It Seems the English
It seems the English got it all backward:
Short teas, and long narrative poems
Until your teeth fell back into your skull
And the sun dipped deep into the Thames.
Whereas, the Japanese knew all along
The correct way, if only you had asked:
Tea, to be correct, goes on for hours
With a strictly regimented hierarchy of serving
While the poetry is an average three lines apiece
But of such profound observation
As to occupy the entirety of the tea time
And even provide material for ensuing dreams.
poem by Patti Masterman
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I Wrote My Poems Today
I WROTE MY POEMS TODAY
I wrote my poems today-
I should rest
But unrest is in me
And perhaps only Poetry
Will make me calm.
It is after all easier
To live with the error
in one small poem
Easier to discard it
Than in trying to confront and correct
A long work of the past.
With a few lines
I escape and pretend
I am doing something worthwhile-
So if my poetry is a poetry of confession
Today it is perhaps a confession
of my cowardice and irresponsibility.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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The Poems Bring Me Back To Myself
THE POEMS BRING ME BACK TO MYSELF
The poems bring me back to myself
I begin to live again –
Without the poems
I would have to make a new life-
I do not know if I am capable of it-
A life without poems without poetry
With other words perhaps-
I am too old to slowly write the long narrative
I never was capable of before
Little poems
Little lines
What I am capable of now.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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The Poems Written About Poetry
The poems written about Poetry
Seemed to be self- indulgent and self- serving,
The Poet worshipping what he does
And making himself Holy-
But in some other way
They were simply Explorations
Efforts at understanding the Art
And improving the Music-
They were in their own quiet way small adventures
And gifts to other would- be- poets
And lovers of intense lines-
The poems written about the poetry
Were small additions to a long history
Poems about poems-
One kind of poem
In a world
Where there is no end to more and many.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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Myself
if you think that i am having long hours
because of poetry
you are not completely correct
part of me is also darkness
the rest is light
there is this part of me that tells
you half of humanity
the rest is what i do not wish to talk about.
if you think that what i have in mind is pure poetry
you are mistaken.
i am waiting for something not poetic
it is on the process of an upload and since i am a free user
it will take a long time.
a very long time, and i in my poverty of spirit
assumes the courage of having to wait
for a long time
for a very long long time
and then when the upload is complete
i click it to play
and then i watch the show
its characters talk about part of myself
my secret dreams my hidden wishes
there is mixture of a drink
of illusion and reality
of fantasy and fact
but if you think, having discovered this secret
that i am all that
you are also mistaken
for part of me is also the sunrise between two breasts of the hills
the rainbow that extends between the thighs of two rivers
and the the white dove of the Ark
that brings the message of an incoming peace.
if you think however that i am harmony
there you are again
you are mistaken.
shall i repeat my old lines for you again?
now you have it, you are right, in this aspect
for i am this and i am that
i am never complete and i am also never empty.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Politically Correct
If you sing out Baa Baa Blacksheep,
It will have a terrible effect,
Who tells us that this song is bad,
The Politically Correct.
Enter our country illegally,
Then show us no respect,
Will we send you straight back, no,
It's not,
Politically Correct.
We're told not to smack our children,
As their minds it will affect,
That is why they run amok,
Thanks,
The Politically Correct.
If you have a criminal mind,
Then join a violent sect,
We won't hold this against you,
We're,
Politically Correct.
If you break in to a house or bank,
Your booty to collect,
We'll put you up if you get caught,
That's,
Politically Correct.
If you're addicted to illegal drugs,
We'll rush in to protect,
We'll say you are a poor wee soul, why?
It's,
Politically Correct.
You can take cocaine and smoke your hash,
Illegal drugs you can inject,
We're not allowed to stop you because,
It's not,
Politically Correct.
If you say Shhhh! Black or White,
Then I'm afraid you can expect,
To be told you're out of order by,
The Politically Correct.
How dare you celebrate Christmas,
That's a time we must all reject,
All Christians are now redundant,
Who says?
