"watkins" poems
My Country Tis of Thee,
Sweet land of liberty-
Or so we sing.
Land where my fathers died-
But my forefathers died in a battle
Trying to keep their slaves;
My fathers killed your fathers
For trying to run away;
My fathers **** your fathers
Cause it's late at night, and
He's reaching for his gun-no, wait,
His ID?
Land of the pilgrim's pride-
But so often we leave out of history
How if it weren't for a Native American,
The pilgrims would've died.
From every mountainside-
Like Stone Mountain in Georgia,
Where Rebel Generals are memorialized,
Where the **** was revived-
God, help me, I can't hear freedom's ring;
I can only hear white-washed history.
From every mountainside-
But these days, the mountain is in my chest,
And liberty's ring sounds a lot different,
And a lot of folks don't like it.
Let freedom ring-
And I want to fight for freedom for all-
#BlackLivesMatter-
I want to help-
HANDS UP, DON'T SHOOT!
But-
I
Can't
Breathe.
Let freedom ring!-
But peaceful protests turn into
Bloodbaths as those who have sworn
To serve and protect are sniped down.
Let freedom ring!-
I try to educate myself
On the side of history not taught-
I've always felt that Nat Turner was the bad guy,
But these days I'm questioning it.
I read "The Meaning of Fourth of July for the *****
by Frederick Douglass
And I read "Bury Me in a Free Land"
by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
and I read "Sympathy"
by Paul Laurence Dunbar
and I read "Letters from Birmingham Jail",
"The Mountaintop Speech", and
"I Have a Dream"
by Dr. King.
When I was younger,
I'd research Dr. King & his colleagues
For fun.
I'd wonder, "If I lived in the Civil Rights era,
What would I have done?"
But when I turned seventeen,
I realized, "I live in a Civil Rights era;
What am I going to do?
Jul 11, 2016
Jul 11, 2016 at 5:28 PM UTC
An overnight sensation
Twenty years in the making
Finally you're noticed
All the roles that you've been taking
High School plays gave you the bug
Standing out front and centre stage
You made your choice of a career
Your life had turned a page
Little theatre groups did beckon
You'd learn your craft and be a star
But, no one told you just how long
you'd wait, or ...just how far
You beat the boards in summer stock
Singing Gershwin in the park
You'd work in summer themed resorts
Cleaning rooms out after dark
Acting, was your calling
You'd be a star one day...you knew
But, even though you'd keep on working
Your name to them was...who?
Extra work and commercials
You'd work the chorus for a while
No matter where you heard...no luck
You'd always leave them with a smile
You swore you'd not get botox
There'd be no nip and tuck
You swore you'd keep on trying
Remember...you've got pluck!!!
The lines were forming around your eyes
As time kept marching on
Your lips were getting thinner
The lead actress roles were gone
You'd pile on the makeup
And you'd lie about your age
No one checked your background out
So, you lied about the stage
But, one day ...there was a call back
A job you never thought was yours
It was sure to go to a younger girl
A true , new, photogenic *****
But, there it was....an offer
The one role to get your start
It said "Miss Watkins we are proud"
"to offer you the part"
You gratefully accepted,
didn't let them know the truth
It was better than a cruise ship show
You were truly through the roof
It was a show way off broadway
The big time was around the bend
You could see the lights from out the back
You had made it...you'd pretend
The makeup went on heavy
But no one really cared
they just ate up your performance
Your soul you truly bared
The critics were enamored
They all loved you at first sight
It only took you twenty years
But, you'd made it overnight...
Mar 4, 2013
Mar 4, 2013 at 11:57 PM UTC
I’m shirtless after
getting too hot in the best kitchen stool spot
It’s where the dog will leave me alone for a sec
It’s a weird winter
every year now, but they say the Great Lakes are
the best place to ride climate change out
It’s been too cold, now it’s getting too hot for this time of year
so the old Watkins Glen hoodie was too much
I almost ripped the front neck like an 80s girl
but I didn’t have the strength
If walks are still out of the question,
I better start doing physical comedy
around the house like Three's Company because
I said I was going to
We could have had it all
we still could
We reached peak performance
we almost reached Star Trek replicators
The whole world enjoying life saving advancements
over a hundred years
Only for it to decline for the first time
instead of just sabotaged into a slowdown like before
Those billionaires want to stay relevant
Even though they’re beyond useless
They’re a detriment to our democratic progress
just to preserve their status as economic royalists
who decry the decline of Victorian social deference
Remember Kurt Vonnegut talking about his school
in the era of almost proficient public funding?
He was excited to have a jazz band
Until these types of things were deemed unimportant
for those who may need them most
Now we have the technology to exceed the speed and competence
of the 80s, 90s, and aughts
but the the profit motive just gets stronger and more depersonalized
We’ll teach them to fish by killing them all
Jan 23, 2024
Jan 23, 2024 at 7:23 PM UTC
Remember your training!
Shouts the sergeant
Man those bugs are ugly
I am watching clips from Starship Troopers
And how heroic you are
Sergeant Sugar Watkins
You stayed and fought
To the bitter end
To save your friends
Jul 27, 2015
Jul 27, 2015 at 12:51 AM UTC
i offer you my pain
I consider my pain a pleasure.
Take it, it's wrapped in desperation.
The night sky makes for a masterpiece.
Van Gogh's genius, could use your ear.
They way you listen to my tales captivates me.
The kindest gesture mistaken for insanity.
My pain is a gift
#depression #life #heart #mental
Follow Peter Watkins
Nov 6, 2014
Nov 6, 2014 at 7:27 AM UTC
a shower
abaft made
a soul
in Penn
Yen then
wrest my
heart there
when thunder
chicken cue
the race
and ready
in Watkins
Glen they
sped into
heaven in
the finger
lake alas
Mar 18, 2019
Mar 18, 2019 at 10:09 AM UTC
Here are some great contemporary writers who are alive, active, really dynamic, and really making their lives and the lives of others happen. I wanted to share, and please add your own "writers that inspire" in the comment section! (please make them living writers!)
D. Watkins
Deborah Ager
Rita Dove
Feb 14, 2018
Feb 14, 2018 at 5:38 PM UTC