The Body Box
She is the body slim
the nymph
who's shown to us everyday
smiling cover girl
wife and mother-debutante
supple woman hood
and many place themselves
beside her life-sized cut
to see if there is a body fit
and then make-up
and plastic surgery
flow from the credit cards
vision seen in vanity mirrors
yet inside
no one knows
that she wonders
if that outward glow
is enough
to assuage her inward doubts;
'Am I a person
or just this cut-out
that people, especially men
glance at
flirt with
even desire on sight;
and I
take these glances as my birthright
yet why do I, nonethess, remain insecure?
There are no wars like the Beauty Wars
where every pound, line and bulge
is surveyed each day, acessed and graded,
even by people that don't even know you
yet feel free to inspect like this
reflecting back to me
'I do or I don't like this'
like the Facebook avatar.
And hungrily
and guiltily
I took the positive looks
feeling vindicated
for something
I never desired
until the day I made the change;
looked in the mirror
got dressed
and walked out make-up less
feeling utterly naked
noticing right away every non-glance
non look
feeling terrified
ugly even
inadequate
yet defiant.
This I thought will be what it will be like aging
no longer beautiful, sexy or attractive
invisible
to all except those who share or have shared the same
experience.
But there were exceptions this make-up less day
women noticed-some of them could tell what I had done
and stared at me sideways, some thinking she looked odd
some thinking me brave, some even guessing that I was making a statement.
But not the men. They didn't look therefore didn't know
me in my invisible self.
Here I was on the street shaking my fist at the media parasites
who had made me afraid of facing life without the mask
I had to pay them to acquire-terror really
'Buy what I tell you to or you'll not have your 'happily ever after.'
I walked into the coffee shop and Bob said
Something about you is different-did you cut your hair? '
It was like that, all day. Men didn't get it but women did.
Maybe I thought I will start my own revolution, maybe where a sign
that says 'You can go make-up less.'
They would say I is a threat to the whole American economy, suppose it really caught on and billions would not be spent, the Macy's cosmetic counter would close.
Models would suddenly look plain.
And if it spread to plastic surgery as well
it could bring big noses back.
I smiled.
poem by Lonnie Hicks
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
No Tears
tears roll down his checks
as he muttered the words “she’s dead”
I would have stopped
stared as if he was a ghost
and I would have thought
god it’s about time
but as I looked around to the people I loved something came over me
mom and dad were crying,
Ethan, Andy, and even john looked sad
here I was with a smile on my face
how dumb could I be not even act like I care
but the truth really is that I don’t give a shit
about if she had died or not
it’s better for us in the long run anyway
make everyone happier
I’m just a kid so what am I supposed to think when someone
that has made my life and my family’s life miserable
what am I suppose to fell when someone has made me hate coming “home”
what am I suppose to do when many of times I have wished her dead
what am I suppose to say to the person that made me believe I live in hell
am I suppose to lie
what would you do
what would you fell
what would you say
what would you think
I almost feel sorry for not feeling bad
but I don’t
I almost feel sorry for Steve
but yet again why should I care when his parents die
when he didn’t care when my dad died
I will admit there were a couple of minutes
where I felt like a bad person for not feeling bad
but it’s not worth my time
enough tears will be shed from her death
why should I need to contribute to the waterfall
a tear runs down my face
yes a tear
one single tear
yet no tears flow from my eyes
of sadness
poem by Mrs. Cynosure
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The Cold Drive And A Warm Night-Chapter Two
He watched her take the drink
still warm and she cupped it
with two hands, warming them up.
The hands were thin.
She was not a farm girl
and she averted her eyes when
she looked at him.
The face was small with delicate
features
yet they were strong in their own way.
He wondered how what kind of lover she would be..
He wondered too how she could have
made a wrong turn and gotten here.
There were signs that clearly stated
'no public road'. 'dead end road.'
She noticed his stare and pulled at
her comforter, pulled it up more
around her shoulders.
She looked at him as she did so
noticing if he was noticing, if he was looking.
He noticed her noticing.
But he did not stop looking and she
to his surprize, didn't avert her eyes.
She looked right back, examing his face.
He looked down a bit to see what the comforter
was concealing, what shape her breasts were.
She noticed this too, and blushed.
He grunted, his grunt, satisfied that he had
a good look at her and got up.
