On the first hour of my first day
in the front trench I fell;

'Get up,' bawled Sergeant Major,
'and stand eye to eye with hell,

and look ye on the plucky dead
whose chests swell out with pride';

but t'was the rats that swelled them
as they plucked them from inside..

Somebody bundled
it into a clock
and slung it up high on a wall,

with numbers
like bars between us,
where there had been nothing before;

before,
my days had come open,
open and endless like sky,

but boxed on the wall
there looked no room for all
of the rest of my lifetime and I.

A certain song the sea wind knows
it sends thru puckered lips,

like kisses blown, across the bows
of drowsing sailing ships;

and stirs their sleepy sails
from their slumber with it's tune,

unfurls their folded petals
and brings them back in bloom.

When this skin
was young and ironed,
well it fit,
like new things do;

that was then
but now I find
the cracks within
are showing through.

Extend a hand to yourself
Helpful, tender and warm
Giving yourself a high-five
Doing yourself no harm

Raise both hands, disarm yourself
Feel peace from hands to heart
Show some enthusiasm
Before your day can start

Hug both shoulders give a squeeze
Close your eyes with a sigh
Feeling your love with each breath
Even if you cry

Entwine your fingers, press palms
In gratitude for
Having come this far
While still wanting more

Give yourself a round of applause
Feel the joy indeed
Perhaps a pat on your shoulder
May be all you need

Dear Eliot, I wonder why
When members post their rhymes
You gave us all those choices how
To give some feedback every time

Like it, love it, leave a comment, too
Even click on “thumbs down”
The best is when a reader is moved
To send it all around…

Or when it’s picked “The Daily”
It feels like quite a treat  
when someone shines a “Sun” that
Feels marvelously sweet!

We poets see who likes our writes
Who sends them all around
But just what is the purpose for
Those mean, faceless “thumbs down”?

It feels good first
That punch you throw
Powered with adrenalin
Triumph!  you crow

Losing control
Each threat you shout
Driving Emotion prevails
Anger has clout

Primal howling
I  cannot speak
A volatile Damnation
Beneath my feet

A fiend unleashed
A dark winged thing
Wrenching the curtain aside
Madness is king

You’ve crossed the line
There is no doubt
Dimensions of cruelty
Madness wins out

No forgiveness
The devil cheers
Waylaid in selfish desires
Demonic fears

Fear holds its breath
Sardonic gloom
Too turbulent to control
Foreboding doom

Peace is exiled
No looking back
Thrusts of heartless violence
Repression hacked

Paradise lost
Cherished hatred
Surging over boundaries
Nothing sacred

Stuff of nightmares
Robs me of sleep
Letting go with a vengeance
Monster’s relief

I cannot bear
This heavy weight
Id’s inner realm
Desolate hate

Transcendence shows
All states of thought
Each a world unto itself
Not shaken off

Silence that grudge
Revenge aint sweet
It turns back on you like a
Missile seeks heat

I miss Vicki
Poetess sublime
Nature is her nurse
She wrote her essence every time

I don’t know why she left
Like Aretha, made me cry
Whatever drove her off
I just want to say good-bye

Her comments-wise, encouraging
With love she shared her best
You’re sorely missed, Dear Vicki
Farewell Dear Poetess