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Best Poems Written by Ray Mattos

Below are the all-time best Ray Mattos poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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Tishmandu

Tishmandu
 
My eyes can see
That the sand is like sea
And it stretches to the end of my mind
On a ship set to sail
with four legs and a tail
Tishmandu I set out to find
 
Now the wind is of sand
and can lend a hand
in tearing the flesh from your bone
So your head you keep wrapped
your snaps keep snapped
and you never travel alone
 
The heat at midday
is to kill and waylay
if the body and soul are not one
So you pray to the east
and prepare for slim feast
begging passage under full sun
 
Caravan of the seed
born on camels that breed
in an endless march between wells
Over lost count of dunes
under God and full moons
blessing passage with incense and bells
 
At the end of the day
when gold turns to grey
and the stars brighten the skies
A device is brought forth 
to determine true north
and the path where Tishmandu lies
 
On the fortieth morn
pressing lips to the horn
a signal beckons us wake
Leaving water behind
on a course now refined
the final leagues we must take
 
Tishmandu is a place
where a white mans face
has never been seen or allowed
But the people have need
and my service agreed
in a land under sky without cloud
 
Like feathers of blue
in the distance I view
the flags on top of the walls
Though my limbs are worn
my very fabric is torn
I move towards Tishmandu halls
 
At last in the shade
a walled shelter is bade
I meet with the maker of rules
A service I bring
but to rules I must cling
or a tortures price must be paid
 
Twenty days and seven
in the passes of heaven
I treated the sick and the lame
With rules on my mind
the medicines I grind
The devil of Tish for to tame

As I washed the sick
and avoided blunt stick
the God of the desert did smile
For the people made well
in this fortified hell
where spirit is subject to trial
 
In the end I am paid
for the journey I made
and the healing and medicine new
On my camel back
salted meats in my pack
I Bid farewell to Tishmandu
 
RAMA, Ink

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A Bell For My Flowers

A BELL FOR MY FLOWERS

My FLOWERS are keen
And watch what I do

My FLOWERS count time
And lies when they’re true

My FLOWERS fill a bowl
At the edge of my mind

There in the moonlight
My FLOWERS are enshrined

Fresh then are my FLOWERS fine
Love of floral, love of mine
Left alone, left to shine
All that’s bright and twice divine

My FLOWERS need a bell
That rings on Sunday morn

A bell of splendid color
For FLOWERS when they’re born

My FLOWERS lean north
To drink from porcelain dish

My FLOWERS lean south
As willpower turns to wish

Fresh then are my FLOWERS fine
Love of floral, love of mine
Left alone, left to shine
All that’s bright and twice divine

My FLOWERS follow kings
With gemstone and stained glass

My FLOWERS stand at guard
No ancient age shall pass

My FLOWERS catch rainbows
And blue peas in a spoon

My FLOWERS press aloft
Under starry winter moon

Fresh then are my FLOWERS fine
Love of floral, love of mine
Left alone, left to shine
All that’s bright and twice divine

RAMA INK.
2010

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What Shall We Do

What Shall We Do?

Shall we start with wine and women eating cheese?
Are there grapes in the forest?  Will our children use there knees?

Shall we fall from clouds and eat from a pan?
Are there apples in the ocean? On this can we plan?

Shall we choke on a bone and cough up a lung?
Are there chickens in the closet? Push pins for the young?

Shall we poke at the marrow and pick with a stick?
Are there dogs in the bathroom? Does your candle have a wick?

Shall we fire aloft and charge to the right?
Are there daisies in the court room? Is your hair on to tight?

Shall we spoon our tuna and wish at the well?
Are there roses in the board room?  Does your flower have a bell?

Shall we pack a loaf and wagons for the ghost?
Are there pigeons in the teepee? Is there fog along the coast?

Shall we board a ship and pass the outer isles?
Are there loonies in the camper?  Does it always end in smiles?

