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Saturday, March 13, 2010

2 poems

by horace p sternwall






love is a mangy dog


life is like a mangy dog
sleeping in a hollow log

with hardly room to scratch or sneeze
his only company the fleas
that without even saying please

feast upon his mortal flesh
yes, life is quite a sorry mesh

a web of futile desperations
solitudes and dissipations

and as the flame of life grows slim
and dreams of glory fade and dim

the dog rolls over on his side
with nothing left to hope or hide

and hears on high the sudden scratch
of a hunter's cigarette-lighting match

and through the mist a waning moon
murmurs, it will be over soon




bad beatnik bongo poem

hitler had a mustache
jesus had a beard
kerouac played the bongos
man the scene was weird!

gabriel had a message

mary had a child

ginsberg wore a turtleneck

man the scene was wild!

einstein had a number

truman had a bomb

burroughs wore a homburg

with suavity and aplomb

i'm sorry but this poem

hasn't got much point

ike swung at a golf ball

corso smoked a joint


4 comments:

Dan Leo said...

Rhoda, as you are the only one I know who has any of Sternwall's books (all of them unconscionably out-of-print), I only hope that you will continue to delight us with these occasional samples of his work, at least until that long-rumored Library of America edition of his complete works comes out.

human being said...

.

timmy had another head
who could see through the wall

this one talked about the heart
and taught you to fly as you fall

it was as transparent as the wind
his name ironically was sternwall

.


the first one just haunted me... fabulous analogy... sad but grand...

the part about hearing 'the sudden scratch of a hunter's cigarette-lighting match'... brought tears to my eyes...

the second one was full of points to ponder on... provided that you would not be smoking joint...
:)

religion and politics... religion and politics...
ahhh... this twin!



this post is the first things i'm reading this morning...

you made my day, timmy... thanks!

horace said...

hb,
glad you liked these ... i have so many heads now, what is one more?

human being said...

i love all of them... though i just talk with some of them...

and i know they all have just one great beautiful soul...

:)