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The Pen is Mightier than the Sword

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Posted

All works © Psimon 2003

 

To be a man

*****************

The people dance,

without money, without prejudice.

 

How curious. I recognized one of them.

She used to be mine, now no more.

Love dies... or was it simply lust

that dies and love that remains?

I can never remember.

Whichever it is, it goes

and the departure is never pretty.

Lusty urges give way

to poisonous attack after attack,

on and on, until one or both

cry Enough!

I suspect it is this capitulation,

this laying down of arms,

that will drive a man to ruin.

How can a true man permit

such a change of heart

and still call himself a man?

What benefits are there in such a

cowardly retreat?

We, as men, must rage against this

weakening of our manhood.

We must!

 

But, yet again, I do not.

And she walks away from me.

Again.

Nothing to do now but go home.

Alone.

What is it about women?

Can't live with 'em... pass the beer nuts.

 

 

Free

********

Know that I must be free.

 

Watch my life seep through the warm glass

Feel the rage slip from my weakened grasp

Touch my eyes and close the windows of my soul

Taste the salty water of my final tears

Hear the soft sigh of the last breath escaping my lips

 

Hear the wail of a mother, plaintive cry

Taste the cucumber sandwiches, they're lovely

Touch the cold brass handles as you take my weight

Feel the pain of a heart, broken and torn

Watch me lowered slowly, return me to Earth's bosom

 

Watch a family gather at the headstone

Feel the rain beating down on your hunched shoulders

Touch the soft petals of the pretty flowers, fresh each year

Taste your tears as they flow afresh with each memory

Hear the rain striking the neatly mowed grass at your feet

 

Hear the inquest report, read dispassionately

Taste the bitter coffee in the sidewalk cafe downtown

Touch the photo you still carry in your wallet

Feel the love I could never give you in this life

Watch the people hurry past, oblivious to your pain.

 

Know that at last I am free.

 

 

On a pale horse - Part 1

*****************************

When a life is on the line,

his, hers, another,

a man bares his soul.

Reduced to near-hysterical tears,

he confesses every sin

he has commited in his past

and pre-confesses to anything

he may likely do in his future.

 

His confessional?

 

A phone booth.

 

No curtains or sliding wood divider

to maintain his privacy -

his confession before God,

his maker, through the conduit

of God's representative on this

ball of land, sea and sky.

 

His priest?

 

A phone.

 

Where is the warm, human heart

that will offer him support

in his hour of need?

Nowhere to be found in the cold

voice at the other end of the line.

A plain voice. A killer's voice.

On a pale horse voice.

 

His sin?

 

A life built on lies.

 

 

Salt

*******

I was your salt, your flavoring.

You said that life was tasteless

without me, bland and boring.

But that was then.

 

Now I am your meatloaf - your everyday.

You say that life is tedious

with me, bland and boring.

This is now.

 

I have tried to flavor myself

You say that I should stop

trying to dress mutton as lamb.

This is me now.

 

I was your salt.

Now I am your old chewing gum,

tasteless, to be spat out and

trampled on by men.

 

Enjoy your new, fresher meal.

I hope you choke on every mouthful of her.

 

 

 

Equilibrium

***************

Acolyte of Order

Priestess of Purity

Cleric of Truth

 

Balance Keeper

 

Father of Lies

Mother of Sin

Son of Chaos

 

 

 

Coming home

***********************

It's been a while, but now I'm back.

With time to stand, despite the lack

of bold new verse, amongst my peers

once more, my friends. For all the years

must seem as naught to age and thus

I greet the days ahead of us.

 

I stoop as time doth bend me low

but rest assured, no more I'll go.

Yes, here I've found a home sweet home,

a place of rest, a well read tome.

A place I call to mind at times

of chaos noise and madness chimes.

 

For here my head can find its peace

and savor words, most sweet release.

 

 

 

 

What use words?

*********************

If I were to write of my love,

what words could possibly express

her wondrous qualities?

