Hello Poetry
Submit your work and get some sparkles! Create free account
"fringe" poems
I got low I went down In my descent I brushed the ground And down below Amidst the dirt My ***** fingers Combed the earth I went deeper Nails and teeth The bones of trees The stones beneath. And then- at last- Upon the fringe My hands brushed hell My fingers singed I reached bottom Saw you there Immersed in fire's Dancing flare. At the bottom At the end I watched you burn And fell again. The inferno's twice as hot When you have to watch someone you love Burn.
0
Mar 15, 2016
Mar 15, 2016 at 1:21 PM UTC
I Got Low. (The Descent)
they emerge from the wooded neighborhood ridge and fringe at dusk into breadth of lawn & limb. witchy chicks casting banter n bitchcraft. teenage dead end dreamers tipped in black magick lip gloss & glitter, their genderfluid familiars &/or wayward boyfriends apparate in the street pink cloud spinning wheel, & hawking bile. ****** stella smile. swallow a hex, send a snap, tongue along his neck promising to fold bodies before sunrise. the effervescent gasp of post-ritual clarity. in the house, is a kid. a gig. the devil with a younger grip. & the kid thrills on a bit of the ol’ u l t r a v i o l e n c e. ****** videogames, ****** anime, ****** mayhem n melodic music. he is a conduit of dark energy. a pure blooded offering of the stone age/video age, mind in a kind of kaleidoscopic way. he is me. bred on televised bucket slime ceremonials. she checks her purse. drugs & snacks & juul & a pretty dead bird. a daughter of delphi watching your kid. tending to him. trending him. popcorn smelling him, the texas chainsaw massacre on vhs just before bed. palace of teeth n twigs. just a short walk to the edge and then its bath time. the demon version is grisly and cruel. the angel version is starry-eyed and adventurous. to conjure some thing, at the cliff jumping. it was fun.
0
Oct 13, 2014
Oct 13, 2014 at 2:54 AM UTC
babysitters on acid (eat, pray, love, conjure satan)
The downward momentum is clear to me now. The engine has built up a full head of steam. I’d try to stop it, if I knew how. The fires of industry must burn on somehow; they tend to burn brightest when fuel is extreme. The downward momentum is clear to me now. When currents are surging, we shouldn’t allow the jingoist fringe to swim in the mainstream. I’d try to stop them, if I knew how. Civility means more than I can avow, but poems can only allude to a theme: The downward momentum is clear to me now. Each click of a mouse that shouts holier than thou is a cog in a treacherous clockmaker’s scheme. I’d try to stop him, if I knew how. We worshipped the circuit and forsook the plow in search of a false technological dream. Our downward momentum is clear to me now. I’d try to stop us, if I knew how.
0
Nov 2, 2018
Nov 2, 2018 at 1:07 AM UTC
If I Knew How
Bent Near to breaking by her burden of fruit, swollen with seed In that thrashing by wind Bearing down on the sun in her labor— of  Need to bear the pain to bring her yield to his hands— her harvest of warm juicy softness ___ Gone— the upright reach of untouchable spring When stems, stern and smooth wore a lace-beaded bodice of bloom of coral chiffon First leaves a scarf with a fringe of lime green wrapping her gifted and lean to the buzzing She was lighter than dew to the amateur insects smeared with her Her only accessory-- a robin They had left as evidence they had ravaged its song ___ Now broken and leaking more damage endured   Ripe fruit in rough hands He leans against limbs by his weight sternly pressed   so suffused in the fragrance of peach intoxicants which he will have-- He is lost to his lust He is forcing his need into another year's beauty asserting his claim over and over again of that lost and ancient bounty
0
Aug 3, 2018
Aug 3, 2018 at 3:59 PM UTC
Peach Tree
So many misinterpreted metaphors make me cringe ''are you trying to ruin poetry for everyone'' but I hide my damp eyes behind my fringe because I mustn't argue and my teachers are never wrong They sing without a meaning or lyric in their song we are taught to write what they want to hear not the truth we feel inside our hopes and fears But i must turn the other cheek to get my degree I need..when home I ponder, I weep because it was the school that killed poetry for many of my peers.. But all is not lost..wipe away those tears Grab the pen that feels ethical the paper that doesn't deceive, doesn't lie and write a poem that you can feel you'll get out of school alive
0
May 11, 2014
May 11, 2014 at 3:28 PM UTC
The school that killed poetry
The world is losing Gravity, But no one can escape, We're hurtling on our petrie dish In a gel that seals our fate; Gravitating Towards black holes; They're closer than you think. In China There's a wall of dust, Seen clear from outer space; Our living waters die In a legacy of disgrace. We're citizens Wearing masks; We should hide our faces, But we're running daily tasks. We're fossils burning Fossil fuels Found in cremation gas. The amphibians Are on the fringe; Whales can't sound, They run aground. It's an environmental slaughter. Our world has lost Some gravity. We need to plant our feet, But  charnel fires And greenhouse gas Have hastened our retreat. Migrating birds lose sense of time, Confused by the lights. The morning dove coos at night, The nightingale at dawn; We're like New turtles muddling, Under lost starlight. We must grasp The gravity Of burning Burning  light.
