"intransigence" poems
In 1963
Mahalia prodded
the good reverend...
“tell them
about the dream
Martin”
transfixed on
a yonder time
he recounted
prophecies of
a near future
from a mountaintop
he foretold a
history of a people
returned again to
gardens of paradise
thriving in friendly
democratic soils
overflowing with a
colorful biodiversity
governed and
nurtured with a
vibrant sunshine
of divine justice
welcoming all
weary sojourners...
from the
pinnacle of
a Birmingham
jail cell
Martin burst
the bars with
the clarion peel
of a golden trumpet
proclaiming the gospel
of liberation to
the wardens of
unholy gulags
“free yourselves”
the horn emblazoned
in streaking lightning
across the sky
cowed by
prophetic truths
of righteousness,
shamed by
lies the pride
of arrogance
bespeaks to
placate the
intransigence
of dominion,
we prayed the
the walls of racism,
bigotry, prejudice
would tumble down as
Martin lit the Battle
of Jericho
today our country’s
profit driven gulags
overflow with people
of color as justice
lingers on death row
begging for a plea bargain
of a life sentence in
solitary confinement...
from the
****** Sunday Bridge
in Selma, Martin
offered a prayer for
peace, rebuking
the dogs of war
admonishing
the tenders of
blood thirsty
machines to
beat the gears
of war into
pruning hooks
and plowshares
advocates of peace
hope to steer
the plow across
the battlefields of
acrimony to sow
rich seeds of
reconciliation, planting
new gardens where
the rich yields of peace
will be consumed
by all God's children
yet these gardens
remain unplanted,
untended and defiled
by the machinery
of war that churns
churns, churns...
Martin last
dream occurred
on a balcony
in Memphis
witnessing
to the divinity
of those considered
untouchable after
a hard days work
collecting a city’s
refuse
he insisted all labor
was worthy of dignity
and the economic
justice of a fair wage
Martin looked squarely
into the eye of the gun sights
of those who thought differently
he never blinked, he dreamed
Martin formed his last
testament to an angry nation
yearning for the reconciliation
of stability and peace,
unmoved that it’s violence,
exploitation and bigotry only
stoke bonfires of acrimony
and division, condemning
the reprobate principality
to the bleakness of a
smoldering discontent and
continued generations
of recurring nightmares…
Martin's dream continues
in awakened hearts
sojourning on
Music Selection:
Mahalia Jackson
Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho
MLK Day
2014
Oakland
Jan 20, 2014
Jan 20, 2014 at 3:38 PM UTC
Against the saturated
Horizon of dawn,
Loitering in the dark timbre
Of emerging consciousness -
Dissipating somnolence
And preemptive despair,
Tacitly adumbrate the
Yawning abyss.
Chastened by the cunning and
Lubricious nihilism,
Igniting fermented provocations,
Silent subterfuge; death,
By mirth - the inane;
Lament of the mundane.
Fallow paradigms, accretions of
The last gasp -
Evaporating empty liturgies
Of suspicion;
Charity and equanimity -
Lost in confinement,
Triumphant avarice bearing
Descendants
Of intransigence;
Wielding imperious
Schemes of orthodoxy.
Pollard fragments of
Silken tapestry,
Miasma draped depression
Abridging;
Conversely,
Permuted flurries of anxiety
Dislodge
The vestiges of meaning
That abide
In brazen equivocation.
Tributaries of dogma reach
Their confluence,
Watershed moment,
Numinous effusion
Streams naked epiphany,
The precarious vision -
A gesture of providence,
Certainty and contingency;
Gratuitously derivative, life
Equals choice.
Verdant branches of intention;
And opportunity the vine,
Live forward -
The pen, my voice,
Piquant conduit pouring,
Exuberant wine.
Footprints found in givenness
Underline,
Penumbrae of my soul;
Mirrored silhouettes,
Thoughts and words engender;
And in verse adorn
Fecund soil, Line after line,
The cosmos altered,
Continuum of permanence -
Artist’s art articulating
Essence of my imagination,
I proliferate, I design
Phrases unique,
Participation mystique.
