Submissions by Josh
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction I write mainly poetry for the inner journey. I also have a feisty side-line of writing poetic commentaries on the war industry and politics & culture. "When power corrupts, poetry cleanses" (JFK, Oct 1963)
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
19th Jul 2019 12:04pm
19th Jul 2019 12:04pm
Sword
Love is a one-edged sword
facing a two-edged sword
and saying
“I have no second edge
to flip around
and use against you”.
facing a two-edged sword
and saying
“I have no second edge
to flip around
and use against you”.
#love
#relationships
46 reads
20 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
17th Jul 2019 9:56pm
17th Jul 2019 9:56pm
An Inked Witness
Now where was I?
Oh yes, gathering cool facts
from northern winds,
smelling secrets of the desert
in a southern breeze.
A gale brewing from the West
tosses ideas in my direction,
entangled with esoteric mysteries
blown in from eastern shores.
In a flurry all four winds fuse
to tangible silence,
a moment’s clarity brings exquisite stillness,
peels back the techie blabber,
offers shelter from a howling world.
Thoughts flow into the pen’s ink,
seep onto the page,
catch the act of a thorn ...
Oh yes, gathering cool facts
from northern winds,
smelling secrets of the desert
in a southern breeze.
A gale brewing from the West
tosses ideas in my direction,
entangled with esoteric mysteries
blown in from eastern shores.
In a flurry all four winds fuse
to tangible silence,
a moment’s clarity brings exquisite stillness,
peels back the techie blabber,
offers shelter from a howling world.
Thoughts flow into the pen’s ink,
seep onto the page,
catch the act of a thorn ...
#WritingPoetry
41 reads
17 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
17th Jul 2019 9:30pm
17th Jul 2019 9:30pm
Relativity / Arms / Boo!
Relativity
At the beer fuelled ceilidh
the wild dancers stood still
as the room whirled around
in flashes of bright colours.
Arms
American military budget about to
reach sixty cents in every
tax dollar. You’d think citizens
would be up in arms.
Boo!
Met Netanyahu and said “Boo!”
“Hey, that’s anti semitic” he
cried. I said “the Palestinians
are a Semitic People too”.
At the beer fuelled ceilidh
the wild dancers stood still
as the room whirled around
in flashes of bright colours.
Arms
American military budget about to
reach sixty cents in every
tax dollar. You’d think citizens
would be up in arms.
Boo!
Met Netanyahu and said “Boo!”
“Hey, that’s anti semitic” he
cried. I said “the Palestinians
are a Semitic People too”.
#politics
#war
#dance
38 reads
13 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
12th Jul 2019 11:27am
12th Jul 2019 11:27am
Rail-Track
On the left rail, prayer;
on the right rail, emerging history.
At the vanishing-point they meet - maybe.
The reality-train travels the track
straddling both sides
and steams over the vanishing-point
where the rails remain apart, equidistant.
The engine-driver, shovelling coal,
is not thinking of these things
but of home - and dinner.
Carriages full of passive passengers
pass over the same spot
blissfully unaware.
What happens, happens.
What doesn’t, doesn’t.
As the train forges on
compressed...
on the right rail, emerging history.
At the vanishing-point they meet - maybe.
The reality-train travels the track
straddling both sides
and steams over the vanishing-point
where the rails remain apart, equidistant.
The engine-driver, shovelling coal,
is not thinking of these things
but of home - and dinner.
Carriages full of passive passengers
pass over the same spot
blissfully unaware.
What happens, happens.
What doesn’t, doesn’t.
As the train forges on
compressed...
#politics
65 reads
16 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
9th Jul 2019 5:00pm
9th Jul 2019 5:00pm
Five Random Shorties from "A Day in the Life of ..."
Masked
Even when you do your best
to present an honest face
the crookéd mask jumps back in front
and smiles precociously.
Blake in a Haiku
Many grains of sand
in the matchbox in my hand.
The matchbox explodes.
Gospel
The bird of prey
glided high …
book, chapter and verse
in its own gospel.
Busy Day
After a busy day
with too many people
I went home, shook off the noise
and drank in the silence.
Broken Poet’s Haiku
Wrote down the first of
many...
Even when you do your best
to present an honest face
the crookéd mask jumps back in front
and smiles precociously.
Blake in a Haiku
Many grains of sand
in the matchbox in my hand.
The matchbox explodes.
Gospel
The bird of prey
glided high …
book, chapter and verse
in its own gospel.
Busy Day
After a busy day
with too many people
I went home, shook off the noise
and drank in the silence.
Broken Poet’s Haiku
Wrote down the first of
many...
#LifeAsAWriter
58 reads
22 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
5th Jul 2019 11:31pm
5th Jul 2019 11:31pm
Splendid Timing
New
grand-child
yesterday
fourth of July
born on the same day
sixty-three years ago
as myself - how cool is that?
Splendid timing, Noah Joseph.
grand-child
yesterday
fourth of July
born on the same day
sixty-three years ago
as myself - how cool is that?
Splendid timing, Noah Joseph.
#children
#family
#LifeChangingMoment
91 reads
40 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
1st Jul 2019 6:41pm
1st Jul 2019 6:41pm
A Weight of Tears
The watchtowers of Detention Centres
don’t weigh tears:
they shoot them
whilst still inside
gathering strength behind the eyes
of cliff-edged humans,
denying their expression
to heal the world.
