It says,
“Sambo.Richards, Duck Pond, PA”
(northeast of Scranton)
on a keepsake;
a dog tag probably,
all the d’s are backwards.
It was my mother’s,
and I have others. Some
were my grandfather’s
who was quite the handyman.
I never knew Sambo,
nor my grandfather.
But I knew Mom.
Looking both ways,
keepsakes are memories,
sometimes not our own.
Mind the gaps. History is there.
Day 4 Prompt: write a poem based on an image from a dream.
Falling
I dream. Real life things.
Clears the mind is what they say,
acting out, kicking or yelling.
I remember falling,
although
I’ve never fallen like that,
frightened.
Trying to swim
in the air, in my bed.
Crazy, right? But seems so real.
The fall ends
with an awakening,
a tension,
heavy breathing, until then
It’s like Aerosmith
singing, telling me to sing,
screaming in my ear
dream on…
Dream On…
DREAM ON!
Uncontrolled. Letting go,
all of it,
the stress, the tests
normal life washed
from my mind as fear falls
into a new day
of happiness and blissful life.
Dream on, dream on,
and sing with me. Before
he takes you away.
Look both ways.
Sleeping and dreaming, both part of living.
Mind the gaps with me, sing with me. Dream on, with me.
Day 3 Prompt: List ten words. Then, list two to four (that’s three) similar sounding or rhyming words for each of the ten. Use the listed words to write a poem.
If Tony Hoagland could write a poem titled dickhead, I can write one using Australian, British, and (when common to all three English speaking countries) American swear words. My list is of ten chosen Aussie/Brit swear words. The rhymes are another matter. Some folks think I need an excuse to swear. I do not (like this guy). I do it a lot, just not so much in the blog.
My List (10+30=40 words). Ten Aussie terms are in italics.
bullocks, hookups, pushups, full lips
bugger, buzzer, butter, sucker
bloody, bunny, dummy, plucky
shag, hag, fag, tag
twat, got, caught, shot
wanker, bonk ‘er, honker, conquer
root, chute, scoot, flute
wristy, twisty, nifty, whiskey
fuckwit, suck it, tuck it, pluck it
dickhead, bed spread, ‘nuf said, bunk bed
Bloody Sweary
Artful Aussies
sound so bloody plucky,
like Brits, when they cuss
to discuss dickhead fuckwits
of a hag. In a pub
they say bullocks
to hookups
with a wanker who’d bonk ‘er
while the dummy bunny
does pushups
holding a fag to his honker.
When the twisty wristy bugger
got caught with a thought
of a twat
he made a nifty switch
to whiskey. That sucker
wanted to root in the chute,
but he had to scoot,
or he’d be shot.
A full lips tag
punched at the buzzer,
a loss I couldn’t conquer
with my twisty flute
when I jumped
into the bunk bed
with a new spread,
when the utter said suck it with butter,
I decided to tuck it or pluck it. ‘nuf said.
Even embarrassed by poems,
look both ways for the universal swear.
Mind the gap lest you twist and shout a cuss or two.
Day 2 prompt: Write a poem about a place (i.e., a house, store, school, or office). How ‘bout a bar?
Packy’s
Sorry to say it’s gone now,
Packy Lenahan’s bar.
Packy too. Kids may age,
Patty and Maureen Keating,
lived in the same attached building.
I forget the people’s names
in the apartment above Packy’s.
It was on the corner of Madison street,
where friends Jimmy, June, and nine more lived,
and my grandpop had lived before I was born,
and Butler street where we lived.
Packy’s, some thirty yards west of
my bedroom window,
was where they drank and smoked,
and where they played games and ate food
until well past my bed time.
Inside to the right a huge mahogany bar
had big high mirrors, stacked whisky bottles, and beer taps.
I learned shuffleboard to the left,
and my first dart board was on the back wall,
left of some stairs up to the dining room
with tables and chairs, a kitchen and
toilets were to the right.