Words creating world,
The apparatus of infinity
Heidegger, ontologically precise,
Language -
The house of Being,
Ineffable, Promethean
Literary devise -
Envisioning possibility,
And abundance to allow,
I occur
Inhabit
Manifest
Future phenomena
Experienced as now.
©2008 & ©2011 W.S. Warner
Sep 16, 2011
Sep 16, 2011 at 2:02 PM UTC
What do you need right now, Nita?
Shelter from the storm...that’s what I would like right now, that’s what I need right now, dear therapist. Shelter from the storm.
I don’t doubt my determination to survive and yet here I am crying again. Crying and wishing for some GD shelter from the storm…the therapist does not question my commitment or desire to continue to work through this and someday come out on the other side. At least I don’t think he does.
I can’t find my safe place now…it was such a fragile structure to begin with, made of straw and easily blown away in a storm. But it did exist two years ago. It did. And for the first time in my life I felt understood, safe, ‘real’. My safe place was a place I could be angry and sad, and hopeless. A place I could ask for guidance in the midst of confusion; a place of encouragement and comfort. A place where I could find shelter from the storm.
But I can’t find it now! I feel like I am on the edge of tumbling into oblivion due to my own intransigence and inability to let the therapist back in.(or anybody) And I desperately need him tonight…shelter from the rain, stability in the wind, comfort in the thunder and lightning that is threatening me now.
And what is maddening to me is if the therapist walked up to me right now, with a stadium sized umbrella and said, “Nita, come in and I will give you shelter from the storm.” I still stand in the rain, wind and thunderstorm and decline his umbrella because of my fear he would just wrench it away before the storm was over.
So, here I sit, like a frightened child, on my own little island, surrounded by the storm, crying my eyes out over loss and betrayal…on an endless search for shelter from the storm.
Here I sit arguing with myself!
*"Nita, you can't do it alone. He wants to help you - take the **** umbrella!"
"No! I won't take it! I don't need his **** umbrella!"
"Fine! You stupid baby! Suffer by yourself then ~ stubborn little *****
"I said take the umbrella!"*
Messed up? That does not even begin to cover it.
Jun 17, 2014
Jun 17, 2014 at 12:05 AM UTC
it was the last day of winter
unseasonably warm
I was standing behind an Imam
his arms were raised
hurling prayers for peace
into the face of intransigence
black dressed armored
SWAT teams amassed
swinging readied M16s
vigilantly guarding walls
constricting penned citizens
waiting to place an
American flag
draped coffin
onto the growing pile
of other coffins
covered in the
multicolored flags of
Iraq War belligerents
swelling at the base
of the wrought iron fence
surrounding the White House
I saw a curtain in the
White House part
the window filled
with two tiny faces
I imagined it to be
Sasha and Bo
taking a break from
rambunctious play
to peer out on
a grim assembly
wondering
in confusion
whats going on?
why are these people
placing coffins
in front of our house?
Sasha and Bo
ran upstairs
to the
Oval Office
she burst through
the door
“Daddy people are
piling coffins
in front of our house
Why?”
The President
hugged his daughter
and answered…
“we’re at war
Sasha...
“the Evil Doers
hate us for
who we are...
“they want to
hurt us...
“we must ****
them…
Sasha asked…
“one sign says
our bombs
**** children…
is that true
Daddy?”
Thats a lie
right Daddy?
If you knew
children like
me were being
killed you wouldn't
let that continue…
would you Daddy?”
John Kerry
popped his head
into the office….
