"swaggered" poems
The mysterious stranger rode into town with nonchalant style,
And entered the saloon for a drink and to stay a short while.
Our Hero wandered over and gave a quick glance,
And thought to himself, "this fools got no chance."
But he quickly realized he was the fool as he looked the man in his eyes,
He saw no fear, no angst. The man was Death in disguise.
For this man's lost everything, he truly had nothin',
This was our Hero's most dangerous test, so he'd better not be bluffin'.
Without another sound, not a whisper nor a word,
The two men swaggered off to the towns gathering courtyard.
For what seemed like an eternity, they stared each other down,
Not sure who's peacemaker would deliver the final round.
Then as quick as flash, the two men finally drew,
And from each piece's barrel, smoke and fire blew.
With cold fingers wrapped around cold steel,
There was no other single feeling to that of death that could ever feel so real.
When the haze cleared, our hero grinned, but then fell to the ground,
The young man's life ebbed away with one last fleeting sound.
The Mysterious stranger, with a subtle laugh, eyed his bloodstained cuff,
And said, "well kid i knew you'd give me a run, but you just weren't quick enough."
Soon the crowd could tell who had found there little town,
This man was a legend, but when it came to calm life, there wasn't one to be found.
He's said to have taken at least 50 rounds, all ripped through his chest,
But no one could ever lay him out, he was unfortunately the best.
Day by day, his life went on, but to him this was no life,
For every day he'd **** to live, to survive another hopeless strife.
The Legend rode away, but the despair he left still lingers,
This is his reality, the tragedy of the gunslinger.
May 15, 2013
May 15, 2013 at 4:48 PM UTC
With the curves of her body,
Ten thousand men could fall.
A vision so sublime,
Swaggered into the bar.
Oh, her perfume!
Her perfectly painted lips!
The hypnotizing eyes!.....
smote the drooling regulars.
"Guarana". She ordered.
"No **** Amarula on my bill"
Offered the usually quiet Baba Jemo.
"And a pack of Guarana to take home"
Added 'Fisi' Johny the local mechanic.
With a smile that could melt Antarctica's ice,
She accepted the two stooges' offer.
Just as they were marrying their stools to her's
There bounced in a striking gentleman
"Sorry honey, i was caught in traffic.
Can we go to a better pub?"
With Amarula on her right hand,
A twelve pack of Guarana on his left,
They legged it out holding hands,
Leaving my silly two thunderstruck,
As I handed them the bill.
Apr 29, 2016
Apr 29, 2016 at 6:29 AM UTC
It could have been a pleasant Monday.
We sat outdoors and ate our sandwiches.
It was crisp October, and we were on a dig.
Earlier, we had used the transit to measure
teepee rings from the nomad Cree tribe
that once lived and loved here.
You'd found the marker stones.
I'd found a stone tool.
But now we sit having lunch in the tepid sun.
I looked at you and saw a young man
who swaggered with false confidence.
You wore an army jacket,though we were just 16.
Your hair was red, and a little curly.
Your eyes melted me, -robin's egg blue.
I looked at your hands still holding the paper
and I saw between the freckles on your wrist
a blue vein.
Without ability to stop myself I touched you there.
And then my mind whirled.
For the first time-
suddenly, I was in your blood,
your heart, your mind!
You were just as jolted as I was,
and we have never been the same.
40 years later. We write on your birthday.
You ask about my mother.
Do you ever say my name?
Mar 15, 2011
Mar 15, 2011 at 2:01 AM UTC
As I sank in my raging sea, you were my rock.
I was at my dead end, when you swaggered into my life.
You said I was f....ing hot, game on!
I am a true heart...no game.
As I sank in my raging sea, you were my rock.
Oh how I loved my rock.
NO ONE stood a chance in my heart.
There was only room in my soul for my rock.
No one even got on my radar, you were my rock.
I loved my rock so solid, so real, so strong and so loving.
