"silverback" poems
There’s a silverback haze
on the shallow face
of the Rockwell Ridge
folded brow
puzzled chin
and dark hollow eyes
keeping watch
over the lilies
and crane flies
and will of the wisp
Rust brown ravens
and fisher kings
delight
in the reeds off north bend
(chased by the terraced streams!)
youth blades engrain
on the favoured
and historic
Banka Memorial
Mustard
and pumpkin skies
are clipped
by a call from
the resident loon
the sounds of Buddha Bar
piercing the silence
and shaping the afternoon chord
It’s a time to make way (stream side)
seems the anuran are courting
Feb 25, 2017
Feb 25, 2017 at 2:49 PM UTC
I stood and watched from a safe distance,
A fabulous Silverback strides around,
The strong body and rippling muscles,
He dominates and leads his troop,
He makes the decisions,
He's old, mature and protective,
He's the leader of the pack,
He is respected.
Aug 28, 2012
Aug 28, 2012 at 6:11 AM UTC
ghosts of slumber parties past.
just a haunted betamax & a stack of oreo sandwiches.
sisters braiding eachother’s hair far past the witching hour,
contemplating life without supervision.
blue house. yellow lawn.
silverback gorilla in one garage.
two garage: empty.
three garage: a woman entombed in exhaust.
[her bloated tongue]
a gang of bmx boys pizza-fed and friday-high,
hopped up on mountain dew and trading card collectible rituals ‘n rhythmics.
they conjure a demon just to **** and dismember it.
for funsies.
for keepsies.
a fang for the shrine at the foot of the old oak tree.
history on the skin, long history, long thoughts, long in the nod like a calm dead frog.
bubbled, boiled, toiled, and troubled.
the woods aren’t haunted.
you are haunted.
you are the conduit through which the darkness displays its vivid colors.
[treefort aflame]
the seasons furrow/
/ the leaves fall.
little plots of land etched out – subdivision and sprawl.
on the avenue, heaven
& hell made tame and tangible.
built, re-built, and refurbished – a lawn and a lantern.
a mortgaged glory of sparkle and decay.
[dead cat is a new cat is the old cat ran away]
pictograms of morning light display on mom’s face
as she instructs us on the gusts of love [scrambed eggs]
& teaches us the truth of nettles sprung
from violent pine.
[toast with raspberry jam]
the television.
the microwave.
the blender beverages.
hymnals of an electric kingdom.
one mom dances, the other expires.
[restless armless girls in orange sunsets]
girl with a gun at the edge of her lawn and selling lemonade.
girl in an old wicker chair.
save her horror story for another day.
boy with a bent frame bicycle limps his way home
from one end of the avenue to the other.
his pockets full of sparkly rocks found in the lime quarry pit.
one boy in a long line of lost planets.
the driveway.
the refrigerator.
the hum of a saturday night commercial-free cassette.
where’s dad?
the glow of an eerie crystal
(continued…)
Oct 20, 2015
Oct 20, 2015 at 6:18 AM UTC
A pretty blonde researcher
was observing, from a “blind”,
some Silverback Gorillas-
among the final of their kind.
The senior of the silverbacks,
his back turned towards the” blind”,
was communicating with his troop
with gestures much like sign.
“She who is observing us
is a member of that tribe
who fell from grace with Heaven
and was banished far and wide.”
“They were banished from this Eden,
and confounded in their speech.
They then made war upon each other
and have never once known peace”
“Observe, in them, their arrogance,
they think themselves evolved,
Yet they are apes that practice war
and ****** their own kind”
“A gorilla child knows not but love
and tenderness in kind.
Where there is many a human child
left neglected on the vine.”
From elsewhere in the Jungle came
the shouts of evil men.
Poachers of the coarsest sort
with Silverbacks in mind.
“Disperse my sons and daughters.
It’s time to flee and hide
from those who seek our hides and meat
to sanctuary, hie.”
The silverback then beat his chest
and, to buy the others time,
charged against those evil men
and, for his children, died.
