Category: Uncategorized

Note of explanation:
My old boss was a friend of the Canadian businessman who bought Frank Sinatra’s home in Rancho Mirage, California, and he had been invited to stay for a week. I got to stay overnight and that evening Frank’s estate manager who was still there said I was welcome to use the Jacuzzi which I did. He brought me a glass of wine. so there I was by the pool in the jacuzzi sipping the wine all by myself and listening to a Sinatra cd via the outdoor speakers. This is what inspired the following poem:

FRANK
By Robert Evans

As I sit here
in your Jacuzzi
on a balmy
Palm Springs night
the sound of your music
fills the air
I take a sip of wine
and think
of how
it must have been
A thousand voices
in idle chatter
the clink of glasses
peals of laughter
spaghetti dinners
made by your mamma
Famous guests
Dean and Sammy
Joey and Peter
Shirley M.
Marilyn M.
Jack K.
Cary
So Many
So Many
And now
as I enjoy
your music
I know…
you will live
forever…

Oh Kettle,
Stop setting my heart on fire
That blue flame you shoot up as your insides burn
Extends to burn my very nerves
Who ignited you?
Who turned you on?
That lady who’s always innocent no matter how guilty I prove her?
Or the other lady who turns the argument against me if she’s caught in the act?
Ladies? Ladies my foot!
Do you think being faster makes you better?
I don’t care for your blue flames or the sound of your water boiling
You can’t imagine what a turn-off it is to enter the room
Longing for a hot cup of coffee and seeing your light off
Having to fill you up
Having to plug you in
And having to wait
Until you burn up
Oh Kettle,
I take back my joy at receiving you
Give me back my dispenser
Give me back my peace

Circles that flash with pleasures of fire,
Fire that shoots to bowels and brain;
Circles of soft and slippery pleasure,
Circles that fill and those circles that drain.

Circles touching with sinewy softness,
Softness as hard as ramrod or stake;
Circles that sweep to planet’ry heavens,
Circles to dream as if never to wake.

Circles as soft as the touch of fine silk,
Silk velvet smooth as slimmest of sheaths;
Circles a-swirl with wondrous tingles,
Circles which make one forget that one breathes.

Circles that drown in riotous colours,
Colours in combat, in glorious strife;
Circles cry out the meaning of loving,
Circles in death, that explode into life!

They say Texas Sally had the magic touch.
So many women owed her, oh, so very much.
They say she made maids virginal again.
Turned troubled girls contrite, more than they’d ever been,

Turned their lips redder, turned their cheeks pink,
Made their figures shapelier than ever you would think.
Their eyes seemed somehow wider and much more prone to tears.
She turned waifs into women way beyond their years.

She didn’t pry who done it, or what their stories were.
She never talked about it and never cast a slur.
Few menfolk knew her name, not even those who came,
But when she died, the women cried and mourned her all the same.

A pea in the pod. A bun in the oven.
If you’re in the puddin’ club, but ain’t feelin’ lovin’
Look up Texas Sally, and go pay her a call.
The Good Lord will forgive, if maybe not the law.

She stood four feet in heels, couldn’t read or write,
Had not many skills, but worked well in low light.
She had tiny, thin fingers and a tiny, thin arm,
A gentle touch, soothing voice, always soft and warm.

No client ever left her disappointed or betrayed.
No lawmen ever raided, no payoffs needed paid.
She had a thriving business and a steady clientele.
Who’d harass a blind old lady whom so many loved so well?

They say she was an orphan with native tribal roots,
A long-forgotten lady whom today’s woman salutes.
She forged a tiny niche, though she never was renowned.
No wonder that she died the richest gal in town!

A pea in the pod. A bun in the oven.
If you’re in the puddin’ club, but ain’t feelin’ lovin’
Look up Texas Sally, and go pay her a call.
The Good Lord will forgive, if maybe not the law.