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House of Leonard

House of Leonard

I gave my legs to a flag with a blood marrow spoon
You blurred a moment of truth with your dying baboon

I swam the oceans of funk to get a soul full of bone
You asked a priest for a gun to practice panic alone

I operate underneath along a wet paper road
You ply the easel with grease and give away what you’re owed

And when you come calling as winter turns green
With a lisp and a whistle and a need for latrine
I’ll trip down the eighty-eight and spin up the tone
As we lisp through the whistle and polish the stone

I find that gagging is best when followed with food
You cut a hole your head to let your brain come unglued

I sent a handful of peace to a planet of pain
You chewed 10 yellow pills and made a horrible stain

I wished a well in the west and got a wallet of cheese
You broke the law with your hair because you do what you please

And when you come calling with twelve summer sins
With a flag and a crank and a saddle that spins
I’ll let in the nuns and flatten out the food
As we sift the crank and flag up the mood

I placed bacon with skinny in a basket of pockets
You understand only ugly replacing arrows with rockets

I rolled my clover in a bonus and flailed facing west
You changed a spaceship to a handbag and passed the test

I sucked a window through a teaspoon to see if I was right
You pushed a sofa to the ocean and sailed into the night

And when you come calling under woolen grey moon
With a gong and a sandwich and a half drunk spittoon
I’ll bring forth the load spoil and rip off the wheels
As we swallow gong salad and the sandwich congeals

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You and I

You and I

You put your hair in a bag
Your claim to fame is a rag
You came to capture the flag
Your love of bone doesn’t lag

I wipe the smile from my face
Me set the hammer with grace
I lose the game not the race
Me choose to setting the pace

And if you don’t understand what I’m saying
If you don’t understand what I said
Then its not in your jeans to go praying
For the puzzles that spin in your head

You put your cat in a chair
Your goat and cheese are au pair
You sniff the leak to prepare
Your truth is soft but unfair

I mine the grain for each truth
I am both villain and sleuth
I talk the tales long in tooth
I watch window from booth

And if you don’t understand what I’m saying
If you don’t understand what I said
Then a moment in marshmallow diamond
Will bring us from blue sky to red

You mentioned power and flesh
Your disposition is fresh
You offer leather and mesh
Your time in old Bangladesh

I answer grease with a gun
Me saw tooth bunions and run
I have a place in the sun
Me leave a mess when me dun

And if you don’t understand what I’m saying
If you don’t understand what I said
Then a post process sausage volcano
Will leave us all smiling but dead


RAMA Ink
3/25/11

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Did You Remember To Forget To Recall

Did you remember to forget to recall?
Have you turned what was large into small?
When the coaching kicks in
Being blessed with our gin
Is it sit down to stand up and fall?

Could you bring us in a peach my love?
On a platter silver with blues my dove?
On days such as these
Leave us not speak in threes
And travel next door from above

Are there problems with the teens?
In the middle of halfway betweens?
Rub the foreheads with oil
Trap the footprints in soil
And serve them Kentucky fried spleens

Should we blot out the sun with a cloud?
Cause the shade to mingle out loud?
Put the boat in the car
Close the tab at the bar
And wander off naked but proud

Must you always turn to the right?
Wash your head with mangos each night?
It’s the sound of your screams
In your radical dreams
That gives us all a good fright

Its lovely to think that you care
Adding funk to the mess that’s your hair
When the hags call you yonder
Will you sit still and ponder?
Or swallow, press and stare?

Ugly though this may be
In the middle of the end you’ll find me
But if you saddle the load
and impose your own mode
Then the moon will follow the tree

Details | Ray Mattos Poem

What's That

What’s That ?

It’s long and square
There’s a wheel and a pin

It’s lost and rare
And a champion makes it spin

It’s blue and gold
Like a stallion running east

It’s best when cold
With fever from the yeast

It’s boiled in oil
For people on the run

It’s rolled in foil
And used as a gun

It’s in the end
That’s where it’s found

It’s there to tend
That square equals round