Blueline Poetry - Topics

1 - 5 A Phrase or Two Would Do

marthagalphin@hotmail.com (martha galphin) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 23:10:31 -0500

A Phrase or Two Would Do

I have waited long enough
For a few words,
Just a phrase or two.
I’ll put a penny under my pillow
and hope to wake tomorrow
with a phrase or two.
Sure don’t have it tonight.
Goodnight. Goodnight.
Just remember a phrase or two would do,
would do.

Martha

Statistics : Posted by martha galphin • on Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:10 pm • Replies 8 • Views 22

I.15 'Overing

chuck_lev@comcast.net (Crispus) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:48:15 -0500

‘Overing

Overdue.
She’s overdue.
There are no do-overs.
She’s undone.

No no the book is overdue.
I think you’ve overdone it this time.
You are over-reacting.
I am not overly sensitive.

Well, she’s over-age.
I think you have to pay extra for overage.
You actually pay less for underage.
You could pay over time.

No no overtime can be quite costly.
You were never timely.
Don’t overdo
...

Statistics : Posted by Crispus • on Mon Sep 06, 2010 8:48 am • Replies 3 • Views 11

LI.8. rules suck, a libertarian manifesto

allen.itz@gmail.com (allenitz) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:53:16 -0500

rules suck,
that’s my conviction

except for those
that protect me

from bank robbers
and serial killers

and international
assassins
and incompetent motor
vehice operators
and rogue cops

and islamic terrorists
and communist terrorists
and canadian terrorists
and lutheran terrorists
and morman terrorists
and zen terrorists
and people for the ethical
threatment of animals
terrorists
and pat boone
...

Statistics : Posted by allenitz • on Mon Sep 06, 2010 8:53 am • Replies 4 • Views 19

XVI. 3. YES, We Would

sternjrw001@hawaii.rr.com ('Ilima Stern) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 23:08:29 -0500

YES, We Would

There are no bears,
no deer, nor squirrels
or chipmunks
in this wildlife
National Park
just nene geese,
‘i’iwi honeycreepers,
and Hawaiian
hoary bats.

Oh yes, there’s
Madam Pele
making her
presence known
with a constant
spewing of lava
since 1983.

We joked yesterday
at the Visitors’ Center,
if an old white-haired
woman were to stop
us and ask for a ride,
we’d make
...

Statistics : Posted by 'Ilima Stern • on Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:08 pm • Replies 5 • Views 15

XVI. 1. Punt

sternjrw001@hawaii.rr.com ('Ilima Stern) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 23:04:25 -0500

I thought I'd submitted this late Thursday for Friday with an explanation about being on the Big Island for the weekend and posting Saturday's and Sunday's poems on Sunday. I got on just now and couldn't find this, so my sincere apologies to all House members.

XVI. 1. Punt

It’s not rocket science.
Packing for a weekend trip
shouldn’t be stressful
but Friday sneaked up on me!

The
...

Statistics : Posted by 'Ilima Stern • on Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:04 pm • Replies 5 • Views 14

1-24 Repetition

judybnotes@gmail.com (hawkseye) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 23:15:07 -0500

Repetition

Clippity-clop, clippity-clop,
little toy pony gallops across
box top, sips from Riley’s glass,
clippity-clops to the box edge.

“Oh, no, the door is closed,
I can’t get in! Please open
the door and let me in.”

She laughs at the words
and opens the door.
“Thank you,” the horse sighs
before jumping inside.

Sung, not said, repeated
as each little horse
gallops across the box
...

Statistics : Posted by hawkseye • on Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:15 pm • Replies 4 • Views 12

XVI. 2. Mauna Kea

sternjrw001@hawaii.rr.com ('Ilima Stern) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 23:06:13 -0500

This is Saturday's poem.

Mauna Kea

As seen from a jet,
the summit of Mauna Kea
soars high above
a blanket of clouds,
bare and brown, not yet
dusted with snow,
observatiories
wink in the sun.

Statistics : Posted by 'Ilima Stern • on Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:06 pm • Replies 6 • Views 17

LXIII-16 Too Close for Comfort

alicefolkart@gmail.com (AJFolkart) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 02:38:30 -0500

LXIII - 16 Too Close for Comfort

Achhhhhh! Achhhhhh!
someone across the way
sneezes night and day
but without the
satisfaction of the
Chooooo!

Sounds like a big man,
a big belly sneeze,
flaring nostrils, huge sinuses,
a deep, red throat,
enormous lungs tickled by some
fiendish allergen, Achhhhhhchooo!

