The Poet

The Poet

Monday, June 6, 2016

Coolness by Ronald Porter ©2016

The room was dim and steamy in
The swelter of humid August heat;
The air redolent of passion sweet,
sweat and,
English Lavender perfume
and, wafting through the screen
of the half opened window
coolness came softly
like a nightingale's song
riding upon the early evening wind

Another Simple Rhyme by Ronald S Porter ©2016

give me an hour
to find a minute
to tell you about my day


you hold a flower
and idly spin it
and listen to all I say


the day was sour
and everything in it
sometimes it’s just that way


you have the power
to flip it and spin it
come on baby, let’s play.

Just A Bit Of Nonsense by Ronald S Porter ©2016

I cast my bread upon the water.
I cast my net into the sea.
I cast a copper image my love
and, my love cast her eye on me.
The cast bowed for the ovation.
My fate, I cast it, to the wind.
My arm was broken for a cast of dice.
My love said A cast will help it mend.
The sky was dark and overcast.
I heard the broadcast about the weather.
No longer downcast, I shout for joy
For my love and I cast our lot together.

in the empty by Ronald S Porter ©2016

i sense fragrance
of your hair-you’re not there
you won’t be coming back

so bright was day
til you took the sun
the world is draped in black

once there was joyous sound
you sang and danced around
you danced so hard walls would shake

now dead and still
in the empty you left behind
i hear my heart crack and break

Strive Forward by Ronald S Porter ©2016

Tears, fears and wasted years
I thought would forever last
the games, blame, all the shame
I left in the past.

Scores of soul aches, hordes of heartbreaks
Now only live in memory
They taught a lesson I learned well.
They no longer torment me.

Past is over; done is done.
Today, i see bright future’s gleam.
With my heart fully assured,
I strive forward toward my dream.

The White Man’s Burden by Ronald S Porter ©2016

O, I’ve been to see the elephant
and, stood at heaven’s door;
Wrote Rubaiyats in Omar’s tent,
along the old Aegean shore

I’ve seen the hungry eyes of tigers;
In the night, heard the butterfly’s roar.
All that I could do in response,
was cry out More! Give me more!

I watched the English regiment
slaughter heathens for Queen and gin.
As whirling dervishes twirled and swirled,
the wheel of fate did spin.

And officer cradled the water boy
and, said with an ironic grin,
Tho’ I gave ye hell, you served so well.
Ye’re a deader man than I am, Gunga Din.

Just For A Lark by Ronald S Porter ©2016

Sometimes, at night, just for a lark, 
I go and stalk them in the dark.
How they glower! But their only power
is to torment minds with the phony terror
they were created to inspire.
But, you see, my mind is sharp and clear
tried in the blood, I've been tested in fire,
molded, tempered, purified of fear.
Monsters frighten most folks I guess,
fearful to imagine; terrible to see.
But, I've fought; I've defeated so many demons
that now, the monsters are scared of me.

Resolution by Ronald S Porter ©2016

I gave my lover a chocolate spider;
She put it in the ice box, right beside her;
Then fed some lox to her little frog
while over the bog, came creeping , the fog.
Old blind Jesse looked to the west;
He said to me
Son, it’s all in vain
to hold and nurture your past hurts.
You hold and nurture them like treasure;
don't weigh regret boy, measure the pleasure.
Do you think it looks like rain?

Ragged ravens rose from the wishing tree;
My lover came and sat on my knee.
In that moment I knew all my hoarded pain
could be melted away by the magic inside her.

She laughed Where’d you get a chocolate spider?
I saw the promise twinkle in her eye
So, I gave my lover a marzipan fly.

Play Band, Play! by Ronald S Porter ©2016

Hear the high tinkle like
the staccato fall of raindrops
on an old down-home tin roof
Piano Man, play me a storm
of low notes rumbling

like far off thunder in the night

Like the brazen war cry sounding,
the fanfare of heaven’s hosts,
Blow like Gabriel’s assembly call
Come on trumpet man, play that horn!


Like a lumberjack swinging rhythm

steady, until the drop of the tree,
As bassline beats and drums beat back
Come! Guitar player, swing that axe

Soft and seductive as a contented woman;
Sad, sorrowful; mournful as a wake;
Smooth and sinuous like a snake.
Oh tenor sax caress my ears.


Play a smile upon my face.
Play away the strain of the daily race.
Speak by music what my heart can’t say.
Chase my woe and worry away;
No words needed; just play band, play!

No Traveller Returns by Ronald S Porter ©2016

You were my cloak of loneliness, a shield against  my fear.
You shed no tear, defied the urge to weep, despite the pain.
I was always a bit insecure so, I wrapped myself in distance
to refuse to allow my haunted, hardened, heart to love again.

A motor car across central states, we visited halls of fame.
I forgot my birthday and, we never danced in the rain.

The road became a memory, once the journey had its end.
No matter how we pretend there is no past and no tomorrow.
Unleash inner restless need, feast on joy, get drunk on sorrow.

Leave yesterday at Journey's End, forget all you remember.
Soft warm breezes of May promise frigid winds of December.
Life is a dream we wear; It covers the void we wear like a mask.
Oh! To be or not to be? Do we truly even have to ask?

Bronze Flecked Jade by Ronald S Porter ©2016

Beloved had eyes of bronze flecked jade;
lips like mango marmalade;
In her hair, a hue the shade of ancient
empirical Roman robes.

She brought
steel like death to my nightmare
she brought
fire bright healing to my heart
she taught
peace to my innermost mind
...stillness like an empty tomb

And what it was she took
from me, upon leaving, I can not say
I'm just glad it's gone away.
What delight it would be to hold her again.
But, the river of time only flows one way.

On Second Thought by Ron Porter ©2016

Put your hand in my hand and,
put your mind on pause.
Put on your flashing red feet hon,.
We're going out to dance tonight.
lost souls linger in the dark;
We'll ride on the swings in the park.;
The moon is bright, the night is stark;
A bit of dance would lighten the mood.
The heart is a barren womb;
the mind just an empty tomb
On second thought, I'll just fade,
It was not my intent to intrude.

All, Too Soon... by Ron Porter ©2016

midnight madness; fever dreams
it's clear I married much too young

through time tunnels, draped in blue
innocent voices sing guilty songs
trying to do right things that are wrong

plans best laid often go awry
from ruins, golden cities rise
succeeding empires crumble in time

deaths dire dirges and hymns of hope
float, intertwined, upward to the wind

it profits not to question why
live as fully as you are able
 for we all, too soon, shall die