“Sasha,
your Daddy
would never
**** children
in service to a lie”
Sasha’s head tilted…
The President flashed a smile…
John Kerry walked away whistling…
giving no notice to the photo of the
Vietnam War Memorial
as he passed
Music Selection:
The Shirelles
Soldier Boy
Oakland
6/11/14
jbm
Jun 11, 2014
Jun 11, 2014 at 11:28 AM UTC
Exuberant ecstatic rapture
Sardonic denigrating quip
Joisting up an oaken rafter
The cabin of a sailing ship
Lucid eloquent recumbence
Surreal retrospective grace
Endless ocean’s myriad turbulence
Infinity would set it’s pace
Imbue spontaneous induction
Exude efficient transience
Exhort the mystic symbiotic construction
For the course of our intransigence
Litigant ludicrous licentiousness
Coquettish audacious impunity
Lecherous libidos atrocious impertinence
Would pound id’s shore horrendously
Derisive subjugated nuance
Extol intrinsic unity
Nebulous wisps of shaded quiescence
With breeze and sky make harmony
Predilect effluent effusion
Tenacious taubla tapestry
Alleviate the torrential confusion
Acquire efficience for flights symmetry
Jul 7, 2015
Jul 7, 2015 at 12:39 PM UTC
sinner to sanctification
reason over revulsion
reaction begets agitation
converting intransigence
drowning in sin
flailing for a life raft
Music: Pete Seeger
John Brown's Body
jbm
Oakland
010913
Jun 18, 2013
Jun 18, 2013 at 10:33 AM UTC
Break into the hallway.
See you on the stairs.
The stillness of the air.
No beauty could compare.
To the miserable girl.
Sitting there.
Her heart is down and she's already unable to repair.
What she's done to herself.
Its piece of work.
Like the harsh, harsh day and the daily grind.
It's not hard to say, lets not talk of that tonight.
I'm not here to say that you're a **** inclined.
To tell me where you were, but you're smoking here tonight.
Hard to say.
Where we went so wrong.
Hard to say.
There's nowhere to run.
But its easy to bring.
An empty plate.
And too easy to find.
An empty ******* buffet.
And we're so abscond. We're so, **** unkind.
There's no harbor here, because we're sailing blind.
If you, want to say that you're hurt inside.
I'll bring you the drinks and we'll drink to that, goodbye.
So see me here in my heavy plight.
It's gone bleak real fast, its gotten a mighty trite.
I'm not here today.
I'm here tonight.
you're still sitting here, on the stairs.
I see you there.
Heart in your hand.
Blood in your hair.
Cabinets closed.
Head on a rope.
I'm not to blame.
I had no hope.
So say, now goodbye there's no need to cry.
We were doomed from when we had tried to start.
And if you, come back home I will bring you my heart and,
We will drink to our safe and sound, night time and goodbye.
Our house is gone.
We cannot stand.
We will not beg.
We will not brag.
Love is a rough.
Life is a bare.
I'll join you soon.
Here on the stair.
Nov 22, 2016
Nov 22, 2016 at 9:16 PM UTC
Come to take you around in Montana, my friend!
From the waters of Ogosta dam
to the waves of the fountain
and the fabulous nights in Monteto.
Nowhere on earth or the Balkans you will find a city like that,
even at sea for it's the quietest and most pleasant city in Bulgaria.
A city with an ancient history,
dating back to before the coming of Christ,
telling of the intransigence of the people
and their hunger for knowledge.
A city with good people who deserve respect and esteem,
people who believe in a better future and
the progress of their young spirit.
They pass this faith and knowledge on to future generations
about the energy and loyalty to our city.
From the dazzling and beautiful Chiprovtsi carpets
to the countless and charming summers and winters.
Welcome!
Apr 2, 2021
Apr 2, 2021 at 8:21 AM UTC
Exuberant ecstatic rapture
Sardonic denigrating quip
Joisting up an oaken rafter
The cabin of a sailing ship
Lucid eloquent recumbence
Surreal retrospective grace
Endless ocean’s myriad turbulence
Infinity would set it’s pace
Imbue spontaneous induction
Exude efficient transience
Exhort the mystic symbiotic construction
For the course of our intransigence
Litigant ludicrous licentiousness
Coquettish audacious impunity
Lecherous libidos atrocious impertinence
Would pound id’s shore horrendously
Derisive subjugated nuance
Extol intrinsic unity
Nebulous wisps of shaded quiescence
With breeze and sky make harmony
Predilect effluent effusion
Tenacious taubla tapestry
Alleviate the torrential confusion
Acquire efficience for flights symmetry
Jun 6, 2017
Jun 6, 2017 at 8:06 PM UTC
Keep your kids away
from the feathered rat.
