Part ' A ' Of November 2017's Showcase …......[ Poems (Mostly Or All)from P H Poets, With Links To The Poem Pages And Texts Of ‘ Not-Too-Long ‘ Poems ] Poem by Bri Edwards

Time weighs heavily on Bri's shoulders, preparing this display.
I think while I'm ‘breakin' my back', all my ‘Friends' are at play.
But I don't REALLY blame them.I'd rather be off playing too,
…..instead of preparing this showcase for you, You, and YOU! !

Part ‘A' is all you'll get (I think) in this month of Halloween.
I've got only 3 poems offered by "Friends".WILL more be seen? ? !
It's ok; don't you worry …..‘bout it at all.You're just tired, this Fall.

After all, most of my "Friends" have ‘peaked', and are now in decline.

How DO some members last as long as Lynn W. Petty? How can it be?
He must have found, in his backyard, the famous "Fruit-of-Youth Tree"!
That's not to be confused with "Fruit of the Loom" undergarments.No sir!
I, Bri, need no such ‘undergarments', as my body's covered with ….thick fur.

Yes, especially as Halloween approaches, with its witches, goblins, and such,
my body hair get so very, VERY long! Would any of you care to touch …………
it?

(October 272017)

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POEMS TO FOLLOW.


AND:

[[I ALSO HAVE SELECTED several POEMS, FROM PH's lists of poems about FRIENDS, to ‘round out' the showcase.
I shall give the author names, titles, and partial links to these poems in a section farther down this page,
after six poems by active members on PH.]]

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The POETS and the ‘partial links' to their poems' pages:

1 - Savita Tyagi ………one poem offered

/poem/goodness-sprouts-by-evil-in-las-vegas-shooting/


2 - Douglas Scotney.....one poem offered

/poem/if-wanton-not-now-when/


3 - Brian Johnston …….one poem offered

/poem/ph-faith-living-with-love-and-depression-etc/


4-Bharati Nayak.....one poem offered [but I 'had to' pick it out]

/poem/and-so-i-love-you-pablo-neruda/


5-Andy Brookes.....one poem offered

/poem/tweeting-and-twitching/


6-Bri Edwards......one poem offered

/poem/hippo-was-hungry-humor-humour-food-hippopotamus-shopping-short-inspired-by-my-growling-belly/





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The POEMS etc.:

1 - By Savita Tyagi; ‘offered'; topics: life and death; ‘partial link': /poem/goodness-sprouts-by-evil-in-las-vegas-shooting/


Goodness Sprouts By Evil In Las Vegas Shooting

Las Vegas shooting miraculously restored
Faith of millions in great human spirit.
While the bullets were raining down
On crowd so oblivious to death hounds,
Angels stepped in to show true benevolence.

Evil takes a long time to think, prepare
And execute its deadly plan before it
Succeeds to create unimaginable distress.
It brings upon worst kind of horrific suffering
But goodness responds spontaneously.

A mother takes bullets to shield her little child
A father does same to shield his daughter
A husband shields his wife instantly
With wonder in eyes we hear tales of
Strangers extending hands to strangers.

A young man running to escape stops,
Answers call of his heart, as if guided
By some unknown hands of divine.
He turns back to enter war zone like place
To help numerous people to escape.

He gets shot in process but restores
Hope of so many in works of goodness.
For horrified hearts screaming for help
They are the real heroes answering prompt
Calls of goodness to defeat evil instantly.

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Poet's Notes:

In reaction to Las Vegas shooting October 2017. Like million others I too was touched by tales of goodness coming out from this otherwise very sad and cold- blooded massacre.

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2 - By Douglas Scotney; offered; topics: flowers, language, poetry, rude, sensual;
‘partial link: /poem/if-wanton-not-now-when/


If 'wanton' Not Now, When?

Lord knows,
as difficult to pull off
as a long poem is,
here goes:

From poppies'
erecting stems
and blooms sensu -al and -ous
(still and dancing)
and from bees
kicking like contented cats
in poppies' fluffy, capacious anthers,
interchangeable of yore
may have been
'poppy' and 'wanton'.

Time to give 'wanton' a go as 'poppy'
and 'poppy' one as 'wanton'.
No; as 'poppy'
what 'poppy' also might of yore have been
(also of yore might) ,
'libertine'.

If that,
what then when now is yore?
Say 2994?

We give 'libertine' the sack
and switch back.
No; give 'wanton' a go.

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3 - By Brian Johnston; offered; topics: faith; service
‘partial link': /poem/ph-faith-living-with-love-and-depression-etc/


Living With Love and Depression, Etc.

