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Open Poetry #47
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JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana

0 posted 2011-04-17 09:10 AM


it matters not the way things seem to be
howling, hungry wolves beckon at our door
take a chance, be someone different today
open that door, watch yourself coming back

pick what face you'll wear right off the shelf
do your thing, matters not in the grand scheme
a growing ice cube for a beating heart
that sweet smile doesn't get you very far

I have cried when I was happy
I have laughed when I was sad
bring on the teary-faced clowns
under the big tent scarcely clad

is it this road I should take; maybe not
I'm off course, cannot find my compass
a rusty tangled heart is all I own
I've walked through far too many doors

standing 'neath strings of naked light bulbs
from which all kindness has been drained
chanting like a medieval housewife
with forked tail beneath cloven-hoofed legs

abandoned and denied
an Edgar Allen kind of day
clouds are growing inside
let them stay or chase away

for the right reasons I do wrong things
there's always yesterday in my eyes
looked under my bed and was surprised
saw my life on the head of a pin

a ménage à trios that never ends
Louisiana two-step with Zydeco
leave guilt and worry on the dance floor
live large, be happy, put blues in its place

I have cried when I was happy
I have laughed when I was sad
bring on the teary-faced clowns
under the big tent scarcely clad


© Copyright 2011 Jerry Pat Bolton - All Rights Reserved
Margherita
Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236
Eternity
1 posted 2011-04-17 09:25 AM


quote:
standing 'neath strings of naked light bulbs
from which all kindness has been drained



Such incredibly impressive imagery, dear Jerry!

Makes me sigh in sadness, but a circus is indeed a profoundly melancholic place, where smiles fade on clown's faces as soon as they exit from the stage. And in the "circus of being" it happens just like this, too often.

May you cling to your inner warmth, be aware of it in the first place.

Love,
Margherita  

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
2 posted 2011-04-17 10:06 AM


Could you tell I was more than a little melancholy when I penned this, Margherita? Sure you could. Old men (and women) tend to be that way toward the sunset of their lives, no matter how they have lived that life. I thank you very much for your support for my poems.

~ Don't insult the alligator till after you cross the river. ~

Honeybunch
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-29
Posts 7115
South Africa
3 posted 2011-04-17 03:03 PM


A most touching write, Jerry.  Yes, men and women tend to be "that" way but I think it's just a  process to get us to the point of understanding and forgiveness of ourselves.  We are only human after all but the review will get us where we're supposed to be.  I have no doubt of that.

Helen

Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
4 posted 2011-04-17 03:50 PM


Jerry....So many faces to wear in this life...then how to be true to yourself when time sees to the changing?  So very well done!
Word Weaver
Member
since 2011-03-06
Posts 437
California, USA
5 posted 2011-04-17 04:29 PM


This speaks for a lot of us Jerry.

I love your line,
"open that door, watch yourself coming back"

in my book that's poetic genius.


JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
6 posted 2011-04-17 04:30 PM


No doubt about it, Helen, but that we go through all these changes in search of understanding and forgiveness. I always appreciate your input on the comment section. Thank you.

Martie, That, then is the problem. How, when we don so many different "faces" to get through life can we be sure we haven't convinced ourselves that we are, indeed, one of the masks and not ourselves. Good thought process here, my friend/

~ Don't insult the alligator till after you cross the river. ~

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
7 posted 2011-04-17 04:50 PM


I thank you, Marcia, for the very kind words. I maintain that if we can't watch ourselves coming back, how will we know for sure its the right face? Gotta be careful not to get them mixed up, don'tcha know.

~ Don't insult the alligator till after you cross the river. ~

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