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Open Poetry #9
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Martie
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since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California

0 posted 2000-08-08 06:56 PM


Warm Bahaman Breeze.......repost for Sudhir and others


In a rat-trap of boards
and rain drip, dripping,
Sweet William sat on a newspaper
whistlin’ a tune,
not a gloom tune,
but a light, high and winsome
like a warm Bahaman breeze tune.

Beside him were two bananas
splotched black mostly, but
still hinting of the yellow
of the place where they grew
sun-ripe and sturdy.
They were cast-offs now,
like himself,
Picked almost rotten
from the dumpster behind
the grocery store.

He already ate the curled lettuce,
and expired jar of Gerber’s pureed chicken,
washed it down with some rain water.
He was saving the bananas for last.

While he whistled he imagined the slick
sweet white and his pink tongue
rolling it back and forth
in his mouth,
afraid that it would be gone to soon,
before he was ready,
knew it would be gone for sure
once he started eating.

So he waited, whistlen’ a tune,
not a gloom tune,
but a light, high and winsome
like a warm Bahaman breeze tune.

Of course, he had never been there,
didn’t know a Bahaman breeze
from arctic wind chill.
He knew the length and breadth
of many places he had never been,
so he could taste these bananas
now, while he was whistlen’
and they tasted sweet.

© Copyright 2000 Martie Odell Ingebretsen - All Rights Reserved
wayoutwalt
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since 1999-06-22
Posts 4870
TEXAS (it's all big)
1 posted 2000-08-08 07:09 PM


makes me wish i had a coast near by for inspiration..good job martie
Paula Finn
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since 2000-06-17
Posts 5546
missouri
2 posted 2000-08-08 07:14 PM


I can taste those bananas and hear that tune...and see this sweet homeless soul
Marge Tindal
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Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384
Florida's Foreverly Shores
3 posted 2000-08-08 07:42 PM


Martie~
*sob*

How tenderly you've touched the life
of the down and out ... the homeless ...
the outcast.

Necessary to know that those unfortunate souls exist ...
not thrive ... just exist,
So unnecessary in this society of abundance
in abundance !

And did you know that in some communities in our nation -
it's against the law for people to take food from garbage dumpsters ?????

And MOST of the grocery store outlets
sell the 'throw-away' food to farmers to
feed their livestock.  
Heaven forbid they should DONATE it to homeless shelters !

Oh, sorry .... here I got off on one of
my tangents and didn't mean to.

Wonderful work, Martie.
Sweet William lives down the street
from all of us.
'There but for the grace of God .... '

Love ya', hon !
~*Marge*~




~*The pen of the poet never runs out of ink, as long as we breathe.*~
noles1@totcon.com


Mike
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since 1999-06-19
Posts 2462

4 posted 2000-08-08 09:07 PM


How is the novel doing?
wonderful poetry by the way...

Martie
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since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
5 posted 2000-08-08 09:44 PM


Walt--The coast is inspirational...wish I could actually get there more often.

Paula...thanks for seeing the sweet

Marge--You are a good person...wish there were more like you.

Mike...you know that scrunched up face...I've got it...how does 120 pages sound.

JamesMichael
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA
6 posted 2000-08-08 09:56 PM


Martie a beautiful message within the words of your tender poem...James
Sudhir Iyer
Member Ascendant
since 2000-04-26
Posts 6943
Mumbai, India : now in Belgium
7 posted 2000-08-09 04:01 AM


Oh Martie...
How fortunate I am to have loving parents and a brother, money to afford fresh food, two warm meals a day and clean water and fruit juices to drink...
How lucky I am not to feel impoverished and scorned as good for nothings and cast-off...

I can feel deep pangs of something cracking up in my heart... but then I get more angry for I can do nothing much for this as a singular entity except donate an X amount of money to charity and lead my life in the false belief that I have done my bit...

Thanks for evoking all these and more emotions.

