[Verse 1]
The rumor spreader grew stronger in that mystic mundane
As they howled in that busted hour
Did they? Did you hear the talk of the town?
And uncertainty kept the frozen in the ice chamber
At the tip of the iceberg
[Verse 2]
Mundane, morbid, humble, down to earth
They led the prayer five times in the early May
Remained silent with the fallen leaves
And the golden hay
[Chorus]
I will be one hour belated for the sunken ship
A few hours more
For evermore
For the lakeshore windy
Along the nighttime journey
[Bridge]
To sing, to brim, to the hymn songs
Stayed for the most intricate, subtlest twilight
[Outro]
For the twilight hue fallen on the other end
Of the eternal morning delight
Eternal morning delight
Tongue Tied in Clichés: A Blessing in Disguise
A blessing in disguise,
a double-edged sword—
a far cry from peace,
yet all in all,
at the drop of a hat
we reach for a ballpark figure,
beat around the bush,
break new ground,
burn the midnight oil.
By the book we cut to the chase,
play devil’s advocate,
fill the void with food for thought,
start from scratch,
then get cold feet.
Give the green light,
go down in flames,
hit the nail on the head,
find ourselves in over our head,
jump on the bandwagon,
keep something at bay,
leave no stone unturned.
Out of our depth,
past the point of no return,
we read between the lines,
take it with a grain of salt,
see only the tip of the iceberg—
until at last we throw in the towel.
Tip Of The Iceberg
Millions losing jobs.
Artificial Intelligence.
Software development.
A reality check.
Knowledge is burning up the world.
No confidence toward the future.
Tip of the iceberg.
Recognizing the end is near.
A I is our replacement.
Rapidly torrent with no reverse.
Mankind is dying.
The work-force is dwindling.
It’s in our nature to destroy ourselves.
Machine Gods to mechanical overlords.
With no place to escape.
They have stolen our identity.
A soulless society.
Tomorrow is uncertain.
A bar code on the flesh is on the horizon.
Three hot shots unlike normal men
Form and fill this diagram Venn:
Luigi the threat
Forms an ivied set
With Elon + Don from U Penn
Stepped out on the deck as rain begins, Wind.
This is NOT a Summer storm with rainbow peaks.
Sans rescindment, the tip of the iceberg is here.
Leaves tickled by playful drops, flirtation of petting.
A smattering of autumn’s crop of leaflets color
the floor of the backyard moss. Betwixt seasons,
the late hurricane Helene gently rocks the boat,
for now, until she shows her victorious strength.
A low rumble as if a stomach needs to be fueled.
Not to be fooled, this fray will show its muscle.
Thank God for the warning, and early at that.
In past years, God’s mercy was needed in the trenches.
Inland Georgia, not so bad, but we need to stay indoors.
Stops along the Florida coast are more precarious.
Heavy rainfall, fast moving, tropical force winds
headed in my direction. Possible spin-ups.
It’s all a curiosity! A break from the mundane. Insane
to realize tomorrow it will be intensely gusting. Candles
might be lighting up my living room. Staying charged,
and in the know. Glower of the heap and holler comes soon.
When I was a kid, Watson and Crick’s discovery of DNA
Was still a bit like science fiction and not completely understood
Dreams of curing cancer, never growing old, viral vaccinations
Mapping out the human genome would make them proud of us
Splicing genes with CRISPR Cas9 Vectors
Is still only just the beginning,
We’ve barely touched the tip of the iceberg
Still, one day, like in the Star Trek universe
With a simple shot from hypo spray
No more COVID and Dr. Flox would send us on our way
But life is not TV land
I suppose God must have other plans
Perhaps He’s not so pleased that
Science is the new religion of this Day N Age
He’s really going to be surprised when we scrape the shroud of Turin
For some Jesus DNA
And clone the Son of God so we can look him in the eyes
And pray tell we may say,
“What the hell have we done, oh Spliceosome?”
Football, for long a game of kicks,
To viewers oft of bare fists, bricks,
At times a show of gun,
At others filled with fun,
But now more of kickbacks it reeks.
It’s time FIFA gets yellow card
To warn: be fair and be on guard,
Let their flow some fresh breath,
Else, there’d be ‘sudden death’,
For you, your wards the same standard.
Should the warning prove not enough,
The game will get rough, make you puff,
Let cards yellow to red
Act as life kit for Fed,
When reason fails to rhyme, act tough.
__________________________________
Happenings | 13.05.2015, revised January 2024| Quintain
Poet’s Note: This poem was penned following a scandal involving kickbacks of millions of dollars by football’s FIFA officials which was only a tip of the iceberg, it looks as if some warning cards were needed like never before—for officials more than for the players. Here are three quintains, not with ababb rhyme scheme, but takes a limerick format.