 

I could try, in vain, to describe

her soft skin, clean, smelling sweet

as a sparkling rosé, hints of cherry

and strawberry intertwined,

or, in moments of passion, slick with sweat

musty with desire, salty taste.

Wasted words. So wide of the mark.

 

I may attempt to speak of her eyes -

they drown me at every glance in their

hazel hues, softly rustling autumn leaves,

gentle-breeze-blown, tumbling over

one another as her gaze shifts this way then that.

I am swept away on that fall wind,

gathered up in the arms of the season,

laid to rest there in her eyes.

O' for the words to speak true!

 

Her neck! O' her neck!

I have seen passion, life, pulsing through

her as I steal another furtive look

at that sensual oasis twixt her delicate jaw

and head-at-rest-inviting shoulders.

The sight alone stirs my blood, betrays my lust.

What use are words? I am lost.

 

Her lips? I am a forgotten man! I am no more.

To see her pout is to be lost forever

in the quest to touch them to your own.

The prize for which a man would willingly

lay down his sorry life - just a moment,

just a taste.

 

I cannot go on.

 

My words are as ash in my mouth,

dry and lifeless. They do no justice to her beauty,

her grace - the angelic vision that is my love.

 

What use are words?

Posted

I find free very sensous (that is the right one isn't it? ; ) rather interesting

I loved the bitter but almost humourous romp of Salt. I think you do really well with metaphors.

I thought that on a pale horse was the strongest or at least my favorite, because it uses the metpahor of a confessional in an extremely interesting way. lovely rhytmAlso the last line is very powerful.

Posted

ACK! Sorry, beloved... meant to include these also.

 

These were all entries to a local comp (not the International comp) The poems had to be about local street names.

 

The Block got a 'Highly Commended' - There is an area in the city where all the street names are those of famous poets, hence it is refered to as 'Poets Block'

 

Prizes were 1st, 2nd, 3rd only. One other poem got HC'd, so I think I did ok. :)

Total number of entries was 120.

 

The Block

************

I sit here, the sounds of the valley drifting up to me through sparse winter trees, staring at a blank page while it stares back with a pale, blank expression on it’s face. The page seems expectant, somehow eager - if a page can seem eager - for my thoughts. It must be very disappointed though, because I’ve nothing to give it. I wonder if, in days past, the likes of Milton or Byron had this problem. Perhaps Tennyson sat likewise, head in hands, pondering how Shakespeare, Thackeray or Longfellow got past this terrible affliction. Perhaps I should look to the greatest of my ancestor’s country? Burns would have solved it in a thrice with a whisky and a wee bit ‘o haggis. Trouble is, I don’t drink and I’ve never tried haggis. Yes, it’s hard to write a piece for a competition when you have

 

Poet’s Block.

 

 

ANZAC

***********

I may grow old, but there are so many who will not. Age will not tear them down –

the ravages of time a foe to all but they.

 

When I see the sun’s light fade, will I think of them, lying in the trenches or upon some distant field?

 

As I look to the crest of the eastern hills, enjoying a morning brew of hot, dark coffee, and waiting to greet the sun once more, will their final moments spring to mind?

 

They gave so much – all they had, all they would ever have – so that I could live as I do now; so that I could see my children grow as they will never see theirs.

 

A single day is never enough, though it serves to remind me, lest I forget.

 

I will remember them.

 

 

River Leeway

*************

You’ve done it now, you have.

 

Done what?

 

Stuffed it up.

 

Stuffed what up?

 

The river. It’s supposed to bend the other way just there. You’re really for it now. He’s gonna be well miffed with you. I can tell. I know Him better than you.

 

Oh, is that right? Well I’m sure He’ll let me off. Cut me some slack. Allow some minor difference. You know? I mean, it’s my first time with a river and all, so I’m sure it’ll be alright. What’s a wrong bend in a river between mates, eh?

 

And you even spelt it wrong on the map.

 

What?!

 

It’s meant to be ‘The River Lee’, but you’ve gone and put ‘Riverlea’. No gap and the ‘a’ on the end isn’t right.

 

Well, that’s the way I like it, ok?

That’s my way…

The Riverlea Way!

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