myria-mandell - Hello Poetry

kittens chasing string batting at the moving thread busily playing ********** a cicada's shell left behind on a tree trunk the back split open ********** cold, wet, autmn night I visualize lying in my warm, dry bed ********** raindrops falling down are cleaning and watering the dusty city ********** my dog takes biscuits like Catholics accept holy communion wafers

0

Nov 23, 2012

Nov 23, 2012 at 2:47 AM UTC

Haiku Collection

kittens chasing string batting at the moving thread busily playing ********** a cicada's shell left behind on a tree trunk the back split open ********** cold, wet, autmn night I visualize lying in my warm, dry bed ********** raindrops falling down are cleaning and watering the dusty city ********** my dog takes biscuits like Catholics accept holy communion wafers

19

A half-breed is what I am Its a term that I use loosely Proud to be described as such The product of my parents who are Of opposite backgrounds I have been exposed to the best, And worst, of both their worlds I use this exposure to my advantage My knowledge allows me to adapt The Mandells taught me manners With little white gloves And a matching hat Salad fork and dinner fork Napkin on my lap Eating shrimp and sipping milk Baked brisket and baked goods Spanish Cream and Charlotte Rousse are variations of the same food Peanut butter and jelly? Ill have lamb chops, dad would say Live-in maid and manicured lawn Apple trees out back Playing Cowboy with play guns Country Club and Boy Scout Camp Silver service, crystal glasses, Matching furnishings Copenhagen figurines Everythings antique Draw the drapes in the evening Mandell & Dreyfus Clothing Store Located right downtown He was well fed and well clothed Under a beautiful roof Lacking only a sense of real family The Sisneros taught me family It was all they could afford Hillbillies raised in a rural place Ranching and rodeos and rundown rock houses Ten of them in a two-room house, No running water, with dirt floors, Ceiling plastered with catalog pages with Flower water used for paste Playing Sears Catalog paper dolls Grandma had too many mouths to feed To worry about how good it tastes She cooked a mass She made it fast, a little burnt Tortillas, Chile, and beans Typical New Mexican cuisine Chicken Necks, Baked small intestine Wound around left over fat, Bull Testicles, Blood, Liver, Dead flies trapped in scrambled eggs Grandpa stabbing pies Nothing wasted Music, singing, and dance Thats how they passed the time Spending evenings entertaining Grandpa singing, guitar playing Classic Spanish and Country songs from that time And these two who spawned me For I am their offspring Came together when they were Not much younger than me And have been ever since Their races and classes Are what set them apart As opposite as morning and afternoon When I once thought I should choose Which ethnicity and which religion I should be relating to They allowed me to form my own ideas My own sense of spirituality Who I am Feeling what I feel Believing what I please These two people They just let me be

0

Nov 23, 2012

Nov 23, 2012 at 2:46 AM UTC

Half-Breed

A half-breed is what I am Its a term that I use loosely Proud to be described as such The product of my parents who are Of opposite backgrounds I have been exposed to the best, And worst, of both their worlds I use this exposure to my advantage My knowledge allows me to adapt The Mandells taught me manners With little white gloves And a matching hat Salad fork and dinner fork Napkin on my lap Eating shrimp and sipping milk Baked brisket and baked goods Spanish Cream and Charlotte Rousse are variations of the same food Peanut butter and jelly? Ill have lamb chops, dad would say Live-in maid and manicured lawn Apple trees out back Playing Cowboy with play guns Country Club and Boy Scout Camp Silver service, crystal glasses, Matching furnishings Copenhagen figurines Everythings antique Draw the drapes in the evening Mandell & Dreyfus Clothing Store Located right downtown He was well fed and well clothed Under a beautiful roof Lacking only a sense of real family The Sisneros taught me family It was all they could afford Hillbillies raised in a rural place Ranching and rodeos and rundown rock houses Ten of them in a two-room house, No running water, with dirt floors, Ceiling plastered with catalog pages with Flower water used for paste Playing Sears Catalog paper dolls Grandma had too many mouths to feed To worry about how good it tastes She cooked a mass She made it fast, a little burnt Tortillas, Chile, and beans Typical New Mexican cuisine Chicken Necks, Baked small intestine Wound around left over fat, Bull Testicles, Blood, Liver, Dead flies trapped in scrambled eggs Grandpa stabbing pies Nothing wasted Music, singing, and dance Thats how they passed the time Spending evenings entertaining Grandpa singing, guitar playing Classic Spanish and Country songs from that time And these two who spawned me For I am their offspring Came together when they were Not much younger than me And have been ever since Their races and classes Are what set them apart As opposite as morning and afternoon When I once thought I should choose Which ethnicity and which religion I should be relating to They allowed me to form my own ideas My own sense of spirituality Who I am Feeling what I feel Believing what I please These two people They just let me be

80

he's got a photographic memory Phenomenal gift of recollection to be able to call up a memory in a picture ask him what he knows he'll recite the entire census of 1695 who lived, who died, who married who and what they owned he could tell me my entire family history all the names of my ancestors and their children their children their children yet, I ask him, "Dad what was it like when you were little?" "I don't remember."

