I still see my mother
sitting at the kitchen table
copying out her favorite recipes
from the Women’s Weekly magazine.
With pen in hand,
she’d carefully write the recipe,
word for word in her notebook.
There are hundreds that
she collected over the decades.
That notebook, with its dog-eared pages,
crusty stains and side notes,
is now in my hands.
The thing is, I don’t cook—
my other half is the chef in our family.
Now and then, he’ll ask me for
Mom’s notebook to try one of her
secret recipes, although he likes to add
his own twist to it—
it needs a bit of spice, he says.
But nobody beats Mom’s cooking!
The final sentence that I wrote –
Ragged words I could not speak –
And so the sentence for me spoke
The letters written on the sheet –
The words I wrote but could not speak
Read my sentence back to me
Like shards of glass in bas relief
Spoken there for me to hear –
It read my sentence word for word
I dared not breathe – I could not speak –
‘Twas worse than I had ever heard
The words I’d written on the sheet
And though I wrote what now I heard
– The sentence and the words it spoke –
I could not take it at its word –
I took the sentence that I wrote
And dashed it on the rocks! The words,
The letters, fell – the sentence broke
And as it broke my spirit stirred
And something pure – in me – awoke –
There is a saying that I have heard,
And hopefully I've got it down here word for word,
'The Lunatics have taken over the asylum' is what the words say,
But I never thought this would apply to the good old US of A.
This President is just a big headed chump,
One day, I hope he falls with one almighty thump,
This man just walks over the countries of the world,
Him and his idiot billionare pal, who both want to make us live in an alternate netherworld.
I know these men have been succesful in getting their fortunes,
But they frighten me more than going to the dreaded dental surgeon,
I know they think they are just putting their own country first,
But does this have to mean making the rest of the world much worse.
Hopefully sometime soon, the American people will realise their big mistake,
And get rid of this man, who just makes the whole world shake!!
We The People of this nation
We are taking a stand
This is America’s land
Principles that bind
Constitution stands
Higher powers want to change and rearrange
We the People say things should stay the same
Laws having Laws
Rules with a don’t touch
One beginning with a reason
New beginning wants communism
The Forefathers that came before saw a need for the constitution
It was going to be America’s Resolution
Higher powers are seeking a different direction
Word for word sections with insertions
Executive Order after Executive Order
Statue of Liberty, your voice silenced
Civil Rights, you are being ignored
Freedom is being dimmed with no tomorrow
We the People are ready for a fight to defend
This is not America’s end
Standing and Chanting
“We The People have had Enough”
Forefather’s souls have been uplifted in our cause
Reality has set in
Ready has been holding steady
Our eyes on who we are and what can be accomplished
The names of each Forefather established
We the People now and continuing forever
The multitudes with power hour by hour
We will never tire nor sour
We The People eyes
Understanding and Wise.
To Melt a Woman's Heart
A magical incantation to melt a woman's heart.
Sending electric tingles racing through her every part.
A sweet succulent enveloping delirium she will find.
As thoughts of the purest desire swirl through her mind.
A magic spell where each word is crafted with the utmost care.
To bring her such a raging passion that's far beyond compare.
She becomes a blazing Phoenix rising with her fiery might.
For love's sake, she's remade to burn our bed throughout the night.
Charged with the almighty power of love are her arms.
Such that no man may ever resist her womanly charms.
Her exhale is sweet as honey and her moist lips are the most divine.
A magnificent breath stealing shape and silhouette in every curve and line.
The spell is cast and carried word for word in this magic rhyme.
So that we two may be lovers until the end of time.
Many writers, poets and academics know how a beautiful
And striking alliteration is in a grammatical, congressional
Contextual and conventional debate or literary debacle
Like: blank blind badly bounced blue bowl
Oops! I meant to quote the beautiful Congresswoman
Jasmine Crockett, word for word, verbatim; man
I can never get it right. I fell short, because I’m not tall
Enough to reach that height. Oh! Many contractual
Agreements are in the works: blank black badly bounced
Blue ball. But I’ll keep on trying over one ounce
Of Vodka, maybe I will finally get it right or correct
Ladies and gentlemen, life is never easy and perfect
However, it’s okay to have fun; politics is abysmal than ever
We hope things will not get worse, but much better.
P.S. Homage to Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-Dallas, Texas):
‘Bleach Blond, Bad-Built, Butch Body”.
Copyright © July 2024, Hébert Logerie, All rights reserved.
Hébert Logerie is the author of several collections of poetry.
My life is written
word for word for all to read
till my dying day
Journey Journal Page
DAWN BLESSINGS
By Leon Enriquez
Morning light
Cheer feels bright
Dawn now shouts
Joy comes out
Sun and rain
Rainbow gain
~~~~~~~~~
On the way
Greet this day
Style your smile
Watch joy pile
Word for word
Rain gets heard
~~~~~~~~~
In your name
Love now frames
Joy brings ease
In sure peace
Line by line
Yours and mine
~~~~~~~~~
Love lines bloom
In kind room
Be at peace
Live life lease
Dawn blessings
Watch love sing
~~~~~~~~~
Leon Enriquez
27 January 2024
Singapore
Sometimes
I think
they talk to themselves
through us
not exactly word-for-word
though the sense of it
then I (re)member
they are we, or was, us, at sometime
then we remember again
they don't make plain sense
playing wyrd-for-wyrd in-stead
sew halves, two find
grain-by-grain
frisson of recognition
in (an)other
Sometimes
Giovanni didn't trust Michelangelo,
He'd heard that for guys he was hot.
