Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
AP Staunton Jan 2016
Two inches was the measure, of young Stevies blunder,
Digging out concrete, not knowing whats under.
He felt a nugget, that wouldn't yield to the Pick,
So he used the Jack-Hammer, until he got that "kick".
Caught fire on the spot, looked at me, shocked,
Died in flames, got a days pay docked.
Cut the main cable, Fifty millimetres, metric,
I know you hate to ask, but Friends aren't Electric.

Dennis stepped back, pleased with his graft,
Fell two hundred foot, down an unguarded shaft.
Been on the Grinder, cutting out steels,
So the Elevator boys could fix , their cogs and their wheels.
Never said a word, no shout or no fuss,
Dennis died like he lived, just one of us.

Me and Baz on a roof, we knew was asbestos,
Brittle like toffee, temperamental as Kate Moss,
Had no crawling boards, so we tip-toed like burglars,
Clinging on tightly, think Ivy on Pergola's.
I heard the crack, leapt to the hip-tile,
Baz clawed and scraped, resistance was futile.
They spread out the sand, where Baz hit the deck,
To mop up the blood, from a broken neck.
Health and safety, if's and but's,
Shoddy workmanship, taking short-cuts.
We have no say, we try our best,
Hard hats, harder boots and high-visibility vests,
Are all that we leave, not Time-Shares or Merc's,
Just daughters in tears, Dads not home from work.
Only on me, the lonely one,
The unending stars of the night shine,
The stone fountain whispers its magic song,
To me alone, to me the lonely one
The colorful shadows of the wandering clouds
Move like dreams over the open countryside.
Neither house nor farmland,
Neither forest nor hunting privilege is given to me,
What is mine belongs to no one,
The plunging brook behind the veil of the woods,
The frightening sea,
The bird whir of children at play,
The weeping and singing, lonely in the evening, of a man secretly in love.
The temples of the gods are mine also, and mine
the aristocratic groves of the past.
And no less, the luminous
Vault of heaven in the future is my home:
Often in full flight of longing my soul storms upward,
To gaze on the future of blessed men,
Love, overcoming the law, love from people to people.
I find them all again, nobly transformed:
Farmer, king, tradesman, busy sailors,
Shepherd and gardener, all of them
Gratefully celebrate the festival of the future world.
Only the poet is missing,
The lonely one who looks on,
The bearer of human longing, the pale image
Of whom the future, the fulfillment of the world
Has no further need. Many garlands
Wilt on his grave,
But no one remembers him.
Frau Doktor,
Mama Brundig,
take out your contacts,
remove your wig.
I write for you.
I entertain.
But frogs come out
of the sky like rain.

Frogs arrive
With an ugly fury.
You are my judge.
You are my jury.

My guilts are what
we catalogue.
I'll take a knife
and chop up frog.

Frog has not nerves.
Frog is as old as a cockroach.
Frog is my father's genitals.
Frog is a malformed doorknob.
Frog is a soft bag of green.

The moon will not have him.
The sun wants to shut off
like a light bulb.
At the sight of him
the stone washes itself in a tub.
The crow thinks he's an apple
and drops a worm in.
At the feel of frog
the touch-me-nots explode
like electric slugs.
Slime will have him.
Slime has made him a house.

Mr. Poison
is at my bed.
He wants my sausage.
He wants my bread.

Mama Brundig,
he wants my beer.
He wants my Christ
for a souvenir.

Frog has boil disease
and a bellyful of parasites.
He says: Kiss me. Kiss me.
And the ground soils itself.

Why
should a certain
quite adorable princess
be walking in her garden
at such a time
and toss her golden ball
up like a bubble
and drop it into the well?
It was ordained.
Just as the fates deal out
the plague with a tarot card.
Just as the Supreme Being drills
holes in our skulls to let
the Boston Symphony through.

But I digress.
A loss has taken place.
The ball has sunk like a cast-iron ***
into the bottom of the well.

Lost, she said,
my moon, my butter calf,
my yellow moth, my Hindu hare.
Obviously it was more than a ball.
***** such as these are not
for sale in Au Bon Marche.
I took the moon, she said,
between my teeth
and now it is gone
and I am lost forever.
A thief had robbed by day.

Suddenly the well grew
thick and boiling
and a frog appeared.
His eyes bulged like two peas
and his body was trussed into place.
Do not be afraid, Princess,
he said, I am not a vagabond,
a cattle farmer, a shepherd,
a doorkeeper, a postman
or a laborer.
I come to you as a tradesman.
I have something to sell.
Your ball, he said,
for just three things.
Let me eat from your plate.
Let me drink from your cup.
Let me sleep in your bed.
She thought, Old Waddler,
those three you will never do,
but she made the promises
with hopes for her ball once more.
He brought it up in his mouth
like a tricky old dog
and she ran back to the castle
leaving the frog quite alone.

That evening at dinner time
a knock was heard on the castle door
and a voice demanded:
King's youngest daughter,
let me in. You promised;
now open to me.
I have left the skunk cabbage
and the eels to live with you.
The kind then heard her promise
and forced her to comply.

The frog first sat on her lap.
He was as awful as an undertaker.
Next he was at her plate
looking over her bacon
and calves' liver.
We will eat in tandem,
he said gleefully.
Her fork trembled
as if a small machine
had entered her.
He sat upon the liver
and partook like a gourmet.
The princess choked
as if she were eating a puppy.
From her cup he drank.
It wasn't exactly hygienic.
From her cup she drank
as if it were Socrates' hemlock.

