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Open Poetry #47
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As The World Turns
| Open Poetry #47 |
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As The World Turns |
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JerryPat2 Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975South Louisiana 
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once upon a time New Orleans around Mardi Gras rooming house St. Charles Avenue I sat watched day turn to night then did it again day after day sucking on Marlboro's lightning one off the other sat there mostly naked peeking through window shades at the goings on in the real world people happy wondered how I got to be unhappy kinda sneaked upon me one day I found myself here one room discolored wallpaper cockroaches my only acquaintances cold water only in the sink commode down the hall a joke not the best of days but the worst of days chain-smoking peeking out that damned cracked window behind the rooming house tugboats bellowing on the Mighty Mississippi shattered my obscene isolation keeping that commerce moving don't ja'know at night the city's neon sleaze magically appeared New Orleans in her heyday long before Katrina vibrant city for the vibrant people it housed laissez les bon temps rouler yeah let the good times roll oh hell yeah light up another Marlboro inch the chair a little closer to that window watch the world go by so near so inaccessible so foreign ~ Look hard behind you and you'll be able to maneuver around the pitfalls ahead of you. ~ |
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| © Copyright 2011 Jerry Pat Bolton - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Margherita Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236Eternity |
Makes me shiver inside, dear Jerry. This is very impressive, good work really in all its sadness and misery. Love, Margherita |
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serenity blaze Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738 |
I'm pretty much doing the same thing--right now.  waxing nostalgic for the days when nothing seemed to matter...sigh |
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JerryPat2 Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975South Louisiana |
I know it is a sad piece, Margherita , but it was a bad time of my life. I actually tried to make up a little more upbeat, but as I wrote it I actually got to feeling a bit like I did back then, therefore no upbeat. Thank you for reading this poem and commenting on it. Serenity, I'm so sad to hear this. Nothing I know I can say to help, but I have a feeling you are the kind of person who will not let it get the best of you. From the little I know of you, I firmly believe that. Please write if you need to. ~ Look hard behind you and you'll be able to maneuver around the pitfalls ahead of you. ~ |
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dreamgal Member
since 2011-03-17
Posts 442 |
This really captured the pain & sadness, I could picture you staring out the window detached from everyone & hopeless. Glad your in a better place. Good write Jerry. |
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JerryPat2 Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975South Louisiana |
Oh, I'm grateful I lived through it and am in a better place also, dreamgal. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment on my musings. ~ Look hard behind you and you'll be able to maneuver around the pitfalls ahead of you. ~ |
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Lori Grosser Rhoden Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202Fair to middlin' of nowhere |
Jerry, your words paint pain like a Picasso. Lori |
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JerryPat2 Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975South Louisiana |
As you well know, Lori, saying things such as that will forever endear you to my heart. Haha! Thank you very much. ~ Look hard behind you and you'll be able to maneuver around the pitfalls ahead of you. ~ |
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Honeybunch Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-29
Posts 7115South Africa |
Yes, it is a sad write, Jerry. I've had moments like that myself but now pretty much know that I will live through them. Always harder when one doesn't know that. I'd better go back to your ice cream poem to lighten my mood now. Helen |
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JerryPat2 Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975South Louisiana |
Yep, Helen, that is the reason I wrote that ice cream poem, to lighten things up. Thanks. ~ Look hard behind you and you'll be able to maneuver around the pitfalls ahead of you. ~ |
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EmmaRose Senior Member
since 2011-03-02
Posts 1376Midwest |
A definite slice of life that turned moldy I can taste the bitter pill from here. |
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JerryPat2 Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975South Louisiana |
Yep, and it was a bitter pill, EmmaRose, but like most things it didn't last too long, it just seemed like it. ~ Look hard behind you and you'll be able to maneuver around the pitfalls ahead of you. ~ |
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kindredspirit Member
since 2009-05-19
Posts 156 |
I love your vibrant use of language. "city's neon sleaze" |
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JerryPat2 Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975South Louisiana |
Thank you very much, kindredspirit, I appreciate it. ~ Look hard behind you and you'll be able to maneuver around the pitfalls ahead of you. ~ |
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faithmairee Senior Member
since 2011-01-05
Posts 1441Poe Haven, USA |
JerryPat-This is heart-wrenching. I could feel the pain. So sad to feel so bad but I am so glad you are at a happier place now. There must be a poem in here somewhere. |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
quote: My mother smoked Marls and I think she had a thing for the cowboy who was probably based upon the man she married... but I know that look in your/her eyes... watching out the window... [good stuff, this....] |
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JerryPat2 Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975South Louisiana |
Yes, Faith, I am sure glad certain parts of my life were only temporary (isn't most of it?), and I found the world a brighter place than those grim days. I appreciate your thoughts. Sunshine, I hope your mother was, like myself, able to move away from that window, for it was not a good place to be. Thank you for being here. ~ Look hard behind you and you'll be able to maneuver around the pitfalls ahead of you. ~ |
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