"lieutenants" poems
The attendees are told, in a manner befitting a high mass
You have been finally set free,
(Although, in truth, free is a very large and entirely vague word),
And the message is sent forth from all comers in all corners:
Vendor and visionary alike,
German socialists who left university to ride boats for Greenpeace,
First lieutenants doing their level best
To appear at ease in civilian polos and khakis,
But no matter the vessel,
The message is still the same.
The tyranny of cables and storage space is dead,
It is all but shouted from the lecterns,
(Although it is noted, in small print and sotto voce
That there are certain requirements
In terms of hardware and licensing)
And it is stated by Those Who Know
In tones which neither brook nor invite contradiction,
That they have surmounted, all Hadrian-like,
The alpine divide separating mere data and magic.
Two or three blocks down the street from the convention center,
In a narrow storefront housing an exhibition of ether-only comics
Which have broken the nettling constraints
Of editors and syndication,
There sits, under a somewhat opaque
And slightly scratched piece of plexiglass,
A yellowing comic strip of uncertain vintage,
In which a frowzy cat,
Free of the constraints of panels, gender, and standard grammar,
Is the recipient of a mouse-tossed brick
Whose flight, unfettered by physics, probablility, indeed time itself
Ends striking its mark right between the x’s of the eyes
The projectile itself an inexplicable alchemy
Of confusion, mirth, frustration
And the impossibility of an undeniably pure love.
Aug 20, 2018
Aug 20, 2018 at 9:29 AM UTC
I am victim only to constant distractions,
restrictions, prescriptions, vicarious factors,
as various factions of elitism prescribe defeat
to the common man; the hard working talented
beaten upon by the self driven commerce land.
Businessmen, crooks, warlords and bankers;
victory purports itself the higher moral ground.
******* the world, lie on the crimson sand.
The brevity of riches in led laden ditches,
trenches v armistice; one man’s control over
cadets and lieutenants. Equality it seems
is general ignorance, propose roll reversal
and receive corporal punishment. Capital
interests will be met with bursaries, bail
out the banks and return to your knees,
put out your hands and beg for your feed.
If the top three percent own more wealth
than the lower half put together while
politicians claim to be fair-weather,
conclude that sincerities amiss, that
your representatives are on the pay roll
of profit driven lobbyists. Career crazed fat-cats
couldn’t care less if you're in tattered garments
or there’s a hole in your dress, their polished
boots carry them from vault to vault
while we fill another with oil-baron asphalt.
As social repression pushes populations
science progresses, enabling armed forces
to kettle us, cut us off and circle on horses.
Power-shifts across the globe become jaded
by investment with private militias and fascist
supremacists seizing resources from war
torn villages to fund their crude sourced
morality, migrants and refugee families
are vilified by ignorance forged in cynicism
caused by the inequality of education.
Here lie the symptoms of infinite regression,
hold mirror to gene-pool as it replicates
the same flawed equation, as populations
expire and conspire so does the problem.
Bombing a country without repercussions,
is as likely as a breaking the waters surface
without sending ripples to the adjacent atoms.
These are the dark ages of social stagnation.
Oct 22, 2014
Oct 22, 2014 at 11:00 AM UTC
Peace is a weapon
against the smallness of self
that excuses war.
Peace is the sharp blade
pruning the olive branches,
never drawing blood
Peace is soothing balm
for quarrel and division
instilled by zealots;
Peace is the watch-word
that makes soldiers deserters
of lower causes.
Peace desires itself,
making no root in travail
for other peoples;
Peace says, "Don't enlist
to be a pawn in the games
of elite slavers."
Peace has no Colonels,
Lieutenants, or Generals:
merely the faithful.
Peace is the Only.
No other weapon shall do
against each other.
Aug 10, 2014
Aug 10, 2014 at 1:10 PM UTC
A Major's contribution
A personal Private's affair
The Colonel that blossomed
Into a General's sense of scandal
Catching all Lieutenants unaware
Then came a Corporal punishment
And Mastered the Sargent
With such care
Limiting the whole base
To all and much despair
May 28, 2015
May 28, 2015 at 11:04 PM UTC
#Not My President.
But he is. Let him live.
