Early Rising | Poem by Alvin Knox

early-risiing-poem

 

 

Early Rising

(For Tom Watson)

 

An odd dream,

the kind from which you’re roused from REM

in the soft dark of predawn with the fleeting odor

of mint playing down a long unused synaptic corridor.

And you know it was somehow pertinent, has left you

stinging, like catching a fast ball with an oven mitt.

No.  You’ve just slept hard on your arm

and your hand has fallen asleep, the one you type with,

the one you write with, all pins and needles

in its own effort to rise.

What was it?  Something about ten long-haired midgets

squabbling over a tent in the low rent district of right field,

all shouting “Mine! Mine! Mine!”

But the sun is threatening the low hanging moon

and soon this horoscope of memory

will retreat into noon’s light.

Time now to return to reality,

to trim the trees, to pull the weeds,

to listen to a ball game and relax in the sun.

Time to contemplate the midgets

and capture, with your pen,

the giants in their shadows.

 

 

© Alvin Nash

Music by David Michael Jackson

A production of Artvilla Records

All rights reserved

Poems with Art | Poems by M. Earl Smith | Art by 3valynn

poems-with-art

M. Earl Smith, is an undergrad at the University of Pennsylvania.

He brings poems that were paired with abstract paintings composed by a three year old artist who works under the pen name “3valynn”.  You can view her artwork and the book HERE.

Violet Frenzy

 

Violet Frenzy

The drums sound the song

Of battle, intense, inviolate

Caught in a storm of color

A frenzied storm of violet

An enemy thus unseen

Blind to the naked eye

What is this that should be?

Our destiny we cannot deny

So on the brave soldiers march

Into the shroud of darkness

Mindless to political demarche

The time is upon us

This war, however

Is not built upon hate

Only love, now and forever

Shall be humanity’s fate

Some battles are fought

Over space, resources and land

Some people are sold and bought

For whatever the world commands

But this is a tale of joy

A poem of unrequited love

There is nothing in the deep violet

That can force this undone

Diamond Candy

Diamond Candy

Every girl’s dream

A jewel that she can bandy

A woman’s best friend

A piece of diamond candy

The light refracts the jewel

Fracturing the light about

Show it to all her friends

Her diamond candy she will flout

Pink and blue the colors

That tell us who we are

Yet every girl knows

Diamond candy shines like a star

White line, twisting path

Of which we must explore

Every girl begs

Diamond candy, give me more!

So if you want to know

A way to a girls heart

You have to know her favorite

Diamond candy, thou art!

Primary Ambition

Primary Ambition

The dawning of a new day

A chance to start anew

The path of a middle way

Colors, fresh and true!

Paint touches canvas

Giving us something fresh

No need to have planned this

Art put to the test

Each color with a meaning

This art, pure emotion

Creativity through is seeping

A muse that demands devotion

This art, an unnamed feeling

Joy and serious, true

An artistic endeavors dealing

A talent held by few

There’s no way we can know

An artist’s true intention

One thing for which we must go

Is their primary ambition

Snow Queen

Snow Queen

Her title

Betrays the trust

That her subjects have

In her

To do her best

To care for them

To protect them

To do what’s right

To do what’s fair

To do what’s just

So, the snow bears down

Blanketing the land

In a sheet

Of the purest white

It does so

Only at her command

So that the children

Can play

In snowdrifts

As high as city walls

And spend their day

Lost

In a cloud of white

Summer Daze

Summer Daze

Summer daze

Bright color craze

Try to change

Trying to say sane

Colors love me

Orange and peach cry

So in love

With the summer sky

Summer daze

Covers the town

No chance to laze

The king needs his crown

Makes me happy

Makes me free

I can’t wait to see

What it’s gonna be!

Summer daze

Lights up my eyes

Makes me smile

As the evening dies

Come tomorrow

It’ll return again

Then we’ll be

Off to Neverland!

Streamers

Streamers

The ticker-tape parade

Rings in the new year

Time to celebrate a year from another day

The air full of streamers

A joyful celebration

Of a time a year ago

A time for utter elation

As we await the future to unfold

The colors fill the air

As the party carries on

Life is all but fair

As we sing that ole happy song

Hugs to go around

As we love our fellow man

A bright, joyous sound

As life, it seems, starts again

So let’s ring that old bell

And gather once again

Sing it over every hill and dale

The new year has began!

Boats with Eyes

Boats with Eyes Painting
Buy

The boats with eyes are on to me.
They have cast away from the shore.
They have no use for my blues no more.
I have seen them floating away.
Taking my heart down the river today
The people in the boats they wave to me.
They sing a better song than I
and the boats they swing and sway
taking my heart down the river today.

We Shall Hold Hands and Pray | Poem by David Michael Jackson

Apples Painting

I will paint apples
and tend the vines
as they grow over me.
I will rhyme in time
and sing the songs of love.

The angry men are arriving with guns.

We shall hold hands and pray
We shall ask for peace.

The apples are red and green
and lie on the table in threes.
The muses arrive in sevens
and carry torches.

We shall hold hands and pray
We shall ask for peace.
We shall hold hands and pray
We shall ask for peace.
We shall hold hands and pray
We shall ask for peace.

Addiction | Poem by Kudzai Mahwite

Addiction Poem

Addiction

Oh damn the urge,
That fucking deadly surge,
Body’s ineluctable self-purge.

Every cell within me craves,
I’m one of its petty slaves.

I want to doubt; I want to reject.
Yet my mind lacketh the clout,
I am but a subject.

Oh the fleeting ecstasy,
The indescribable bliss.

Does ever shorten life’s lease.

We all feign attempts to absolve,
In truth we really lack the resolve.
Just momentarily veiled: never solved.
The desire is just too strong

Kudzai Mahwite is a young Zimbabwean poet inspired greatly by the works and life of William Shakespeare. He is an Economics student and as part of his studies runs a small-time blog on the African Economy. Kudzai is also a Sportswriter with Football.co.uk.You can follow him on Twitter @sir_tos.