Related quotes: The other night while we...

Cat Parody on Poe's

The other night while we lay musing, and our weary brain confusing o'er the topics of the day,
Suddenly we heard a rattling, as of serious hosts a-battling, as they mingled in the fray.

'What is that?' we cried, upstarting, and into the darkness darting, slap! we ran against the door.
'Oh , 'tis nothing,' Edward grumbled, as o'er a huge armchair we stumbled, ''tis a bug and nothing more.'

Then said we, our anger rising (for we thought it so surprising that a bug should thus offend)—
'Do you think a small insect, sir, thus would all the air infect, sir? No, 'tis not a bug, my friend.

Now, becoming sorely frightened, round our waist our pants we tightened, and put on our coat and hat—
When into the darkness peering, we saw with trembling and much fearing, the glaring eyes of Thomas Cat.

With astonishment and wonder we gazed upon this son of thunder, as he sat upon the floor—
When resolution taking, and a rapid movement making, lo, we opened wide the door.

Now, clear out, we hoarsely shouted, as o'er head our boot was flouted. 'Take your presence from my floor.'
Then with air and mien majestic, this dear creature called domestic, made his exit through the door.

Made his exit without growling, neither was his voice howling, not a single word he said.
And with feelings much elated, to escape a doom so fated, we went back to bed.

poem by Anonymous Americas
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes

The Elevator

I was on the ground floor
and I wanted level five.
I pressed the call button
and waited for it to arrive.

It arrived with no one in it,
so I entered and closed the door.
It took its time to get going,
then slowed for the next floor.

The doors hesitated then opened,
but no one was there,
but I definitely felt a presence
and a disturbance in the air.

I was standing still and anxious
when the lift shook from side to side.
The doors closed and up it went to three
where the doors opened wide.

Again no one was there waiting,
but I felt someone get in.
Movement in the air and floor
was most unsettling.

I was overwhelmed and nervous
as it approached level four.
It stopped, but no one was waiting,
just like the stops before.

The elevator paused for a second
and I swear someone got in.
I was certain that I heard whispering
as the elevator set off again.

The space felt uncomfortably eerie
cold, but very much alive.
The rotten egg smell made me sickly,
as we went passed level five.

The light suddenly turned to darkness,
and I could see forms and shapes.
They were pushing each other violently,
as we approached level eight.

I pressed the emergency button,
but we still passed eight, nine, and ten.
At level eleven the elevator stopped…
then began to go down again.

At eight the elevator came to a halt
and everyone but me got out.
The darkness became light again,
so relieved, I gave out a shout.

The elevator continued downwards
and stopped at the ground floor.
An old lady and her dog waiting to enter,
but I couldn’t exit the elevator door.

poem by Orlando Belo
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The Gentle Hint

The old man sat upon his swag his eyes were red and bleared.
I doubt he’d had a wash for days or even combed his beard.
He cadged my pouch and filled his pipe and calmly blew a cloud
‘Some blokes ain’t got no pride’ he said, ‘but I was always proud.

Some time ago I humped me swag along the Lachlan side
A blazing drought had hit the land and all the stock had died.
One night a good bit after dark I reached a country town;
Pulls up outside the local hall and flings me bluey down.

A dance was going on inside, a crowd was on the floor,
So I ’itches up me pants a bit and mooches in the door.
Some tarts was taken round the grub; I thinks I’m just in time;
A cup of tea will do me good; them sandwiches look prime.

But all at once the head serang, a great big hulking brute,
Strides across the floor at me and landed me a beaut.
He never said what made him narked or what he’d done it for
Just simply hits me good and hard, and knocks me out the door.

I landed fair upon me back. I got a nasty jar
And I thought just how he weren’t polite, I wondered who ’e are.
I thought per’aps he meant no harm, so I ’itches up me pants
And makes me mind up come what would, I’d take another chance.

I mooches in the door again. They’re cartin’ round the sweets.
Cream puff and buns ’n rainbow cakes and other fancy eats.
I’m just reaching out me dook when, strike me blue and blind,
One feller grabs me in the front, another from behind.