He still didn't know what she was doing there
and he would feel uneasy until he find out.
He stood, walked by her and took his coat
from the coat stand, her eyes following him.
He turned pulling the heavy coat on saying.
'I'll be back.'
Have to check and push your car
back onto the road. Otherwise, the wind
will kick up, and by morning it will be buried
and tough to get out.
Another storm coming in.
It'll be cold tonite.'
Her eyes diverted again and she said, 'You will be back?
How long will it take? '
'You'll be ok. You can call me on the spare cell phone
over there. Look up my name, Lonnie.'
She nodded.
He closed the door still disturbed about her sudden arrival.
It was not an accident. He would check her glove compartment
in her rental car, maybe some info there, he thought to himself.
Meantime, Jenny sat up drinking her tea thinking:
'Damn he will find the rental agreement. What else was in the car? '
He'll start to wonder why she was really there. She could see that
he didn't believe her 'lost' story. 'Damn her cell phone was in the car too.
Everything was in the car. Damn her purse too! He had everything.
He wasn't what she expected, younger, sort of bold in the way he
looked at you. He really looked at you. Made her a bit uneasy
but it was different to have someone look at you. I mean he looked
at everything, your eyes, your hair, your body. The man looked.
But flirting aside she knew he'd be back and she would have to explain
why she was really there.
She was safe but it might not be comfortable when he found out.
poem by Lonnie Hicks
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Strangers in Time
I'll ever remember the day she left
In a storm, I was so unkind,
I'd hurled the dinner right over her head
At the wall, and it blew her mind!
‘That's it! ' she muttered, and grabbed her bag
Went sailing out of the door,
With never a backward glance at me
Or our lives, forever more!
I sat for a week, just waited, thinking
Soon she'll be coming home,
Sat in the dark and hated, loved,
Then thought I'd better atone,
So I took to the streets, her mother's house
But of her, there wasn't a trace,
I tried her sister and brother's homes
And they slammed the door in my face.
Louise had walked right out of my life
And she wouldn't be coming back,
My world collapsed in a fit of tears
But I had to accept the fact,
I walked unthinking into the road,
Was hit by the local bus,
I vaguely remember the ambulance bell
And waking up in a truss.
There was something odd in that hospital,
I couldn't quite pin it down,
The ward was the long, old-fashioned sort
In a seedy part of town,
I noticed the nurse's uniforms
Were odd, like they used to wear
Back in the fifties, as a kid
I'd had tonsillitis there.
There was more than plenty of time to think
And I went back through my life,
Went back to every decision I'd made
Right up to losing my wife,
If I'd just done this, or just said that
I'd have taken a different tack,
So many ways I'd mishandled things
With no chance of going back.
And there, behind each second of time
Was a choice that we'd have to make,
Two paths had always been open to us
What path did the other path take?
Could there be a parallel universe
Where the other half of me,
Had made those different decisions,
Was alive, but happy and free?
It took three months for my wounds to heal
Then I found myself in the street,
It wasn't the town I remembered, though,
It had changed, perceptively,
And I was feeling much younger
So much fitter than before,
A glimpse of my face in a mirror, caught
And shocked me to the core!
I went to the university
And there I saw Louise,
Just as I'd seen her years before
And she waved and smiled at me,
Or I thought she did, but she passed me by
Went up to another man,
Kissed him there in the quad, and then
Walked off with him, hand in hand.
I was back in a parallel universe
Before she'd become my wife,
And now I remembered, Andy Cole
Had caused me a lot of strife,
We'd both gone after the same Louise
In the end, she'd chosen me,
But not before he had done with her,
Walked off, and set her free.
I followed them at a distance to
The place where they shared a flat,
I noticed she wore a wedding ring
And I thought that that was that!
I'd come too late in this scheme of things
That had taken another line,
I walked by her, but she knew me not,
We were simply strangers in time.
Then suddenly I was back at home
And closing the old front door,
I could smell Louise's cooking, it
Was a dish I'd come to abhor,
I took my place at the table and
She handed me the plate,
I said, ‘It smells delicious, dear! '
I'm the master of my fate!
7 October 2012
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Every Attribute You Have Has Been Bought
When I met you in that darkened room,
I just didn't realise,
That all I'd feel was heartbreak and gloom,
For peering into those eyes.
You looked just like a beauty queen,
Standing seductively over the bar,
The most gorgeous woman I'd ever seen,
A glistening beautiful star.
