The All New Poetry Game!

[KTC]

Write a poem based on the SONG TITLE provided by the person in the previous post. (After writing your poem, don't forget to include the next song title.)

Song Title: The Beauty of Poison (Artist: Specimen)

[gromhard]

The beauty of poison
isn't in the herb
nor is it the application
sprayed on food
dripped in drink
laced along the edge
of a sharpened blade
The beauty is in the mercy
it could have been a gun
you could have blown me up
or let the dogs of Hell loose upon me
but you chose intimacy
and you allowed me to fall asleep
in your arms
the beauty of your poison
is in your eternal compassion
even in your darkest actions

Song Title: Paint it Black (Artist: Rolling Stones)

[KTC]

I want it for myself,
this image of a lady dancing.
Alive with the beat
of unheard music.
The canvas breathes
and I hold my heart
for a beat,
entranced by the way
her dress is caught
in a whirl of gathering air.
I'll paint it black,
and capture the image
in my mind's eye
so nobody else
can see.

Song Title: Hong Kong Garden (Artist: Siouxsie and the Banshees)

[ricahardo]

Crammed in rows of vegetables
growing side by side,
Mandarin and Marxism
entwined with British pride,
Mai Ree, Mai Ree how does your garden grow?
Are there too many stones
or rules that bind
or is the rainfall low?
What is this modern culture
of Chinese mixed with fate?
Capitalistic communists
provide profits for the state.
Red and blue makes purple
the color of the blood
that once saw puddles in the square
where Tianemen was in flood.
The gander's far more happy
now the goose is getting fat
he's got a place where he can roost
and yeah - he is 'all that'.

Next: Songbird (Fleetwood Mac)

[laurel29]

Oh boy another game :)

Songbird

The lark
in the meadowsweet
sings of things we understand
it is only his language
that escapes us

here we sit
looking at each other
unable to speak of our thoughts
an incomprehensible jumble
of images stirred

our silent observation
could be a burden growing
each moment - bleeding into another
until words are not necessary,
the song will speak for us.

Song title: Every Planet We Reach Is Dead (Artist: The Gorillaz)

[KTC]

Every planet
we reach
is dead,
without thought,
unbreathing.
Every star we touch
melts,
dissolves in a myth
of music.
Every moon
we scale
haunts our visions,
brings truth
to the rumors of life.

Song Title: This Is The Day (Artist: The The)

[laurel29]

This is the day.
Empty words
-repeated -
Staring,
hollow eyed,
into the mirror.
This is the day
- I swear it is.

Song Title: Santeria(Artist: Sublime)

[poetinahat]

Too late. I'm leaving this one, and I'll write another.

leaves of newspaper
rustle and flap
as the late spring morning
plays its breeze through
the patio
squinting over orange juice,
i see
you in the morning
a slice of toast
shears softly in your teeth
hidden by your lips
only the marmalade tartness
purses you to dimples

i feel the cool fresh nothing
of contentment bathe me
the breeze ruffles my hair
and our eyes meet
like silk and linen

the sweetness of eternity
before sweet drape of death
only comes to us once
this is the day.

================

blood needs blood
stone meets flesh
god needs us
and we need more

the crucifix and mask
cast shivers of brutal passion
we tremble in holy samba
and join fearfully, holy
in santeria.

Song title: Karma Suture (The Monochrome Set)

[KTC]

Each slice,
livid and vivid,
pierces my wrinkled flesh.
Stings the fine layers
of snake-like clothing
wrapped around my tortured limbs.
Your words,
hot flesh wounds of the mind.
Your unconvincing apologies,
all I deserve,
karma sutures
retaliation for the love I would not give.

Song Title: Ideas As Opiates (Artist: Tears For Fears)

[NeuroFizz]

Vein-popping ideas
as cerebral hemorrhages
of thought

dull the pain
of boredom and better yet,
of idolatry


Song title: Beast of Burden (by the Rolling Stones)

[KTC]

Like carrion I lie,
splayed across your mattress,
awaiting your devouring of me.
Naked, in the glare of bare bulbs,
I anticipate that first touch,
that moment when we cannot
turn back.
Erotic, that lip of time.
I will be
but your beast of burden,
awaiting for that
melting of limbs,
that scintillating ribbon
of touch
when beads of sweat
merge
and I surrender
under your needful weight.

Song Title: Road Trippin' (Artist: Red Hot Chilli Peppers)

[laurel29]

Dust rolls on,
lost
in the horizon.
Our wheels follow,
rambling
without direction.
moving forward always
-only-
for the sake of motion

Song Title: Norwegian Wood (Artist: The Beatles)

[gromhard]

Johanna Strohmeyer
was big and blonde
and pronounced her
J's like Y's
She had broad shoulders
and a six foot frame
with sea blue crystal eyes

We met it in a pub
and I'd had more than my fill
She took me by the hand
led me to her loft above
and I took her over the night stand

When it was done
I tipped my hat
said "Thanks the sex was good"
But to my horror she turned around
and was sporting Norwegian Wood


Song Title: Love Cats (Artist: The Cure)

[ddgryphon]

the air is blue with smoke
slow Jazz hums low and sweet
an urgent shallow beat
sharing a gauzy toke

love cats we stalk the night
sultry brown eyes hunting
no need to be fronting
it’s passion we ignite

notes fade, dissolve away
as sun licks nighttime’s edge
don’t need to make no pledge
walking from your stairway

from dusk to dawn delight
the old established rite
our days will have no sun
‘cause love cats love as one

Song title: Straight No Chaser (Artist: Thelonius Monk)

[KTC]

I sipped tangerines
from her lint-filled navel,
maddened her impulse
to lick.
Shaved lines through
her blonde feathers,
told her she would
have to be like me,
part Mohican,
to board the bus.
Her little girl shoes,
they had to go.
Book bags and ponies too.
I smeared her eye-liner,
showed her
how to drink her Daniels,
straight, no chaser,
and then,
with one dizzying spin
of initiation,
she was ready
to fall
from the liquid edge
of the heartless world.