That mangy, tarry bird,
living off their scraps.
That carrier of disease,
protruding as a cyst.
Its mangled talon clenched,
a red and permanent fist.
Iron hulled intruders.
Objective mystery.
Walking a confident strut,
name marred by history.
And is it not a pity?
most will not see,
an oily rainbow as it turns its neck,
and overlook a granite diplomacy.
Is it not something to admire?
Unique confidence?
At the feet of the bread-man,
only intransigence.
With ideals ignored,
can they not behold its spirit?
When a grey bird remains,
Why do I see its merit?
Dec 17, 2012
Dec 17, 2012 at 9:38 PM UTC
Exuberant ecstatic rapture
Sardonic denigrating quip
Joisting up an oaken rafter
The cabin of a sailing ship
Lucid eloquent recumbence
Surreal retrospective grace
Endless ocean’s myriad turbulence
Infinity would set it’s pace
Imbue spontaneous induction
Exude efficient transience
Exhort the mystic symbiotic construction
For the course of our intransigence
Litigant ludicrous licentiousness
Coquettish audacious impunity
Lecherous libidos atrocious impertinence
Would pound id’s shore horrendously
Derisive subjugated nuance
Extol intrinsic unity
Nebulous wisps of shaded quiescence
With breeze and sky make harmony
Predilect effluent effusion
Tenacious taubla tapestry
Alleviate the torrential confusion
Acquire efficience for flights symmetry
Jul 26, 2019
Jul 26, 2019 at 8:02 PM UTC
In the face of infinity, I stumbled to an instigator.
I must have known how furtive the ****** dotard was.
An epidemic stereotype would barely drawl an insurgent.
The tremendous vilification acurred.
Here comes the futile virtuoso with his interminable intransigence.
The vivacity dynamic banality of an unconscious programmed robot.
Sep 16, 2016
Sep 16, 2016 at 7:35 PM UTC
Sleep comes to those who wait
slumbers of nothings
and dreams of melodies
caress the inevitable fate
Expression laid like a place setting
table cloth pulled and dishes wobbling
waiting, leaning, and feigning
for an answer to start believing
But I wait, patient and still
Vermouth, spilled *****
and whiskey, tacky kills
Another sunrise
two more setting
surprise me in the morning
unrested and humming
A glass of water
filled with ice
balancing
next to a butter knife
Sliced smooth
intransigence
coupled delight
Mar 15, 2011
Mar 15, 2011 at 2:56 AM UTC
the great big metronome in the sky,
as those of a Floydian persuasion are wont to call it,
tick, tick, ticks,
with a switchblade intransigence,
for a docile audience, rows of anesthetized deer...
Mr. Whogivesa and Mrs. ****
and their son,
with the hyphenated last name,
living the namesake...
"don't talk to strangers?"
why not show them the sleeve,
where one's heart resides...
melodrama,
the most lucrative business move,
(then why are most panhandlers still panhandlers?
i guess it's the luck of the draw)
...takes after his Father most,
that being he always stops short,
that extra step,
much too extra to take,
a voyage in itself...
in his standstill,
where the metronome ticks, ticks, ticks,
and only few deer are left awake,
by the dull-glow of drug,
a voice, between drags of a cigarette:
"kid, skipping stones across a frozen lake,
is not that impressive,
but convincing everyone it is? well..."
Apr 10, 2018
Apr 10, 2018 at 11:04 PM UTC
What are we
looking for
Lost voyeurs
Scrolling thru
Each other's lives
At breakneck speeds
Time traveling
From Not present
To inaccessible
An unconscious collective
Our departures marked
By blue screen glare
And a vacant stare
Intelligent phone
Intransigence drones
The United State of
Learned helplessness
Dec 27, 2017
Dec 27, 2017 at 6:54 AM UTC
Stick to your guns and mean what you say,
believe that intransigence is not only right,it's
the right way to go.
