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(start with a bow and a swish)
we are a thousand beating symphonies
variations of a familiar theme
treble clefs and four/four rhythms
chord progressions up to E
(sorrow and anger and love and hate)
arpeggios and interludes
minuets quadrilles and waltzes
the refrains, the fermatas, the reprises
we are a thousand sweeping overtures
(the last note rings through an empty auditorium)
Meagan Moore Jan 2014
I - stricken biped
Reside
Arranged on patina of dust
Compacted from its own breadth and comingled humid vacillations
Misplaced intent resides carking upon my ribcage
Cerebral reliquary reprises
Enunciating: distaste – mediocrity – insufficiency
Clandestine exhalation configuration obliges principal
Luminous descants evade ebullition bound in stained crystal
Eupnea elapsed - foreboding
Enigma binds frame to pith
* Written about how my hurt seizes and aches as each memory of Eric and I comes up - 11/23/13
Nat Lipstadt Jun 2016
~

Keep It Simple Stupid ("Your Poems Are Too **** Long")

~ for Natty~

white sheet of foolscap,
imploring the fool's fingers,
natty. natty, just this once,
be the simpleton dunce,
spend but a modest pence,
cap the blowout verbiage well

pretend
being a short and sweet poet beat^,
leaving those blue line requests
more white than black,
emptier and thus,
more silently, fuller, and powerful,

build  each line from a few hard crafted,
forged-wrought-iron syllables,
say the more in the
unsaid unwritten

snap your fingers in clapping praise,^
kiss the words bye-bye slow and single,
hold back the overfilling raucous reprises,
those stanza'd motley muddled crew,
de-access all excesses,
a manly, word squad^^^,
no more,
the shaft to success
be a David slingshot of single pebbles

but herein have,
prior blessed and true confessed:

"for I know there is soul in brevity,
but that ain't exactly my finest quality"


this is a "not know how to,"
for when I plunder the sea deep of a
single and singular
first and foremost# kiss,
still forever kept,
and that cylindrical memory volume so full,
one must seek and speak,
many verbal Ceylonese herbal tea toasts,
for the drunken 'n blinder I become,
the greater the need,
the lesser to please,
commissioning the poet to sing of his
long odyssey home,
of even the briefest venture ventured,
a combo of triumph and escaped,
wrapped in a single word,
his every feathery eye retention plucked,
a bald bird to be fully consumed,
even the bones, committed to
paper memory...

what the heck,
you want a speck,
a "say hey kid"^^ haiku,
a shorty hearty 60 second sophomoric Campbell soupy blessing,
microwaveable, heated but not hot,
radiated but not cooked

woe is me,
cannot be denied,
why use a pithy when
for pity's sake,
thrice won't suffice?

the woman, the observer
punches me with a solitary and indelicate,
as her wont, as her want,
"just-this-once"
telling the blowhard to not spout

this prideful pain,
deep water drilled in the muscled fortress of my rocky biceps,
eliciting  an outsized
"ouch, that really hurt,"
and my spouting retort...

~

by this bruised blotch, this redsome refrain,
dulcet sung in black and blue, a sonnet's colored quatrain,
by your flesh's mark, thee I join, in places where no mark dare
reflect our secreted touch, witness-protected by our guardian eyes only...*


**** it.
4/25/16 08:00pm

^in a particular club in the West Village in the 50's,  the beat poets congregated, there was a shared shaft-way with local Italian families.  The club owner instructed them to snap their fingers instead of clapping, otherwise garbage would come down the shaft when applause sounded.  Hence finger snapping became associated with coolness.

^^ The Say Hey Kid was Willie Mays

^^^a squad is composed of 9 to 13 men

# http://hellopoetry.com/poem/1518614/f-f-1stmost/
Steve D'Beard Feb 2014
Cross cultural chatter
with Jeremiah ****
and Jack D
and Gary Moore blues
in the earworm;

Good company
comes in all shapes and sizes.

