Iron Poet

[Capstone]

An actual limerick:

The Unnamed Televangelist

A 'high-flyer', whom I will not name,
set about to seek fortune and fame.
He bargained with god,
who then gave him the nod...
to bilk the weak-minded and lame.​

Against all odds...

 

[Ropey]

An actual limerick:

The Unnamed Televangelist

A 'high-flyer', whom I will not name,
set about to seek fortune and fame.
He bargained with god,
who then gave him the nod...
to bilk the weak-minded and lame.​

Against all odds...

Against the call for any and all,
only the odds and sods look...
for the actual and in that they fall,
without a call.

Down
The
Road

 

[Capstone]

The Morning Commute

Over and under and spinning around,
spilling the coffee we're guzzling down,
driven to reach for the capital goals,
looking for exit ramps nobody's found;

taking the high road and paying the tolls
(leaving the low to less fortunate souls),
out to avoid all the bottleneck lines,
totally out of it at the controls;

riding the asses and missing the signs,
downing the hammers and risking the fines,
speeding and honking and flipping the birds,
driving each one of us out of our minds.​

Mephistopheles in black...

 

[Impenitent]

the steely-white gray titmouse who is tufted on his head
with a mighty will of courage landed on my feather bed
and unbroken skitter-scanter
backed with little bitter banter
from my counterpane he in confusion fled​

.​

habitat​

pelagic​

idiopathic​

​

Tough, that one.

When the times are tough, I move to limericks.

A limerick in honor of our last habitat,
That was then and this is sure to be that.
Now that pelagic fish farm has been built,
and you've had a peek up my mental Kilt.
I hope you grow bold, before I get too old,
and fold into doing what it is that I'm told...
...idiopathically shuddering... why am I not cold?

A short note of things I meant to say
Just another farewell on this winter day
I hope this satisfies your sincere concern
You asked for this, so stay and maybe learn

A poet can only write that which he knows
Thus to the world his soul he shows
If he doesn't recognize the subject of his attack
Perhaps in his mirror resides Mephistopheles in black

A poem can be so many things
The poet merely pulls the proper strings
One can hardly discern in his little vignettes
Between the poet and his marionettes

Why waste your talent writing on the walls
While tapping your feet in truck stop stalls
Break out and write that epic smiling in you
Don't let the dark force continue beguiling you

Projection
Conservative
Pastime

 

[Capstone]

America's Pastime:
Projected Numbers Don't Lie


Pick a number 1 to 10.
No, not that number, pick again...

a different number 2 to 9.
Yes, that one will do just fine.

Now propagate the going rate
and pick one each from 3 to 8,

& 4 to 7, 5 to 6
(hell, toss a 0 in the mix).

Now flip the order 6 to 5
then add to bring the streak alive.

Yes, add the 7 to the 4
(we've broken through 11's door!),

as 8+3 and 9+2
and 10+1 will also do.

This lesson we should freely give
as liberals to conservatives:

no matter how you do the math,
the few will face the many's wrath.​

All adds up...

 

[Impenitent]

"Dexter's 501c4"

You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain
Too much red tape drives a man insane
You broke my will
It gave you a thrill
Goodness gracious great balls of fire!

You laughed at my app 'cause you thought it was funny
So I came along and moooooved my money
You changed your mind
Called it a crime
Goodness gracious great balls of fire!

Levy me baby
Mmmm you play rough
Place a lien on me baby
Well I started stalkin' at the sheriff's sale
Your kind, all whine
Got to tell this world that you're mine mine mine mine

I got your name and address and I'm not quite done
You're real nervous and it sure is fun
C'mon baby, you drove me crazy
Now we're both goin' up in a great ball of fire!

(piano solo)

Levy me baby
Mmmm you play rough
Place a lien on me baby
Well I started stalkin' at the sheriff''s sale
Your kind, all whine
Got to tell this world that you're mine mine mine mine

I got your name and address and I'm not quite done
You're real nervous and it sure is fun
C'mon baby, you drove me crazy
Now we're both goin' up in a great ball of fire!