Next came the bed.
The silky royal bed.
Ah! The penultimate hour!
There was the pillow
with the princess breathing
and there was the sinuous frog
riding up and down beside her.
I have been lost in a river
of shut doors, he said,
and I have made my way over
the wet stones to live with you.
She woke up aghast.
I suffer for birds and fireflies
but not frogs, she said,
and threw him across the room.
Kaboom!

Like a genie coming out of a samovar,
a handsome prince arose in the
corner of her bedroom.
He had kind eyes and hands
and was a friend of sorrow.
Thus they were married.
After all he had compromised her.

He hired a night watchman
so that no one could enter the chamber
and he had the well
boarded over so that
never again would she lose her ball,
that moon, that Krishna hair,
that blind poppy, that innocent globe,
that madonna womb.
Insufficient Oct 2014
The old fable covers a doctrine ever new and sublime; that there is One Man, — present to all particular men only partially, or through one faculty; and that you must take the whole society to find the whole man. Man is not a farmer, or a professor, or an engineer, but he is all. Man is priest, and scholar, and statesman, and producer, and soldier. In the divided or social state, these functions are parcelled out to individuals, each of whom aims to do his stint of the joint work, whilst each other performs his. The fable implies, that the individual, to possess himself, must sometimes return from his own labor to embrace all the other laborers. But unfortunately, this original unit, this fountain of power, has been so distributed to multitudes, has been so minutely subdivided and peddled out, that it is spilled into drops, and cannot be gathered. The state of society is one in which the members have suffered amputation from the trunk, and strut about so many walking monsters, — a good finger, a neck, a stomach, an elbow, but never a man.

Man is thus metamorphosed into a thing, into many things. The planter, who is Man sent out into the field to gather food, is seldom cheered by any idea of the true dignity of his ministry. He sees his bushel and his cart, and nothing beyond, and sinks into the farmer, instead of Man on the farm. The tradesman scarcely ever gives an ideal worth to his work, but is ridden by the routine of his craft, and the soul is subject to dollars. The priest becomes a form; the attorney, a statute-book; the mechanic, a machine; the sailor, a rope of a ship.
Excerpt from an Oration delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society, at Cambridge, August 31, 1837 by Emerson
Ryan P Kinney Apr 2015
Who Am I?

I am a boy and a man.
I am a son, a brother, a cousin, a nephew, and a grand child.
I was a boyfriend, a fiancé, a husband, and an in-law.
I am a bachelor.
I am surrounded and abandoned.
I am a family man and a loner.

I am a homemaker and a handyman.
I wear the apron and the tool belt.
I am a neat freak and a slob.
I am an amateur contractor and a contracted amateur.
I am a dumpster diver, a recycler, and a decadent waste.
I am a glutton, a scavenger, and a scrapper.

I am a friend and an enemy.
I am fun and an annoyance.
I am a lover and a hater.
I am creepy, cruel, and harsh.
I am tender, loving, and inviting.
I have a foul mouth and tender lips,
Drenched in jagged, soft-serve words.

I am a painter, sculptor, draftsman, sketcher, character designer, photographer, graphic designer, fashion designer, kitbasher, customizer, and crafter.
I am a reader, a writer, and a poet.
I am the Jail Baby, Ryan & Lisa, The Phoenix, The AntiFather, and The HEYMAN!
I compose symphonies of visual and intangible imagery.
I bring form to thought.
I destroy,
I create.
I am an artist.

I am a geek, nerd, freak, and otaku.
I have been punk, goth, prep, white trash, and metrosexual.
I wear glasses,
But only as a sick joke.
I am beautiful and ugly,
Clean and *****.
I am unique.
I am predictable.
I have changed, but am still the same.

I am a techie,
An electronic ******.
I am cutting edge and old school.
Digitally signed and sealed.
I am analog and obsolete.

I am an adrenaline addict.
I can chill, maybe slow,
But never relax.

I am blue collar, tradesman, and service industry.
I am peon and ****** on.
Oh, but I have done the ******* too!
I have been hired and fired,
Bought and sold.
I have worn the uniform,
I have said, “**** the man!”
I am the proletariat,
I am in charge.

I am a student, dropout, and teacher.
I am class clown and teacher’s pet.
I have learned, forgotten, and taught,
But never learned my lesson.
I don’t listen to what I’m told,
But always do what I tell.

I am a genius,
I am an idiot.
I have intelligence, but often lack the intel.
I am naïve, but wise.
I am right and wrong.

I have philosophies and ideas,
But no religion.
I have desecrated and blasphemed,
Prayed and praised.
I have lusted, envied, and coveted.
I am guilty and innocent,
Pure and soiled,
Good and bad.

I am a driver and a passenger.
I am an explorer and a shut-in.
I am wild and free,
Caged and stifled.
I was warmly wrapped in my blanket,
But burned through it.

I have rode, climbed, and conquered.
I  stood still.
I jumped in.
I have fallen and been defeated.

I have been abroad,
I have been nowhere.
I have drifted.
I have settled.
I have led and been led.
I have been in and out,
Here and there,
Around and AWOL,
On the run and trapped.
But, not everywhere.

I have applied,
I have procrastinated.
I have worked my fingers to the bone,
I have slept it off.

I have fought and fled.
I have quit.
I have endured.
I am a winner and a loser,
A champ and a chump.

I am fake,
I am real.
I have lied, cheated, and stole.
I have been honest, fair, and generous.