Few stools were at the bar, but it had real,
often used, brass spittoons on the dirty,
cigarette-burn stained, wood floor where beer
was often spilled and seldom mopped
under high ceilings with fans on long poles.
The back door was mostly for exiting,
or entering when closed (but not really),
on Sundays after church or after last call,
always unlocked after knocking.
There was a piano,
and a smell of stale beer
and staler smoke, and a juke box
back in the dining room
where I sometimes played,
but bar spittoons always intrigued me,
men spat, often missing, one of the things
they only did at Packy’s.
Many nights I laid in bed and listened to them
talking or singing and being loud, having fun
at Packy’s. Sometimes fighting
after Packy threw them out and I wanted
to go see who got clobbered
with a brass spittoon off the floor.
You can see Packy’s door and window over my Dad’s right shoulder (circa 1948)
Look both ways cuz it’s not always what you think.
Mind the gaps and don’t trip over spittoon.
Tomorrow begins national poetry writing month (NaPoWriMo) when we write, and in some cases post, a poem each day. I try to write to the daily (optional) prompts, but any poem each day works. If you’re interested, click the button for the link.
Click for the link, or it’s napowrimo.net
This Happens
I’ve noticed something.
Some days all art
hangs straight while
clocks show correct time.
It is a pleasant 73-degrees
with just the right number
and location of clouds.
Do you have those days
when everything
is exactly
as it’s supposed to be?
Clothing is properly hung,
in the closet, color coordinated
and ready; my sock drawer
needs no reorganizing.
The dishwasher is correctly loaded
and organized properly. All settings
are as we like
and software
is all the latest version.
Fonts and images
match everyone’s taste.
Have you ever noticed
on some days, nobody
needs your advice,
assistance,
or repair services?
Look both ways even in the twilight zone.
Mind the gaps.
You know they’re there.
I’ve noticed within you
dormant dark ironic
meanness which,
aroused by stress,
fueled with fear,
ushers in you a strife
emblazoned with virulent rancor,
etched with vitriol and venomous
words more harmful than
some source
of your frantic painful sputum.
You strike
like a cornered dog
or captured snake seeking vengeance
without sense of reason, cause, or goal,
neither coherent illumination nor purpose
tempers or dulls your slashing fangs.
Let lost conscience be not your guide,
nor grief and guilt become your
warrant.
Count to ten. Then count again.
Nothing can be unsaid,
unheard, or unfelt.
Look both ways when emotions rise.
Seek the mindful gaps of calmness and search for love.
House lights were off, back in the day.
A tinted eerie black and white glare,
as the boob-tube illuminated
white nicotine-laced clouds,
cigarette smoke from lit ends of
Camels or Pall Malls, unfiltered butts crowded
many ashtrays, back in the day.
Like ghosts sucked into dying lungs
of people I loved,
alive, back in the day.
The smelly, wispy, floating clouds
rolled and twisted or waved
as we passed through,
back in the day.
Forbidden addictions, I then, not yet
old enough to kill myself,
back in the day.
Second hand was for used,
not smoke.
Sickening smokers,
plus all who breathed in,
nicotine laced habits, back in the day.
Born into our rite of passage.
Now sick and dying, smoking goes on.
Never allow science to invade
personal stupidity.
We’ve always done it this way.
Back in the day.
Look both ways but stay away from back in the day.
Discover progress through science but mind the gaps to fill as we learn.
Secrets we’ve never been told Oceans nature never fully filled Memories of loving happiness in eyes of laughter Nights kissing when we’re young together Amour aplenty to fill our hearts with passion. Mysteries make us wonder why Bodies, then so young and strong, a Universe without chaos, and a cosmos within us Lasting love that never leaves us Innocent children who needlessly die, while Some just pray and wonder why. Time to take the dance into the street.
In the street, look both ways and be aware, or woke, as they say.
Mind the gaps as hidden happiness and sadness.