| September 2007 |
All work
copyright the
owner. No
reproduction
without
consent.
copyright the
owner. No
reproduction
without
consent.
POEMS
Four poems by Branch Isole.
Exports
Impatience; our virtue
Instant gratification; our obsession
Consumers of the almighty dollar
A self-centered people
bound and collared
What is it we export
to a waiting world?
A flag of self-indulgence
amoral character
and immoral behavior
to be unfurled
Dreams and Schemes
Dreaming
Scheming
Trying to make it so
But what is it?
A moment?
This week?
The next phase?
Living by the newest idiom
or latest craze?
Parroting today’s tonal
“15 Minutes” phrase?
Becoming part of the current fad or trend?
Which way blow the winds of change?
To where and what now
does our will power bend?
Hurrying life
Growing up fast
Experiences anew
No growth from the past
Same mistakes made
Despondencies tumble
when foundations crumble
turning to gravel
as another relationship
starts to unravel
Ignoring lessons
designed to be learned
Ones which should have
become ingrained,
forgotten tears
disregarded pain
New money making ideas
put past failures to rest
New goal possessions;
better
bigger
best
The same me
The same you
Growing older
Different view,
Day by day
each relying
on the other
to reassure
all is okay
But is it?
Will it be?
Hiding behind
wanton dreams
Running to
controlling schemes
Proceeding without caution
racing into the trap
set by life
Filled with further
lies and deceits,
until our day
of mortal sleep
And all the while
in our hearts we knew
Our quest would have indeed been blessed
if our search had been,
for you
For in the end
what is this world
and all its temptations,
except a lamenting
backward look
at unfulfilled dreams
and well worn schemes
Latté Chat
A din of voices
fills the background
The dull roar of white noise
doth abound
Multitudes of stories
being explained in detail
Who did what,
to whom
and why
Speculating
where it will land them
in the end,
and when
Contemporary commentaries
on other peoples lives,
as if it mattered to them
Carnal knowledge
Joy in the exchange
of retelling again and again
“Oh to be a fly on the wall”
the related common thread
of comic oral text
Discussing carnival outcomes
who in the process
will be hurt next
Prurient interests and desires
vociferously proclaimed
As conversations
revolve around chronicles
of lies, sex and pain
Speaking in deft tones,
hushed veils
truncate the bleed
Removing meat
from the bones
Wallowing in
their frenzied feed
Leaving others
to their demise
hanging unmasked,
Skeletons in the closets
Irreversible
Your action was deemed reprehensible
and now you can’t take it back
how long will you ruminate incessantly
and continue to beat yourself up
mentally flogging and stripping
the searing stripes off your back
Who was it that called you ‘stupid’
Who decorated your mind’s stage
punishing with harshness of curse
while lording over
and chastising convincingly,
proclaiming ‘there are none worse’
You vocalized words
pronounced inappropriate
and now can’t un-ring the bell
who informed you
speaking truth from the heart
is considered to be unacceptable
Perhaps it is
in self-righteous circles
of stigmata social structure,
but someone must step up
and prick their balloon
with adequate pressure to puncture
You stretched the boundaries
and now you’re deep
in a protracted gnawing abyss
Who was it that rather
than help you out
stepped on your fingers
at the rim’s upper lip
and so it goes, for all of those
who give in
rather than risk
Four poems by Branch Isole.
Exports
Impatience; our virtue
Instant gratification; our obsession
Consumers of the almighty dollar
A self-centered people
bound and collared
What is it we export
to a waiting world?
A flag of self-indulgence
amoral character
and immoral behavior
to be unfurled
Dreams and Schemes
Dreaming
Scheming
Trying to make it so
But what is it?
A moment?
This week?
The next phase?
Living by the newest idiom
or latest craze?
Parroting today’s tonal
“15 Minutes” phrase?
Becoming part of the current fad or trend?
Which way blow the winds of change?
To where and what now
does our will power bend?
Hurrying life
Growing up fast
Experiences anew
No growth from the past
Same mistakes made
Despondencies tumble
when foundations crumble
turning to gravel
as another relationship
starts to unravel
Ignoring lessons
designed to be learned
Ones which should have
become ingrained,
forgotten tears
disregarded pain
New money making ideas
put past failures to rest
New goal possessions;
better
bigger
best
The same me
The same you
Growing older
Different view,
Day by day
each relying
on the other
to reassure
all is okay
But is it?
Will it be?
Hiding behind
wanton dreams
Running to
controlling schemes
Proceeding without caution
racing into the trap
set by life
Filled with further
lies and deceits,
until our day
of mortal sleep
And all the while
in our hearts we knew
Our quest would have indeed been blessed
if our search had been,
for you
For in the end
what is this world
and all its temptations,
except a lamenting
backward look
at unfulfilled dreams
and well worn schemes
Latté Chat
A din of voices
fills the background
The dull roar of white noise
doth abound
Multitudes of stories
being explained in detail
Who did what,
to whom
and why
Speculating
where it will land them
in the end,
and when
Contemporary commentaries
on other peoples lives,
as if it mattered to them
Carnal knowledge
Joy in the exchange
of retelling again and again
“Oh to be a fly on the wall”
the related common thread
of comic oral text
Discussing carnival outcomes
who in the process
will be hurt next
Prurient interests and desires
vociferously proclaimed
As conversations
revolve around chronicles
of lies, sex and pain
Speaking in deft tones,
hushed veils
truncate the bleed
Removing meat
from the bones
Wallowing in
their frenzied feed
Leaving others
to their demise
hanging unmasked,
Skeletons in the closets
Irreversible
Your action was deemed reprehensible
and now you can’t take it back
how long will you ruminate incessantly
and continue to beat yourself up
mentally flogging and stripping
the searing stripes off your back
Who was it that called you ‘stupid’
Who decorated your mind’s stage
punishing with harshness of curse
while lording over
and chastising convincingly,
proclaiming ‘there are none worse’
You vocalized words
pronounced inappropriate
and now can’t un-ring the bell
who informed you
speaking truth from the heart
is considered to be unacceptable
Perhaps it is
in self-righteous circles
of stigmata social structure,
but someone must step up
and prick their balloon
with adequate pressure to puncture
You stretched the boundaries
and now you’re deep
in a protracted gnawing abyss
Who was it that rather
than help you out
stepped on your fingers
at the rim’s upper lip
and so it goes, for all of those
who give in
rather than risk