Not even a sparrow falls to the ground
with such un-love
though the Book of Life records it all
for post-mortem correction,
even when merely counting to ten …
and you only get as far as five.
#FedericoGarcíaLorca
don’t weigh tears:
they shoot them
whilst still inside
gathering strength behind the eyes
of cliff-edged humans,
denying their expression
to heal the world.
Not even a sparrow falls to the ground
with such un-love
though the Book of Life records it all
for post-mortem correction,
even when merely counting to ten …
and you only get as far as five.
#FedericoGarcíaLorca
#WritingPoetry
74 reads
17 Comments
UPBEAT INSPIRATIONAL POEM
Published
1st Jul 2019 3:07pm
1st Jul 2019 3:07pm
For The Living
Trail-blazing evolution
paint-balling poetry onto blank pages
words grass-hopper along the lines
linking concepts in novel pictures
magnetising Stephen King
for summary execution,
pirate’s treasure-trove
buried beneath crackling sands of DUP
NaPo hosting stars A+
with exemplary encouragement
masterminded
through calm psychology
as Magnetron spots anomalies,
Bloody Mary walks the spittle-talk
and an architect stretches designs
to incorporate pencilled portraiture
of history’s heroism with...
paint-balling poetry onto blank pages
words grass-hopper along the lines
linking concepts in novel pictures
magnetising Stephen King
for summary execution,
pirate’s treasure-trove
buried beneath crackling sands of DUP
NaPo hosting stars A+
with exemplary encouragement
masterminded
through calm psychology
as Magnetron spots anomalies,
Bloody Mary walks the spittle-talk
and an architect stretches designs
to incorporate pencilled portraiture
of history’s heroism with...
#WritingPoetry
#support
#respect
97 reads
16 Comments
UPBEAT INSPIRATIONAL POEM
Published
28th Jun 2019 9:26am
28th Jun 2019 9:26am
Treasured Gems
Gently chiselled from past pains
her words carve new hope
into a troubled world,
leaving treasured gems
next to upturned stones,
offered freely to perceptive travellers
trekking through the jungle
of everyday life.
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poets/jemac
her words carve new hope
into a troubled world,
leaving treasured gems
next to upturned stones,
offered freely to perceptive travellers
trekking through the jungle
of everyday life.
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poets/jemac
#WritingPoetry
#support
#respect
83 reads
22 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
21st Jun 2019 12:01pm
21st Jun 2019 12:01pm
Twinned Planet
On a twinned planet
where stars shine in different patterns
presenting constellations with unusual names,
valued perspectives shape parallel curves
converging at vanishing points
of uncommon human experience.
I’ve been taken there on many occasions
returning to my world
filled with a sense of intriguing possibilities.
Beyond my usual radars, clipping ships
sail the horizon following special instructions;
they filter my assumptions through a strain
made with soft, yet durable, gauze.
A stepped pyramid is imprinted in my...
where stars shine in different patterns
presenting constellations with unusual names,
valued perspectives shape parallel curves
converging at vanishing points
of uncommon human experience.
I’ve been taken there on many occasions
returning to my world
filled with a sense of intriguing possibilities.
Beyond my usual radars, clipping ships
sail the horizon following special instructions;
they filter my assumptions through a strain
made with soft, yet durable, gauze.
A stepped pyramid is imprinted in my...
#WritingPoetry
#support
#respect
104 reads
23 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
16th Jun 2019 10:52pm
16th Jun 2019 10:52pm
Man of the People
This man sees clearly through slithery bull
he cuts to the guts with an arrowed quill
elevates misfits with a human eye
to question assumptions, collective lies;
Burns to pointed issues of down-and-outs
and scrapes the decks of our long hidden doubts,
no sentimentalities pass his lips
raw truths make each poem a learning hit;
“See it this way … this, our humanity”
extracts humour from edged insanity,
gritty realism pokes our living rooms
as death hovers close like nit-picking combs;
John Brady, Man Of The People,...
he cuts to the guts with an arrowed quill
elevates misfits with a human eye
to question assumptions, collective lies;
Burns to pointed issues of down-and-outs
and scrapes the decks of our long hidden doubts,
no sentimentalities pass his lips
raw truths make each poem a learning hit;
“See it this way … this, our humanity”
extracts humour from edged insanity,
gritty realism pokes our living rooms
as death hovers close like nit-picking combs;
John Brady, Man Of The People,...
#WritingPoetry
#admiration
#respect
117 reads
21 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
14th Jun 2019 9:18am
14th Jun 2019 9:18am
Sets Fire to the Rain
A nerve
hit
sharp;
ploughed under,
not
over the top
each
word
counts …
extraordinary pain
turned into
softened edges.
Mind sifted
heart gifted
delayed reaction
months later
returning
to check
state
of
consciousness.
Some angels
suffer
unduly
for their poetry.
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poets/Duende/
hit
sharp;
ploughed under,
not
over the top
each
word
counts …
extraordinary pain
turned into
softened edges.
Mind sifted
heart gifted
delayed reaction
months later
returning
to check
state
of
consciousness.
Some angels
suffer
unduly
for their poetry.
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poets/Duende/
#WritingPoetry
#support
#respect
100 reads
16 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by Josh