0
Jul 23, 2014
Jul 23, 2014 at 10:19 AM UTC
Our World is Losing Gravity
*shadows casting forward pastel edges of water colored nebulous scenes once known i fuse with deja vu in its feather-like fringe i beg for the meaning of history reliving perhaps it’s a maze tho’ previously scripted funhouse mirrors silently mock our own carnival or is it a wink? the north star is nodding a slight innuendo we’re not lost at sea perchance it’s a hint it is all an illusion a glitch in the matrix the black cat walks by i grasp for the answer and peer at the ghostly parchment paper dream as it dissolves to thin air ©2018janetaylor
0
Apr 30, 2016
Apr 30, 2016 at 3:05 AM UTC
paper dreams
What did you do to your hair? It is not fashion or regarded as a good sight, for sightseers whom fight for the best sight to see. Nor is it complementary to your main meal face, no condiment would ever accompany you, let alone a boy in a start of the month, moon-a-new, relationship-race. It is not natural, nor be it an attempt to blend into your surroundings at large, as a red and blue fringe will never be camouflage. So, what did you do to your hair?
0
Jan 9, 2013
Jan 9, 2013 at 11:05 AM UTC
THIS POEM IS FOR MY EX-GIRLFRIEND
In glorious flight owning daylight You magistrate freedom across An ocean with your own box Of twilight that you share In a land of fish A moonlit wish With wings that Kiss the Sky Throughout your expeditions to ground Your voice is a dynamic sound None can ignore your presence What would Pandora say When you sing that way? Higher you fly Distances Many Won't Instruct us to use our heart compass Open our eyes to perspective Show us potential to live When self-doubt is about Like a grain of sand May our cares be Found without A need For The liberty of our latitude Is the length of our attitude The way the wind blows effects The direction we go Our choices to be Curiously Ebb and flow Waving Lo Behold a new dawn of bright feather Consider the stormy weather Notice how cloud and sun Witness the Mother Nature at play Survey to Coastal Bay May we find our way as you have shown Limitless unbounded and flown So shallow is the worry No longer a fury A calming has come Soaring above With truth in Our hearts Won Riding the currents of emotions Soaring aloft mental oceans Wings spanned in physical worlds Discover us great pearls Of wisdom and poise Joyful in noise Good solid Gifts of Sage Cleansing our spirits of past trifles Being careful not to stifle New growth with every gust gained A quill, a crest, a quest A mountain peaked with Knowledge like the Pier we are Destined To A gate to become the best versions Of our outstanding self-landing Into the stars we have been The fringe dust of pinion Divine with the wind Beginning free And renewed With no End © tHE tERRY tREE
0
Dec 5, 2014
Dec 5, 2014 at 9:15 PM UTC
Seagull Spirit
In glorious flight owning daylight You magistrate freedom across An ocean with your own box Of twilight that you share In a land of fish A moonlit wish With wings that Kiss the Sky Throughout your expeditions to ground Your voice is a dynamic sound None can ignore your presence What would Pandora say When you sing that way? Higher you fly Distances Many Won't Instruct us to use our heart compass Open our eyes to perspective Show us potential to live When self-doubt is about Like a grain of sand May our cares be Found without A need For The liberty of our latitude Is the length of our attitude The way the wind blows effects The direction we go Our choices to be Curiously Ebb and flow Waving Lo Behold a new dawn of bright feather Consider the stormy weather Notice how cloud and sun Witness the Mother Nature at play Survey to Coastal Bay May we find our way as you have shown Limitless unbounded and flown So shallow is the worry No longer a fury A calming has come Soaring above With truth in Our hearts Won Riding the currents of emotions Soaring aloft mental oceans Wings spanned in physical worlds Discover us great pearls Of wisdom and poise Joyful in noise Good solid Gifts of Sage Cleansing our spirits of past trifles Being careful not to stifle New growth with every gust gained A quill, a crest, a quest A mountain peaked with Knowledge like the Pier we are Destined To A gate to become the best versions Of our outstanding self-landing Into the stars we have been The fringe dust of pinion Divine with the wind Beginning free And renewed With no End © tHE tERRY tREE
Continue reading...