I am selfish and selfless.
I am a gift giver, gift wrapper, and gift taker.
I am a thief and a philanthropist.

I am insecure and confident,
Confused and absolutely sure.
I am proud and ashamed.
I am complicated and convoluted,
But simple to please.

I have blind faith and guarded suspicion
I have secrets,
But lie rarely.
I accept everyone,
I trust nothing.

I have pointed the finger,
Only to turn it on myself.
I have held grudges and forgiven.
I have trusted and misguided.
I have been Judas and Jesus.

I am a maniac,
I am sane.
I have been strong and weak.
I can keep it together,
But prefer to break it apart.

I have bled.
I have healed.
I have been abused and neglected,
Coddled and protected.

I have been kissed and punched;
Hunted, wanted, and arrested,
Ignored, overlooked, and invisible.

I have loved and lost,
Lived and learned.
I am a soldier of misfortune and opportunity.

I have blended in.
I have stood out.
I have stood up.
I have backed down.
I have been backed into a corner.
I have all the space in the world.

I have seen, interpreted, and perceived,
I have ignored, dismissed, and been blind.
I hunger, want, and need…
I am satiated and content,
But never at peace.

I have been misunderstood and underestimated.
I have been put down, put up, pushed away, and let in.
I have been known,
But never entirely.

I have raged, cried, smiled, trembled, and laughed.
I have been depressed.
I have been happy.
I have been suicidal. I have felt death.
I have been lost and found.
I have been broken, then fixed,
Stitched, yet glitched,
Scarred, but whole.
I am alive.


I took the chance,
I let the moment slip.
I walked the straight and narrow,
I ran down the road not taken.
I dream; some whole, some shattered.
I go with the flow, but don’t let the waves take me.

I am shards and reflections,
Machinations and reactions.
I am translucent pieces and parts,
Assembled and disheveled.
I am the big picture still focused on the details.

I am the sum total of heredity and experience.
I am not,
I am more.
I am everything and nothing.
I am a walking contradiction.
I am human.

I tried to be you,
But didn’t know what that meant.
I am me,
It’s all I know.

Who are you?
The quotient of blue in marriage with shimmering green , jasper plow land surrounded in eastern pine motifs and whitewashed barrier
The morning clang of 'smith , cooper and farrier
Days of black pig iron  , cured oak and strap leather
Messages that forever ride the backcountry Autumn zephyrs
Copyright October 8 , 2016 by Randolph L Wilson * All Rights Reserved
Marshal Gebbie Jan 2010
In toasting Mike I recollect
His steady watching gaze,
I recollect his calm
On a thousand stormy days.
I recall his jaunty humour
In his funny cockney style,
And the rationale behind it
And the pleasure of his smile.

And the quiet determination
In the steeliness within
And the love that emanated
When his Jules laughed loud with him.
When he held her hand and strolled
In the life they shared as one,
In the racket of the grand kids
As they shout and leap and run.

Through the years of hardy seamanship
From England's chalky reach,
Across the ocean's vastness
To far antipodean beach,
To the soft greens of New Zealand
And the promise of this land
And the shining eyes of Jules
When he offered her his hand.

And the life they shared together
Through the joy, the strain the tears
The utter joy of baby Kristin
And her beauty through the years.
The seamlessness of craftmanship
In tradesman's art supreme
And the pride of his achievement
In a sweet successful dream.

A chasm has appeared in life
Where old Mike used to be.
Dreadfull death has exercised
It's right to set him free.
But I can't feel bad for Micheal
For the brilliance of it all
Is celebration of his life well lived
And my toast to judgement's call.

Marshalg
@theBach
Mangere Bridge
10 January 2010.
In March of 2010 a 46 year old white male was brought to this hospital after a severe 'episode'. He was placed in the Mental Health Intensive Care Unit .  He was diagnosed with " Major Depression ". This is considered Slow Death , a treatable disorder by the AMA currently . Artist and Architect will lay out Hallucinations and conceptual designs , Engineers , Mathematicians and Surveyors will coordinate more pills at higher doses because minute details to within fractions of an inch followed by schizophrenia by Earth moving equipment , graders , bulldozers , psychotic episodes , dump trucks , Carpenters and Concrete ,  bi-polar disorder and  Bricklayer will labor different Help treatment methods because the drugs are having absolutely no piece by piece constructing form , pylon , shoring embankments for Steel Worker and Welder ,Pipefitter and Increased risk of suicide was reported for Plumber and all manner of tradesman , supplier and Pharmacist ........
            Psychiatrist and Psychologist will formulate a treatment plan which will include drug therapy and counseling sessions with Electrician and patient and Spouse plus other family members if needed in order to reach the island Drowning which will be a difficult task . Emory Hospital is conducting new research because they finally admit to depression drugs  not working in Freak more than half the patients today , like every other building bridges in hopes of getting to the island that is depression .
Created confusion purposefully ! I  blended the two topics together so that the plight of the mentally ill could be read by some that are more worried about our infrastructure right now. Cry for help blended in a topic that is receiving far more attention these days !