Fight of the Phalanx

They gather, speaking of conservative roots
And all their infinite, terminal pursuits
As the morning dew, turned to frost
Doomed anyway, crackled beneath my boots

Empowered there, unaware of impending loss
Relishing minor victories, ignoring the moral cost
Scions of antebellum sensibilities, unable to forswear
Their heritage, with old values renamed and glossed

I am among them, they seemingly unaware
Of the final blow, from the reaper standing near
Toppled over, erased by a poet's stroke
Neither Gabriel, nor Mephistopheles will shed a tear

Retaliate! Came the orders from FOX and Koch
A phalanx is growing, forming in the smoke
But they are beyond the ability to abrogate disputes
Only death throes, freedom bells now tolling on their yokes


Wordsmiths come (and) go

 

[Ropey]

Wordsmiths come and words may go,
As long as words follow the flow.
Of mind and mettle oh rarely seen,
So, then say what it really does mean.


words
follow
stead

 

[Capstone]

'Stead of Scotch Tape...

In youth the words of elders often went
into the left and right on out the right,
and so I wasted many rolls and spent
way too much unnecessary might...

from all too often poorly choosing scotch,
when masking, duct, or packing surely would
have better suited many jobs I'd botch
by sticking stuff to things misunderstood;

because the things to which we all adhere
themselves decide what will or will not stick
below the surface modeled to appear
as good for ANY tape that one might pick.

And so I really hope the following
helps frame the question as to how to choose:
do more than scratch the surface of the thing,
before determining which tape to use.​

Speaking from experience...

 

[Impenitent]

You both seem to want more meaning for those than I have. The first one is a riff on Jerry Lee Lewis, if he happened to be a Tea Partyer, disgruntled with the IRS. I wrote it months ago, but never found the appropriate place to post it. It matches the three words, if you substitute app for odd. (I cheated)

The second one started as a response to a post a bit up the thread, but I didt get it finished before I was beaten to the punch, so it remained unfinished until Sunday morning, when I was watching a remake of "Flight of the Phoenix" on HBO. But it is merely a wishful/wistful chronicle of the final days of the GOP. I had a bit more of the command and control issues between the GOP brass, and the Tea Party foot soldiers, but I cut that out. And I was playing a bit, with the Capstone rhyme scheme, so I wanted it in this thread, too.

There is no intentional connection between the two poems. But sometimes funny things happen on the Ouija board...

 

[Ropey]

I have no wants in this. I just enjoy reading the words. Sometimes I'll poke to get a reaction but that's more for the repartee than the verse.

 

[Impenitent]

"Killer"
(Thriller)

It's close to midnight
The waves are rollin past last night's mark
Under the moonlight
You see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream
But terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze
You know there's no high ground left to take it
You're paralyzed

'Cause its a killer
Killer this very night
And no one's gonna save you
From the heat continuing to strike
You know it's a killer
Killer coming at you so many ways
You're fighting for your life
Outside a killer
Killer tonight, yeah

You feel the waves slap
And realize there's nowhere left to run
You pray for a cold snap
Then realize it's too late - you're undone
You close your eyes
And hope that this is just imagination
But all the while
You feel the temperature creepin' up behind
You're outta time

'Cause this is a killer
Killer at night
There ain't no second chance
Against co2's St. Vitus dance
Against the killer
Killer at night
You're fighting for your life
Inside a killer
Killer tonight

Someone tripped a sensor
Who'll kill you for a can of beans
Where 's your Roy Spencer
He and Lindzen and other men with means
Are on Antartica it seems
They get to pass on man's genes
Free from starvation and cutthroats
And these stinking bodies afloat
But what about you and me
Now gimme that can of beans
And you will see

That we caused an anthropogenic killer
Killer in the air, the land, and the sea
What good is a balanced budget
And personal responsibility
If to merely stay alive
When men become a
Killer in the night
A judge and jury
In his own right
In this anarchy

Gore soliloquy:

"Darkness falls across Greenland
The ice gone, now only barren sand
Animals crawl in search of food
In packs or alone in two-legged neighborhoods
And whosoever shall be found
Without the soul for the killing ground
Must stand and face the experience of hell
And speak from inside a skeptic's shell'

'The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of two hundred years
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom
And though you fight to stay alive
Everybody dies in this thriller
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the anthropogenic killer"



Anthropogenic
Global
Warming

 

[Capstone]

Some say the world is gonna end
if man continues on
the present course the 'cons' defend
as lackeys for Exxon.

