David Mclansky - Poems
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Poetry Series David McLansky - poems - Publication Date: 2015 Publisher: Poemhunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive David McLansky(5/24/1944) I am a Poet/Philosopher www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 1 dying Men Dying men Bell the season, But give no pause To Nature's treason; We grow to height And then decay, We reproduce Along the way; Self-aware Of other Selves, We know despair As love dispels; When Earth returns, Its journey run, And Spring once more Her magic sprung, I will be Dried skin and bones; My wisdom summed Upon a stone. David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 2 en Route: La Charite Sur Loire (For Christian) She will not come Nor will she ever come, And I will not kid myself To wait longer; I will pass on Looking at the stale countryside As I go, And watch the trees turn purple In the growing shade of night, And find comfort in the warmth Inside my jacket; Things are different On the road alone, And maybe better Because they're simpler; I only have to manage for one, Consult one, know one, fulfill one; Without debate, I climb a fence in France To seek a bed in a field of wheat; And by myself There's no, 'Oh, God, ' sigh; Just sleep amid the night field life, And maybe a quick peak at the stars. David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 3 in Memory Of Isaac Babel I, alone, now in my craft, Beyond all care Of jealous wrath, Write my thoughts In perfect rhymes, As if my readers All were blind. David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 4 in Praise Of Older Women Give me not Your nubile girls Experts on the course of life, Whose baby cheeks Unshadowed eyes Bespeak the fact They've never cried. Give to me A love of sorrow Whose flesh has known Fear of tomorrow; Whose hands have shaken With life's knowledge Never gained By years of college. Give to me A love whose sated Scores of lovers Proved ill-fated, Grateful for the touch That brings The revival of Youth's fateful Spring. Give me not Your heart unbroken, The n'er betrayed By words unspoken, Who never watched Love walk away, The unforsworn On rainy days. David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 5 irish Protest What's all this buzzing in the breeze, These noisy birds, these humming fleas? The bursting branches of the woods, These calling loons, misunderstood; There's such a screeching in the Spring, Must every flower loudly ring? Must lovers murmur on the grass, Must mallards cackle as they pass? Oh silent Life in darkened bars! Oh neon lights, Oh whiskey jars! David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 6 ironic Nights Living in the bubble of her hate I twist about incredulous of my Fate; I, who fed on love like breathing air, Should live imprisoned in this Ogress' lair; I, who counted sweetest all things gentle: Refinement, wit, and goodness elemental, Savoring all that taste and grace do bring, Should live within this coarse and vulgar ring; I, a creaturre bred for temperate weather, Delighted by the softest feeling pleasure, Confounded by a hate that poisons souls; Enduring through the nights as they unfold. David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 7 le Retour The bubbling words percolate, Wondering where I've been of late, Needing life in their expression, Muted by my Art's regression; And thus by Art's necessity, I deposit my sad history; Less than what I was before, More paralyzed but tempered pure. David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 8 night Ledger To toss upon the sleepless hour Is to test imagination's power; But lo, the mind cannot sustain, Sweet visions fade in weak refrain; Visions of love in sacred trust, The sweetest memories - loving lust, Turn sour and cruel in memory's train, And cancel joys on balanced pain; Love keeps a book to hold account, The joy, the pain, in each amount; And sums the ledger in the end, And cancels gains along with friends. David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 9 old Eskimo Afloat I am an old Eskimo Set out on the icy flow; A hunter who no longer sees, Squatting numbly on his knees; My bones are dry, of little meat, For Father Bear, a minor treat; I, who speared the Great White Bear, Return his bounty with this poor share; I couldn't hold the sewing needle; I've gown too old and weak and feeble; My pain denied me sleep at night, I'd sit before the oil lamp light; In the igloo, by the wall I'd sit wherever I could crawl; No teeth to chew the walrus meat, Too cold to rub my children's feet; I saw their looks, they looked away; A chore, a burden on their day: A cracked and useless narwhale hook, Resented for the space I took; I tried to joke and tell of hunts; They answered with begrudging grunts; The children soon ignored my presents; I lived a ghost for all intents; All I agreed I had to go; They put me on the early flow; A little fire set at my feet To warm me as I fell asleep; Cracks and groans all about, A seal sniffed me with his snout; Had I a club or strength of arm... He swam away without alarm; www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 10 In the fog I wait for death, The air too cold to take full breath; I've lived full out my seasoned span; I see too clear the worth of man. David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 11 riff On Julie's Zodiac Love Date When you're sitting at a bar Legs crossed on a stool Sipping one of those lady drinks Back erect and cool; Should a guy slip next to you And ask you what's your sign Remember what you learned at school About Light and Space and Time: When you look upon a star It's not really there, And when he's looking in your eyes He's focused else somewhere. David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 12 riff On Laurel's Autumn Anniversary If you should ever leave me, Leave me when it snows, When ice is on the evergreens Glistening, hanging low. When frost is in the air And the light is bleak and chill, Reflecting my despair, And my broken will; That I may wander in the flakes That billow from the sky; Disappearing for your sake And as I'm frozen, die. But you could also leave me Standing beside the road In the shimmer of the desert Beside a desiccated toad With an empty bottle Squinting in the sun As you gunned the throttle And I too old to run. David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 13 riff On Laurel's Wishing Him Back Does he appear Like Richard Gere So charming With that sexy leer; That you'll forget His smirk, Disdain, When your face Congealed In so much pain? David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 14 riff On Olive Oil's Old Love An old veteran in love's wars, Bruised and battered, My heart still sore; My joints all creaking, Blind as a bat, And old campaigner, Pelted and wracked; Short of breath, With limbs that shake, My mind adrift Not fully awake; And yet I hear Love's distant call, A lilting tune That does enthrall; Slowly I rise, Love's Knight adept, And swagger forward Like Johnny Depp. David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 15 riff On Pj's Riff On Jsyn's Poem He sat in his old rusting truck Feeling his age, and out of luck; To his daughter-in-law An impossible burden No longer allowed To get a word in; The revolver that he got In the Korean war Laying on the seat beside him; The knobby hill Such a tranquil spot To shoot himself and die in; He lit his final cigarette And sucked the rich smoke down: An old man who had few regrets; And no reason to hang around. David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 16 riff On Princess Julie Princess Julie's Ransom Note My oil Sheik Omar Shariff Drove me in his jeep To Al-Kaliq; I am Princess Number five On camel milk I survive; I think he's tired Of me now; He'll trade me for A goat or cow. Behind those velvet eyes Was someone barmy; Learning Arabic; Send the U.S. Army David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 17 riff On Woman Of Poems A Lofty Man Of Intellect And I thought you loved me for my mind! The sweetest fruit is not the rind; That's the reason I went to college; I've packed my mind with lofty knowledge; And now you say that I'm affected, It's not a fault that I've detected; A man is more than just a body, Unless of course you want John Gotti. David McLansky www.PoemHunter.com - The World's Poetry Archive 18 rifff On Eileen's Mighty Insect Oh horrid horrid humans! Quickly run and hide! All soft and fleshy creatures With their outside bones inside; They lack a noble carapace And move on just two limbs The're soft and mushy faced Lacking mandibles and wings; Be glad you're born an insect And not a human being For humans have no respect For creatures that are peeing.