poetry lesson #7

Technology do the heavy lifting, but has it dull our curiosity?

pencil sketch by dsnake1


poetry lesson #7


once upon a time i have to
hammer out the words on
an old olivetti, changing
the ribbons every couple of months
or so
staining my fingers black and red

writing poetry

poetry is lonely, poetry is love, poetry can be brutal
-the poet goes to war, and is needlessly
  killed the day before Armistice
-the poet asks for water rather than
  disturb the morning glory at the well
-the poet sits in a chopper and cries
  for his buddy who had stepped on a mine.

i did not grow wings and rescue souls
i am just an old guy writing his life story

but i miss my cigarettes
i would like a cold beer
and the traffic in the night is reassuring
the world is breathing

do not put an extra demand
on the brain to corral the exact words

i go for a walk
i switch on the game machine
i sleep
i watch a youtube video (again)
the lady guitarist
she plucks the strings
she plucks
the air out of my lungs
the guitar cries
i cries
and
the life story waits


28/01/2021
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Band-Maid - Anemone

Shared at Writers' Pantry #76

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2021

poetry lesson #6

poetry. definitely a love-hate relationship...

pencil sketch by dsnake1



poetry lesson #6


i confess
i am trying to write a poem.

pencil & notebook is ready

trying to pull words
out of a hat

it is like my constipated
self trying to poop

mercifully!

and out of the
angry scrawls on the paper

finally!

looks.like.a.poem

pick the poem apart
letter by letter
it is painful, watching
like an autopsy

kill the poem! kill it!

you call this poetry, sir?
perhaps the blackbird outside on my air con unit can scratch better than this!

my muse, quick, i need my pretty muse.


15.01.2021
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Band-Maid - Manners

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2021

poetry lesson #4

The broken heart is there but still the words would not come...

pencil sketch by dsnake1


poetry lesson #4


the humid air hangs with
                 distractions
how to write a poem now
                 any poem.
and there are other nudges.
why, i just made my video hitman
drove all over the seedy town
then to take out a mob boss,
it was messy but the job was done.
             and i just realised
all my rock heroes
are now dead or old men,
their beards fashionable
             but grey,
and now the guitars have
             been passed to
five pretty Japanese girls
in maid outfits
to save rock.
it's sick!

and that poem
is still nowhere around
so i poured myself
a glass of wine (yes, wine now)
and send my hitman out again
to look for UFO parts.

and that poem?
the lady vocalist in
the youtube video
her gestures, her face,
                  her moles
reminds me of someone
i missed dearly.
i hit the replay button,
i feel like crying

and so
the poem will wait.


16/09/2020
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BAND-MAID - Wonderland

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2021

poetry lesson #3

spare a thought for the one trying to write some poetry...

photo of Sanjo, Kyoto by YunPing


poetry lesson #3


have you been awake and
trying to write poetry
                 at 1 a.m.
and all that is outside
are two drunks bitching?

i am starting to miss my
cigarettes but the doc says
                 65% blocked
those damn arteries, please
don't go messing with them

so i try to sit down with
a pencil and paper or the
                 old computer
trying to feel good, drink,
dream or pretend that i am

Bukowski
Pound
William Carlos Williams
Plath
Ferlinghetti

or the whatever poet
flavor of the moment
                 it helps
take my word for it
that's how i grind out

beautiful young women with poor fates
loneliness and the pitifully lonely mad
days gone and wasted at godforsaken camps
the comfort and friendship of raintrees
people i know who have come and gone

someone said the butterfly
counts not time but moments
                    is true?
and so is poetry, because we
live for that space in time

some nights soak in sadness
and i plead for the sunrise
                      the sky
has turned a hue of rusty red
a werewolf howls from a block

and there still outside
the two drunks are bitching.



written : 02/09/2020
revised : 08/10/2020
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SCANDAL - Departure

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2020

The Muse

Have you got the feeling that you have gone through this before?

photo by Jake Charles at Unsplash


The Muse


How many days already? The Muse is still missing! I woke up and the pencil is on the floor, and the sheets of paper lurking in the waste basket. Shall I go and file a missing persons report? But the cops will probably ask some awkward questions like where did you lose it, what time was it, and worst of all, describe the lost item.

You don't understand Sir, it is a person. Sort of.
A person, eh, and what does he do?
She helps me write poetry, sir.
She, eh? and they give me a knowing wink. Ah, the literary type, and I can imagine them picturing her, in thick glasses and toting a couple of thick books.
Have you checked the library, probably she's there, and what's her name please?
I think it's Clio, or Erato, or Polyhymnia, she's very vague about that too, and I can see them eyebrows rising just a bit.

And then i think I dropped the bomb by saying that she is not a real person. Not in a physical sense, but very real to me. First they roll their eyes, one poke a finger at me and threaten to lock me up if I don't exit the station by xx seconds.

So what choice do I have but to do my own legwork, poke in at the pub I brought her there a couple of times, that cafe by the beach. Or I can just sit tight and break some pencils and crush some papers. During the World Cup, she thought England was her beloved Greece. Poor thing! She was there at the coffee shop, watching the games on TV, cheering the wrong team. And me like a fool followed her and made some wrong choices at the betting shop.

She will come back to me, I am sure. One fine day when I am threatening the keyboard, she will be back, without a greeting. Sulking, sultry, laughing, murmuring. Always like that. As I am running out of poems, I will welcome her back. No hard feelings.


From an old journal,undated.
Revised somewhat, Sept 2020.
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Stereopony - Stand By Me

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2020