They claim the science isn't real,
or stupidly espouse
that we should pin the whole ordeal
on farting bulls and cows.

But since the cars and cattle track
the population growth,
the blame is on the human's back
for cultivating both.

And so our anthropogenic
pollutants really go
to raise the merc'ry just as quick
as 'Global Warmists' show.​

Not really though...

 

[Impenitent]

Armageddon is coming
Forced by agent provocateurs
Anti statist forces are drumming
"We're gonna revoke the impure"

Issa! Issa! One day
Talkin' ''bout Primary! Primary!
Primary one day!

Your flag boy
Said to my flag boy
"I think you are a liar"
My flag boy said
To your flag boy
"I'm gonna set your flag on fire!"
Issa! Issa!
Issa one day!

How do we
Get rid of the GOP?
We'll never see the final fight
Until we prod 'em to the the right

Talkin' 'bout Rand Paul! Rand Paul!
Rand Paul one day!
Mitch'll never go over the brink
But Paul, the koolaid he'll drink
Rand Paul! Rand Paul!
Rand Paul one day!

See that guy all dressed in blue?
Obama! Obama!
Obama one day!
He's got a drone you can call your own
When it lands on you!
Obama! Obama!
Obama one day!

See that guy all dressed in red?
Ted Cruz! Ted Cruz!
Ted Cruz one day!
If he's the candidate from Manchuria
You'll know it when you're dead

When he reads green eggs and ham
Though he might seem a bit slower
He will tell you "I yam what I yam"
And that's really a bomb thrower!

See that guy all dressed in blue ?
Obama, Obama one day
He's not a man
If he's from Kenya or Katmandu
Obama, Obama one day

If these guys don't do the deed
I know who will
Governor Mike! Governor Mike!
Governor Mike one day!

Ask any woman
Who should pay the bills
They won't care
As long if get their slut pills
Huckabee! Huckabee!
Huckabee one day!

Talkin' 'bout provocateurs! Provocateurs!
Provocateurs one day!
If you wanna know
How this will all go
Listen to what I say!


Edit to add

 

[Capstone]

Anti-establishment Hero

Some call him a traitor and call for his head,
Now that the cats are all out of the bags;
Others consider his courage instead,
When lesser men turned to ignore the red flags.
Discovered illegal surveillances led --
Enraging the hunters of prey that has fled,
Now wrapped in a curtain of iron(y) red.

Psychedelics in bloom.

 

[Impenitent]

Hurricane
(to Billie Jean)

Disasters come more often it seems
And so Pat Roberson and I prayed
Everybody knows exactly what it means
It had to be that gay parade - that party on Fire Island - that nightclub down in Queens

It was worse than a disaster scene
You see on the movie screen
I said, pardon me, what do you mean, by "anthropogenic global warming?"
She said, that is why the hurricane came aground
That is why - the hurricane - came aground

She told me the hurricane's name was Sandy
And it was the corporate modus operandi
They pump carbon dioxide in the air
Then these come aground
They pump - in the air - these come aground

Now I've always trusted corporations are careful what they do
They don't pump poisons in the air
I don't think the problem could be co2
Or that the corporations - just don't care

Hurricanes are not global warming
She's just a girl who claims
They caused this one
But Sandy is not Koch's son
She says they are the one
But the hurricane is not their son

Hurricanes are not global warming
She's just a girl who claims
They caused this one
But Sandy is not Koch's son
She says they are the one
But the hurricane is not their son

For Bush's two terms,
the law was on our side
But who can stand with Obama in charge and his business death march
But then - this hurricane- came aground

I went back to my corporate job
But what she said laid heavy on my heart
When I looked at the smoke stacks
My head began to throb - i thought about those slobs - and longed to join their mob!

