Tharz an end to th' road dearie
an end to th' road
road whar i iz agoin
weary wid my load
oh i loves you truly
loves you all day long
but nights iz harder dearie
cos they sings a blue blue song
sees end has t' come dearie
sees end has to come
taint wrong feelin how i feels
though loves you all day long
tharz an end to th' road dearie
an end to th' road
down road whar lovez a maybe
alivin iz my load
Got flea in me ear
caint be shuffled off t hell
widout benefit o appeal t wotzwot
tis jurisdiction o common plea
taint big deal tiz bumsteer
prim or maudlin bible-punchin
brot uz to dis pass
bended knee to mitred boss on high
nix on blame n guilt tiz small beer
seems pundit god fabled celeb in ecstatic fit
went gaga jines bevy o disportin spheres az wun
blows script dis wurld on ours slips offen hook
anomaly wid mind f owen
grate unifying theory unstuck
cumz orbital spin whimsickal
spurns imperative net o niceties
regularity aint zactly where itz at
seasons along o nite n day kick traces
till chancetz lack clout
odds n evens juggle places
'n wot cuddnt be cumz about
animated matter
roused frum cumbrous clay
by sunz radiance bidden
crawls on land propels in sea
each feedin on remains o tother
dietz implicit conservation
elemental sphere
habitat o proliferatin critters
thorough ordeal o happenstance
provokes urgency ter suffer n persist
commandin guile n craft
means dat persuade sentient beins
ter triumph n surpass
ober wot dey were an now iz
till upstart species
aspires t status atop heap
full o theyselns
az favoured beyond mortal ken
whan I tich were tad back then
skipped sunday schoo-ul fer deviltry
clumb up nearby abandoned windmill
an' lookit far
openin eyes how prospects depend
az stature o humans diminishes
view hullo frum on high heady tonic
dig tich filosofusser n gadfly
axin dis grate pinweelin proliferation
wherewhichwise be you agoin
sizin up does n donts
I figger how more fools kicks bucket
dan enters mewlin fer tit
quiz how cumz about dis burden o care
arrogatin estate ober earthen naybours
handed down az damnable legacy
contrary t second nature o give-n-take
tiz greed tiz prejudice tiz vulgar pride
wud deny we iz kin
wotz point o larnin matters
beyon our sensible ken
if'n they don’t sit obligin
like painterz model
compliant t perfecshunz exactitude
till orl wunderz ob dis consummation
seem throwen like gardez loo frum casement
or night-soil on fields o bishopz glebe
nah quitten tizzy
we kin wit queriex acumen or mudder wit
resolve wotz nearby an ' at large
stead o bandyin contumashush pros n cons
as if'n eyen lost touch wi' haid
sez I tich surely conclusive
opt fer originall provenance
deaf ear t bumptious propheteers
an' lib owen lot az best t prove
we aint stuckup gods nor lickspittles neider
accomplex nodes o sentience we
carbon copies haha
sweet generous birthrite gibben
cos we iz dem n dey iz us
engorgin n transformin
nut cowerin on fall o hammer
cum soon cum later by-n-bye
tiz nut ours ter pry
wherezupon leavin off me disquizition
landlord tis honour bends yr dooty
tap barrel o feisty forebeerz brew
grateful draught we sups
in cheer o gran ancestral lineage
wez tagend on
frum mite to might-be
you haz dun uz proud
I is toot finis
tich, oct 21st, '008, blaxsmit armz
Crotchetty fridge's
clackety-clack
catchy hook
as if on track
with radio's jazz
trumpet solo
floating by
sweetlier made
in liquid notes
to splashing faucet's
funky metre
plop plop plop per…
lop
oh yeah
premiere performance
this once only
my kitchen rigs' hop
man if I can jive
wonky joints in rhythm
at eighty-two
and still get with 'm
ah yes I'm alive
mmviii
*Upon getting a spanking new fridge that turned out defective.
Hi, all; sorry for the unexplained gap in posting. Laurie's amanuensis, here.
