Day 35 - Limerick Time

Whatever. At least this one isn't about my inability to write my poems every day.

Pinnochio or The Real Poem
Nonsense rhymes are fun
But this here isn't one
It makes good sense
And isn't tense
It's just a game I run
(when I don't have time to write on one of the ideas I have for real poems)

Day 34 - A Laugh

I'm pushing the limits of what can be defined as poetry. Well.. either that or I'm lazy. Take your pick.

Aptitude Test

If you enjoy planning murders, you might consider becoming

a. a mystery writer

b. a serial killer

If  you enjoy shaping young minds, you might consider becoming

a. a teacher

b. a cult leader

if you enjoy having power, you might consider working your way up the ranks to become

a. a business executive

b. a dictator in a small forgotten Eastern European country

If you enjoy cutting people up, you might consider becoming

a. a surgeon

b. a serial killer  

Day 33 - Prince Hamlet

Have a mentioned that I'm just a WEEE bit Shakespeare obsessed. And that I'm taking three Lit classes right now. And that in not one but TWO of them I'm studying Hamlet. No? I didn't? Well anyway, now you know.

O cursèd spite

O cursèd spite
that ever 't be my task to be the right
one, who shows my strength when none will come.

O horrible!
My painèd leave. Deplorable
when I must go from her I love so.

O festering canker!
Upon my skin 'tis anchored.
With no means for me to purge 't.

O rotted root!
What cost is paid for love's sweet fruit.
When my reality doth step in 'tween ours.

O sweet relief!
When dawn of darkness is a thief
and newly shall I come to thee.
For mine own self to 'noint with earnest glee.

Day 33 - I'm venting... get over it

Thine is Just Fine (Really... Thine is)

Thou shalt not lie

But shalt thou make an enemy
of one who is a friend?

Shalt thou seem a rash
and rageful being?

Shalt thou burn a bridge
never to be repaired?

Thou shalt not lie?
No.
Thou shalt not be mean,
thou shalt not harbour a pained resentment
thou shalt not be ungrateful,
thou shalt not sin in envy,
thou shalt not manufacture suffering,
thou shalt not force oneself to hurt.

Thou shalt not lie?
No.
Thou shalt lie,
if thou shalt retain a happy mask
worn so long that sadness is not seen.
For if not seen, the sadness dissapears.
And happiness shalt reign,
Unless thou shalt not lie.

Day 32 - AAHHH!!!

See!! Even when I don't really have time to, I'm STILL writing a poem. AAAHH SOOO LAAATE!!!!
Tardiness

Oh dear God I'm running late
Whatever will I do

Oh dear God I'm running late
I haven't time to lose

Oh dear God I'm running late
I really have to go

Oh dear God I'm running late
I need a rhyme, uh oh

A Request

Those (albeit few) of you who don`t see me on a regular basis, please email me and tell me that you`re still reading. I think I know who most of you are (or were) but as I said a few posts ago, I`m really worried that my sporadic posting has resulted in you all giving up and if I don`t post this right now, I`m going to keep worrying that I let you all down and not be able to sleep for another hour.

julian_legere@hotmail.com

Day 31 - WHEEEEE this is FUUUNNN (also I`m TTIIIREEDDD and LLOOOPPYYYY)

NOT a limerick

This is a haiku
Another poetic form
For variety

That was really short
Now it`s longer, so it counts
And I have no guilt

Day 30 - Please don`t judge me... I`m a desperate man!!!

The Previous Post

Sweet Jesus that was bad
But I`m desperate (just a tad)
I will do better
(insert rhymed letter)
My lameness is so sad

Day 29 - Oh Snap!!!

Okay I REALLLY should be in bed right now, but the last post got me really envigourated so I'm writing another poem now. A limerick. They may be boring, and I may use them a lot (haha the alot... google hyperbole and a half) but dammit Im not going to sleep until I write another poem!

I need to write another
I cannot shame my mother
This one sucks
but with some luck
I might just pride my brother

Day 28 - A New Beginning!!!!!!!!

I really should be in bed right now. In fact, I was in bed. But then I had a minor panic attack and realised that all of you will stop reading if I stop posting. So here I am, posting instead of sleeping. Please enjoy, and please keep checking, because tonight I have renewed my vow: I WILL post a poem every day, and, at some point in the near future, I WILL get caught up. Seriously, I will. I made a list of first-lines-of-songs today to act as inspiration and as of RIGHT NOW I promise to force myself to sit in this chair every single night before I go to bed and write at least one poem. I will also force myself to write at least one over breakfast every morning and at least one at lunch at school every day. That is at least three poems EVERY DAY for the next while until I get caught up. Well now I am rambling and really should stop (because this part is surely boring for all of you) and go to sleep.
Leaving

Ripping.
Tearing.

Why must I go?
Why can't I stay?

So warm in there ,
so cold out here.

It hurts,
it aches.

It kills me when I go.
I hate it when I'm gone.

Getting up is hard.
Walking home is hard.