Reprises memories
of forgotten friends
we lost in yesterday's haze;

Such is life
in the gentle ageing
of these days.

Bring me the amber nectar
and the dissonance of reason
awash in the Jazz and Blues
and the warmth
of a welcome handshake;

All friends start life as strangers
ambling lips for all seasons
and the hues of lost souls.

That found each other wandering
in the frozen cascades
leading to the hot coals
of belonging.
Quand le front de l'enfant, plein de rouges tourmentes,
Implore l'essaim blanc des rêves indistincts,
Il vient près de son lit deux grandes soeurs charmantes
Avec de frêles doigts aux ongles argentins.

Elles assoient l'enfant auprès d'une croisée
Grande ouverte où l'air bleu baigne un fouillis de fleurs,
Et dans ses lourds cheveux où tombe la rosée
Promènent leurs doigts fins, terribles et charmeurs.

Il écoute chanter leurs haleines craintives
Qui fleurent de longs miels végétaux et rosés
Et qu'interrompt parfois un sifflement, salives
Reprises sur la lèvre ou désirs de baisers.

Il entend leurs cils noirs battant sous les silences
Parfumés ; et leurs doigts électriques et doux
Font crépiter parmi ses grises indolences
Sous leurs ongles royaux la mort des petits poux.

Voilà que monte en lui le vin de la Paresse,
Soupirs d'harmonica qui pourrait délirer ;
L'enfant se sent, selon la lenteur des caresses,
Sourdre et mourir sans cesse un désir de pleurer.
Carlo C Gomez May 2020
Desolate
Unyielding notes
Accumulate
Silhouetting umbra
Breaking through
Architectural shadow
Flickers of bloom & bounty
From a sleeping
Satiated bride
Reposed upon
The chaise longue
Softly interlacing
The accidentals
With a final grace note
Before absolute stillness
Reprises
old forms will never go out of fashion
if poets keep scribing them onto the page
there's timelessness in their long staying stage
as seen by writers who hold a passion
tonight one reprises the sonnet's stock
bringing past master back for a re-run
so readers twill enjoy couplets of fun
e'en including some lines that shall rock
let not tradition fade on the paper
tis said things of age can be new again
yesteryears vogue showing its surviving
well into a modern era's draper
penning the craft of the lasting refrain
whereby we'll see them always reviving
Anemone Nov 2020
The fire calls
And the tide rises
And there is but a song
As the world reprises

The ground below us quakes
And the wind roars above us
And there is but a song
As the world begins its chorus

The light shines down
On the darks great curse
And there is but a song
As the world starts another verse
Ces passions qu'eux seuls nomment encore amours

Sont des amours aussi, tendres et furieuses,

Avec des particularités curieuses

Que n'ont pas les amours certes de tous les jours.


Même plus qu'elles et mieux qu'elles héroïques,

Elles se parent de splendeurs d'âme et de sang

Telles qu'au prix d'elles les amours dans le rang

Ne sont que Ris et Jeux ou besoins érotiques,


Que vains proverbes, que riens d'enfants trop gâtés,

- « Ah ! les pauvres amours banales, animales,

Normales ! Gros goûts lourds ou frugales fringales,

Sans compter la sottise et des fécondités ! »


- Peuvent dire ceux-là que sacre le haut Rite,

Ayant conquis la plénitude du plaisir,

Et l'insatiabilité de leur désir

Bénissant la fidélité de leur mérite.


La plénitude ! Ils l'ont superlativement :

Baisers repus, gorgés, mains privilégiées

Dans la richesse des caresses repayées,

Et ce divin final anéantissement !


Comme ce sont les forts et les forts, l'habitude

De la force les rend invaincus au déduit.

Plantureux, savoureux, débordant, le déduit !

Je le crois bien qu'ils ont la pleine plénitude !


