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Francie Lynch Apr 2021
Just picked up my thirtieth pair of glasses
(perhaps you call them eye glasses).
Progressive, photo-chromatic, temples with wrap around cables.
Same round frames since I was sixteen (first saw them in How I Won the War).
I don’t mess with what works. We fit. No need to look further.
Had my eye on the prize.
They give me perfect sight. And I waited years to get perfect sight.
Always needed glasses. Finally got them when I was eleven.
Big family. Immigrants. No health coverage. So, no glasses.
Couldn’t see the forest or the trees. A genetic thing too.
Several sisters and brothers are as myopic as moles.
Mammy and Daddy never wore glasses (which is not to say they didn’t need them).
All granny glasses are wire rims with a golden finish.
All of mine were. These ones are round black wire rims. I’m being so adventurous.
I remove them (singular is a monocle) to shower and go to bed. I never ask to try on someone’s frames, and I never loan mine for a second (Period)
I also have a face that has grown so accustomed to glasses, that my eyes have surely deepened into my skull. I don’t recognize myself on my driver’s license, health card or passport (Why do they insist on that? I’m never asked to remove my glasses upon surrender of any document for visual verification).

I’ve yet to regret the wealth I’ve spent.
Their cost could pay the rent
For a third world family for years.
It would feed and clothe a village, I’m sure.
I'm not blinded by how good I've got it here.
The title comes from Jer. 5:21
"How I Won the War" starring John Lennon. He first wore wire rims in this movie, and removed the stigma of being called "Pop bottles" in the school yard.
Keebo Jan 2021
John Lennon
Can you imagine the world if he wasn’t shot?
Do you think his believers will finally see
The bullshitting hypocrite behind all that peace?

“All you need is love” sang by a guy
Who went out of his way to be cruel to his wife
Used to ***** about his dad doing the disappearing act
Until he did it himself, the silly ****

“Imagine no possessions”
Bold words from a guy who had a lot of obsessions
“Love is real, real is love”
Says the guy who’d rather have two lovers at once

His best hits was with the Fab Four
His solo hits are like seesaws
Yoko Ono had some hits
By him, behind closed doors she took it

Some people see him as some sort of Jesus
But truth is, he was politically clueless
The egotistical, ignorant little poseur
Who’d rather stay in bed until it’s all over

Did he change the world? Did he ****
Nothing but a demigod, high in everyone’s mind
I’m really glad he died in his prime
Just wished that ****** Bono was next in line
Written about somebody we should not put on a pedestal
Francie Lynch Dec 2020
I was sound asleep. Work tomorrow

Tuesday, December 9, 1980. 6:30 A.M.

Alarm on. Out and into shower.
Shave. Can't hear radio.
Getting dressed, and in the background's playing, Imagine.
Then Wheels, Beautiful Boy, Help, I Should Have Known Better.
Why?
And the news sinks in. And I have to go teach Grade 6 English
and read Curious ******* George to four classes of Kindergartens and Grade ones.
And, I'm alone in my new house, in a small town called Aylmer (population 5,000).
My wife is away during the week at University, and I hate my job,
and he's decaying on some slab as I read to twenty-five five year olds. Some of these kids will get to know and love his work. So will their kids and grandkids. I know. Like Mozart.

Tuesday, December 9, 1980. 10:00 P.M.

Me, Johnny Walker, and the turntable going round and round, like his wheels.
What a talent. What a waste.
Francie Lynch Dec 2020
It was forty years ago today,
In New York where he longed to stay;
At the doors to his apartment rise,
With devil's envy rising in his eyes;
He imagined his confusion wasn't wrong;
Then the curtain in the tower tore,
The Cavern shook beneath its floor,
And the needle scratched across our songs.

I want to let him rest in peace,
Still waiting at the end of his road.

The assassin doesn't seek release,
And it doesn't really matter Bro.
For John is dead, and
And we're a bit lonelier now.
John Winston Ono Lennon: 1940-1980. (December 8th)
I refuse to mention his assassin's name. That's what he wanted whenever someone spoke about John Lennon.
Sgt. Pepper helped inspire this one.
Rebecca Oct 2020
Lucy is not in the sky
like you were told.
Her feet or on the ground
holding a piece of coal.

The rocking horse people
took her diamond away
and smeared marshmallow pie
across her narrow face.

The marmalade sky’s
ozone has disintegrated,
from the fumes of cellophane  
the flowers created.

