Submissions by JohnnyBlaze
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
has left the building
[ NaPo 2017 ] Only Poets Read Other Poets
A great philosopher, poet
and all around smart-ass
twelveoone
[ pronounced twelve-oh-one ]
said unto me
as we conversed upon
the pinnacle of a Mount Literoticus
"Only poets read other poets."
I held up a stone tablet
carried around for such an occasion
in my backpack
Upon it was chiseled the
Twelfth or Thirteenth Commandment
( can't remember which )
Thou Shalt Not Stereotype!
( I added the exclamation point with a Sharpie )
For all that noise coming out our...
and all around smart-ass
twelveoone
[ pronounced twelve-oh-one ]
said unto me
as we conversed upon
the pinnacle of a Mount Literoticus
"Only poets read other poets."
I held up a stone tablet
carried around for such an occasion
in my backpack
Upon it was chiseled the
Twelfth or Thirteenth Commandment
( can't remember which )
Thou Shalt Not Stereotype!
( I added the exclamation point with a Sharpie )
For all that noise coming out our...
#NaPoWriMo2017
744 reads
2 Comments
[ NaPo 2017] The Poem That Never Was
I don't know about you
but I'm not interested
in reading the same poem
you wrote the day before
written by someone else
the day before that
and so on
There are poems riddled
with forgivable cliches
And then there are poems
cliches in and of themselves
Newbs to the exciting world of poetry
will eventually come to this understanding
and wholeheartedly agree with it
challenging yourself to write
not just a poem every day, but
a poem that never was
...
but I'm not interested
in reading the same poem
you wrote the day before
written by someone else
the day before that
and so on
There are poems riddled
with forgivable cliches
And then there are poems
cliches in and of themselves
Newbs to the exciting world of poetry
will eventually come to this understanding
and wholeheartedly agree with it
challenging yourself to write
not just a poem every day, but
a poem that never was
...
#NaPoWriMo2017
730 reads
5 Comments
[ NaPo 2017 ] A Life Lived In Black And White
My childhood was a not a scary movie
Quite the opposite --- quiet and dull
lived within a maze of Illinois cornfields
When it came to Saturday night
Creature Features, I was front and center
for flicks to the imagination such as
Night Of The Living Dead
on Chicago's WFLD Channel 32
Not that there are any particularly
outstanding memories I can recall
( other than perhaps my sister leaving room
in revulsion when the zombies ate a couple
after...
Quite the opposite --- quiet and dull
lived within a maze of Illinois cornfields
When it came to Saturday night
Creature Features, I was front and center
for flicks to the imagination such as
Night Of The Living Dead
on Chicago's WFLD Channel 32
Not that there are any particularly
outstanding memories I can recall
( other than perhaps my sister leaving room
in revulsion when the zombies ate a couple
after...
#NaPoWriMo2017
788 reads
2 Comments
[ Napo 2017 ] Building Blocks
I labored for a bricklaying outfit
in Chicago for about a week
until laid off to the side
as if a crumbled cinder block
I forced my protesting body
battered as it was, out of bed
every morning to report for duty
The foreman was more merciful in
simply putting me out of my misery
I was thankful for the opportunity
and freely admit that I have about
as much upper body strength
as those dinosaurs with tiny arms;
I can't do a chin-up to save my life
Nowadays, I...
in Chicago for about a week
until laid off to the side
as if a crumbled cinder block
I forced my protesting body
battered as it was, out of bed
every morning to report for duty
The foreman was more merciful in
simply putting me out of my misery
I was thankful for the opportunity
and freely admit that I have about
as much upper body strength
as those dinosaurs with tiny arms;
I can't do a chin-up to save my life
Nowadays, I...
#NaPoWriMo2017
752 reads
3 Comments
[ NaPo 2017 ] [ SN ] Pirate's Intuition
There be gold and silver
jewels and gemstones
ripe for the plundering
beyond the rocky shoal
I smells it on the wind
I hears it in the lull
between waves thundering
against the hull
Lap it up with your tongue
breath it deep into lung
---treasure fine as this
tis an acquired taste
I'll shall be acquiring it soon
if this lead balloon of a ship
doesn't become any faster paced
...
jewels and gemstones
ripe for the plundering
beyond the rocky shoal
I smells it on the wind
I hears it in the lull
between waves thundering
against the hull
Lap it up with your tongue
breath it deep into lung
---treasure fine as this
tis an acquired taste
I'll shall be acquiring it soon
if this lead balloon of a ship
doesn't become any faster paced
...
608 reads
2 Comments
[ NaPo 2017 ] [ SK ] Legion
These times are certainly trying;
all you see are people dying
from crimes against Humanity
atrocities committed by covetous
morons out of greed and vanity
So, I propose to you a choice
Give me one of your children
to raise as my own
free of your societal insanity
and spare this entire community
the annihilation to come if
you don't comply
I am no more a devil greater
than any of the gods who ...
all you see are people dying
from crimes against Humanity
atrocities committed by covetous
morons out of greed and vanity
So, I propose to you a choice
Give me one of your children
to raise as my own
free of your societal insanity
and spare this entire community
the annihilation to come if
you don't comply
I am no more a devil greater
than any of the gods who ...
