Taking Requests

Not as pompous as it sounds

I've heard that in some larger cities there are people on the street, similar to caricaturists, who will take a word or phrase and write a poem based around it for a couple of dollars. Considering the speed at which I can write a poem, I think I could make some decent money doing this during the summer. So I figured I'd take it for a test run here: give me a word or phrase and I'll write a short poem around it.

Go.

 

lamp shade

 

Did I see you there
in the half-light of the evening,
shadows strewn across your face
like a black-sand beach,
masking the sheen of your eyes
like charcoal on canvas?
Did the lamp shade give any token
of the light it had stolen from you?
From your face,
where light is meant to pool?

 

o.o

oh my. you're good.

 

Thanks

Coming from you, that means a lot.

 

smoking a bong

 

I woke in the morning with nothing to smoke;

no cigarettes on the table,​

nothing in the drawer,

and the bong --​

(that big gilded piece​

that I found in some junk store​

whose owner asked me the difference​

between a bong and a gong)​

-- empty.​

So I threw it at the wall,

and gathering the pieces,​

I rolled it into something akin to a paper towel roll,

and smoked it.​

 

That's why the best poets are misfits

 

Your format reminds me of e.e. cummings.
hes my favorite.

 

Yeah, I kind of went all-out with the indentation on that one. Unfortunately the forum's 'indent' tag also seems to insert a line break, so it ended up double spaced.

As to e.e. cummings, I do enjoy some of his work. Some of his imagery is a little too 'Norman Rockwell' for me (see 'in Just-'), but most of it's very good. I actually just looked up some of his stuff to find the name of that poem, and got re-acquainted with him a bit; he's actually better than I remembered. Thanks

 

Um, that was a poem request (not a criticism). Sorry I did not make this more clear. My bad.

--QP

 

disfigured hippos attempting a mating cycle with a rhinoceros - resulting in a retarded monkey child

 

Oops, my bad.

The man on the corner,
with his pen in hand,
bleeding its ink onto the street
like some crystal fountain
feeding the roots of a thousand wilted lives.
He shouts like a demagogue;
praises himself like a tyrant;
and mutters like Percy Shelley.
He knows no one
and no one knows him.
That's why the best poets are misfits.

 

How bout if you write one about a guy who, instead of Coke, had to use A&W Root beer to mix his rum with because that is all that is left. It should be somewhat sad in the beginning, but have a warm ending since its all about getting drunk anyway.

 

Masquerade

 

Nice job! I'm impressed. You got talent.

--QP

 

Your eyes are a cold masquerade
which sweep everything that you see;
you know I can't come to your aid.

You say that you are not afraid
to see them look on your beauty;
your eyes are a cold masquerade.

And what if I have been waylaid
on the road to your destiny?
You know I can't come to your aid.

And of all the things you have made,
the bulk you would wish to unsee;
your eyes are a cold masquerade.

And if all your debts had been paid,
still would you pay in your fancies;
you know I can't come to your aid.

So carry it down to the maid,
and poison yourself with her curtsy.
You know I can't come to your aid;
your eyes are a cold masquerade.

 

Breads

 

Perhaps it was the finest place
in New York
(though I can't recall the name).
The filet mignon was exquisite,
made by some chef
who'd studied fifteen years
under the finest dishwashers in the state.
But no matter how much of his life
was spent in a kitchen
sweating over some grill,
going through twelve steers a day
until it was perfect,
it still didn't compare
to the free bread.

 

:hurray::thanks: Thats was really cool, great job. I bet if you find a good spot to hang out and do this for folks on the fly like that you will probably do very well. You should try parking lots at concerts or theaters, a poem for a buck or something. Hell even sporting events, just about anywhere people are drinking you would clean up. Its good not to let your talents go to waste.