I may have had too much to drink,
But that didn't spoil my view,
In fact it inspired me to think,
My desire was to be with you.
How could a guy be so lucky in love,
It must be my ability to disarm,
What I'm seeing is a gift from above,
Full of good looks and charm.
At that point I seen my future laid out,
We would never again be apart,
I knew it was love so I let out a shout,
You have taken over my heart.
How could a guy be so lucky in life,
Meeting someone as beautiful as you,
Instantly I knew that she'd be my wife,
That would be done without further ado.
She would make me a perfect partner,
The drink must have given me that thought,
In the darkness I told her, you're perfect,
A body like yours can't be bought
I asked her if she'd share some time with me,
She didn't even put up a fight,
When she came over and said, yes I'm free.
I knew then I'd done something right.
We both laughed and danced the night away,
I knew we were made for each other,
Very soon I knew I would say,
I'd love you to meet my Mother.
At the end of the night I asked her home,
Surprisingly my beauty said yes,
I went to the mens room for a wash and a comb,
What came next was anyone's guess.
We went back to her flat instead of mine,
At the time I just didn't ask why,
The way she looked had me on cloud nine,
Just the thought of it all made me cry.
She wouldn't allow me to turn on the light,
Of her reasons I just wasn't aware,
If I had I'd probably have died of fright,
But at the time I just didn't care.
We then made out in every room,
Exhausted we both fell asleep,
We knew next day our passion would resume,
That was a promise we'd keep.
You were to be my future partner in crime,
My beauty I'd finally caught,
The angels were ensuring I had a good time,
A body like yours can't be bought.
Next day off came the wig and eyelashes,
Her make up and then her false teeth,
The daylight exposed all her rashes,
All this while I'm lying underneath.
She told me she was going to powder her nose,
Doing my make up just never fails,
I thought what else can this lady expose,
As I sat on her pack of false nails.
The botox was wearing off at this point,
Her wrinkles were there to be seen,
I said to myself, I'm out of this joint,
In truth I'm no longer so keen.
At this point the implants fell out of her chest,
They were splattered all over the floor,
I thought my God that's what I caressed,
At that point I made for the door.
She asked me for one more lingering kiss,
Like the one I had given her last night,
I said sorry darling but I'll give that a miss,
In sobriety you've given me a fright.
This story is told straight from the heart,
Be happy with what God's given you,
Or very soon you'll be falling apart,
It's your surgeon you'll be wanting to sue.
I knew then I'd made a major gaffe,
It made me feel really distraught,
She said lets make out, I said you're having a laugh,
‘' Every Attribute You Have Has Been Bought‘'
Tryin' To Get The Feelin'
Doctor, my woman is comin' back home late today
Could ya' maybe give me something?
'cause the feelin' is gone and I must get it back right away
Before she sees that I've been
Up, down, tryin' to get the feeling again
All around.... tryin' to get the feeling again
The one that made me shiver, made my knees start to quiver
Every time she walked in
And I've looked high, low, everywhere I possibly can
But there's no tryin' to get the feeling again
It seemed to disappear as fast as it came
Where did it run to?
I thought I'd done all that I could
Just to keep the lovelight burnin'
But whatever I've done I guess I just haven't done it too good
'cause all that's left is yearnin'
Cause I been up, down, tryin' to get the feeling again
All around....tryin' to get the feeling again
The one that made me shiver, made my knees start to quiver
Every time she walked in
And I've looked high, and low and everywhere I possibly can
But there's no tryin' to get the feeling again
It seemed to disappear as fast as it came
And I've been lookin', I've been lookin', I've been lookin'
I've been up, and down and tryin' to get the feelin'
I've been up ..I've been down...I've been tryin' to get
I've been tryin'..I've been tryin'..I've been tryin'
To get the feeling
I've been tryin' to get the feeling again
I want to get that feeling
I'm going to get that feeling
I got to get that feeling
I got to get that feeling
And again...and again...and again...and again
Tryin' to get that feeling
I been tryin' to get the feeling again
song performed by by Barry Manilow
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Chivalry
I saw you across the room
and my heart stopped.
You noticed
and I looked away.
I saw you across the room
this time you didn't see
me looking at you.
I moved my eyes
across the all of you
moved my lips
feeling my breath stop.
