I Know a Few Things

I know a few things
-- yes I do --
yes I do for sure

Like a hamster
tucked in all day
wakes at dusk.

There are things to abhor
-- sure there are --
things you like more, trust...

I found old barn wood
is plenty dry --
very dry for sure,

just fine for
building your
own furniture:

Like a table fine
for breakin' your bread ...
with cane-backed chairs

Or, a guitar painted red,
to make your songs live,
like songs of heaven's stairs.

Or, a sturdy mantle
of dry barn wood
to hold pictures

Messages of a long life
-- your long life --
I know this for sure.

Copyright © 2010-11 Patrick Darnell

Turn back, O Man

by Clifford Bax -- 13 July 1886 – 18 November 1962

Turn back, O man, forswear they foolish ways.
Old now is earth, and none may count her days;
Yet thou, her child, whose head is crowned with flame,
Still wilt not hear thine inner God proclaim:
"Turn back, O man, forswear thy foolish ways!"

Earth might be fair and all men glad and wise.
Age after age their tragic empires rise,
Built while they dream, and in that dreaming weep;
Would man but wake from out his haunted sleep,
Earth might be fair, and all men glad and wise.

Earth shall be fair, and all her people one:
Nor till that hour shall God’s whole will be done.
Now, even now, once more from earth to sky,
Peals forth in joy man’s old undaunted cry—
“Earth shall be fair, and all her folk be one!”


Words: Cliff­ord Bax, 1916. Bax wrote these words at the re­quest of Gus­tav Holst; they ap­peared in the League of Arts Mo­ther­land Song Book, 1919.

Music: Old 124th, Ge­ne­van Psalter, 1551

All Poets are Self-Published

by Pat Darnell

an old city
is basically
a graveyard

monuments
and headstones
on square plots

a pedestrian
maze of sorts
of building spots

plastic pots
with sprigs
and trees

water always
running free
to its on level;

all creation
is clueless
in a life it revels.


Copyright © 2010-11 Patrick Darnell

Supreme Sob Story

Who are you really --
what is it you do out there?
From this loftiness it appears
prophets' scattered lives
are destroyed.

Frail prophets; are you daft?
Fragility ate up lives?
Unable, or unwilling,
to stand against and
forswear, and repudiate
technologies in recant ...
... Face in face-off, while
stolen by unknowable
and cowardly villain;

Sneaky Demon's, role models --
surgery to deceive
rejuvenation twist
promised reconciliation,
names you cannot unsay --

Confectionery cake
a brittle layer like
two dimension bas-relief
over soft core of humans' stakes

on Supreme Secret plates --
secrets you depart with;
low tech solution for
high logic-techno pith; --
and hardships abated
for your prophets-in-waiting.




Copyright © 2010-11 Patrick Darnell

Sean Tudor the First

Highly accurate
guesswork, describes
terror Tudors feel
flying above us
untethered to
Mother Earth.

Rolling, rolling, rolling
like Vampire bats
slaves of endless
ersatz

Wages of their sins
is of course death
Death is final
frontier, unless ...

... Tudor, it will take
you seven hundred
generations to
spend that wealth

Sons' and daughters'
immortal souls -- what?
Still secret to you?
"Come with me:" said Jesus
"Behind me Satan!"

There might be hope for
Sean Tudor the First.

Copyright © 2010 - 11 Patrick Darnell

Conversation at the Army Surplus Store

"You didn't have
a childhood did you?"

"No."

"I mean; you were
born to a bunch
of goons -- siblings,
all nervous
about their
birth-rights?"

"Uhmmm -- yep!"

"What are you laughing at?"

"Mullie."

Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

It isn't Always Pretty

Copyright © 2010-11 Patrick Darnell

Fran

When serpents
attack back
and lead to
a whole new
story ...

So that Fran can
end it, or not,
anymore than
she could have
it started  ...

We are all
on the same side.
'Truth is:' that
truth is
a harsh villain
to those
who lie.


Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Having been born human
and never known the Earth
never saw it's green
never filled lungs
with its air
never felt the sun
radiance on his face

Traveling the cosmos
as a star struck being
always seeking a place
a place to know
as home

This is how it is
from earliest time
from Adam to Enoch
from son to son

Having arrived
breathing in paradise
savoring fruit of earth
drinking its wine
then is a human born.



Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

I'm almost not Dead Yet

I'm almost not dead yet
-- dead is real final --
but alas' I'm not
there yet

I guess I'm just
not there yet

I am pulling out
my eyebrows
and I'm lying very still
listening to TV persons gab on

Talk about who walks about
many bloody segues
I'm like antlers on a wall
watching seagulls set up a queue

I'm almost not dead yet
guess' be alive I will
as long as I have eyebrows
as long as there's face
... on a clock

life went by fast
I was twenty, then way past --
hung out to dry at fifty-five --
need an air lift out of this flood.

Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

A Bookshelf

Somewhere there is
a bookshelf with
the very book I need

The very book that when
its pages turn
reveals just what is --

Just what is
in the very way
that I need this day
to contemplate,
while I perambulate
and be complete.


Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Sustaining an Unplanned Life

We
en-route
to truth
scampering
past trickery
skulduggery
maneuvering
past lavish lies

Finding a grove
of sweet-gum tree
and hickory
ancient elders
masters of sky
in shadow we hide

Then we re'lize
that we can grow
Sunflowers in
our own front yard
we don't hav'ta
go hide so hard.

Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Six-legged Yoga

Imagine an insect
the kind you abhor
practicing six-legged
yoga up on your door

When opens your door
there reveals a puppy
legged with peds of four
propped up right steady

As --

Copernicus separates
Earth from the Sun
All life-forms begun ...
... go on as before.


Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Sodomy, Bigotry

Sodomy, bigotry
my lands such things
into the 21st I go
someone let me know

aren't those deadly?
idolatry, polygamy
insufficiency
-- did I miss one

did you witness?
can you see the mess
will you do this
nothing eases up at all

seven of seventy
ways to fuck up
and screw the pooch
-- what did I do?

that game of games
is too much for me
same with you?
-- can we agree

I enter to leave
I capture to free
I seize to release
-- you, do what you please

no heavy loaded words
just nouns turned verbs
missiles in silos
shit oozing 'tween my toes

Bigotry, sodomy
where will you go?
out with the polit-bureau?
last chance to know.

Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Poem a Day on a Sleepless Night

by Pat Darnell for Cage Potatos Everywhere



I was conceived in the backseat
cup holder of an S.U.V. [Es Yoo Vee]
Going up US Interstate Highway ...
... one hundred and forty-three

Lord I was born an armchair man
Lord I was born an armchair athlete ...
Trying to escape a living
Doin' the best I can in retreat ....

When it's time for leavin'
I hope you understand
I eat peaches and then I eat the can.
Lord, I'm no ramblin' man.

Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Kitty is Full

Bob-tailed kitty
has a taste for bird
she climbs 'top the wood pile
out by the shed
she sniffs a bit
plops down and closes her eyes

She finds a board
to scratch on
rolls onto her back
stretches her legs out
shakes her head

A new flying cardinal
lands on a shrub
hops to the slider bench
kitty only looks, yawns,
and licks her chest...
Kitty must be full

Kitty, she acts very cute
always at safe distance
that is, how she goes,
She likes better
sounds from women,
Men scare her away.



Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Great Lonely

by Pat Darnell

On a runway lonely
Songwriter croons
crafts a tune
out of refrain

Evidence is in a tablet of stone
a very large and heavy
block of stone, a terrain
in hopes to be emancipated

Lady gained his heart
but forfeited her soul
she had to be at his side --
-- what was, she unanticipated

What, anyway, was the point?
her love could have levitated
a mountain, and its valley,
but there are only
so many fertile valleys

Then Song-man wrote,
wrote it all down,
but the tale became fragments,
restrained fragments of stone.




Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

If Not Human

by Pat Darnell

If not human
would you know
winter, spring, and fall ?

If other than a man
could you tell
differences at all ?

If some other being
would you sing 'n let
your hands go free ?

If other than human,
is your calling,
Would you avoid Falling ?

If not human, then
would you work so hard
to give your fellow so much regard ?

If not human mate
would you mourn,
think, or, jubilate ?



Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Not a Revolutionary Piece

by Pat Darnell

Here a reluctant
authoritarian writes
not a revolutionary piece

but rather a cautious
series of tales
that are warnings

responses to glaring
holes in logic
and songs blaring

to ignite memory
of some things once
pleasantly democratic

or to declare
what you are going through
is certainly valid.

Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

I Waited

by Pat Darnell

I waited here
for you to give
meaning to my words

Then when you
Came to call

My Spirit leaped
from the saddle
like the soul of Sal

It could wait no longer
beneath thunder rolls
nor 'neath squalls

It broke free...
My Spirit did for thee

Did you leap too
When our time began
At two journey's ends
And Spirits freely ran?



Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

For My Heart

by Pat Darnell

For my heart
to be supple again
only a closed mind
is certain

Our moon is untrustworthy
different every night --
and we want to know
about our spirit and soul

Think ascent and descent
think light and screen
think ears, eyes, nose --
Think heart, mouth,and bestowal

To know our souls
requires a shrinking brain
Egoism thrown out the window
and tears flowing like rain



Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Work in Progress -- Dream of Flying

Why do I fly
in my dreams?
Floating over brick floors
around steel corridors

floating in atmosphere
teaching you how
so we can be together
flying

finding new clothes
swimming in large pools
expecting adventure
looking for work

Flying, a joyful expectation,
a joyous exhilaration,
how does it end?

We awake.



Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

A Standard Bureaucrat

by Pat Darnell

I'm a full blooded bureaucrat
Living in an abstract
Married to an acrobat
That is that ...

All is right --
you may think, oh mighty eyes,
read on --

I'm sitting and rolling in the fat
one o' 'dese cats wants to masticate
an' force feed to the alley rats
... I'm not all right wid' that!

Me wife completely cracked
she pushed a heavy shelf and snapped
Tho' she can put her foot behind her back
She can not get past a dog'ass Corpor'at ...

Talkin' shop we learned that
Everything is wrote down in tracts
for insurable interest of Hacks'
... so just they can inscrutably file it away stat.

Now, I'm your standard bureaucrat
sweltering in a basement flat
foisting paper mountains on your back
... further inverting your sacroiliac.

Like me poor wife's sore back
She's sent on home with a rheostat
for keeping data -- ratt-a-tata-tat
So 'dey can write a new tax for that

On the sidewalk you don't spat ...
On the roof you don't wear a hat ...
in Spain ... you don't eat the cat ...
and you don't rat on the lowly bureaucrat ...

Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Gratified to Breathe

by Pat Darnell

Just a human being
exposed to all that is
gratified to breathe
fresh air
and occupy a small space

Skull, muscle, flesh
bread, truffle, and fish
gratified in repast
to eat
and present specified face

Shepherds cull their herd
and find pasture
past rocks and mountains
near springs
and nothing goes to waste




Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Haiti :: Recent Headlines

A new Prince
by Pat Darnell


Who is the new Prince of Haiti;
He claims the rumpled boulders
that were once a city?

Don't jump into the rivers
Keep yourselves clean
Don't panic.

A man with fever arrives
he is carried into the tent
he was living in a tent
in San Marc

In only hours
this Prince charged amongst us
it devoured many and left us grieving

He came at us from miles away
from upstream
from the clay and sand

This new Prince
is bigger than our president
bigger than our 1000 camps

bigger than Jan 12 earthquake
that claimed 300,000 lives.

This Prince ...
is bigger than God.



Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Emancipated

I was not rated
so I cannot be underrated
so of course...
never overrated likewise

When I say
the hole in my chest
is a fatal wound
bleeding from raising children

It should create impact
it is a symptom
possibly of disloyalty, ambiguity
from shelter people in their
profiteering

On my account; no festival please
Hope, no reveling
just surviving
making life one more day

No furnished bisque
no bouquets, no nosegay
only charity schisms
perchance escape criticism

Don't know why
Don't know when
Service became a job
and Public Works became a business

It has something to do
with water to live on
that Living Water promise
made reproachfully

I approach carefully
a common door
once I go through
I am emancipated, or so.


Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

The Comedian

I write poetry
because I'm shallow

Don't quit your day job
they'd tell me

They were right!






Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Maria Bermejo

You did a
D and C
on my heart

pierced it
and scooped it
out of its socket

How do I
introduce you now?
... friend of the family?

Was it
a genetic disorder
that made
me want you,
... at first?

From us
I lost confidence
as you brought
me not one luck

but, your jabs were
difficult. surgical
excelling in pluck


Boxing; you are champ
I never knew at all
such a scamp upstart
softened my glass jaw

Bittersweet, charge and depart,
your victory, my loss
Could you please
return my heart ...

Oh, on second thought
... just keep it!


Nov\2007 | Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Disturbed

... Maybe he was trying to
admit his inability to cope
with hypocrisy he sensed
in his church. He had been
preaching in his church
ten years. The experience
of seldom getting feedback,
at his intellect level, well
made him disturbed, mentally...




Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Genre Of Repair

Three final words of the twelve
might end in sermon with enough
convincing enough of enough
God Preservation Trust

Who then will preserve us?
With His gift of life
hard knocks and all
taught faith
and sincerity

Life gives life
what for Christ...
Man woman child
Country land

What each mind understands
is found in the air
water in stasis
our genre of repair

Agreement in unison
all saints standing there
good life rages on
In the genre of repair.


Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Shin Kickers Ear Pickers

The first time it happened
I remember clear
Very clear sound
like wind
and someone
playing my head bones
as instruments
notes bounced
side to side
top to bottom
making a salad
of my brain
making patterns
in my head

It happened
long before
stereo and 2%
headphones

Before Reese's Pieces
long before 8-tracks

But there weren't
any headphone jacks
in Mom's Hi Fidelity
GE cabinet turntable




Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Anguish I Feel

The anguish I feel
knocks out possibilities
knocks out pleasure
knocks out joy

The anguish I feel
has me pinned
has me stonewalled
has me astonished

the anguish I feel
derides me
denies me
imbibes me

Anguish
paralyzes
stupefies
immobilizes

no glee
no gladsomeness
no release

just torment
torture, 'n,
travail




Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Fathom This

Intellectuals have responsibilities,
But no powers ...
So here goes:
To make this year a new beginning
Every American wanting a new car
... go out and buy a Chevy
All frustrated academicians
... go online and start blogging
All parents who find hope
... encourage your children to prophesy and heal
"My God did we finally do it; really do it," says Charlton
... Stop Look Listen every morning.


Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Globe gone Warm?

Warming globe?

Naw; I don't think so ...

Truth is:

We are all skeletons,

'n We all have trouble,

Letting go.



Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

by Pat Darnell

A poem is
germination
of a vine
that withers
or lives
to transport
sustenance
to the fruit

... is
harvest
gathering fruit
pressing
in wine presses
separating


Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Cro mag non Man

I don't want to be
Cro mag non Man
I don't want to shout
when a whisper will stand

Sugar loaf comes to mind
when I think of you
No, don't want to be
No Cro Mag Non kind

I want to be there
When you unwind.


Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Here's the deal dear
I could turn you
Yes I could
turn you

Turn you,
if it your wish



Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Sorry Captain Harley

BP wants fish that taste best
Not fish with shark skin vests!