81
Lays of Mystery, Imagination, and Humor Number 1 I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls, And each damp thing that creeps and crawls Went wobble-wobble on the walls. Faint odours of departed cheese, Blown on the dank, unwholesome breeze, Awoke the never ending sneeze. Strange pictures decked the arras drear, Strange characters of woe and fear, The humbugs of the social sphere. One showed a vain and noisy **** That shouted empty words and big At him that nodded in a wig. And one, a dotard grim and gray, Who wasteth childhood's happy day In work more profitless than play. Whose icy breast no pity warms, Whose little victims sit in swarms, And slowly sob on lower forms. And one, a green thyme-honoured Bank, Where flowers are growing wild and rank, Like weeds that fringe a poisoned tank. All birds of evil omen there Flood with rich Notes the tainted air, The witless wanderer to snare. The fatal Notes neglected fall, No creature heeds the treacherous call, For all those goodly Strawn Baits Pall. The wandering phantom broke and fled, Straightway I saw within my head A vision of a ghostly bed, Where lay two worn decrepit men, The fictions of a lawyer's pen, Who never more might breathe again. The serving-man of Richard Roe Wept, inarticulate with woe: She wept, that waiting on John Doe. "Oh rouse", I urged, "the waning sense With tales of tangled evidence, Of suit, demurrer, and defence." "Vain", she replied, "such mockeries: For morbid fancies, such as these, No suits can suit, no plea can please." And bending o'er that man of straw, She cried in grief and sudden awe, Not inappropriately, "Law!" The well-remembered voice he knew, He smiled, he faintly muttered "Sue!" (Her very name was legal too.) The night was fled, the dawn was nigh: A hurricane went raving by, And swept the Vision from mine eye. Vanished that dim and ghostly bed, (The hangings, tape; the tape was red happy 'Tis o'er, and Doe and Roe are dead! Oh, yet my spirit inly crawls, What time it shudderingly recalls That horrid dream of marble halls!
0
5.5k
The Palace of Humbug
Lays of Mystery, Imagination, and Humor Number 1 I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls, And each damp thing that creeps and crawls Went wobble-wobble on the walls. Faint odours of departed cheese, Blown on the dank, unwholesome breeze, Awoke the never ending sneeze. Strange pictures decked the arras drear, Strange characters of woe and fear, The humbugs of the social sphere. One showed a vain and noisy **** That shouted empty words and big At him that nodded in a wig. And one, a dotard grim and gray, Who wasteth childhood's happy day In work more profitless than play. Whose icy breast no pity warms, Whose little victims sit in swarms, And slowly sob on lower forms. And one, a green thyme-honoured Bank, Where flowers are growing wild and rank, Like weeds that fringe a poisoned tank. All birds of evil omen there Flood with rich Notes the tainted air, The witless wanderer to snare. The fatal Notes neglected fall, No creature heeds the treacherous call, For all those goodly Strawn Baits Pall. The wandering phantom broke and fled, Straightway I saw within my head A vision of a ghostly bed, Where lay two worn decrepit men, The fictions of a lawyer's pen, Who never more might breathe again. The serving-man of Richard Roe Wept, inarticulate with woe: She wept, that waiting on John Doe. "Oh rouse", I urged, "the waning sense With tales of tangled evidence, Of suit, demurrer, and defence." "Vain", she replied, "such mockeries: For morbid fancies, such as these, No suits can suit, no plea can please." And bending o'er that man of straw, She cried in grief and sudden awe, Not inappropriately, "Law!" The well-remembered voice he knew, He smiled, he faintly muttered "Sue!" (Her very name was legal too.) The night was fled, the dawn was nigh: A hurricane went raving by, And swept the Vision from mine eye. Vanished that dim and ghostly bed, (The hangings, tape; the tape was red happy 'Tis o'er, and Doe and Roe are dead! Oh, yet my spirit inly crawls, What time it shudderingly recalls That horrid dream of marble halls!
Continue reading...