My rock the only place I could rest, where I could finally breathe.
How I loved my rock, so many sharks circled me but you were my rock.
and then...
My rock crumbled.
Left me alone, left me lonely, left me forever.
My rock left me flat on my face in the dirt.
I was a game, a joke, an option.
My rock was never real, and I am alone in my sea of tears
You are my rock no more...
Sep 18, 2016
Sep 18, 2016 at 12:13 PM UTC
lens is ancient and crusted with a film of
old blood of the skies and
liquidy fragments of soul that fall from eyes
souls that brush up against the glass
again and again:
the woman with hot black nest of hair
and strange greyish (bone grey flesh) that was
my muse in the winter of nineteen
when she swaggered between warm pockets,
smoked in her t-shirt and apron-
blades of wind
carving out of her
a masterpiece
woman with brown brown riverstone
eyes, settled in bruisy crescents. woman
with the stones (petrified ghosts) that
swung heavily from her neck, my muse in the spring
of nineteen in the trees heart wrapped in musky fabric and
feet wrapped in leather. god she was
beautiful:cloaked in the reddened husk
of shrinking sunlight, hands curled around
my every word
muse in the summer of nineteen. man with
ruthless, undefined lips, long body charcoal
smudged by a sweaty thumb edges nonexistent
neverspoke of evil never heard of
the brand of love i made
came and went without a sound-
flock of blackbirds, oceanheave,
death parting her lips
May 19, 2010
May 19, 2010 at 7:48 PM UTC
I can not forget the very first time i set eyes on you.
My heart was in a whirl as you mov'd closer to me.
Enchant'd may i have been, yet modest and true.
If i, wanton and impolite as i be, should have a fancy for 'ee,
I could have for my own eyes caused such a great pleasure.
For you were such a fair sight to the modest eyes.
Nay one man's eyes missed 'ee as swaggered.
J'ining the crowds, proud o' yourself med 'ee have been.
I miss those fair days, ol' Marygreen, by the weather spoiled were we.
'Twas i to seek 'ee, my being heart-tender, hurt to hope.
I oughtn't to hope for God's grace as you whisper'd my name,
Yet 'twas only what had troubled me.
My dear Sue, thine anger upon me was wanton.
As swiftly raged at me, unto me being surpris'd.
I love thee, may not i unto God be made
a saint.
Had i determined my course of action.
I could have been tolerable unto thine eyes.
My heart to pledge as of yore, yet torn and misled upon your path.
Alas! Don't 'ee charm-veiled come to conquer my heart as to setting about planning another journey not to be done.
Before God, and angels, though cast into agony,
'twas me unto whom you came when dark.
My Sue.... My dearest Sue....
Mar 24, 2011
Mar 24, 2011 at 8:24 PM UTC
Caught a glimpse of my childhood hero
As he strutted along the path today.
He created pictures from words
Made this world come alive, with
A magic that has never matched.
As he swaggered past me today
He looked old, tired and grey
Snippets of songs, floated through my mind,
Stirring long forgotten memories
Made by the man I saw today, long, long ago.
There was a touch of aged slowness in,
The walk of the man I called hero,
What had happened to the, man I remembered
As invincible and beyond question
In that childhood world of mine?
And then I saw a wink, a twinkle,
A spark of dancing magic and
That mischievous glint,
In the icy clear blueness of the eyes,
Of the man
I am proud to call my childhood hero.
© Nick Strong 2014
Nov 3, 2013
Nov 3, 2013 at 3:57 PM UTC
There was a tree by the river.
There he used to stand alone like a rover.
Touching the water with such a longing.
Emitting his true love and feelings.
Last leaves of autumn were falling.
And he breathed the sweetness of the air as he swaggered along the river.
He said his grace as snow started to fall.
Like a million stars of silver.
I found his footprints in the snow.
I followed him among the blackening trees into the forest.
I saw him standing there by the water and i had always known.