But, it never comes.

Statistics : Posted by AJFolkart • on Mon Sep 06, 2010 2:38 am • Replies 4 • Views 12

XV.16 Overindulgence

conniededona@gmail.com (connied) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:00:40 -0500

Spoiled
myopic youth
neglects his teeth.

Gummy candy
belly and
devouring habits
dentist’s dream.

Statistics : Posted by connied • on Sat Sep 04, 2010 2:00 pm • Replies 8 • Views 25

XI-14 Coolin' Down For Sleep

blueline@goobertree.com (Helen V) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 10:12:13 -0500

Coolin’ Down For Sleep

Temperature dropped twenty
points in two nights.
Sixty-three degrees just right
for sleep, window open, fan low.
Maybe I won’t be tempted
to go nude, after all.

Statistics : Posted by Helen V • on Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:12 am • Replies 7 • Views 22

XIX.19 Fire

blueline@goobertree.com (Wiltshire) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 16:33:14 -0500

Fire

whenever we touch
the surrounding sky ignites
hot flames burn my skin –
I dance inside the fire
jealous of windblown ashes

***
a tanka

Statistics : Posted by Wiltshire • on Sun Sep 05, 2010 4:33 pm • Replies 5 • Views 20

1.15 Flu Shots

chuck_lev@comcast.net (Crispus) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:09:10 -0500

Flu Shots

Waiting for a flu shot
Since I have time
Before lunch with skinny G
Whose bones I think
I was not to comment upon
I could tell from the look
Her mentor gave me
Like I had stepped in shit.

Statistics : Posted by Crispus • on Sun Sep 05, 2010 1:09 pm • Replies 7 • Views 18

LI.7. summer grasses

allen.itz@gmail.com (allenitz) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 09:44:56 -0500

summer grasses-
all that remains
of warriors’ dreams

- - - - - Basho Matsuo

reading this morning
about
the little village

of Berg’s Mill
that grew up around
San Juan Mission

in south San Antonio -
dismantled
and removed when

the missions became
national
historical sites -

nothing left now,
but little pecan trees
grown big

and memories
of those
who grew up there

- our front door was right
here,
...

Statistics : Posted by allenitz • on Sun Sep 05, 2010 9:44 am • Replies 6 • Views 33

XIX.18 Ticking Down

blueline@goobertree.com (Wiltshire) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 01:44:13 -0500

Ticking Down

The grandfather clock ticks down
time behind our silly laughter,

metronomes our tremulous
smiles, an occasional tear.

Sisters know the secret
places behind serene faces,

Pleasure and pain combine
as we mirror thepast:

she looks like mother did;
you still have Dad’s eyes.

Not like the old days
when everyone was alive,

when you couldn’t get a word
in, when babies and husbands

divided
...

Statistics : Posted by Wiltshire • on Sun Sep 05, 2010 1:44 am • Replies 4 • Views 25

XXXVIII. 8. Seeing as if at first

sbmcdonough@gmail.com (sonoranpoet) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 20:57:15 -0500

Seeing as if at first

On this day there is the clash
of good sense stamping stockinged
feet. Unheard in the din of good humor.
A black needle moving barely against
pearl dial. So brief a mind might back-up
on itself. Rewind. Did that happen?
Will it happen again. Ah no. Just once.
No trumpets bleating. No entrance hymns.
There is that same unstillness with sea urchins.
Motion unseen. Unwatched.
...

Statistics : Posted by sonoranpoet • on Sat Sep 04, 2010 8:57 pm • Replies 5 • Views 24

XI.11 Counting on

moswan199@aol.com (mo) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 10:45:51 -0500

One thing I still know is time ticks by.
Two hands of mine can keep typing out lines.
Three children all grownup to keep me sane most times.
Four sisters remind me of Mom and Dad's lives.
Five empty months go by.
Six years to keep on teaching and keep learning why.
Seven hours of sleep or six as the clock strikes.
Eight, nine, ten poets to make me strive.

hugsmo

Statistics : Posted by mo • on Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:45 am • Replies 7 • Views 19

XV.17 Mental Abuse

conniededona@gmail.com (connied) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:45:49 -0500

I love you
so much
sweetheart.

Now follow
all my
commands
to the letter.

