Original Poetry

[beth]

Poems by Tapestry Members

[biglin]

Since nobody else has started off posting here, I suppose I'd better.

Here goes.

This is a poem about the Romani way but I hope that non-gypsies can enjoy it as well.

Memories of the Road

Do you remember the old days,

When we ranged across the land,

The patrin our guide out of the maze

Of a world made by gadje hands?

We sang our songs of joy and sorrow,

We sang of songs of love;

We took no thought of the morrow,

Eternally on the move.

We drank and fought each other,

As people always will,

Yet we kept the law of the brothers

Through the days of heat and chill.

We laughed and loved with our ladies,

And mocked at the gadje ways;

We cursed them all to Hades,

And we loved our peaceful days.

Along the road we travelled

With our vardos and our grys,

While the gadje world unravelled

We held freedom as our prize.

We rockered the Romani tongue:

We lived as well as we could;

We were so happy when we were young,

And the world around us was good.

Do you remember the old times,

When we kept the brothers' law?

Now the old ways are just new crimes

And they're banned for evermore.

We sang our songs and lived our lives

Up to the full back then;

On the free Rom the gadje set eyes

And drove us into a pen.

Our roving time is gone,

Just a dream of happier days;

With a doleful orison

I sing their praise.

[Deleted]

The Giant's Prayer before Execution

Maybe you think it's funny I'm following faces
Like human mirrors across the check-out counters
I'm sure it could all be so perfectly well explained
In your oh so reasonable fashion but who the hell cares?
I'm sitting down on a park bench trying to make contact
I bleed love out from my eyes and my own insides
I cry your name in every public street
But the echo chambers are so damned high
You can't even hear yourself SCREAM
It's a padded cell world
A cotton-wool candyfloss polyurethane world
A world that no one in their right minds
Would want to live
And for that reason it makes damn sure
Not one of us is ever of sound mind
I'm so fed up with all this screeching clatter
Of noise and bright lights and all the discordant yelling
That makes me feel like smashing my tiny fist
Against every bricked up wall in every city
Tear down the signs that say 'no entry'
And shoot the bastards who made it
Impossible for us to live

Sorry Gloria it's too late now
It's frying tonight and you and me
Are on the me and you
I tried to help you but I'm a coward
Sorry about my lack of ambition
But it's only the little people you have to watch
Giants are always gentle and jolly green
Like me

[Deleted]

If love is the answer then what was the question?

He's a romantic;
She is practical.
He wants 'a real relationship;'
She just wants sex.

Don't try to tie me down, she says:
I'm not into bondage or holy dreadlock;
Love and marriage
Go together like an abortion or miscarriage.

Sex is on the gender agenda,
Rearing its ugly head;
Single, double, triple:
No blood on the bed.

He's dewy-eyed with dreams:
She's calm and practical.
He's still all hung up on true love;
She just hangs up the phone.

[Wonder Woman]

There Are Worse Things

A youth once asked me on a dark sunny day
“Wouldn’t you hate it if your kid were gay?”
I said, misunderstanding purposefully:
“No, there’s worse things than living joyfully.”

“Ha ha” he said with a gigantic sneer
“I mean if your kid turned out to be queer.”
There are worse things - far worse, I fear
But I softly said “We’re all a bit odd, dear.”

“Quit goofin’ around” he said then - perturbed
“I’d kill my kid if he decided to be a fagotty perv.”
“Believe me” I said, shaking my head
There are far worse things that I would dread.”

“Like what?” he asked with a snickery noise
Finally, I exploded in an unpleasant voice:
“First off, it’s not something chosen, you fool
Do you believe anyone would choose ridicule?”

I could tell by his expression that he really did not see
What worse things a kid could be.
So I pushed down my anger and tried to explain
“There are far worse things,” I said once again.

“He could be a murderer or a loving wife beater
These are things that I would not prefer.
He could be a drug dealer, or mean, or into booze
There are many things I wouldn’t want him to choose.

She could be abusive or she could be a hore
Unkind or an addict or bad to the core
Or selfish, a liar or cruel or a thief
These would be worse and bring me grief.

He could go to jail - locked up behind bars
Or he could be out shooting his gun from cars
There are worse things in life, I fear
He could be blind, crippled, unable to hear.

She could be a loser, a loner, a side-show freak
Or he could skulk up to windows to peak.
Or marry someone who their soul did beat
Or my kid could go hungry and live in the street.

He could be materialistic - only thinking of toys
He could live in fear or be without joy.
There are worse things than being gay
That I would not wish them to be some day.

For, my child could be lonely or seriously ill
She could live unhappy and lose her will
There are far worse things that I would dread
My sweet child could wish he were dead.”