0

Nov 23, 2012

Nov 23, 2012 at 2:44 AM UTC

Emotional Scars

he's got a photographic memory Phenomenal gift of recollection to be able to call up a memory in a picture ask him what he knows he'll recite the entire census of 1695 who lived, who died, who married who and what they owned he could tell me my entire family history all the names of my ancestors and their children their children their children yet, I ask him, "Dad what was it like when you were little?" "I don't remember."

16

Spiders spin webs to catch files They tell their prey lies They may be flirty But they are not *****  In fact, they are the cleanest of guys My sisters all scream  But, that's in my dreams Because no sisters have I Spiders are seductive and smart  They make their own art But they only spin webs to catch flies

0

Nov 23, 2012

Nov 23, 2012 at 2:41 AM UTC

Silly Spider

Spiders spin webs to catch files They tell their prey lies They may be flirty But they are not *****  In fact, they are the cleanest of guys My sisters all scream  But, that's in my dreams Because no sisters have I Spiders are seductive and smart  They make their own art But they only spin webs to catch flies

11

This is for the residents who remember And for the transplants who Have yet to be informed But have got an inkling Burque has gone from Bustling to busted And back again Growing up in the 80’s I learned about the Varying degrees of “sick” As my dad pointed out The pekid pachucos perusing Pharmacy isles Attempting to purchase Cough syrup with codeine In the evenings Driving home down Central I would ceremoniously Count hookers My parents would Precariously pack heat In the trunk of our car Or even in my mom’s special ***** pack With the hidden compartment For her .38 snub nose Because you never know Who will be in your home When you arrive That’s a given When flop houses are Interwoven with prime real estate And barrio boundaries Border the bourgeois’ bungalows And Huning’s Castles And residents rarely recognize Or realize That aside from the locals The European Jews Was the only group gutsy enough To settle here And create commerce Despite risks of being raided By Apaches And they reaped the benefits Off Roma and Marquette Because the rewards Turned out to be greater than The risks And up North Where Sephardic turned Crypto Conversions to Catholicism Kept the Messiah’s spirit alive But in basements They still did Chi fives! I was saddened in middle school When I realized That many of our parents Were too ashamed of our roots To teach us Spanish And our Schools ****** so severely That most of us Didn’t learn English either But hey – All you need to Communicate while cruising Are cat calls And the thumping boom Of the bass in the tubes And the hydraulic drop When they hit The hot spots From Tingley, Kit Carson and Central to Copper Each kid dreams that His ride Will be the show stopper I could rant and rave And rattle off for days But bottom line – We have the most Curious state With mysterious qualities And in-depth histories But most of us are More concerned with Bud Light And Biscochitos Con Manteca Because it just tastes great!

0

Nov 23, 2012

Nov 23, 2012 at 2:39 AM UTC

Ode to Downtown Burque – and New Mexico too

This is for the residents who remember And for the transplants who Have yet to be informed But have got an inkling Burque has gone from Bustling to busted And back again Growing up in the 80’s I learned about the Varying degrees of “sick” As my dad pointed out The pekid pachucos perusing Pharmacy isles Attempting to purchase Cough syrup with codeine In the evenings Driving home down Central I would ceremoniously Count hookers My parents would Precariously pack heat In the trunk of our car Or even in my mom’s special ***** pack With the hidden compartment For her .38 snub nose Because you never know Who will be in your home When you arrive That’s a given When flop houses are Interwoven with prime real estate And barrio boundaries Border the bourgeois’ bungalows And Huning’s Castles And residents rarely recognize Or realize That aside from the locals The European Jews Was the only group gutsy enough To settle here And create commerce Despite risks of being raided By Apaches And they reaped the benefits Off Roma and Marquette Because the rewards Turned out to be greater than The risks And up North Where Sephardic turned Crypto Conversions to Catholicism Kept the Messiah’s spirit alive But in basements They still did Chi fives! I was saddened in middle school When I realized That many of our parents Were too ashamed of our roots To teach us Spanish And our Schools ****** so severely That most of us Didn’t learn English either But hey – All you need to Communicate while cruising Are cat calls And the thumping boom Of the bass in the tubes And the hydraulic drop When they hit The hot spots From Tingley, Kit Carson and Central to Copper Each kid dreams that His ride Will be the show stopper I could rant and rave And rattle off for days But bottom line – We have the most Curious state With mysterious qualities And in-depth histories But most of us are More concerned with Bud Light And Biscochitos Con Manteca Because it just tastes great!

90

I feel the drops streaming down my face I play with them tasting the salt ********* the tears rubbing their moisture into my cheeks I lay here and enjoy my sadness I meditate releasing my stress out of the corners of my eyes

0

Nov 9, 2012

Nov 9, 2012 at 10:48 PM UTC

Crying

I feel the drops streaming down my face I play with them tasting the salt ********* the tears rubbing their moisture into my cheeks I lay here and enjoy my sadness I meditate releasing my stress out of the corners of my eyes

12

Walking around, feeling the grass Tickle between my toes Looking around this peaceful place Where the flowers blossom, grow Rolling around on the ground Smiling with glee Enjoying the sun I'm the only one Just the sun, and the grass And me

0

Nov 9, 2012

Nov 9, 2012 at 10:45 PM UTC

Enjoying Myself

Walking around, feeling the grass Tickle between my toes Looking around this peaceful place Where the flowers blossom, grow Rolling around on the ground Smiling with glee Enjoying the sun I'm the only one Just the sun, and the grass And me

10