"josiah" poems
The day I found out about you
You lit my face like constellations light up the night sky
Patiently waiting for nine months to go by
My mom received a called
And within a blink of an eye and four and a half hours later
You came into this world
And it was like suddenly you became the center of my whole world
And you know it's funny how someone so young
Can make an impact on someone so much older
But the moment doctors said "he has disinflated heart valve"
At that very moment it felt like my own heart was torn in two
And I asked God why did you take this fragile human being
With small hands who can not possibly bare to hold all this pain and misery
But from that point on, you became a little soldier
fighting your own battle between life and death
Not knowing what the outcome would be
Because you were only a day old
But the day you went under
You were all alone and you fought and fought and fought
Until you finally won the fight
Until you could finally sought the day where you will open your eyes once more
And feel the ray of sun touch your soft pale skin
and even though you won the battle you still have a war to go up against
But I just want you to know you won't have to fight alone anymore
Jan 25, 2015
Jan 25, 2015 at 12:20 AM UTC
by— Josiah Israel
Twas oft the way in days of old,
When knight would battle brave and bold,
The damsels hand in hopes to hold,
Worth more then polished Stone, or Gold
For this is what a boy is told
When day is done and night is cold…
“One day my son, thy chance will come
Though courage oft may waver,
When lady waits, through sable gates
For thee brave lad, to save her!”
For when a dragon stole a maid,
Awaiting ransom duly paid,
Twas bravest knight, armor arrayed
With noble steed and burnished blade
Rode swiftly to the damsels aid…
“You have not birth of high degree
Yet be thou brave and fight,
For low in rank thy birth may be
Yet heart makes noble knight!”
And after facing beast and foe
The knight with maiden free would go
Away to fields in need of ***
For seeds ere winter need to grow
And none can reap who do not sow…
“Not all you do will win a prize
Of gold or silver bent,
So reap a harvest good in size
And be thee well content.”
And when the battle horn he hears
The knight must banish all his fears
And ride to war, with battle cheers
On maidens cheek alight her tears
Fearing death, she spends the years…
“To win renown in battle
Might also be your path,
May your enemies armor rattle
As they feel your righteous wrath!”
But after kings campaign is done
The knight to home will swiftly run
From dusk through night to rising sun
Till maiden sees her hero come
Heart moving swift, a beating drum
Her heart a prize which first he won!
“Home is best at warring's end
To be with those you cherish,
A place to rest, your wounds to mend
Where love will never perish”
Though all the kingdom knows his name
And minstrels spread the brave knights fame
His love for she, remains the same
And they live happily, Knight and Dame…
Jan 5, 2017
Jan 5, 2017 at 8:58 PM UTC
Josiah Jack
never uttered a sound
when they dragged him away
from the scene.
when his poor body
was eventually found,
the treatment endured,
had been mean.
With no tongue in his head
they had left him for dead.
With a month
on his back,
he did indeed
contemplate.
Only sin
“he was black”
hence forth
this weary state.
They attacked in the night,
hooded and white.
All in all
he was
lucky
to be
breathing at all,
all because
he was plucky,
all because
he stood tall.
A ***** they said
should lower his head.
Were they hooded
for fear?
Were they hooded
in shame?
Most likely,
once covered,
they could hide
of their name.
If things were so right,
why hide out of sight?
Bravery isn't
a word for the ****
Cowards,
this word comes to mind.
Bravery comes
when there's only one man,
not one
with ten more stood behind.
I will strike in a pack
with someone watching my back.
Their plan
was to ****
this man
Josiah Jack.
Perhaps they
get a thrill
when someone
cannot fight back.
They get real loud
when they join with the crowd.
Josiah
knew well
that if he
raised a hand
his kin folk
would feel hell
from this
unruly band.
So he did not fight
but gave in to his plight.
They think
they were hidden
beneath that
white hood,
Josiah's hearing
is sound
and his
memory is good.
So when things are forgot,
he will take of his lot.
That's exactly
what happened,
as they lay
in their bed.
The flames hurled
with fury
the sky
filled with red.