They swings me like a bag o’ chaff and shouted one, two, three
And then they laughs and holler ‘Go’, and it was go for me.
I hurtled out into the night and lands upon a stump
(Just put yer ’and behind me ear, you still can feel the lump)

That settled me; my oath it did; they’d hurt me in me pride;
And I decided there and then I wouldn’t go inside.
I knew I wasn’t welcome there, I saw it clear as print;
Some blokes ain’t got no pride at all – but I can take a hint!

poem by Edward Harrington
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As Simple As Closing The Door And Opening Another One

don't you worry about what
recently happened,
it is nothing much to be
talked about,
no one wants to recall
a sad subject matter,
but i want to tell you,
before she went away
she stood up
opened a door and
walked a little farther
about a meter away and
she opened another
door against too much light
someone guided her
i saw that and then
without looking back
she dissolved like ice
on the floor of sand

then we pretend we do not
forget her
oh, we have other topics
in our lives

love, for instance.

poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Shuffler

An old man scuffed his feet across the floor
as he headed for the Café’s exit door.
He shuffled along with his walking stick,
a lit cigarette stuck to his bottom lip.

His jacket looked like an open ferry door,
at least two sizes too big, maybe more.
A stoop kept his eyes fixed to the ground,
cursed with old age, and deaf to sound.

A nose dew dropp was moved by his sleeve,
apathetic to all who watched him leave.
He opened the door and again shuffled his feet,
as he became a number on the busy street.

poem by Orlando Belo
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One Mans Ceiling Is Another Mans Floor

Words & music by paul simon
Theres been some hard feelings here
About some words that were said
Been some hard feelings here
And what is more
Theres been a bloody purple nose
And some bloody purple clothes
That were messing up the lobby floor
Its just apartment house rules
So all you partment fools
Remember: one mans ceiling is another mans floor!
One mans ceiling is another mans floor
Theres been some strange goins on
And some folks have come and gone
Like the elevator man dont work no more
I heard a racket in the hall
And I thought I heard a call
But I never opened up my door
Its just apartment house sense
Its like apartment rents
Remember: one mans ceiling is another mans floor!
One mans ceiling is another mans floor!
Theres an alley
In the back of my building
Where some people congregate in shame
I was walking with my dog
And the night was black with smog
When I thought I heard somebody
Call my name
Ah-- remember: one mans ceiling is another mans floor!
One mans ceiling is another mans floor!

song performed by by Paul Simon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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When That Door Closes

Were you upset,
By those who took you and your efforts for granted...
In the past?

'Yes.
And I have taken measures,
To ensure that 'never' happens again.'

'Never' is a strong and sometimes changing word.
Perhaps you mean you 'hope' this to you,
Will not happen again.

'I've identified my attachment to those who 'try'.
And those who 'try' are proned to make excuses,
Induced by alibis!

Well...
I no longer empathize with procrastinators,
Who abuse my empathy.
And do what they wish to do later.
As if it's okay to do that to me!

I recognized who they are.
And that's all it takes...
For me not to experience another heartache.'

You speak of this as if it is the ending of a relationship.

'It is!
When the passion leaves...
Why wish for it to return and be repeated?

When it is clear it has gone,
And there is no coming back?
Never can those feelings be restored as they were.
Like an exit through an opened door,
When one closes it little emotion is attached.
With a forward movement that takes place.

Not to close it to knock on it again!
What sense does that make? '

You might have left something inside?

'You mean like a pride one denies?
Not here.
When that door closes...
It is as if it had not existed.'

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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The Lion For Real

"Soyez muette pour moi, Idole contemplative..."

I came home and found a lion in my living room
Rushed out on the fire escape screaming Lion! Lion!
Two stenographers pulled their brunnette hair and banged the window shut
I hurried home to Patterson and stayed two days

Called up old Reichian analyst
who'd kicked me out of therapy for smoking marijuana
'It's happened' I panted 'There's a Lion in my living room'
'I'm afraid any discussion would have no value' he hung up

I went to my old boyfriend we got drunk with his girlfriend
I kissed him and announced I had a lion with a mad gleam in my eye
We wound up fighting on the floor I bit his eyebrow he kicked me out
I ended up masturbating in his jeep parked in the street moaning 'Lion.'

Found Joey my novelist friend and roared at him 'Lion!'
He looked at me interested and read me his spontaneous ignu high poetries
I listened for lions all I heard was Elephant Tiglon Hippogriff Unicorn
Ants
But figured he really understood me when we made it in Ignaz Wisdom's
bathroom.

