Ode

Ode
by Arthur O’Shaughnessy [1844-1881]

We are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems

With wonderful deathless ditties
We build up the world’s great cities.
And out of a fabulous story
We fashion art empire’s glory:
One man with a dream, at pleasure,
Shall go forth and conquer a crown;
And three with a new song’s measure
Can trample in empire down.

We, in the ages lying
In the buried past of the earth.
Built Nineveh with our sighing,
And Babel itself with our mirth;
And o’erthrew them with prophesying
To the old of the new world’s worth;
For each age is a dream that is dying,
Or one that is coming to birth.

Eternal Call

It's been forever since I've seen you;
An eternity it seems.
Though it has only been a few short years
In the scheme of things.

I cannot recall you clearly,
No matter how I try.
I always feel you watching me,
Guarding me, as my days fly by.

The years have passed I've seen a lot,
I yearn to tell you all.
I have waited oh so patiently,
For your gently call.

It seems I can go no further
Though I try with all my might.
You seem to be just ahead of me.
Somewhere just out of sight.

I'm weary and I stumble,
I feel about to fall.
When I hear you calling to me,
That last eternal call.

Nursery Crhyme

(Humble thanks for the obvious inspiration of my childhood hero Dr. Seuss)

All the Yous down in Youville like spending a lot
And with no care for the future they bought and they bought
They bought You-screens and surround-sounds and big fancy homes
And You-pods and gas-guzzlers and cellular phones

They bought all they could and then bought some more
With the credit cards they got from the Mega-You store
Till they borrowed all the money that they possibly could
And purchased every conceivable You consumable good

Suddenly when there were no Yous left to spend
The sellers became afraid that You shopping would end
And the government and banks both surely knew
Without shopping and buying there’d be nothing to do

So they thought up a plan and they though it up quick
They guessed lending more money would sure do the trick
So they took lots of money and made oversized loans
To put under-financed Yous in overpriced homes

Though the U-financed You’s knew they could not re-pay
The bankers just told them to refinance some day
So they sold them You homes with all the whistles and bells
And promised their homes would simply pay for themselves

Now every You knows that new homes need new stuff
But very few Yous know when enough is enough
So the new financed You’s just kept on spending and spending
And everyone pretended it would go on without ending

And no one thought to save for the rainy days ahead
They just kept on spending and spending instead
Till spending ended one day and the economy began stalling
And chicken-little You proclaimed the sky is now falling

So they all ran right up to the head You Number One
Who said I know what to do to continue You fun
We’ll borrow some billions from right over there
And pass it around and spend it right here

But the Yous were all fed up with You Number One
So they elected You Two to get the job done
Now You Number Two knew just what to do (he said)
We’ll borrow more billions more billions times two

So the Yous borrowed and borrowed from some magical place
While You bankers and brokers slipped away in disgrace
How this all happened they could not understand
As they all cried boo-hoo on their fat pension plans

Now I’m not one to say how this story will end
But it’s obvious the Yous must now borrow to spend
So the Yous will all spend for that is there lot
They’ll spend and they’ll spend whether they earn it or not

And they’ll go on pretending that loans don’t come due
And assume they’ll be paid eventually by much younger Yous
Now I love to borrow money and I love spending too
But I’m not sure if it’s right to borrow it from little Yous

Especially when they are no more than two

Do You
Poem By: Gift Of Noni

I Don't Remember...

I don't remember, any more,
The exact shape of your hands
As I held them in mine,
Caressed them,
Memorized the length of your fingers,
The depth of your calluses.

I don't remember, any more,
Exactly your height, how much
Taller than me
You were, where
My head rested on your chest
When you held me tightly close.

I don't remember, any more,
Your scent, when we lay together
Creating our own
Magic rhythm,
Matching our heartbeats as we
Touched the sky, together.

I don't remember, any more,
The sound of your voice, calling
My name as though
It were a song
Within itself, a precious treasure
You valued with all your being.

And I don't remember, any more,
The color of your eyes, the shape
Of your lips,
Only...
How your eyes crinkled at the corners
And your laugh, as you told me,

"I love you."
Copyright by Ash L. Bennett, 2011

Location, Location, Location

I could have kissed you
under cherry blossoms,
pale petals drifting down
like the trees wanted to
pretend they could be
snowclouds.

I could have kissed you
in the rain, drenched to
our bones and not even
caring that the skies
opened up above us
and tried to wash us out.

I could have kissed you
in a clearing in the most
secluded woods, with
just the sound of wind
rustling through the leaves
and a few voyeuristic
finches peeping at us.

Instead, I kissed you
in the parking lot of a
Waffle House, just shy
of 2 a.m. in the middle
of a hectic week, with
our waitress grinning
at us from the other
side of the window,
because, honestly,
how could I not?

This poem © Gabriel Gadfly. Published May 11, 2011

First Flash

My head had started to hurt again, "Now where would I keep the aspirin," I wondered out loud to myself as I rubbed at my temples ineffectually with my fingers. "For that matter, do I often talk to myself out loud?"

I stood up from where I had been sitting on a comfortable armchair and walked softly down the short hallway. Several rooms branched off and I glanced in them as I walked past. A Study with beautiful bookcases and a large desk. I wold investigate that later I decided. I also passed what looked like a guest room, and then a small bathroom. The last door in the hall turned out to be the master bedroom. It was a neat room, as was the rest of the house. The large bed was covered in a blue comforter and looked soft enough, there was another bookcase, but it appeared to be filled with nic-nacs. I stepped closer to the bookcase and examined a few of the objects, handling each with care before replacing them exactly as I had found them.

Stepping through a door into the bathroom I opened a drawer and pulled out a bottle of aspirin. "I guess it was where I would keep it," I muttered to myself. I filled a glass with water from the sink and washed down the pills.