Song Title: How Soon Is Now (Artist: The Smiths)

[poetinahat]

a fleeing lover
i'd advise
to take escape by train
departure's quick and merciful
(and poignant if it rains)

a last embrace
beside the tracks
entices desperate vows
not to forget... until it's time
to leave? How soon is now!

Song Title: Dance Away (Roxy Music)

[KTC]

A fleeting moment
in memory.
yet it burns
with a super nova quality.
Lasting only a moment.
Black lighting mimicks
your moving limbs,
makes me question
the reality of your skeletal dance.
But dance, you must,
dance away,
in my burning memory.
For you are the dervish
in my waking dreams.

Song Title: Let the Four Winds Blow (Artist: Tenpole Tudor)

[poetinahat]

Awash upon a barren spit of shale
condemned to stuff my salty mouth with kelp

Or left to rot and ponder unfair fate
Forsaken in Kolkata's leper hordes

Misunderstood, no tongue, no face, no name
denied that I exist, no hand to help

Or mocked, a failure, stupid, mean, ashamed
To watch my enemies accept awards

I'd let the four winds blow and choose my fate
among these terrors -- or another worse --

Than spend another hour at home with thee
pretending love: there is no harder curse.

Song title: If I Had A Boat (Lyle Lovett)

[KTC]

I'd set it out
upon the growing tide,
relax my feet
in the cooling water
for just a moment,
if I had a boat.
I'd slice through
the wintry waves
with angry precision,
pivot perfectly from side to side,
if I had an oar.
I'd long to see her,
cherish memories of touch,
and romance naked in my mind,
as I made my way to the opposite shore,
if I had a waiting lover.

Song Title: Misty Circles (Artist: Dead Or Alive)

[ddgryphon]

The dream is always the same
misty circles recede
I fall from one
to the next
to the next
to the next
Calm
saddened
the world fades
somewhere above
in colors changing
beyond
I am dew
I am bright hues
I am resolved
until I wake


Song Title: The River Turns The Wheel (Artist: Bob Martin)

[KTC]

All my life,
I have moved with the motion
of that rusty river.
It breathes for me,
sucks in the life
that refuses to exhale.
I watch the lunar force
on its riblike shore,
the high and low
of its speckled tides.
I travel far from its murky surface,
and yet,
in a moment I am there,
watching the moon disappear,
fall victim to its hungry horizon line.
The river turns the wheel.
I merely sit here,
enthralled by its liquid reason.

Song Title: Alison (Artist: Elvis Costello)

[Paint]

Alison, Ally
sleeping all alone
do those kitties
love you like I did?

Alison, Ally
talking on the phone
grandchildren many
fill the void I left?

Alison, Ally
o I did you so wrong
I sleep in motels
thinking of your arms.

Alison, Ally
what happened to our song?
so sweet, so gone
no more.

Rust Never Sleeps--Neil Young

[ddgryphon]

I
Know
decay
and ruin
how slow consumption
rots to dust all that can be bright
such rust never sleeps
it is there
waiting
for
you


Next song: Limboland (Artist: Betty)

[Shwebb]

I break my back to mold myself
You hold the standard to which I rise and fall
You set the pace
You are the music maker
And I go ‘round and ‘round.

When you are silent, I’m lost
adrift in Limboland
At the edge of something
Wonderfulterrible

How low can I go?

"American Pie" by Don McLean

[KTC]

Half eaten,
laying ditchside
on an empty highway.
The lust of millions,
the envy of none.
American Pie.

Song Title: The Flowers of Romance (Artist: P.I.L. aka Public Image Limited)

[gromhard]

With my own two hands
I dug in the Earth
til my fingertips bled
building a home for you
You hadn't given me much
to work with
just a seed
And I loved that seed
loved its promise
and in the bed I made for you
I planted your seed
and covered it with soft Earth
scared I may suffocate it
bury it too deep by my affections
But there was growth
The seed has grown
into a flower
not as beautiful as you
but close
and I look, afraid to touch either of you
afraid because this type of flower
can only be mantained temporarily
before it wilts and dies
loved but...gone
like you will be too someday.

Song Title: Mr. Self Destruct (Artist: Nine Inch Nails)

[KTC]

Mr. Self Destruct

I wasn't going to say it,
but it can't be helped.
I do my best
while falling apart.
Limbs entwined in chaos,
fluttering aimlessly
along darkened streets.
Huff monkey,
sucking life out of a thin
paper bag.
Boarding the bus
to nowhere
and getting there
just in time
to trip the night
with misery.
They call me,
when they can find me
huddled in grey
park corners,
somewhere unbenched
in golden dreams,
Mr. Self Destruct.
Apropos maybe,
but hell ain't nowhere
if you can't find it
sitting there cozy
right within the blinking mind.

Song Title: Never Say Never (Artist: Romeo Void)

[Godfather]

Sing your praises
no matter how
never say never
only say now


Song Title: Feel Like Lightning (Artist: Otis Taylor)

[laurel29]

Feel like Lightening

A thickening,
a sudden tension
in the air,
crackling
with unspoken thoughts.
This condensation of meaning.
It feels like lightning.

