A few years ago, I had some prolific output as a poet. A Muse had entered my life, and I expressed my typhoon of emotions in an onslaught of poems: Long form free verse, rhymed almost-sonnets, a scatter-shot of haiku.
Here are some sample lines from that period:
***
“A young person often regrets what he or she has done. An older person regrets what he or she didn’t do.”
The last embrace was the best embrace Because it wasn’t me but you You grabbed me and you held on tight There was nothing else we could do
I look in the bathroom mirror and see myself As I am Midlife, crisis, and all
Sometimes
We mistake contentment for happiness.
And sometimes,
Something happens to make us truly happy,
To realize that we had not been so before,
And now we are
Standing outside the Emergency Exit door— I propped it open for re-entry Just in case
Who needs the Apocalypse and the Anti-Christ When we can flagellate ourselves With our own regrets?
***
How’s that for a churning cement truck hopper full of emotions, both positive and negative, optimistic and pessimistic?
Lately, I’ve occasionally had some poetic ideas, but it appears that my versifying fuel tank is presently on low. Mostly, I’ll have a thought, but it turns out to be a chorus for a song I may never write. And so, since the rest of those songs may never germinate, here are some of the most recent examples of song-seeds.
***
In response to firings at the FDA and other governmental agencies which might protect us from outbreaks of disease:
We are in hysteria Because we have listeria We need some more wisteria To make a funeral lei.
While waiting for the dermatologist to return to the room after excising some skin cancer spots from my head:
Age spots and skin tags and moles
Oh my!
There goes my nice smooth skin
Bye bye!
Like I ever had smooth skin. And speaking of rough I found this as an entry in my Notes app:
Maybe you think I’m AI
Maybe I’m just MIA
Forget facts and just check me off
Singing Polly Willy Doodle all the DIA
(Side note: I have no idea what DIA might stand for; I forget the entire context of that verse since I jotted it down.)
And finally, one that I thought was really promising but I’m not sure where to go with it:
Gonna buy me some pagan babies
Because they‘ve got no clue
About the Lord and Savior
And they’re good eatin’ too
Looking at that: maybe it’s okay I’ll never write the songs to go with those choruses.
MUSOFYR 