Poets
and lovers
what
did we learn
in
rooms filled with smoke
inside
this
ugly tenement of a world?
Raging
against heaven
why
do we exist
and
can
any singular purpose
be
pursued
when
all about is duality?
Trying
to rewind time
return
to Sherwood
or
the old woman
who
lived in a shoe
where
the sounds of
grunting
and moaning
could
be heard at all times
of
the day and night
as
her laces came undone
Boning our brains out
with
assumed names
under
an ashamed moon
your
eggs unprotected
and
my brain fried
(You're
catching on
to
how it works--
let's
spend some time
with
grandma Esperanza)
These
masters
these
devils
The
desperate wannabes
at
the karaoke bar
All
is self-interest
just as I told you
by the riverbank
when we were seventeen
revealing
too much
of
a universe
already
transparent
to
my eyes
giving too much away
spoiling
the game
And
yet we play on
looking at the world
through rose wine-
colored glasses
raising them high
looking at the world
through rose wine-
colored glasses
raising them high
one more time
just to honor a memory
not totally forgotten
the fairy tales are gone, once the scales fall from the eyes...its all self interest is def a sad commentary of our age...
ReplyDeletegood to see you tonight sir...and to revisit...to keep playing...here's to hoping those memories dont fade completely...nor our purpose get so muddled we cant verse it....clink
DeleteWOW! One of your best, Timo. I can see the youth at seventeen, already somewhat disillusioned. Oh that old woman in the shoe, she made me smile (and has obviously had a lot more fun than I have!)The juxtaposition of the past and the present, so much less golden than our dreams. I love the honoring of a "memory not completely faded." Absolutely fantastic writing!
ReplyDeletelove this one, Tim. somehow it seems like it could be sung by Jonathan Richman.
ReplyDelete... the next mouse is just around the corner ... catch it ...
ReplyDeleteBRIAN: How true.
ReplyDeleteSHERRY: Yeah, but the old woman in a shoe had all those kids--so when the fun is done, comes the drudgery and the crazy making!
MARIAN: I see what you mean--LOL
CAT: Are you suggesting I should chase a little tail?
Hi Tim ~~ It's too early for my brain get too deep here. Next toughest to tenement living is rooming house digs. For my Army security clearance I could not fit all of the places I had lived since leaving home on one sheet of paper.
ReplyDeleteThe poor woman in the shoe. Her "laces came undone" as easily as if they were fastened with velcro.
..
Yes yes...cool... and somehow the train of thoughts match the very underlying thoughts on which I wrote today.... thanks for the visit...
ReplyDeleteJIM: They certainly did...thanks for the visit!
ReplyDeleteSREEJA: Yes, I noticed that too...great minds think alike!
keeping
ReplyDeleteto the old saw,
my self rule of morals,
each hallowed purpose, rule and aim,
condemned.
__The kept memories of proper civility... can be the source of a law suit today, In God we trust; The Pledge of Allegiance; Truth?
__Sometimes... 'tis best I remain hidden. _m
I am very partial to poems which question the poetic process and purpose. This is top drawer stuff!
ReplyDeleteMAGYAR: Thanks, my friend. You ain't hidden, but you are deep!
ReplyDeleteKERRY: Much appreciated. Always more questions than answers, don't you think?
The last four stanzas just picked up pace and rock and rolled! Wow.
ReplyDeleteLove asking why we poets do what we do....yet when it all comes down to it we continue doing it. :)
ReplyDeleteMARGARET: Thank you so much, dahlink!
ReplyDeleteSUSIE: Here's lookin' at you, kid.
Timoteo, I try to keep those fairy tales alive in my heart, but sometimes the world is so damned harsh and people so damned brash, it is hard to do. Excellent write.
ReplyDeletePamela
I wonder if poets are born that way--I know that good psychotherapists are---and maybe there is a relationship between poetry and therapy--I don't know why I am thinking that after reading this--needed therapy at 17--maybe still--just trying to make sense of stuff--loved, loved this!
ReplyDeletePAMELA: You have maintained that sense of innocence in your heart, and that is lovely.
ReplyDeleteAUDREY: Thanks for your take on this...yes, maybe a relationship between poets and therapists, or in some cases, maybe there should be!
Timoteo, you listed just about every person I steer clear of, without listing a single politician, BRAVO!
ReplyDeleteIt's true, this rant. "This ugly tenement of a world." And yet I maintain there is more beauty than ugliness - not diminishing your thoughts at all. Ugliness of the kind you describe deserves to have a strong light on it. It's all about being AWARE, right?
Thanks for a thought-provoking write, Timo. Amy
Ah, but those memories keep us young...
ReplyDeleteAMY: Thanks so much for that.Yes,of course, in a world of duality, we could not have ugliness without beauty...the saving grace of being here.
ReplyDeleteM.J. : Yep, jest sittin' on the back porch spittin' watermelon seeds at the chickens and thinkin' 'bout those old memories.
Been there, seen that and avoided buying the t-shirt. What an engaging poem written in a way that we each relate even though we have different experiences.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this howling rant, watching dreams just melt into blended concoctions of deniability!
ReplyDelete"And yet we play on
for old times sake
just to honor a memory
not completely faded" !!!!!!! Excellent write !!!