The Monarchy is silent
for the oil spoil toil
there has been no kingly recoil

Sorry Charlie:
BP made fish and fowl spoil
now "we" have to recoil
but 'dem sharks
eat anything

Fishin' hole is spoiled, boy,
Foist ahoy there, Charlie
the fishin' hole is spoiled
Give me a hard port turn
Captain Harley Finvalve Sir
Fin hoist that yardarm

What's it like down there
Charlie?
Hey, this is not a shark park,
Charlie.

Sorry Captain Harley
We want sharks that
taste good
not sharks with
good taste ...

Shark skin suits? Bah!
BP wants what's best
If it means sharks
in shark skin vests?

Fishin' hole is spoiled, boy,
Foist ahoy there, Charlie,
the fishin' hole is spoiled
Give me a hard port turn
Captain Harley Finvalve
Fin hoist that yardarm

Now there's a sport!


Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Peter Protocol

Before the Rooster crows
... three denials

Peter is flawed
his fear made him crawl
Don't you know Jesus?

Rooster crows
knee-jerk guilt
Guilty by association
failure
betrayal
by proxy

It's not Me!


Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

What's Up?

Kick back
put up your feet
stretch out your arms
put your hands
behind your head;
give out a big sigh
look up for the sky ...

Oops, there it is
a badly fit
ubiquity inside
a hung ceiling
in this patient room
turned waiting room ...
caged bird
... looking up

two by four drop down
tiles on tracks
that were powder coated
white, faded gray,
dusty 2 x 2 supply vents
twelve feet apart

Return air grilles
2 x 2 at far corner
EXIT sign over door
glowing

Canned lighting to accent
or excite us on floor
oh wait ...
a plastic ligustrum tree
was the target

Over there ...
baby poop color
plastic round
smoke alarm
and some other
alarm stuck up there

Round speaker
with broken plastic
round knob bezel
tight to the tiles

Try, try, try ...
... try to dream
beyond this scheme,
to beautiful skies.

[11\16\08. 1201 Briarcrest]
Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Curl

Curl ...
in base of
Fibonacci
integrity and
consistency
say's to
profess ...

Like out not
slice of life
but in first
bite of every
harvest ...

Hydro
drag
on structural
elements
till there
on edible flesh
lies ...
a Pearl.


Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

6 Reasons why You're Not in the Mood

by Pat Darnell

Show her why she is worthy of your love

Discover 10 ways the blues hurt your health...

Bad enough you feel tired, listless and blue.

Memory loss? ... 10 natural remedies
Fresh Pomodoro Pasta, ... White Beans and Olives
Mental health experts ask: ... Will anyone be normal?

Jobs, professions, influence cause of death

But Lucky you. You're going to Vegas.
-- Oven-Fried Zucchini Sticks !!

What 'clinically proven' means to you
AND -- Modest weight loss may curb urine leakage

So, do you know Ways to get from slow to go
Get designer brands up to 70% off retail;

Flower arrangements for any occasion

Your opinion is valuable. Get paid for what you know,
And when you arrive ... take what they give,
Permanent enlarged penis with Dr. Duress --
Grow 4 Inches and 150% wide in 90 days or less

But you only have 89 days left to live ...

Did you suffer from injuries from your Accutane use?
No worries --
Pills On Sale. Quality VIAGRA $1.89, LEVITRA $3.29 and $2.29 CIALIS

All about keeping an eye on your home.
What good is a roof over your head if it leaks?

It's a big job, but someone has to do it.

Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Pretty Woman Revisited

by Pat Darnell

Somewhere there is a good picture
of you with me
when we were young
and I pleased you
in every way

Now you hold my heart
no other may hold it
... star struck melody
you crossing the street

when the ground trembles
I think of you
When I see our child
it's you he resembles

I lived and I died
in your arms before
... do it all again
would I ...

