dad left
for his second tour of duty
on my third birthday
mom kept
a jar full of jelly beans
on the living room coffee table
every night
she gave me one to eat, saying
"when these jelly beans
are all eaten up,
dad will come back home"
sometimes
i would sneak another,
to help dad come home sooner
one night
the phone rang
and i watched mom
wipe away a tear
as she filled
the jar
back
up
Nov 12, 2014
Nov 12, 2014 at 7:41 PM UTC
Changing the world may be almost impossible
Changing the nation may take a lifetime
Changing your community may take a long time
Changing yourself won't happen over night
But changing anything for the better is worthwhile
Oct 31, 2014
Oct 31, 2014 at 9:40 AM UTC
Here I belong
amongst the rugged greys and guillemots
my heart in league with the furious sea
as it lashes the desolate shore.
Cries, mournful in their lament
soar through smothered skies
bearing tales of wrecks and lost lobster pots
empty now of precious cargo
ghostly on the ocean floor.
Salt air swirls and dips above the churning foam,
bringing stinging cold to ruddy cheeks and numbed hands.
A distant bell chimes as tides caress barnacled bows
lost at once within the swirling mists
that lay their sheen upon the dusk.
Oct 31, 2014
Oct 31, 2014 at 7:33 AM UTC
Once, I had my heart broken
Once was all it took
Left everything I knew
Sailed off on a grain ship
To see the ocean
And to forget your face
Hardened me right up
Callused my hands
Callused my heart
I even took a liking to the sea
It washed out the memory of you
Well, it did
For a good while
I was hauling on a line
Unloading cargo into port
Muscles straining, when I saw you
Standing on the docks
Felt a hot pain
As the rope tore a large callus
From my hand
Exposing a tender, burning flesh underneath
Three years hadn't hardened me up one bit
Jul 4, 2014
Jul 4, 2014 at 9:21 AM UTC
a great country with greater ambitions for all
i don't know where i would be if not here
a country worth fighting for
because we all wake up with smiles on our faces
we share every bit we have among us
even though our winters try to cover the rising of the sun
our sun never hesitated to rise
i have no words to express the greatness of this nation
because it's too great to find the exact words
our winters are the coldest
but somehow we always find a way to keep ourselves warm
if holding the door for you, we do it real good
if saying hello, we will be the first you hear it from
we might not be famous in the world of acting or singing
but we are famous and known for being polite
which is a million times worthy
i don't want to sound like bragging
but really this nation has stolen my heart
in a way a boy has never done before
i was not born here, nor am i a native of this ground
i have wondered looking for love and peace
and only here in this nation did i find my heart
i will not be ashamed to hold the flag of this nation
i will not be ashamed to sing the anthem of this nation
the growing of a tree tells a story in this nation
from east to west we rise every day with greater determination
the fireworks of this significant day will end today
but they will keep firing in our hearts for this nation
the smell of the grass of this nation washes away pain,
and when you step on the grass of this nation it brushes you with care
on a rainy days the sky drop low that it gives you a feeling,
and provokes you to believe you can climb
and reach the skies along with a friend.
on a sunny days, the sun gets bright that it makes you
want to talk to any stranger on the sidewalk.
I am inlove with this nation.
i came from a very far land, but this land has become my only home.
i don't care who says i don't belong because my heart say i belong
Jul 1, 2014
Jul 1, 2014 at 10:11 PM UTC
Little Maxwellan lived on a farm
Smack in the middle of nowhere.
The pasturage was small, not great for cattle,
But boy, the veg could grow there.
To keep the young lad out of their hair,
And to keep him out of trouble,
Pa had decided ‘’this boy needs a job’’
And had handed Maxwellan a shovel.
‘’You see that small melon patch there,
Next to the cabbage and winged bean?
I want you to tend to those plants,
And grow me a gourd like I’ve never seen.
If you’re patient till harvest’s end,
And produce a proud looking fruit,
We’ll enter it in the county fair.
Win, and you can keep the loot.’’
Well, little Maxwellan, inspired by fame and riches,
Set out to inspect his melon patch.
It was the Chinese kind, with waxy, oval crop.
Ma would sometimes cook up a batch.
You’d put them in soups or stews,
For their mild sweet flavour.
Add ginger, add garlic,
And, oh! That dish, you’d savour.
‘’First we must build a stronger structure
From which to suspend the vine.
A new lattice wouldn’t hurt,’’ said Pa.
Together, we’ll do it right this time.’’