Hoping that the pills would soon take effect I sat on the edge of the bed and took a closer look around the room. There were a few pictures hung on the walls, and one on the nightstand beside the bed. I picked up the framed photo and examined it closely. It was me. And there was another man that looked very similar. Not old, so it couldn't be my father, but a brother. What's his name I wondered.

I carefully removed the picture from the frame and flipped it over.

To Shane,
The best big brother a guy could ever have asked for.
Love, Adam

"Adam Briarwood. I have a younger brother," I said and smiled despite the fact that I didn't recognize him. I stared hard at the picture and then closed my eyes, willing my mind to see Adam in another setting, something that might trigger a memory.

My mind flashed upon a brief scene, almost painful in it's brightness. I could see Adam walking up a small hill and laughing, he turned to me, opening his mouth to say something when the scene was gone again.

My head was pounding worse than before, but I closed my eyes again, willing the image to return. I don't know how long I stared at the black of the inside of my eyelids, but I was startled when the doorbell rang.

I quickly replaced the picture in the frame and put it back on the night table before swiftly yet silently moving down the hall and to the front door. The bell rang again just as I got there.

I looked through the peep hole and I could see a pretty woman standing on the other side of the door. She had dark brown hair and bright blue eyes that almost seemed ringed in white. She reached out and knocked on the solid wood, "Shane," she called out.

I stepped back from the door and flipped open the lock before pulling the door open.

"Oh Shane!" She woman cried and stepped into the entryway, "I can hardly believe what's happened."

I stepped back from her almost reflexively, putting a little more distance between us. She frowned at this, but didn't say anything about it. However, she did fire questions at me quicker than I could have possibly answered them.

"Wait, wait," I finally said, holding up my hand to stop her talking. "What's your name?" I asked.

She blinked at me in shock, "Shane," she breathed, "when you said that you had amnesia, I didn't think that you meant you had lost everything." Tears had gathered in her eyes.

"Never the less," I said, trying to ignore the guilty feeling for causing her tears, "I don't remember. I don't remember anything. Not me, not you, not this house or anything else. I have messages and messages, all from people who's voices I don't recognize. I have mail and bills from places that I don't remember buying from. I don't know what my favorite color is. I don't know if I'm married, what my job is, or if I like dogs." I was frustrated, and truth be told, a little scared. I took a deep breath after I finished my little rant.

The woman looked at me. "My name is Anna," she said calmly "your favorite color is blue, you're not married, but you were engaged once a long time ago. You work for the government and you like dogs well enough, but you love horses."

"Then Anna, you are?" I asked, leaving it hanging.

"Your sister," she said. "Our brother's name is Adam, who is a few years younger than you, and I am the youngest. Our parents live in Colorado."

I sighed, partially in relief, but also in frustration. There was no way to confirm that anything that she had said was true. It was true that my brother was Adam, but what of the rest of it? Did I really work for the government? And if I did, what part?

I rubbed my eyes, trying to will the world to make sense again.

"If it will help," Anna said and touched my sleeve," you always kept a journal. Ever since we were young. If we can find that it might help you remember things."

I nodded, feeling a large weight lifting from my chest. "Where might I have kept it?" I asked.

Seeing

You don't see me.

You see what you want to see.

I can't see it like you.


I see me......




all of me.



I see what others don't

Nighttime

Shifting shadows in the wind,
Twist and slide. Moving and not.
Moonlight pooling on blades of grass,
Glowing tides on shifting seas of green,
All among the dark.
Dancing like waves upon the bay,
Bordered by the trees.
Crashing surf against the rocky edge,
And moisture on the breeze.
Every rustling leaf, every creak of every branch,
Every single silent sound,
Adds to natures harmonic melody.
Strains of that music drift upon the midnight gusts,
Whispering softly, luring me deeper into the night.
And as I gaze up at endless stars,
The nighttime lullaby beckons me to peaceful sleep,
Wrapped in that gentle calming dark.
And in that sleep I drift to the moon
And out beyond the stars.
And I carry with me my nighttime,
The music, and the shadows of the night.

(written with Adam Floyd Edwards)

Dear World - By Adam Floyd Edwards

Dear World,

You don't know my blackest day, and you don't know the terror of my nights.

Don't pass your judgments and dole your advice. Cease your drowning, mocking calls, and your stony piercing silent stares.

Why the countless voices, the stabbing, creeping words? Why the darkness, cold and numbing? Why this endless screaming void? Why these rampant powers, ever changing?

All these seas of gleaming faces, why then, all these empty spaces? With so many near, why am I yet still alone?

Be silent World, with your constant nagging, I don't want to listen anymore.


-Me

Dear World

Dear world,

Don't you dare judge me.
You haven't walked in my shoes, seen through my eyes, or felt with my heart.

Don't stand there and tell me that I'm not pretty enough, smart enough or brave enough.

Don't stand there and tell me that my opinion doesn't count.Don't tell me that I don't know what it is to hurt, or to love, or what loss is. Don't look at me and value me as nothing because I don't fit the mold.

Don't hate me because I choose my own path or think that I'm a sheep because I believe in a god that loves me and a brother who died to redeem my soul.

Don't say that I don't know what I want, of that I don't understand or that I'm not listening simply because I don't agree with you.

And when I come home dirty at the end of the day, it's because I have worked hard to provide for my family

And when all I want to do is sing at the top of my lungs, it's because I want to forget about my problems for awhile.

And when I dance down the hall, it's because I enjoy it and I don't care what you think.

And sometimes when I cry at night in my bed, it's because I just need to let it all out or I might explode.

And sometimes when I give you a hug, it's because I have nothing more that I am capable of giving. And when I smile at you, it's because I want you to smile too.

Don't judge me world because I am who I am.

Sincerely,
Me