Details |
George Clever Poem
Undocumented Warrior
By George W. Clever-----2002
I sneaked into this country on moccasin feet
No one knew I was here
Till one day someone asked
Where is your C.D.I.B. card?
Putting on my best stoic mask I said
Do I need one to buy my beer?
Smart ass!
“You need one to prove you are a “skin”
A “red man”, “Indian ”, “Chief”
Feds will decide if you are a blanket man
You do look a little tan
Perhaps as an Italian, Porto Rican, Chicano
You could pass.”
My Grandmother said that too
Will I need a card to paint my face?
Straight dance with some grace
Or two step and stomp dance
In my buckskin pants
“B.I.A. will approve your case
Just send the documents of your worth
Ancestors listed on the Dawes rolls
DNA, Bible lists, Parent’s place of birth.”
I think Lenape people in the past
Never wrote on things that last
School told us they could neither read nor write
X marks on the treaties lead to many a fight
Sign your name or make a mark
Sold our land your birth right for a start
No vote for you
No office holder
No property deed
Land thieves got bolder and bolder
The PA “Stay Behinds” got together
Declared an Eastern Lenape Nation
Used their sovereign right
Approve my application
Now my card says EDN Lenape man #3405
Do you think the Feds with DNA tests and C.D.I.B. cards will tattoo us like the Jews?
Copyright © George Clever | Year Posted 2020
|
Details |
George Clever Poem
Naked Trees
Fall becomes Winter
Naked Trees fill the yard with decaying brown leaves
Hanging on to a few who refuse to leave the safety of their branches
Leaves of beautiful Spring shades of green to summer dark
Change in fall to breathtaking colors of red and orange
Nothing rhymes with orange
Tree skeletons cover the mountain
A skyline of grays protesting cold winds from the north
I hear them screech and groan twisting breaking and falling
Protecting their life blood sap sent deep down into roots
See their forest curtain of winter grays broken
By pines holding a promised return of green
The Lenape say
Oak and Maple were not always winter bare
They bragged of their choices of three wonderful leafy colored clothes
Living green for Spring changing to new leaves of Summer dark
Fall clothes so colorful and bright with never a winter shed
Made cruel fun of lowly hemlock spruce and pines
With boring sharp green needles never changed
Our Creator Kishelëmienk
Made a place on Earth for every tree
So sad to hear cruel taunts toward pines from trees with leaves
Using their pride in leafy clothes changes to hurt other trees
There must be something to end that pain now
“They will hear what I have to say”
“In Fall of four seasons
when the sun has tired and moved to the south
Trees who bragged will have their beautiful colored leaves fade and blow away
Naked trees they will remain till Spring with trunk and limbs so bare
Pine Hemlock and Spruce will always be
Our beautiful evergreens”
Copyright © George Clever | Year Posted 2023
|
Details |
George Clever Poem
I’m an “Other”
By George W. Clever-------10 November 2015
I’m an “other” how about you
Are you an “other” too?
Our Congressman asked for my opinion on his officious form
Questions about federal budgets, deficits and porn
What did I think about ISIS and fair taxes?
Would I choose gun control, baby killings or free college classes?
It would only take fifteen minutes he promised
To complete the survey so he could keep Congress honest.
Filling each and every circle
Until my pencil gripping fingers turned shades of purple.
Support a cut in Medicaid?
No more Senior raises in boxes soon they’ll be laid?
Give illegals the right to vote?
Make marijuana a legal tote?
English language must be spoken?
Attacks on Christians are not a joke?
Health care for all?
And who will pay?
At last the political questions were at end
Just fill out the last questions about me and send
Address zip code and age were easy
The next question made me queasy
Could not ask my deceased Father or Mother
White- Black- Hispanic- Asian or Other?
No American Indian I suppose
Copyright © George Clever | Year Posted 2020
|
Details |
George Clever Poem
Juan (Johnnie) Avocado Seed
By George W. Clever-----15 September 2020
A migrant boy in California
His only toys were avocado pits
Making castles at the Rancheria
In the dust with the pits where he sits
Until told of a boy who traveled the borders
Planting apple seeds to grow fine orchards
Dreamed of a day when he’d be in demand
Planting huge avocado seeds across the land
For all to share his gift of avocado’s monounsaturated fat
He would be Juan Avocado Seed and that was that
Giving people Guacamole to spread on chips
Sliced garnish on tortillas rice and in their dips
Avocado Mac and Cheese or on pizza Chicago Style
He would be famous as Juan Avocado Seed mile after mile
Unable to leave his Rancheria without a Chevy
The bag of Avocado pits was just too heavy
Yes, the avocado seed, a Creator’s mistake
Its pits too large and heavy he did make
Copyright © George Clever | Year Posted 2020
|
Details |
George Clever Poem
Ignored Assumed Taken for Granted
By George W. Clever-----7 September 2020
Admittedly, there is a most important thing I take for granted
You may ask what do I mean by ‘taken for granted’?