I've great news for the world! You are free to choose either!
Depression's your flavor? Then go right ahead
And embrace the depression that means so much to you,
But loved or depressed still someday you'll be dead.

Now to some, that's depressing, to others quite hopeful,
For life is like school. Jesus! There's much to learn!
If you think learning's fun, then life can be a blessing,
But those who fear judgment find life a slow burn.

Is a student alive with no dream of vacation?
Not thrilled top to bottom when lesson gets done?
It's our choice to see challenge or simply disaster
So much in life rests on the way story's spun.

There are some who view life as a 'bouquet of roses, '
And others who choose to see just 'trail of tears, '
But a man is not stupid who sees both as feelings
And feelings can change though it often takes years.

There is no one so lucky that death is not waiting
And glasses (1) can color the luck we compare,
If it's choice to be happy why would you not claim it,
Just what do you gain when you live with despair?

Now I'll bet there are some who say 'You're skirting pain, sir! '
'I'm dying of cancer! Put that in your pipe! '
Well, friend, death's rarely painless, and always a wonder,
But lessons are learned too; I try not to gripe.

But acknowledging pain is one way to reduce it,
Forgetting past joy is quite human as well,
And to choose our own lives is the task that's before us
Has a man ever lived without demons to quell?

It is nearly lost cause to change others around us
Best chance to change world is addressing our flaws
If the world sees us change it might follow example,
For sure more impressive than jawbone (2) or laws!

And the Bible says service is heart of faith living,
The tepid face danger God might spit them out,
The true Christian is one who is kind to a stranger,
For action counts more than the prayers of devout.


(Oct 5,2017)

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Poet's Notes:
(1) A reference to the expression 'to look at the world with rose-colored glasses: ' If 'rose' is the color for optimism, perhaps 'blue' is the color for sadness or depression. The point is that we all choose the 'tint' for the glasses we wear!
(2) 'Jawbone' as used here is a 'double entendre' and intentionally refers both to the use of violence (as with Sampson slaying 1000 men, Judges 15: 16) and to the use of bombast with politicians/parents who 'talk us to death' but don't 'walk the walk! ' It's not called the 'Bully Pulpit' for nothing!

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4 - By Bharati Nayak; offered; topics: literature, love and life, poetry;

partial link: /poem/and-so-i-love-you-pablo-neruda/


And So I Love You Pablo Neruda

So many years after
Your death, Pablo Neruda!
I fell in love with you
The words once you whispered
In the ears of your beloved
The songs you sang
In your passions or in your tears
Have become my dear
And so I love you Pablo Neruda

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Bri's notes:

Bharati Nayak has some poems, in her PH list of poems, written in the Odia language.And Pablo Neruda has poems on PH.

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5 - By Andy Brookes; offered; topics: birds, nature;

partial link: /poem/tweeting-and-twitching/


Tweeting And Twitching

The loose knit morning rose
cold though it was it had opportunity endless

the robin tells me, by his red flash,
grass, frosted emerald needs footprints
just to make it authentic,
would I please give him some bread
tail flashing semaphore.

the telegraph poles buzz,
mobiles ring, but the birds tweet
better than anything on line.
for they choose the sparrows one, two, three,
to gossip away the early morning
to preen and wash before breakfast.

Starlings, those little braggers, steal food,
with much flapping and consternation, making sparrows indignant.

the cars have not yet come out
to career like dragons on metaled tarmac,
so the birds and I have the morning to ourselves
as we eat our breakfasts of nuts and seeds.


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Bri's note:

I changed "career" to "careen", "on a hunch".Also, I did not know what "metaled tarmac" meant, though I had an idea about "tarmac".So i Googles and found:

"met•al
ˈmedl/
verb
adjective: metalled; past participle: metalled; past tense: metalled

1.
make out of or coat with metal.
metaled key rings
2.
British
make or mend (a road) with road metal.
follow the metalled road**** for about 200 yards "

And.............so "metaled/metalled tarmac" means what [in the U.S.] I might call a "paved road". :)

AND:Andy says he has revised the order of some of the lines in his poem, but I have not verified that.

AND:Now, after communicating with Andy, and seeing another comment on the poem's page telling me that "career" is correct [at least in the U.K.], I am changing "careen" BACK TO "career" (meaning to speed, it seems) . :)
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6 - By Bri Edwards; offered; topics: assumption, humor

partial link: /poem/hippo-was-hungry-humor-humour-food-hippopotamus-shopping-short-inspired-by-my-growling-belly/


Hippo Was Hungry …[ Humor/Humour; Food; Hippopotamus; Shopping; Short; Inspired By My Growling Belly! ]

I was shopping at the grocery store when in walked a hippopotamus.
It was my first time seeing a ‘hippo' there, and management made such a fuss!
They checked first to see if it'd tracked in river mud ….or something WORSE.
AND they watched to see if Miss Hippo would put a watermelon in her purse.

[She didn't.]

As she was so HUGE, they put the bakery on alert, assuming she ate pies.
They put the lunch counter on alert, assuming she ate LOTS of French fries.
But she passed by the bakery, the lunch counter, and meat and dairy sections,
preferring to browse the produce displays, picking her fruit and veggie selections.

She held up and examined a bunch of grapes; she gulped down two or three.
I don't mean two or three GRAPES.I mean two or three BUNCHES, ….with glee.
Into her cart** went 3 cases of grapes, then carrots [a hundred pound bag].
The steel grocery cart began to groan; its ‘basket' began to sag.

Potatoes, squash, beets, all sorts of "greens"; 100 pounds of cabbage [for sauerkraut].
As she wheeled her purchases to her truck, a NEW sign in produce said: "ALL SOLD OUT".

(October 28,2017)

**in U.K., "trolley"

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Poems listed by PH as having to do with FRIENDS:

1 - By John Keats, (31 October 1795 - 23 February 1821)

partial link: /poem/to-a-friend-who-sent-me-some-roses/


To A Friend Who Sent Me Some Roses

As late I rambled in the happy fields,
What time the skylark shakes the tremulous dew
From his lush clover covert; —when anew
Adventurous knights take up their dinted shields;
I saw the sweetest flower wild nature yields,
A fresh-blown musk-rose; 'twas the first that threw
Its sweets upon the summer: graceful it grew
As is the wand that Queen Titania wields.
And, as I feasted on its fragrancy,
I thought the garden-rose it far excelled;
But when, O Wells! thy roses came to me,
My sense with their deliciousness was spelled:
Soft voices had they, that with tender plea
Whispered of peace, and truth, and friendliness unquelled.

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2 - By Ernestine Northover, (25th March 1943-?)

partial link: /poem/my-friend-mary/


My Friend Mary

On poemhunter I've found a new friend,
Her comments she'll regularly send,
She's boosted my ego
Thus, helping my 'lines' flow
On her I know I can depend.

Her name's Mary Nagy you see,
She could not be nicer to me,
She's open and honest
And one of the bonniest
People. I know you'll agree.

So I want to now, thank her, for sure,
I hope she won't think me a bore,
But she's such a great mate
To her I can relate,
So I send her best wishes galore.

From your 'adopted' Mom.

(© Ernestine Northover)

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3 - By C. J. Heck, (?)

partial link: /poem/my-best-friend-children/


My Best Friend (Children)

My best friend had lots of curls
but wasn't like the other girls
who stayed dressed up and always clean.
My best friend wore old blue jeans.

She loved to do things just like me,
like building forts and climbing trees.
She stubbed her toe, and to stop the blood,
we both walked barefoot through the mud.

She could pitch a baseball, make it fly
much faster than most any guy.
And when she ran, her feet had wings!
My best friend could do anything.

All summer long we stayed outside
pretending things and riding bikes
or sometimes wading in the creek
where I fell down and skinned my knee.

One autumn day, I saw her cry.
I felt so sad when she told me why.
The doctors told her she was sick
and she needed treatment, really quick.

Her parents drove her. I watched them go,
and doctors still don't really know
just how to cure the thing she had
that made her sick and feel so bad.

One rainy night she went away
up to heaven where she will stay,
but her memory will never end
‘cause I'll always remember
my best friend.

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4 - By Gordon Whittaker, (March 24,1938-?)

partial link: /poem/my-best-friend-15/


'My Best Friend'

He is my best friend
a pal on who I can depend.
We are always together,
I love him in a funny sort of way
but I hasten to add, I'm certainly not gay

He always gets all the attention
I'm sure he goes out with that intention.
Females fondle him quite unashamedly,
whilst I observe with a tinge of envy.

But he is a real good looking guy
a guy that attracts admiring female glances
and oh boy he certainly gets his chances.
Yet from birth when he learned to walk
my best friend has never been able to talk.
He understands everything that I say,
he communicates with me in his own special way.

Tonight we are watching the TV
but I am bored, it's a re-run on BBC.
I glance at the clock it's quarter to nine
the weather outside is warm and fine
I say ‘‘ lets go to the pub
for a few glasses of ale."
He jumps up makes for the door
wagging his tail.

Need I say more, my best friend is
A handsome Labrador

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Come back and take a look in November, IF you'd like to.

Bri Edwards aka (in the ‘real world') Brian E. Whitaker

October....27...2017