The tangerine trees
turned to rust,
from newspaper taxis
exhaust pipe dust.

The girl with kaleidoscope eyes,
takes Prozac every day.  
She stays comfortably numb,
keeping despondency at bay.
Alas, poor Lucy! I knew her, Horatio
Mark Toney Nov 2019
Learn war
No more
6/22/2018 - Poetry form: Footle - Copyright © Mark Toney | Year Posted 2018
Mark Toney Oct 2019
John Winston Ono Lennon
From Britain to Brooklyn, decked in denim
Controversial through his political and peace activism
Felled by Mark David Chapman's act of barbarism
5/22/2019 - Poetry form: Clerihew - Copyright © Mark Toney | Year Posted 2019
Aaron LaLux Jun 2017
Once Upon A Time

The truth is,
I saw you for real,

not just your eyes,
though they were the window,
not just your mouth, though it was the door,

the truth is,
I saw you,

in a flash of light,
in a fleeting moment of intangible time,
somewhere between uncontrollable chaos,
and unconscious calm,

I saw you,

and in that fleeting moment,
I saw we all want to feel,
both comfortably numb,
as well as every possible awkward emotion,

imagine all the people living in harmony,

see there’s a little Lennon in all of us,
just not enough...

We all want to feel,
both comfortably numb and every possible awkward emotion,

who killed John Lennon,
who killed JFK,

they want to assassinate our characters indiscriminately,
anyone could be informant don't know who to trust these days,
is that why what little emotion you still hold,
you try and hide away?

Well,
you can’t hide from me,
you see,
I see you,

you see I see you,
and your unconscious charade,
but your charade can’t fool me,
just like John Legend can’t replace,
John Lennon or The Weeknd can’t replace,
Michael Jackson or how Donald J can’t replace JFK,

or how MLK can’t be replaced be anybody,

because nobody’s even trying to stand for anything anymore,
unless they’re standing drink in their hand on the dance floor,

who killed MLK,
who killed Michael Jackson,
who killed Prince and why haven’t we felt a thing ever since,
it seems we lost ourselves but we don't know how it happened,

and I just want to feel again,
and I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen,
and I know the deal,
the real truth and the real you so please stop acting,

the truth is,
I see you,

so don’t act like you don’t care,
because we both know I know that you do,
and please pinch me to prove we aren’t dreaming,
even though we both know we have nothing to prove,

and nothing to lose,
please show me some meaning in all of this,
and I’m not asking for understanding,
I’m just acting for some acceptance,
I’m not asking for anything else actually,
well maybe also for you to at least acknowledge,
that I see you not part of you but all of you,
you can't fool me with those mirages,

I see right through the tools you use to confuse with,
you see I see you,

so accept this,
without exception,
show me your Self,
or show me nothing,

tell me something,
that you’ve been waiting to never share,
because I’ve gone numb from all these faux pas feelings,
and false hand dealings from those that never cared,

see it seemed I’d lost hope until I found you right there,

and now,
I’m seeing,
something,
someone,
who reminds me,
you remind me,
to remember,
that we felt once,
and for that,
I love you,
forever,
and I’m indebted to you,
and I’m here,
to return the favor,
so I remind you,
that we felt once,
and we still do,
and I still see you,
not the fake you but the real you,
and the real you wants the real truth and the truth is I see you,
or at least I saw you before I forgot to remember,
because you forgot to remind me to remind you...

The truth is,
I saw you for real,

not just your eyes,
though they were the window,
not just your mouth, though it was the door,

the truth is,
I saw you,

in a flash of light,
in a fleeting moment of intangible time,
somewhere between uncontrollable chaos,
and unconscious calm,

I saw you,

and in that fleeting moment,
I saw we all want to feel,
both comfortably numb,
as well as every possible awkward emotion,

imagine all the people living in harmony,

see there’s a little Lennon in all of us,
just not enough...

∆ Aaron LA Lux ∆
Please remember...
Francie Lynch Jun 2016
John wrote,
I read the news today...
He recounted accidents, wars, ***-holes.
I did too... today.
I read about charity runs,
Music under the Bluewater Bridge,
Teachers receiving National Awards.
There are many sections to the paper
I read through my wire-rimmed glasses.
I'm getting older, all the time,
So I avoid the nastiness with my morning coffee.
Is killing terrorists good news?
Oh boy!
What would John read into that.
We need some help!
I may skip the news tomorrow,
And make some holes
To let the light in,
The darkness out.
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