"flambe" poems
My gorilla wears tennis shoes
He reads the paper and sings the blues
My gorilla, my gorilla
My gorilla, he's a sensitive guy
I took him out for a wedding, and man did he cry!
Tears all down his tie
Well, he can drive most greens from the back tees
But his putting brings him to his knees
My gorilla, my gorilla
My gorilla loves pork and beans
He rides a scooter in his cut-off jeans
My gorilla, my gorilla
He can make a mean souffle
He's great with omelets, but his specialty is flambe
So I eat one every day!
He's been working hard on a half pike
But his cannonball empties the pool
My gorilla, my gorilla
My gorilla is so much fun
He buys taquitos for everyone
My gorilla, my gorilla
My gorilla loves tequila with lime
He's taking classes at a school for mime
Cracks me up every time!
Well, he's looking cool in his "white face"
And his French beret looks oh so fine
My gorilla, my gorilla
Oh yeah...
Jan 21, 2013
Jan 21, 2013 at 4:46 PM UTC
He struts down the sidewalk
With a hint of a frown
His spoon swings beside him
Jaunty hat as his crown.
Childers peep with a gasp
As they watch him strut down
The musk that follows him
The stains on his gown.
There he goes, they whisper,
As the sun settles down
The Badass Chef, they say,
Of this Badass Town.
He pounds dough to a pulp
Whisking eggs beyond shape
Beets up on the salad
Stomping vatfulls of grape.
Skewers meat without thought
Chops neat through a bone
Flays sharks without care
Needs no sous, works alone
The Badass Chef
Of this Badass Town.
He hangs up his cleaver
At the end of the day
Dripping droplets of what
None have courage to say
He blows out his flambe
Spoon back at his side
Turns back to his war zone
Fists clenched with quiet pride
There he goes, they whisper,
As the sun settles down
The Badass Chef
Of this Badass Town.
Jan 29, 2018
Jan 29, 2018 at 2:46 PM UTC
The cruciferous prophet sticks in my teeth-
I think I'd rather have a tidbit, of thief;
All covered, of course, in a vinegar sauce
With just a light dusting, of the true cross.
Some rarefied spleen, set sideboard,
With red vintage wine; A.D. thirty-four
Frankincense and Myrrh, baked in aspic;
And saved for last, Shroud Flambe: digestif.
Mar 8, 2010
Mar 8, 2010 at 6:17 AM UTC
Random mortar shells in the afternoon.
Sparkling, steel jacketed rain drops,
Glinting rainbows of reflected sunlight.
Plastic explosive seat cushions upon which passers-by,
Rest their weary bones.
C-4 candy bars, nuclear toothpaste,
****** for dessert.
Orphanage flambe', hospital hash, blood pudding.
Human burgers sizzling on a smart bomb bar-b-que grill.
Finger food, toe jam, baby-back ribs.
Bureaucratic double talkers,
Sugar coated body counts,
Colateral stew.
Really deplorable, awfully sorry,
But it was their own faults trying to put on raincoats.
They declined our invitation to the cook-out.
Bad luck to open an umbrella in the house.
Remotely piloted funeral processions.
Radar guided hearses.
Televised in real time.
Precision, surgical,
neutralized, deterrent, disarmed,
Deactivated, stand down, eliminate.
Living pawns on a battlefield checkerboard.
Strategic, defensive,
Dominate, annihilate,
Acceptable loss, public opinion pole.
Listen to the tinkling of sabre blades,
Rattling windchimes,
In the warm breeze of the shockwave,
Accompanied by the drumbeat of detonation and concussion.
Rock...
...and heads will roll.
Holy, blessed,
Patriotic, brave,
Courageous, dedicated,
Heroic, dutiful,
Self sacrificing...
******
May 16, 2014
May 16, 2014 at 10:28 AM UTC
Viens-tu du ciel profond ou sors-tu de l'abîme,
Ô Beauté ! ton regard, infernal et divin,
Verse confusément le bienfait et le crime,
Et l'on peut pour cela te comparer au vin.
Tu contiens dans ton oeil le couchant et l'aurore ;
Tu répands des parfums comme un soir orageux ;
Tes baisers sont un philtre et ta bouche une amphore
Qui font le héros lâche et l'enfant courageux.