So Maxwellan got to work;
Helped his father as best he could.
They built the structure and the lattice,
And all of it looked good.
‘’The rest is up to you now, son.
I trust you’ll do just fine,
Put all your heart into your work,
And whatever you do will shine.’’
Well, for the next hundred days or so,
Maxwellan did just that.
He weeded and watered religiously,
Watching his precious pepos grow fat.
Of all the plants hung from the lattice,
One prospered especially well.
Hanging like a big, plump balloon,
A prize specimen, all could tell.
‘’I know which one will enter the contest!
Look at its thick wax coating!
It’s the biggest one you’ve ever seen, Pa!
I might as well be gloating!’’
When the time came, at the end of harvest,
The gourd was almost as tall as Maxwellan,
‘’Here,’’ said Pa. ‘’Help me lift it into the cart.
Now there’s a fine wax melon!‘’
When they arrived, it was not yet noon,
Though the fairground was already abuzz.
There was giant produce everywhere!
A strange spectacle it was!
To tent number seven, they carted the big thing,
Where it was weighed, measured and inspected.
Maxwellan could only hold his breath,
And pray that his gourd was selected.
In the back of the room, he spotted Ashley Ford
In a pretty, flower-pattern dress.
So he walked on over, caught her eye,
And tried his best to impress.
‘’Hi Ashley! You look very pretty.
Did you come to see the contest?
I brought a giant wax melon that I grew by myself.
It will surely be the best!’’
Ashley Ford thanked Maxwellan
And wished him best of luck.
Then, she reached up, kissed his cheek,
And left the boy dumbstruck.
Soon after, the chief judge rose,
And called for the attention of the crowd.
Round as a southern screamer, the man,
Also, just as loud...
‘’Ladies, Gentlemen! Ahem! Please!
The jury has come to a conclusion!
This was no easy task, I must confess,
As we have seen quality in profusion.
Maxwellan’s enormous wax melon
Has impressed us all to a great degree,
But bigger still, was Miss Ford’s magnificent ash gourd
And, for this, the first prize is awarded to she.’’
Delighted cheers from the audience,
Little Ashley’s face all aglow.
Maxwellan can’t believe what’s happened.
The tears, they start to flow.
When he’s finished crying and wiped his tears,
He goes to congratulate his friend.
Though he tries to be polite, he can’t help but ask
How she did beat him, in the end.
‘’I read poetry to my plant every day.
It must have liked hearing my voice.
Its favourite poet, I found to be
None other than Dr. Seuss.’’
Jun 28, 2014
Jun 28, 2014 at 11:32 PM UTC
Defining love
has been at the heart
of
everything I have ever done.
Defining love asks
when
I look deep into your eyes
see you deep inside
strengths and flaws
moments of harmony
moments of discord
moments of acceptance
moments of rejection
Defining love asks for more
Defining love
takes into account
we all have our hours
of
wild eyed insanity
No escape from that.
The question is asked
"irritating and annoying?"
or
are those wild eyes devastating
and hurting every time
defining love demands
stay or go.
Defining love
creates the thought
generates the emotion
brings the consequence
the story
we tell ourselves.
Defining love sometimes sends us to
**** ****** afternoons
exhausted and relaxed
defining love moves to closeness
to
these exquisite moments of release.
Defining love plays up guilt
for everything
that could of
should of
been.
Defining love thinks that educating
is the way to be
slamming knowledge
in
rants and diatribes
"just what
my daddy
did
to me"
Defining love
will make you tough
by
being tough
and selling false expectations.
We all know what comes from this
my endless supply of mental patients.
Defining love doesn't give up
it has been said
******
defining love and feeling it
are all tied up
defining love loves to be defined.
Defining love loves to dance
head off into
a moving with the music
trance
defining love wants to be defined
using no words
defining love aches for romance.
Defining love takes only prisoners
places hearts in solitary confinement
hopefully not condemned to others
or
alone again.
Defining love sometimes laughs
sometimes it comes
in a gasp.
The perfect
orchid
rose
lily
defining love is natural
no artificial ingredients
the only preservative
is
called life.
Defining love finally settles down
and comes around for acceptance
tenderness
a
child that sleeps in pure innocence
what really matters
is
the innocence
within us
all.
Jun 25, 2014
Jun 25, 2014 at 12:23 PM UTC
You cling to it as if it were a kisby ring,
that pain that drowns you.
Jun 21, 2014
Jun 21, 2014 at 12:41 AM UTC