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Balladeer

Administrator

Member Empyrean

since 1999-06-05

Posts 25505
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA

0 posted 1999-06-11 06:37 PM

A thump! A step - echoes down
The sidewalk of a lonely street
That lies within that part of town
Where blind men steal and beggars cheat

A huddled figure moves along
Clothing worn in disarray.
Footsteps play a dismal song -
A thump! A step - he makes his way.

Grim faces peer behind the panes
Of tenements that line the street
As echoes rise to make his presence
Noticed in the summer heat

And one can hear the neighbors say
From under disapproving eye
That casts a weary look his way,
"The red-hot lover"s passing by."

A study at his huddled form
Or peering at his wrinkled face
Would not reveal a hint of warm
Compassion glowing nor a trace

Of qualities that make hearts run
Or bid defenses slowly fade
Like chocolate melting in the sun
Or waltzes from the hit parade.

Yet it holds true in younger days
That doubled figure stood erect,
Lured the girls in many ways
By plying them with false respect,

Fooling them with tender words
As they surrendered willingly
To meet the morn with nothing more
Than visions of his memory.

Warm lips called out to beg him stay
With pleading tones that slowly died
Against the heat of summer's day.
He just smiled and walked away.

Some say that God created age
To tell us when to settle down
To share the miracles of life
And count the blessings that abound

But no one told the red-hot lover
Whistling down the garden way
That youth and flowers never last
But slowly pale and fade away.

The years have not been kind to him.
His energy and zest are spent.
His hair and teeth are memories.
His belly sags. His spine is bent.

A tumored leg has been removed,
Replaced by crutch instead of bone
And memories of days gone by
Remind him that he's all alone.

A thump! A step - echoes down
The sidewalk of a lonely street
That lies within that part of town
Where blind men steal and beggars cheat..

Where rosebuds whither in the sun,
Where skinny dogs and old men roam.
A thump! A step - he makes his way.
The red-hot lover's going home.

Nan

Administrator

Member Seraphic

since 1999-05-20

Posts 21191
Cape Cod Massachusetts USA

1 posted 1999-06-12 05:59 PM

It's all relative, isn't it?

Sally S.
Senior Member

since 1999-06-07

Posts 847
Ohio

2 posted 1999-07-12 01:48 PM

Some may have missed this one....back to the front with ya!

I just wuv reading your work....that's all. (hee hee)

Sunshine

Administrator

Member Empyrean

since 1999-06-25

Posts 63354
Listening to every heart

3 posted 1999-08-20 12:53 PM

Thump! Back to the top, ol' Man!

[As always, well done!]

------------------
Sunshine
Words will always express our feelings true. ~~~ KRJ
Look, then, into thine heart, and write ~~~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

LngJhnAg
Member Elite

since 1999-07-23

Posts 3508
Boot+Kitty=Poetry in motion

4 posted 1999-08-20 01:14 PM

This was a dirty rotten poem about me... wasn't it!!!! I'm just gonna step-thump my way off to a dive and see who I can share my pretty poems with. I'll get YOU later, ya scalawag! lol

Another masterpiece from the master.

Seymour Tabin
Member Empyrean

since 1999-07-07

Posts 31720
Tamarac Fla

5 posted 1999-08-20 01:43 PM

Balladeer,
where did you get that magic hat you keep pulling those wonderful poems out of?
The hat I use seems to render flat.

Sue
Member

since 1999-08-04

Posts 383
France

6 posted 1999-08-20 02:54 PM

It's got it all! Even a moral, there's not many of us with morals any more.

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