Et pour combler leurs vœux, chacun d'eux tour à tour

Fait l'action suprême, a la parfaite extase,

- Tantôt la coupe ou la bouche et tantôt le vase -

Pâmé comme la nuit, fervent comme le jour.


Leurs beaux ébats sont grands et gais. Pas de ces crises :

Vapeurs, nerfs. Non, des jeux courageux, puis d'heureux

Bras las autour du cou, pour de moins langoureux

Qu'étroits sommeils à deux, tout coupés de reprises.


Dormez, les amoureux ! Tandis qu'autour de vous

Le monde inattentif aux choses délicates,

Bruit ou gît en somnolences scélérates,

Sans même, il est si bête ! être de vous jaloux.


Et ces réveils francs, clairs, riants, vers l'aventure

De fiers damnés d'un plus magnifique sabbat ?

Et salut, témoins purs de l'âme en ce combat

Pour l'affranchissement de la lourde nature !
No matter where I go today
A song flows through my head
It twists and turns, leaves and returns,
But stays, just as I said

It is a song of monotony
That changes into peace
The tune reprises, what I realize is
It’s a song that mirrors me

As I run along to my next class
The song picks up the pace
Inside my mind, it leaves behind
Of slowness every trace

I reach my seat and barely get
To sit before the bell
I look around, the song resounds
Of relief that I did so well

And as I walk back home today
The song is humming still
Satisfaction, pleased distraction
The song skips down the hill.
john p green Oct 2015
Deep inside we dig
Ah! A wallah! wallah!
Different cultures
Thoughts abound
A simple sound reprises
So now we meet again laughing
Aloud...aloud I praise that moment
When we shout out!
Hey! I know you and you I
Let's fancy a stroll or simply be simple
Hugs are amazing! Just like love
Manners and farting not so well
And if you decipher them
My love goes to you
Quwaine Jul 2020
Youre imperfectly perfect
the words that you speak feel like a summer breeze that melts the ice around my heart
From the start or maybe towards the end
I'm not quite sure, all the words I  couldn't fully comprehend
But I did understand the joy that it brought you
Your face lighting up like Hyde park on the 5th of November
Truly a sight to behold something I'll always remember.
It feels like Cupid himself was responsible for that serendipitous moment
Invisible hands turning my gaze towards you and you stole my attention
Altering my perception of what is truly beautiful in the world
Not diamonds, nor pearls  nor the pinkest spinel
Simply your smile,
the unadulterated happiness radiating from your face is like the warmest of lights
Guiding me from the sea of despair past the rocks of confusion into the safety of your arms
An embrace that is reassuring for the mind, loving to the body and substance for the soul.
Turning my heart into the loudest of percussive instruments that reprises my dreams as they come into fruition
Starting the ignition of a flame that can never be doused as long as you're near
Forever remembering the place, the time and the space when I gazed upon your imperfect perfection
A W Bullen Apr 20
Under this
is nothing new

flown


over my dead bodyweight
the sky reprises peace...

Though trauma grows its
root in dream,

I clover on a pearl
of sleep

upended by
a tender sun

gone


falling into

blue
?  once,
sandra wyllie Dec 2018
My lust for life
can never dry.
It’s called desire.
As the Nile,
it flows for miles.

The song I sing
cannot be silenced.
It’s called desire.
As ocean waves,
it misbehaves.

This burning fire
can never be extinguished.
It’s called desire.
As the sun rises
it reprises.
Ô Georges, tu seras un homme. - Tu sauras
A qui tu dois ton coeur, à qui tu dois ton bras,
Ce que ta voix doit dire au peuple, à l'homme, au monde ;
Et je t'écouterai dans ma tombe profonde.
Songe que je suis là ; songe que je t'entends ;
Demande-toi si nous, les morts, sommes contents ;
Tu le voudras, mon Georges. Oh ! je suis bien tranquille !