Time passed before the searchers
came upon the blind
where the murdered Dian Fossey lay
where the Silverback had died.
Poachers want no witnesses
to their theft of meat and hide
They left with her the severed hands
of one not kin but kind.
Mar 18, 2012
Mar 18, 2012 at 6:00 PM UTC
We still call the homeplace mom's
Calendar in the kitchen unchanged
Two years past
The old clock ticking
Branches tapping against a window
Iron Mountain through frozen rain
Like a silverback
White along the spine
Cold and silent
Strong against another winter.
r ~ 2/2/15
Feb 2, 2015
Feb 2, 2015 at 10:18 AM UTC
I have yet to know a self I can call my own,
wandering through these bodies
the way one would try on clothes
but far deeper
than this analogy could ever dig,
I live with these identities.
I fall for them
the way lovers do in autumn,
keen that the coming winter
will leave me yearning
for the comfort of another,
but no sooner do the bells of spring
begin to ring in summer air
does the necessity of this comfort fade.
The temptation of sweeter fruit
hangs above me in the orchard shade
and an affluenza of potential
almost coerces me to stay.
Though no self have ever felt my own
I know within my heart, within my blood
and in my bones, more than anything
I am compelled to grow
towards entropy and complexity,
ascending, never settling at any plateau
a silverback drumming his barrel chest
and roaring into the void of the valley below
“What is next for me!”
and the answer is silence
(I should have known)
May 27, 2016
May 27, 2016 at 9:07 AM UTC
Perfectly Imperfect
there are so few things that I do correct
hell I'm still learning how to stand *****
with my ape like qualities making strange sounds
the stupid words I utter could be measured in pounds
you know deep down inside I really do care
I have a ton of feelings that I will gladly share
but sometimes my thoughts get caught up in the word I
I won't stop talking until I make you cry
I miss the banner T says at the bottom of the page
I go from weeping chimp to a silverback in rage
trying to get a grip on my now empty heart
I wanna go back again go back to the start
why is it that sometimes you find out too late
that you should keep yourself in a cage or crate
until you learn and understand what smart really is
and no I'm not talking about a scientific wizz
I guess I'll continue writing self deprecating lines
until I learn more than just swinging on vines
I don't know how else to explain how my heart burns
hoping someday my sunflower returns
Gomer LePoet ....
Aug 27, 2011
Aug 27, 2011 at 12:13 PM UTC
you park with the windows
rolled down for a kiss
that doesn't come,
and now you're pressed up
against him with his chin on your shoulder.
painfully hart crane knew
what day it was,
but I'll never look at the
calendar.
its better,
the gulls would just get sick
the old folks in power scooters
cant handle much more than
a jigsaw.
if I were to choose how
I die I'd want it to
be hungover and by the
hands of a silverback.
May 29, 2014
May 29, 2014 at 6:40 PM UTC
a
basket
full of
tasty fruits
and
purple
eggplants
to
calm down
the
aggressive mode of
the
silverback gorilla
in the
congo green forest
Oct 22, 2015
Oct 22, 2015 at 2:00 PM UTC
When we were 25
all night was eight minutes
Now that we're 55
he really means all night.
Pass the **** baby
I'm getting chafed.
May 23, 2013
May 23, 2013 at 10:49 PM UTC
They're on administrative leave like they asked us permission to leave our bodies... Lifeless
Or
They should have gotten permission to be dismissed BEFORE they left our bodies... Lifeless
Land of the free....How about Land on our Knees
Where we should be until we all can stand as tall as a tree.... Not hanging, from a tree
The noose has been replaced by a shiny black casing, The broken neck has been replaced by blood freely flowing The tree has been used to make OUR encasing.... The result... [hashtag]this [hashtag]that [hashtag]blacklivesmatter
but... [hashtag]itdoesntmatter because apparently we are not all made of equal matter
Sterling Silver used to be considered quality , but apparently...that's dead.
B stands for bold. Beautiful. Brave. Boisterious, without the B in black there consists just a Lack of color, creativity, attitude...