Sors-tu du gouffre noir ou descends-tu des astres ?
Le Destin charmé suit tes jupons comme un chien ;
Tu sèmes au hasard la joie et les désastres,
Et tu gouvernes tout et ne réponds de rien.
Tu marches sur des morts, Beauté, dont tu te moques ;
De tes bijoux l'Horreur n'est pas le moins charmant,
Et le Meurtre, parmi tes plus chères breloques,
Sur ton ventre orgueilleux danse amoureusement.
L'éphémère ébloui vole vers toi, chandelle,
Crépite, flambe et dit : Bénissons ce flambeau !
L'amoureux pantelant incliné sur sa belle
A l'air d'un moribond caressant son tombeau.
Que tu viennes du ciel ou de l'enfer, qu'importe,
Ô Beauté ! monstre énorme, effrayant, ingénu !
Si ton oeil, ton souris, ton pied, m'ouvrent la porte
D'un Infini que j'aime et n'ai jamais connu ?
De Satan ou de Dieu, qu'importe ? Ange ou Sirène,
Qu'importe, si tu rends, - fée aux yeux de velours,
Rythme, parfum, lueur, ô mon unique reine ! -
L'univers moins hideux et les instants moins lourds ?
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Here's another story that's also true
Although I hate to admit it
You see, my wife didn't think it was funny
And she just won't let me forget it
I was sitting at the table with my wife and kids
Enjoying our evening meal
I'm tellin you now, I'm lucky to be alive
And wouldn't be if looks could ****
I was almost finished with my desert
When I said, "Hey look, your mom's a Flambe'"
(Caution), never light a match near a woman's head
She didn't tell me she was wearing hair spray
Well, I got a little too close, then up she went
**** flames all over the place
I started beating her on the head as fast as I could
You should have seen that woman's face
The smoke detector singing as loud as it could
Trying to cover my wife's horrible scream
I could have been married to a bald headed woman
At least that's how she makes it seem
I finally got it out, the kids were laughing
But my wife just didn't see the humor
She stared at me til my brain went weak
I seriously thought I had a tumor
I hope everybody was paying attention
To this lesson that I had to learn
Never light a match near a woman's head
And never shout burn baby burn
Jun 15, 2010
Jun 15, 2010 at 9:53 AM UTC
Thumbs hooked through jean belt loops,
pulling her to you.
You kiss.
Over and over again, you kiss:
so many quick little pecks in a row.
I hope you don't
kiss your mother like that,
but is SHE your mama bird?
It's like you take nourishment
from her kisses.
Is she dropping
food into your mouth?
So greedy,
can't get enough.
Of her time, either.
The odd purity that comes
from being complemented
for the first time this way.
How she leans against your knee,
she's the missing puzzle piece.
The crook of her neck, there,
just there.
The pressure where she uses you
for a chin rest.
During any violent-as-you-wish
T.V. show and
she'd even be
cool to chill with you when
you're with your bro's.
Though alone time is the best.
All that you could ask for,
through hills and valleys
you ride along.
Everything is smooth and firm,
smooth and firm.
Smooth, no hiccup in the road.
Firm is the belief in
the reliability of the course.
They're hot;
the heat
rushes through them,
complete.
Ain't never gonna feel
this way again.
Not with anybody else.
You two could lie in bed all day.
We're making relationship flambe.
A secret recipe of
inside jokes and
somebody finally wanting your ingredients,
lit afire by some mystery combustible.
You'd deny 'til you were hoarse
that it's only flash in the pan.
Until one day, it seems like-
how can you have
all these shared memories,
all this love,
yet it's still as if the person standing there
is barely the same person from before?
No more pulling her frontward or backward
by her belt loops,
always pulling her toward
the pulse of your passion.
But the beat of love's life, at least,
grows faint, and she threatens
to take you out with it.
He'd seen her raise the gun,
for all the good it did.
A bullet hole in his forehead
And it's like his third eye's crying blood.
He didn't want to see
what he saw too long ago.
And he just delayed their misery.
Do you take your meat rare?
This cut's dripping in disillusion,
the animal neutralized, a dead
bag of blood and bones.