Because I'm not walking home,
because I already am home.

You are home,
we are home.

I want this pain to go away,
I need my world to stay this way.

Just one more moment,
just one more second,

before I have to leave.
But now I have to leave.

Ripping,
tearing,
leaving.

Day 27 - Who needs superheroes when you've got teachers

Okay. This is my poem modeled after Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. The form is quite simple: Iambic pentameter (about which I will be less strict about than I usually am) and rhyming couplets.
I will also model my content after his: descriptions of people. This is going to be one of my methods of coping with a lack of inspiration: if I can't think of anything, I will pick a person I know and write one of these about them. So here it is, the very first entry in The Vancouver Tales.

PS. For the sake of the rhythm, please read the ♥ as "love" not "heart" ( i would have just put "love", but the spelling is important so i needed a way to get people to read "love" without the letters L-O-V-E being there. Its kind of an in joke, but just go with it)

The Teacher

First, there went a teacher, with hair of black
who's skilled and smart and wise, but still a quack.
Her passion spreads a love for all the arts:
more important than academic smarts.
She works so hard to try and save the world
although the threads of kindness come unfurled.
A hero, clothed in modesty (but chic!),
there's not one thing about her I would tweak.
The kind of person I so want to be.
I ♥ her (but not creepy: "L-U-V")

Day 26 - LOL (I hope....)

I Will

I will get caught up today.
I will, I will.
I won't get distracted.
I won't, I won't.

My blogsite will be fed.
It will, it will.
My focus will not stray.
It won't, it won't.

I will find something to say.
I will, I will.
I will find something to say.
Oh look, I did.

Day 25 - I could do better

I Could do Better

I could do better than that

Instead of those worn old sights and sounds,
you'd gasp at the richest textures and flavours,
filling your senses with a smooth sweetness.

Forget that flat sigh of a metre.
I'd serenade you with a gentle melody:
one who past my lips just once would harmonise your gentle breath.

In place of that bored rhyme scheme,
I'd give you quick and clever quips
whose tips with wit would whet your lips.

No more angry, bitter verse.
From me the calmest lullabies
would smilingly imitate your mother's ritual embrace to lay your lids upon each other and your self upon my own that you might wade into sleep without once single ounce of fear or trepidation.

To end those tragic metaphors
my own would swiftly sail your subconscious,
their waves crashing and depositing clarity, eroding ignorant stones and burying their remnants in the depths of the endless sea

I could do better than that

Pathetic would be all other loves
for mine will grow and swell and envelop your mind and soul to meet with mine and mix with mine until we share it all forever

I will do better

Shakespeare will bow before the words that you bring out from my pen
and Romeo will spring from his pages and stare in awe at my sweet love for you

We will do better,
We will be better,
my love.

Catching Up

Okay. Here's the deal. As of this moment, I am 15 days behind. I am going to get caught up TONIGHT. I have some ideas that will allow this process to be much more stimulating and interesting both for me and the people who may happen to be reading this than simply writing 15 boring old limericks.
1. Finish and post a few poems that I have that are currently in process
2. Since music is so huge for me, I thought I would use music as inspiration by writing a series of poems starting with the first lines of some of my favourite songs
3. There are a few classical poem forms I have learned about recently that I am itching to try (Terza Rima, Ghazal)
4. Maybe some similar to the poems I have been reading in my Lit class lately, which are Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, and Hamlet
5. Once all the above options are exhausted, I will finish getting caught up with a few limericks, if needed

Day 24 - Parlez-vous francais?

Quand je recommence d'apprendre le francais a l'ecole aujourd'hui, je rappelle que j'adore cette langue et je decide d'ecrire un poeme en francais. Ici ce n'est pas un poeme tres bon, mais je suis un eleve de francais, si je pense que c'est bon.

(When I started French again at school today, I remebered how much I love the language and I decided to write a poem in french. It's not a great poem, but since I'm a student of french, I think it's pretty good.)

Un Miserable
Je connais cette ville.
Ma chere copine,
ma seule copine.

Je connais les rues.
Je les adore,
je les exige.

La ville, les rues:
mon foyer,
mon coeur,
ma vie.

Day 23 - Blah

First day at school, change of pace, tiirreeddd. Don't judge me.

This is a haiku
and not another limerick.
They say change is good.

Day 22 - Back to School

Back to school tomorrow... senior year. AHH HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!!!! One minute I'm learning how to spell in kindergarten and now I'm ten months away from GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL!!!!
It's very exciting (especially since of how awesome my course load is) but it's also more than a little scary.
This is going to be a turbulent, emotional year... in other words: the PERFECT year for writing poetry :D

Senior Year
Oh gosh I'm so excited
The end can now be sighted
An era to bury
A wee bit scary
But for that I am delighted

Also, apparently I will be graduating with the class of 1956 - ("oh gosh"?... talk about scary!)

Day 21- Rainin' on Sunday

I LOVE the rain. Who's with me?

Rainin' on Sunday
Rain rain here today,
please don't go away.