Lying to us daily, telling us our skin color isn't a crime only that it cuts short our time to be
Alive. Breathing, Heart beating, Lub Dub Lub Dub Lu....ve you are the two words that you may never hear. Are the two words that they don't get to hear because
Crack. Pop pop pop Hands up Don't ..... Blood flowing on the streets, like road **** except I'd hoped by now evolution would have taken us to the top of the animal kingdom, but there's still more outrage over Harambi the silverback than Philando Castile, violently attacked...
Pronunciation please: Blac (black) B-L-A-C
is still the same pronouncement without the
K.....K... K . Still afraid to wake up day after day after day... Not knowing if this could be our last where the blackness on our skin becomes our permanent surroundings
Or Not knowing if this could be our last where the blackness on our skin becomes the ghost of Christmas future, the past and present left to rest in peace...
We should be praising the Lord when we wake up on the land of living, breathing, heart beating, lub dub lub dub....
HANDS UP ..... But you asked for my license's I was already reaching...
Don't shoot.... But I wasn't planning to, my four year old is in clear view.
May 31, 2017
May 31, 2017 at 9:14 PM UTC
as he sat soft beside me.
“Sure,” I said, with ill feeling.
My instinct was not to cross my friend,
I had too few left.
I nodded to the Ape behind the bar and he obliged
with one lemon & ginger and one green tea.
He knows his regulars well
and we know we’d need to wait til later for anything stronger.
“Look,” he said, and I turned to see
a gap and I counted the two teeth that were missing -
no, not missing - he opened his hand
and there they were, both accounted for,
safe and secure in his grey leathery palm.
“Look,” he repeated, (a little slurred this time)
and turned his fist so I could see
the missing skin and the bruises
that gave testimony to his amateur status.
His ****** grin and wet laughter
shook the silverback back into action
and we got a plate of malted milks.
Like I say, he knows his regulars well
and he’d listened when I told him
where he could get a regular supply,
direct from Staffordshire, in the UK.
“Lo-ok,” he said (more hesitant this time)
and lifted his shirt a little to reveal the knife wound,
replete with knife, buried to the hilt.
“Loo-,“ he started to say, as he slid off the bar stool
taking his tea with him, the porcelain shattering on the stone floor.
I winced – the cups had been a gift
to the Ape from my mother.
‘Why should the chimps get all the best crockery?’ she’d explained.
“I’ll pay for the breakage,” I said
and the Ape nodded his furrowed brow
as he swung round to grab the dustpan and mop.
I drank my tea,
counting off the friends that remained.
Mar 2, 2024
Mar 2, 2024 at 1:25 PM UTC
Silver-tongued silverback acrobat,
Sliver among passive track, those little tacks
Swing up high, sweep on by
The air is your medium, your cartilage courage
I thought I was something highly, flying freely, sighing too.
Cotton grass on trickling, bubbling, thinking brook
Garfish thought twice and took to my hook
Devour me I spoke to the placid sky
Leave me here, in Schrödingers hour,
If I reel in thine I may find the acrobat or an empty line.
Feb 19, 2015
Feb 19, 2015 at 10:35 PM UTC
You told everyone you were a care bear
But you don’t know how to handle my heart
You don’t know what it means to care
Because otherwise my heart wouldn’t be ripped apart
You told everyone you would fight for me
and would go through fire like a bold beast
You only fight for money and power, can’t you see?
You toss me around like prey, celebrate it like a feast
oh you, you beautiful bear, you stuffed with jealousy bear
you use your claws on me, you show me you are the silverback
And you hurt me so deeply, I don’t think that is care
which is odd, because bears don’t like leaders of a pack
I tried to stuff myself back together with needles and thread
but my eyes are leaking and my mouth stays taped
you want me to sit still and look like every other zombie-head
Mary wrote a book about me, in which I was monster-shaped
I wish you held me, consoled me, supported me and not like a ripped bear
because that is what it actually means to care
Jul 10, 2025
Jul 10, 2025 at 8:07 PM UTC
I only drink ferocious black coffee--
a silverback strong knuckle-sandwich to the chest
because it screams at my throbbing heart like a drill sergeant.