My lips parted,
skin tingling,
and arms outstretched,
embracing
This body arching
suspended in electric ecstasy
Yes, this must be lightning


Song title: Visions of Johanna (Artist: Bob Dylan)

[ddgryphon]

Visions of Johanna


It is morning
and the jasmine scent of tea
mixes with flowers
growing near
Johanna is tending life
on her knees
enshrouded by light
with roses for children
and I wait

It is noon
among the dishes
herbs, oils,
vegetables and wine
Johanna holds my hand
assures me that love
is all we truly need
and I wait

It is evening
breezes come salt scented
through the door
Johanna’s on the floor
singing to the cats
smiling by candlelight
a song about us
and I wait

Now the night has come
we breathe our breaths
as one
melding together
flowers on the stand
kittens at our feet
I hear her hum my name
drifting off to sleep


song title: You’re So Square (Artist(s): Elvis Presley/Joni Mitchell)

[P.H.Delarran]

one round eye
peers through veed fingers
one quick snicker
quivers across an unblemished cheek

self-conscious by nature
red shame rushes my neck
but I continue
avant-garde in my statement

time proves many myths
legends breathe wanton words
of poets long lost against the
current of their age


yet where is the impact
when wisdom faces youth
why does it rest, mocked,
not yet rounded by time?

next title : Landslide (Artist: Fleetwood Mac)

[Rivana]

ooooh, new game!

***

(Removed by Rivana)

***

Next up: Building a Mystery (by Sarah MacLachlan)

[Paint]

writer
up at midnight
pour over story
hesitant to
tries so
build a mystery.

morning
arrives in hurried glory
she must stand
leave
yes, no
go to the day job
that waits
regretfully.

Wipe Out! Ventures

[Bret]

life is a wave too-
a ripple from the deep
that rises in the shallows

till it hooks a shining hand
that grabs at the sun
curling in on upon itself

a bit of sea and sky
and the light pouring in
through end of the tube

every wave collapses
lost against the sand
other waves know this

and yet they continue
rolling in from the horizon
line upon endless line

like a space for something
to be written upon
we try to stand up

for as long as we can
trying to keep our balance
enjoying the ride

till the light closes out
at the narrow end of the pipe
we go back the way we came



Woman of a Thousand Years: Fleetwood Mac

[ddgryphon]

she stands against the power
of men who find her simple
cast as a girl, this flower,
a woman of passions will

she hears God calling
acts when others fail
she walks among the wounded
stands beyond this veil

no one truly knows
or understands her heart
she follows no one's script
writes virtue with her part

it could be a thousand days
a thousand times a thousand tears
she will still stay close among us
our woman of a thousand years

Next Song: The Walls of Zion (Artist: Aaron Copeland)

[Rivana]

(Removed by Rivana)

Next up: Crazy

[KTC]

Something about diamonds
in her hair,
wildness?
I can hear it,
whistle it, even,
on a cloudless day.
But there's no need
to get crazy over it.
Just breathe,
and it will come.
Like the zebras,
and moonbeams.
These singers,
putting words in my breath.
It's tricky, that,
but I trust them,
I have to,
cause I keep listening,
keep feeling the bass
thrive through me,
eat my heart
and own me...
music,
it's such a pretty little
evil.

Song Title: Find The River (Artist: R.E.M.)

[darkness]

mindless horror numbing pain
shreiking monsters loud and vain
crowning terror in my mind
moan the love I left behind
searching always with each breath
searching for the river of death
which flows and swirls around each man
and burns and glows and warms the land.
Find the river find the pain unfurled
we watch and watch the end of the world

"Soothe yourself, unhappy ghost" from a Bach cantata

[ddgryphon]

Before the war
and godless fire
we planned tomorrows

Now digging through
rubble that was once
a home, I seek proof
that yesterday existed

Glass, stone,
splintered wood
fight against me as I
dig bare-handed through
the hours of the past

this rubble gives up
little
so much pulverized
in destruction

I know I am without you

At last a remnant
a photo from the beach
I wipe away the dust
gently remove the broken glass

suddenly you are near
tears upon the moment
Soothe yourself
I hear
let no unhappy ghost
travel here

Title: King Holly, King Oak Artist: Johnny Cunningham

[emeraldcite]

King Holly, King Oak,
lend me some credence
so that I can convince the
Queen's flower to bloom.

title: Mr. Self-Destruct, Nine Inch Nails

[KTC]

Mr. Self Destruct

I will tell my tale again,
the melting that befalls me
in my waking world.
Visions overtake,
surround my intoxicated mind.
They cause me,
if you should need to know,
to fall into wonder,
lean sideways in a wind
and shout my own betrayal.
I'm Mr. Self Destruct,
breaking down my days,
with breakdowns, laughing
at the destruction as it enters
bloodstream, pouring out
shattering any illusions
I may have of myself
as something other than lost
in a world that devours me daily.
I laugh as I watch
my melting, shivering self,
desolving in the meal of carnage
I have put aside for my undoing.
Dripping with failure, I am,
luxuriating in a self inflicted
world of loss and languor.
I like the taste of disaster,
it fits with the image
I wear, those faces
skittering sideways,
keychain style, on my shivering hips.
I, Mr. Self Destruct,
tell my tale again,
falling from a lofty height
where liars like me
are not to tread.

Song Title: A Moment To Myself (Artist: Macy Gray)

[ddgryphon]

May cooling waters
grant a moment to myself
in quiet solace

****************************

Song Title: The Dangling Coversation; Artist: Paul Simon

[Rivana]

(Removed by Rivana)

Next up: You Must Love Me from Evita

[laurel29]

I thought you must love me.
The way you looked just then,
when my hand slipped from his,
your eyes - so hopeful.
Seeking to catch me
in their net.
To draw me away
from the shore,
from him.
But maybe,
it isn’t love you seek?
Maybe that longing,
I saw in your eyes,
was darker.
Not of the sun sparkle
on surface waves
or the bubble gum simplicity,
of puppy love.
But swimming
much deeper down,
in the silken undercurrent
of lust.

