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Best Poems Written by Jonathan Elliott

Below are the all-time best Jonathan Elliott poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Jonathan Elliott Poem

The Midnight Pianist

"then they get into this....

we love the way the
sunshine through the
diamond   ring  and
real delicatto 
 

so, you made your $20
and grabbed your line
you end up in Bahrain

Details | Jonathan Elliott Poem

Businessman

you continue to
just lie there
and dream
or something 
lay
le 
losing you
was so easy
when faced
with the truth 
of how
perfect it is
alone 
 
when seeking perfection
I have learned never
to underestimate
my own self destructive
tendency to fail 
at critical times
and I leave work realizing 
I am fighting 
the devil.

Details | Jonathan Elliott Poem

How Cold Is the April Breeze

My nocturne is a mighty wind
 blowing across fragrant skin
the world relentless in its struggle
she is an etude, I know that now
it comes along in whispers
between strangers who share the feeling
of what it is to love the April breeze
so many of us acknowledge virtue
in the shining disc of the sun
with all its unique perfections
nothing seems too onerous
with a little sunlight dashed upon it.

Wait till you feel the strangeness
of a cold summer day, I tell myself
April is not through yet, still my heart remembers
the warm summers of laughter 
and the imperfect world making its way
along with the seasons
like a romantic bride off to see the whole of Europe
on her exciting honeymoon.

Details | Jonathan Elliott Poem

Of All the Gin Joints In the World

They say that living is a disgrace
those who worship the dead
I never felt that way
I love the adventure of life
it does not contaminate my soul
the way it does my body

the Gestapo order the violins
while the Marsellaise plays
I dance to different songs

I was younger, many years ago
and never afraid of things
then wave, after wave of fear emerged
covering the light with darkness

sealing the time with silence
I lived in a golden age of jazz
it stays with me, in memory

the sounds filled the air 
with revelry
it was a long time ago

the performers marched through our house
each with a unique style

the tap dancers, the actors, the musicians
the painters, the generals, the writers
everyone came over to visit

the truth never lets go
it tramples over the story

Details | Jonathan Elliott Poem

The Desperation of Poetry

sadness
adrift
sorrows ensue
I feel lonely
angry, tired
exasperated

the hours go by
I count the minutes at work
waiting for the time to go

the desperation of poetry
not lost to me
I slip into it again
one more time
trying to feel the rhythm

of the words as they glide
across the page

the effort of writing takes away the worry
I can disappear into myself for awhile
and forget about things.

Details | Jonathan Elliott Poem

Notes From the Beverly Hills Public Library

I have to pay a dollar to get on the computer
that's because I am no longer a resident
in the old days I had a library card
and I checked half the books out in the place
I read all day long in the library on the weekends
I still remember all the books

now, that I am no longer a part of the city,
I travel here as a guest,
I spent thirty five years in this town
and now I merely wander into it
what a funny feeling.

anyway, it is more modern nowadays,
in the old times there only one floor
now there are two
and back in the day
we had a card index filing system
and there was drawers filled with the tiny little index cars
and everything is computerized now, the cards are gone.

Oh well, I'm still here.

Details | Jonathan Elliott Poem

I Look For You

????? ???

In the corner of the bookstore is a man playing dominoes
the crowd outside doesn't notice the confusion,
there is the sound of firecrackers and people turn
in all directions, the cameras searching for an answer

??????
no one will ever know the truth, it is well hidden
they will look for it in all the faded photographs
but it is a mystery to the world, that fatal day in November
some will say it is this, some will say it is that

 
the love, that inspired it
???? ??????
 
I say to the handwriting on the wall,
it was you all along, 

anchoring away, marching through Marseilles
with your epaulets and caps on.

 beauty in the eye of the beholder.

? ??????? ???? ??? ?????????

Details | Jonathan Elliott Poem

Listen

listen
I never wanted it to be this way
the one room without space
living in the emptiness of a boarding house
I tell myself
the future is yet to be determined
there is always tomorrow
a new day holding promise
don't allow yourself to be negative
fill the voids of life with pleasure
and you shall be fulfilled.

listen
I want you to know it doesn't have to feel changeless
in a world of simple destiny
the horizon bends and shifts
time lingers on
and even the friendless find strangers
the night is a passionate place
where you can find love without remorse

so try not be down on yourself
even the circumstances will change
in the due course of time.

Details | Jonathan Elliott Poem

The Crowd

let me think about this
I told myself
it was only time running out
what is the laughter for?

I was remembering the pussyfooting
publishers
who dismissed this over lunch
maybe it was the thickness
of the fondue

I don't know
it's all just a blur to me now
the whole day spent dreaming 
of somebody
I never met

flying through the air
in a dream
we left the crowd

Details | Jonathan Elliott Poem

The Good Age and the Sea

The Good Age and Sea 
 
 

      Like the wind flapping against the water
leaving you breathless, hoping for another day
say time has no moment for me and that is good,
the way it should be, doors closing behind you in
the rush of tragic human events undoing you and
these motionless patterns of thought transcending
now, what you have been, what you have become,
these blues bargaining you beyond the windows of
your own imagination towards a closer place of
fear, winding you up, like silly string at the parade
as they walk by laughing and you have to love the
riots and marketplace crowding with strangers, here