60
Hair, the color of ripened wheat, with the sun shinning upon it. Eyes, so clear a green, shot with gold, as to be jewels. A smile that reaches her eyes and casts a glow from within. Five tiny fingers grasp an aged hand, with the delicacy of fine porcelain. Two small feet, lively tapping, in an excited tempo. A Grandfather walks, stooped, along beside her, with pride evident in the smile he affords others. His hat, a dapper angle, upon his head of snowy fringe. His one hand held by hers, while in his other, a few wrinkled bills, held aloft as a trophy. I stop and watch their approach. I watch as they pass beside me on the path. As the two, young at heart, head for the colorful, ice cream truck parked at the curb.
0
Feb 8, 2011
Feb 8, 2011 at 12:43 PM UTC
Ice Cream
Lace on my thighs and fringe around my neck, more is revealed than the flowing crimson blood. Bleeding deeper and deeper with every slowed breath. Deeper than the girls I see with their shoulders against the wall, the dream girls with their purple hair and tattered tights. My neck growing saturated with strawberry nightmares, but at least they like my tattoos. I feel the black cats circling my ankles, cries of hunger and any form of normalcy or stability. It feels familiar, like a hymn from my childhood throbbing between my ears. Overlooking other's carnage is easy, until it's your own. I don't know what this means, but it comforts me.
0
May 13, 2018
May 13, 2018 at 7:33 AM UTC
Strawberry Nightmares
With vehement force, The white, weighty water, Races between my thighs, Grazing my fingertips, Crashing into the wasted bank, And splintered stone, Scattered about the course, Surging towards the fringe, Of the river road, My toes curl, Latched to the rock-ridden surface, Fighting the undertow, As the water plunges, Down the waterfall
0
Nov 1, 2011
Nov 1, 2011 at 5:00 AM UTC
Waterfall
The lonely notes flowing, falling, leap from The thin and flitting fingers of the pianist, The cup of melancholy, drained to the dregs, bittersweet in that the love of happiness and joy is tempered now, from longing for the delicate and pensive feel, that comes from dipping into the small and lonely pool of melancholy. Grief, a distant specter, hovering in the fringe of chance, is nearer now, melancholy, the doorway, slides open on silent hinges, and admits the crushing tide. High, high, and faster still, the pianist falls, slowly down and up again, grief, the storm, disrupts the flow of sound and silence, and incorporates itself into the threading melody, and so erodes the shores of joy and laughter, the violet waves of gentle melancholy, laced with the thinnest threads of blackest grief, sighing on, erasing so, youth and joy and light and life. The melody falters, stills. The pianist alone, playing for an empty quiet, rises, pauses, his fingers brushing, the cold steel of empty death, smooth beneath his touch. He grasps it, lifts it to face him, hands steady, gaze unfaltering. The man is still, pianists fingers gripping that instrument of death, and time passes, unheeded, ignored. In a motion refined to elegance by the passage of time and repetition, the pianist places that cold instrument of steel and intent gently, down upon the polished black. He straitens, slowly, and settling his black overcoat close around him, he turns, walks quietly to a closed and silent door, lifts the latch, and into a swirling night of snow and light, walks out, and closes the door behind him with a soft and quiet click. And all is silent.
0
Mar 31, 2015
Mar 31, 2015 at 8:38 PM UTC
Wistful Melancholy and Threads of Grief
The lonely notes flowing, falling, leap from The thin and flitting fingers of the pianist, The cup of melancholy, drained to the dregs, bittersweet in that the love of happiness and joy is tempered now, from longing for the delicate and pensive feel, that comes from dipping into the small and lonely pool of melancholy. Grief, a distant specter, hovering in the fringe of chance, is nearer now, melancholy, the doorway, slides open on silent hinges, and admits the crushing tide. High, high, and faster still, the pianist falls, slowly down and up again, grief, the storm, disrupts the flow of sound and silence, and incorporates itself into the threading melody, and so erodes the shores of joy and laughter, the violet waves of gentle melancholy, laced with the thinnest threads of blackest grief, sighing on, erasing so, youth and joy and light and life. The melody falters, stills. The pianist alone, playing for an empty quiet, rises, pauses, his fingers brushing, the cold steel of empty death, smooth beneath his touch. He grasps it, lifts it to face him, hands steady, gaze unfaltering. The man is still, pianists fingers gripping that instrument of death, and time passes, unheeded, ignored. In a motion refined to elegance by the passage of time and repetition, the pianist places that cold instrument of steel and intent gently, down upon the polished black. He straitens, slowly, and settling his black overcoat close around him, he turns, walks quietly to a closed and silent door, lifts the latch, and into a swirling night of snow and light, walks out, and closes the door behind him with a soft and quiet click. And all is silent.
Continue reading...