Song title: Shout it Loud (Artist: Scudelia Electro)

[Rivana]

(Removed by Rivana)

Next up: Forever Young

[ddgryphon]

This
short
prayer
I give you
as you build a life
no matter what roads you follow,
what blessings, what strife,
Forever
may you
be
Young

*********************************

Next Title: Soul Man (Artist: Too many to count, but Sam and Dave got it rolling)

[KTC]

He's trippy
for the ages,
swank and swagger,
hips a-swivel,
like his liquid lips.
He's standin' a-doorway,
slantwise, legs draped
like the tower of time,
foot a-tappin',
hat pulled back,
lettin' in the sun
illuminatin' neon eyes.
Cigarette, lip hung
with the swank
of hip young things
courtin' round his
windswept stoop.
Him's the Soul Man,
even now,
in the early twilight
of an aged life.

Song Title: Beautiful Delilah (Artist: Rolling Stones)

[Stew21]

graceful.
siren,
delightful delilah.
flowy and smooth,
fabric falling where it may
she moves, divine,
sublime, delilah.
i watched her clutch
the pendant at her throat
heart beating under
with fever pulse
reminiscent of lipslurp kissed
deightful, delilah.
lioness, mane wild,
violent love,
flower child, delilah,
beautiful, Delilah.

Song Title: Come Rain Or Come Shine (Billy Holiday)

[Jongfan]

I will shade you
I will be your shelter
Come Rain or shine
I will walk with you
Never left alone
Through the garden of life
Until the garden of death
I will hold you through your fears
I will wipe away your tears
I will be your shade , your shelter
Come Rain or Come Shine

Song Title: Empty Garden Artist : Elton John

[kborsden]

perfect lines of light and dark
devision between ev'ry leaf
clipped and pruned
decisive, without breach
defunct of why or whether
sporadic shall we see
this artist, this sculpter
under sparkeled sea
and glowing crescent sharp
in lack of heathered dream
gripping at his implement
to fill his empty heart

song title: one for the razor-backs (greenday)

[Rivana]

(Removed by Rivana)

Next song: Circle of Life, Elton John

[KTC]

Within each crest
of newly fallen snow,
death lurks,
like a distraught prince.
Agile limbs
raise in wonder,
assimilate movement,
lift the heart to platitudes
of dismay, disarray.
The circle of life,
willing itself complete,
candies the death of angels
with the fettering goodness of evil.
Blood besmears the memory
of birth, that willing canal,
enters life, choked
by the memory of sleep
and then, slowly,
unwillingly, we die,
each in time
to the beat
of our own suckling hearts.

Next Song: THE LAST BEAT OF MY HEART (Artist: Siouxsie and the Banshees)

[davids]

The Flowers of Romance
just weeds to me
a dandylion roared one day
so i cut it in two with my saber so sharp
it screamed and it died
but no matter what
the romance of death
is a flower to be praised

Song title: I DON'T GIVE A DAMN (Artist-The Flakewaiters)

[Kate Thornton]

I Don't Give a Damn

You chatter in that comfy chair
what you've read, seen, heard, thought
how you've felt, cared, cried, sought
where you've been, drunk, smiled, bought
all teeth, sound, feathers, hair
expecting me to watch and care


Song title: African Suite by Abdullah Ibrahim

[kborsden]

how truly neat
I find this seat
in hotel suite
of zanzibar.

but only greet
someone called pete
in bottled feat
of africa.


song title: suicidal blonde (INXS)

[Eveningsdawn]

Suicidal blonde,
you haunt my daymares
and my sleepless nights
with your pale skin
stained red with blood
from your scored forearms,
and your long hair
falling over your face
hiding your identity.

Sister Named Desire - Tori Amos

[kborsden]

I longed to touch her,
her silky skin.
I watched her bathing,
staring,
longing,
I groped myself in course of action
raising my hearts fire,
looking on toward my sibling,
my sister named desire.

song title: it's the little things we do (the zootons)

[Eveningsdawn]

it's the little things we do
to rip each other to pieces
that hurt the most;
we know each other
so intimitly
that a wellplaced word
can cut like a knife,
but deeper,
leaving scars that
may never heal.

song title: The Cold Black Key -Azam Ali

[Eveningsdawn]

bump.

[Rivana]

(Removed by Rivana)

Uhm...that was...something.
Anyway. Next song: You Are My High (Demon vs. Heartbreaker)

[KTC]

You are my High


Your limbs, caressed,
An intake of breath
Laced with the smoke
Of your simmering sky.
The blood rushes, quickens,
I dream of your mouth,
Lifted in a sneer,
Me inside. Your crazy heat,
A drug to ingest, swallow
With the hunger of Gods.
You are my high,
I, your manic disciple,
Eating the flesh you give,
And I tremble in time
To the heart in your chest,
My high, my mind-flower,
Budding with the will of my lust.
Your limbs, your wild touch,
Your pulsing flesh
And me inside, eating my high.


Next Song: No Heaven (by Champion)

[davids]

No Heaven, no Hell?
Check-out the black
peaceful syndrom acquiescent
space in your head
that's Hell enough
don't ya think?

No one shall sleep tonight-Prince Kalaf-Turandot by Puccini

[DracoMerest]

Three Words To Bar, One Word To Hold

I cry in the arms
Of a man named love
And how did it pass
That he owns my soul?

The girl with the word
She said it but once
Then died at the hand
Of her own free will

The word was the key
To his lock and trap
It was as with me
Like a tool or three

But mine were too weak
And he knew them well
The words hope and blood
And then last my name


next: Evening Of Love (Vaya Con Dios)

[Rivana]

No promises offered;
I am oathless.
Step back and see me
as I am.
Spend an evening of love
with this stranger,
but never ask me to care.