No; you're still
all-too human, though.
Alone in a room, it's all you can do
to remember to breathe.
But that's step one.
Jul 10, 2018
Jul 10, 2018 at 9:32 PM UTC
La neige à travers la brume
Tombe et tapisse sans bruit
Le chemin creux qui conduit
A l'église où l'on allume
Pour la messe de minuit.
Londres sombre flambe et fume ;
La chère qui s'y cuit
Et la boisson qui s'ensuit !
C'est Christmas et sa coutume
De minuit jusqu'à minuit.
Sur la plume et le bitume,
Paris bruit et jouit.
Ripaille et Plaisant déduit
Sur le bitume et la plume
S'exaspèrent dès minuit.
Le malade en l'amertume
De l'hospice où le poursuit
Un espoir toujours détruit
S'épouvante et se consume
Dans le noir d'un long minuit...
La cloche au son clair d'enclume
Dans la cour fine qui luit,
**** du péché qui nous nuit,
Nous appelle en grand costume
A la messe de minuit.
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Ah ! vraiment c'est triste, ah ! vraiment ça finit trop mal,
Il n'est pas permis d'être à ce point infortuné.
Ah ! vraiment c'est trop la mort du naïf animal
Qui voit tout son sang couler sous son regard fané.
Londres fume et crie. O quelle ville de la Bible !
Le gaz flambe et nage et les enseignes sont vermeilles.
Et les maisons dans leur ratatinement terrible
Epouvantent comme un sénat de petites vieilles.
Tout l'affreux passé saute, piaule, miaule et glapit
Dans le brouillard rose et jaune et sale des Sohos
Avec des « indeeds » et des « all rights » et des « haôs ».
Non vraiment c'est trop un martyre sans espérance,
Non vraiment cela finit trop mal, vraiment c'est triste
O le feu du ciel sur cette ville de la Bible !
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L'habit râpé
Vivent les bas de soie et les souliers vernis !
La chaise dépaillée
Dieu dit aux bons fauteuils : fauteuils, je vous bénis !
Le poêle froid
Comme un grand feu qui flambe et pétille en décembre
Vous illumine l'âme en empourprant la chambre !
Le verre plein d'eau
Ma foi, j'aime le vin.
La soucoupe pleine de poussière
Moi, j'aime le café.
L'écuelle de bois
C'est charmant de crier : garçon ! Perdreau truffé,
Bordeaux retour de l'Inde, et saumon sauce aux huîtres !
Le carreau cassé
Une fenêtre est belle alors qu'elle a des vitres.
Le gousset vide
Que l'usurier hideux, poussif, auquel tu dois,
Agite un vieux billet de banque en ses vieux doigts,
Fût-il gris comme un chantre et crasseux comme un diacre,
Vénus vient toute nue en sa conque de nacre.
Le lit de sangle
Un édredon, c'est doux.
L'écritoire
Arétin, plein d'esprit,
Vit content ; sous ses pieds il a quand il écrit
Un charmant tapis turc qui réchauffe sa prose.
Le trou de la serrure
J'estime une portière épaisse, et, verte ou rose,
Laissant voir, dans les plis du satin ouaté,
Un mandarin qui prend une tasse de thé.
Un papier timbré
Verrès est riche et grand ; devant lui nul ne bouge.
Le miroir fêlé
Sur un frac brodé d'or j'aime un beau cordon rouge.
L'escabeau boiteux
Quel bonheur de courir à la croix de Berny
Sur quelque ardent cheval plein d'un souffle infini,
Démon aux crins épars né des vents de l'Ukraine !
La semelle percée
Quelle joie ! En hiver, rouler au Cours-la-Reine,
Quand le soleil dissout les brouillards pluvieux,
Dans un landau qui fait blêmir les envieux !
Le plafond troué
Et, tandis qu'au dehors siffle le vent féroce,
Contempler, à travers les glaces du carrosse,
Le ciel bleu, rayonnant d'une douce clarté !
Le ciel bleu
Paix ! Comptez vous pour rien cette sérénité
De marcher le front haut, et de se dire : en somme,
Je mange du pain noir, mais je suis honnête homme !
Le 17 novembre 1853.
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