Laurie has been prevented from writing for a while; eye surgeries, assorted other issues.
He's back! I will be posting his poetry again, shortly.
I come alone to this unwholesome spot
shut off from the passersby
where the garbage sprawls over acres
and I recognize my collected consciousness
site of every care and feeling I disinherited
and the air smells like the entrails of a disembodied animal
now I know how my natural spring of joy went underground
choked up and went underground
buried by this debris
no wonder!
I realize my fear of discovery
cost me more dearly than any of those paltry sins
I hid alas!
mcmlxx__ (rev. mmviii)
Distances and magnitudes
impress upon our vision
how far seems far?
how high seems high?
extremes compel our attention
from the daintiest flower
to the loftiest peak
we gain perspective and proportion
respect - for which we may long
as well as accord –
counts less than immediacy
how feelings feel
thoughts and the words they evoke
come later
presences transcend the what of things
whether now or now-gone-by
to touch the indescribable agency
we call "heart"
prevails, survives, pounds in our blood
we are embraced
drawn into the bosom
of the undeniable "it is"
mmviii
To lose is to possess
wordy logic
refuses to shut up
oh where may
rest achieve
balancing act's
standing start
as paper thought
ink assumes
command …
thus art
you know my
nom de plume
at feather's touch
ouch!
few fewer
not less
more few less than few
capitals seldom
refuse to capitalize
on their upper case
disguise
no can mean yes
and come along goodbye
tears and laughter
can both be losers
not trying can try
mmviii
Yes your spirit goes to heaven
jest like you were before
xackly cept you got no worries
no bothersome you name it
jest like to wonderland
snug in yore mother's you name it
only difference is difference
you got none
difference is wot you left behind
cos it so worrisome
now you got cosy wall-to-golden wall same as
spirit deft yclept for me
leaps in veins
you dasnt smile in vain
nor shed tears neither
you live with circumstance
for no smiles no tears
both go together
can't take it with you
alas for the lack
you realize that don't you
mmviii
Lilypads float motionless in midair
fish glide through an insubstantial medium
we can only trace by filmy apparitions
transporting us past our conscious selves
into an underworld of lurking-places
as if sketched in child's crayon
mirrors of the above begotten below
while a white sparkling waterlily
the manifest star of this unlikely haven
winks with promise:
"what you give shall be received
though it comes out not as you thought
or perchoice hoped
it comes out nevertheless
justly in balance
at a remove
from your browbent reckoning"
a fulfillment as prompt to the heart
as if to our astonishment
we realize
it is here
not there
that we belong
mmii
Next to precious breath
next thing to cherish
no not love imperishable
nor dearth of punitive hurt
nothing fabulous
like indulgent life
after the fact
yes affirmation
blood's pounding tide
active confirmation
without doubt of inference
after sedulous thought
instance at one go
here I am therefore there am i
mmviii
Dear little spark
atom monad or quark
you flame in the forge's breath
elemental one with nameless ancestry
wonder how you came to be
particular force or undulant light
star in mimicry that by day by night
has spun and shaped entirely
the fabric of our vision
selfless you lie upon the shelf of my desire
the utmost yet the least of things
tell me where did you get your wings
mcmlx__ , rev. mmviii
Crinoline bridge
where once we met
wandered up
that cobbled street
a place to tryst
fit for a royal pair
in coach and four
and us no less
we found a pub
by instinct's guide
apt with the humour
of an age before
here we two sat
with taptser's mild
glad to hold hands
and no words said
till alas lunchhour fled
the clock stood still
for now I see
that arching bridge
the shallow stream
and you my dear
as you were then
what would I be
not half the man
without the sense
of yesterwhen
mmviii
Take the eye of mind
the longing i
the knowing i
explore its subtle self
as in a mirror
lit by the psyche's lambent flame
a cavern dark and subterranean
where streaks of vapour
hide the recessed chambers
to one who peeps
then looks askance
I have seen those caves
have groped among the passages of self
explored the unreal dark
and slept inside the tomb of yesterday
I learned to step ahead
with ready foot
and ear attuned to echoes soft or strange
where sunlight creeps into the eastern hall
there I awake to life
and mingle with the throng of feelings, presences
and thoughts
that market-place where I belong
awake to self
my self-meant territory
mcmlx, rev. mmviii
These names, mementoes,
Tickets that by your leave
Can reproduce a past event.