But for minimum pay of a florin* a day,
He was willing to give it a shot.
As soon as they started the session,
Gio's senses said something was wrong.
Mickey couldn't decide how to pose him--
Wearing armor, a toga, a thong?
This went on for a while, and then with a smile
The master casually said to the dude,
"Please don't think me a jerk,
But to get this to work,
I must have you totally nude."
Avoiding eye contact, Gio peeked at his contract,
Then took a deep breath and replied,
"Si, but with the insistence that you keep your distance,
And another five florins besides."
And that's the way the story goes,
I've repeated it word for word,
How the most famous statue in all of the world,
The one that's called "David" occurred.
*Author's note: The florin, ducat, and lire were common currencies during Michelangelo's time. A florin, according to one source, was worth 2 crowns, approximately $26.00 today. I could not find the name of the model who posed for this sculpture nor how much he was paid. I doubt seriously if M. paid his models in florins, but I like the alliterations.
as we float and gloat in destiny’s moat
fears and desires as we quote and unquote
in trance altering not our piquant circumstance
although plunging into the void is our only chance
being not a rebel, a nerd, we follow the herd
blindly aping scriptures word for word
we remain lost in labyrinths of lower mind
trauma bonding therein fear grips us in a bind
finding our life adrift, if we choose we can yet shift
to reclaim within heart, love and light as a gift
enlivening feeble form with currents warm
in time becoming the very bliss storm
Songs and chords they sing to us
Almost every day,
Some are very musical
Some just sing their way.
Though today when I was tuning in
I heard it word for word
The message from the greatest ave
Our clever lyrebird…
“I’ve talked with all the animals
Of present circumstance
The mourning of our people
From gifting such a chance
To share in all the beauty
You preserved and kept
Thrown back at you with scornful spew
And total disrespect.
We’ve witnessed all the suffering
That humans have endured,
How every time you rose above
Goodness you secured.
Harmony had come to be
Right from the dreamtime
Lines are strong and never wrong
Where Peace is yours and mine.
So, You will overcome this
That conflict and that strife,
Soon there’ll be tranquility
And a happy life
Once there was for yet to be
The cycle carries on
Here upon our sacred land
Under our great Sun”
Then he looped around me
And vanished in the grass
Leaving me awakened
With glimpses of the past...
I
O when body, mind, spirit are in unison
Seeking, as Jacob wrestled, The One
We had the taste of old-time revival
Every hymn was word for word a prayer
A song, a delightful serenade of Him
II
Do it again LORD, for this town, the nation
We Praise Thee o God for the Son of Thy Love
For Jesus who died & has gone up above
Hallelujah Thine the Glory, hallelujah amen
Hallelujah Thine the Glory, revive us again
III
Shalom shalom blessings and wisdom
As agape Love grows (Thomas, Jenn, Michelle, Anaya, Paula, Bill, & all my Courteous Canadian Siblings)
[Line one is an old schoolboy version of the first
Line of ‘While Shepherds’. I wrote the rest of verse
one based upon it, but was then astounded to
discover ‘my verse one’ word for word identical
online. As such, I must claim this poem as a
collaberation.]
While shepherds washed their socks by night
And hung them on the line
The Angel of the Lord came down
And said those socks are mine
Fear not he said though they be red
You washed them not with whites
Glad tidings of great joy I bring
They weren’t in with my tights
If you see David down this way
He’s bound to say this line
I’ll separate the colours, Lord
And things will turn out fine
O laundry maid did you not read
The instructions displayed
I must complain, look at this stain
Don’t think that you’ll be paid
My laundry sack produced forthwith
A purple, once-white thong
I also think that thong has shrunk
Can’t get the damned thing on
O God my thong it sure is high
How it hurt my cod-piece
Good grief I can’t wear it again
It slips right up my crease
Our priest is more relaxed and laid back in our Bible Study.
He appears to be more relaxed and subtle. There
is another word I thought of along with a catalyst.
That is what Jesus is in our lives. He is an eternal
catalyst. Your sermons are too philosophical and
read word for word. At our Bible Study you are you
without a written sermon or something to read. It
is almost like standing up to a congregation and
asking them what they would like to hear today.
Jesus knew what he should be hearing and
needed to hear even though it may be uncomfortable
at times. Ferguson trial is very haunting and perplexing.
There is another word. Witnesses are becoming upset
and emotionally involved. There is a clear cut defense
and offense. What really should have happened. What
can be done to make sure that this never happens ever
again? That is what challenges me.
Jim Horn
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