Among these trees, by the river he wanted to rest.
He turned around and stared at me for a while.
He walked closer toward me and smiled.
I felt happy as if i had caught a hare with my own hands.
He carried me on his shoulder as he ran.
I felt his hair on my face.
I felt his heartbeat as we raced.
I felt such a child's whim.
I felt myself in him.
Feb 4, 2011
Feb 4, 2011 at 8:41 AM UTC
(The first one, Marian...hope you like it.)
The Lady sat on the ledge of the fence
elevated,
higher than the rest
unreachable...
from left to right
She glanced,
observing, waiting...
action was about to begin:
the chosen two sashayed in,
from both sides of Her majesty...
if only looks could ****
they would have glared at each other
to death
they teased,
then swaggered,
emitting sounds of arrogance,
soft, becoming loud
to scare, to ensnare...
The Lady sat, still waiting,
until a winner is proclaimed...
the teasing and the noise
was taking too long, she thought...
She, who was above the rest
yawned, and was quickly
deciding...
slowly, she stood,
stretching legs, curling at the end
then left the ledge
while the two protagonists
stopped short of wounding themselves...
they looked at each other
angrily,
frustrated...
it had been an empty, useless fight
the two noisily meowed, purred
short of sparring
enthusiasm wasn't there anymore..
they went to their own sides of the street
Her majesty, gone to another place
entertaining two new protagonists
disgusted with the first two...
choosing her mate was far from over.
Sally
Copyright 2014
Rosalia Rosario A. Bayan
Feb 24, 2014
Feb 24, 2014 at 1:02 AM UTC
I can not forget the very first time i set eyes on you.
My heart was in a whirl as you mov'd closer to me.
Enchant'd may i have been, yet modest and true.
If i, wanton and impolite as i be, should have a fancy for 'ee,
I could have for my own eyes caused such a great pleasure.
For you were such a fair sight to the modest eyes.
Nay one man's eyes missed 'ee as swaggered.
J'ining the crowds, proud o' yourself med 'ee have been.
I miss those fair days, ol' Marygreen, by the weather spoiled were we.
'Twas i to seek 'ee, my being heart-tender, hurt to hope.
I oughtn't to hope for God's grace as you whisper'd my name,
Yet 'twas only what had troubled me.
My dear Sue, thine anger upon me was wanton.
As swiftly raged at me, unto me being surpris'd.
I love thee, may not i unto God be made
a saint.
Had i determined my course of action.
I could have been tolerable unto thine eyes.
My heart to pledge as of yore, yet torn and misled upon your path.
Alas! Don't 'ee charm-veiled come to conquer my heart as to setting about planning another journey not to be done.
Before God, and angels, though cast into agony,
'twas me unto whom you came when dark.
My Sue.... My dearest Sue....
Nov 12, 2010
Nov 12, 2010 at 6:34 AM UTC
I walked or sauntered or dashed or stumbled, no...
staggered! or swaggered, or was it stepped, no...
I jogged or, bolted, no stomped or slid no...
hopped! or was it skipped no hop skipped and jumped...
or sauntered! no i said that one, it was swaggered! no....
I stampeded or dogged or shlepped no bounced or was it...
I stamped or ed or rolled? no strolled! haha yes Strolled! no...
I stalked that was it or was it followed no no it was sojourned
sojourned! sojourn? no it was galumphed or marched, no charged...
aha sauntered! no! ****** it was ambled or slogged, trounced? or tromped, no rambled, yes I rambled on! no no thats not right, I plodded, trod no tread! no strided, thats not even a word, sloped, no...
govereetted, or persnicketied, or skreed, or preened, no no no none of that is right....
I sauntered! no no, swaggered! no was it promenade? prowl. no patrolled, parolled, no no thats way off...
