pete jones

by genghis gilgamesh

pete jones was walking down the street his feet were sore because his shoes were cheap he remembered the days when things were better and he had been a real go getter he felt a bit distressed because the world was a mess it was hard to detect the old habits of respect he thought, it is not all my fault but what else can i call it the human race would be proud of me if i contributed to its victory but victory over what? what exactly has anybody got? pete’s thoughts were confused at the station his brain was overdue what horrors does the cosmos hide? just being along for the ride might be the best we can do do you think that is sad but true?

hard times

by horace p sternwall

i had hard times in the city because nobody knew my name i got no invitations i was playing a losing game i would tell a joke for a nickel i would sing a song for a dime i got a million more just like that but no one will give me the time i am a stranger here myself i suspect you are one too it does not really matter as long as our hearts are true i was born in the country and hitched a ride to town michael held a flaming sword gabriel wore a frown

one thing

by horace p sternwall

adam just wanted to live his life eve wanted what was rightfully hers cain was an angry man abel wanted to be free pharoah’s daughter sat beside the river moses was a beautiful child joshua fought the battle of jericho mathusaleh had a long white beard gilgamesh went for a walk enkidu lived in the forest jonah met a whale noah built an ark goliath was big david was small samson was strong delilah was a spy buddha sat under a tree confucius talked a lot plato had an ugly mug alexander conquered the world cleopatra had a big nose caesar didn’t have any friends john the baptist lived in a cave salome danced the night away hannibal crossed the alps spartacus freed the slaves nero fed christians to the lions john the revelator wrote it all down charlemagne baptized the pagans joan of arc was burned at the stake good king richard went on crusade bad king john stayed behind leif erikson discovered america but nobody even cared later columbus discovered it again and got all the credit henry viii had a lot of wives shakespeare wrote a lot of plays isaac newton invented gravity galileo made the earth go around everybody does one thing and they are that one thing and that is all they wrote what have you done lately?

hesitation

by timothy t jones

thanks to nooshin azadi, for the idea for this poem

i dreamed in another life i was a monkey sitting on the shore of a desert island trying to catch a fish and behind me in the jungle a terrible beast roared i was all these things i was the monkey that sat and the fish that swam and the beast that roared and i was a grain of sand on the beach and a wave in the ocean and a beam from the sun i was all these things and more because life is a dream yes, life is a dream i know this and yet i hesitate to jump off tall buildings walk in the traffic or sleep in the river

a sad story

by nick nelson

do you want to hear a story? what kind of story? a sad one. no, i don’’t want to hear it. it’s a real sad one. hearing it might melt your heart and make you a better person. i don’t think so. are you sure? positive. here is omar, maybe he wants to hear it. hi guys. hear what? al has a sad story. he is very eager to get it off his chest. i have my own sad stories. i don’t need anybody else’s. you guys - you represent everything that’s wrong with the world today. whoa! that is pretty tough talk, al. we thought you were our friend. aw, i didn’t mean it that way. it’s just that - that what? nobody wants to hear the truth. or a sad story. chuck is right, you should tell your sad story to joe biden or donald trump, not to ignorant slobs like us. but my story is about donald trump and joe biden! really? you are hanging with joe biden and donald trump these days? no wonder we haven’t seen you around much lately. i saw them in a dream. so your sad story is about a dream you had. don’t laugh. my dream encapsulates everything wrong with the world today. espapulate. there you go with the big words again. so tell us about this dream with trump and biden. was there anybody else in the dream besides you and them? there was a little girl. let me guess - she lost her puppy. that’s close - but it was a kitten, not a puppy. that ’s a good guess, omar. how did you do that? i am really a martian, and i can read al’s mind. can you read my mind? no, just al’s. that is a real relief to me. hey, here’s frankie. what’s up, frankie? not much. you guys all look so sad. there is a reason for that, al has been telling us a sad story. actually, i have been trying to tell a sad story, but keep getting rudely interrupted. so the moment, at least for now, has been dissipated. dissipated! does that mean you are not sad any more. not exactly. buy me lunch, al. that will be your good deed for the day, and you won’t be dissipated or sad any more. all right, i will. see, frankie, you solved everything. it is what i am here for.

henry

by dog e relaford

henry had a pumpkin he grew it in the yard his grandma baked it in a pie and henry took it hard sometimes he thought the pumpkin had escaped to santa fe and he would hitchhike to new orleans and meet up with it someday grandma was a moonbeam and grandpa was a snail and they got along together like jonah and the whale elvis escaped to vegas with davy crockett on his trail the postman came at midnight but did not leave any mail you can hear a lonesome whistle sometimes late at night it’s an elephant and a grasshoper staying out of sight henry met the roman empire behind the garden wall they had a long conversation about the meaning of it all

uncompromising laura lee

by anonymous

oh laura, laura lee how can you treat me so uncompromisingly can you not see that my love for you is the essence of all that is beautiful and true? there is a symphony in the breeze that brings the world to its collective knees there is a shout from a distant hill that makes the universe stand still i am not to blame if the shout and the symphony are the same the greatest love in the history of time that i hope excuses this pathetic rhyme that is all i have for now it will all be the same anyway anyhow oh laura, laura lee how can you treat me so uncompromisingly