This man barbequed them like fish on a rack
and no one put it down to Josiah Jack.
Jul 13, 2015
Jul 13, 2015 at 4:22 PM UTC
You used to spell my name with a smiley face in the C.
When I see that you still do sometimes
my heart sinks like a pebble thrown in your favorite lake,
skipped across the waters surface,
suddenly heavy again
with gravity and grief.
Mar 7, 2016
Mar 7, 2016 at 11:50 PM UTC
even teddy said i got the sickest tricks brah.
like my abilities source from some kinda legendary liquid
/ praise the lord /
monster energy should sponsor me.
a kickflip over the king’s *** hole
& a halfcab for the looky-loos.
i feel so tall when i climb that heap of asphalt trimmings
& see clear from the water tower to the bluffs.
gimme a good day, any day at the bluffs,
bottlerockets & girly birds.
her body brings a swarm of worms.
decomp,
said the f.b.i. men one by one with tweezers.
not quite the homecoming queen, still
wrapped in plastic.
look up.
see that great mess of wires, nest of powerlines and owl bones?
it crackles and croons its electro-spectral purr
all night and day.
new neck tat &
cody spends his paycheck on a crossbow.
we target practice on a bull skull.
wet cigarettes and turpentine-soaked socks for a good huff
in the dry of the roofline as it dumps.
there’s that little boy in a ghost mask again, tap-dancing
in puddles below the streetlamp,
& oversized shoes.
his grandmoms always be watchin’ from the window.
[whispers] she’s teaching him magic.
lucky unit 19: where our young dead damsel once dolled
herself up, you see
men and headlights would roll thru thrice nightly,
maybe more.
& i remember her punch red lips &
big whicker hat; while she weeded and watered her garden of begonias.
the sheriff’s deputy, hart? hicks? hogan? well he loved her a bunch.
stole her clothes in the middle of the night,
& sat beside the river sobbing into clumped fists
of bra and blouse.
i bought ******* from that guy once or twice.
harold? howard?
guess who showed his face today?
josiah, from unit 08.
since the incident with molly’s beagle, he’s been rarely seen.
took a bee line straight for the mailbox.
a package. a prize. a decoder ring/secret map sweepstakes
to be seen and deciphered.
Nov 5, 2015
Nov 5, 2015 at 1:44 AM UTC
Our love was like
the quill you gave me for Christmas
that one year, that
I never learned how to use.
Aesthetically pleasing,
object of envy,
idea of perfection, but
sloppy and awkward in practice.
We could've been brilliant,
but we could never get it right.
So we gave up trying, to gather dust
on display.
But even that grew less appealing
(until it wasn't anymore).
Our affair was like
the bag of dark chocolate kisses
you gave me on our first Christmas
together.
I devoured the entire thing
in secret, and
threw away the wrappers
without a thought.
We were meant to be
expendable.
So we took all that was offered,
and gave nothing in return.
But all bad habits take time to break
(until they don't anymore).
Mar 15, 2011
Mar 15, 2011 at 4:28 PM UTC
The weekend stretches out
like a loaf of fresh baked bread.
I want to cut myself a slice but
I'm poorly,
tucked up in my bed.
Life isn't fair
even when I'm in there,
I should get well and tell life
to go to hell.
I received a letter
from the doctor,
it said
'you're better,
back to work'
The doc's a berk.
In spite of it all
I think I will fall and
taste Saturday night,
take a slice from the Sunday and
drift back slowly
into
Monday
where the week stretches out and
I'll wonder what the weekend was
all about.
