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Nat Lipstadt May 2014
then I am wearing black suit,
white shirt, black tie,
pockets full of tissues,
most crumpled, mostly used,
like my spirits

If it's 2pm,
I am in Augusta,
in a baptist church,
a nice jewish boy,
fixing his askewed tie,
doing what
The Lord commanded of him

If it's 2pm,
I am in Augusta,
sunny and 72 Farenheit,
inside of me its a different forecast,
y'all decide the condition,
the condition I'm in

I'm in the way back row,
humming so softly,
me and Johnny C.
nobody hears,
nobody cares,

She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear
But sometimes at night when the cold wind moans
In a long black veil she cries over my bones

She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave where the night winds wail
Nobody knows, no and nobody sees
Nobody knows but me


nobody knows, I am there,
nobody sees, nobody believes,
but god only knows I am here

my spirit taken here
unasked, unaided, unabated
did not have to fly,
the ship that was to take me,
busted on the rocks

for
the words that are used
to get the ship confused
will not be understood as they’re spoken
for the chains of the sea
will have busted in the night,
will be buried at
the bottom of the ocean


still
If it's 2pm,
I am in Augusta,
at a funeral,
my words gone silent,
even store bought stock phrases,
so sorry for your loss,
not for sale, all gone, all aloft,
all sold out on
this Sabbath day

If it's 2pm,
I am in Augusta,
in some form of which
not readily acquainted,
my new context a riddle,
never knew this morphosis
till now, until
it was needed,
all on that day

If it's 2:45pm
can't understand
all these people standing
over me, and the sidewalk
taste in my my mouth

it appears I appeared
on east 57th street
in my New York City,
it appears I appeared
to have
fainted dead away,
asking me not where how or when,
only why,
and I have no answers for
them or me or anybody who dare asks
a quest,
commencing and ending in
why

must have been the heat,
but decide then and there
maybe go visit
my Jordan and
my grand children
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Black_Veil_(song)

http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/when-ship-comes

2:00pm for Maria
Nat Lipstadt Jul 2017
the sign on the railway station says "Common Destination,"
the ties of our tracks are uniform, creosote covered, splintered,
spaced uniformly as is the wont of the arm-in-arm soldiers,
different regiments in the same army, though as they march,
some on the high, some the low road, in defense of the values,
right, right, right.

no believing in forever land, dreamt of poems forever burning,
real life farenheit bonfires lit by brown uniforms and such, thus,
now, when a poem completed and shared, 
it is instantly disfigured,
by flames harnessed to lick
the slate page clean, immediately, 
presenting yet  another opportunity,
to protest, persistently,
endless be my own turnkey hands renewing,
my write to right.

my write to right,
my pupose; my only intent, even in love poems,
ogdiddy witty ditties, long dialogues with the creator, all purposed,
all written while standing one on left foot, are we not all
poets of the ways to increase the sum total of
righteous and kindness in the world.

'tis right to write,
but go further and farther,
write to right.

to ease, comfort, shoulder and hand extensions, be the lean-to,
the shelter when there is no shelter, for there is no
owning words, and no limitation on clear vision and
the right to write.
https://hellopoetry.com/poem/2022913/the-right-to-write/