17
Of woman's strength Feminine emotion Novice poet of rhyme Wandering traveler in time A skilled hunter I am an outlaw Choosing not to embrace conformity Or integrate into the system Societies matrix The definition of normal Existing uneasily on the fringe Confederate born Southern bred I fly my flag with pride overhead Not out of hate To represent the heritage of my birth A scholar Obscurity is my chosen environment Connoisseur of the written word The yellowed paper soon obsolete   These are my many attributions I will not dispute it Indeed I am a maze of confusion In the conscious world I am a strange combination All Rights Reserved@ Tammy M Darby All Material Stored in Author Base Sept. 2013
0
Sep 4, 2013
Sep 4, 2013 at 1:09 AM UTC
I am a strange combination
The world is losing Gravity, But no one can escape, We're hurtling on our petrie dish In a gel that seals our fate; Gravitating Towards black holes; They're closer than you think. In China There's a wall of dust, Seen clear from outer space; Our living waters die In a legacy of disgrace. We're citizens Wearing masks; We should hide our faces, But we're running daily tasks. We're fossils burning Fossil fuels Found in cremation gas. The amphibians Are on the fringe; Whales can't sound, They run aground. It's an environmental slaughter. Our world has lost Some gravity. We need to plant our feet, But  charnel fires And greenhouse gas Have hastened our retreat. Migrating birds lose sense of time, Confused by the lights. The mourning dove coos at night, The nightingale at dawn; We're like New turtles muddling, Under lost starlight. We must grasp The gravity Of burning Burning  light.
0
Apr 21, 2016
Apr 21, 2016 at 10:41 AM UTC
Our World Is Losing Gravity
--To C. M. Fountains that frisk and sprinkle The moss they overspill; Pools that the breezes crinkle; The wheel beside the mill, With its wet, weedy frill; Wind-shadows in the wheat; A water-cart in the street; The fringe of foam that girds An islet's ferneries; A green sky's minor thirds-- To live, I think of these! Of ice and glass the ****** Pellucid, silver-shrill; Peaches without a wrinkle; Cherries and snow at will, From china bowls that fill The senses with a sweet Incuriousness of heat; A melon's dripping sherds; Cream-clotted strawberries; Dusk dairies set with curds-- To live, I think of these! Vale-lily and periwinkle; Wet stone-crop on the sill; The look of leaves a-twinkle With windlets clear and still; The feel of a forest rill That wimples fresh and fleet About one's naked feet; The muzzles of drinking herds; Lush flags and bulrushes; The chirp of rain-bound birds-- To live, I think of these! Envoy Dark aisles, new packs of cards, Mermaidens' tails, cool swards, Dawn dews and starlit seas, White marbles, whiter words-- To live, I think of these!
0
3.9k
Ballade Made In The Hot Weather
Where to begin I think to myself as I submerge my thoughts In you and what it is that Gives the tick to your tock. I think of your eyes And the depth That lies Folded within Green and brown Layered Life Disguised And smiling. Lost glasses And lager That comes in pints Accompanied by Epic And Blatant Action and statement Your energy blasts Fast and furious Frenzy I sense more to you Than what meets my eye. And in that thought I lie Here now Creased brow In anticipation of knowing you more. I think of your nails And the way they touch Me deeper than The welts That are kissed Crimson stain Onto my skin. Your essence Seeps inside Within And bleeds out of my body Through my lips As I savour The flavour That makes You taste So simply Divine. You have this way Of ceasing time And pausing The beat of my heart. Just a smile Is all it takes And your laugh, The way your eyes Drop low, The dip of your neck and The way you glance up And out from Under your Fringe. You unhinge The door That stands Shut and heavy Before My eyes Wide open Surprise As you storm Into my soul And take whole My delight And spin its Weave Into gold. I am sold On you And your cold hands Warm heart.
0
Feb 9, 2010
Feb 9, 2010 at 3:01 AM UTC
cold hands warm heart
to hold a photograph in my hand   and believe what is presented,   take is at it already is – why not? if I close my mind’s shuttering eye, will you be as candid as before? unrestricted, unsorted from the hullaballoo, you, freer than what is imagined, closing in like a bullet from yesterday shot out of the sky’s contrived clearing – to hold a photograph in my hand and tug closer by the mouth of the fringe as if to pour water on a broken glass, slithering now, a shadow of moon at the very dull end of my cup; you are closer than any rehearsed moment ready to catch the inner canthus of the eye: this relentless picture-passing, tense and fervent, avid like bankiva to air, water to chrysanthemum: behind thick shrub of crepuscular, an arboreal locomotion shatters loose, your frantic figure. to hold a photograph in my hand and size it down to the dimensions of this home – there is potential in this comparison: flaring out like smoke from where it infinitely burns, I seek an ache and hence place a finger to shush, to hold this photograph in my hand and confabulate a soft blow to the gut and feel it realer than any dagger or berretta held at one’s life-edge: this delusory intimation, a slipshod work of feeling. to feel it rejoin me somewhere I ought to be back again.