I mean it is something undervalued
I mean it is something underappreciated
I mean it is something innately unfailingly available
Are you surprised to learn it is MY BODY?
Yes, I take the operating systems of my body for granted
Yes, I take the design and construction of my body for granted
Yes, I take the repair and maintenance of my body for granted
Never do I consider the possibility of placing value on any bodily function
No price placed on eyes that see
No price placed on lips that taste
No price on ears that hear
Do you expect me to appreciate the machinery taking my brain down the road?
When do I to appreciate the valves that stop a pee or a poop?
When do I to appreciate plumbing of arteries and veins moving blood with air for repairs?
When do I to appreciate joints, legs and arms that lift me off the ground?
Bodies are expected to be innately unfailing and always available
Teeth and stomach will always prepare food for energy
Skin will always repair itself without my assistance
Hair, finger and toe nails will always grow, even trapped in a coffin down below
UNTIL! taken by surprise when the heart stops beating
Critical systems default as arms and legs cease to move
Cells war with each other killing from within
Compelling life to halt when no fix can go in
There is only one body for me
Now more valuable than gold
No longer underappreciated,
Never again will I take it for granted
Copyright © George Clever | Year Posted 2020
|
Details |
George Clever Poem
The Real Wars We Fight
By George W. Clever-----29 August 2020
The wars we all fight are mainly in our head, heart and soul.
This old Marine fights with the memories of the young Marine.
His heart bears the pain of mistakes made.
His soul begs for forgiveness.
That is his real war service.
Copyright © George Clever | Year Posted 2020
|
Details |
George Clever Poem
Pandemic Friends Afraid
By George W. Clever-----27 August 2020
My pandemic friends are afraid
Perhaps like me, they are old
So vulnerable to die on news are told COVID patients placed in retirement homes
Governor Emperors abusing their power.
Steal freedoms without control every hour
Their retirement plans to travel
A cruise, grandchildren visit, escaping the cold
By government order all are on hold
They huddle in their homes
TV media freaking them out
Reporting ‘hot’ states no one should go
City riots by ‘No Lives Matter’
Bring fear to their hearts
Too old to fight too slow to run
Wear their mask more for a show
Unproven protection a social must
Confusing misinformation without trust
No hugs from their children
Hear phone voices of fear
No future of promise this retirement year
Have they forgotten God’s promise?
What is now never lasts
Be not fearful for this too shall pass
Copyright © George Clever | Year Posted 2020
|
Details |
George Clever Poem
Who Am I ?
By George W. Clever-----12 June 2020
Who am I? I’m just a nut.
Patch on my eye. Big ears to help me fly.
A Weird kid in school. So they all say.
Mother had me tested. Never received the results, I guess.
Life has been busy. A smorgasbord of interests.
How could I choose but one? So I filled my plate with all it could hold.
Copyright © George Clever | Year Posted 2020
|
Details |
George Clever Poem
Time to Go?
By George W. Clever-----9 September 2020
Have we over-stayed our welcome
At the party for Depression and Booming Babies?
I think they want us to go.
But to where I want to know? Here is your hat
What is the hurry?
You’re not needed here anymore
Anyone over 50 Line up at the door
Crowding Florida as you do
God’s waiting room don’t you know
Holding us up for the younger show Kevorkian’s Plan at your command
He’s gone ahead, you know the man
Made death easier on demand
We can put a pandemic in your hand Your values are old and obsolete
Where is your cell phone and computer?
In the work place you can’t compete
Just a cranky Coot and Cooter Patriotism, Constitution, Bible pounder
You probably believe everyone a sinner
Do you expect me for family dinners?
Maybe you’ll be a COVID-19 lottery winner
Copyright © George Clever | Year Posted 2020
|
Details |
George Clever Poem
Sleepless Poem Thoughts
Choose a Woman
A Poem by George W. Clever-----18 August 2020
People will say I made bad choices
In every woman I chose to love
Perhaps all loved me at a time
Sadly, wore them out so fast
Those few good choices
With regrets
I never learned to keep
Copyright © George Clever | Year Posted 2020
|