'Beautiful' I thought
'just a beautiful man'
Not supposed to notice
all the pretty men,
not if you're a bit older:
but pretty I still am
and I want to know
if younger men know;
If I can still attract
a look
still get noticed;
even admired.
Or am I now invisible
to any young man
under 25?
A critical point
in every woman's life
where the line between
younger and older lies.
I move
to catch your line of sight
just to see if your eye
would linger long enough
to make me understand
you wanted a second look.
You glanced
but then glanced away.
I decided for another try
and stood behind
so that if you moved
you encounter me
and I'd dropp my notepad.
Why pass 35
do I
still need to be admired
by younger men?
You moved and my pad dropped.
And with little or no eye-contact,
you picked it up
with a smile
and gave it back.
I bobbed my head
moved on
felled by
indifferent
chivalry
and passage
into
the Older Woman Category.
poem by Lonnie Hicks
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Coffee
Sometimes life is merely a matter of coffee and whatever intimacy a cup of coffee
affords. I once read something about coffee. The thing said that coffee is good for you;
it stimulates all the organs.
I thought at first this was a strange way to put it, and not altogether pleasant, but
as time goes by I have found out that it makes sense in its own limited way. I'll tell you
what I mean.
Yesterday morning I went over to see a girl. I like her. Whatever we had going for us
is gone now. She does not care for me. I blew it and wish I hadn't.
I rang the door bell and waited on the stairs. I could hear her moving around upstairs.
The way she moved I could tell that she was getting up. I had awakened her.
Then she came down the stairs. I could feel her approach in my stomach. Every step she
took stirred my feelings and lead indirectly to her opening the door. She saw me and it
did not please her.
Once upon a time it pleased her very much, last week. I wonder where it went,
pretending to be naive.
"I feel strange now," she said. "I don't want to talk."
"I want a cup of coffee," I said, because it was the last thing in the world
that I wanted. I said it in such a way that it sounded as if I were reading her a telegram
from somebody else, a person who really wanted a cup of coffee, who cared about nothing
else.
"All right," she said.
I followed her up the stairs. It was ridiculous. She had just put some clothes on. They
had not quite adjusted themselves to her body. I could tell you about her ass. We went
into the kitchen.
She took a jar of instant coffee off the shelf and put it on the table. She placed a
cup next to it, and a spoon. I looked at them. She put a pan full of water on the stove
and turned the gas on under it.
All this time she did not say a word. Her clothes adjusted themselves to her body. I
won't. She left the kitchen.
Then she went down the stairs and outside to see if she had any mail. I didn't remember
seeing any. She came back up the stairs and went into another room. She closed the door
after her. I looked at the pan full of water on the stove.
I knew that it would take a year before the water started to boil. It was now October
and there was too much water in the pan. That was the problem. I threw half of the water
into the sink.
The water would boil faster now. It would take only six months. The house was quiet.
I looked out the back porch. There were sacks of garbage there. I stared at the garbage
and tried to figure out what she had been eating lately by studying the containers and
peelings and stuff. I couldn't tell a thing.
It was now March. The water started to boil. I was pleased by this.
I looked at the table. There was the jar of instant coffee, the empty cup and the spoon
all laid out like a funeral service. These are the things that you need to make a cup of
coffee.
When I left the house ten minutes later, the cup of coffee safely inside me like a
grave, I said, "Thank you for the cup of coffee."
"You're welcome," she said. Her voice came from behind a closed door. Her
voice sounded like another telegram. It was really time for me to leave.
I spent the rest of the day not making coffee. It was a comfort. And evening came, I
had dinner in a restaurant and went to a bar. I had some drinks and talked to some people.
We were bar people and said bar things. None of them remembered, and the bar closed. It
was two o'clock in the morning. I had to go outside. It was foggy and cold in San
Francisco. I wondered about the fog and felt very human and exposed.
I decided to go visit another girl. We had not been friends for over a year. Once we
were very close. I wondered what she was thinking about now.
I went to her house. She didn't have a door bell. That was a small victory. One must
keep track of all the small victories. I do, anyway.
She answered the door. She was holding a robe in front of her. She didn't believe that
she was seeing me. "What do you want?" she said, believing now that she was
seeing me. I walked right into the house.
She turned and closed the door in such a way that I could see her profile. She had not
bothered to wrap the robe completely around herself. She was just holding the robe in
front of herself.