0
Jan 27, 2016
Jan 27, 2016 at 2:48 AM UTC
To Hold A Photograph
On the west side of Starlite Dr., just inside of Kingfisher -- before the welcome sign, stood a Wal-Mart. Underneath dim lot lamps, dry oil caked the cracked pavement. Crickets hopped over cricket corpses. Two employees took turns lighting new cigarettes with the still-hot embers of old cigarettes. There were six sedans, two pickups, and three semi-trucks outside the store. 2 a.m. Parked car. I noticed an effulgent memorial on the fringe. Subject unclear from a distance, but statue certain; gleam of bronze certain. Followed the black chain-framed path to a lemon brick-backed display: Sam Walton Hometown Kingfisher And there you stood, Sam. With a bobble of a bronze head, gorilla arms, and some charcoal canine frozen mid-pant to your side-- Beams of light shining into your carved eyes, yellowed grass at your feet. And I wonder, Did you feel cruel? Beginning as a Five and Dime, then turning into the great killer of Five and Dimes. Sitting at a table telling all your friends, they could watch you eat. Too forward, too soon. You being dead and all. To be fair, I've got that ambition too, Sam. The kind that leaves you lonely. The kind that leaves you in the back booth of a diner. The kind that makes the dunces conspire. Yeah, there are very few differences between you and me. Those being I'm not a cartoon statue, crickets aren't crawling on my face, big-bellied tourists don't pose and snap photos at my place, I'm mortal, and you're the other one. Looked around. Stood in front of you. Stared in the direction your obsidian eyes stared. You overlooked the traffic. And though Target gets all the hot, middle-aged women and fiery college kids, you get the pleasure of watching real folks leave. The tobacco chewers, the moms of six, the grease monkeys, the third grade teachers; the grandparents all simmer and meld by traffic stop. It seems fitting for you, Sam. Watching over us, your consumers.
0
Sep 22, 2012
Sep 22, 2012 at 10:18 PM UTC
Sam Walton
On the west side of Starlite Dr., just inside of Kingfisher -- before the welcome sign, stood a Wal-Mart. Underneath dim lot lamps, dry oil caked the cracked pavement. Crickets hopped over cricket corpses. Two employees took turns lighting new cigarettes with the still-hot embers of old cigarettes. There were six sedans, two pickups, and three semi-trucks outside the store. 2 a.m. Parked car. I noticed an effulgent memorial on the fringe. Subject unclear from a distance, but statue certain; gleam of bronze certain. Followed the black chain-framed path to a lemon brick-backed display: Sam Walton Hometown Kingfisher And there you stood, Sam. With a bobble of a bronze head, gorilla arms, and some charcoal canine frozen mid-pant to your side-- Beams of light shining into your carved eyes, yellowed grass at your feet. And I wonder, Did you feel cruel? Beginning as a Five and Dime, then turning into the great killer of Five and Dimes. Sitting at a table telling all your friends, they could watch you eat. Too forward, too soon. You being dead and all. To be fair, I've got that ambition too, Sam. The kind that leaves you lonely. The kind that leaves you in the back booth of a diner. The kind that makes the dunces conspire. Yeah, there are very few differences between you and me. Those being I'm not a cartoon statue, crickets aren't crawling on my face, big-bellied tourists don't pose and snap photos at my place, I'm mortal, and you're the other one. Looked around. Stood in front of you. Stared in the direction your obsidian eyes stared. You overlooked the traffic. And though Target gets all the hot, middle-aged women and fiery college kids, you get the pleasure of watching real folks leave. The tobacco chewers, the moms of six, the grease monkeys, the third grade teachers; the grandparents all simmer and meld by traffic stop. It seems fitting for you, Sam. Watching over us, your consumers.
Continue reading...