I drink whisky because
because I enjoy the the burning taste
of sandpaper raking against the back of my throat.
And it gets me hammered the quickest.
Pizza for breakfast,
I'm eating champions of pineapple and bacon
with four different cheeses because **** you.
The words I write are contrived reflections
trying to get by in a place I'm trying to convince myself I belong.
Cynicism glares with tired sunken eyes
at deja vu reiki songs,
but my hymnal is the bottom of a moscato,
and I sing louder when grey ghosts from the past
whisper lonely nightmares.
Apr 5, 2015
Apr 5, 2015 at 9:13 PM UTC
hunters tattoos, boo-boo shortcake
F-f-f-fuh-fake guys with real mistakes
I'm just a ****** person that has to get ****** to feel
Apr 6, 2015
Apr 6, 2015 at 2:49 PM UTC
Maybe tomorrow we can talk
But for tonight, just leave me alone
Let me just go for that walk
Right now I need to be on my own
I know things have been hard for us
Both for me and for you
And I know, tomorrow will come
And you will tell me the truth
We used to spend hours here
Breathing side by side
And now the only thing I want
Is to get you out of my sight
Is this what they warned me about
All those years ago
How someone you could have loved
Sometimes find somebody else to hold
I don't think forgiveness is in the cards
So I am leaving this scar open
And I hope that when I tell you
You will remember, my heart is broken
Tonight while you're out with your friends
I will silently be packing my things
Living before the morning comes
- Because, I refuse to be one of your regrets
Jun 29, 2014
Jun 29, 2014 at 7:24 PM UTC
I was half boring, and never so innocent.
Never before, and never since the day I felt you growing.
But with each moment of gnawing pressure
my ribs will quiver and ache.
My skin feels ripped and with every kick
I realize.
I let you stay in here too long.
The silverback beast can never be tamed in some
tangled pink web of nerves and veins.
The difference between a nest and a cage
is Time.
And thats why you will always prefer your father.
Protect my spine and respect my pride,
when you rattle my ribs, when you hear me cry.
I know it will be different, if I only try.
Another punishment unique to women.
Jul 20, 2015
Jul 20, 2015 at 9:15 AM UTC
Mad archangel 2020 scam, dead weatherman noos report blam
be live-r to the umbrella storms;
“Stiffen up, you needa chief more
kid, you’re riffin’ with a
legend— as it is,
it’s a sewage drain,a bed
Pan the pipes of dawn’s
crack;at end of the tusk,
the silverback-gorilla camo on the lawn
kept the rusted metal on a locket-chain
hanging off his pocket;pocket-watch
hang from his eye-socket;
.seed sewn, from the cornrows
in his carriage-patch, 3-wheeled rig and [a battery-pack
lithium frame, told him, ‘slow down black’
—ain’t no money in that”
magazine gass’ed up -let me hand em the curls;
code to the Source,name
the names, bigstick for walking a sideways polemic
fortyoz forecast for
hisshadow stringed-up a harpwing tune
the maddog politick;
Show ‘em on the map
-where it rain tonight?-
(not that alley X the liquor store—sea the eagle
swim gelatinmass of marvelous cherrylime-green sky;
posse told him to pass
his flying colors, vomitspittle—
Magnesium flare—was all his
day in the dunya,(we all got’em)
bent youngblood ear like a
bloodhound:
What’s the static charge?
Smash!pumpkin brain s-p-l-a-t, rush to eat the seeds?
all the sparrows scatter cuz the lights
is red,white&Bluuuue on L juice
—Ah! Hell’s loose, call me a river and
press
snooze.
Sep 29, 2017
Sep 29, 2017 at 4:44 PM UTC
When you look at me
I know all you see
is an old man
that has escaped from his room
and I will hold my hands up to that
for I want to be in the sun like you, feel those rase hit me
and bring love, to my old heart
and feel freedom.
LOve from an old silverback, almost in his tomb.
Aug 17, 2013
Aug 17, 2013 at 10:12 AM UTC