I could see an unbroken line of body running from her head to her feet. It looked kind
of strange. Perhaps because it was so late at night.
"What do you want?" she said.
"I want a cup of coffee," I said. What a funny thing to say, to say again for
a cup of coffee was not what I really wanted.
She looked at me and wheeled slightly on the profile. She was not pleased to see me.
Let the AMA tell us that time heals. I looked at the unbroken line of her body.
"Why don't you have a cup of coffee with me?" I said. "I feel like
talking to you. We haven't talked for a long time."
She looked at me and wheeled slightly on the profile. I stared at the unbroken line of
her body. This was not good.
"It's too late," she said. "I have to get up in the morning. If you want
a cup of coffee, there's instant in the kitchen. I have to go to bed."
The kitchen light was on. I looked down the hall into the kitchen. I didn't feel like
going into the kitchen and having another cup of coffee by myself. I didn't feel like
going to anybody else's house and asking them for a cup of coffee.
I realized that the day had been committed to a very strange pilgrimage, and I had not
planned it that way. At least the jar of instant coffee was not on the table, beside an
empty white cup and a spoon.
They say in the spring a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of love. Perhaps if he has
enough time left over, his fancy can even make room for a cup of coffee.
poem by Richard Brautigan from Revenge of the Lawn (1971)
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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Still believing lies
you told me i will never amount to nothing,
it's a lie i still believe,
i can't blame that i'm still a child,
even though at times i still feel like one,
everything that you did to me,
messed me up in more ways than i can say,
i know you didn't think twice,
about what you did to me,
you were only worried that you would get caught,
you knew it was wrong and you still did it,
now i'm left picking up the pieces,
and trying to fix my life the way i want it,
it's a struggle but i'm getting through it,
i'm still angery at what you did to me,
that would never go away,
like ppl say it will,
becuz i am reminded everytime i'm triggered,
it sad that a real man,
have to stand up and tell me,
that everything i'm going through,
was not my fault,
i continue to blame myself,
cuz it was what you told me,
i was sexy,
i make you feel a certain way,
i was a child,
how did i make you feel sexual towards me,
when i didn't even know what that was?
you made it my fault,
just so you won't feel bad,
about what you wanted to do,
i didn't deserve to be treated like a toy,
i didn't deserve to feel such fear,
for having and opinion,
that was different than yours,
but i did,
everything i felt,
i thought i deserved in some way,
the guilt, shame, and helplessness,
i carried it everyday,
and kinda didn't know why,
the more i open up,
the more i discover the person,
that i have been so afraid to get to know,
the more everything you said to me,
is starting to disappear.
poem by Mona Martinez
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Gracious glance of innocence
Just snowed winter afternoon
Post-thanksgiving sales
Attractive less expensive shopping
My wife, our son and I
In one of the big retailers of US
Tired of this buying spree
I found a place to sit close to the entrance
And watched the people shopping
Entered a stroller
Holding an infant
Well protected
With a toy nipple in the mouth
I could make out
It was a baby girl
Very cute
Looking around with her
Inquisitive eyes
That had a grace
It occurred so
That I was in her focus
When her stroller passed beside me
Within a metre or so
Her mother was moving around
Things displayed in that side of the shop
And I was in the field her sight
During most of the time
Of her mother’s shopping
The first glance of the kid
Was telling me
“My glance by itself auspicious
Can make glanced at things
Auspicious too”
The second glance of hers
Which struck me
Beneath a displayed pink gown
Told me
“My glance, you know,
Can free you from all bonds,
If you are a person
Seeking that path.
My glance, at the same time,
Can grant worldly pleasures too,
If you are after them”
Her third glance
After a hide through a pillar
Revealed to me
“My glance has the power
To clear all your doubts
And to shatter
Your negative mind-set,
So that you ever remain confident”
As the infant was
Going out of shop
Her glance had a message
“My glance can purify you
And wash off all your sins
And dirt of your previous actions.
Do not you realise now
The power of
The gracious glance of innocence”
(A modified rewrite of Adi Sankara's meaning of one of the thousand names of Lord Vishnu)
poem by Bashyam Narayanan
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I remember back when I was a kid there was a comic strip called Plastic Man. His body was elastic and he could make his extremities as long as he wanted. As a youngster I didn't fully appreciate. But I'm now thinking Plastic Man was probably pretty popular with the ladies.
quote by Ben Affleck
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Freedom and Beauty
It is a beautiful mind to feel free.
