steve1223 Poetry (718)

It’s not just the colour that I object
Though that in itself is bad enough
So different they look with dark skin
It’s dirty beasts they remind me of

I looked at him, I was perplexed
Was he being serious, on the level
Or was this some major hoax
I looked around for cameras

They come in our country, take our jobs
The government gives them everything
Cars they drive and houses they live in
So tell me, why do they get it so easy?

Easy, I thought, you must be joking
Arrive on these shores, left all behind
Their country full of death and violence
And you say they’re blessed with luck

Should send them back to where they belong
Or drop them from high flying plane
If that don’t work could always shoot them
Soon get the message, not welcome here

I slid aside to take a closer look
A monster is what I expected to see
But he looked normal like you and me
And that is what scared me the most

All day I wait for night to come
Everything seems to pass too slowly
Work I hate, I could just scream
Home I need to get, back to you

Even when finally home I get
There are dreary walls around me
It seems that time so slowly moves
Til its time for my head to hit the pillow

And there in sleep we meet again
Again in my arms you are laying
Lips so hot, tender and sweet
And your breath as sweet as honey

All night long our passions rise
Again and again we join as one
Our promised love will never end
We were so young and foolish

Too soon again comes break of day
When dreams fade back to reality
Again I face the day without you
Lost you to a callous drunk driver

Music seeps through the red door
Something about blue suede shoes
They tell me his music’s hated by parents
And the way he shakes those hips of his

Inside the girls were screaming wildly
As they grooved on the dance floor
Even the boys were jumping madly
Trying to copy that move of his

For the next ten years I followed
Watched and learned all he did
They called him the king of Rock ‘n’ roll
The mighty Joey Lewis Morgan King

Set the timer for nineteen fifty
Before Joey started his career
Called myself Elvis Aaron Presley
And used everything that I had learned

I was the one they called the King
Joey was just a pale imitation
All the world was at my feet
But somehow still it wasn’t enough

Could it be that guilt was me consuming
Drugs not enough to blunt the pain
This life was not mine for living
The shoes not meant for me to fill

Deeper, deeper the drugs take me
Reality becomes ever so blurred
The end is near, I feel it coming
Yet Joey still lives, surrounded by love

There are times when I ask myself
What is this life that I’m living
Each day from one to the next
They all seem to run together

No happiness, no joy, just pain
And none of it was my doing
First a disease, one that is so rare
Just one in ten or so million

Body is wracked with terrible pain
My limbs being slowly twisted
In the end I know I’ll die
But I could still live til ninety

If that’s not enough, things got worse
A car the footpath mounted
Crushed my legs, lost them both
And killed my wife, my lover

But still I live, I don’t know why
I refuse to give up, surrender
So next time you moan how tough it is
Spare a thought for me, the life I’m living

RMS Titanic leaving Southampton




Twas in April nineteen twelve
That she set sail for sea
She was the pride of the White Star Line
The RMS Titanic

The firemen below, shovelled coal
So relentlessly for steam
To power her mighty engines
For to propel her across the sea

From Southampton to New York City
Across the North Atlantic Ocean
Two thousand, two hundred and twenty eight
Aboard, passengers and crew

On the Bridge stood Captain Smith
Surrounded by his officers
Orders given, “Full speed ahead
We’ll push to reach destination”

On the A deck the rich sat
In their cabins most luxurious
Next deck down in restaurant grand
Orchestra played to accompany dining

Down below, in the bowels of ship
There they put the immigrants
Hope in heart, New York bound
To seek a life much better

From bow to stern and all below
They all felt safe, secure
This mighty ship, they were told
Even God could not sink it

It was on April fourteenth
Just four days gone
That the lookout yelled
“There’s ice”

Decision was made to carry on
Full steam straight ahead
Nothing is going to slow us down
New York we’ll reach on time

Twas eleven forty in the night
By the clock on the ship
A mighty shudder ran through her length
As an iceberg she hit

Even then no panic ruled
Was more something of interest
But down below the truth was known
As water flooded her innards

The order was given to abandon ship
First women and children
Unfortunately the sad fact was
There was a shortage of lifeboats

As she slipped beneath the waves
To rest on the bottom
More than half she took with her
One thousand, five hundred and twenty three

A disaster too shocking to comprehend
Never should have taken place
Arrogance to play with life
To think nothing will transpire

How sad to see this church so empty
What poor soul died so all alone
Just a solemn preacher mechanically droning
And a lonesome mourner right down the back

It would appear that he was there for shelter
Inside to hide from winter’s bitter bite
No place to go to call his home
He was oblivious to what was going on

Who was this person in the coffin laying
That no-one came to see him off
The preacher finished, through door he left
Curiosity tugged, I needed to find out

Slowly my way to the front I made
Approached the coffin that was ever so plain
Roughly made with no adornments
The cheapest of the cheap kind

Now I’m a man who is quite wealthy
So this is something I don’t understand
I always have the best of everything
So who would be to this person so mean

I looked inside and saw a man
One whose face was cold, hard and callous
What I saw to the core did shake me
I had looked on my face and it looked back at me

Was this the end I was destined for
That no-one would mourn my passing
Not even my family there to care
When undertaking my very last journey

Too late I saw mistakes I’d made
No chance for any changes
So many things alter I would
But now that cannot happen

"Please Sir, Can you spare a dollar?
I've not eaten in a while.
The nights are cold, mid winter now
and shelter I have none."