59
Every year it was brought down from the garage rafters. Green metal frame and springs, green canvas with white fringe and a little green pillow. It was laid out, hosed off and erected. Grandpa couldn't have done it without us grand kids. He said so. It was placed in a spot of honor. Just a couple of feet from the picnic table and in a spot that was always in the afternoon shade. A folding T.V. tray was placed next to it to hold cold drinks and snacks. Within a few days, the grass under the frame would be brown and dead. The grass at the sides of the hammock would just be plain gone. Scuffed away by feet, as we kids sat on the edge and swayed side to side. After mowing the lawn, washing the car, or doing any other chores needed, Grandpa would go inside and put on his "Hammock clothes". This consisted of a pair of Bermuda shorts and a ribbed tank style Tee. White socks and brown sandals completed the outfit. Once dressed appropriately, he would head for the hammock. The first "sit" of the summer season was always a bit touchy. One had to get use to the hang of it. There he would stand, next to the hammock. Cold drink in his one hand, the T.V. tray forgotten. His slightly bald head and stick thin legs already slightly sun burned. Slowly, he would start to lower himself. Reaching back with his free hand to grab the edge of the hammock. Note** of course us kids, grandma and mom would all be spying out of the corner of our eyes to watch this ritual. Then came the "Grandpa Sit". Grandpa would rock slightly forward and back on his feet. 1-2-3 and ....SIT! A few wobbles. A couple sloshes of his lemonade. All of us yelling "Whooooaaaaaa". He would sit there on the edge of the hammock, holding himself steady with one hand on the edge. His feet firmly planted on the grass and his other hand holding his cold drink high aloft. Now, the sandals needed to be taken off. One of us grand kids would run over and help take them off. Tickling his feet as we did so. So far, no damage to life or limb. Ah, but he was not yet fully on the hammock yet. Now came the "Swing and lie down" move. Slowly, grandpa would reach behind himself and grasp the far edge of the canvas. drink in his other hand still held aloft. O.K.....1-2-3...SWING the legs up and quickly lie back. Let the hammock come to a stop. Where's Grandpa? On the ground on the other side of the hammock soaked in lemonade. Summer was officially started!
0
Jun 27, 2010
Jun 27, 2010 at 11:02 AM UTC
Grandpa's Hammock
Every year it was brought down from the garage rafters. Green metal frame and springs, green canvas with white fringe and a little green pillow. It was laid out, hosed off and erected. Grandpa couldn't have done it without us grand kids. He said so. It was placed in a spot of honor. Just a couple of feet from the picnic table and in a spot that was always in the afternoon shade. A folding T.V. tray was placed next to it to hold cold drinks and snacks. Within a few days, the grass under the frame would be brown and dead. The grass at the sides of the hammock would just be plain gone. Scuffed away by feet, as we kids sat on the edge and swayed side to side. After mowing the lawn, washing the car, or doing any other chores needed, Grandpa would go inside and put on his "Hammock clothes". This consisted of a pair of Bermuda shorts and a ribbed tank style Tee. White socks and brown sandals completed the outfit. Once dressed appropriately, he would head for the hammock. The first "sit" of the summer season was always a bit touchy. One had to get use to the hang of it. There he would stand, next to the hammock. Cold drink in his one hand, the T.V. tray forgotten. His slightly bald head and stick thin legs already slightly sun burned. Slowly, he would start to lower himself. Reaching back with his free hand to grab the edge of the hammock. Note** of course us kids, grandma and mom would all be spying out of the corner of our eyes to watch this ritual. Then came the "Grandpa Sit". Grandpa would rock slightly forward and back on his feet. 1-2-3 and ....SIT! A few wobbles. A couple sloshes of his lemonade. All of us yelling "Whooooaaaaaa". He would sit there on the edge of the hammock, holding himself steady with one hand on the edge. His feet firmly planted on the grass and his other hand holding his cold drink high aloft. Now, the sandals needed to be taken off. One of us grand kids would run over and help take them off. Tickling his feet as we did so. So far, no damage to life or limb. Ah, but he was not yet fully on the hammock yet. Now came the "Swing and lie down" move. Slowly, grandpa would reach behind himself and grasp the far edge of the canvas. drink in his other hand still held aloft. O.K.....1-2-3...SWING the legs up and quickly lie back. Let the hammock come to a stop. Where's Grandpa? On the ground on the other side of the hammock soaked in lemonade. Summer was officially started!
Continue reading...