He and his minions
Are like the poor;
They will always be with us.
But north of you,
We have a Queen.
#Not My Royal Family.
They're needy and expensive,
Spoiled and enfranchised.
An extended, big family
Who gets free rides at Canada's Wonderland,
Best seats at hockey games... all games
For Lieutenants-Governor,
Governors-General,
And all the wee princesses and princes.
Rideau Hall is the official residence
The White House pales beside,
Sussex Drive fades beside its oppulence.
Celebrities and histories have planted trees there.
Jack, Marilyn, Nelson, Martin and all the heavenly host
Have approached those gilded doors,
Pretending to bow and curtsy to an absent Queen.
Back to #Not My Royal Family.
I didn't get a vote.
Nov 22, 2016
Nov 22, 2016 at 10:08 AM UTC
To those men who are always behind us, though sometimes we may not see them.
To those men who are too busy flying fighter jets to teach their daughters to make paper planes.
To those sons who will point at every aeroplane that skims the horizon to proudly claim, “that’s my father!”.
To those women whose hearts will return wrapped in the tricolour and chipped aluminium; Who will place dented helmets beside faded polaroids of days gone by.
To those youth who will break solemn promises- “I’ll come back soon.”
To those families that will stare out of windows, refusing to draw down curtains as they hope against hope.
To those men who can truly say the sky is the limit.
To those men who fly above us yet are so rooted to the cause of their motherland.
Those brave hearts whose faces are lined with sweat and determination as they kiss the ground beneath their feet before they embrace the heavens for the last time.
To the men who take every sortie with a last salute.
To the white saris and navy-blue shirts stashed away and medals hung on rusted nails. To survival and martyrdom and the presence of absences. To commodores and flight lieutenants and wingmen. To parades and memoirs and sacrifices and soldiers in the sky.
The Eighth of October is for them.
To those men who are always behind us, though sometimes we may not see them.
To those men who are too busy flying fighter jets to teach their daughters to make paper planes.
To those sons who will point at every aeroplane that skims the horizon to proudly claim, “that’s my father!”.
To those women whose hearts will return wrapped in the tricolour and chipped aluminium; Who will place dented helmets beside faded polaroids of days gone by.
To those youth who will break solemn promises- “I’ll come back soon.”
To those families that will stare out of windows, refusing to draw down curtains as they hope against hope.
To those men who can truly say the sky is the limit.
To those men who fly above us yet are so rooted to the cause of their motherland.
Those brave hearts whose faces are lined with sweat and determination as they kiss the ground beneath their feet before they embrace the heavens for the last time.
To the men who take every sortie with a last salute.
To the white saris and navy-blue shirts stashed away and medals hung on rusted nails. To survival and martyrdom and the presence of absences. To commodores and flight lieutenants and wingmen. To parades and memoirs and sacrifices and soldiers in the sky.
The Eighth of October is for them.
Oct 5, 2018
Oct 5, 2018 at 11:24 AM UTC
(aka been there, done that)
lost between immensity and eternity,
caught between lieutenants♥ who both love me.
& what’s more, i’ll never be able to choose:
they can’t convince me of their truth.
“why can’t they understand i’m stuck?”
“why can’t i remove myself from this rut?”
—they offered me head of their revolution!
promised me black roads & nibiru cataclysms— ...
...do i want both?
you won’t ever feel how it’s like to live a life like me
you don’t know what life is like when you’re like me
they’ll never find a cure for those who are like me
they’ll never understand what life is like for me
i’ve tried not to show i’m pussyfooting around this:
i’ve tried so hard to hide all my knickknacking
because the eyes of a trailboss♥ can mistake
your innocence with guilt and blame
yeah, i’m caught between two lieutenants
with who i share a mutual stint,
either i digest one & ***** the other:
or wish i didn’t have anyone to call “sir”♥ ...
...to begin with.
Aug 10, 2013
Aug 10, 2013 at 5:06 PM UTC
That's Right My ANGER...
Yes... My ANGER... !!!!!!
Is PERFECTLY Fit...
For A... Poetic BANGER... !!!
You See My ANGER FEEDS...
Poetic Seams That Most CAN'T Believe... !!!