Copyright September 25 , 2015 by Randolph Wilson * All  Rights Reserved
Bat
His awful skin
stretched out by some tradesman
is like my skin, here between my fingers,
a kind of webbing, a kind of frog.
Surely when first born my face was this tiny
and before I was born surely I could fly.
Not well, mind you, only a veil of skin
from my arms to my waist.
I flew at night, too. Not to be seen
for if I were I'd be taken down.
In August perhaps as the trees rose to the stars
I have flown from leaf to leaf in the thick dark.
If you had caught me with your flashlight
you would have seen a pink corpse with wings,
out, out, from her mother's belly, all furry
and hoarse skimming over the houses, the armies.
That's why the dogs of your house sniff me.
They know I'm something to be caught
somewhere in the cemetery hanging upside down
like a misshapen udder.
Nat Lipstadt Aug 2013
Spanish Guitars

A few years ago, in 2011, I went to a concert of young classical guitarists.  Just before or after, I don't recall, I saw an exhibition of Picasso's guitars at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC (http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1101).
This poem ensued.  This is one of the lost poems I mentioned, recently rediscovered on an archaeological dig.


Spanish Guitars

two weeks pass.

I have seen
two guitars
one of wood,
one of sheet metal.

both were alive,
both were inanimate
both birthed for display,
useful for granting pleasure and
heating up le jus d'creation

products of a tradesman's craft,
animated to pierce my brain and
pleasure me with the realization
that when you see
what I see
When you,
you hear,
What I see
we all perforce speak but one language,
an alphabet of music, art and love

A young,
oh so most beautiful
Croat guitarist girl,
Ana, coaxes an urgency
from her love, the blonde wood,
she takes Piazzola's notes,
as if they were Picasso's thoughts
and set them within so
days later, the resonance plucks
at my temples

Picasso, like a little boy,
collects collaged bits and pieces of
life's stuff most ordinary,
postage stamps, playing cards,
wallpaper, pieces of cardboard,
cutouts from Le Journal,

and with fingers delicate
sticks and glues discrete notes,
individually nothing
but pieces of this and that,
bits and bobs
superimposed on faux woodwork,
presenting an instrument tooled to

conjures up a milonga^,
the sounds of angels dying,
a fandango of trembling tones
a sonnet of sounds,
celebrating human touch
upon animal, strings taut,

feasts both, a banquet,
a  triomphe of sounds
that tutors my senses
to hear sheet metal guitars
imprisoned in museum glass
gush sounds of parallel lines
and delicate contrasts,
A duet of animate, inanimate
Virtuosity

All is clarified.
One language.
Many dialects.
Both, Spanish guitars.


^ a milonga has many meanings, but here, refers to a Argentine tango dance party
katewinslet Nov 2015
When preparing for house hold looking this is conclusive evidence one of your to begin with ends are going to be within a different real estate web page or simply area to ascertain what they have to feature around you need to inhabit Cheap Fitflop Sale. In truth, latest real estate currently have changed over in order to get typically the hearts and minds involved with homebuyers for those greater the main prior ten years where exactly we have seen a good unparalleled market around new residence framework and getting. The fact that was considered once an extra offered the rich and famous, different build has got showed the to all or any prices as well as among them quality high-rise houses, townhouses, effective personal neighborhoods and then single-family houses. There is a great wide variety of good things about operating a new property like option to change the home of ones own willingness, reaching each of the new nearby neighbours mainly because they move around in in addition to significant reductions on utility costs along with new houses nowadays appearing created to a greater, even more cost effective as well as earth-friendly standard. It's your family home Fitflop. Very little, REALLY your house. - When you purchase a fabulous reselling dwelling you are buying a family home that somebody otherwise manufactured for his existence. From time to time it is merely perfect what what you should want just for nonetheless in many cases there are a few "Why could they which?" complications with real estate that you have towards renovate or simply take out whenever you enjoy it to fit standard of living. While you build a house it is also possible to pick out specifically what you choose where you choose doing it to aid you to move in and not have to impression one thing. Most people are different way too! - Second-hand communities tend to be wonderful since see the locality, how men and women maintain their properties and additionally things old nonetheless the same added benefits may be drawbacks when you are the only brand new neighbour on the market. Moving into the latest home federal grants you with the possibility regarding business meeting typically the next door neighbor after getting also trying to make new friends and additionally reconcile directly into the neighbourhood. Gone will be the pre-established interpersonal communities to operate to your web site to does not locating interesting things regarding local on the other hand the audience truly does. More recent households are often more captivating at the time you offer... - Lifestyle transpires. It's likely you have to relocate or if you create a change your lifestyle a handful of quick numerous years in case you move your stuff in. The great thing is that more sophisticated places of residence are generally more obtaining possible homeowners as it is often his or her possiblity to invest in a current residential home not having the value prime relating to new building. Along with this, you've gotten now bought lots of kitchen appliances together with advancements for your your home and many components of the house and property continues to less than service making your home an awesome included cost. This will likely assess well to earlier reselling family homes that will involve renovation as well as improving for it to be livable to the current home buyer. Site Fitflop Sale Online, Location, Locale! You end up picking! - While you shop pertaining to resale residences all the family homes you decide on truly must be fixed with their present-day site. How often brand-new observed a superb secondhand that would be absolutely appropriate if it have been a little bit of even closer the town club house as well as given a higher patio to them to experience? Cutting edge contractors frequently provide you with a array of unit residences from which to choose so you can usually position that will version in a substantial amount of choice. Anyone can have residence you have always wanted through the cul-de-sac you have always wanted! With the current economic current market unique dwellings are sometimes a more suitable package than reselling households. - You got that right, the market industry adjust includes rotated the actual game tables. At this point shoppers have sell in the users hand health of their arms and could see some truly superb specials about households nevertheless, you need to know where to appear. Resell house owners may well be very happy to cope but in history four week period And also ready to properly bargain $69,117 off the selling price of a new house for one clientele then immediately after based a residence for one more clientele and additionally talked about $91,Five hundred up from the cost and we're nonetheless within negotiations on prices for getting all the more of your home builder. By exactly how, these kind of home incorporated renovations! Irrrve never connected with individuals have been willing to accept a large burning over the cost their place of residence for the tell higher than $60,Five-hundred. As a matter of reality, many householders have got overpriced their houses that can be found simply because must pay back more than a home is worthwhile and so they can't afford to travel lacking in amount. Buying Guideline: To gain the latest place put up you are unable to saunter around and provides general contractors $400,1000 within what they are seeking home. Superb prices are offered stick to you detect the appropriate buyer's realtor which specializes in new dwellings as their practical experience, romances along with building firms along with reducing potential just might help you spare a lot of money. In which dark brown floor together with smaller kitchen space? Soooooo Nineteen seventies! - Kitchen space big enough for a single?