Ce que pour le grand peuple a fait la grande ville,
Tout ce qu'après Cécrops, tout ce qu'après Rhéa,
Paris chercha, trouva, porta, fonda, créa,
Ces passages du Nil, du Rhin et de l'Adige,
La Révolution française, ce prodige,
La chute du passé, d'où, l'homme libre sort,
La clarté du génie et la noirceur du sort,
La France subjuguant et délivrant la terre,
Tout cela t'emplira l'âme de ce mystère
Dont l'homme est saisi, quand, à l'horizon lointain,
Il sent la mer immense ou l'énorme destin.

C'est ainsi que se font ceux qui parlent aux foules,
Ceux que les ouragans, les rocs, les flots, les houles,
Attirent, et qui sont rêveurs dans ce milieu
Où le travail de l'homme aide au travail de Dieu.
Alors tu songeras à nos vaillants ancêtres
Ôtant le sceptre aux rois, ôtant les dieux aux prêtres,
Au groupe affreux, tyrans, pontifes, scélérats ;
Ému, tu penseras ; pensif, tu grandiras.
Est-ce un rêve ? oh ! je crois t'entendre. A l'âme humaine,
Aux nations qu'un vent d'en haut remue et mène,
Aux peuples entraînés vers le but pas à pas,
Tu diras les efforts tentés, les beaux trépas,
Les combats, les travaux, les reprises sans nombre,
L'aube démesurée emplissant la grande ombre ;
Pour maintenir les coeurs à ce puissant niveau,
Tu feras des anciens jaillir l'esprit nouveau ;
Tu diras de nos temps les lutteurs héroïques,
Ces vainqueurs purs, ces fiers soldats, ces fronts stoïques,
Et tu feras songer, en les peignant si bien,
Le jeune homme à ton père et le vieillard au mien.

Novembre 1879.
I can't refine the things in our mind, our selfish reprises.
I wish we could turn around, to make new surprises.
Burn all we love, its time is nigh as we run.
The licks at our heels, aren't they so much fun?

Breaks in our sanity escalate to a candy flavored cast.
A tight clenched arm on mine, you're why I can't run away.
Let go of me, I can't let you take over me at last.

I know, as we burn up with the rooftop falling,
We were caught fawning over our eyes again.
I can't believe that all of it reached a peak we could never climb again.
All we can do to try is keep on and keep on falling.

Breaks in your sanity escalate to a fiery brand.
It's on your skin and you yelp like a puppy at the pain.
You smile as you can tell it hurts me, because you know you own me.

The house we thought was ours is all in ashes.
I'm on the ground, taking your angry whip lashes.
Just bury me along with all of the heap, I'm done wasting my time.
It's not time anymore to weep.

Breaks in my sanity cause me to quiver at a sound.
I'm all but lost and so far from found.
I'm here in the wreckage; I'm here in her cage.

I'm screaming, pulling my hair.
You're laughing, keeping me there.
We're licking our lips at our next meal.
You've made me you, so let me try and see how you feel.

Breaks, who needs sanity?
Houses, they break so easy.
Ashes, the best kind of existence.
Nothing, that's all I wish this could be.
Michael Marchese Nov 2018
Oh how I thrive
In depression
Repression
In stressing each second
I feign this pretension
Anxiety, angst-driven
Dreading the selfless
Reflection
Is merely delusion
Of past intervention
Divine of some being-
Perhaps, beyond seeing
The infinite universe
Into it freeing
The essence of meaning
When all of it ceases
Materializing
Into the time creases
And all realizing
Ideally reprises
Its role as the sole
Individual guises
Unmaking me whole
Again,
Then, I describe it
KorbydAngyle Sep 2023
Can't you see their ensconced in the reality that waits inside
Realizations embrace for the derailing of the impact of disgrace
Loss of limbs and fettered destiny imbued of Godless whims
These all secure senses denying the morphotypes stinging the defenses
I am not with out a door an Achilles tendon that opens to the reprises
However divinity of hope lands on mornings and I make a reclamation of the faith that cleanses
Loss and cold or supersonic and scalding the evolving status of self worth can only harness absorb glean and acquiesce
So as deviance and the demons approaching only deliver masochistic feral guises of the real world as you and I approach weaned of evil, there's hope of  validation and our goals
old forms will never go out of fashion
if poets keep scribing them onto the page
there's timelessness in their long staying stage
as seen by writers who hold a passion
tonight one reprises the sonnet's stock
bringing past master back for a re-run
so readers twill enjoy couplets of fun
e'en including some lines that shall rock
let not tradition fade on the paper
tis said things of age can be new again
yesteryears vogue showing its surviving
well into a modern era's draper
penning the craft of the lasting refrain
whereby they'll be constantly reviving
Quand le front de l'enfant, plein de rouges tourmentes,
Implore l'essaim blanc des rêves indistincts,
Il vient près de son lit deux grandes soeurs charmantes
Avec de frêles doigts aux ongles argentins.