He shook his head - he still did not see
That there are far worse things a person could be
His heart couldn’t understand not being straight
And I couldn’t understand a heart filled with hate.

So, as I retreated and walked away
There on that dark and sunny day
I said, “There are worse things my child could do
He could grow to be an ignorant bigot like you.”


by Lynne Marien
March 28, 1996

[Kay]

I liked that very much Lynne, thank you for sharing You're a gifted writer.

[Wonder Woman]

Thank you, Kay. It was based on an actual argument… I gave the bigoted culprit a copy. He read it and dismissed it… But, a few years later, when he was a daddy, he came to me and said that he finally understood and would love his child no matter what, and that because of that 'knowing' he looked on the world with less judgment.

Linda, great reading ~ I could actually visualize gypsies of old ~ “eternally on the move”!

Mike, I love things like this: “A cotton-wool candyfloss polyurethane world” ~ wonderfully descriptive.

Thank you both!

[beth]

These original poems absolutely knock me out! So much talent!

Lynne, your's also touched my heart. Very close to my own feelings on the subject. Bravo!

[gettingold]

light


Blindly I stumbled from day to day
Feeling only the things which hurt
By memorizing the obstacles
I learned to move untouched
In a very narrow world

But then one day
I saw a ray of light
And realized
I wasn't blind at all
My life had only been without light

I threw away my cane
And ran as fast as I could
Until I saw the source
Such beauty I had never known

The closer I got, the faster I ran
Until finally, midst tears of joy
I approached the light

And it went out

Now I am worse than blind
For in my haste
I noticed not how I got here
And I don't know where I am
I can't see where I'm going
And can't get back to where I was

[Deleted]

The Queen of Nothing by Christine.......4/1/2002 written after my husband passed on 10/22/2000:



Quite as a whisper borne on an evening's gentle breeze
The kind abdicated his throne
His lady in waiting deep in black velvet sleep
Entertained no thoughts of ruling alone

In the loss of a heartbeat
In the absence of breath
I was crowned Queen of Nothing
By the Joker of Death

My queenly robes were woven in the threads of flowing tears
My crown simply a symbol of my grief
The scepter I wielded was my broken heart
Fragile and dry as a late autumn leaf

I, as the new Queen of Nothing
Haveing been clothed in my funeral garb
Then cast my eyes upon the land I had conquered......
An understanding came upon me as I saw
The spirit, the love, the very essence of being
Had broken the bonds, slipped away through nights dark mist
Leaving only a garden of memories
Which must be carefully tended or
They to will cease to exist

As Queen of Nothing, I surveyed my domain
With a heavy sigh began my new life to reign
Soothed in the knowledge that the hands of time would erase
The sorrow and heartbreak etched deep in my face

I, as the Queen of Nothing held court
But refused to let the the reign last
I've won all the battles
I've conquered ghosts of the past

I overcame Death's sting
While slaying the shadows of night
Walked through the valley alone
Vanquished the enemy for my right........

To rise from the ashes
For the truth I have seen
That is is not power or riches
That crowns a true queen
It is in her spirit that the true treasures can be found

My eyes are now drawn to the stars in the midnight sky
Each my fallen warrior
As I bow before them and cry
The tears flow freely
The ransom's been paid
My heart beats with Thanksgiving that will never fade

The sting of death had crowned me Queen of Nothing
But I would not accept defeat
Battle lines were drawn
I forged courage with strength
There was no place left to be meek

Upon my proud head rests a crown of pure gold
A reward not given to those who faint
But only to those who have proved bold

My robes are now woven of the sweetness of life
The symbol of triumph in overcoming strife
My shoes are of the finest leather
Created for the storms I will walk through and weather

I walked alone through the storms of sorrow
Sailed the churning seas
Scaled the mountains of sadness
All done in the hope of somehow finding the key

My journey is finished
The storm clouds have fled
Priceless treasures buran as a flame within me
As I bow down my head

To give thanks for the the courage
That rekindled in me
the seeking of wisdom
Which long held the key..........

of truth being the force
In remolding me
To find love and compassion
Will be my final destiny

[Deleted]

Chris, you are a very good poet.

Not JUST a beautiful woman but a very talented one as well!

[Deleted]

May 26, 2010 5:17:24 GMT -5 @mikemarshall said:

Chris, you are a very good poet.

Not JUST a beautiful woman but a very talented one as well!

Thank you Mike

[Wonder Woman]

Excellent, Chef! I like it very much.

[Deleted]

May 26, 2010 8:03:55 GMT -5 Wonder Woman said:

Excellent, Chef! I like it very much.

Thank you!!!

[fretslider]

Powerful words, cheffy. He was a lucky guy to have you.