A Poet Also Rises
I am up early this morning
anticipating the sunrise.
Too dark for any birds to sing
and I still have sand in my eyes
left by my age old friend sandman.
This time of year it rises late
plenty of time for a game plan;
No reason to procrastinate.
Ah! There’s the man, right on schedule.
Guess I’ll shower and scrape a few
And while I’m doing this I’ll mull
over a plan on what to do.
The morning is beautiful outside
That’s it, a long bicycle ride!
poem by Albert Ahearn
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Distinctions
On the surface the town appears
Like any town, perhaps your own;
It has its share of low-cost homes
Segregated from the splendid
Houses by an invisible
Well defined demarcation line.
The inferior homeowners
Dine out when they can afford to
At fast food places like Wendy’s;
Whereas the well-to-do- frequent
Eateries with French sounding names;
You can distinguish these people
From the rest of us by their dogs:
They’re the prissy pooches with bows.
poem by Albert Ahearn
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Who Am I?
Rene Descartes popularized
The phrase: Cogito ergo sum-
I think therefore I am. How wise!
If I’m thinking, then it’s presumed
That I exist because of “I”
The one doing the thinking.
On this point we see eye to eye;
Even so, it begs questioning
Beyond my very existence;
That is, the question: who am I?
A query asked with persistence.
What does “buried beneath” imply?
Does it mean “core sense” of myself
Or an illusion of one’s self?
poem by Albert Ahearn
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Honeysuckle
Mouth-watering Honeysuckle!
Your irresistible scent lures
Me to your tubular flowers
As you do the lone hummingbird
And moth and for the same reward:
To taste your abundant nectar.
Thousands of your golden flowers
Have quenched my springtime craving
For your flowery sweet liquid
Hidden deep within your dark spathe.
Once more I slowly extract your
Center stamen out through your scape
Dragging behind your small pistil
And the bead for my waiting tongue.
poem by Albert Ahearn
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Love: First and Last
One’s never late for tomorrow
The future may never arrive.
So live each day as if borrowed
The lender may call due our lives.
Eat, drink and be merry my friends
The feast is never guaranteed;
Love with a passion that transcends
Time and cling to it friend, take heed:
One day you’ll get old, god willing
And all we have left is the past
Those memories are fulfilling
But not without love first and last
Eternity is infinite
Love accompanies all of it.
poem by Albert Ahearn
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Affectedness
I walk the Sunday streets once more
Long before the peal of church bells
Tuned to summon the hypocrites
From their cozy residences.
It will be awhile till they flock
En masse to the numinous house:
The butcher whose scale is slightly
Off in his favor; the lawyer
Whose soul was sold ages ago;
The car salesperson cramming cars;
Physicians unmindful of the poor
And an overweight clergyman
Orchestrating the proceedings.
Bong! Bong! Soon the parade begins.
poem by Albert Ahearn
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Beauty
I could say she’s very lovely
Her complexion as smooth as silk
There’s no doubt in its verity
but she’s of a different ilk.
No words can express her beauty
To try would be a futile whim
The words would be a blaspheme-
To parrot them would be a sin.
Frenchmen would say vous êtes beau
A hackneyed phrase she heard before;
Italians, siete bello
Same old phrase from a different shore.
The fact is, her” beauty is truth”-
An ephemeral time of youth.
poem by Albert Ahearn
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Three Score Ten
This spring he will turn seventy
And most people’s opinions think
He looks fantastic for his age-
Whatever the hell that might mean.
He has a hard time stifling his
Discomposure when they say that
To him but manages to grin
Like an ancient, anthropoid ape
Rather than express what he feels:
He knows it’s not a compliment;
It’s more like discriminating
Rhetoric than anything else;
Imagine saying to a child,
“You look good for a ten year old.”
poem by Albert Ahearn
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
The Son Also Rises
It was there when a serous sea
Spewed out its only occupant
Through a very narrow fleshy
Cave into a harsh world of light.
It sojourned during the long days
Of never ending crying pleas,
Assuming only a bright smile
Throughout it all uncomplaining.
It witnessed the sound of three words
Coochie, Coochie coo vocalized
While the alien, helpless, squirmed
Under ten soft probing fingers.
It was present when the first two
Steps teetered into outstretched arms.
poem by Albert Ahearn
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!
Irony
The poplar trees stood like sentries
Standing on one leg in their green
Uniformed grandeur. Beyond their
Phalanx could be seen a stately
Manor whose imported marble
Pillars were more decorative
Than utile. Not unlike the sole
Inhabitant who lies dying
In his magnificent antique
Breton bed. He never married-
“I’m too busy for such nonsense.”
Consequently, no progeny,
No living relatives, no one
Only a dreadful eulogy:
Alone died a poor man, indeed!
poem by Albert Ahearn
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!