(For Luke Robbins, b/d 23.02.99)
______________________________
As she held
Her still-born child
In the middle of a dream,
She held back the tears
So as not to disturb
That beautiful dead face.
—
Lord Pineapple
_______________
To a mentally-retarded cousin at Christmas.
Your 21st Christmas
Falls on you
Like a silent dream
That never awakens.
The dawn sivers
On a magic morning
You can’t understand,
You, eternally six.
Pleased you can spell your name,
Sorry you wet the bed the night before.
Looking for toys at the age
Other girls are getting married.
You go running downstairs
With your new dolly
To switch on the fairy-lights
Although it is only 4a.m.
The world awaits for you
But you (forever a child of Jesus)
Shall never find it.
—
Lord Pineapple
_______________
A Poem To Sleep.
________________
Soft sleep
Yellow dream
Of night-flowers
Open in neoned yawns
Like purple stars.
The eyes of a mammal
Laughs in the mist
Talks about songs
On the by-pass tigers
Of their obsessive way
To maul & destroy.
And I shake myself,
Let my two-ton eyes
Wrap themselves
In the summer grass;
And start to fear
The finger-clouds
Strangling the sky
In oncoming water.
But I try to sleep
Rough and cold,
Think about the lot
Of us poor sods
And why we bothered
To come at all
To this green
And unpleasent land.
—
Lord Pineapple (After a poem by Victor Hugo)
__________________________________________
Silent Graves.
_____________
In the end
Silence.
Cool trees on cold rocks
Darts of sunlight
The frost.
In the end
Where we planned
Where our children laughed
At the eternity of it all,
Is the silence
Of a slow stream
Inbetween the stone graves
Of a yesterday.
In the end
Round about where
A beginning came:
Remains the footsteps
Of my crying
And the bitter taste
Of being alone
In a thousand dreams…
All around:
A silence.
—
Lord Pineapple
______________
Andy & the Lion.
_______________
I told Androcles not to wait up for me
As I will be gone some time.
And I was.
It is hard for a lion
To get a decent feed in a city
Without eating human beings.
Even God understands that.
—
Lord Pineapple
______________
“The Bones.”
____________
My adult daughter was crying today,
For when planting flowers, she had dug up a pile of bones
And she had remembered that they were of the kitten
She had buried as a child,
After it had been ran over
Outside our house.
“I had forgotten all about it, dad”
She says softly:
I put the kettle on to brew her a cuppa
As the flower seeds blew away, forgotten in the breeze.
Later, we reburied the bones together,
And made a small cross out of the sunset
And our silent hands.
—
Lord Pineapple
_____________
“Medusa”
__________
One night alone
With Medusa,
And already a statue
Looking out to sea.
It took more than a look,
I’ll grant you that,
Her powers are fading
After all these years.
But stone I am
And stone I will be:
Until wind and rain
And time
Shall endeth me.
—
Lord Pineapple
______________
The Firemen: 9/11
_________________
Sometimes going off to work
Does not mean going home from work,
And who would have thought
That your very last words
Would be through a mobile phone?
Who can imagine the shock
Of knowing you are going to die
When you have dedicated your life
To saving others?
Of entering a building
And never leaving it again
And all because of some cause
that you didn’t give a fuck for?
—
Lord Pineapple
Comments (42)
Oh, this Poetry is beyond beauty, they are sublime insight~
Everytime I think you cannot surpass, you surpass~
Peace~
You Rang!
I see a lot of good reads here. I love the first two and see so much understanding there and compassion for some who are less fortunate, born without you might say. Actually, you put so many reads on a page, it’s hard to let them soak in and I would prefer to let them soak in so I get the fullness as much as possible as to their meaning.
All good stuff until I get to the fireman poem then I might question what you wrote. I think most firemen and their families know the dangers and none want to see the worst happen. I think people like firemen have an inner need to be a part of a bigger picture and to say they may be fighting something they don’t give a f— about is possibly misguided. I think if asked, firemen might be among the first to get in line to fight terrorism and support national security and defense. I might be wrong but the inner strength that I feel exudes from firemen gives me that impression.
I wonder I we were reading each other at the same moment Terry
Thank you for your compliments…this day and always
I do not require comments right now…for it only takes a tiny bit to set me off these days*grins*
I love that u actually read the poem
My first reading here : and I was in tears…”see what I mean”…The Bones….and Medusa …seemed to be words I have read here before…Yes?
Dorothea
I do so hate to flobble a comment…cause u can’t go back and change it
*sighs*
Her babe wasn’t stillborn but lived a year and her grief lasted until her own death.
Official records are filled with the names marked by death before they even appeared on the scene but, death can be looked at as a blessing if we see an angel rising without the struggles some of us have. For those left behind, the grieving can be difficult.
Your poem “The Bones”, very good as are most of them here.
So glad for your lovely experience in hospital today. What a smile for the heart that one. Your poetry is very provocative as usual and words with so much color.
LE You make all Firemen sound like right-wing hill-billies, why should they care about justice, when they would rather care about human beings?
All so sweet in their way and sad too. The stiilborn poem was saddest
So varied, as usual. So eloquent, as usual. You are making me “think” about what I am reading–not so usual!! Thanks. My brain cells needed this!
Don’t worry, I shot a dream woman with my dream gun.
I wouldn’t attack, I promise.
Okay, this is a lot of great stuff here, goodness.
I absolutely loved the first two.
the rest, just amazing.
Not sure what I feel about the 9/11 one… good start.
I know a few firemen — they are hero’s either way, and they go in knowing they might not come out, and they love their fellow beings and will go down with them trying to save as many as they can, in peace and war. They are some of the bravest on the planet!
