POEMS - With Tongue In Cheek

keithgood838 · Post by **keithgood838** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 3:34 pm

THE STAND-IN

An author owned an asterisk
and kept it in his den,
where he wrote tales
(that made large sales)
of erring maids and men.
But when he reached the daring point
where carping censors lurk,
he called upon the asterisk
to do the dirty work.

Keith

keithgood838 · Post by **keithgood838** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 1:44 pm

PEAS

I eat my peas with honey,
I've done it all my life;
they do taste kind of funny,
but it keeps them on the knife.

ANON

PS

After I had posted the verse
there was no sign of it;
a senior slip, I hope no worse -
I failed to press SUBMIT.

Keith

keithgood838 · Post by **keithgood838** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 2:53 pm

Just a reminder that poetry's character isn't solely
one of smiling sweetness, it also has an essential
dark side:

CRADLE TO GRAVE

He was proud of his fair flowing locks
till they waved their goodbyes,
then his belly ballooned
as inflation spread south to his thighs.
Though the loss of his niveous teeth
was long-drawn-out but sure,
he was able to smile at misfortune
with each new denture.

Now enfeebled by age
his companion in cold misery
and feeling tears welling in blue eyes
that scarcely can see,
he reflects we can exit from this world
the way we come in:
bald, wrinkled, defenceless
and wearing a pained toothless grin.

Keith Good

mariana44 · Post by **mariana44** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:37 pm

Ooh !! That one hurts !!

keithgood838 · Post by **keithgood838** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 12:17 pm

Hi Marian(a)
Poetry becomes rather one-dimensional
if it fails to reflect life, warts and all.
If you think my lines are bleak, then for
truly devastating, yet memorable, stuff
you should read John Betjeman's, Cottage Hospital
and Five O'Clock Shadow. On the other hand ...
Keep smiling.
Keith

keithgood838 · Post by **keithgood838** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 1:27 pm

The on-stage singer in the mind's eye here,
whose surname rhymes appropriately with show,
is music's most stylistic balladeer:
our timeless, heart-strings-stroking Matt Monro ...

THE BALLAD

Sing to me some homely ballad,
Plaintive with the tones of love;
Harp and voice together blending,
like the doling of a dove.

Let each cadence melt in languor
Softly on my ravished ears,
Till my half-closed eyes are brimming
With a rapture of sweet tears.

Summon back fond recollections,
Such as gentle sounds prolong;
Flies of memory embalming
In the amber of a song.

Charles Kent (1823-1902)

There is nothing tongue in cheek
about Mr Kent's delightfully-moving lines.
Keith

keithgood838 · Post by **keithgood838** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 4:28 pm

SPLIT-SECOND SYNERGY

There is a transcendent phenomenon
that performs fleeting dramas on the face,
an eye-blink that betrays no distinction
between a glad visage and sad grimace.

When either of these poles-set-apart twin's
senses are moved to the extent tears come,
the blest release of joy, or grief, begins
at an extreme end of passion's spectrum.

Keith Good

This poem is more tear in eye than tongue in cheek.
However, I would be grateful for forum members comments.
Does it work? It isn't the type of topic I would normally tackle.

mariana44 · Post by **mariana44** » Thu Mar 05, 2009 6:32 pm

Hi Keith, I have to say, I found the last one more difficult to understand, and had to read it several times to get into it--normally your poems are ---what shall I say---perhaps less complicated ,is what I mean.

keithgood838 · Post by **keithgood838** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 1:15 pm

Thanks for taking an interest, Marian(a).
Like seeing the mother-in-law drive over
a cliff in one's new car, I am still in two
minds about it.
Keith

Marian · Post by **Marian** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 2:08 pm

I thought it was clever Keith, how one's face can either portray sadness or joy with the release of tears. I hope I got the meaning right.

Marian

keithgood838 · Post by **keithgood838** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:42 pm

Thanks Marian, you have given me renewed hope
that the piece may have something to offer. Your
interpretation is correct; however, another meaning I was
trying to convey is that the facial expressions in the split
second prior to bursting into transports of delight
or floods of tears are identical.
Consequently, you wouldn't know whether the person
was about to laugh or cry.
Keith

keithgood838 · Post by **keithgood838** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 8:49 pm

The following extracted verses are by a favourite
(and criminally neglected) poet of mine.
The inspired lines may be more accurately described
as being breath, not tongue, in cheek:

THE GLASS-BLOWER

By the red furnace
Apollo mute,
Holding in upraised hands
His iron flute.
Slowly from back and brow
The bright sweat drips;
He sets the clarion now
Light to his lips,
And ever, as he blows,
Without a sound
His molten music flows
Golden and round ...

With neither sound nor name,
Cadence nor metre,
That steadily, as he blows
On his iron flute,
Trembles and swells and glows,
Gold-amber, amber-rose,
In melody mute.

Jan Struther (1901-1953)

Keith

keithgood838 · Post by **keithgood838** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:03 pm

THE BIRTH OF A POEM

First an idea is conceived in response to attractive
subject matter.
Second, a thought-filled gestation period occurs during
which the embryonic piece takes shape.
Sometimes the actual labour is over almost as soon
as it begins; such moments are the most memorable.
My greatest shortcoming is arrogantly to assume
that all the work is done when, like now,
important loose ends remain to be tied up.
Inevitably, some poems never find themselves
in the the publishing spotlight
while others, sadly, emerge stillborn from the laptop.
But the standard miracle of birth
involves a mixture of mood-swings; of pain and pleasure
experienced over a protracted period.
When the agonising is all over,
the fulfilment comes from holding the new arrival
in one's hands,
and watching the beaming faces come and go ...

Keith Good

mariana44 · Post by **mariana44** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:11 pm

I have written one or two little poems in the past, and my way is always by starting with the last line--and work from there.

Crazy--but it works for me !!

keithgood838 · Post by **keithgood838** » Thu Mar 12, 2009 3:39 pm

How about letting us see some samples of your literary wares
Marian(a)? I would be grateful for a little bit of poetic backup,
even if it was composed Chinese-style.
I'm sure you have heard about the Chinese diner
who, when asked by the waiter,
'Is your chicken all right?'
replied with a satisfied smile,
'It's rubbery.'
Keith