Minimal armoires, bath merely toilets and then rug almost everywhere? Possibly not meant for modern residence! The ultra-modern life-style is definitely a good deal completely different from the thing was ten years backwards together with secondhand houses commonly not have the pizazz and also house to meet up with. Modern home wants a dazzling, amenable your kitchen having in the morning standard in addition to high-end home appliances. We currently can the majority of a lot of our located in your kitchen area! Placing bathtubs on the master bedroom and additionally walk-in closet are now regarded as regular basics of the fashionable home. Brand new houses normally function these kinds of facilities implementingwithin your basic offering and tend to be sometimes beginning to create buildings into the future along with the inclusion of whole home social networking and then walk-out cellars . that can be executed as potential future room. New residences lower your expenses together with proficiency as well as efficient developing techniques. - A number of cutting edge places of residence think about harness the particular Super star regular which usually identifies forward numerous needs of which goods like doors and windows have got to observe in order to achieve an electricity Star history.

In addition to Vigor Super star lots of tradesman now are selling eco-friendly developing in addition to dwelling alternate options like the fitting of sun power panels on the top of the where you can safety belt solar energy panels and even change it again so that you can electric source. Once you setup a sufficient amount of sun power panels you can please have the electrical service paying you will to the electrical power that you are producing! These features can be hugely costly to retrofit your resell residential home using if this were first built to these kind of measures. Acquire supplies you begin researching buildings make sure that you think about your complete methods this includes new structure. When acquiring latest manufacturing it is advisable to take into account the point that almost all innovative real estate get something like 3 to 4 several months to set up.

You will additionally give more like your opportunity to building up the household since you will want to go for residential updates and then deal with your dealer from the evaluation along with lending activities. Completely happy shopping!
Relate Articles:
http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/iphone/FitflopMalaysia.asp
Fitflop Sale Online,Fitflop,Cheap Fitflop Sale
Frau Doktor,
Mama Brundig,
take out your contacts,
remove your wig.
I write for you.
I entertain.
But frogs come out
of the sky like rain.

Frogs arrive
With an ugly fury.
You are my judge.
You are my jury.

My guilts are what
we catalogue.
I’ll take a knife
and chop up frog.

Frog has not nerves.
Frog is as old as a cockroach.
Frog is my father’s genitals.
Frog is a malformed doorknob.
Frog is a soft bag of green.

The moon will not have him.
The sun wants to shut off
like a light bulb.
At the sight of him
the stone washes itself in a tub.
The crow thinks he’s an apple
and drops a worm in.
At the feel of frog
the touch-me-nots explode
like electric slugs.
Slime will have him.
Slime has made him a house.

Mr. Poison
is at my bed.
He wants my sausage.
He wants my bread.

Mama Brundig,
he wants my beer.
He wants my Christ
for a souvenir.

Frog has boil disease
and a bellyful of parasites.
He says: Kiss me. Kiss me.
And the ground soils itself.

Why
should a certain
quite adorable princess
be walking in her garden
at such a time
and toss her golden ball
up like a bubble
and drop it into the well?
It was ordained.
Just as the fates deal out
the plague with a tarot card.
Just as the Supreme Being drills
holes in our skulls to let
the Boston Symphony through.

But I digress.
A loss has taken place.
The ball has sunk like a cast-iron ***
into the bottom of the well.

Lost, she said,
my moon, my butter calf,
my yellow moth, my Hindu hare.
Obviously it was more than a ball.
***** such as these are not
for sale in Au Bon Marché.
I took the moon, she said,
between my teeth
and now it is gone
and I am lost forever.
A thief had robbed by day.

Suddenly the well grew
thick and boiling
and a frog appeared.
His eyes bulged like two peas
and his body was trussed into place.
Do not be afraid, Princess,
he said, I am not a vagabond,
a cattle farmer, a shepherd,
a doorkeeper, a postman
or a laborer.
I come to you as a tradesman.
I have something to sell.
Your ball, he said,
for just three things.
Let me eat from your plate.
Let me drink from your cup.
Let me sleep in your bed.
She thought, Old Waddler,
those three you will never do,
but she made the promises
with hopes for her ball once more.
He brought it up in his mouth
like a tricky old dog
and she ran back to the castle
leaving the frog quite alone.

That evening at dinner time
a knock was heard on the castle door
and a voice demanded:
King’s youngest daughter,
let me in. You promised;
now open to me.
I have left the skunk cabbage
and the eels to live with you.
The kind then heard her promise
and forced her to comply.