The Right To Write
Who remembers the greats,,historians and stars of stage and screen when their lights are extinguished.
All their import diminished in the scheme of things.
What lasts and why do we care when our history is wiped out or rewritten.
Each generation smitten with laying down rules, only to have them overthrown,
a mere stone thrown in an ocean of white noise.
Do we stand poised on the edge, or out on a ledge?.
I shed my own light on a page, waging a war on the world,
a stray curl twisted in deepest thought brings thought unsought,
and soon I'm caught up in a snare.
Who will care if writing becomes restricted
as predicted, the same with books they want them burned
and poetry spurned in an attempt to **** thought?
Who will lead the drive to reach the stars,
and climb the stair to who knows where?
Will our pathway be light or dark, is this our future or merely a lark?  How blighted would life be without written word,
imagination kicked to the curb?
The hell with the planets the moon and the stars
belt out your song in just eight bars,
write your fate on a forbidden page'
sage thoughts in rhyme perhaps in double times
rewinding our history, for one more adept
where the orators spoke and the audiences wept  
when anthems sung rang out so proud
we all stood up and sang aloud in joyful praise
the patriotism of saner days.  
Now all is chaos and we're the pawns
as darkness falls on priceless dawns
no paper, no ink, no sky of pink
no endless tale, no hope at all
the poets all crumble into a heap,
perhaps to sleep an endless sleep.  
Yet days will come when an errant breeze
will stir the cobwebs in the trees
and willful minds will start to think
and shuttered eyes begin to blink
then thoughts will stir with magic flair
until a word appears, then another
and another spinning endless spheres.  
Then up it rises from grave and ground
a surging of an endless sound
one can hear it all around.  
Rhythm and rhyme line after line
sung to a tune in three quarter time  
until people once again take pen in hand
and let their emotion and thought expand.
Perhaps poetry is our forever land
a turnkey that debunks future histories?
Never cease and desist always resist
and persist. insisting on our right to write
be it day or be it night, in war or peace, the least
amongst us has the right, the staid and true or the
fly by night.  Write on my friends and take thee heed
thank God we're such a persistent breed.
Nat Lipstadt Oct 2014
taking in early October
Vitamin D naturally,^
another too-oft-writ pretense that
Queen Summer yet smiles upon this
erstwhile, part-time,
nerve bundled human...

though facts contradict,
in summer uniform
he still emerges to bay and chair,
his confessional, his holy temple,
his Houdini escape chamber,
though the temperature
will not top 60 Farenheit

duplicitous as long as I can,
in this simple and so many other
lifetime items far-less-than-trivial,
incapable of obeying my brain's map
orders to cease and desist,
(or dress appropriately at least,)
to see the entirety of oneself
in the broadest of spectrum,
all colors unvarnished, fulsome,
truths rawer than any fictional 3D horror film...

what you do not know,
what you shall now know,
is Samuel Barber's Adagio For Strings
plays once more,
this time the strings
pleadingly command that now,
this time I write
unobfuscated and obtrusive...

(Ah,
those thrusting O words,
so employable, making a face shape surprised
into a rounded, somewhat circuitous
O)


decline to describe the decline,
the angle, the steepness
to-be-determined,
not to be denied for the extremities advise
the battle internal has commenced,
and without a band of brothers,
a solitary, wandering, knight-poet errant,
in search of a battle not,
for the embattlements within are
under attack...

yes errant,
off course,
of course,
the errant bay breeze
speaks to me one more time,
chiding the me-child like a goodly parent,
firm but gentle, modulating tween
just cold enough to make me shiver,
but enough not,
no, to drive me inside...

not knowing, that my inside nature
presently rebellious, all manner of riotous
transmissions beseeching pain medication

foolishness all this temporizing diversionary tactics,
the commencement is the commencement,
the beginning signal fires an ending,
a landing on runways unknown,

fear is not present,
how could it be,
I was warned once and then repeatedly,
so the brain begins yet another remapping,
contours of misshapen sensory inputs
distorted and then the  breeze
over my shoulders reads these words, and
disappears to comfort me by
unopposing the sun vitals,
letting them enter unimpeded...

so
smile creases appear
across poet's tempest face,
for though his hands
splayed and warped,
the trigger fingers stuck
and cannot pull,
the nubs obey the eyes
and solace him,
for as he promised himself,
to himself,
those poetic nerves
will write on
long after all the physical ones,
with errant breezes,
and summer peace,
gone, gone, gone...



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
^*(Oh! how that word personal,
Naturally, naturally
doth haunt me,
for mine own nature be the
leader of mine enemies allied)
Oct 5, 2014
Rollie Rathburn Jun 2018
A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a quantity,
used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other quantity of that kind
can be expressed
as a multiple of the unit of measurement.

