she avoids crowds
too many feelings
chaos and dissention
She does better with positivity
Negativity takes her strength
Zaps her energy
Throws her into a terrified state
She does not frequent stadiums, carnivals or festivals
Waitresses stay and talk
Telling her their life stories
As her annoyed family shoots mean looks
Which the waitress usually does not notice
Strangers on the street love her attention
She tries to not make eye contact
Some follow her home
It is rare to find an empath and everyone wants one
Their names have become
hollowed out husks
blown about the graveyards
of history. Emperors who once
claimed divine favour
and the imprimatur of the gods
now seem profane, despotic
caricatures of their age.
Loud cheers have ossified
to a silence or a curse lodged
in the throat of the citizenry.
Power still seeps its poisons
into the body politic,
even now into Prime Ministers,
Premiers and Presidents
of so called united states.
I look for a place to find
a little peace from the crowd
and the howls of an angry world.
Where once churches held
a sacred quiet, they too
have become loud stadiums
for opposing forces,
doctrinal battlegrounds
between the lost and the saved.
I retreat to that private space
where like souls meet, a room
somewhere, a forest or a beach,
or a corner of one's own garden
and there teach myself to listen.
I hear what has always been there,
transcending the reign
of emperors, wealth, privilege
and the power of the State.
And so it is, I hold to my chest
a well worn book of poems
by that saint, Emily Dickinson,
and here - renew my faith
and find a little rest.
I want to feel the ground swell
to share it
Saturday, comes too soon
drowns the afternoon
and see City demoted for fair play
10,000 plastic cups
a river of lager streams
Its not that I'm afraid of fencing
but these stadiums hem me in
Lee’s attitude was forever sanguine
optimism swirled out of her
her rosy joy filled stadiums
she expected everyone’s best
we always gave it to her
living up to her ideals
never wanting to disappoint her
Let's all celebrate
Motivate and innovate
Let's all have incredible fun
The one that will last more than a lifetime
Every four years, it is that time
Again and again, let's us sprint, jump, run
Like happy rabbits, like flying cheetahs
Let's us enjoy all sports and the hoopla
Let's witness and win the gold medals
Many records will be broken
It is about doing our best and to have fun
Let's bring the torch, the flowers and the petals
Let's bring the doves, the love and the sandals
These are the Olympics, let's unite forever
And laugh all the way to the river
The bikers are coming, the rowers are here
Let's have the party of the century
Let's watch the volleyball players
Invite the drunkards and the smokers
Who are already sadly out of breath
Let's pray that they don't see an early death
Let's win the medals
And decorate the stadiums with lights and petals
May the world remain beautiful
Where there are no weak losers, only strong winners
May the world remain peaceful and wonderful
Where there are no lousy losers, only lovely winners.
Copyright © July 2012, Hébert Logerie, All rights reserved
Hébert Logerie is the author of several books of poetry.
In the heart of the evergreen state where mountains touch the sky
You’ll find the PNW Poetry Guy under Mt. Rainier’s watchful eye
With the South Sound’s rain-soaked landscape boasting tall fir trees
The PNW Poetry Guy’s verses are penned in the cool misty breeze
From Seattle's shimmering skyline to Tacoma’s tide-flats
The PNW Poetry Guy honors his roots wearing many hats
Observer, consumer, and admirer of the beauty mountains to sea
The PNW Poetry Guy inspired by an Emerald City spirit so free
Mossy paths winding through sprawling foothills in the Cascades
The PNW Poetry Guy enjoys the forest-covered steep hiking trail grades
Through the Puget Sound whispers to Ocean Shore’s rhythmic songs
The PNW Poetry Guy writes among scents of coffeeshops, fish grease and bongs
City Center, Montlake and SODO are special places energizing Seattleite’s hearts
The PNW Poetry Guy at the stadiums and arenas as our teams do their parts
Sure, we have problems but through diversity and inclusion they are addressed
The PNW Poetry Guy is proud to be born and raised in the majestic Northwest
A White Light door
Appeared before me
I stood, unmoving
To hear what I see
The way began to fill
With darkened balls
Swirling, collecting
Particles of the fall
I wanted to lunge forward
Stop the saturation
Instead, I observed
The speedy maturation
When I questioned
I got WORD
DIVINE INSPIRATION
Is what I heard
....absolutely, ABSURD!!!