It is a beautiful feeling to set someone free.
Freedom is the hard statement to get.
Freedom is the only feeling to get.
*
Freedom is the statement that shows your independence.
Freedom is the power that shows your right.
But while speaking of almost 7 billion individuals on the earth
At least 7 billion needs and rights that might complicate their life.
*
Showing his independence might be more important for some people.
Feeling responsible for others may be more important for other people.
*
To be honest with you, i never felt free,
Because I didn’t know what it is.
After I realized what freedom is,
I saw how hard to recognize that you are free.
^
How hard to know that you are free to live.
How hard to know that you are free to speak.
How hard to know that you are free to love and trust.
How hard to know that you are free to be loved and trusted.
^
That what you have in your everyday life, is your freedom.
This is not just everyday schedule, that’s your freedom.
How blind are we to not see how free we are.
How ugly is it to not see how beautiful freedom is.
^
Freedom is beautiful, but hard to see.
Freedom is beautiful, but hard to feel.
poem by Sukhee Bukhbat
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Strangers Eyes
All alone, a rainy night
No one around but I fell someone watching me
I look around, the street is bare nobody there
I wonder what it could be
As I turned to walk away
Suddenly I saw his face
Never minding that we were alone
Didnt care about the time, at the moment I was felling fine
I was looking into strangers eyes
(he caught me by surprise)
They looked right through me
(he looking into my eyes)
Never knew
Never, ever thought that love could be
(thats when he came)
He came and captured me
Like a scene out of a dream, I cant believe it
Kind of strange and familiar
But in his eyes I get a sign, I get a feeling
I get the feeling he knows me
Maybe I could stay a while, maybe I could make you smile
I dont have much to do
Maybe we could walk awhile
Maybe, maybe we could talk awhile
Cant help looking into strangers eyes
I was looking into strangers eyes
(he caught me by surprise)
They looked right through me
(he looked into my eyes)
Never knew
Never, ever thought that love could be
(thats when he came)
He came and captured me
How was I to know this would happen
Thought I didnt know I would meet this stranger
Its the kind of thing that dreams are made of
And I keep thinking about strangers eyes
I was looking into strangers eyes
(he caught me by surprise)
They looked right through me
(he looked into my eyes)
Never knew
Never, ever thought that love could be
(thats when he came to me)
He came and captured me
song performed by by Vanessa Williams
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Must Rid Myself Of Clutter
I feel cluttered by the junk accumulated in my brain
And I feel this great desire to recover my creativity again
And to rid myself of the shackles of my negativity
Change your thinking and change your World and change my thinking and change me.
Years of worrying about little worrying is a waste of time
And feeling envious of my betters and condemning them in rhyme
I am well beyond the fifty and still close to poverty
Negative thoughts only cause clutter and in a rose a weed you see.
If you gobble with the turkeys with the birds you cannot fly
And to tell yourself you are perfect is to tell yourself a lie
And to rid yourself of clutter is to set your thinking free
You will see a different World and look at others differently.
Negativity, greed and envy I must cast all of these away
And be less critical of others and not hurt them in what I say
Change your thinking and change your World still so happens to be true
And never too late to make changes and to start once more anew.
When I look into the mirror I can see my hair is gray
And I keep on telling myself I looked younger yesterday
We can change our way of thinking we are what we want to see
If I see myself as younger I can see a younger me.
I must rid myself of clutter it is never too late to change
Though many of those who know me may see me as someone strange
Do my bit for self awareness and to my life bring harmony
I can only change the World if I start by changing me.
poem by Francis Duggan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Don't Make No Promises (Your Body Can't Keep)
saw this girl walking down the street
I thought, oh yeah, she looks rather neat
I grabbed my chance and played my usual game
I tell you man, it can be a strain
She didn't wanna know what I'd got to say
Just shook her head and looked the other way
And then she said, I've met your type before
For me you're all the same, you're such a bore
Oh no, don't make no promises
Oh no, your body can't keep
Next day, can you believe, she was at the show
She said, hey man, you're great and she took me home
She started to undress, what a shock to see
Padded bra, blonde wig, not much left for me
Oh no, don't make no promises
Oh no, your body can't keep
Oh no, don't make no promises
Oh no, your body can't keep
Oh no, don't make no promises
Oh no, your body can't keep
Oh no, don't make no promises
Oh no, your body can't keep
song performed by by Scorpions
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Smile
At a cafe in Liverpool I sat eating bacon butty
washed down with milky tea, wife had left me
and I was feeling glum. A woman at a far table
looked at me and smiled. An overcast day, felt
as the sun had come out. I didn’t know what to
say or do so I looked out of the window rain.