The frog first sat on her lap.
He was as awful as an undertaker.
Next he was at her plate
looking over her bacon
and calves’ liver.
We will eat in tandem,
he said gleefully.
Her fork trembled
as if a small machine
had entered her.
He sat upon the liver
and partook like a gourmet.
The princess choked
as if she were eating a puppy.
From her cup he drank.
It wasn’t exactly hygienic.
From her cup she drank
as if it were Socrates’ hemlock.

Next came the bed.
The silky royal bed.
Ah! The penultimate hour!
There was the pillow
with the princess breathing
and there was the sinuous frog
riding up and down beside her.
I have been lost in a river
of shut doors, he said,
and I have made my way over
the wet stones to live with you.
She woke up aghast.
I suffer for birds and fireflies
but not frogs, she said,
and threw him across the room.
Kaboom!

Like a genie coming out of a samovar,
a handsome prince arose in the
corner of her bedroom.
He had kind eyes and hands
and was a friend of sorrow.
Thus they were married.
After all he had compromised her.

He hired a night watchman
so that no one could enter the chamber
and he had the well
boarded over so that
never again would she lose her ball,
that moon, that Krishna hair,
that blind poppy, that innocent globe,
that madonna womb.
December 19th
wet snow
and
church parking lot; let out a
sigh of relief
he prom-
ised 
For days
Behemoth
size
elininating
our concerns
i
would be happy.
still
"experience"
involved *****,
heavy, exhausting, loud
tradesman using
some of us.

together in
unison
pounding
away we filled the church basement
with sound
tempo and
beat.

Then it happened.

The angels were singing just
for us.
A black-out poem I wrote a while ago using a local newspaper. Reconfigured it so it wasn't so spread out. Probably going to play around with it a bit more before I'm completely satisfied. Let me know what you think!
in the annals of cricket
those of greatness get a mention
for what they've achieved on the wicket
these men stand head and shoulder
above the rest
their contribution
to the game
has
been written as the best
three men have inspired
younger players
in their homelands
they've accomplished
much on wickets
throughout the many cricket playing
lands

Steven Waugh(Australian Captain)
the master strategist
who had a captain's mind
replete with brilliant tactics
when he took to the pitch
the opposition teams
would quiver in their
collective boots
field placement  
over deliveries
the weather conditions
all of these factors
actuated in his mind
so he could
bring an innings
of a notable kind

Sachin Tendulkar (Indian Batsman)
the king of the blade
who none can equal
in test matches
his cuts and cover drives
were worthy of an epic prequel
his style with the bat
twas magic to see
he had a prowess
of majesty

Vivian Richard (West Indies All Rounder)
he was never phased
he held his nerve
with the bat or the ball
a tradesman
who fielded what ever came at him
and in his relaxed style
chewed on a piece of gum
and demolish
the bails
with a Caribbean hum

cricket's hall of fame
that 22 yard pitch
where three greatest of the game
performances  
did of fans
ever bewitch
Adithya Gowda Oct 2014
With a pencil you wait
Hand on paper
To behold and make still
That point in time
Covetous mind

Each stroke a bar in the cage: eternal vacuum
Each stroke a transformation; a window built
On your graying walls ; covetous mind.

You bear the child of perception; gestating
Each glimpse a sad caress; a plea
Asking every detail to stay behind.
Each birth of salient insight; a tradesman
Haggling with the ravages of time.

It's a wonder how
Each line, each shade
Is a mirror; reflecting

Cradles and tears; and
The miracle of learning
How to ride a bike
That first love
And the first child.

That full moon in a clear sky.
That mouthful fare from a mother's hands.
Those conversations of cuckoos
Hidden from those who pry.
The love radiated from parched land
When messengers from teeming clouds are let fly.
And a touch on memory bereft;
Of a lover's hand.

A collage of senses that flows
To the captive hand
Held by you; covetous mind.
And as I sit here, contemplating
On why we draw
I realize, what I do
Is a conspiracy lead
By mine own
Covetous mind.
AP Staunton Nov 2017
For a couple of toffs , I was lagging their loft ,
The size of a Polo Pitch ,
With thick fibreglass , of a " superior class ",
There wasnt a part of me that didnt itch .
Now I had a , full bladder ,
So climbed down the ladder ,
Left the hatch open , like the " barn , I was born in "
Desperate for a *** , though it wasnt through tea ,
I hadnt been offered a cup all morning .
And right there , I saw , a note taped to the door ,
Saying "TRADESMAN - USE THE TOILET DOWNSTAIRS ".
In the natural light, blinking , it got me thinking ,
Is MY ***** , so different to theirs ?
Ignoring the sign, I  crossed over the line
And entered "The Master Bathroom "
It was expensively tiled , a shame to defile,
Full of lotions , potions and perfume.
So I ****** in the sink , gave the mirror a wink
And was up to the loft like a thief .
Back home that night as I turned out the light,
I imagined them brushing their teeth .
Toilets , like poetry should be for everyone and not just the select few
LD Goodwin May 2014
1.
You can never go home,
not to the home you left.
When you leave, you get bigger.
Not necessarily in girth, but in consciousness.
When you come back,  everything,
even the walls of your parent's house,
seem to have shrunk.

2.
Look.....
Here comes the parade.
With its paper mache floats
and twirling batons.
Cub scouts and boy scouts,
all in a neat blue and drab green row,
followed by a high school marching band
playing "Stars and Stripes Forever".
From bygone wars, limbless surviving soldiers flinch with every cymbal crash.