[Why does he look at me like that? Does
he not understand how hard it is for
me to beg like this. There was a time
where I would never have needed to beg
like this. Can't he see this is tearing
me apart.]

"Yes Sir, work I've tried to find
but it is so very hard.
They find out no address have I,
get told to move right on."

[Why is it the first thing people say
is 'get a job'. If they had any idea
how long and hard I've been looking
they would be shocked. They have no
idea of the prejudices out there. If
you have no home or only list a
shelter they take one look and tell
you ever so politely 'you are not
what we are looking for.' ]

"No Sir, I have no family.
My wife died three years past,
took with her our only child.
Twas a driver who was drunk."

[ I had a family. A wife I loved
dearly and a beautiful son. A drunk
driver plowed into them at a
pedestrian crossing. Killed them
both and that damned lawyer of his
got him off. Not responsible for
his actions due to poor upbringing.
I admit I hit rock bottom and
tried to drink myself into oblivion.
Haven't drunk for more than a year
but once down they don't like to
make it easy to come back up. ]

"Bless you Sir, may the angels smile,
may your life be filled with joy.
There is enough here to eat for a week
and contented I will sleep tonight."

[ I can see by the look in your eyes
that you are wondering if you are
being conned. It does not matter why
you are being generous it just means
I live for another week and who knows
tomorrow might bring hope. ]

Back in history, in days of old
Twas then that knights were very bold
And the ladies were covered in gold

It was in that time there lived a bold knight
Who would satisfy the ladies at night
And with gold they would see him right

There was a fair maiden, Lucy-Mae
Who could not keep a secret, try as she may
And her husband found out she’d been led astray

He swore revenge, the knight must die
At night an ambush he would try
And the knight surely in hell would fry

It was just after the setting of the sun
The knight did come on the run
So eager was he to begin his fun

Around the corner, unaware was he
Waited magical sword called Thantee
The aim was low, well above the knee

The sword did his manhood sever
Gone was it, no more to use, never ever
Became a member of court, eunuch forever

Now there’s a moral, a tale to be told
Keep your pants zippered, don’t be too bold
And you’ll be intact until your old

I look back and see mistakes
One piled on top of another
How do I pick the worst
So many seek my attention

The car I bought, shiny bright
Was the worst of all the lemons
Hardly a day did go past
When things just weren’t happening

With women I had no luck
I married all the wrong ones
Behind my back they played around
Then they took me for my money

The quaint little house that I bought
I thought my home to retire
Came home late one night
My ex had taken possession

The jobs I had I tried so hard
To do more than I had to
When things got slow, sacking time
To the front of the line they’d push me

Even when I was a young child
The middle of six children
No-one wanted to spend time with me
Even my parents ignored me

So how do I pick my worst mistake
With so many screaming at me
It seems the mistake that’s worst of all
I was born and no-one knew it

There
was a
time I would
not cry, nor would
I love, I was dead
inside, dry and shrivelled.
this was before I met you
you who changed my life and brought me
out of this darkness, gave me reason
once more to hope and live, find love again

Four grey walls surround me,
closing me in,
taking my breath away.

Sweat breaks out on my forehead,
my palms starting to feel clammy,
and I think that I am going to vomit.

Desperately I try to control myself.
I don't think that I can stand this much longer.
My mind screams at me 'get out of here,'
but the closed walls do not allow this.

Thankfully I hear 'fifth floor - Ladies wear,'
and the door opens.

There sit’s a crooked shack by the river
It is quite ramshackle, or in other words
So badly built and badly maintained
It is ready to fall down around your ears

So you ask, and quite rightly, so I might add
For there is no shame in asking questions
Who in the name of all that is just and holy
Would deign to live in a place such as this?

Could it be an old man, twisted and surly?
Spurned by his love when he was young
His heart turned stone cold and bitter
Withdrew himself from the human race

Or maybe a woman, couldst be a witch
Old and bent, black cat for her pet
There she brews her potions and herbs
And casts her spells if you should displease

There is always the possibility of an ogre
Not the nice type you see in cartoons
If you get too close might capture you quick
You will be on the menu for Sunday dinner

Closer I creep, too strong the need to find out
I cannot ignore this urge that I have
This truth is waiting to be uncovered
And I hope, with luck, I will be the one

There is singing I hear, a voice like an angel
Is this a trap to lure me in, like sirens of old
It matters not, the urge for truth is too strong
Onwards I go, too late to retreat, to turn back

And then I see her, a vision ever so lovely
In this situation she seems right out of place
A big sunny smile, so bright and lovely
With a wave of her hand she calls me in

I can’t help myself, the words just tumble
Out from my mouth like from a waterfall
Questions that in my head were buzzing
To my sheer embarrassment I put to her

She smiled a smile that could sink a ship
And have you coming begging for more
Before me she placed a drink cool and sweet
With a melodious voice she told me her tale

This was the cabin her father had built
When she was a child of barely three
Yet still she remembers each day they worked
She helped to build this home, not a house

Each nail and screw was placed with love
The timber frame cut and hewn by hand
Each plank took time, to get just right
With care shingles placed to keep out rain

The walls and floors all soaked up the love
A family lived there, the tears and the joy
Parents long gone to meet their maker
What she had left was all around her

As she spoke, her tale slowly unfolded
What I saw was a palace of love and laughter
No longer ramshackle, no longer broken
As if a veil from my eyes had been lifted

I never did find my way back, though I tried
Was this a dream, or reality bites
One thing I know, since then I have changed
I look at this world through new born eyes