Tom Courtney
Tom Courtney Poems
Call in the night
when the sun is a peach
wear your white cottons and sit down
next to me on this old porch
...
Star child
so far away alone
standing on the edge of the universe
You can't be reached
...
My poetry sets me back
into my compulsions
Deep within the womb of my mystery
into the envelope of my hidden life
...
And you think politics is all about voter registration and issues
War, abortion, taxes, global warming, and medicare
You think politics is all those candidates running for office
...
and the rain came
sprinkled on my window pain
came to touch my heart again
when I met you
...
Who’s coming to dinner tonight?
The silver and china are out
Guest that I am in this house
that used to be mine
...
Hello Jello, how are you?
It’s cold in here, I’m turning blue
But aren’t you happy, as they say?
...
told the lady behind the counter
at the deli that I’m crazy and she just laughed and said no! But it’s true I really am crazy
And she said you don't look crazy
And I said no I don't suppose I do
...
A tale with two tails & a love tale true
Listen my children, and you shall hear
A tale of laughter and a crocodile tear
...
Dream Theme. I word-searched my poems and short stories for the word 'dream'. What do you think?
Mesmerizing game it seems
wishing hoping chasing DREAMS
...
You know that special someone
who draws you in beyond your interests
in health and sanity?
with the inexorable force of sex?
...
And Jenny this night is darkest
as I’m standing in the rain
You taught me every pleasure
brings with it its own pain
...
Who am I? Seems mild enough
What’s the material? What’s the stuff?
Questions asked since ages old
Libraries of thought once writ unfold
...
And this is the story of old Mr. Grumble
He lives just a stone's throw, a toss and a tumble,
Down ‘round the corner at the end of the block
He sits in his house and stares at the clock
...
Boy stands easily on the smooth flat rock
Pond shines around like his first set of teeth
and the mountains of sky
and the razors of conifers surround
...
The sun settles into the hills
behind the hospital compound
And the long shadows fade
into the dimness of the evening
...
'At sea once more we had to pass the Sirens, whose sweet singing lures sailors to their doom. I had stopped up the ears of my crew with wax, and I alone listened while lashed to the mast, powerless to steer toward shipwreck. Odyssey, Book XII
And how can I thank you?
You showed me I’m wrong
...
I wouldn’t be doing my job
if I didn’t tell you what
I’m thinking
now would I?
...
I think I ‘ll write a poem
the reason being that I have so much to say
so much wisdom to impart
how could I hold myself back?
...
Tom Courtney Biography
Tom’s poems 'Petals' and 'A Place for Me' were featured poems of the month at Poetry Deep by Ecaria on the website http: //www.geocities.com/ecaria/poetry/fp-aug02.html. His poem “Unless” was published in an anthology of writings “The Black Whole” by Down in the Country Press. See http: //press.downinthecountry.com/theblackwhole.html. It is available at Amazon and other major booksellers. He was awarded by the University of California Irvine Poetry Arts Project, for his poem 'Zams'. See http: //www.communications.uci.edu/news/release_detail.asp? key=929 His prose writing “The Defector” was awarded by the Poetry Society of America in the Alice Fay Di Castagnola competitions. See http: //www.poetrysociety.org/psa-awards.html for current PSA activities. His Biblical study is included in the “Loving Strangers as Ourselves” anthology published by Mennonite Church and is available online at http: //secure.mcc.org/mccstore/index.php? main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=208. Tom moderates a Yahoo Group poetry group at http: //groups.yahoo.com/group/Poetry-for-Publication and maintains a website at http: //forklift1.com/poetry.html. He enjoys live readings and has performed his poetry at Basement Coffee House & Showcase in Los Angeles, Espresso in Pasadena, Out Loud in Santa Monica, Gallery 57 in Fullerton, Iguana Cafe and Coffee Haus in Orange, Blue Marble Cafe in Costa Mesa, Alta in Newport Beach and more. Tom’s formal education is a BA in Political Science and an MBA in Finance from UCLA, with studies further in accounting, computer science, business law, creative writing and Bible. * The PSA or Poetry Society of America, with headquarters in New York, was founded in 1910 by Whitter Brynner, George Santayana, Jessie Rittenhouse and Edward Wheeler; early members including Robert Frost, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Ezra Pound, and Carl Sandberg. The PSA was responsible for the creation of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.)
The Best Poem Of Tom Courtney
Petals
And so
after gaining all the world
we shall lose each other?
We failed to heed the admonition:
putting our stores in earthly treasures
coveting our bodies and our minds
losing the spirit we shared?
When we had vowed
in the depths of our hearts
in the holy sanctuary
and before God and family
we shall part our company?
And become again
what we once were
not so very long ago -
strangers - only now
once lovers and dreamers?
We spoke the words
repeated so many times:
you and I for all eternity?
You and I?
We need another word for 'we'
We are not 'we' as once together
We are only you and I for time
Perhaps like petals
tossed before the winds
of the same flower
We bid the stem farewell
cast adrift and lost
amidst the tumbling rains
The petals fall
and find their resting place
They will some day find the soil rich and sweet
becoming part of it themselves
again
And even as the flower
finally melts into the sun
the old stalk turns
and falls to the side
the roots wither and turn to dust,
Another flower will come
and new petals will spring forth
again
there when the elements are right
as surely and inevitably they must be
As the meadow is large
and the sky is ever full
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