35
I have a right to stand I'm claiming it now. Turangawaewae; 'a place to stand' Is a deep empowerment from the land Learnt through ancestral connection Strengthened through ahi ka; 'keeping the fires burning' Well, my ancestral stories ain't so impressive There were few battles Though my granddad worked for the air force in world war two - As an accountant We didn't encounter the gods or try to bring down the sun Though when my Grandma arrived here she built up the soil Soul of the Earth For 70 years As the city sprang up around her And my mother aged 11 played follow the leader with a goat in the next door construction site Where her house is now My uncle found an old mans false teeth in a cup Climbing through an abandoned house My aunt visited James K Baxter's Jerusalem She wasn't a fan of his poetry But his wisdom spoke to her My other aunts jumped through the neighbours trees Who threatened to shoot them My father followed my mother here After her O.E with my sister in the oven He ******* about John Key as much as anyone And praises this land; it is home. I stood on a windy cliff surrounded by pohutukawa and learnt the whisper of the sea Roughing it on an island I tried determinedly to turn into a pukeko I got my first cut, bruise, scrape from this land My first breath, poem, touch of a violin, my first kiss was here I know the rough patches, the fringe scene, where the best soil is (It's at my grams house) I know how to spot a drug house, which cafes will let us jam, where the open mics are 5 days of the week. I know Kirikiriroa. My fires have been burning And I have a right to stand I have learnt through my own evolution Through Janet Frame's railroad country Through a history Cities growing and spreading They weren't just here As it has always seemed to me. The countryside, what was here before? Landscapes of forest and mountain Familiar yet unknown to me. When I go away I will know the difference When I return I will know this land The depth recognized through contrast Defined by difference As the sun and moon complement Light and dark Sorrow and joy And, As in yin and yang I will know nothing is completely separate. When I go away I will know So fully And I will return and say: This is my place to stand My turangawaewae My Aotearoa
0
Nov 16, 2014
Nov 16, 2014 at 7:24 PM UTC
Turangawaewae
I have a right to stand I'm claiming it now. Turangawaewae; 'a place to stand' Is a deep empowerment from the land Learnt through ancestral connection Strengthened through ahi ka; 'keeping the fires burning' Well, my ancestral stories ain't so impressive There were few battles Though my granddad worked for the air force in world war two - As an accountant We didn't encounter the gods or try to bring down the sun Though when my Grandma arrived here she built up the soil Soul of the Earth For 70 years As the city sprang up around her And my mother aged 11 played follow the leader with a goat in the next door construction site Where her house is now My uncle found an old mans false teeth in a cup Climbing through an abandoned house My aunt visited James K Baxter's Jerusalem She wasn't a fan of his poetry But his wisdom spoke to her My other aunts jumped through the neighbours trees Who threatened to shoot them My father followed my mother here After her O.E with my sister in the oven He ******* about John Key as much as anyone And praises this land; it is home. I stood on a windy cliff surrounded by pohutukawa and learnt the whisper of the sea Roughing it on an island I tried determinedly to turn into a pukeko I got my first cut, bruise, scrape from this land My first breath, poem, touch of a violin, my first kiss was here I know the rough patches, the fringe scene, where the best soil is (It's at my grams house) I know how to spot a drug house, which cafes will let us jam, where the open mics are 5 days of the week. I know Kirikiriroa. My fires have been burning And I have a right to stand I have learnt through my own evolution Through Janet Frame's railroad country Through a history Cities growing and spreading They weren't just here As it has always seemed to me. The countryside, what was here before? Landscapes of forest and mountain Familiar yet unknown to me. When I go away I will know the difference When I return I will know this land The depth recognized through contrast Defined by difference As the sun and moon complement Light and dark Sorrow and joy And, As in yin and yang I will know nothing is completely separate. When I go away I will know So fully And I will return and say: This is my place to stand My turangawaewae My Aotearoa
Continue reading...
63
Plead on naysayer Like the pride of a mouth breather Calloused like the fringe of a broken guard rail You're sharp, and your halfwit isn't enough to keep a light lit But you're clever and you're under my skin with your blood ***** Have you gotten close enough to check my pulse yet? Tell me what it says, I'm sure it's morse code for something Because It's been speaking to me in languages I've never heard of, but based on the hurt I've taken bets Risky guesses better then what the wind lets If I let go it'd take me back to limbo Where the rats and the people scurry all the same, it'd take me somewhere, I don't know I've let you pull me apart to climb inside to take a tour of my heart To let you punch me so hard, something on the other side would come out as a show of art Like a line of blow to the nose, the rows of the pews awe align To make a sound so hurtful, not even your father would turn to give an eye Embarrassed I let you tear me apart, just because I wanted to know what was inside I can't say a word, but two, and all they are is good bye
0
Jun 5, 2014
Jun 5, 2014 at 2:46 AM UTC
When 'goodbye' Sounds Sarcastic