A Walk on Shallow Waters
David J Walker
We are wrapped in paper and twine
A perfect package on the outside
Left on the stoop of an irony
Gathered together we are
with candles and cake
We are a year older and celebrate
With feelings that need not be explained
We are one
We are two
We are three and more
And 65
just as well
we could be one thousand
We came not knowing the language
And fumbled with the implications of
important customs that
mentors took great pains and
extended time to explain
We learn not to laugh at the
Paradox of platitudes invented for
special occasions
We hear each sound
cued in hues
of confused colors
We see each virtue as it's on vice
We celebrate the celebrities of
Our own making
We walk on shallow waters
Unaided
Categories:
platitudes, allegory, color,
Form: Free verse
Sealed within an hourglass
a shower of sand descending
scraping away my supple skin
as when one refinishes a hardwood floor
scouring off the old varnish and stain
Its grit scratching
like the claws of a cat at my corneas
already malformed before my birth
so that I was never able even as a child
to perceive the world completely clearly
everything fuzzy like a fogged mirror
and blurry about the edges
causing me difficulty differentiating
between 0, 6 and 8
a’s and e’s and o’s
I choke as it rises over my mouth and nose
Those observing my struggle to survive
from the other side of the glass smile wide
as they speak in pointless platitudes
preaching worthless, irrelevant notions
such as I should look upon each grain of sand
as a potential pearl
but I am not an oyster in the ocean
Categories:
platitudes, age, ocean, old, senses,
Form: Free verse
Platitudes of gratitude
reveal a shallow attitude
A plentitude of finger food
does not result in pulchritude
Multitudes of semi-nudes
enhance a life of turpitude
Inaptitude and incertitude
pave the path of ineptitude
Categories:
platitudes, philosophy, word play,
Form: Monorhyme
Roses are red? Violets are blue??
The proverbs of poets aren’t totally true!
Categories:
platitudes, funny, humor, humorous, poetry,
Form: Couplet
falls flat
your platitudes,
slinking platyhelminthes,
flat worms in scant two dimensions,
crumpled
Categories:
platitudes, pride, psychological, relationship,
Form: Cinquain
Tired platitudes for the pain to drown,
The bridled tongue will keep the fire bound.
A dose of bromide helps the words go down.
Exalting paupers with a golden crown.
Creating hero’s with exalted sound.
Tired platitudes for the pain to drown.
If our words of truth would be met with frown,
Would we eulogize and then chest proud pound?
“A dose of bromide helps the words go down.”
Embellished sackcloth still an ugly gown.
Vapid faces prefer the truth go round.
Tired platitudes for the pain to drown.
If only flattery we dare be shown,
Could weakling hearts bear the weight of truth found?
A dose of bromide helps the words go down.
When counsel concealed from one who is lown,
For what good cause could such ones be renowned?
Tired platitudes for the pain to drown?
A dose of bromide helps the words go down?
Categories:
platitudes, truth,
Form: Villanelle