Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category
September 11, 2020
O heart! oh blood that freezes, blood that burns!
Earth’s returns
For whole centuries of folly, noise and sin!
–Robert Browning, Love Among the Ruins
In a land once ruled by thieves
We walk beneath the trees
Among the fallen leaves
Paths once paved with gravel
Too overgrown for travel
Reveal a world unraveled
Betrayal winks and nods
An empire built of fraud
Amused indifferent gods
Right before their eyes
A world of endless lies
Erupts in bloody skies
A picnic on the glen
With a special friend
Another season ends
by Richard W. Bray
Tags:love among the ruins, Poetry, Robert Browning
Posted in Poetry | Leave a Comment »
August 23, 2020
Even a theory requires some facts, Captain
—Commander Spock
Fish gotta swim
Birds gotta fly
A penguin is a fish
There’s an ostrich in the sky
The sky is blue
Cuz it’s jealous of the sea
Doggie says bark
Cuz he’s looking for a tree
Zebra, bongo, tiger
Bumblebee and marlin
Grew some pretty stripes
To dazzle their darlin’
They say a clock’s wise
And time marches on
But as soon as time happens
It’s already gone
The cow never jumped
Higher than the moon
Cows don’t jump at all—
It was a kangaroo
Sometimes I wonder
What’s it all about?
But things are pretty simple
When you figure ‘em out
by Richard W. Bray
Tags:Children's Literature, children's poetry, Commander Spock, humorous poetry, Poetry, Star Trek
Posted in Poetry, Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »
August 15, 2020
Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be a part of me.
Nor do I often want to be a part of you.
But we are, that’s true!
—Langston Hughes, Theme for English B
8 billion bodies
all collected
life is never
what’s expected
tell yourself
you’re not affected
but everything
is all connected
green and blue
it’s all we got
this lovely living
spinning spot
all condemned to
live the thought—
stuck together
like it or not
stuck together
like it or not
stuck together
like it or not
by Richard W. Bray
Tags:Langston Hughes, Poetry, Theme from English B
Posted in Langston Hughes, Poetry | Leave a Comment »
June 27, 2020
have you ever noticed steamed carrots?
they almost stun you into another dimension
and they taste so good
and they come right out of the ground
I wonder if Father Hopkins
ever wrote about steamed carrots
by Richard W. Bray
Tags:Gerard Manley Hopkins, Poetry
Posted in Poetry | Leave a Comment »
September 26, 2019
So it is in life—from sun, to moon, to earth, to night, to day, to you getting up in the morning and going out to play a game of ball. All the rhythms of life are in some way related, one to another.
—Langston Hughes, The First Book of Rhythm
That basketball was like a basketball to me.
—Basketball Jones
I toss it in the air
And sometimes it goes in
I share it with my friends
And get it back again
Shooting hoops alone
I’m never in a hurry
It’s easy to be me
Pretending I’m Steph Curry
Playing all day long
Till every muscle hurts
Pounding on the asphalt
Till we’re covered up in dirt
by Richard W. Bray
Tags:Basketball Jones, Cheech and Chong, Children's Literature, children's poetry, Langston Hughes, Poetry, Steph Curry, The First Book of Rhythm
Posted in Langston Hughes, Poetry, Poetry for Kids, Sports | Leave a Comment »
June 1, 2019
I like to eat a sandwich
With pickles and sardines
I step on every crack
And my room is never clean
You got a picture in your head
The guy I’m sposed to be
I don’t care what anybody says
I’m just gonna be me
I wear my jammies all day long
I sleep in a tuxedo
Take me out to dinner
And I’ll wear my brand new Speedos
A body needs some freedom
Wouldn’t you agree?
I don’t care what anybody says
I’m just gonna be me
Nobody should believe
What everybody knows
All the grownups bow to kings
Who don’t have any clothes
You got a picture in your head
The guy I’m sposed to be
I don’t care what anybody says
I’m just gonna be me
By Richard W. Bray
Tags:Children’s Literature, children’s poetry, Poetry, rascals
Posted in Poetry, Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »
March 30, 2019
everybody has a sparkle
light is what we are
every atom in your body
grew up inside a star
everybody has a sparkle
it isn’t hard to see
everybody’s got a dream
who they wanna be
folks who got a broken sparkle
damaged in the head
they want to kill your sparkle
cuz all their dreams are dead
do you know somebody
who’s angry sad and mean?
their figure barely sparkles
like a busted old machine?
gotta feed your sparkle
gotta nurture others too
gotta love your neighbor
to be the best you
by Richard W. Bray
Tags:Children’s Literature, children’s poetry, hope, Poetry
Posted in Poetry, Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »
