Waves of steam heat buffered us in cold war school
Hiss-ping, hiss-ping, sang the box of heat under the cold window panes
Mittens, rubber boots, and coats lined up like warriors
...
Cool springs the moss below torn leathery feet
Cold runs the stream's sweet quenching relief
Before I lay resting in the meadow's crimson peace
Before I lay resting in the meadow's crimson peace
...
What beauty has departed our grasp
with little notice but the acknowledgement of a few?
What profound action so gentle, or words uttered mere seconds before death, mere seconds before glory, mere seconds before oblivion? But witnessed only by a handful chosen by chance to be a notary to the conscious mind of another at it's finest hour
...
Cold War School
Waves of steam heat buffered us in cold war school
Hiss-ping, hiss-ping, sang the box of heat under the cold window panes
Mittens, rubber boots, and coats lined up like warriors
ready to die in a flash of light in cold war school
Metal lunch boxes- Flying Nun, The Beatles, Evil Knievel-
with thermos's of milk now luke warm and wax paper sandwiches left sad little faces with only the hope of a butterscotch krimpet to revive them, in cold war school
Teachers, with bee hives towering, dispensed only 'authorized' information so outdated that it creaked from loosely bound cloth covered text books wrapped in individually stylized brown bag jackets, in cold war school
Gemini and Apollo, Rowen and Martin, flower power and atomic power, and Jonathan Livingston Seagull offered hope, laughter, horror, and dreams as we prayed for the Kennedy Family, in cold war school.
And I sat dreamily in the warmth of the florescent winter classroom
small face resting in small hands
And wondering at the beauty of the world
the beauty of life
the beauty of love
the beauty of music
and whether today was the day the flash of light would come to my cold war school
Words written well, transport, make you feel. I felt as if I was on the inside of Mike's poems, looking out. I enjoyed each poem, but found Lincoln's Grief with it tight concise structure, to be this poet's most powerful piece. All three of these poems were emotionally and intellectually stimulating.
I found all three of these poems emotionally and intellectually stimulating. Words written well transport and help us feel. I felt as if I was inside Lincoln's Grief, looking out. It's concise wording and tight structure the mark of a good poem.