#StephenKing
651 reads
5 Comments
[ NaPo 2017 ] [strike]can't[/strike]
There's plenty of Time
or never enough of it
and you're in between
making excuses for why
this is impossible!
that can't be done!
with the amount given
Substitute
Time with Luck
with Money with
Love with so forth
Accepting this for what
it is --- Truth; you begin
a journey of taking responsibility
for having a hand in your world's
creation as it unfolds on a daily basis
and while one isn't afforded
luxury of playing the Blame Game
as...
or never enough of it
and you're in between
making excuses for why
this is impossible!
that can't be done!
with the amount given
Substitute
Time with Luck
with Money with
Love with so forth
Accepting this for what
it is --- Truth; you begin
a journey of taking responsibility
for having a hand in your world's
creation as it unfolds on a daily basis
and while one isn't afforded
luxury of playing the Blame Game
as...
#NaPoWriMo2017
736 reads
1 Comment
[ NaPo 2017 ] [ WWW ] Luck Of The Draw
The Desperado rarely misses
always gets the girl at story's end;
as credits roll, there will be kisses
but the life of a gunfighter
takes its toll
---always a lawman gunning for him
when he only wants to settle down
with a single good hearted woman
and be welcome in any town---
call at least one soul "friend"
As luck wouldn't have it
loading empty chambers with rounds
spinning barrels in roulette wheel fashion
now wasn't the time...
always gets the girl at story's end;
as credits roll, there will be kisses
but the life of a gunfighter
takes its toll
---always a lawman gunning for him
when he only wants to settle down
with a single good hearted woman
and be welcome in any town---
call at least one soul "friend"
As luck wouldn't have it
loading empty chambers with rounds
spinning barrels in roulette wheel fashion
now wasn't the time...
700 reads
3 Comments
[ Napo 2017 ] The Popsicle Stick Poet
Although I grew up
in the era of typewriters
and spiral notebooks
I am a poet of the Digital Age
Inconceivable it is
the prospect of not
tapping away on a tablet
with a faux pencil stylus
or my usual four fingers
pounding laptop keys
into early retirement
hacking and slashing
with the glorious Godsend
that is Cut And Paste
though this be my bane
as it is the number leading
cause of death to perfect verse
riddling it with typos and other...
in the era of typewriters
and spiral notebooks
I am a poet of the Digital Age
Inconceivable it is
the prospect of not
tapping away on a tablet
with a faux pencil stylus
or my usual four fingers
pounding laptop keys
into early retirement
hacking and slashing
with the glorious Godsend
that is Cut And Paste
though this be my bane
as it is the number leading
cause of death to perfect verse
riddling it with typos and other...
#NaPoWriMo2017
758 reads
3 Comments
[ NaPo 2017 ] Shrodinger's Cat Stuck In A Well
I am out of ideas to write poetry about
or rather
the ideas are out of me
So many there have been
in such a brief span of time
that I question whether or not
there is anything left;
memories to draw upon
abandoned song lyrics
some ongoing DRAMA
or even if
there is any ink left in the well
to dip my quill in
but the doctor I play on TV
( he's a brilliant physicist in his own mind )
insists there is and there isn't
...
or rather
the ideas are out of me
So many there have been
in such a brief span of time
that I question whether or not
there is anything left;
memories to draw upon
abandoned song lyrics
some ongoing DRAMA
or even if
there is any ink left in the well
to dip my quill in
but the doctor I play on TV
( he's a brilliant physicist in his own mind )
insists there is and there isn't
...
#NaPoWriMo2017
648 reads
3 Comments
[ NaPo 2017 ] Miss Information
She leans over hedges
dialing up the Telephone Game
with neighbors, seeding gossip
vines that swiftly spread tendrils
throughout the community
Miss Information
germinator of factual innacuracies
What goes around the block
comes back around the block
never returning the same
which is good news for her
of course; the offshoots can't be
tracked to the origin point:
the one person
full of so much bullshit
she uses it to
fertilize her lies
dialing up the Telephone Game
with neighbors, seeding gossip
vines that swiftly spread tendrils
throughout the community
Miss Information
germinator of factual innacuracies
What goes around the block
comes back around the block
never returning the same
which is good news for her
of course; the offshoots can't be
tracked to the origin point:
the one person
full of so much bullshit
she uses it to
fertilize her lies
#NaPoWriMo2017
735 reads
1 Comment
[ NaPo 2017 ] Belly Of The Beast
Scratching marks into stomach
lining with a skeletal blade
once a swordfish
I numerate the days of my
imprisonment within the Kraken
Eighteen ticks and counting
---nothing but time
and digestive enzyme
on my hands
I do my best to keep my
mind exercised by scrawling
limericks non stop on the
living whaling walling
Hoping to become so exhausted
that I am eventually
pooped out
lining with a skeletal blade
once a swordfish
I numerate the days of my
imprisonment within the Kraken
Eighteen ticks and counting
---nothing but time
and digestive enzyme
on my hands
I do my best to keep my
mind exercised by scrawling
limericks non stop on the
living whaling walling
Hoping to become so exhausted
that I am eventually
pooped out
#NaPoWriMo2017
636 reads
1 Comment
DU Poetry : Submissions by JohnnyBlaze