That's NOT EGO Peeps'... !!!
I Merely REPEAT What Some INDEED...
Have IMMEDIATELY...
Said Upon Hearing Big Virge Poetry... !!!!
Ya See My Anger... " Simmers "...
Before It Glimmers And Makes Heads SHIVER... !!!!
Like Walking In Slippers In A BITTER Winter... !!!!!!!
What My Anger Delivers....
Has Made Man QUIVER...
Who Thought They Were BIGGER...
Than... Heavenly Figures... ?!?
My Scriptures Paint Pictures...
of Anger That's SICKER...
Than ********** Vicars... !!!!!!!!!!!!
My Angers' Religion...
Paints... Dark Matter Visions... !!!
That DO NEED...................... DISMISSING.........
Because of... DARK Thinking... !!!!!!!!!!!!
That NEEDS To Go MISSING.... !!!!!!
By This I Mean...
Anger That Rests Inside of ME...
Is Something UNWORTHY...
of...... " Humanity "...... !!!
It's Something SO SCARY...
That YES It... SCARES ME... !!!
Because of The POWER...
of Its... ENERGY... !!!
From Poems To Flowing...
With... IGNORANT Peeps'...
My ANGER Is Something...
People... Have NOT SEEN... !!!!!
They... THINK That They Have...
Which PROVES I'm A Man...
Whose Coolness EXCEEDS...
Much More Than These DUMMIES...
Could... EVER Conceive... !!!!!!
If I … EVER DID...
Reverse FLIP The Script...
And Let My ANGER FLIP...
From Words To BULLETS... !!!
And Moving Like VILLAINS...
Whose Anger Would LIVE...
To... NEVER FORGIVE... !!!!!
You Kids Should RUN QUICK.... !!!!
Because There's A DARKNESS...
That Lies... " DEEP WITHIN "... !!!
BEYOND... " BAD Lieutenants "...
And... DRUG Dealing Fellas'... !!!!!!
SINISTER Vibes' ....
Would Direct My Mind...
So PLEASE RECOGNISE...
What I Say In These Lines... !!!
Because I Am Nice...
When I Greet The FIRST TIME... !!!
But REALLY DON'T LIKE...
People... Crossing The Line...
of RESPECT... I Live By...
It RUNS DEEP In Me... !!!!!
Like... ANGRY Legacies...
Bred From … IGNORANCE...
That's Now Seen On Streets... !!!
So PLEASE HEED My WARNING... !!!!!
These Words AREN'T For GLAMOUR... !!!
They're Born From EXPLORING....
What Lies In.....
...... " My ANGER "...... !!!!!!
Jun 25, 2020
Jun 25, 2020 at 10:03 PM UTC
It’s a riding of the golden enthroning chariot
around the tumultuous roaring coliseum as of
ancient & fast declining Rome,
all amidst a clamoring sea
of simple red-hatted whiteness,
as he absorbs, just soaks right on in,
that honest folks love.
All the while smiling
like Vinnie in a bar in Queens
chuckling over his latest conquest story,
as he shares weak Martini’s with his
drunken & besotted lieutenants.
His time to gloat & sneer at the weak & fallen,
the small boy’s big day out,
riding in papas fancy car
while tossing out empty favors
& a smirking Royal glance at the limping
trembling, so victorious
hopeful rubes.
No, it’s not a thankyou tour,
it’s a Victory lap.
Feb 27, 2017
Feb 27, 2017 at 11:49 PM UTC
'13 was a war.
several battles one after another,
each increasingly worse
than the one before it
i was laughed at by the corporals
and disgraced by the lieutenants
every loss was the same despair on repeat
somehow, i managed
to dig my dignity out of the bin
and get enough strength
to kick my enemies
in their already bruised shins
they say a new year,
a new chapter,
but for me,
it's a whole new revolution
and i'm in the lead, this time.
Dec 21, 2013
Dec 21, 2013 at 11:41 PM UTC
i got scared.
i burnt my tongue just to taste-
the hymn of an elixir with no destination,
a tear with a purposeful procreation and a
meaningless infatuation.
you were on my mind like a wired, chided alpine of lovesick honeybees,
and i've felt nothing but ancestral pain in this echoless house of mirrors.
i am a laundry basket hanging from translucent puppet strings.
this flora bellows,
so engulfed in Western culture that it forgot about sheltered lieutenants-
the deafening tenants singing of
"just one more,
just one more,
just
one
more
.
