Small Ball
Get ’em on
Get ’em over
Get ’em in
Jimmie Aaron Kepler
2012
Photo Source: United States Information Agency [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Small Ball
Category: Poetry
Winter Nights
Poetry Reading
Here’s a photo of me reading my poem “Winter Nights” at Barnes & Nobles Kitchen in Legacy West, Plano, TX.
Here’s the poem:
Winter Nights
The frigid nights fall earlier
On these chilly winter days
And the moon-man mounts the sky
Veiled in Metropolis haze
The mornings all break later
So slow the new day’s dawn
The bitter blanket lingers
For the winter nights are long
Stars spangle the satin sky
As the moon-man dips down low
Twinkling winks from a million worlds
And here we are, do they know?
Oh I wish the night would never end
Yes, I wish the night would never end
February 2017
Jimmie Aaron Kepler
Thank you Storm Ricamore for reading and your suggestions on the poem.
Photo Source: Storm Ricamore picture of me speaking, the other photo Image by cocoparisienne from Pixabay
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Urban Pigeons
Urban Pigeons
White clouds
Fill the Columbia blue sky,
Like hundreds of cotton balls.
The brilliance
Of the summer sun,
Reflected even brighter
Off of the clouds.
The clouds remain
Suspended in the sky
With little movement.
A flock of pigeons,
Land on an adjacent building.
They stand on the edge
Of the ten-story structure,
Peering downward
Looking
For some crumb or morsel of food.
They also eye the sky
And the roof,
Of a neighboring building.
The birds are watchful
As a red hawk
Is perched waiting,
Waiting,
Waiting
For one of the pigeons
To let its guard down
And become his next meal.
The sounds of cars,
Trucks
And an occasional motorcycle
Fill the air
As they travel
From their point of origin
To their destination
Using the freeway
That passes
Through the building’s shadow.
A panhandler
On a nearby corner
Looks up at the sky
Shielding her eyes
From the bright sun.
She looks to see
What the airborne commotion is about.
The sun temporarily blinds her
With its brilliance
And then she sees
Dozens of feathers
Slowly descending to the ground.
August 2009
Photo Source: Image by Wolfgang Claussen from Pixabay
Kepler, Jimmie A. “Urban Pigeons,” vox poetica, August 26, 2012, Retrieved August 27, 2012, from http://voxpoetica.com/words_to_linger_on.html and August 29, 2012, Retrieved from http://poemblog.voxpoetica.com/2012/08/29/urban-pigeons.aspx.
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We Never Lived In the Now
We Never Lived In the Now
Your face shows your age,
though your countenance is still glowing.
Your age says grown-up,
but you’ve never decided where you’re going.
You’ve grown older.
Yes, I’m older too.
The remainder of our lives is before us,
oh, what’ll we do?
What were the dreams
you had so long ago?
What was your vision?
Where did it go?
You traveled your way.
I went mine.
A history so different,
yet lives intertwined.
The gray now shows in our locks,
showing how much we cared.
Your grin still lights my life,
my smile brightens yours when shared.
You lived for then.
I lived for when.
We never lived in the moment.
No, we never lived in the now.
Jimmie Aaron Kepler
Originally published in WORDS…RHYMES…POETRY & PROSE! in 2008
Originally published in WORDS…RHYMES…POETRY & PROSE! in 2008
“We Never Lived In the Now” is included in the forthcoming book,
“Jimmie Aaron Kepler: Selected Poems 1967 – 2019” from Poetry and Prayer Press.
Photo Credit: Image by dietcheese from Pixabay
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Your Best Friend
Your Best Friend
If ever you find yourself being broken apart,
Because the one you trusted has broken your heart,
And all the time you find yourself crying,
While on the inside you feel like you’re dying,
Call me if you feel lonely,
Come to me when your life needs to mend,
From time to time you need only,
Someone with love unconditional – your best friend.
One time life gave you a fright,
Existence was as black as a moonless midnight,
You were feeling so out-of-place,
With no one to hug or embrace,
Then you saw the light,
You came to me in the middle of the night,
And you ran to me to give your heart,
And that’s when your new life did start
Call me if you feel lonely,
Come to me when your life needs to mend,
From time to time you need only,
Someone with love unconditional – Jesus, your best friend.
Copyright © 2008 by Jimmie Aaron Kepler
Originally published in “WORDS…RHYMES…POETRY & PROSE!”
Also published on: “Writing After Fifty” and in the book “Gone Electric: A Poetry Collection.”
Photo Source: Image by Mabel Amber, still incognito… from Pixabay
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Lady Violinist
Lady Violinist
Golden hair frames the picture
Of a countenance with a gilded gleam,
Her eyes are the clear windows
Through which the hurt is seldom seen.
