richard-c-thomas
After college and two years in the army, I became a high school business teacher and basketball coach in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania. Eleven years later, I switched to teaching fifth- and sixth-grades in the middle school. / Since the poems in the textbooks were nearly all free verse, I began writing rhymed, metered poems for my students so that they could experience the rhythmic cadences that I had enjoyed when a boy reading Poe, Kipling, Whittier, etc. Over the years I wrote over eighty such poems with themes suitable for their ages. / Since retiring, I've continued to write poems, but with adult themes such as the sample I sent you.
She had trespassed and slept in the bed of a bear
And had eaten their porridge and broken a chair.
When the bears saw the damage, they Goldilocks sued.
The defendant is guilty the judge did conclude,
So he ruled they may cut off and sell all her hair.
That Pinocchio lied, everybody could see.
A bad puppet and son to Geppetto was he.
With his nose greatly grown and no longer a youth,
He had mastered deception and twisting the truth,
So he set off to salesman or congressman be.
The Pied Piper was hired to get rid of the rats.
When he finished, the leaders of Hamlin said, "Drats!
Many children are missing, but rodents remain."
When they re-read the contract, the mix-up was plain
For it stated, quite clearly, get rid of the brats.
Since the Beast loved the Beauty, he asked for a date.
She replied you're too ugly, unfit for a mate.
After therapy sessions for years he'd endured,
The good Beast is now married and happy and cured
While the sad former Beauty's with spouse number eight.
When he rubbed the old lamp, a kind genie then said
He would grant him three wishes, but look where it led.
The result was a tragedy none had foretold.
For Aladdin then wished for a mountain of gold
That delivered by drones was then dropped on his head.
For a handful of beans, Jack had bartered their cow.
"That's a terrible trade!" moaned his mom with a scowl.
But she changed her opinion and ceased being peeved,
When her Jack sold the stalk and a fortune received.
It's the world's tallest tower for cellulars now.
Jan 28, 2017
Jan 28, 2017 at 11:16 AM UTC
I'm young with no identity,
A faceless boy, alone and shy.
To classmates, a nonentity;
My parents fret and wonder why.
I'm part of the unnoticed pack.
I step aside as others pass.
To be alone, I sit in back
And never volunteer in class.
From social scenes, I disengage,
Avoiding bullies' taunts and laughs.
I cannot dance or speak on stage,
And hate to pose for photographs.
I tend to blush and shrink from hugs
And ***** jokes embarrass me.
I'm scared to try if offered drugs.
At lunch, I have no company.
I dread the days we swim at school
And shower with the other boys.
I try, but nothing 'bout me's cool.
I lack both confidence and poise.
I'm frightened by the internet
Where vicious rumors often spread.
And mockery's a constant threat
While thoughts of vengeance fill my head.
The girls and jocks just walk on by.
They're unaware that I exist.
No welcome wave nor friendly, "Hi."
I'm seventeen and not been kissed.
The popular comprise a clique
Where bolder boys have fun and flirt.
Among my peers, I'm seen as weak,
And girls avoid an introvert.
The meek inherit all the earth.
That's what the Bible verse asserts.
But while alive, we've little worth.
We're targets for disdain and hurts.
Tomorrow's graduation day.
The high school torment will have passed.
When college life gets underway,
I hope for friends and peace at last.
Jan 26, 2017
Jan 26, 2017 at 6:20 AM UTC
As we age we regret words of anger and spite
That were heard and remembered and can't be unsaid.
The remarks we thought clever or proved we were right
That resulted in losses of friendship instead.
All the heartbreaks that came from suspicion and doubt,
The betrayals and hurts we refused to forgive,
The companions and love that our pride had cast out,
And the chances we missed that we'd like to relive.
All the pathways not taken and bridges uncrossed,
All the times, had we acted, a difference made,
The potential delights that timidity lost,
And the kindness and debts that we never repaid.
All the secret dishonors we long to forget,
And the wrongs we inflicted in order to win.
For the strongest of sorrows are those of regret
And the saddest remembrance is what might have been.
Jan 23, 2017
Jan 23, 2017 at 1:25 PM UTC