For this picture when
we were young
and I am still yours
across all avenues



Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Reverse Engineering Terrorist Attack

Dixie crowded barges
floating flotilla carnival
tight-roped trail rider
gets on with his smoke

Down river white trash from Texas
Lantern ladened wagon
Sleepy dog-faced patrons
Go direct to the heat of Dallas

They get tickled drunk
and someone owns an idea --
but some fella in a corner
thinks it's his mission.

he makes a bunch of
suicide videos
and writes a series of
last notes

he checks in to
last chance resort motel
and makes booty calls
hires an escort infidel

A deadly mixture
a mutt from Texas
Arms go left, feet go right,
Body don't look just right,

finds two Volunteers from Tennessee,
Out of the North
Out of the Night
Poor boy goin' lose his life.


Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Whiskey, Wimmen and Whisker Burns

(An Old Song Gone Bad)

Scotch and soda
Mud in your eye
Baby do I feel high
oh me, oh my ...

That next town seems
so outta reach
just outta reach

Dat' woman g'wan kill de family
to get her way ...
She sell her soul cheap
Oh me, oh my ...

Dry Martini
jigger of Gin
Oh, what a spell
they got me in
Oh my ...
... Do I feel high.

Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Visitors and Brain Industries

Elongated cranium
fashion from
Sirius B and A,
Potolo Ama,
and Dogons,
knew it --
"Star Knowledge"
nomenclature
told through oral culture.

Artisans -- split apart hybrids ...

Catalogers left to hash it out ...

Sirius B -- how far away is that?

Zuni -- 1200 BC
Egypt is at bat

Dogon Spacemen
visitors, Sky People
Keepers of Space

Cachinas:
Dance each year
in full head dress
in costumes to re-enact
coming of Space gods
and elongated cranius
That's a fact!

Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Hotel Chelsea

Meetin' Maggie at the Hotel Chelsea
Will the door man
diffuse the situation

Waiting waiting waiting by the gate
to hear the voice of coma

The gate is a trap door
friends are measured like teeth

Gates separated by long walkway
ramps to run rapid transit

Quietly quickly to pedestrian heart beat
... to connecting flights

Funny looking feet
At Chelsea Hotel ...
... we're gonna' meet!



Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Humanism

by Pat Darnell

Like trying to sell
life insurance to
a Muslim

O r to collect long term healthcare
stipends from Hindi's

as if under cloak
covering dimensions
of space and time
...  innuendos
Where is the joy?

Where children are born
and leavened to humankind
to be treated rough
in rites of passage
meant to set them apart
as what ... warriors?

this nightmare
feeds terror
surmounts to blood terror
and terror of death
feeding terror again ...

Many that will shorten
their already short lives

and choose very differently
from their fathers' lifestyles

regard other lifestyles
other than
trodden paths
of descendants past

of rivaling fathers
those who are
rodding their child
to be canon fodder

A basic question
put before Protestant Hedonists
and profiling Humanists

Who are you who were commanded
to love God the Father
and to encourage one another
Until His return?




Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Florida, Orlando

Bocce ball
Blue crab not moving
4 candles --
2 South, 2 West,
on a linen blouse
a lock of hair ...

Still life on a curb
Orlando, florida

A disturbance call
somewhere down yonder

Did ya hear the call?
Reckon we'll be smart
and git on down there ...
with no real Where to start.

Maybe muster our minds
Could have been passion
could have been economy of direct action
Probably just eviction ...

Yes, passion, I suspect
luster now gone, nonetheless
festooned , yes
and garland of confess
could be passions last request
and these left clues
on Orlando's curb
Bocce ball and all.



Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell

Sore Nation

by Pat Darnell

You cried to our hearts
You thought for us
 ... not we listened

Look about us now
You say, I have laid out
your lives in reason.

Built
Repair
Guilt
Despair

Control re-entry
You cried to our minds
Chosen minds focussed
instilled Revival from rind
you fortified and buttressed
... Reviled death
... Sought fitness
and strengthened in spirit
Deliverance in abundance
Disinterment, decisioness,
You sore nation, our fortress.


Copyright © 2010 Patrick Darnell