Oct 17, 2014
Oct 17, 2014 at 5:58 AM UTC
three houses
stretching from gnarly bow to
copper-greenish branch – only
dropping
one or two at a time
sweet seeds enough to breed
tree houses
a sylvan hotel on the outskirts
of town looking on the steeple
of a country church – its sabbath
psalms echoing painfully
on the tympanum in number two
green houses
hidden in summer’s glory
days to shield the men from pesky
folk intent on taking aim – trying to
test Josiah’s mettle and break
him into baby twigs
poor houses
in spirit and pocketbook
yet each armed with steely latch
guarding unknown contents –
at dusk the shadows of one
candle cannot reveal
light houses
suspended at risk of plunging
mere meters down – the common
room looking after ill-fated siblings
huddling together in fear
and shame
glass houses
no brick or mortar – under lock
and key and susceptible to the raps
of Isaiah the seer’s allegations: “and what
is it you guard with fastened doors?”
the arborist poses
slaughter houses
tremble at the shock – major
prophesying at the door’s weak
and rusty hinges now wet with dishonor
and ruin and guilty sobs making
a last long dirge
© Lewis Bosworth, 2013
Dec 2, 2016
Dec 2, 2016 at 10:02 AM UTC
You stared at me from across
The room and I met those
Petoskey stone eyes. You
Couldn't help that bit of drool
dripping from your open mouth.
I widened my eyes and scrunched
Up my face, but that just gave
you a goofy grin. The lady holding
You up turned to see what was
Making you smile so much. Babbling,
Like always, you sat back down to
Figure out what mischief to get yourself
Into next.
Jan 7, 2013
Jan 7, 2013 at 11:26 PM UTC
Dear Josiah,
I didn't know you well,
I'd met you a few times,
I know your siblings very well,
They're some of my best friends,
Dear Josiah,
Although I didn't know you,
i see you in the tears of sarah,
in the whimpers of grace,
in the scars on bethany.
Seeing the look on your mothers face,
Seeing tears in your fathers eyes,
A divorced couple,
Sets aside their differences,
For one thing they have in common,
They lost their son.
Dear Josiah,
I watched your sister grow up,
i watched her try not to care,
To push the feelings out,
But tears,
And cries,
Made there way to her,
i hugged Your crying little brother,
Only ten,
who Has never known tragedy like this,
Dear Josiah,
It wasn't your fault,
But you will live on in the hearts,
Of many.
God bless
Oct 17, 2016
Oct 17, 2016 at 8:29 PM UTC
Three score old and full of cold
and medicine's
a sin,
so
it's Mothers ruin for me today to
wash the symptoms clean away
and
age they say
is just a figure,
a numeral to keep in mind,
I'll remember that next time I find
another wrinkle,
underlined in bloodshot eyes
full of cold
three score old,
but I am told
it's not
a
permanent condition.
Sep 24, 2015
Sep 24, 2015 at 6:55 AM UTC
Judah’s fathers were foolish and proud.
They did not take into account
The law of God; it was ignored!
It was lost in the temple, and then restored.
As Saphan, the scribe, reads the book aloud
Every sentence, every word, and every sound
Pierces the core of who I am.
I am like a grain of sand
Tossed in a sea of woeful grief.
Waves of sorrow come out in tears.
I tare my clothing and cry, What sin!
I see the danger Judah is in!
Great is the wrath of the LORD that burns
Against us; my soul is greatly disturbed.
Walking in wicked, wavering ways
My nation cannot and will not obey.
Judah follows the footsteps of her fathers.
I plea for mercy; only God can alter
Hearts to do as He commands.
Behold, the total depravity of man!
Jul 10, 2019
Jul 10, 2019 at 7:36 PM UTC
*****
excuse me?
*****
... why?
"I saw you talking to all those other boys, you didn't report them"
Noah, Gus, Josiah, and Carwyn?
"yeah"
they sit at my table, I have to talk to them
I had to talk to you
"that doesn't explain why you don't report them"
that's easy, they havent--and will never do--what you did
"how do you know that?"
Noah knows better, we both know that
Carwyn is scared of me
and my mom knows Gus and Josiah's moms
"why don't you talk to me anymore?"
because you made me uncomfortable
and i'm not taking my chances
"but I won't do it again, I promise"
you had your chance and you blew it
"but... you still talk with Gus and Noah"
they didn't make me uncomfortable
and they were on my side
"but you said you had to talk to them"
right
and I had to talk to you
but you took it too far
Jan 13, 2025
Jan 13, 2025 at 12:38 AM UTC