But next day he sent me a leaf from his Smoky Mountain retreat
'I love you little Bo-Bo with your delicate golden lions
But there being no Self and No Bars therefore the Zoo of your dear Father
hath no lion
You said your mother was mad don't expect me to produce the Monster for
your Bridegroom.'

Confused dazed and exalted bethought me of real lion starved in his stink
in Harlem
Opened the door the room was filled with the bomb blast of his anger
He roaring hungrily at the plaster walls but nobody could hear outside
thru the window
My eye caught the edge of the red neighbor apartment building standing in
deafening stillness
We gazed at each other his implacable yellow eye in the red halo of fur
Waxed rhuemy on my own but he stopped roaring and bared a fang
greeting.
I turned my back and cooked broccoli for supper on an iron gas stove
boilt water and took a hot bath in the old tup under the sink board.

He didn't eat me, tho I regretted him starving in my presence.
Next week he wasted away a sick rug full of bones wheaten hair falling out
enraged and reddening eye as he lay aching huge hairy head on his paws
by the egg-crate bookcase filled up with thin volumes of Plato, & Buddha.

Sat by his side every night averting my eyes from his hungry motheaten
face
stopped eating myself he got weaker and roared at night while I had
nightmares
Eaten by lion in bookstore on Cosmic Campus, a lion myself starved by
Professor Kandisky, dying in a lion's flophouse circus,
I woke up mornings the lion still added dying on the floor--'Terrible
Presence!'I cried'Eat me or die!'

It got up that afternoon--walked to the door with its paw on the south wall to
steady its trembling body
Let out a soul-rending creak from the bottomless roof of his mouth
thundering from my floor to heaven heavier than a volcano at night in
Mexico
Pushed the door open and said in a gravelly voice "Not this time Baby--
but I will be back again."

Lion that eats my mind now for a decade knowing only your hunger
Not the bliss of your satisfaction O roar of the universe how am I chosen
In this life I have heard your promise I am ready to die I have served
Your starved and ancient Presence O Lord I wait in my room at your
Mercy.

poem by Allen Ginsberg
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In The End

I Saw Red
Warrant
Oo it must be magic
How inside your eyes I see my destiny Every time we kiss
I feel you breathe your love to deep inside of me
And if the moon and stars should fall
They'd be east to replace
I would lift you up to heaven
And you would take their place
Then I saw red
When I opened up the door
I saw red
Heart just spilled on to the floor
And I didn't need to see his face
I saw yours
I saw red then I closed the door
I don't think I'm gonna love you anymore
Everyday I wake up
I thank God that you are
Still a part of me
Opened up the door to which
So many people never find the way
Snd if the sun
Should ever fail to send its light
We will burn a thousand candles
And make everything alright
Then I saw red
Wnen I opened up the door
I saw red
Heart just spilled onto the floor
And I didn't need to see his face
I saw yours
I saw red then I closed the door
I don't think I'm gonna love you anymore
I've been hurt
And I've been blind
I'm not sure that I'll be fine
I never thought it would
End this way
Oo it must be magic

song performed by by Warrant
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Walking Forever

it seemed to him
that he'd been walking forever...
the night was brisk and cool....

a half moon, and a few stars.
every step he took he let go
of something else....

all the things he'd thought he needed....
all the things that got in the way!
pride, hurt, anger, need, and

all the images he had of what should be.....
he walked up to the door, and knocked....
she opened the door just a crack...

'what do you want? '
'i just want to hold you,
to feel you close...

to smell your smell,
to taste your taste....
to listen to you breathe

in the darkness...
to hold you while you sleep....
that's all i want,

and the world can go to hell! '

she opened the door,
...and let him in!

poem by Eric Cockrell
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I Must Have Been Sleeping

'Where are you going, ' I heard her say
As the dream took me straight to the core,
We parked at the side of a very long road
And I got out the driver's door;
'I've never known that, ' I replied, and she sat
On her hands, with the pain of surprise,
'So what you've been saying has never been true! '
The tears rose up in her eyes!