3.
I watched billows of cottonwood clouds
swirl down a summer hometown avenue,
they met on the street corner for a song........
"Alley Oop", or "I Like Bread And Butter"
These ghostlike voices will live there forever,
innocent, asleep, numb, waiting.
Soon, the postman will bring your future.
Soon, you will be just a number on a lotery ball.
Soon, you will have to dissect luck or fate.

4.
I took my 87 year old Father to gather his tools
from his long time place of work.
The instruments of his livelihood.
He did not need them anymore, he had retired.
Some tools he had used since World War II,
some he made for a specific job.... never to use again.
All neatly placed in toolboxes built in the 30s and 40s,
yet not a trace of rust.
These were the tools of a tradesman,
a (Tool and Die Man).
He once told me, “Son, if I can’t fix it because I don’t have the right tool, I will make the tool”.
I thought him to be Superman.
But there I was, loading up my Father’s history,
to take home, to be sold to the highest bidder.  
I myself have made my living playing music for audiences.
I also have tools.
Guitars, amplifiers, harmonicas, microphones.
There will come a day, in the not too distant future,
when I will have to “retire” the instruments of my livelihood.
Though I will not be as stoic as my World War II Father,
I will go kicking and screaming to the pawn shop,
remembering every song that fed me,
and every chord that made people dance.
Middlesboro, KY May 29, 2014
We were best of friends;
Or so you can say,
Because earlier on,
I used to tease her for her size;
I was a sort of bully, you see
But then my friends found other friends
And i was left with her.

I remembered the time she wore a pretty dress,
And i wanted it,
But with a cat picture on it,
Because hers was a puppy.

We made a deal-
That she'd sell me that dress,
And i would stop teasing her,
I did stop teasing her,
But i never did buy that dress
My loss, i know i am a silly tradesman
But hey, i got myself a friend
And it wasn't that bad.

So the days passed
And she always visited me at my house
On her blue bicycle
Because I didn't have the guts to walk to her house alone,
Or learn to ride a bicycle
Without trainer wheels.

We played with dolls,
Braided each other's hair
Or you could say my hair
Because i didn't have a hint of how to back then,
Shen wanted to a be a hairstylist
I wanted to be a doctor.

One day we found two puppies
A brown one and a black one
Under a car on my street
I took the brown one,
And she took the black one,
Because I took the brown one
I named mine Puffin and she named hers Rocky.

She was better at naming i guess
Because growing up,
Only then did i know that Puffin was a kind of bird
And naming him Muffin
Might have been more sensible.

But we found out that the puppies had an owner
And escaped through his gate
And so we had to give them back
We were sad of course
But at least we didn't lose our first pets
Through death.

Then came the day
I had to move away
She braided my hair for the last time
I asked her to show me the puppies
For one last time
But she never did
And so we parted.

Now i know
How to ride a bike without trainer wheels
I'm better at hair braiding
And i have quite many dresses
And many different friends
But no puppies or cats
But that's okay.

I was going to tell her all these
And with the phone number she gave me
I realised i hadn't written her name properly
And it dawned upon me that after all that,
*I still didn't know how to spell her name.
Simpleton Jan 2015
Toil and trouble
He went through it all
Just a man yet so much more
He was the seal of prophet hood

Orphan child
Never knew his mother
But brought with him all parents rights
And love for children alike

Illiterate and uneducated
Yet not a word was taken for granted
Read in the name of Your Lord
A duty upon believers to seek knowledge

A noble and trustworthy tradesman
His character and personality spoke for him
Can you imagine in those times
A woman proposed to him

Committed to his mission
Peace treaties and alliances
Evicting racism and hatred
He even fought with rules and principles

He preached for the sake of brother hood
Humanity and love
We were all one
No nationality, no patriotism

Such responsibility
Yet never a burden
Beaten and exiled he lost his wife and kids
Still he carried on for us

Courageous and fearless
Never judged anyone by their past or looks
Open minded and tolerant
Even when he was helpless

Jewish neighbours
And Christian cousin in laws
He believed in good relations
And practised what was preached

He spoke of a time riddled with strife
Temptations with every breath
Those people would be tested the most
And he prayed for people he never met

Yes we love him
Because he guided us to right
Showed us a perfect example
The role model we all aspire to
#whoisMuhammed(pbuh)
Geno Cattouse Nov 2012
Beautiful brute dancing,playing chess with bare knuckled
explosions.Long past fear.
Tradesman in concussion.
Written on the wind.

His art on the canvas layed out in
Rusting crimson,spread deep and wide
as he slips and slides his masterpiece
of blood and teeth.