Cold damp soggy rain,
sunshine please abstain.

Warm dry here inside,
in here we will hide.

Soft touch, gentle kiss,
these days can't be missed.

Sly grin fills a face,
lost in simple grace.

Sun comes back tomorrow,
bright but with small sorrow.

Guest Poet - Michelle Chevalier

These poems were N.O.T written by me. They were written by a friend of mine: Michelle Chevalier. And she's sort of incredibly talented, so please enjoy.

LOVE

Heart Hurts

Two Cold Hands

Squeeze



A Credit Card

not to be used

In Deep Freeze



And Still

I Claw

Impatiently

Fingers Bleed



An Endless

Unfulfilled

Need



STRANGERS
Signed Permission

Children Conditioned

To Fear THEM


A Smile Offered on a Tray

They'll stare blankly Away

It's best to Avoid THEM

Everywhere you Go

Careful - Someone Follows

Never Trust THEM


People are Unknown

Dangerous, Misunderstood - Clones.

Why is it a Wonder we feel so Alone?

WE ARE THEM...

Day 20 - Legere's Anatomy (I know... SO clever right)

Since Grey's Anatomy is awesome and Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures is awesome I decided to do this poem as an homage to both of them. Medical allegory, get it? Got it? Good! I even named it after a song, as Shondra Rhimes does with Grey's.

Fix You Up

Surgeons cut.
They cut long, they cut deep, they cut with certainty.
So sure that they are right,
they give themselves over completely.
Every time.

Patients bleed.
They bleed red blood that borders broken skin.
They trust.
They trust that they will live,
that they will be stronger,
better,
healthier.

Complete trust.
Open to another person,
letting someone into you.
To see you,
to feel you,
to fix you.

Surgeons close.
They sew their long, deep, certain cuts.
They close.
They leave.
They pull out and pack up and take off,
to the next cut.

Patients scar.
Fixed, whole, better off.
But for a scar:
a reminder
of what was lost,
of what was saved.

Scars.
They last.
And they do remind us
of the gaping hole the surgeon left.
Of the pain.
Of the hurt.
Of the trust that is broken if we aren't fixed,
if we aren't whole,
if we aren't better off.
The only reminder of the person we opened to,
the person we let inside.
The person who left.
The person who moved on to their next cut
with nothing in their wake
but a scar.

Day 19 - Seussian Feet

Working at the PNE I spent most of  my time staring at people's asses, legs, and (often filthy) feet. This is me venting... Suess style.

As I've said many times here before: PLEASE don't anybody sue me.

One feet, Two feet, Dirty feet, Smelly feet


One feet, Two feet, Dirty feet, Smelly feet,

Black sock, Blue sock, Old sock, New sock,

This one has a little scar,

This one has a tattoo star,

Say! What a lot of feet there are,

Yes. Some are dirty some are smelly.

Some are old and some are new.

All are close, all are gross.

All are very, very gross.

Why are they close and gross and gross?

I do not know, go ask a ghost?

(Who died from the smell by the way.)

Some are dark and some are light.

The light ones’ socks are often bright.

From there to here,

From here to there,

Stinky things are everywhere.

Here are some who like to run.

They run for fun in the hot, hot sun.

(Which is why they’re so fucking sweaty and disgusting and covered in filth that they smear on my arms!)

Oh me! Oh my!

Oh me! Oh my!

What a lot of stinky things go by.

Some have five toes, some have four.

Some have less hair, some have more.

Where do they come from?

I can’t say.

I see them come.

I see them go.

Some are fast.

And some are slow.

Some are high.

And some are low

Not one of them is like another.

Don't ask me why.

Go ask your mother.

Day 18 - Hunger

I was at work... the moral of the story is DON'T forget your lunch when you have to stand up for 7 hours.

Dammit
Dammit!
So god damn hungry
I cannot find a single rhyme
I have no metre
my images are bland
because I have no god damn food!

I want to go to sleep,
to chop my feet off
to sit, to lay down (or lie down, I'm too damn hungry to remember which is right!)
Because I have no god damn food!

A bowl of god damn cereal
It seems like so little now
and it was so long ago
The energy it gave me is gone
and I have no god damn food!

The first two hours seemed so long
But there are five more before I'm done
and get to go home
The first thing I'll do is eat
because I have no god damn food!

Day 17 - Brrrrrr!!

I was supposed to work an 8 hour PNE shift today... which because of the whether and resulting lack of people would have meant standing around cold and soggy for that time. Mercifully, I was allowed to leave early and only had to stand around cold and soggy for 4 hours. I couldn't decide if I wanted this poem to be funny or not.... so take it as you will.

Storm's a Brewin'
If I gouged out my eyes
I would still see the rain

If I tore off my ears
I would still hear it fall

If I amputated my feet
I would still feel them, damp and cold

If I shaved off all my hair
It would still catch the drops and send them slithering down my neck

Until I get out of this damn storm
It will keep chilling me

When I get home to you
I will finally be warm