'The road has been long, the road has been wide,
I never knew where I could turn.'
'I thought you were happy with me, ' she said;
There was nothing to say in return.
'I must have been sleeping for seventeen years, '
My voice sounded foreign and coarse,
But I couldn't handle the sighs and the lies,
Or the terrible sound of - 'divorce! '

I walked to the wood at the side of the road,
And followed the pathway around,
I couldn't look back now I'd made up my mind
Though I walked unfamiliar ground,
The clearing was quiet, the birds didn't sing,
A mountain rose up in my view,
I suddenly saw there was no going back
To the comfortable life that I knew.

I cast off my shackles and took a deep breath,
To breathe in both freedom and pride,
My strength was returning, and clearer my eye,
I walked with a bounce in my stride,
The years fell away, I was thirty again,
I stopped then, and sat on a stone,
For darkness was gathering there in the gloom
With that terrible feeling - alone!

I thought of the woman I'd left on the road,
Who'd always been faithful to me,
The tears that she'd shed for a love that was dead
Made me sad, and ashamed to be free,
I thought of the comfort she'd given me when
All my world started going insane,
She'd cooked and she'd cared, and she'd loved and she'd shared
And I'd given her nothing but pain.

I turned on the track, and I made my way back
But I couldn't see where I had been,
I stumbled through thickets and walked into trees
And I fell on my knees on the green.
'I am lost, I am lost, ' I cried into the night
Then I heard her voice, dim, by a tree
And woke to her stroking my face and my brow
As I cried… She was waiting for me!

9 March 2008

poem by David Lewis Paget
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I Saw Red

Ooh, it must be magic
How inside your eyes, I see my destiny
And every time we kiss, I feel you
Breathe your love so deep inside of me
If the moon and stars should fall
They'd be easy to replace
I would lift you up to heaven
And you would take their place
(Chorus): And I saw red when I opened up the door
I saw red, my heart just spilled onto the floor
And I didn't need to see his face...
Cause I saw yours
I saw red and then I closed the door
And I don't think I'm gonna love you anymore
And every day I wake up
I thank God that you are still a part of me
We've opened up the door to it
So many people never find the key
And if the sun should ever fail to send its light
We would burn a thousand candles
And make everything alright
Chorus
I've been hurt, I've been blind
I'm not sure that I'll be fine
I never thought it would end this way
Cause I saw red when I opened up the door
I saw red, my heart just spilled onto the floor
And I didn't need to see his face
Oh, I saw yours
I saw red and then I closed the door
And I don't think I'm gonna love you anymore...
Yeah... ooh, it must be magic...

song performed by by Warrant
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Lady’s Lament

Never happy any more!
Aye, turn the saying o'er and o'er,
It says but what it said before,
And heart and life are just as sore.
The wet leaves blow aslant the floor
In the rain through the open door.
No, no more.
Never happy any more!
The eyes are weary and give o'er,
But still the soul weeps as before.
And always must each one deplore
Each once, nor bear what others bore?
This is now as it was of yore.
No, no more.
Never happy any more!
Is it not but a sorry lore
That says, “Take strength, the worst is o'er”?
Shall the stars seem as heretofore?
The day wears on more and more—
While I was weeping the day wore.
No, no more.
Never happy any more!
In the cold behind the door
That was the dial striking four:
One for joy the past hours bore,
Two for hope and will cast o'er,
One for the naked dark before.
No, no more.
Never happy any more!
Put the light out, shut the door,
Sweep the wet leaves from the floor.
Even thus Fate's hand has swept her floor,
Even thus Love's hand has shut the door
Through which his warm feet passed of yore.
Shall it be opened any more?
No, no, no more.

poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
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The Messenger

She rose up in the early dawn,
And white and silently she moved
About the house. Four men had gone
To battle for the land they loved,
And she, the mother and the wife,
Waited for tidings from the strife.
How still the house seemed! and her tread
Was like the footsteps of the dead.

The long day passed; the dark night came.
She had not seen a human face.
Some voice spoke suddenly her name.
How loud it echoed in that place,
Where, day on day, no sound was heard
But her own footsteps. 'Bring you word,'
She cried to whom she could not see,
'Word from the battle-plain to me?'

A soldier entered at the door,
And stood within the dim firelight;
'I bring you tidings of the four,'
He said, 'who left you for the fight.'
'God bless you, friend,' she cried, 'speak on!
For I can bear it. One is gone?'
'Ay, one is gone!' he said. 'Which one?'
'Dear lady, he, your eldest son.'