Let them know who's the boss and
don't give a toss what they think,because
unlike you,
they'll think again and change their point of view.
Be a 'stick in the mud'
stick to the things that you know,and
though everyone moves on
you don't have to go.
So,
say what you mean
if it means you're okay and
you can **** off tomorrow
we've got today.
May 27, 2014
May 27, 2014 at 12:17 AM UTC
I'm right, they're wrong.
They just won't get along.
Of course that's why we fight.
_(Effing morons anyway...)_
Sep 26, 2019
Sep 26, 2019 at 4:59 PM UTC
Victims of hearing damage
sounds muffled through unopen ears
Minds of intransigence, unwelcome rampage
Misconceptions of all that one hears
Why can't we speak our words with understanding
every discussion's bound to turn to debate
brick walls of our entitlement clash
How can peace reign when we keep confiding in hate?
Question your theory please & I'll question mine
Let's contemplate, negotiate with handshakes & wine,
Here, grudges & conflict are made easier than amity-
than tranquility & unity & all that's sublime.
Oct 11, 2021
Oct 11, 2021 at 10:44 AM UTC
You write of him
Who has passed a while,
Extant now only as ash
Within a porcelain jar,
You write of the bitter
Arrogance of anger
Left unresolved and
You not released from pain,
Of these you write,
And these you feel
With such pain
Such loss,
But he IS gone!
His vitriol has no power here,
No right to use your voice
Nor fuel your rage,
Nor create in you
His reincarnate toxicity,
Your are not him
Nor ever were,
You are your mothers child
Her softness tempers his
Vile intransigence,
And you need not go there,
So let him go
Into the shades of time
And away from this reality,
And your life,
And look instead to
That which is around you,
Loves you and has your back,
For I my love
Have yet to cross the bar
And I would sail with you,
Aboard your vessel
Or in closest company,
You escort and protector,
Your lover and your very
Very best friend,
The one who has your back
The one that you can count upon,
Fifty years or so with luck
I have and you much the
very same,
Will you share mine with me,
And let me share yours,
With you?
Nov 26, 2023
Nov 26, 2023 at 12:16 PM UTC
intransigence,
streets refusing rain,
all syllables march back
into my mouth;
i'm drowning.
Jan 16, 2021
Jan 16, 2021 at 11:37 PM UTC
(alter knit lee tie tilled -
Field Day For A Nihilist).
Hunger for knowledge vis avis car ear ring
(and car rue ming) cerebrum formulated,
integrated, promulgated personal perception
to the point of no return, and inadvertently
brought to fruition basic, dogmatic, enigmatic,
fatalistic heuristic life lessons. The fabulist,
dualistic capacity averred viz Zoroastrianism
figuratively pitched this contemplative,
furtive, intuitive literate organic, realistic,
universalistic, wanderer yearning instinctive
modalities metamorphosing this quizzically
opportunistic, philosophically naturalistic,
officially matt tea real list tic, and sometime
prophesying prognosticating probing outlier.
As a nonestablishmentarian libertarian, joy
riding heretic, feasting dishabille *** I
contemplated the capacity qua Duality
of human being to co-exist inside the
labyrinth of mental learning. Quite often
reconciliation between the angel of come
passion stood opposite intent (with
minimal effort to foment) malicious
intent toward evil. This constant tug
of war (within depths of psyche) perched
psychological state upon precarious pivot.
Balance between righteousness verses
barb bar rick ken of villainy engendered
warp and woof of noble might undermined
via ignoble, infamous injudicious threnody
thru the countless millennia, when many
an outstanding wizard served as a prime
mover and shaker to boost betterment
of so called civilized state with the bane
of anarchy, disintegration, gallimaufry
always in the vanguard. Manifold milieus,
which witnessed civilization rise and
fall became bereft of equilibrium be
tween forces of growth and decay.
The feature of intransigence (as a
free roaming derelict agent) and
dominant characteristic
of contemporary society.
Feb 4, 2018
Feb 4, 2018 at 7:47 PM UTC