Elles assoient l'enfant auprès d'une croisée
Grande ouverte où l'air bleu baigne un fouillis de fleurs,
Et dans ses lourds cheveux où tombe la rosée
Promènent leurs doigts fins, terribles et charmeurs.

Il écoute chanter leurs haleines craintives
Qui fleurent de longs miels végétaux et rosés
Et qu'interrompt parfois un sifflement, salives
Reprises sur la lèvre ou désirs de baisers.

Il entend leurs cils noirs battant sous les silences
Parfumés ; et leurs doigts électriques et doux
Font crépiter parmi ses grises indolences
Sous leurs ongles royaux la mort des petits poux.

Voilà que monte en lui le vin de la Paresse,
Soupirs d'harmonica qui pourrait délirer ;
L'enfant se sent, selon la lenteur des caresses,
Sourdre et mourir sans cesse un désir de pleurer.
newborn Feb 2023
girl in your salty apparition
drastic ammunition
posed for the dreary mood of the camera screaming slurs on
television
withheld by the standards of creation

poor girl
the daughter of society’s atrocities
you have synchronized heart failure
with the darkness
the desert sand engulfs you
it transports you into the hyperbolic grasp of reality

girl and your insatiable hunger to be bigger than the swords that chop off your limbs
you are the choices you make
you are the friends you make
you are the opportunities you take
you are the you that you are terrified of
the you that shines with red blood dripping from her fangs
the you that violates the system
the you that ingests chemicals so she can feel whole
the you that has been burned to the ground

girl in the danger zone that is your lungs
your venomous victimhood
encroaches on your meaning to exist
yet in spite of your crestfallen volition
you can divorce
the misnomers
you can transform
into a creature that looms over your sorrow
and pecks away at its core

girl in the heart, mind, body, and flesh
be the force of nature you couldn’t stomp out
be the ammunition that locks and loads and explodes
stop the premonition of an incoming battle
lock your jaw and
connect the fragments of your stricken language
yet don’t harden the hit on the clambering back
of the man who keeps all of his power
locked in a lockbox
don’t form a coalition
and strike his shoulder
with bleached eyelids
alike colluded soldiers following orders    

girl with your soggy teardrops
it will all be over
and the summer will hold you
with both of its arms
and you will embrace
not shortly, for a long period of time
and you 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 know love
and you 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 be acknowledged
and you 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 be reborn from the ashes
phoenix,
though the trees will topple onto your highways
and the stars might seem light years away
you’ll get there someday
and when you do
i will withhold you in the ecstatic standards of creation
you 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 abandon the reprises
you 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 sing in the opera
you 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 adopt a new method
and divest the old
screeching with indignation
your shaky hand will greet another and
you 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 fall in love
either with the affairs of your unkept emotions
or with a kind individual who promises you stability

be freed from your chains
and set off into the horizon
the you that you are
rose from the ashes
you are the you that you always were
just a thing

written- 2/15/23
published- 2/17/23

— The End —