Interesting take on the 9/11 firemen. I agree with Little E about how I view the firemen. That’s how I want to view them and that’s how they are traditionally protrayed. As I think about it, I’m not sure what cause you are writing about. The politics of what has since come I think this accurately portrays what they might have felt if they had lived. It seems to be a presentism view of 9/11. Of that day and with the tragedy emotion of what had happened, I think they were concerned with the people and the justice of what had happened to the country and they responded as they could. I think “cause” is the wrong word in that second to last line. I can accept the poem up to there, but that just doesn’t seem to fit with what else you said.
The rest of them were true-to-form excellent. And even Firemen 9/11 was in that it made me think. What is this world if we blindly accept what others think? Where’s the fun in that?
why not? but do beware of sharp shears.
HAHA you are so funny making fun of my messy house hahahaha
I hope everything went well at the hospital for you! Just tests? I hope everything is great with you.
Yes, my parents said everyone was very kind at this hospital where they were in Maryland. I was glad to hear that. I dont like it when they start bossing us old folks around.
My dad is home now and I spoke with him. He is glad it is over, he sounds pretty good… –poor thing.
dear lord,/i like the kitten bones it has been a while since i visited you even though i eat u frequently i took a picture of my clown last night who looks like ur picture that still amazes me all of ur poetry is nice i have found it a bit morose at times as far as the firemen in my crystal world the twin towers are still standing as a matter of fact i just put them very close together touching each other thank u for ur poetry magi/angel
Hi Terry,
Just stopping by super quick…wow, those are really deep…thanks for sharing them..
(((hugs)))
Shara
86 years, as a matter of fact. I imagine that the Cardinals and the Yankees are both entering conferences with Babe Ruth’s ghost.
I liked The Firemen, very good poetry today.
one after another
very grand masterful work
you are a hidden wonder
- John
I envite your presence…. join us tonight for a group IM on yahoo 10 texas time..
damn I dont know when that is for you..
hope to read you there
Doug
All very beautiful – yet I am most touched by the first – perhaps because my daughter held her son for so long after his death in just this way ……..
absolutely brilliant – I like the Medusa one and the sleep one. You’re very talented…
So, you dressed as a sheik, too! Great minds think alike–right?? LOL. Your mind is MUCH greater than mine. I’m lucky to write a sentence, much less the wonderful poetry you write.
You don’t waste words, slaughtering them, I think you give them a marvelous immortality, or at least a brilliant burial.
~V
These poems all deal with death in some way, they are connected through death. They are beautifully composed too.
Hope you’re fine, there in hospital, and you’re enchanting the nurses with your muse, if, that is, you’re not giving them a hard time!
That’s quite a mood you’re in, Lord P! It must be wonderful to be able to say things that way.
love your poetry
and you, sir, have quite a wit. talking in the chat was fun, haha, i’m lauhging just thinking about some the comments you made… hahaha
-sarah
Some of these I’ve read before. All are quite moving. Death of loved ones is always painful, even if it’s for the noblest of causes. We all know that pain and death are inevitable, yet it always catches us off guard. That is the beauty of insanity or mental illness. Perpetual innocence and bliss. Almost makes one envious.
I’m sorry you couldn’t download the song. My free web server only allows so much bandwidth per month and you got there too late. If you’d like, I’ll send it to you in e-mail. If you get a Yahoo! account, you can receive up to 10 megabite files. Or tell me your ICQ number and I’ll send it that way maybe. I believe I’ll be posting a new song in the last week of every month now…~Ben
wonderful lot of poems this round i must say,
”poem to sleep, silent graves”
was my hits of the block. =)
When people criticize the motives behind poetry, they miss the whole point. Your take on 9-11 is not only appropriate, but needed to be said. Your “Poem to Sleep” will most likely have the opposite effect on most people (it did on me… been up all night). Like laughing in the face of death, irony can be a type of madness.
It’s a privilege to read your words
My paterna; grandmother’s first child was stillborn, and then she had another child…my father…at almost 40. I beat her record by having two children AFTER age 40…one at 45 and one at 49 1/2 and both were healthy and smart!
So terribly sad, especially the first one.
The Firemen: 9/11 – I reread the last line and that kept me from saying something stupid. Yeah, very beautiful and so right on.
All of them are beautiful…
Jim
You amaze me, I like your Lord Pineapple poems , you are as prolific as Moonpiesupafly, she always comes up with good ones ,but you put on more ,Thanks Cheers Marj
The poem for Luke Robbins is stunning. I always love the way you take the reader on an unexpected turn of words. The Fireman poem again, is an excellent example of your wonderfully creative mind. And all the poems in between, even if they’re not as favored by me as these two, they too are excellent pieces of work. You’re a wonderful, and creative writer.
Excellence in originality seems to be too hard to find anymore, and I thank the world wide web that many of us can now find each other, and our voices are heard.
And no, I don’t believe you post any rubish.
Peace, Terry.
breath taking, powerful and sad – up close views of the human animal
u seem like a free spirited girl.props 2 your site
u seem like a free spirited girl.props 2 your site
u seem like a free spirited girl.props 2 your site
why thank you duckie, but once is enough, we might have three heads but we have only one body. The Sarahs’
Another excellent little collection. Some quite touching stuff in there.
An aside: Did you get a chance to listen to chocolatebird? I’m just curious about what your reaction to it might have been.
Take care
-J-
The Firemen:9/11 is extraordinarily powerful…you are truly an amazing fellow. I noticed from the above comment that you’re in the hospital. I hope that it isn’t anything too serious! Wishing you the speediest of recoveries!