sure his way is safer
Though with age, I've come to know
That, especially with children,
When you've gotta go - you go!
A BIT ON THE SIDE
They strolled together with wistful strides,
their marriage wows a step behind,
and all the absent qualities in tow,
the private mirth, the soundless words,
neither saw the storm in the winds,
that could rustle leaves in their lives,
neither felt the need to think or state,
what could not be re lived, or be at stake,
nor felt the guilt, which would be fed again,
with those excuses, to make things seem right,
knowing neither could stay away for long,
nor break the bonds, the yokes of wedlock,
those nuptial wows that catch up in step,
yet some times linger far behind ….
SUDHIR DIWAN
14 S O N N E T
Staying in a neighborhood
Where locals live and shop
Gives a taste of life beyond
Where all the tourist buses stop.
Discovering a small cafe
And breakfasting outside
Opens up a little window
To a place where folks reside.
Of course, the highlights beckon -
The museums and the parks,
The monuments and buildings
From which history still harks.
But there's something very special
When you start and end each day,
On your travels, like a native,
In an unassuming way.
nicotine
isn't clean
water's the cleanliness
causing some loneliness
use to be dirty
clean after thirty
Oh how it struck me so..
the dog on the side of the road..
You have all been enslaved by self gain and judgement...
Why waste time?
What is sane?
and Who's to blame?
Oh how It struck me so!
The dog on the side of the road..
Look into those eyes...the feeling to know everything dies...
So sad that we only insist on the pursuits of our own...
Might as well let this world burn,
humanity will never discern....
Oh how It stuck me so...
The dog on the side of the road...
Many people swim in an empty pool and decide that pools are not fun. Is that really a true statement? Will time end? If you can not see the time, is it really there?
If everyone ran away from problem solving, would anything be resolved? Look at the people who do not practice that. Mimic them and watch how your life unfolds.
Running backwards down a road will get you down the road, just not the way you want. The last red dot is the only thing we hope for. Most people find this in hopeless things. Many search by reading blank books. Others ask people to find the answers for them. Answers can only be found within an individual's soul. Why are the titles more important than the content of the writings or production?
On the side of the road
I lay in a box
I wake up every morning to rummage for food
I stand on the sidewalk beggging and entertaining for a small scrap of change
The only safe haven for me is the public buildings it's warm and safe there
I sleep in a alley way don't know if I will survive a night
Muggers come in the night but I have nothing to give
They just beat me and all I get in return is bruises
I find a lottery ticket in a store and I have just enough so I try my luck
It happens that I won a million dollar ticket
I live in a mansion with a swimming pool
The mobsters who beat me Now work for me
Life turned out to be in my favor
Now try your luck
On the Side
Authored by Chuck Keys
On the side of the road it lay,
broken, forgotten and sorrowful sad.
I passed it by, laughing with my friends,
with nary a thought.
But later,
I remembered it; why?
Who belonged to it;
and do they know of its disrepair?
Dust and debris covered some of it
but not all.
Emotionless it lay. No joy nor pain,
only the moment.
There was no life about it;
maybe there never was.
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