Next up: Oblivion (30 Seconds to Mars)

[ddgryphon]

Beneath the wavering sky
I am darkness;
I am floating.

Stars dance winking in and out
beguiling me,
smiling me.

One by one
they go away,
then covering shadows,
then Oblivion.


****************************

Next Song: "Talk To Me" Artist: Joni Mitchell

[davids]

Talk to me yet listen closely
for ears that have no heart are deaf
to children's muse and tattle tales
criminal's jest defeated in brailless sky
where birds don't fly and chickens don't shit
even small graines have brains don't cha know?

Some Enchanted Evening-Rogers and Hammerstein

[Magdalen]

For a princely sum
your life I'll spare
deflecting fate
from the headlights glare.
Into your heart
I'll stitch my charms
and cease to haunt
your souless dreaming.
I'll do all that
with eye of newt and
wing of bat
some enchanted evening.


Horse with no name - America

[ddgryphon]

The sun has drummed
heat on my brain
for uncounted days.

I hear the refrain
water
water
water
from some distant point.

I have forgotten why I am here.
Why I have been left baking,
horse, with no name,
on the dry desert floor.

******************

Next song: Non erat Finis (World Without End) Leonard Bernstein

[davids]

Glorious destiny which forsesakes the tide of time
World without end such a clever ploy
devices used by God's and man
to cleaver heads from fatted swine

Next song: The Road to Tomorrow-Simon Headlights and the Swamping Buckets

[Writer???]

ETA: This is written to the tune of a popular rock song.
Two rep points to the one who can guess it! :D

NO
U
TURN
on The Road to Tomorrow

The road to Tomorrow is a fearsome drive
And none of us are ever getting out alive.
Potholes have been laid by those ahead
Warning signs obscured by the walking dead.

We're just lookin for Tomorrow's hand
Drivin' out into the darkened land
Leave the lot and pick a lane man
Drivin' out into the darkened land

The road to Tomorrow comin' at you fast
Doin' everything you can not to come in last
Keep starin' in the dark and you might go blind
You never can go back for what you left behind

We're just lookin for Tomorrow's hand
Drivin' out into the darkened land
Leave the lot and pick a lane man
Drivin' out into the darkened land

Next song: The Musical Toy - Peter, Paul and Mary

[ddgryphon]

It
spins
singing
simple songs
this musical toy
meanders about on the floor
never dropping tune
till at last
it falls
in
hush

************************

Next Song: Crow Jane Artist Nick Cave

[Unique]

as the crow flies -
it's not so far
these tender spices
tucked away
way down deep
in the bottom
in this cobalt jar.


Plucked one autumn
and saved for thee
one wish granted
a lover's gift
from the aquamarine
these smoky treasures
these midnights passed.

new seasons' blessing
so free and vast
Jane's smoky rhythm
and no, it's not so far
to live one true tender note
far above what lights fill
the sky and we will.

Oh, yes. And then
again - we will.
to and til
and until again
we will
so Crow Jane says
we will.

Next song: In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel

[Albedo of Zero]

future is like a perfect white rosebud
dewdrops considered

evening air comes in colors
life giving...life sustaining

music is black and white
good and bad like sweet potato pie
and my meatloaf

in your eyes
nothing causes a frown

unless

someone else hurts

how i long to see
the green and free
or...and the grow of eternity

in your eyes
i'm still growing

yet

i feel so old





next song: Cattle Call ~ Eddie Arnold

[ddgryphon]

morning cattle call
actors muttering in the streets
waiting for a chance

**********************************

Next Song: Sky Is Moving South Artist: Ruthann Friedman

[Unique]

The sky is moving South
You felt it as your soul shifted
The world and it revolves
around your ever increasing doldrums
You cannot return to the province of your birth
Without the pretty stones from sunny beaches.

Hold them in your pocket
one at a time - under your tongue
Do the flavors remind you of your youth
What colors do you see there
in the caverns of your mind?

Honeysuckle nights and morning glory days
fill the soul with reverie of things lost
How odd to find them there
washed up on Southern shores
Did you not expect to find them where you looked

Then why look at all -

Next Song: The Sky is Crying - Stevie Ray Vaughn (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWzZaWu4SCM)

[Wraith]

As the lake trembles
in the afternoon light
hiding nothing
but the sky above

I reach for it
but inside the lake
the sky is too deep
and too high above

and you'd think it's the same,
and you wouldn't guess
that inside the lake
there's a crying sky,

only in the lake
there's a crying sky
for it cannot reach,
touch the high above.

next - the crystal ship (The Doors).

[ddgryphon]

A
ship
floats through
the night sky
silently drifting
starlit crystal sails and the hull
swirling nebulae.
It carries
moonward
our
dreams.

*****************

Next: Trouble on the Line Artist: Loretta Lynn

[TurkeyLurkey]

Nerves of steel
Slippers of silk
And a tight rope
Loosens from its knot.
Will balancing plates
Come crashing down
Through a net-less abyss?
Maybe so.

Cantaloupe Island - Brian Bromberg

[Rivana]

He said -Cantaloupe Island.
I nodded and smiled a eulogy,
for original thought and
words that matter some.
He sang -Grace, baby.
I headed for the door.
Crazy is catharsis,
but this is just
plain boring.

Next up: Blue Tattoo

[ddgryphon]

It
is
just a
blue tattoo,
in an ornate script,
placed at my wrist's pulse to always
remind me of days
filled with bright colors,
filled with joy,
filled with
your
love.

******************

Next: The Woods and the Rivers are Silent Artist: Mediaeval Baebes

[Unique]

Rachel warned us this day would come
and Soylent Green was just a movie
but that was thirty years ago
and our future has become the present.