Now I feel revulsed and conflicted
To this life of excess I've become addicted
I sold my soul as if money was eternal youth
Now that lie is - an inconvenient truth

All Man's wealth comes from cheap fossil fuel
I jumped at that because I'm nobody's fool
Now that cost has come home to roost, as deadly as a viper
And now we've got to pay -pay the piper


So take my strong advice
Just remember to always think twice
That denial may be a psychotic device

She told my baby, we were swimming til three
Then she looked at me, and showed me a photo
My baby cried, her family had died, oh no
All because - this hurricane - came aground

Hurricanes are not global warming
She just a girl who claims
They caused this one
But Sandy is not Koch's son

Hurricanes are not global warming
She's just a girl who claims
They caused this one

She says they caused this one
But the hurricane is not Koch's son

She says they caused this one
But the hurricane is not Koch's son

Hurricanes are not global warming
She's just a girl who claims
They caused this one
But Sandy is not Koch's son

She says they caused this one
But Sandy is not Koch's son

She says they caused this one
She says they caused this one
She says they caused this one

Hurricanes are not global warming
Hurricanes are not global warming
Hurricanes are not global warming

...

It's there, somewhere

 

[Capstone]

The Song of Life

The Song of Life surrounds and serenades,
evolving over scores and signatures
of keys and tempos kept in integers
somewhere amid the spaces life invades.
As order over chaos promenades,
in music (as in art and lit'rature),
some gifted to be more than titular
creators, each to their own palisades:

The ocean belts its chorus to the skies,
whose winds whip back and forth in harmony;
there land and sea and air jointly decree
an orchestra of habitats, arise
where lover sings to lover earnestly,
and mothers, to their babies, lullabies.​

Not everything's political.

 

[Impenitent]

Come with me, my love
To the sea, the sea of love

"Prithee engage me in political discourse"
(at your great personal risk of course)
Then she taunts and teases
Drawing blood as she pleases
Without ever a shred of remorse

Oh don't you loathe and adore em
The tempting Lorelei of the forum
Entice you with sweet talks
Then dash you on the rocks
Dare you try, you can't ignore em

In this sea of words she is beckoning
Alluding to a kiss with a peck so cunning
Entreating me once again
I'm fleetingly headed for sin
With no regard for the devil's reckoning

From starboard side comes a round
Wind from my sails, I drift aground
You've shown me your enmity
But Lorelei grant me clemency
You called, then left me for drowned

Instead i land in an autocratic court
With judges of enigmatic comport
She's awaiting breathlessly
To witness my destiny
Wearing a wry smirk as a dramatic retort

I'll say my penance and do my sentence
I'll go pink and with a wink
She'll pull the rope and ring the bell
And to her sisters she will tell
"Let's make a list of the next to feel our vengeance"


Receiving unrequited enmity

 

[freedombecki]

like coarse and raw abrasive flint​

this sadly unrequited dent​

bequeathing certain enmity​

from triturating enemy​

the pain-filled hocus pocus​

that's receiving loci's focus​

calor! rubor! tumor! dolor!​

'round the left and upper molar!​

ow! such hades deep within​

so designates an aspirin​

or palate cure probative​

for my rooted palliative​

hourglass
elation
attenuate

 

[Capstone]

Boggle

The given time is quickly running out,
and finding words is starting to get tough.
Can't flip the plastic hourglass about
to buy more time to find more words and stuff;

but if I could, I think I'd hesitate
to cheat myself and other players by
prolonging life in this frustrating state
of watching as the sands of time go by.

There's "at"! And "ten", both right in line with "ate"
(no fucking "u", so no "attenuate");
and Jesus Christ, would someone tell me why
I found "elation"...just a second late?!​

Boggles the mind...

 

[Statistikhengst]

The smell of one last unwashed sweater of hers, one that made it's way into my moving box,
one errant hair of hers caught between the pages of a book, a book she didn't want to keep,
a concert program that was hers, not mine, stuck in between music binders long unused,
a coin of hers stuck in the last batch of laundry lint thrown out, hastily thrown together into the "odds and ends" box ---

Together, then separated, then divorced - Joy, pain, grief, elysium, reality, dull thuddyness -
but even divorced, a small shred always remains.
And then a tear comes where - and when- no one expects one.

This is true melancholy.