Sweet melodies fluidly flow
Methodically from her fingers and bow,
A zest for life is apparent and yet
The quest for personal fulfillment isn’t always met.
Ethical philosophies as a millstone weigh
Attempting defeat in battles won yesterday,
Old things now past and yet, old weaknesses now a new
Regretting judgment lapses when remembered that make us blue.
Simple and complex contradictions describe
The roles she confronts each succeeding day,
With a symmetrical smile hiding the pains
Encountered along life’s highways.
Written in 1991
Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Ed.D.
“Lady Violinist” was selected for inclusion in the “Torrid Literature Journal,” Volume VI (electronically and print editions). April 2013.
Photo Credits: Title: Market Violinist. This photo was taken at the Kansas City Market, otherwise known as City Market. This young lady was playing the violin for tips. We talked for a few moments, and she reminded me a lot of Jewel Staite (Kaylee from Firefly). Honestly, she was a real trooper because it was scorching in the sunlight and she was sitting on the bare asphalt. This photographer: Russ Matthews The photograph is available to use under the Creative Commons License. It is available for non-commercial use as long as proper attribution is given. http://www.flickr.com/photos/eatingmywords/1000640352/. The photographer is Russ Matthews.
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Meet the Poets: Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath
1982 Pulitzer Prize Poetry
“Mad Girl’s Love Song”
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
God topples from the sky, hell’s fires fade:
Exit seraphim and Satan’s men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
I fancied you’d return the way you said,
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)
I should have loved a thunderbird instead;
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)”
by Sylvia Plath
Source of Poem: Hello & Poetry
Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge
Sylvia Plath (October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist and short-story writer. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer. She married fellow poet Ted Hughes in 1956 and they lived together first in the United States and then England, having two children together: Frieda and Nicholas. Following a long struggle with depression and a marital separation, Plath committed suicide in 1963. Controversy continues to surround the events of her life and death, as well as her writing and legacy.
The Colossus and Other Poems and Ariel
Plath is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for her two published collections: The Colossus and Other Poems and Ariel.
Won Pulitzer Prize Posthumously
In 1982, she became the first poet to win a Pulitzer Prize posthumously, for The Collected Poems. She also wrote The Bell Jar, a semi-autobiographical novel published shortly before her death.
For more information about Sylvia Plath: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Plath
Photo Source: Photo Used Under a Creative Commons 2.0 License from the Photographer
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Books
Books
Books take you places
You hope someday to go.
They transport you to times
In the future or long, long ago.
The words paint the pictures
The author’s canvas is your mind.
Surreal images greet you
Where people aren’t always kind.
You don’t have to dress up to read one.
They’ve got a special texture, smell, and feel.
Some tales make you laugh
While others make you squeal.
© 2009 Jimmie A. Kepler
Originally published in
WORDS…RHYMES…POETRY & PROSE!
Photo Source: Image by Iván Tamás from Pixabay
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Meet the Poets: W.S. Merwin
W.S. Merwin
1971, 2009 Pulitzer Prize Poetry
2010 United States Poet Laureate
“Any work of art makes one very simple demand on anyone who genuinely wants to get in touch with it. And that is to stop. You’ve got to stop what you’re doing, what you’re thinking, and what you’re expecting and just be there for the poem for however long it takes.” — W.S. Merwin.
30+ books of Poetry, Translation, and Prose
William Stanley Merwin (September 30, 1927 – March 15, 2019) is an American poet, credited with over 30 books of poetry, translation and prose. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin’s unique craft was thematically characterized by indirect, unpunctuated narration.
Buddhist philosophy and Deep Ecology Influences
In the 1980s and 1990s, Merwin’s writing influence derived from his interest in Buddhist philosophy and deep ecology. Residing in Hawaii, he writes prolifically and is dedicated to the restoration of the islands’ rainforests.
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1971 and 2009)
Merwin has received many honors, including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (in both 1971 and 2009) and the Tanning Prize, one of the highest honors bestowed by the Academy of American Poets, as well as the Golden Wreath of the Struga Poetry Evenings.
United States Poet Laureate 2010
In 2010, the Library of Congress named Merwin the seventeenth United States Poet Laureate to replace the outgoing Kay Ryan. Note: Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate or Poet Laureate of the United States.
More information can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._S._Merwin
Photo Source: Fair use of book cover of ” W.S. Merwin: Selected Poems.”
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Little Squirrel
Little Squirrel
Little squirrel
In the tree
I see you
Looking at me
Your color is red
In your furry coat
You look at me
Sitting in the boat
You’re eating the acorns
Found in the tree
A smile on your face
Dropping the shells on me!
© 2009 Jimmie Aaron Kepler, Ed.D.
Originally published in:
WORDS…RHYMES…POETRY & PROSE
May 2011
Image by Erik Lyngsøe from Pixabay