Length,
for example,
is a physical quantity.

Any value of a physical quantity is expressed
as a comparison to a unit of that quantity.

For example, the value of a physical quantity Z is expressed as the product of a unit [Z] and a numerical factor:

Z = n x [Z] = n[Z] So if we were to let Z be “2 antique sofas” then Z = 2[Z] = 2 antique sofas.

Fifteen hundred miles or so,
converts to roughly 7920000 feet
and 48 hours of land
across approximately 29 counties spread through 5 states

However,
in order to measure more abstract concepts,
different units of measurement are often adapted,
or hybridized, to fulfill ad-hoc need.

Coping,
for example,
is an abstract quantity
represented by

American Spirits:
(farenheit, inches, exhaled smoke as measured in cubic feet.)

Tears cried as designated driver
for termination
of unplanned pregnancy:
(miles, cost of service in U.S. Dollar, speed, tear volume in milliliters)

Furniture thrown:
Forces relevant to stable flight include a balance of
Propulsive ******. Lift,
created by the reaction
to an airflow
Drag, created by
aerodynamic friction
Weight,
created by gravity
Buoyancy, for lighter
than air flight

Holes in drywall:
(Inches in diameter and depth, potential bruises to be explained if the wall is ever further away than the human form in a darkened bedroom)

Unfortunately,
some concepts are still devoid of applicable units of measurement.

Take for example, the concept of Waiting.

As it has no defined beginning,
or end, and is malleable based on
external factors such as perceived value
and level of psychosocial dependency,
there appears to be no observable limit
regarding absolute human capacity capabilities.
Andressa Leite Nov 2011
bring me to the land of green.

green trees
green seas
green me.

brand new,
cracking out of my shell with
the egg tooth that never
quite fell.

make me green again
please.
i've been old too long.

what is it like to take in the sun
in the mornings
where the temperature
reads centigrade instead of
farenheit?

green as the day i was born.
green as the sea whose salt air burns me.
green as the tree i was hatched in.

green as the day
the temperature read in
centigrade.
i moved to brazil.
lucidwaking Jul 2022
85 degrees farenheit and counting -
A sweltering wave of heat.
It filled and fogged my mind,
As I laid supine on the bathroom floor.
I stared at the ceiling and wondered if
god still loved ***** sinners.
I then questioned if whether he did or not
Even mattered at all.

I had tied myself up in straps,
Just to forget my body for a little while.
I had spat in the face of celibacy,
Only to find that the face was my own.
Looking back at that face, I contemplated on
Just how dastardly my actions supposedly were.
Reaching in my chest, I shifted and searched,
Trying to find the sin...
But nothing surfaced.
Old draft I wrote last year and wanted to add more to, but couldn't think of anything else to say with it, so I figured I'd just post it
Lennox Trim Mar 2021
Learned more from this pain than i ever did from a church.
Listening to your gut but make sure you detox it first.
**** be killin me softly, leave me in a Hearse,
Never a good thing when i hear from you first.
Be careful what you see,
even salt look like sugar,
Maturity is not throwing salt when you know you could've,
And not smackin ******* when you know you should've.
People Be like "oh i miss you"
**** i miss me too.
Had to use these teflon tissues to get me thru,
You not alone, **** i wanna be with me too,
Deadass On some days , smiles were too good to be true.
I be business minded when i be minding my business.
And ****** be ******* and ******* be on some ***** ****.
Overcame this novocain,
Recasted the impression of depression,
Ring around the rosary,
Never relying on religion.

