Poetry For My Facebook Friends

Certain Facebook friends gave me a callout that I’ve GOT to answer. Here goes.

“The Pen I Won’t Throw Away”

There’s this pen that I achingly cherish
Within the traps of my possession
Guarded like a jack near his sire
With such formidable, taut protection
It’s as if a spirit dwells inside
Providing an intricate flow to my hand
Propagating tact of its nature
As I reveal the utter of its command
Is it a seanced mentation from Tupac Shakur
That’s stirring the flow of this pen?
Or is it phantomed translations by Kurt Cobain
Of which I know not whence, why, or when?
For it was not known of me to write
I was always purposed to drink and fight
But now that I’ve found a pursuit that’s right
Hence this pen I cling so tight
This pen accustoms me to manuscript
Of which I’ll partake of night and day
And though the ink descends and threatens end
This pen, I’ll never throw away

written by the Chain Gang Poet
on 4/25/08 at Baker C.I.

“Why Bother?”

I
don’t always
breathe.
Sometimes
air swears absence,
and breathless rise
becomes so bracingly sweet
I can’t fathom
ever
seeking out its
reasons.

written by the Chain Gang Poet
on 8/8/19 at Graceville C.I.

“Comparing Melbourne To Daytona”

There is this stern belief
that colorless flowers
can live peacefully together
in salacious surrogacy:

those two beautiful hands
resting atop
my hometown’s
broad shoulders.

And Atlanta
is stiffening
so vividly hard
while staring through that
thoughtful window

at what has now
become
quarreling
panoramics:

that old venue
so deprived
by the notions
of its weak mind,

so old and edgy
and afraid of numbed
limbs.

For,
it’s just another
frail borough being placed
under her
pillow.

written by the Chain Gang Poet
on 3/24/18 at Okaloosa C.I.

“Accomplished”

Before I happened
to learn
how to read,
I would slap a bull,
then
try to ride him.

But
now that I’ve happened
to learn
how to read,
I now laugh with eagles
and
fly beside them.

written by the Chain Gang Poet
on 7/4/18 at Okaloosa C.I.