Religion and culture
Reduced pure power
To an enlightened muse
Settling for a glory shower
...in stadiums
The restraints are lifted
Humanity can have her idol
LOVE has her children
Without the pull of comfort keeping them idle
When fear has a firm grip
And TRUTH can not be endured
WISDOM must remove grace
For the hope of LOVE to administer the cure
.....this is going to hurt
Written by Trudy Schrader on 06-26-2023
Always a tough business: Tournament
But women take along ornament:
Old Testament's and New Testament's
They put it on, they're in firmaments...
Now and again for rearmament
Why can't it be in tournament?
"Sure, football is played in stadiums
But last week, I was here for idioms;
Our resource persons on podium,
A blaring microphone for medium
Stadiums some women storm for Legend,
Who shall their multiple worries end
To their feminine wishes bend
And, in short, a million naira lend:
Women not for men from the roadside,
Who should the other way face for bride:
The men worth their embrace or kiss
Ones in real, not titular office!
We once held it in our hands
We said we will never let it back in
But we were stupid
We treated covid like fools
We threw zerocovid all away
We once had AFL stadiums full of people with no masks
Hospitals with no concern for covid
We must have been mad
We never knew what we had
Until we threw zerocovid all away
Zerocovid is all there is
It kept us safe, it can’t be denied
No matter what you think about it
You just won’t be able to do without it
Take a tip from lots of people who have tried
So if you find somehow to get back to zerocovid
Take it to your heart, don’t let it stray
For one thing that’s certain
If you don't, you will surely be a-hurtin’
Silent grass clippers
Why must lawn movers make such a noise?
Why do people with a garden seek to make an outdoor carpet?
Why people seek to make lawns look like an arrested childhood?
We can understand football stadiums, the ball runs faster
and the players do not stub their delicate feet on mature grass.
One day grass will give up growing turn into sand pits a place
For children to build sandcastles.
as big signs telling us not to walk on the grass?
This is not nature but humans trying to tame the natural world.
The rainbow flag that waves
At schools and heroes graves
In filled stadiums and banks
Pumps pride in my hearts tanks
Awakening the beast in me
I never knew.
It waves in my thoughts of love
It is me, it is my better half
For my blood bleeds black
Green yellow and nothing lack
My wish to go down the profound
Tunnel wrapped in that flag.
It waves in my thoughts of hope
Brings light to my dreams of grope
Brings plight to my thoughts too
Why wave to the wind that blew?
You not stable you are not firm
Like the statue made of steel.
Oh you rainbow flag you won't stay
I wonder you are taking which way
Like rainbow in summer i wonder
Which way rumbles another thunder
But not knowing betters my love
Afix are my eyes to the waving flag.
TRIBUTE TO SAHAR KHODAYARI
Football is the king of sports
Wherever you are
Before, was played by men,
Now, is played by women too.
In the stadiums of Iran
Only men could get in.
But by the courage of Sahar,
The law was changed.
Football players in Iran
Are now supported
By men and women,
In every stadium seat.
For the iranian women
Sahar became a martyr.
She will always be remembered,
By the way, she claimed
The Iranian women’s rights.
Now, in Iran,
Women´s support, is part of football
They believe that,
The gates of the stadiums,
Will never be closed again.
Raul Máximo da Silva
they've catered to crowds riotously angry
and brimming red hatted stadiums
but for wee places of worship
they're nailed shut with bullchit
it was never about safety, but ratings
There's a tiny monster gliding in the air
Whoever you are, it shows no spare
Swiftly quaffing the earth's unstained blood,
it resolved to bury a raft of bodies under the pleading mud.
Missiles are aimed at an eclipsed enemy
Trying to discover home in this endless journey
Warriors are rifled with
rigour
Not caring for a cut or a blister.
School drums went dumb
Town fairs said no welcome
Smiles and lives are masked
Tears and fears are hiked.
A son was buried while his mother quarantined
A husband died miles away leaving his wife estranged
The empty stadiums engulfed the players' sky-high spirits
Innocent lives are turning to dust every few minutes.
It's transient my child! It's all transient.
Short-lived are these strong winds
Ephemeral are these hot waves
Cry not in the dark night
Smiles re-bloom upon winning this fight.
Every bud blooms after the rain as a norm
It's time to be an eagle and rise above the storm
Introverted
Christian, puzzle-solving, athletic, musician
Who loves his bride, his children, his lineage.
I think love is the key to most locks, joy is attainable, peace is achievable.
I feel blessed to be alive, lucky to be in love, amazed by warmth of friendship.
I fear being trapped, being paralyzed, being insignificant.
I would like to see Paris art museums and 30 MLB stadiums. And grandchildren!
I am a California resident; home of Yosemite, Disneyland, Golden Gate bridge.
Encourager
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