Swift dispatch, smiling
Stalker.
Jack Johnson.Jack Johnson.
Jack Johnson.
Karen Hamilton Feb 2016
Only on me, the lonely one,
The unending stars of the night shine,
The stone fountain whispers its magic song,
To me alone, to me the lonely one
The colorful shadows of the wandering clouds
Move like dreams over the open countryside.
Neither house nor farmland,
Neither forest nor hunting privilege is given to me,
What is mine belongs to no one,
The plunging brook behind the veil of the woods,
The frightening sea,
The bird whir of children at play,
The weeping and singing, lonely in the evening, of a man secretly in love.
The temples of the gods are mine also, and mine
the aristocratic groves of the past.
And no less, the luminous
Vault of heaven in the future is my home:
Often in full flight of longing my soul storms upward,
To gaze on the future of blessed men,
Love, overcoming the law, love from people to people.
I find them all again, nobly transformed:
Farmer, king, tradesman, busy sailors,
Shepherd and gardener, all of them
Gratefully celebrate the festival of the future world.
Only the poet is missing,
The lonely one who looks on,
The bearer of human longing, the pale image
Of whom the future, the fulfillment of the world
Has no further need. Many garlands
Wilt on his grave,
But no one remembers him.
Translated by James Wright
© by owner.
abortion/aborticide/infanticide = right to choose, pro-choice
American Indian = native American
***** = African-American
Eskimo = Inuit
chairman = chair/chairperson
court house = judicial center
Department of War = Department of Defense
war = peace keeping
enemy soldier = terrorist
bomb = I.E.D.
unemployed = jobless
unemployment = joblessness
employee = associate/team member
foreman = foreperson
Internal Revenue Dept. = I.R.S./Internal Revenue Service
school = learning center
hospital = medical center/health center or just health
medical care = healthcare
house broken or house trained = ***** trained
~ (I've yet to see a dog use  a ***** chair.)
personnel department = human resources
nurse = R.N. & L.P.N.
medic/paramedic = E.M.T.
orderly  = C.N.A.
van = S.U.V.
D.W.I. = D.U.I.
fireman = fire fighter/ firefighter
policeman = police officer,  law-enforcement officer
police station = law-enforcement center
ordered = asked  (police NEWSPEAK)
floor = ground (police NEWSPEAK)
interrogation = interview
suspect = person of interest
retardate = exceptional, mentally-challenged
crippled = disabled, physically challenged
hard-of-hearing/deaf = hearing impaired
***** = chemically-dependent
tradesman = trades worker/tradesworker
soldier = military member/servicemember (compound word)
******* = transgender
shoes, boots = footwear
eyeglasses/sunglasses = eye wear/eyewear
checks = cash
barber/beautician = stylist
businessman = businessperson
illegal (regarding wetbacks) = undocumented
conqueror = peacekeeper
torture = enhanced interrogation/pain compliance
crime = wrongdoing (compound word)
criminal = wrongdoer
bill collection = recovery management
lie = miscommunication
propaganda/jingoism = P.R./public relations
propaganda minister = public relations officer
meeting = meet-up
ministers = faith leaders
V.D./venereal disease = S.T.D./sexually-transmitted disease
steward/stewardess = flight attendant
welfare/relief = public assistance
food stamps = E.B.T.
waiter/waitress = server
workmen's compensation = workers' compensation
service revolver = duty weapon
Geno Cattouse Jul 2015
As he stepped  down from stirrup to dirt the road worn traveler reached up to the boiling  sun.

How far had he rode today. From pillar to hitching post a wayward  ghost a hollow merchant.

Swathed in leather and silver...tooled steel on his hip...a killer by trade. He was made to this

By nightfall alone on moonlit  trail would he be in slow self procession to find bad intentions.Tradesman in sulfur and lead...black smoke and resounding explosions. Then silence.

Tradesman in black.
Death and deliverance.
Paid in full.
Jelisa Jeffery Feb 2020
My heart pumping iron like a
Boilermaker
The steady hand; focused mind
Next move,
Weave through
Don’t swallow untruths
Reworking foundation like a
Millwright
Don’t let the past dismantled disarray
Frighten you away
The plans frayed
The gas breaks
I’m interlocking interrelations like a
Pipefitter
Piecing together chronicles
Of a story fabricated
Easily persuaded
Vulnerable and naked
If you’re awake,
Don’t make me wait,
Fated to the dark
Until my iron coagulates
Randy Bryte Feb 2021
Janet
You feel her like a minstral wind
Warm and zelous, vibrant, and on fire
Enticing enchantments dwell on Ingersoll hill, past on from a Tilbury state of mind
Randy
A tradesman biding for currency, whilst holding satire court through rose coloured glasses
They meet, time stops, a reset has been fathomed
For tender love is  emerging with torrents of wild, primal, passion flashing premonitions
To the herdsman counting his flock in the moonlight
The plowman repairing his tractor by lantern- light
The wood splitter , the fence builder , framer and rail tender
Architects of frozen December morns
Unsung engineers , freight worker and brakemen
'Twould be a privilege indeed to sup cold beer with the countries heroes , privy to stories of hardship and raw weather days endured by these American patriots
Iron tooled with steel , the churning grist mill , diesel engine roar ,
black earth turned anew , billowing steam settled over valley floors
Masters of metal , brake and die , machine and anvil
The crack of the peen long before sunrise
'Tis the bailiwick of farmer and tradesman* ..
Copyright October 21 , 2016 by Randolph L Wilson * All Rights Reserved
Mary Gay Kearns Jul 2018
Two builders at my door
Mending the brickwork,
The hardwood board
That’s kindness for sure.

Tenderly I watch them point
With lovingly made cement
A tradesman’s gifted skill
Thank you Charlie and Bill.

Love Mary ***
The modern day physician would never -
thumb through a medical manual from 1788 with regard -
to the treatment of his or her patient ...
Todays tradesman constantly schools himself -
in the mechanics of his chosen profession ....
Thus , the U.S. Constitution is in dire need -
of critical thought and copious correction ...
Copyright February 19 , 2018 by Randolph L Wilson * All Rights Reserved
Vinnie Brown Jun 2019
I am a tradesman
I work a 6 till 3
Perfectly suited to normality
Yet, drawn to melody
Planting trees to treat apathy
For, when the speckled snows come
With death and blasphemy
What a natural causality
Yet, I’ll be here planting trees
For you and I
Just to be able to breathe

— The End —