ECKate: Favorites

Oct 2013 ECKate

Keith Douglas

*******

Under the parabola of a ball,
a child turning into a man,
I looked into the air too long.
The ball fell in my hand, it sang
in the closed fist: Open Open
Behold a gift designed to ****.

Now in my dial of glass appears
the soldier who is going to die.
He smiles, and moves about in ways
his mother knows, habits of his.
The wires touch his face: I cry
NOW. Death, like a familiar, hears

And look, has made a man of dust
of a man of flesh. This sorcery
I do. Being ******, I am amused
to see the centre of love diffused
and the wave of love travel into vacancy.
How easy it is to make a ghost.

The weightless mosquito touches
her tiny shadow on the stone,
and with how like, how infinite
a lightness, man and shadow meet.
They fuse. A shadow is a man
when the mosquito death approaches

Oct 2013 ECKate

I want to die winking (An Ode to Jon Whitacre)

Oct 2013 ECKate

Universal Thrum

I want to die winking (An Ode to Jon Whitacre)

Dying with a winking eye
A smile so broad for death to see
Every tooth inside my ancient mouth
Expressing radiant love and empathy
My cheeks will swell with bulging cheer
Well-worn wrinkles form in the corners of grinning lids
A starry twinkle amongst exploding nebula iris
As silken lashes catch the days last wind

A hearty laugh makes a final human sound
The merry breath wheezing in and then forever out
of cavernous lungs
Rattling against homely walls

Kicking down the unlocked door, of which you have a key
The halls of Amenti are calling now
The shrouded veil surrounds the flaming flower
As the final grain spills to sandy bottom
And the thumping of the ticking heart
Stops in life’s twilight hour

Jon Whitacre will forever be my dear friend. His smile, laugh, and good cheer lit up my life and his wisdom taught me many things. We loved to climb rocks, run in the woods, learn martial arts, compete, converse and bask in the glory of life. A true man, with a Warrior's heart, whose memory will always be cherished. See you on the other side, Brother.

Oct 2013 ECKate

Cool Cat

Oct 2013 ECKate

Showman

Cool Cat

I'm a cool cat
Who likes to ****
The smooth jazz
That dances off my pen
Compliments
The 'garette I smoke

The dance of pen to pad
The movement
The shake
Rumble
Makes my fingers snap
And my feet tap.

Oct 2013 ECKate

for you

Oct 2013 ECKate

Anais Mostly

for you

I'm glad that I woke up this morning
But I'm tired of feeling alone
Like I'm a monster who isn't worthy of having her king or her throne
I'm glad I have a sense of humor and people love my smile
Even though I feel worthy I haven't been in your eyes for awhile

Do you really think it gives me joy to feel
Like an old toy you just keep around

Did you really think that you could keep staying out all night and that I would just sit around

There was a time that I needed you
Although I may still
I want more than this
More than asking you to feel a way you don't or can't
It gives me the chills

If you think I'm an evil ***** there's no point but i still try and explain
I know you've been in pain but you aren't the only one

You aren't dismissed
I know you tried but it's too late

I was wrong
I'm sorry,
but I also have a choice
and I can't be your entertainment while you wander the streets with others

No I prefer to be alone

Oct 2013 ECKate

Caged Birds

Oct 2013 ECKate

Jappy Calabio

Caged Birds

The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill for the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

Source: I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Famous Nature Poems http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/famous/poem/i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings-by-maya-angelou#ixzz2haXH0qgI
#FamilyFriendPoems

Oct 2013 ECKate

The Early Purges

Oct 2013 ECKate

Seamus Heaney

The Early Purges

I was six when I first saw kittens drown.
Dan Taggart pitched them, 'the scraggy wee *****',
Into a bucket; a frail metal sound,

Soft paws scraping like mad. But their tiny din
Was soon ******. They were slung on the snout
Of the pump and the water pumped in.

'Sure, isn't it better for them now?' Dan said.
Like wet gloves they bobbed and shone till he sluiced
Them out on the dunghill, glossy and dead.

Suddenly frightened, for days I sadly hung
Round the yard, watching the three sogged remains
Turn mealy and crisp as old summer dung

Until I forgot them. But the fear came back
When Dan trapped big rats, snared rabbits, shot crows
Or, with a sickening tug, pulled old hens' necks.

Still, living displaces false sentiments
And now, when shrill pups are prodded to drown
I just shrug, '****** pups'. It makes sense:

'Prevention of cruelty' talk cuts ice in town
Where they consider death unnatural
But on well-run farms pests have to be kept down.

Oct 2013 ECKate

The Struggle

Oct 2013 ECKate

L O

The Struggle

I swallowed you whole and you stomped on my toes,
finding your place in my bones,
and snapping my femur.

You were predator, but I turned you parasite.
No dark thing of the night,
cause see, I knew better.

I wanted the spills and the rage
just so I could slash that pretty, polished page
with something grander.

And as you climbed my frame with switchblade paws,
wrapped your sickly tail around my delicate drawers,
and clenched my tongue with a flickering finger,
I caught fire.

My lips burned black, smoke stained my dress,
while I put forth a shaky “yes”,

not that you inquired.