Yet I believe that not all the homeless exist because of society itself. Quite a few of them literally waste their facilities and chances and thus waste themselves. Seeing them as perfect examples of being good-for-nothing, many people form incorrect and at most times incomplete impressions of the poor. This probably results in a long term scorn... This is the other facet ...

Ok, I must stop rambling now.... thanks for the repost, Martie...

The lines that captured my eyes most...

In a rat-trap of boards
and rain drip, dripping,
Sweet William sat on a newspaper
...
They were cast-offs now,
like himself,
...
He was saving the bananas for last.
...
afraid that it would be gone to soon,
...
and they tasted sweet.
-------

All in all, a very tenderly written, compassionate poem looking at a harsh reality of life...

Thanks once again....
Many regards,
sudhir

Kit McCallum
Administrator
Member Laureate
since 2000-04-30
Posts 14774
Ontario, Canada
8 posted 2000-08-09 08:01 AM


Oh Martie ... my senses were heightened in this poem, from taste, to sight, to smell and beyond. I was there beside this young person. Beautifully and tenderly written!  

Best wishes,
/Kit

Mark Bohannan
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-06-21
Posts 7269
In the winds of Cherokee song
9 posted 2000-08-09 09:03 AM


In a rat-trap of boards
and rain drip, dripping,
Sweet William sat on a newspaper
whistlin’ a tune,
not a gloom tune,
but a light, high and winsome
like a warm Bahaman breeze tune.

Of course, he had never been there,
didn’t know a Bahaman breeze
from arctic wind chill.
He knew the length and breadth
of many places he had never been,
so he could taste these bananas
now, while he was whistlen’
and they tasted sweet.

Martie-this is so wonderful.....your view into the world is so caring and for you to be able to see what most people ignore speaks highly of your heart.  Now tell me more about this book....PLEASE

Martie
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since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
10 posted 2000-08-09 10:35 AM


James--thank you for your kind words.

sudhir--Thanks for writing from your heart and for your wonderful reply...

Kit--thank you for feeling this poem

Mark--The book...sheesh...working on it, yes, it's about a homeless man and hope and love....love wins out in the end.

thanks for asking

Parker
Member Elite
since 2000-01-06
Posts 3129
ON
11 posted 2000-08-09 11:14 AM


Martie, you sure brought to live some vivid images here, and taste. You gave me a big smile today. Thank you.

Parker

Rex Allen McCoy
Member Elite
since 2000-01-30
Posts 2863
Sippin a Timmy's in London
12 posted 2000-08-09 11:29 AM


Martie ... Sweet William is a name that suits this person well ... I love it as a flower ... grows in such profusion with a multitude of colors ... and seems to turn up everywhere we look ...
'if we look'

The Sweet William you describe here is growing in great profusion ... comes in all colors and
'if we look'
he's there

a gleaming look a reality you've penned
  
Rex




[This message has been edited by Rex Allen McCoy (edited 08-09-2000).]

Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
13 posted 2000-08-09 01:59 PM


Parker--sure glad I gave you a smile.

Rex--I hadn't thought of it that way until you said it...what a wonderful thought...thank you.

Wilfred Yeats
Member Elite
since 2000-08-04
Posts 2704
Wilmington, Delaware
14 posted 2000-08-10 05:26 PM


Could picture this - no - more- I could feel it, and smell it and taste it. WQonderful write Martie  When i worked in Detroit - my office window overlooked a McDonald's parking lot - all too often I saw indigents scouring their outdoor waste recepticles for unfinished food - and the images came back like a flood.


Corinne
Member Ascendant
since 1999-10-28
Posts 5167
state of confusion
15 posted 2000-08-10 05:48 PM


A great reminder of how fortunate we are and of the simplicity of joy.

corinne

Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
16 posted 2000-08-10 08:01 PM


Wil...Thanks for the read and for the picture from your life...it's sad with all the food that is thrown away, so many go hungry.

Corinne--Yes...Joy...sometimes it doesn't take much...thank you for saying that.

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