I broke
my proper thumb
within venial borders
a shear from a bygone era
on your
tip of the iceberg
you spread a ruffle in my
bleeding shadows
we steer
the flow
on with the ebb and tideway
cutter with sawtoothed teeth
the scorn
of buoyant tethering
In a state of torpidity
5st PLACE CONTEST WINNER
Written: March 27, 2022
A BRIAN STRAND 1098 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Brian Strand
THIS IS AN OPEN(organic) FORM VERSE without grammatical symbols the ' open' relies upon 'the one breath limitation' & so inherently requires the 'reader' (reciter) to input and respond thus making the form a two way interplay and often a unique interpretation by the enigma so derived. ( Poem inspired by Poet Brian Strand Form)
As my finger starts to inch
And my lips starts to mould a smile
I knew deep down
That love has embraced my soul
Once again
This journey of revelations
It has been a process
Of discoveries
This awakening of a broken soul
It has been a moderation
Of a tip of the iceberg
Unbearable
As I gather
What is left of my thoughts
I made a promise
To myself that I will ride this one
Forever
It's the tip of the iceberg we're seeing now
Probably will get worse before better somehow
There's happy ahead
Somebody said
I'm the happiest dude since happy was allowed
A reputation in shambles
Was it worth the gamble
When you paint the sky orange
Everyone knows
It's supposed to be blue
So who are you to decide otherwise
Just a counterfeit king
With questionable authority
And a facade of moral superiority
Is just the tip of the iceberg
Beyond the sky
Is a kingdom wrought with gold
But you sold your ticket
For a pocket of heartache
And a soul full of sorrow
You simple, simple boy
How it all fell apart so easily
And now you sit alone
At a table with only your thoughts
Each one declaring you a tyrant
Too trapped in his own hype
To see you lost it all
Was it worth the gamble
And a reputation in shambles
Warm gentle ocean breeze..
Ocean waves glistening in the sunlight..
On a warm summers day..
Creatures of the ocean swimming happily..
At the surface of the ocean..
Beautiful Dolphins come to play..
They are in communication with one another..
Playfully they jump and glide..
The sound of dolphins chanting merrily as they swim..
Their high pitched frequencies intensifies as it echos gloriously
At the surface of the ocean..
The deep blue ocean..
Deep within the ocean
Beneath..
Their lies another world..
The unknown..
Profound
Mysterious and mystical..
The bottom of a bottomless ocean..
Remains of pirates
Vintage treasure chests filled with many riches..
All beneath the deep blue ocean..
Sunken ships..
Fragments of a ghost ship hidden
With the ghosts of the past..
All beneath the deep blue ocean..
Home to lovely mermaids..
Their lovely locks flowing as they swim gracefully
In a playground of mysticism and mysteries..
The deep blue ocean..
Of which there lies..
Explorations..
Discoveries..
As it is only the tip of the iceberg..
Deep Within the iceberg..
Their lies another world
Deep within another world..
And so forth
And so forth...
WAKANDA…
naw America! Armed with a cellphone or a knock off CD
License to carry…
Don’t shoot just showing you my ID
"He's got a gun…"
22 shots fired both hands above the head
No conviction News read just another Gangster dead
He's a child…
Somebody's son…left in the street to bleed
He could have survived…
But you chuckled when he scream I CANT BREATH
Daughter buckled in watching from the back seat
Mom behind the drivers wheels… shaking him "WAKE UP PLEASE!!!"
Local PD hunting a minority on some type of internal vendetta
Shots fired life loss on camera watching PD plant the weapon
Court filled with mothers of victims
"The police killed our children…"
How does one get acquitted, 3 week vacation, and that just the tip of the iceberg
But it's America until we demand a WAKANDA
So well always fall slave to the system…
Minority in the streets but majority In the prisons
I had a Dream once too but what you did to my ancestry
White people are mad about 9/11
But we cant be mad about our history
13th amendment gives us freedom
What amendment gives white people freedom
Awww ok!!!
"You were a pretty girl, where are your braids?"
I walk faster
Trying to outrun my sense of dread.
I've forgotten about the judging Russian people
Who with their prodding pointy comments
Slowly drive me off the edge.
"I like it more this way."
A confused pause drains my words to silence.
"It's easier for…
Swimming."
"But they were so long and pretty…"
Grow out your own hair grandma,
I think and nod respectfully
Pretending I've been called urgently away.
"So are you a rebel now?"
Well if that's what you want to call it.
But don't worry, this is all you'll see-the tip of the iceberg
At least I'm silently going insane.
"My mom says it's just a phase."
Thank you friend
For the over-used cliché,
I'll put in in the same place you put you tendency towards gay:
That shelf we call "Let's never speak of this again."
But to be fair,
My parents say I'm not allowed
To tell you I'm a boy.
These facts must be taught in our schools:
Donald's tweets can trump molecules
Fools believe science
Truth has no reliance
Grasp pussy and not climate rules!
Author’s Note: I regularly talk to an observer who travels all over the USA. The report back is that the people in the middle of the country don’t care about climate change because they believe a rise in sea level will only affect the coasts, and they don’t worry about that. However, they don’t realize that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The effects are now lining up to make life as we know it impossible for everyone everywhere. The laws of economics are a subset of the inescapable laws of nature. I thought I would never be around for the end of the world, but now I am not so sure.
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