Statistics : Posted by connied • on Sun Sep 05, 2010 12:45 pm • Replies 5 • Views 18

LI.6. friday night football

allen.itz@gmail.com (allenitz) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 09:27:40 -0500

friday night
football, black and white

guys
against red and white guys

and the black
and white guys are getting

they butts whipped
and they’re also “my” team

or at least my cheerleader niece’s
team which makes them

my team
by adoption

and they’re getting
their butts whipped, 21-0,

and it’s still the 2nd quarter...

it’s a new school, first year,
new team

no seniors
and they
...

Statistics : Posted by allenitz • on Sat Sep 04, 2010 9:27 am • Replies 8 • Views 36

LXIII - 15 Prose Poem on Lovely People

alicefolkart@gmail.com (AJFolkart) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 03:04:39 -0500

LXIII - 15 Prose Poem on Lovely People

They're lovely people, really. Really, they are. Lovely. And nice. Just because they speak no English is no reason not to like such lovely people. And she such a good cook. And he, who at first we thought was a crook, a good host, the toast of the town. He pours wine so fine that we could never have it otherwise in crystal goblets big enough for Hobbits
...

Statistics : Posted by AJFolkart • on Sun Sep 05, 2010 3:04 am • Replies 7 • Views 26

1.14 August

chuck_lev@comcast.net (Crispus) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:47:25 -0500

August

All the statisticians are away
on the Cape,
psychiatrists on Martha’s Vineyard,

investment bankers, movie stars,
and political notables
are sequestered on Nantucket.

And the ne’er do wells, domestic
dispute lawyers, state
college professors and social
worker significant others
are sitting by Lake Winnipesauke

wishing fossil-fuel powered vehicles,
motor boats, ski-contraptions,
...

Statistics : Posted by Crispus • on Sat Sep 04, 2010 12:47 pm • Replies 7 • Views 27

XI.10 Tired of Trying to Sleep

moswan199@aol.com (mo) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 05:16:40 -0500

Like lying on planks,
rigid boards--a hard sleeping place.
I toss around and around this small space
once made for two bodies.
I just don't fit here any more.

mo

Statistics : Posted by mo • on Sat Sep 04, 2010 5:16 am • Replies 8 • Views 34

LXIII - 14 Mama's Paradox

alicefolkart@gmail.com (AJFolkart) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:53:10 -0500

LXIII - 14 Mama's Paradox

He stood in line
with all the other grownups
at the airport
I had to turn my head
as I pulled away from the curb,
the airport cop
hurrying me on,
'Come on, Lady! Move it!'

His daypack
the only clue to
the little boy he once was.
The big, Roll-aboard suitcase
a serious travel statement.

We didn't wave.
We didn't cry.
I didn't ask if he had his ticket.
He didn't
...

Statistics : Posted by AJFolkart • on Fri Sep 03, 2010 9:53 pm • Replies 9 • Views 28

XI-13 Vanity and Heat

blueline@goobertree.com (Helen V) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 08:22:44 -0500

Vanity and Heat

I feel like taking my clothes off,
sitting near the computer
with the fan directed full blast,
at me.

Years ago I may have felt like doing that,
shyness prevented me from doing so.

Today, I’m still somewhat shy,
but it isn’t that…it’s the shape
of my body, the little roll of fat,
the tiny wrinkles across areas
not wishing to be seen.
And so, vanity keeps me too warm,
lack
...

Statistics : Posted by Helen V • on Sat Sep 04, 2010 8:22 am • Replies 7 • Views 26

XIX.17 The Guest Room

blueline@goobertree.com (Wiltshire) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:03:52 -0500

The Guest Room

perfect
workspace: peaceful
atmosphere for writing –
then family arrives, creates
chaos

***

Family here for the long weekend. My office a guestroom. I'll be as good about posting as I can. Luckily, I don't mind a little chaos!

W

Statistics : Posted by Wiltshire • on Fri Sep 03, 2010 11:03 pm • Replies 7 • Views 29

XI-12 Massachusetts Camp

blueline@goobertree.com (Helen V) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:22:14 -0500

Massachusetts Camp

Bob’s Camp in Massachusetts
on a small lake had been sold
a few years ago. But I remember:

Whenever we went there for a few days,
it was fixing the water to come on,
(a big problem that used a hose
into the lake, a pump that didn’t
always work, and a hungry man.)

Maple trees, great oaks on three sides
of the camp, leaving knee-high leaves
to rake, piled into containers
...

Statistics : Posted by Helen V • on Fri Sep 03, 2010 10:22 am • Replies 8 • Views 27