I trekked, trudged, no fudged, no dogged! like george! he dogged it all the time, no I said that one, slogged or sashayed no trooped, no perambulated, or moseyed? or hoofed it? no it was definitely sauntered, no no it wasn't sauntered it was a dawdle, no lurched, or hawked, no stopped,
no no it was definitely movement, thats it! it was a movement! no no no that can't be right I paced, yes i paced back and forth and thought about life for a awhile....
no no that wasn't it either it was really more of a strut, or a saunter, yes saunter! no swaggered! no no
**** you words....
I wandered or was it roamed, no limped, gimped! no...
minced.... or no yes! minced... wait.... no it was a hike, yes I hiked up a mountain with friend of mine, or was it climbed, no no thats not right...
I slandered, no.... pandered! no... I meandered, haha actually no i think it was a peruse, or no a beat! no.... I cut a rug! or actually i think it was more of a stumble no....
ah yes it was walked, I walked about sixty blocks today
Jun 24, 2014
Jun 24, 2014 at 6:17 PM UTC
Her eyes a steelyard grey,watched me in the bar today,saw me drink,made me think there'd be hell to pay if I said hello and offered to buy her a bourbon or rye and then she swaggered up to me and said,'anytime you're free hunk, you're welcome to take a chunk ,a slice,I'm nice, of me,be my guest and don't be shy,you're not shy are you guy?'
I left rapido, head held real low and ears turned red by other things the steelyard grey eyed woman said.
I'm not a ***** but she was downright rotten rude and anyway what would my mam say,if I took a girl like that to Mothers flat for tea?
She'd say,
I'm mad,that girl is bad, best get shot of that bad lot and there's not a lot that I can say
except she was kind of **** in a steelyard grey way.
Sep 4, 2013
Sep 4, 2013 at 3:33 PM UTC
I can not forget the very first time i set eyes on you.
My heart was in a whirl as you mov'd closer to me.
Enchant'd may i have been, yet modest and true.
If i, wanton and impolite as i be, should have a fancy for 'ee,
I could have for my own eyes caused such a great pleasure.
For you were such a fair sight to the modest eyes.
Nay one man's eyes missed 'ee as swaggered.
J'ining the crowds, proud o' yourself med 'ee have been.
I miss those fair days, ol' Marygreen, by the weather spoiled were we.
'Twas i to seek 'ee, my being heart-tender, hurt to hope.
I oughtn't to hope for God's grace as you whisper'd my name,
Yet 'twas only what had troubled me.
My dear Sue, thine anger upon me was wanton.
As swiftly raged at me, unto me being surpris'd.
I love thee, may not i unto God be made
a saint.
Had i determined my course of action.
I could have been tolerable unto thine eyes.
My heart to pledge as of yore, yet torn and misled upon your path.
Alas! Don't 'ee charm-veiled come to conquer my heart as to setting about planning another journey not to be done.
Before God, and angels, though cast into agony,
'twas me unto whom you came when dark.
My Sue.... My dearest Sue....
Feb 14, 2011
Feb 14, 2011 at 5:17 AM UTC
You wandered alone in the rain.
I called out to you in vain.
I held the cold air alone in pain.
On your cold empty bed i had lain.
I saw you today when i looked into the mirror.
You were my handsome rover.
I felt your heart beat when i put my hand on my chest.
In everlasting greens forever you will rest.
I sense your presence whenever i walk myself to your hills.
As the world emits your spirit i know i feel.
Your green eyes dwell on the banks where the country lovers climb to pick flowers.
Your song echoes forever in the hearts of lonely rovers.
I miss that long road down the hill to the sea.
There you swaggered the morning away for me to see.
So dreamy and radiant like a precious gem.
To those trees by the water that bloomed as you sang to them.
My Father...
My Rover...
My Saviour...
Dec 7, 2010
Dec 7, 2010 at 6:30 AM UTC
There was a tree by the river.
There he used to stand alone like a rover.
Touching the water with such a longing.
Emitting his true love and feelings.