A deathly pallor shot across
Her withered face; she did not weep.
She said: 'It is a grievous loss,
But God gives His belovèd sleep.
What of the living-of the three?
And when can they come back to me?'
The soldier turned away his head:
'Lady, your husband, too, is dead.'

She put her hand upon her brow;
A wild, sharp pain was in her eyes.
'My husband! Oh, God, help me now!'
The soldier heard her shuddering sighs.
The task was harder than he thought.
'Your youngest son, dear madam, fought
Close at his father's side; both fell
Dead, by the bursting of a shell.'

She moved her lips and seemed to moan.
Her face had paled to ashen gray:
'Then one is left me-one alone,'
She said, 'of four who marched away.
Oh, overruling, All-wise God,
How can I pass beneath Thy rod!'
The soldier walked across the floor,
Paused at the window, at the door,

Wiped the cold dew-drops from his cheek
And sought the mourner's side again.
'Once more, dear lady, I must speak:
Your last remaining son was slain
Just at the closing of the fight,
'Twas he who sent me here to-night.'
'God knows,' the man said afterward,
'The fight itself was not so hard.'

poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
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The Door

The door for in
The door for out
The same way right
Occupied life

The position points
Before the door
In or out

Sometimes entrance
Is to the exit
Before the eyes of mirror

Go with where ever
Same key
To close and open

poem by Udaya R. Tennakoon
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Christmas Guest

It happened one day near decembers end when two neighbors
Called on an old friend and they found his shop so meager and
Lean made gay with thousand bows of green and conrad was
Sitting with faces shining when he suddenly stopped as he
Stitched a twine and he said old friends, it dawned today
As the cock was crowing the night away the lord appeared in
A dream to me and said Im coming your guest to be.
So Ive been busy with feet of stern strewing my shop with
Branches of fern. the table is spread and the kettle is shine.
And over the rafters the holly is twine. now Ill wait for my
Lord to appear and listen closely so I will hear his step as
He nears my humble place. and Ill open the door and look on his face.
So his friends went home and left conrad alone for this
Was the happiest day he had known. for long since his family had
Passed away and conrad had spent many a sad christmas day.
But he knew with the lord as his christmas guest this christmas
Would be the dearest and best.
So he listened with only joy in his heart and with
Every sound he would rise with a start and look for the
Lord to be at his door. like the vision he had had a few hours before.
So he ran to the window after hearing a sound but all he could
See on the snow covered ground was a shabby beggar whose shoes
Were torn and all of his clothes were ragged and worn.
But conrad was touched and he went to the door
And he said you know your feet must be frozen and sore.
I have some shoes in my shop for you and a coat that will
Keep you warmer too. so with grateful heart the man went away
But conrad noticed the time of day and wondered what made the
Lord so late and how much longer hed have to wait.
When he heard a knock he ran to the door but it was
Only a stranger once more. a bent old lady with a shawl of
Black with a bundle of kindling piled on her back. she asked
For only a place to rest but that was reserved for conrads
Great guest. but her voice seemed to plead dont send me away,
Let me rest for awhile on christmas day, so conrad brewed
Her a steaming cup and told her to set at the table and sup.
But after she left he was filled with dismay for
He saw that the hours were slipping away and the lord hadnt come as
He said he would. then conrad felt sure he had misunderstood.
When out of of the stillness he heard a cry please
Help me and tell me where am i? so again he opened his
Friendly door and stood disapointed as twice before.
It was only a child that wandered away and was lost from
Her family on christmas day.
Again conrads heart was heavy and sad but he knew
He should make the little girl glad. so he called her in
And he wiped her tears, quieted all her childish fears.
Then he led her back to her home once more but as he
Entered his own darkened door he knew the
Lord was not coming today.
Well the hours of christmas had passed away so he
Went to his room and knelt down to pray and he said
Dear lord, why did you delay? what kept you from
Coming to call on me? for I wanted so much your face to see.
When soft in the silence a voice he heard.
Lift up your head for I kept my word.
Three times my shadow crossed your floor
And three times I came to your lowly door.
I was the beggar with bruised, cold feet
And I was the woman you gave something to eat.
I was the child on the homeless street.
Three times I knocked, and three times I came in.
And each time I found the warmth of a friend.
Of all the gifts, love is the best.
And I was honored to be your christmas guest.

song performed by by Reba Mcentire
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Up In The Attic

I took a room in a boarding house
In a seedy part of town,
I hadn't worked for a month or so
And was feeling rather down,
My girl had left with another guy
Who promised her thrills and rings,
While I could offer her take-away
Among other boring things.