Rachel warned us this day would come
and some of us even listened
we pushed against the tide
spoke to all who would listen

but today
the woods and rivers are silent
just as Rachel warned us
over thirty years ago.

Will you take your share of blame
or will you blame those of us who spoke
and say we didn't speak loud enough
long enough or convincingly enough.

No one likes to take the blame.
Rachel warned us
and its so much easier to hear now
that the woods and rivers are silent.

Next: Lady of the Island - Artist: Crosby, Stills, and Nash

[KTC]

Lady of the island,
Light, lingering in the sea,
Rocks on water,
Mantras softly stroking shore,
And sea-foam green,
Striking beauty
Pines, with legs white,
Sexy. And flowing tresses,
Like the windblown sea,
The weeds dancing in turmoil
To waves lingering, and lips,
Blue, un-breathing,
Eyes caught in a glimpse of life,
Baptism of the sea, island lady,
Hips to sway with water
Pebbles whish and dance
In syncopation of the moon
Bringing brine and rhythm
Into shore. Blue green glass
Soft like thighs and rubbed
By seas in turmoil, erotic
Lady, island spun.



NEXT: SKY CHURCH MUSIC Artist: T-Rex

[Harvest]

You played your sky church music
the day I lost my virgin beliefs--
giving science absolution--
and you kissed me.

I watched your hardened lips
against my pulse points,
lulling me into submission.
I grew lax with wanting.

The warning bells rang out
with each note you played,
still I held my breath and wanted more.
My own Pied Piper--you.

Next: Scar Tissue by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

[KTC]

And I picked at your wounds,
scar tissue on the surface
of your troubled mind,
Made light of your lost limbs,
the tossed back yawn
you made for emphasis
to let me know you were through
with the life you held precarious.
And bone weary,
I too stretched to the Gods,
made slick my bed
to lie in ever after,
wiggled the tooth
of scar tissue
poking at the surface
of my troubling mind.
And slipped, we did,
into the stream,
reached for the darkness
in that tossed back yawn
and floated clean away.

Next: BONE BAG Artist: THE CULT

[kimmeunier]

Listless, restless my uneven attempt to climb.
The winding stairway, across the moon
under the stars beltway I dwindle.
Tired, forlorn I wallow in disbelief,
this bone bag of exhaustion follows me.
Down the winding path I go, attempting
to resurrect my wretched aching brain.
Insurgence of dark and dreary moods,
I pull myself back up to above sky blue.
Looming inside, the death song plays, no choice but to push it away.
It's time to relinquish the dusty afterglow,
I am not listless, and forward I will go...

*Prayers for Rain~ The Cure

FYI-I am inexperienced in my writing, and I hope it does not appear too amateur, but that's how we learn! By the way, that's a fun game.

[Nyna]

I carved your heart out, dug past
your prickly skin. Your flesh on my
tongue was nector, ambrosia --
I slavered for you
beneath the blinding white sun.

In the distance lies temptation.
The devil on a pool of water calls
and I am tempted to wander away,
lose my path and go
where the sun and the sand
lead me.

I fall on the sand and it burns my skin.
This desert will never end, the mountains
in the distance are still
too distant. Water never
comes. I fall and hold on to sand, to
shifting sunlight without shadows.

Eventually, I know the sun will set. You
stand above me, a judgement,
arms outstretched. I reach for you and
come away bloody. I have gauged you
open, I have torn you apart,
I have fallen at your feet and prayed.

I have prayed.

This desert never ends. This desert
never ends. You shimmer, shudder,
fade.

I pray for rain.

*****

Next: Busted, Ray Charles

[ddgryphon]

busted and broken and on the run
busted and broken I'm on the run
I never knew love could hurt someone

walking down a time lost road
wandering down that time lost road
carrying memories a heavy load

and the sun sets angry in the west
angry he falls orange in the west
I didn't give all, but I gave my best.

So, tomorrow when your morning dawns
when you wake tomorrow to your morning dawn
know I took my sorrow and just moved on
lonesome and hollow I just moved on

***********************

Next:The Water is Wide, Artist: Bob Dylan

[Teena]

The water is wide
and shores far distant
between our points of view

I ebb and flow
do I stay; do I go
what happens if?

you stand rigid
mountainous anger
uncaring attitude...
Choose!

Next: Bennie and the Jets Artist: Elton John

[Meerkat]

Who'll ever forget
her come-along eyes?
Who'll never say let
pass their sleeping dog lies?

Who takes what is owed,
but by birthright withheld,
Who does share the road,
but then blurs yield with yelled.

Her smile has moved on,
taking leader and love,
Will we soon be gone?
who will give us a shove?

Next: Right Here, Right Now Artist: Jesus Jones

[ddgryphon]

behind the counter
a coffee machine
spits its last few drops
into a fresh pot.

even near the stove
there is a two am,
early winter chill
crawling up my back
as I wait for breakfast,
a fresh cup and you.

we are traveling between
lives: our old ones gone
up a road we can't return,
our future somewhere else.

right here,
right now,
only love sustains us.
untested, we followed that
love in faith that now seems
tired; worn as the vinyl of these
ancient booths.

we are travelers
in a country without maps,
moving through the neon
night toward an unimagined
dawn.

Next: No More I Love Yous Artist: Annie Leonox

[ddgryphon]

No More I Love You's

You
said
we can
love no more
like something once sold
we can never hold it the same
way we had before.
these words are
lost to
us
now.

Next: Night and Day Author: Cole Porter My artist: Sinatra & Dorsey

[Rivana]

Nigh and Day

It's not to my death that I go -
know that this is only
the beginning.
It is not for failure that I cry,
and you should never falter
by my cold and barren bed.
Only hours make the night
and day go by, for love.
Only life can truly
make the eagles call inside.
There is courage in faltering
and there is joy in that final peace.
So be at ease, my failing friend.
When night and day have passed again -
we will be together.