"
i am no more worthy of the stratosphere than my raven-shaped nightmares,
but i'm orchestrating a perpetual plea
for my fingers to bend
into a less misshapen crescent.
*
Feb 1, 2018
Feb 1, 2018 at 11:16 PM UTC
His childhood room sits atop of a minefield;
With words berating against the walls;
Breakfast comes in a belittling bowl;
As the lieutenants loiter within the halls.
Stand by, move cautiously;
You might set something off.
They're keeping close track of every move,
Perfect the execution or they'll disapprove.
Dare not to cry, keep those fears hidden;
Showing weakness around here is deadly forbidden.
Lost in the field of verbal grenades;
Thrown by those meant to provide him shelter.
It’s been 34 years since the war has happened;
Yet these minefields still exist somewhere in his mind;
I think his parents may have forgotten;
He wasn’t a commander, he was just a child.
Oct 4, 2024
Oct 4, 2024 at 8:54 PM UTC
*What art in Heaven is unknown to the heathen?
Lest the scriptures write of adolescent teens.
For the scriptures build an ark and the arc
From which we must all be reborn in the barque.
With the strength of the carpenter’s lieutenants
The gallows outlast ten thousand tenants.
The faith in ones own wit is the noose indeed
As is the church’s wit when their sovereignty be decreed.
Is not this parchment made of sheepskins?
Like the fine carved furniture of the followers of Louie Quinze.
But of these carvings was once a beautiful tree.
Like the lamb – it was forced to its knee.
There a man placed upon their remains
Words and pictures of the self it proclaims.
But to God they are still a tree and a lamb
No need for the words or pictures he found.*
Jun 23, 2017
Jun 23, 2017 at 10:11 AM UTC
This is the Field Marshall, tall and grand,
Who bellowed at Generals beneath his command,
Who shouted at Brigadiers in fine attire,
Who hollered at Colonels to make them jump higher,
Who screeched at the Majors and caused them to shake,
Who yelled at the Captains to keep them awake,
Who squawked at Lieutenants to keep them in line,
Who wailed at the Sergeants in double quick time,
Who shrieked at the Corporals and made them feel small,
Who screamed at the Privates worth nothing at all,
Who stood in the trenches and will never forget,
When they ran a man through with a fixed bayonet,
And held his hands tightly, as watching him die,
They whispered to no one, "Oh why, but oh why?"
Sep 19, 2014
Sep 19, 2014 at 12:30 AM UTC
*Explosive wrath called into play
The odor of decomposition on a hot ,
bitter day
The rancor and confusion of 'Broken Arrow'
Mercurial Lieutenants ordering suppressive
fire on false objectives , exposing location
in a counter-offensive
Alpha , Niner , One call for fire
Copy-get small on the wire*
Jun 18, 2016
Jun 18, 2016 at 11:54 PM UTC
Time gathered armies of
years, months, and minutes
boasting of soldiers and generals infinite
Chance mustered a fleet of change,
chaos, and freewill tenets
bragging the power of these lieutenants
Love's power was greatest still
a massive arsenal of providence divine
controlling change and dominating time
Oct 25, 2019
Oct 25, 2019 at 1:02 PM UTC
Lawrence Hall
[email protected]
Dispatches for the Colonial Office
Died While Trying
(prompted by an idea by Nagi)
“Every day you play with the light of the universe”
-Neruda
The glory of killing an old man already dying
Is heralded by the clinking of colorful medals
As a president is helped into his Mercedes
By white-gloved lieutenants wearing golden aiguilettes
The old man dying in his bed was a challenge to evil
Through the love-letters of freedom he wrote to the world
Ambassadors of hope that could not be recalled
Just as a subtle injection cannot be withdrawn
A flowering of ideas in verses freely exchanged
Crushed beneath boots polished by frightened houseboys
May 21, 2025
May 21, 2025 at 11:26 AM UTC