Im from a home of funny bones
And My elbows been ashy,
I knew It would take more than macaroni art to kraft me,
And i been itching for this platform
If you ask me,
I used to wonder if i was a real person.
I used to wonder like what's my real purpose?
When i was young ,I taught my shadow to stick to my toes,
When lifes a battle, I fought to stick to mottos.
As a poet i never looked at it this way,
I never booked myself for this reading.
I was overbooked.
I bookmarked my favorite moments ,
I been forever overlooked.
And never understood what "more" ment,
I been overcooked.
The preheating of this season left me bleeding.
This farenheit left me heavy breathin
No fear of heights but Excuse me while I fall from
- grace -
me with your presence and
These broken promises,
Never been transparent to this degree,
Had to leave that monster house.
That was my American horror story.
I used to be couped up,
Had to tell double d to get outta my laboratory,
See mfs want my jazz but not my blues,
They Wanna be in my class but aint payed they dues,
Yall be Morally incorrect,
....More or less...
Lately i been Moralless,
Need to get saved no church bells ,
Put me on the zach Morris list,
These rhymes be like my confessions,
Front row seat to my ascension,
Carry out this life to which we've been sentenced,
Delivery me from evil - with even more incentives,
I dream in MLA format.
Double spaced a letter to my younger self,
Just some **** I wish i told the older me
A ***** laundry list of things I thought ought to be owed to me,
My OCD be blowin me,
Need all my ducks in a row,
My prolonged silence been leading this Crescendo,
Im not playing NO GAMES, fuxk you and your Nintendo.
In the great dephts of a collossal anthem
There were ray beams gathered, focused
Beautifully by a magic magnifying glass.

The true meaning of existence was living,
Breathing, focusing on step by steps little
Revelations; non-existing bouquets lit on
Misty meadows glowing in the morning
Dew drops budding on cherry blossoms.

He thought-nevertheless: he's falling into
The infinite abyss of his enticed farenheit
Hell, swirling his brilliant darkish mind to
The point of total absolute white, mingled
With blackness and sweet spectre of love
Profoundly smooched~wickedly nooked.
Imagined by
Impeccable Space
Poetic Lovebeam
Qualyxian Quest Dec 2022
Some trouble sleeping lately
But plans for tomorrow
Slowly. I slowly go.

Heat in Tucson
Snow in Chicago
Rain in Seattle
Solamente yo

Her voice: gentle
But she can also fight
Quotes Churchill
Directs.

Q to work today
Farenheit 9/11
At bats
Protects.

            X
Qualyxian Quest Apr 2023
Religious history is mostly chaos
Factions, wars, exclusion, hate
Package came from Judi
So many fears for Cate

Package came from Judi
But returned to sender
Sometimes all I am is fear
The seeming never ender

Life is pain on rain on train
I spend much time alone
Mr. David Markson
Shares the go bold Joan

1:37
Gonna sleep a bit
Farenheit 9/11
George W. ****

             Afraid. But haven't quit.

                            Not yet.
Qualyxian Quest Dec 2022
It's a rainy one this morning
And she is on my mind
Farenheit 9/11
Flint, Michigan. Michael Moore.

Books
Post cards
Songs
When We Get Behind Closed Doors

The Eagle and the Hawk
Rocky Mountains
Country Roads
Sweet Surrender 4

American music
Irish bars
Japanese cars
Foreign shores

       Yours,

  T. Witherell
eileen Jul 2020
don't imagine
I'll change the temperature units

I'm stuck in celsius now

you drive in miles
I don't know

all the little differences
I want to cry
I'm too tired to

I'm trying for me
not for nobody

at least I'm trying

sleeping early
I let her go
learning
I said I love you
goodnight

don't think
I won't change
I will

I'm slowly
trying

I still frown
but I smile behind my mask

I can see so clearly
I might cry tomorrow morning

I'm just happy
and so sad

recovering
bits of healing
in my breakfast

I'll go into your room
it's darker
there's too much sun in mine

I've never been excited for the next months to come

don't say
what I miss so far

everyone is changing
everything is dying

the world is in pain
I'll recover and heal
I'll wait to love it back to health

everyone is growing
everything is the same

he will stay in farenheit
I don't mind

— The End —