Some names that I've forgotten
And some as well-remembered,
Bringing smiles to eyes now poker-sharp
That blink upon the passing of a sleep.
Say so-and-so, a place to go
When we were leisure-conscious;
A bag of chips beside a pub
And cider drunk in daylight spaces
Between the shady trees.
Still, names like these
Cannot survive our day;
And where they go, to vanish,
Those long-disposed-of memories,
I cannot tell. But wish them well.
mcmlx
All the passions mustered
Cannot rule a garden
Planted seeds may spring
And grow; now rain now sun
Have fostered germination; straightly bound
To rise and uplift seeking
Present a shoot, a leaf, a flower-face
To skies as open as an angel's forehead.
So I leave my daring apprehension.
Tension of a need, a loss deplored.
Within this need-less heart I capture
Confirmations, glory and my word.
mcmlx
My dog and cat
what can I do for them
who sit together on the steps and wait
upon my going
going out to part
my life is twisted in the stem
and I who
last to choose
must either stay or go
postpone our fate
the estrangement of a file
in someone's providential
cabinet up there
no doubt where is father
to a motto
so I drink a brother glass to prove
the pose of reason
is no match in satisfying
man's esteem
in short
I'm getting blotto!
mcmlxiii rev. mmviii
A deck of cards
dealt by the dealer
as they fall out
and played according to a hoyle
whose rules enforced
ensure the transactions of the game
a house of cards
struck as a pasteboard pageant
of foreshadowy perceptions
within the precincts of a crystal ball
see how the pictures
dance and shuffle
hearts and diamonds
lead the motley throng
with the kings and queens attending
to the cries of
"show your hand!"
spades and clubs are bosses
run the verbose show
disturbing threats they utter
whenever dancers slow
come dance the minuet my queens
come laugh and mime you knaves
aces in a hole declare
that trumps will call
and cards will fall
upon a deuce of judgment day
alike upon a judge of deucement day
alike upon the cracking packing doom
mcmlx… rev. mmviii
Aint outright difference ventually
standards differ exclusive
peoplez a to zero just-so inclined
like yer popular bookended
gilt-n-leather-bound volumes
orl fer show
diffz singular incognito exception
escapes who's who
can be domiciled by upper-case entitlement
or yore scryptic latin incantation:
like darwinz heresy
disturbs status quo vadis
neverbuddyz trueblue pals in concert
cum down to brass tax
sumz gotta dance happystance
sumz gotta sing boo-hoo blue
sum follers fiddlerz green
sum pied piper
whose service we pay thru nose or rue
hasten or tarry
stay single or marry
dig human logix whim
how truthz tongue-in-cheek
an we iz turnabout fickle
demonsterable primitive psyche
frum humblest to vainest
universal a priori ahem!
nobuddyz exemplary
imagewise in-mirror-copywhite nah!
cos diffz me-n-you swapping god forfends
playing hung-up or put-down
sing-song commonplaces reiterated ad lib
made-to-measure lies as amends
winner gets booby prize
diffz uz emerging frum womb
spelling out yer likely prophecies
cum cum admit aint we orl
born lonely in company forlorn
aint we aint we
long long to cum despite resumé
cut down ventually
cut down to equal size
mmviii
Tears don't mend
like tears in cloth
nor does pain stand still
like unstruck bell
touch to quick of grief
tugs at scar tissue
vestige of prior hurt
mortal reminder of event's remove
sap dripping from wounded bark
birds' and insects' plunder
tree's life fluid
preserved as amber
injured epidermal layers
assimilate suffering's burden
memorialized distress
by benign craft healing
mmviii