Her boyfriend came, they left, but she sent me
another smiling glance
Knew I would be OK.
poem by Oskar Hansen
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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A Merry Dance
I never once suspected
On the day we said 'I do'
That you might be really saying
'I'll do what I want to do! '
You started coming home late.
Work commitments, so you said.
But the hairs caught in your collar
Didn't come from your wife's head!
And the lipstick that I saw there
Isn't my favourite hue.
The perfume that still lingered,
That's someone else's, too.
So I made a firm decision
To find out where you meet.
I'd follow you to her doorstep.
Catch you being indiscreet.
I waited in the street below,
Saw your shadows on the blind,
Your bodies twined together.
I thought I'd lose my mind!
So I walked up to her front door
And was just about to knock,
When I noticed the little plaque
That was nailed above the lock.
It read 'I've got the patience
If you'd care to take a chance.
Come to me for salsa lessons.
Let me teach you how to dance! '
Suddenly it all made sense!
You'd mentioned that, since school,
You'd felt you'd like to learn to dance
But were afraid to feel a fool.
It's me that feels a fool right now,
A fool to doubt your love.
I left the building quietly,
Thanking the lord above,
That you, my love, will never know
How close I'd come making
The biggest mistake of my whole life!
I can't stop my hands from shaking!
I'll go home now and cook up a storm
Prepare your favourite meal.
To show you how much I appreciate
The way you make me feel!
And as the years roll on and on,
I'll be the perfect wife.
I promise to make you happy,
And to trust you my whole life!
poem by Dawn Ferrett
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Rachel and You and The Day Trip
It was a day trip out
to some seaside place
arranged by the Gospel church
for kids whose parents
were poor
and having got on the coach
you sat in a seat
by the window
and waved at your mother
standing on the pavement
along Rockingham Street
and she waved back
then this girl sat beside you
who you didn't know
and she smiled and said
all right if I sit here?
sure
you said
and looked back out
at your mother
and waved again
and she waved back
and you thought
who is this girl?
and why is she
sitting next to me?
and she looked at out
the window
and waved to her mother
who started talking
to your mother
and they both waved back
to you and the girl
and you said
do you want to sit
by the window?
and she said
ok yes that'd be nice
and so she got out
and you got out
then she got in
and sat
by the window
and you sat
down beside her
and then the coach
started up
and drove off
and you both waved
at your mothers
until they were out of sight
and the girl turned
and said
I'm Rachel
this is my first time
to the seaside
and you said
you can walk around
with me if you want to
and she said
that'd be good
I don't know
anyone else here
and so she did
all day
walked around with you
along the beach
and on the sands
making sandcastles
and in the cafe
where they took you all
for a meal
of fish and chips
and she talked
and talked
and smiled
and laughed
and once she took
hold of your hand
and it seemed
for a while
that she was happy
at least it seemed so
by the width of her smile.
poem by Terry Collett
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I Looked All Around
I looked all around and asked: is this all there is?
What in the world do I have to give?
I looked around and I saw the beauties of the trees
And then I heard the humming of the bees.
I looked around and I saw the rivers and the streams
Then I thought- life is not what it seems.
We have four legged animals running all around
Every conceivable creature I know can be found.
We have birds of flight, with their wings of might
My oh my! What a glorious sight.
Creatures that crawl above and below the ground
Some are quiet, while others make some sounds.
Then I looked at the ocean and it was
A beautiful bluish green
A sight which had to be seen.
Then I looked up to the skies
And watched the clouds floating by.
The sun a bright yellowish white
What a beautiful sight.
I thought again: what do I have to give?
And a thought flashed through my mind
The LORD made all this beauty that I see
But the most beautiful thing he made was you and me.
He gave us a shell which we call a body
And we walk straight and tall.
Then he gave us a soul, a brain, and a heart.
And this was the start.