Last leaves of autumn were falling.
And my father breathed the sweetness of the air as he swaggered along the river.
He said his grace as snow began falling.
Like a million stars of silver.
I found his footprints in the snow.
I followed him among the blackening trees into the forest.
I saw him standing there by the water and i had always known.
Among these trees, by the river he wanted to rest.
He turned around and stared at me for a while.
He walked closer toward me and smiled.
I felt happy as if i had caught a hare with my own hands.
He carried me on his shoulder as he ran.
I felt his hair on my face.
I felt his heartbeat as we raced.
I felt such a child's whim.
I felt myself in him.
Dec 12, 2010
Dec 12, 2010 at 4:26 PM UTC
A poet shy shuffled into my office
She placed her poem on my desks farthest corner
This is my very best work, said she timidly
I looked it up and down nerveously
This will certainly die, said i
She looked me up and down nerveously and began to cry
And sprinted out the door
What a waste i thought of this "poet"
Another day a poet very mad swaggered into my nook
He ****** his poem at my feet
This is my very, very, best work, said he loudly
I peered at it very briefly
This is very, very, bad
He lingered briefly and with hardly a friendly word
And swaggered out
I had nothing nice to think of this "poet"
But just today a poet kind, a poet clever walked into my home
He put his poem into my hand
this is my favorite work said he kindly, cleverly
I read it through calmly
This is my favorite too said i
He shook my hand and thanked me calmly and walked out the door
That is a true poet i thought
Nov 25, 2014
Nov 25, 2014 at 1:15 PM UTC
I watched you walking away with him yesterday.
Touching as you both swaggered away.
Beautiful smile on your face.
Kissing with every pace.
It wasn't me you were longing for...
Because I could never go too far...
If only you had known my pain...
I saw you holding his hand so tight...
I knew you loved him so right....
It should have been my hand you're holding so close to your heart...
Nov 19, 2010
Nov 19, 2010 at 7:35 PM UTC
i have no idea how many hours she toiled
in the community kitchen before i arrived,
but she’d made a *** of tofu stew, a bowl
of rice and beans, some spinach lasagna
soaked in marinara, hummus
and daiya cheese sandwiches.
diligent and dutiful,
without question,
without expectation.
an hour later, we stood in Lykes Gaslight Park,
doling out food to the houseless folks
who’d lined up for a vegan meal
when, out of the blue, a well-dressed
college student swaggered up to us,
his smile shimmering, and asked
what we were doing.
she brushed a loose strand
of hair behind one ear,
smearing a bit of sauce
across her cheek,
and said, “we are here to live
as if we are already free.”
they were sharing food too,
he explained, which was all well
and good. but we couldn’t help but notice
they’d never set foot here in the past,
that they only came out
when the season
passed into the holidays.
“you know,” he told us,
“you might not realize,
but the Lord Jesus Christ
is using you for the gospel.”
which seemed rather strange,
given that he’d be back
in his sanctuary before the year
was out, raising his hands
and praising his dead god
instead of standing beside us
every Tuesday and Saturday,
sharing.
but we remember the legacy
of the radical Nazarene,
the anarchic revolutionary
who fed five thousand—
a conquest of bread
with nothing but a few loaves
and some fish.
if you listen closely,
you can still hear him whispering,
“take what you need,
give what you can.”
we carry a new world
in our hearts and heads.
we don’t feed the hungry
to win a one-way trip to heaven.
so when you forget
about the poor you use as a prop,
we godless few will remain
in the streets until every belly’s full
and capitalism collapses—
risking arrest, fighting abuse,
addiction and empty stomachs.