The Politically Correct.
We must now rewrite our history,
Our past must now be checked,
We cannot say we won the war,
It's not,
Politically Correct.
Politicians the world over,
Have their fiddles go unchecked,
Why? Because they make the rules,
They're,
The Politically Correct.
Terrorists murder ever day,
On our system this does reflect,
Are we allowed to hang them, no,
We must be,
Politically Correct.
If we try to deport these murdering scum,
We're told we must not neglect,
The fact we're placing them in danger,
That's not,
Politically Correct.
If we hurt their feelings and make them cry,
We must forget those lives they wrecked,
Try to be understanding,
It's,
Politically Correct.
We spend millions on interpreters,
But we're not allowed to object,
We can't force them to speak our dialogue,
Say,
The Politically Correct.
The government now want to seek me out,
I know now that I must defect,
For what I've put in writing's not,
‘' Politically Correct''
Postmodern Light
If you don't support ‘progress’
You're not politically correct
Though often it is pure foulness
A perfect product of the imperfect.
If you believe in freedom
Yes, you're politically correct
But one's liberty is another's serfdom
Power in the hand of the elect.
If you're not a feminist
You're not politically correct
So do not swing your fist
Even when you are erect.
Your values and tradition
Are politically correct, perhaps,
If your divorces keep going on
Imbued with other family mishaps.
If you're not a ‘postmodern’
You're not politically correct
So just raise high your lantern
And irradiate for stage effect.
poem by Paul Hartal
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Lost In Faith
i cried late nights a
long time ago but no one
came to save me each night
i prayed but none of my
prayers was heard
i alone knew where i stood
i alone knew the capability
of this beast...i strech out
and reach for your hand
but fell short when no man
grabbed up on to me
i fell for decayeds back to back
and stood after all in my dreams
i found peace and joy
but now of this can follox me home
and for that my faith is few
poem by Robert Roberts
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This Is No Haiku
This is no haiku one can expect.
Expressed in one line Japanese verse.
Or separated into lines,
To give an English speaking mind...
Time to find profound definition.
To sit to meditate upon and reflect.
Seventeen sound units,
Divided into three parts...
Five units to start.
Seven in the middle.
And five to end.
With given specific syllables,
To have the reader read again.
Without comprehending,
The meaning a haiku intends.
This is no haiku one can expect.
Expressed in one line Japanese verse.
Or separated into lines,
To give an English speaking mind...
Time to find profound definition.
To sit to meditate upon and reflect.
Although not haiku,
Two shoes tied to one foot...
Does not make the other,
Less aware of obstacles.
Two shoes ties to a pair of feet,
Makes it easier to walk alone
On an adventured path.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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In The Manner Of Borges I Write Poems In My Old Age
IN THE MANNER OF BORGES I WRITE POEMS IN MY OLD AGE
In the manner of Borges I write poems in my old age
And dream that they are not only imitations
Of poems written by others
When we all were young.
Instead I go on now in the darkness of the night
Because the fear of what will be
Is always so deep in me
It does not need Poetry or Happiness or any other Meaning
Outside itself.
We are small sands drifting on the edge of stars
Lesser beings of a time we will never know
All that we have done comes back to us over and over again
As if we never were
I don’t believe I will ever write Borges lines
He wrote them in his own imagined words
And I must in my own little life
Suffer to the end of time
All I have not been
And never will be.
God Who is Good
God of Love
You gave me so much
You did not have to give me Poetry also.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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Did You Understand It?
You've written something with several typographical errors.
And I question the correctness of your language usage.
Plus it had been written in mixed tenses.
I read it more than once.
And after the third reading it finally dawned on me,
You may have done this intentionally.
'Did you understand it?
What it was I tried to do? '
I'm not sure.
'How would you critique it? '
I don't know if I can.
'And you read it three times? '
At least.
'Why should I bother to correct it?
If 'you' read something I wrote...