He told us that we could use all three
It depends on you and me.
With this he added one more thing “ choice”.
A Brain to decide which way to go
A Soul with every feeling known to man
This was all of GODS plan.
Then he gave us the Heart to store all the feelings
That the soul did hold.
What do I have to give?
The answer is plain to see
I give my love to GOD
And then humanity.
poem by Louis Rams
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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She Loved Me; I Loved Her Not-Chapter Two
Audrey stood in front of the mirror that night
with the radio on staring at her body
in just in her bra and panties
evaluating her body, comparing her body,
her hair, her mouth, her behind
to Carly's
putting tissue paper in her bra cups
trying to get them look like Carly's breasts
puffing out her behind
pouting her lips
trying on a shade of lipstick
of lip gloss
that matched the kinds Carly wore.
She put her shortest shirt
thinking to hem to make it shorter
but not too short;
She didn't want to look cheap;
she would have to hide it in her backpack to get it out of the house.
She would have to change in the girl's bathroom at school
hoping no one would notice how her clothing had changed
that no one would notice and tell her parents,
or worse report her to the principal.
She didn't want people to start to talking about her
that would be mortifying
rumors would start
boys would start to think she was easy
and some of the girls would say she was a tramp or "fast."
Lots of girls at school wore short skirts but if she Audrey
wore one
people would notice,
her reputation would get ruined.
She looked at the skirt in the mirror
to see if her thighs,
now exposed,
looked fat or were too thick.
She stared at them not being able to tell
after all
she was not used to seeing her thighs in a short skirt.
She went to her closet to retrieve a top,
a white top,
because she felt that would not draw as much attention
buttoning up the front, with tiny pearl buttons.
staring at herself in the mirror;
examining her tissue-paper breasts
inside the top,
noting to her embarrassment
that her breasts looked lumpy.
Lumpy breasts would be a problem.
She pulled out a pair of socks from her closet
placing them carefully inside her bra.
They looked ok
but she would have to sew them in|
to be sure they didn't fall out
She dropped the socks on the dark carpet
and went to the closet to look again for something else.
She decided on cotton,
cotton
which she tore from the shoulder pads of the suit her aunt had given her
for her visit to New York
her junior year.
She took the shoulder pads out and tired them on,
turning slowing in front of the mirror to see how they looked.
They were perfect
and she breathed a gentle sigh of relief.
Now the eyes and the makeup;
She had some
and some she had borrowed
from her mother's makeup kit
and some she had gotten from her girlfriend, Mary
offering the excuse she had seen in a magazine some new things which could be done
with makeup.
Mary didn't ask any questions.
Arrayed before her was eyeliner, blush, powder,
and tweezers for eyebrow plucking,
gloss, foundation, false eyebrows, eyelash thickener, sparkles,
and something Mary had given her which she had no clue as to what it could be used for
(It turned out something which could thicken your newly plucked eyebrows.)
She never wore makeup before, at least to school
and it was suddenly dawning on her
that showing up with all this makeup was bound to be noticed.
She turned from the mirror, feeling dazed
going to sit on the side of her bed
realizing
that all this,
her plan
was dishonest
and not her.
It was too phony and people would see through it.
If her love was steady and strong
she thought
I would see that in time
eventually
or not.
But she would not pretend to be a person different than she was
because that would be obvious to everyone,
me and to herself.
If love was to triumph here Audrey concluded
it could not be based upon makeup and tight clothes.
She then decided what she would do, closing the make-up cases intinctively understanding it was an important decision in her young life.
The next day she told me what she had decided to do and I listened
not reacting
surprised
just looking at her for a moment
stunned
as she told me the details
of the night before,
The makeup, the short skirt
the tight blouse,
all of it.
To be continued
poem by Lonnie Hicks
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Tracing My Steps
I'm back from insanity.
I'm back to being sane.
What I'm wishing
is that it can remain.
I don't know
and I can't say
if what I'm feeling
can ever stay.
For in my body
there's a wound.
It's like a piano
that needs to be tuned.
It doesn't leave
an outward sign,
not a scar,
not a line
that anyone
can ever see
except for you
if you see me.
But I will try
to hide it well
so no one else
can ever tell.
I must pray every day
and make a vow
to keep my feelings
inside somehow.
Please God
make me strong.
Help me try
to get along
without him.
poem by Edwina Reizer
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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