I really felt I was down and out,
The insurance wasn't through,
I'd caught my arm in a roller, and
You know what that can do.
With plaster up to my elbow, I
Could get no sort of work,
So had to exist on the government,
And I felt like a prime jerk.

I'd always been independent
So my pride had taken a hit,
The landlord hurried me out
As soon as the rent was behind a bit,
The boarding house, it was ancient,
A Victorian red brick,
A mansion once, but converted
Into rooms, for the broke, and sick.

I sank in a deep depression,
I could barely go out the door,
Fish and chips was the staple meal
That I bought from the corner store,
I'd slink back in to my tiny room
And eat from the daily news,
The only things of the world outside
That I learned, were the column views.

I'd thought Denise was my passion,
My charm in a mundane life,
I'd thought she'd always be there for me
And asked her to be my wife,
But that was before the accident,
She'd hummed and hah'd, ‘We'll see! '
But set her star on the shiny car
Of the guy who came after me.

I lay and thought of her often,
I thought she was most unkind,
And tried to maintain my anger, but
Could not get her out of my mind.
What made it worse, as a sort of curse
Were the sounds from up above,
The guy, up there in the attic,
Laughing, joking and making love!

The girls tripped up in the evening,
Up the stairs, right past my room,
I heard them giggle and whispering
As I lay there, deep in gloom.
I wondered about the attraction,
Was he rich, this guy, or what?
So why was he there in a boarding house
In an attic - what had he got?

The music came through the ceiling,
I could hear them dancing there,
They kept me awake to the early hours
As I slumped in an old armchair,
They'd come in pairs, or one at a time
And they'd leave, but just on dawn,
After I'd heard the bedsprings creak
And a low, but sultry moan!

He and the landlord were thick as thieves
But I never caught sight of him,
I asked him once, ‘Who's the guy up there?
It sounds like he's running a gym! '
‘Now don't you bother your head, my lad,
He's a friend, and an honoured guest,
He don't take kindly to strangers, so
Just keep to yourself, it's best! '

I started leaving an open door
So I'd see the girls who came,
Dressed to kill in their mini-skirts
They all looked much the same,
One evening, one came very late
When I'd thought I'd have some peace,
She stopped by the door and looked at me,
And I blurted out, ‘Denise! '

She caught her breath and she looked at me
Then hurried on up the stair,
Determined she wouldn't talk to me
As I sat in a mute despair,
I thought at first to follow her
But I slammed the door, said ‘No!
I'm not going to play her silly games, '
But listened from down below.

The music played and I heard her voice,
Her laugh, but soft and sweet,
She certainly had no thought for me
As I slumped there, in defeat.
I heard the bedsprings creak at last
And I knew it was over then,
But she never came down the stairs that night
And I woke, just after ten.

I wanted to turn the light on, but
It seemed to have blown the globe,
I climbed on a chair to change it, and
It flashed, just like a strobe,
Something was dripping along my arm
Sticky, the colour of mud,
I jumped off the chair, and opened the door
To the hallway, it was blood!

I ran up the stairs, two at a time
And I kicked in the attic door,
Denise was naked, such as she was,
She lay, spread out on the floor,
I took out the guy with a single hit
And I looked at the mantelpiece,
For there was a head on a metal spit,
And I cried out, ‘No! - Denise! '

poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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5. Snow Fun

I remember in the fifties when the snow fell very quick
Like big cornflakes crunchy crisp and sparkling white
I remember ground was frozen and it settled very thick
It kept falling down like sheets throughout the night

I remember in the morning as we opened our front door
To a solid wall of snow that filled the frame
I remember how we shouted when it fell upon the floor
Then we tried the back to find that just the same

I remember pipes were frozen no more water solid ice
Not a dropp it was as dry as it could be
I remember all the kids thought the snow was very nice
And our parents making plans to get us free

