Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Regret and doom and wasted days

March 13, 2025 

And would it have been worth it, after all,
After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,
Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,
– T.S. Eliot

Persistent pain in memories
A cup, a couch and you and me
I'd rather howl and sing with trees
Than try and explain

What I said and what I meant 
Tattered talk of betterment
Love was lost or was it spent?
Is anybody sane?

Terrified to close the mouth
Comfort when the words come out
Streams and streamers spit and shout
Alleviate the brain

There's no returning, you and I
Round the moon and by and by
Fog that fills the earth and sky
It leaves a dreary stain

Through the yellow nightmare haze
Regret and doom and wasted days
You can't fool fate in Shakespeare plays
You can't escape the rain

by Richard W. Bray

Tags:, , , , ,
Posted in Poetry, sad songs, T.E. Eliot | Leave a Comment »

Dance because you’re not a dancer

January 25, 2025 


I only have one thing to say
What are you gonna do today?

It's not a quiz
There's no wrong answer
Dance because you're not a dancer

Cook some eggs
Take a shower
Photograph the Eiffel Tower

Find a game
You like to play
Lollygag your time away

Have a beverage
With a friend
Read a novel to the end

Walk your dog
Smell some flowers
Sit around and talk for hours

Meet a deadline
With your team
Binge a show about a queen

Wax a roadster
Hike the hills
Debate the merits of free will

It's not about what others do 
Do the thing that's right for you

by Richard W. Bray

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in Poetry, Poetry for Kids | Leave a Comment »

Honesty Is My Policy

January 1, 2025 

I told Candace Walter's cheating
I told Megan she was fat
I said Gail's looks are fleeting
And that's such an ugly hat

I told Dan his son's a loser
And his wife is scarfing pills
I told Frankie he's a boozer
They should pay me for my skills

I told Ted his breath is frightful
It could make an angel cry
The truth is so delightful
I'm a great and fearless guy

I'm tenacious and observant
I refuse to pull my punches
I'm a real public servant
They should honor me at lunches

I'm a paladin of virtue
In a world of falsity
If reality can hurt you
You're a fool for blaming me 

by Richard W. Bray

Tags:, , , , ,
Posted in Poetry | Leave a Comment »

Fiends and Fury

November 29, 2024 

We will find no comfort until the night melts away; until the fury of the night rots out its fire.
-Djuna Barnes, Watchman, What of the Night?

Get home before the sun goes down
This ain't no ordinary town
Cool your mind – keep out of sight
Don't bestir the doom of night 

Hairy hounds released from hell
Zombies under wicked spells
Fiends and fury from The Fall
Moloch Gorgon Satan Baal 

Tell-Tale Heart – The Witch of Coos
Now it's time to pay your dues
Spirits demons lunatics
I hope your house is made of bricks

Stay inside and lock the door
Don't look outside – don't ask wherefore
Calm your heart and clear your head
Keep a lantern by your bed

by Richard W. Bray

Tags:, , , , , , , ,
Posted in Poetry, Robert Frost | Leave a Comment »

this petty pace from day to day

November 20, 2024 

no not never darkness
empty ugly stupid 
laughing evil putrid 
nothing nowhere fear

falling filthy dingy ruin
senseless cracked crooked
smelly frigid fruitless
doomed dreary busted smear

cruel crappy murder
hateful burning blocked
hopeless sneering creepy
losing broken insincere

by Richard W. Bray

Tags:, ,
Posted in Poetry, William Shakespeare | Leave a Comment »

Social Persistence

October 4, 2024 


There's a cop
He grew up in a boys home
He never wants to see 
Anybody get hurt
Every day
There's a drop of corruption
Makes it harder and harder
To go back to work

Hay maestra
She's got a big drafty classroom
With torn up old books
And thirty bags of need
Every day
She comes back for more
She tries and she triumphs
And she teaches kids to read

There's a staffer
At a place full of kids
They overwhelm and devour
And energize
Every day
The music and the laughter
Fill and empty her heart
And brighten up her eyes

by Richard W. Bray




Tags:, , , ,
Posted in Poetry | Leave a Comment »

Panpsychism

September 8, 2024 

Beyond the white snowy silence
And the nothing that is here
The hunger for existence
Overcomes its natural fear

Energy and motion
Eons gurgle into years
Consciousness and matter
Are suddenly clear

Every proton, every planet
Is alive and sincere
You can still hear the music
When it all disappears

by Richard W. Bray

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in Emily Dickinson, Poetry | Leave a Comment »

Roller Coaster Ego

September 1, 2024 

Win the world
Lose it all
Diplomas
Hanging
On the wall
But nothing there
To break your fall 

Paint a picture
Live a lie
Dream your own decline
Friends and lovers
Say goodbye
You fall for pride
Every time

Hate and war
Here we go
Roller coaster ego
Climb aboard
Choose your foe
Close your eyes
And lose your soul

by Richard W. Bray



Tags:, , , ,
Posted in If it sounds country, Poetry | Leave a Comment »

hanging on to my hatred

August 2, 2024 






I hang on to my hatred
Cuz it tastes so good
It's safe and familiar
Like my neighborhood

I hang on to my hatred
Cuz it knows my name
Wagging that tail
It's totally tame

I hang on to my hatred
Cuz it's always the same
It doesn't go changing
And hurting my brain

I hang on to my hatred
To ward off the pain
It's a great place to hide
From the Universal stain

I hang on to my hatred
So the acid in my guts
Can find a new home
Instead of driving me nuts

by Richard W. Bray











									


				
Tags:, , 
 Posted in Poetry |   Leave a Comment »

			


				

				
Romp

				July 23, 2024

				

					












Eyes and hearts and thoughts and tongues and souls
Filling out the forms and playing roles

Lilies roses time and weeds and stones
Dancing dreaming walking all alone

Beauty sorrow wind and breath and joy
Living rousing romps of girls and boys

Love and truth and grief and spring and sun
Singing every day until you're done

by Richard W. Bray

									


				
Tags:, , , 
 Posted in Poetry, Poetry for Kids |   Leave a Comment »

			


		
		

			
« Older Entries

			
Newer Entries »