Next up: All for Love, with Bryan Adams, Sting, and Rod Stewart

[ddgryphon]

awash in a brine
of sadness and
we say we gave
all that could
be asked or
hoped.

Jumped fiery
hoops to land
rearmost in
seeking what
comfort was
offered in
joy or need

Asking at time's
end why and what
drove it. What
made us seek
beyond our needs
to those of others.
Was it for self, for
gains uncounted,
for others to touch
or see that dim lost
desire or was it
simply all for love.

Questions hang a bitter
dying fruit above our reach
hoping the next
crop will yield to our
hearts, still bruised from
last years failings.

*************

Next song: Punky's Dilemma Artist: Paul Simon

[Appalachian Writer]

Next song: Punky's Dilemma Artist: Paul Simon

FOUL! I cry foul! :tongueThis is too great a challenge! How can you write a poem using PUNKY"S DILEMMA? DD, can you? I challenge you to do it! (A song whose first line is "I wish I was a Kellogg cornflake!":D

Go get 'em, DD.

[ddgryphon]

Punky stood inspecting the door;
weakness filling her legs.
Legs near broken by the weight
of years spent finding every wrong
life could offer.

Punky by the door eyes burn
the floor marking each imperfection
life dropped there: a dent, a crack, she
hoped it would open, swallow
her before she could knock,
or beg entrance to the home
she'd abandoned for reasons
no longer understood.

Her hand rises to the brass
knocker shining in pretwilight sun
and stops; that shaking hand,
Damocles' sword swinging silent
in judgment of love suspended,
love denied.

Punky there, where shadows gather,
seeking cleansing light.

****************************

Next Song: Strange, Strange Boy Artist: Joni Mitchell

[Appalachian Writer]

Bravo! You did it! Congrats. I bow in humility!

"There's a strange boy
on the road," she said.
"standing,
watching."
"He's waiting," he said,
"waiting for the turn
of weather,
waiting to come in."
"He frightens me,"
she said,
"sends cold shivers
down my spine."
"He's ours," he said,
"the one who would have come,
the child left awash
in your dying womb."
"Is he for me, now?"
she asked.
He bowed his head,
"He'll walk with you a while,
teach you things along the way."
"Shall I go now?"
she asked.
His lined hands fell
upon the sheets,
and with tear swept face,
he answered,
"If you like."
"I am,"
she said,
"and now,
I am not."

New Song: "Dixie Chicken" / Little Feet

[ddgryphon]

The Dixie Chicken
ran far

from the old
farmer

and his axe
and all.

She knew where he
welcomed death.

*****************************

Next Song: Like the Weather Artist: 10,000 Maniacs

[Ganesha]

I am your Tornado Maniac


The color of the sky may be blue but I’m blind.
Lift my head from the pillow gently I am hurt
With a shiver in my bones I am reeling from the weather
A quiver in my hips as I try to dance
Well by the force of my sex I am filled with death
Lately this big red sheeted bed is where I wait
A shiver in my hips as I romance
Quiver in my voice as I sigh,
"What loud thunder you create within my lightening"
I hear the sound of a death knell chime. Now you approach me from behind.
You've put in 'bout half a day while I am sated
A shiver in my hips as I quietly dance
A quiver in my heart,
"A cold and rainy day we heated with our dream shine?"
I shiver, quiver, as I attend your wake.


Next song:
Three Dog Night "Mama Told Me Not To Come"

[ddgryphon]

Here beneath sulfur skies
where we yell and run
pushing forward
falling back.

Here where each second
of living is a miracle
I would call for Mama
for I am again a child
in need of her comfort.

But, Mama told me not to come.
How little I know,
How little I knew,
she is beyond my call.

******************************************

Next song: Sally Go Round The Roses Artist: The Pentangle

[Appalachian Writer]

They grow wild
in the distant field,
roses red and coral
bending color near
the fence.
She walks there,
her ankles scraped
against the thorns,
weeping among the color
for the sorrow of blossoms
unopened.
Sally go round
the roses
and let tears fall
upon their roots
salty, bitter-sweet
offerings to flowers
yet to come.


Song: A Horse with No Name

[HeronW]

They gave you one
to run in dreams
but that wasn't yours.
Toss your head
watch me from the side
trust is the issue.
I hold out my hands,
breathe upon your velvet
and take your breath again.
Slide my hand along your flanks
tangled mane in my fingers and
leap up to your back.
Ears flicker, look askance
whicker and laugh
we fly into your name.

Song: Lonely is the Night by Air Supply

[ddgryphon]

the earth alone
turning traveling
beside its single
moon knows
the darkness
miles beyond
the sun

and the moon
hidden from
our star's
warmth far
forgotten
from its
fiery stare

shadows slink
around the
blue
how lonely
is the night
while eclipsed
i wait for
you

*********************

Song: Wild World Artist: Cat Stevens or, if you prefer Yusuf Islam.

[Teena]

In contemplation I go forth and sit
upon a hill where grass still grows
I feel its pulse under my fingers
and ask ~ ‘What was the world?’

Before the fields grew asphalt
rather than poppies
and landscapes
outnumbered cityscapes

When breezes blew not fumes
but scents of honeysuckle
while soft summer rains
carried sweet, not acid, drops

Then oceans teemed with life
each in its natural selection
and the pelts of seals were sleek
with only their body oils

In the moist and tropical rainforests
where sounded the soft padding of cats’ feet
the cacophony of steel Cats override
the soundless screams of leafy giants dying

Was it as wild a world?
When man was an afterthought
trailing at the end of creation
instead of its conquering foe

Is there in the multitude of universes
a world as this once was
a globe pristine and new
alive with promise?

Should such a world exist
if this miracle happened twice
stand silent ~
lest it too fall prey
---------------------------------------------------

Song: The Voice Artist: Celtic Woman

[DragonHeart]

The voice of ancients
buried in the rock;
Fleeting ghosts beyond
the valley of the dead.
There be monsters here.

Song: Kryptonite Artist: 3 Doors Down

~DragonHeart~

[onestepp]

Three doors down
the corridor turns
into a staircase
leading into an
Odyssey of a
neverending
phrophecy.

Song: America

[ddgryphon]

They
found
here the
freedoms that
were always denied
in that far country of their birth.
America, they
named their child
for their
new
home.

********************************
Song: In France They Kiss On Main Street Artist: Joni Mitchell

[Aiko]

In France they kiss on Main Street
In China they massage feet

America, they have sex in school
and in England we hug in the hall.

There's a call for a ban on
public affection
because it distracts from
work and education

well damn us
for being too human

****

Song title: If I Never Knew You.

[Teena]

pleasure
laughter
love
excitement
experience
anticipation
anxiety
fear
pain
if I never knew you
these would be lost
with most of my years


Song title: Do You Want Fries With That Artist: Tim McGraw

[hamletspants]

And when I see your next
you will be standing
in that same greasy place
headset askew, dripping
with the boredom
that comes with each jumbo-sized order;
can't you see the meal
we could share
if you didn't work
the graveyard
in a crumbling drive-thru
in a crumbling
town?



Song Title - Only the Good Die Young (Billy Joel)

[Teena]

if it is true
that only the good die young
you and i my love
will live
longer than the ages
beyond the life of stars
and we won't be alone

--------------------
Next: Too Many Women Artist: Julio Iglesias

[Feiss]

In the sweltering sweet of summer
between obscene curves
and shades of pink and peach
I raised my head from our heaving tangle
Saw our shadows stroking the alabaster walls
and felt the velvet surge
of too many women

"Run" - Snow Patrol

[Teena]

Run toward the past
where safety, love
still exist
flee to yesterday
without regret
or curiosity
about the future

-------------

"Hey Jude" - the Beatles

[Rivana]

-Hey, said the man,
the man Jude.
-Hey Jude, I said
and walked ahead.
He followed along
softly singing a song.
I never knew the words
of that haunting melody.
-Hey Jude, what's the song?
He moved on along
and soon disappeared in the fog.

***

Next up: Tell My Father (from the Civil War musical)

[Teena]

tell my Father
that at the end of days
when Armageddon's
last fires fade
and Earth's shell
scabs away
revealing
shoots of green
with a tiny blue flower
I will still recall
the soft lines
and strong veins
of his hands


Next: "Dance into the Light" Phil Collins

[Zixi]

Moonbeams
Silently shine across
The forest stage.
Stars send their blue light
From a million miles away.
Twinkling.
A tiny ballerina
twirls to unheard strains
Of music
As she dances
Into the light -
The Moonlight.

Next song - Moon Dance - Van Morrison

[Teena]

(Welcome Zixi. :hi:)

moon dance they call
my nocturnal wanderings
escape from banal day
to primeval midnight
dew on bare toes
folly on fingertips
transient cognition
fused in a rare
fragilosity
easily shattered
by the uncomprehending


Next: "Live Like You Were Dying" Artist: Tim McGraw

[ddgryphon]

tomorrow is best
a hope unfulfilled
today gives
all reality to life

intensity of touch
pressure at the point
take

take

live like you
were dying

today is all
the tomorrow

i'll promise

*************************
Next Song: The Silky Veils of Ardor by Joni Mitchell

[Teena]

hips undulating
arms moving sinuously
like cobra to flute
mystery in her eyes
Salome danced
weaving her spell
employing
the silky veils of ardor
in false promise
charming from Herod
John's head


Next: River of You Artist: Trisha Yearwood

[ddgryphon]

the river of you
pours into the ocean of us
and fills the blue world

the river of you
floods over the dry, wasted earth
i counted for lost

the river of you
pushes these barrier stones
away from my heart

Song: The Ghost of Stephen Foster Aritst: The Squirrel Nut Zippers

[ddgryphon]

each note sounds
the ghost to life:

never given fully
to his dreams
Stephen Foster died
bereft of comfort
unfulfilled by ambition
crushed coldly against
that diamond duty
cutting slowly
at the edges
each unmeasured
dream

Next Song: Everybody Ought to Have a Maid Composer: Stephen Soundheim

[Dipstick]

Everybody Ought to Have a Maid.
These six words are often said
by mothers who with weary head
follow young children as dogs are lead
to clean up crumbs and make the beds.

Everybody Ought to Have a Maid.
Says she who toils from crack of dawn
till way past when the light was gone
only to rise to replay the song
that she wore out yesterday.

Everybody Ought to Have a Maid.
No truer words were ever spoken
nor a line of logic left unbroken
saving for this itty bitty token...
what about the maid?


Next song - Axel F by Crazy Frog

[Dipstick]

No new posts.... did I kill it?

Where'd everybody go?

Do I stink or something? *sniffs pits... wakes up on the floor.*

Ohhhh..... sorry bout that.

[Feiss]

Next song
I sing is my swan song:
My name is Swanson
I'm cloistered in Sing Sing
prisoner to the wan dawn
that slips through the
milling throng.

I followed my lover to Hong Kong
where she'd fallen for a chinaman's schlong
told me to run along
I sobbed into my egg foo yung
then bought myself a gun
I stalked that bastard all day long
I killed him dead
for his lording dong.

When they caught me
I couldn't be calmed
to this day she hasn't come along
it's all gone wrong, so very wrong,
damn her, damn him,
damn them both and that long duck dong



Maybe - Janis Joplin