THREE times?
And you have never expressed any interest before?
In anything I've ever done?
Why should I correct it?
This is the first time you and I have communicated,
In years.
Who knew...
All it took was a few errors,
To get you to give me what I have been wanting.
Here...
Read this! '
Your first and third lines rhyme.
But the rest of it...
Well,
I think this is a bunch of garbage.
'Thank you.
And all this time,
You had me believing...
You didn't care.'
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Typographical Errors
Typographical errors,
I try to avoid.
Some I leave,
To create their own noise.
And something suspected,
To be out of place...
Usually gets more attention,
Than something correct...
One wishes to say.
And there are times it takes me,
All day to imperfect what is correct.
Especially if I want to emphasize,
My own perfection has defects.
I know! I know, that's hard to believe...
That I would take 'all' day to imperfect what is correct.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Cursed By Trudeau's Charter Of Rights
Sleep-walking nation with soft-on-crime judges sitting on the bench,
Some are educated even bilingual in English and French,
But too many are politically correct to a fault,
The few that are real good never get a media exult.
Are prisoners given easy early release because of small jails?
Is this significant or should we is bother with details?
Why does the media believe that everything is fine?
It’s all politically correct and nothing in decline.
Unfortunately we are cursed they with Trudeau’s Charter of Rights,
Which politicians and the Supreme Court cannot rewrite.
At least, that’s what they say, which doesn’t seem correct
Is there such a thing as a dictator that we could elect?
Dec 26th 2010
poem by James Bredin
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Canada Needs Bigger Jails
It’s obvious Canada needs more, bigger and better jails,
Too many convicted criminals getting easy and quick bails,
Lenient conditional sentences and early release,
And for repeat criminal offenders, this should have to cease.
Released after serving one third of their light sentence time,
Seldom mentioned in the media, reason for increase in crime,
System is politically correct and given great respect,
No one in their vast organization would mention neglect.
Serving time in half-way houses around the corner down the street,
And in no time it seems, their short prison sentence is complete,
Our lenient justice system seems to have gone off the deep end,
The jails are obviously not big enough for all those they apprehend.
And they don’t mind doing jail time because the system is so soft,
Treated like a hymn-singing gentleman up in the choir loft,
So jail time is more of an inconvenience than anything else,
They might sometimes feel a little but slight repulse.
Feb 14th,2011
poem by James Bredin
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Average Guy
I aint no christian or no born again saint
I aint no cowboy or marxist d.a.
I aint no criminal or reverend cripple from the right
I am just your average guy, trying to do whats right
Im just your average guy
An average guy
I am just your average guy
Im just an average guy
Average guy, Im just your average guy
Im average looking and Im average inside
Im an average lover and I live in an average place
You wouldnt know me if you met me face to face
Im just your average guy
Average guy
Average guy
Im just an average guy
I worry about money and taxes and such
I worry that my livers big and it hurts to the touch
I worry about my health and bowels
And the crime waves in the street
Im really just your average guy
Trying to stand on his own two feet
Im just your average guy
Im just your average guy
Im just your average guy
Average guy
Average looks, average taste
Average height, an average waist
Average in everything I do
My temperature is 98.2
Im just your average guy
An average guy
Average guy
Im just an average guy
Average guy
Im just your average guy
Im just your average guy
Im just your average guy
Average
song performed by by Lou Reed
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Always The Poems In Me
Always the poems in me-
Saying themselves over and over
Returning to lines learned long ago
Or lines learned with more difficulty in old age-
Always the poems in me-
While my own poems written
And forgotten
As if only
Poems of a single occasion
The time of their writing-
Always the poems in me-
The poems which others will have in them after me
Poems not my own.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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Seriously...Poetry
Most publishers would wish
That those who indulge in the literary
Utilize correct English
Considered seriously...poetry.
So refrain from 'u' when meaning 'you'
Never use 'gonna' for 'going to'
Specially never 'ma' for 'my'
And don't write 'wanna' for 'want to'.
