#12
a list poem
Family
mom and dad
brothers and sisters
aunts and uncles
cousins, grandparents
and more
and those unrelated
special people
friends and others
Muscle Cars…
gear head I am
love muscle cars
i do
My Dad would
dragrace in Riverside
we were Colored
in those days
memories of my
Mom looking like
Dorothy Dandridge
in Jackie O glasses
us eating a crusty
hotdog and orange
bottled pop
Uncle Bailey standing by
Momma smoking Kools
sis and bro in tow on his hood
Daddy flying down the strip!
Red,red,yellow,yellow,
pause, GREEN !!!
Roaring engines
mountains of smoke
and the sun setting….
Another Saturday night
Momma had enough
of blown engines
your girls are half blind
Glasses
his dreams
Three little kids and a wife
Muscle cars still turn
my head
vrooom
go
Daddy
go
The Creature (16)
Arctic temperatures
did little to slow
the creature.
As the scientist became
thinner, weaker,
ematiciated,
the creature
seemed to grow, embolded.
With gloveless hands
the creature
whipped the dogs pulling the sled.
The creature’s
hideous eyes didn’t water
from the blistering cold.
The creature
leaned to the right
then left
guiding the sled
as much with weight
as with training.
Frostbite fled
the creature,
in fear of muscle tissue
and blood vessels.
Skinless,
the creature
peered over his shoulder
and saw his impending capture.
This ice, he thought,
this ice will save me.
14. Tomatoes and such!
Evening time was the best
Tomatoes were ripe and ready
For plucking
Steam them and squash them
Put them into Jars
Don’t let the Children know
That inside each jar is also
A bit of kindness, a dash of smile
A handful of love and tomatoes and such
Loft
The lights would flicker on and off,
The room turned into a loft.
The walls would slip away,
And I would say,
‘Leave me alone to pray.’
To pray that the darkness would go away…
The Caffeinator
I really struggled with this prompt. I don't really know any famous movie characters that well that I can use their typical wordings, without which it's hard to write in that character's voice. I was about to give up and go off-prompt, but then I remembered a visit to a coffee shop in the town I live in Wales, where a female police officer popped her head around the door and produced the folowing scene, very reminiscent of Arnie, so I've used that. This scene relates to the female Terminator in movie 3 of the series. I'm afraid I've not done it as a personna poem but hopefully that's ok :)
The Caffeinator
The street surges against my back
until the doors
part
to yield cappuccino.
Tables full of half term kids,
the steam machine
wheezing like and asthmatic air raid siren.
And the policewoman came in,
in search of something,
leaving like the Terminator,
“I'll pop back later,”
leaving the frothing milk
to breathe again.
Hour Sixteen, Persona poem
Halfling
In wordy deceit my prize was won,
a cunning power came to me, precious
and rare. I engaged in word play with
a poor twisted thing, alone and insane
for so very long. We traded our best riddles,
my life for a ring of gold.
Back and forth we bantered,
of eggs, teeth, and time,
until inspiration no longer came.
He could not guess what lay within
the pocket of my waistcoat, and so
rather than be eaten, with my new
found power, I disappeared, into what
” . . . cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
cannot be heard, cannot be smelt,”
what ” . . . lies behind stars, and under hills,
and empty holes, fills. It comes first,
and follows after, ends life, kills laughter.”
Back to the light of the surface I stole,
never suspecting the havoc and hate
I gleefully left behind.
16~17
…I’m large and in charge
Kissing women of green…
…New worlds before me
I travel unseen…
…My best friend so stoic
His enemy the warm one…
…A flash from the skies?
Nope. It came from my ray gun…
13. What If Everyone was Blue?
There was a little town filled with clowns
All were blue and all were kind
Everyone was good at making everyone laugh
No kids cried ‘coz all the adults tried
Making funny faces when someone cried
They lived in houses of one kind
Two rooms in a flat laid lengthwise
On the road running for miles and miles
Maybe we should also try going blue once in a while
The Blue people never cry
The Blue people never lie