Dec 6, 2017
Dec 6, 2017 at 7:25 AM UTC
I remember as a quiet child
The summer days upon the grass laid
Banks of a timid stream
Sitting cross-legged, bending
To stroke the muddy waters
With a part of forgotten wood
And all around the warmth of
The summer's glowing sun
An intake of breath would
Bring the scent of tall trees
Bounding to my favorite nest.
footsteps followed shallow paths
That meandered to and from
The stream which gurgled as a child
In excited and gay temperament
I did then pause in rapture of my sense
And touch a life of serene sublime
A tender moment to solitude
Yet as I sat flat upon the grass
A gentle butterfly swaggered
In its pride of showy acrobatics
White and blissful in balance
With my sun-filled dreams
Nature showered in a halo of blushes
Collected the dusty corn colors of summer
And sprinkled then at my feet
For a secret wish for me to dare
Then... through my reverie
I heard some voices cheer
Some boys scuttled the biggest log there
back into the stream it sped
Some part cooled in water
Some part basked in sun
I recall the echo of buzzing beetles
That zoomed across the water
And were hidden by the distance
On the other side
Some dragonflies hovered with curiosity
In some infrequent time
The red and green of their wings
Seems now lost to me
They shimmered like chrome
Of tireless helicopters
This was a busy side to my young years
What with barges of driftwood
And scurrying air-traffic
Yet the call of the water birds
Stayed only after the sun had set
And leafy foliage lingered in silhouette
The birds crossed the sky with
To me a mournful cry
As a reminder the day had said goodbye
Yet little did I realize then
That in flowering adulthood
I would return to those summer days in sweet lament
And cherish that moment of child content.
May 31, 2018
May 31, 2018 at 6:05 PM UTC
Fate in oblique wisdom gave,
A lonely soul a gentle heart.
Lost, he sought a love to save
What hope life had torn apart.
In time he saw her facade cave,
And felt her tenderly impart
A meaning to him that would pave
His path to glory; A legend's start.
A champion, proud, saw just a knave;
A tool to use, then take apart.
Into the ring, Creed swaggered brave;
What lay in wait was Rocky's heart.
Jun 27, 2018
Jun 27, 2018 at 1:43 PM UTC
I took the short cut down to Marble Street the other day
to remind me of the cafe' where we met in May
We could of written our cute meet for the screen
just like a couple being filmed for a romantic scene...
I was wearing black n' white with my lacy jacquard tights
You were handsome wearing blue with your matching saddle shoes
That's when..
you winked at me above your book, and, then you looked away--
then I took you by surprise n' I smiled right into your eyes
and, then I looked away--
Oh, in a playful way---
That's when...
You swaggered so cooly up to me just as courteous as can be
but I pretended not to hear playing the naughty girl you see...
Yes, I was naughty I was bad cause I wanted you to chase after me ---
That's when...
I got up with my book tossing you that flirtatious look
that's when I knew I had you by the hook
because I watched the way you shook
then I reached out for your hand
I said,
I'm a woman that knows what she wants n' I won't tease n' I won't taunt
That's when you said,
I'm a man who understands, and I'll give you all the love I can,
Now we're...
taking the short cut down to Marble Street on this sunny day
and, it's been ten years in the month of May
You know, it's the little things you say
that makes me so happy you looked my way
Baby, there's no one else that brings so much happiness n' peace
you've brought joy into my life
I'm so grateful you're my wife...
That's when...
I melt right into you...
Jan 1, 2015
Jan 1, 2015 at 11:39 PM UTC
While I swam in insecurity,
you took me to land.
You were the fox that
swiped me from misery's hand.
While my shoes were too tight,
you offered yours that fit.
You held the rope that
pulled me from the filthy pit.
While I swaggered carelessly,
you taught me to walk.
You lit up the air
when you dreamily talked.
While I sat dazed on the bed,
you helped me stand up.
You elected a friend
whose soul was corrupt.
I tucked away your glasses
so you couldn't see me -
The disproportion and defects
of my mind and body -
But you weren't blind
and you didn't flinch at me,
So I'd do the same for you
and accept everything you'll be.
Sep 8, 2018
Sep 8, 2018 at 10:21 PM UTC