I remember how the snow fell and dad rushing at the door
Diving forward like a badger in fine fettle
I remember fresh white snow makes a lovely cup of tea
When you scoop it up and boil it in the kettle

I remember it took ages before he found a route
Near exhausted with his face now glowing red
I remember many tunnels making lots of different chutes
We all made with tools that dad got from our shed

poem by David Threadgold (2008)
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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My Friend, Death

Suicide
An escape from the world
From all the sorrow
The pain
The hurt
An escape from the darkness
Into the darkness
Never to come back out
I've looked for other ways
I've found other doors
But all of them were locked
The only door opened is death
Death will cradle me
Death will wipe my tears away
Death will comfort me
Death will love me
Death will do what no one else could
Death will understand
Death will be my friend

poem by Rachie West
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Wren

It was a quiet morning;
As usual my wife Laureen opened the front door (leaving it open wide) in hopes that the cat would follow her out. (Little did she know that a small intruder had flown in through the open door.) After retrieving the morning newspaper, with coffee mug full of steaming coffee Laureen settled into
her morning ritual, with "Neferkitti" (our cat) snuggled on the bar stool next to her.

Suddenly there was a flutter and thump as a tiny wren flew into a window in the dining room.
The bird fell to the floor momentarily stunned. Taking advantage of the moment, with great speed and agility Neferkitti pounced on the helpless bird. Mouthing the bird softly, she presented her catch to her master. Horrified Laureen admonished the cat, screaming "Let her go". With great reluctance the cat dropped the bird on the floor. After a few moments the bird flew up to a tall cabinet, where she landed to assess her predicament.

At this time I was laying in bed reading, when I heard Laureen shout loudly "Ray get in here there is a bird in the house'. I slipped on a shirt, grabbed my glasses, and walked in just as the bird took flight and landed on the rail leading to my upstairs office. Walking up the stairs slowly I reached for the perched bird who quickly flew back down to the family room. Not seeing where she landed I searched the room. Suddenly she flew into a large picture window in the family room. The confused bird sat on the sill looking out of the window. I approached the bird, who made no attempt to fly off. I reached down, and with cupped hands gently picked up the traumatized bird. She chirped once and settled into my warm hands.

Making my way to the sliding door that leads to the outside deck I stepped out and opened my hands to release the bird. Gripping the index finger of my right hand she was reluctant to fly. I stood there, and time froze.

Our eyes met, and I felt the impact of what was happening;
From the wren's perspective here stood a god-like giant with the power of life and death over her. From my perspective there perched on a single finger was a tiny creature who I could crush with hardly any effort. In that brief moment we were both experienced the miracle, diversity and fragile nature of life.

"All creatures great and small"

Walking over to a bench on the deck and with palm up I waited for the bird to step off onto the safety of the bench and freedom. She gripped even more tightly, as if she'd found safety in my hands. With my left hand I gently coaxed her off my right hand onto the bench, where she stood looking around. She made no effort to fly away, so I went back through the door, closed it and stood watching, hoping that she was not seriously injured.

While walking up the stairs to my office I heard Laureen (who'd been watching) exclaim loudly;

"She just flew away"!

Gratified...I went up to my office to write an account of this magical and humbling event.

ROTMS

View ROTMS writings, images and video at;

rotms.blogspot.com

poem by Ray Lucero
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Photograph

Look at this photograph
Everytime I do it makes me laugh
How did our eyes get so red
And what the hell is on Joey's head

And this is where I grew up
I think the present owner fixed it up
I never knew we'd ever went without
The second floor is hard for sneaking out

And this is where I went to school
Most of the time had better things to do
Criminal record says I broke in twice
I must have done it half a dozen times

I wonder if it's too late
Should i go back and try to graduate
Life's better now than it was back then
If I was them I wouldn't let me in

Oh, oh, oh
Oh, god, I

Every memory of looking out the back door
I had the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.
Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye.

Remember the old arcade
Blew every dollar that we ever made
The cops hated us hangin' out
They say somebody went and burned it down

We used to listen to the radio
And sing along with every song we know
We said someday we'd find out how it feels
To sing to more than just the steering wheel

Kim's the first girl I kissed
I was so nervous that I nearly missed
She's had a couple of kids since then
I haven't seen her since god knows when