J. Alan Hostetter

Ancient sorrows
From days gone by
In worlds we only dream of
Hues of shadowy stories
That bring us to our knees
Bewildered we reminisce
Of great heroic feats
I’ll send them to you one evening
In a postcard with postage due
Maybe then we will remember
The days when life was true
We’ll walk together then
And smoke our cigarettes
In the smoky marsh of memories
And know from whence we came
Longing to go back there
Teary eyed and blue

http://www.peterbove.com/

lightning, oh lightning
oh, lordly me
striking out truth ‘til eternity
oh, come to me now
won’t you ease me body and soul
as you strike down through a hole
in the clouds
let the rain come to follow me down

I’ll go talk to the wind
oh, lordly me
chasing the dreams of eternity
oh, come to me now
won’t you ease my body and soul
as you blow pole to pole
in the clouds
let the rain come and follow me down

moonlight, oh moonlight
oh, lordly me
cool and profound as eternity
oh, come to me now
won’t you ease my body and soul
as you shine down through a hole
in the clouds
let the rain come and follow me down

let the rain come and follow me down

Nicholas Hollander, 2021

I’m tired
I’m tired of sleepwalking when I’m awake I’m tired of myself
for putting on a fake smile
and for putting up with things I don’t deserve I’m tired of being lonely
and I’m tired of being afraid of
what my loneliness could do to me

I’m tired
I’m tired of waking up every morning to a society I don’t want to be a part of
knowing I have to help change it
and I wanna fight
I wanna fight so bad
so give me a sword
help me straighten my spine
hold my head up
for I can’t by myself
but I wanna fight
I wanna fight

Part of poetry collection, loud mind, silent voice, out December 2021.

Can you hear me?
Are you there?
Do you see me?
I’m sitting here…waiting…
just waiting.

Time has gone by,
days have passed…
can you see me?
Do you hear my cries?
My hand is out stretched…
reaching towards the world that goes by…
can you see me?

Weeks have gone past…
time has no meaning,
can you see me?
I’m just sitting here…
waiting…
can you hear my cries?

Months have past…
my hand is limp beside me…
my cries are silent…
Do you see me?
I’m still sitting here…waiting…
just waiting.

Upon your arrival, you came here from love
Upon your departure, you must go back

Love all ways

Will you remember me when I see you again?
I trust yes

Will you tell others you meet about me?
I dare say you will

Will you know how to get to where you are going?
You always have before!

You showed me how to live
You showed me how to die
Silent warm looks deep into my eyes.

You have thanked me for a good life
but it is I who needs to thank you
For you have made me love unconditionally
Have I you?

You have made me laugh
You have made my heart sing

You have made me feel pain
For that I can only hope you have not felt the same.

I have lost nine pounds today –
And what a difference nine pounds can make
So much wisdom, so much glory
only such a small package could take.

My big little one.
My little big one

Love surrounds you everywhere
For you are just That
So, I will always know the
vicinity in which you may be at

Eyes half shut but heart wide open
Kitty kisses with your eyes

Love surrounds us everywhere

All I need to do when missing you
is to simply look anywhere.

If this frail frame of mine could for all eternity bear,
The heartaches and pain of mankind to achieve for him
Total happiness, I would for such a cause sacrifice myself.

The Christian doth say that Christ, The Son of God,
Died for us, and as such, suffered for mankind for all time.

I, being a Christian do believe in Christ,
But forever seeing what I have seen,
Hearing what I have heard,
And feeling as I am feeling,
Am deeply moved as to say,
I would forever bear the pain for all mankind.

I would bear it alone, in a lonely place,
Where my cries of agony can only be heard
By the passing wind, the sun, the moon, the stars,
The land and its dwellers, and me
Where my tears would quench my thirst, and wash my body,
Where the sound of my voice is my only companion, and unusual
comforter.

This I would do for mankind to make him totally happy,
A foolish thought though it may seem.
This my one desire to end all pain.
Life is cruel, and it’s cruelty I would gladly bear if it were possible.

Don James
blog: https://warrior4peace.wordpress.com/2021/09/20/n-e-x-u-s-1/
“You can never do a kindness too soon for you never know how soon
it will be too late.”~ (Ralph W.