And for those who think that they're smart,
Who lace their poems with curses
They show little respect for the art
With inadequate language in their verses.
Copyri ght Cynthia Buhain-Baello
February 23,2010
Philippines
poem by Cynthia Buhain-Baello
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Lifted From Descriptive Restrictions
What is this thing called poetry?
Is it depictions...
Of vignettes connected.
Bridged between something said profound.
Recited as a sonnet...
With emotions sat upon it.
Exciting enough to be passed around?
Many try to describe poetry,
With an intellect approach...
Hoping to dull
Diverse interpretations,
With meters, tempo, rhyme
And lines counted!
Learned by rote and blurted.
Regurgitated from memory!
Can true poetry be defined without rhyme?
Can thoughts unconnected but colorized,
And flavored to moisten
Be the choice...
Of those who prefer their poetry moist?
Even though uncomprehending,
The meaning or intention of clues planted.
Seeded by the writer
Delighted to tease with mystery, sex
Or emotional pain aimed at the reader!
Can true poetry be defined,
As heartfelt expressions
Written to describe what then
Is in one's mind.
And who is to say there is a correct way
To reveal what one has to say with or without rhyme.
When those times come to pour a flow
That arrives and awaits the rush.
And thrusting that wish to be expressed as is!
What is this?
That has to find,
Poetic lines.
Requested or not!
When all it wants to do,
Is be delivered for what it is!
Searching for an accepted way...
In a style one owns,
Like none other conveys...
And lifted from descriptive restrictions,
To expand the demands of understanding!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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I Lost The Music Of My Poetry
I LOST THE MUSIC OF MY POETRY
I lost the music of my poetry
I tried to hear it again
In old lines of my own,
Or in the lines of more musical poets-
Tehillim and Kohleth
Stevens and Keats, Hopkins Wordsworth and Dickinson-
Shakespeare-
But I heard no music of my own
Perhaps I have never really had
A music of my own.
Perhaps all I have had
Is what I have here-
Short lines of prose
Which also have their rhythm-
But are not true poems
And certainly do not sing together
As my soul would.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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John Masefield He Wrote Long Stories In Rhyme
For many years England's Poet Laureate but that's going back in time
John Masefield he wrote long stories in rhyme
True genius of him none could deny
His great poems to his greatness testify,
In the Literary World John Masefield held in high esteem
Of his era perhaps the poet supreme
As a young man as a deck hand he spent some time at sea
And much of the bigger World out there he did see
His Saltwater Ballads his ticket to fame
And in poetry his became a household name
His last remains in Nature's bosom lay
But his long narrative poems are read and enjoyed today
Far from England's shore by many a Masefield fan
He lives in his poems the great Ledbury man.
poem by Francis Duggan
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My poems is not Poetry
My Poems are not Poetry
Poetry rhythm is essential part
Communicative act of rhythms
Where words created music
An effect on the reader’s and listener
Words beginning with the same letter
And achieve a poetically effect.
My Poems has no rhythms
For the first time I don’t know
What to say and how to show.
Many words is not my style
Let me say, I like your smile
I don’t think I should like you,
Unfortunately I do.
I'm not sure now how to write
I lost my idea how, where words
Are used in away similar
Creating Music, where you find
Languages of rhymes
I write Prose but not Poetry
Using a regular rhythm
Where vast majority
Of languages spoken and written.
I try to be a barn, the muses were believed and inspire
I try to hard without success,
you already know, I guess.
Anyhow, it doesn’t matter
Usually I do not write
Things like this, I never tried,
for the first time I don’t know
what these lines should say or show.
Allegory, metaphor equated
Meaning lie outside the narrative
Acrostic phase when read together
Alliteration words same letter for poetical effect
Satire is a form of humour
Limerick is a short humorous poem.
And Honestly, I don’t regret
Things I did and words I said.
7. January 2008
poem by Mary Wismer
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