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DREAM WALK

Walking to the library

Dreaming my dreams

Drop the book

Right into the box

It was a joy to read

Yes indeed

Kind of a tribute

To old Stan Lee

And Chadwick Boseman

Both gone

Friendly ghosts

Helping me smile

Black Panther

Pink Panther

Peter Sellers

Clarence Clemons

Graham Chapman

Terry Jones

So many old souls

Singing and telling tales

David Cassidy

David Crosby

All old rascals

With angel’s voices

Now young

Mean

Lean

Seventeen

Walking home with me

Coming from the library

Dreaming my dreams

Pencil Poems J Smith January 20–2023

#INAGINATION PLAYHOUSE

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STARS BORN HERE

Park City

Robert Redford

New motion pictures

Play night and day

Fantasies

Documentaries

Pictures moving

Making stars

Of

Actors

Screen writers

Directors

Silver screen

Dreams

Come true

Look

Up at the screen

This is the place

To

See

And

To

Be

Seen

Pencil Poems J Smith January 19–2023

#IMAGINATION PLAYHOUSE

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WHERE AM I NOW?

Somewhere I’ve been before

Saying something you’ve probably heard

Familiar words

I have to admit

I’ve repeated myself

A time or two or more

Somewhere at sea

Somewhere on the shore

Out there between planets

Somewhere on earth

Nestled in a briar patch

Waiting for Brer Rabbit

And Uncle Wiggley

To come along and run with me

In an undisclosed location

A protected witness

To some of life’s

Most violent crimes

Here in the playhouse

In the clouds

Above the river Times

Where Easy Street

And Memory Lane meet

Just off the Carefree Highway

Somewhere in the Twentieth

Or Thirtieth Century

Held in captivity

By someone who calls herself Breath

Remembering serving Arthur

Dancing with Guinevere

Jousting with Lancelot

Making magic with Merlin

Remembering a year ago

When I was close to death

From exhaustion

Arthritis

And Insomnia

Until I took the medicine

That

Helped me

Dream

Again

Pencil Poems J Smith—January 18–2023

#IMAGINATION PLAYHOUSE

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DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT CHEMISTRY

Tho I really was an A student

High school senior of seventeen

Knew just enough general science

And elementary algebra

To be at home with the elements

On the table in the laboratory

And in our classroom

Learning slowly

But just fast enough

To keep up

Nothing too tough

Getting to know the things

All of us and our world

Are made of

Seems like Chemistry

And I

We’re in love

Yet I left it behind

When I left high school

Knowing I didn’t know

What I would need to know

To grow into a chemist

For real

Even tho in my college years

I roomed with fellows

Who became professionals

Out on the chemical frontier

Still I feel a thrill

Whenever I remember

My journey

Into elementary chemistry

Pencil Poems J Smith January 17–2023

#IMAGINATION PLAYHOUSE

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WHEN SCHOOL WAS ELEMENTARY

I was seven years old

In 1950

Our challenges were small

Truman and then Eisenhower

Lived in our White House

Lincoln and Washington

Decorated our stamps

And our money

Television was black and white

Steve Allen ruled late night

Radio sold soap

On daytime drama

Just Plain Bill

Pepper Young’s Family

Oxydol’s Own Ma Perkins

Lorenzo Jones and His Wife Bell

Golden voices

In my memory now

They keep coming back to me

Along with names of folks

I used to know

From decades ago

Frank Curtin

Louis Deweese

Carolyn Gillfoyle

Sandra Finley

Dennis Reali

Never knew any of them well

Yet just thinking of them

Casts a spell

Where are they now?

I wonder

Alive or gone?

Moving on

To their own playhouse in the clouds

All those kids

Studying with me

All of us beyond seventy

Here in the home of the brave

Land of the free

Pencil Poems J Smith January 16–2023

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SKY HIGH AGAIN

Close my eyes

Feeling sky high

Bill Haley and his Comets

Still rocking around the clock

Here in our playhouse

Mickey Mouse Club

Meets here too

So do the Inkspots

The Platters

The Modernaires

The Mills Brothers

Louie Jordan and his Tympani Five

Louis Armstrong and his All Stars

Zingy Stardust and his Spiders from Mars

Rick Ocasek from the Cars

Crosby

Autry

Everlys

Steve Allen

Burns and Allen

Audrey and Jayne Meadows

And so it goes

Here in the clouds

Jukebox loud

Dobie Gray

Ramsey Lewis

And the In Crowd

Wolfman Jack

Dick Clark

Buddy Holly

Alan Freed

Richie Valens

Big Bopper

Murray the K

What can I say?

So many smiles to smile

So many tunes to play

You know what I mean

Everyone’s seventeen

Happy to make the scene

With you

Pencil Poems J Smith January 15–2023

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NEWS REAL

Real news

Fake news

You’ve got to

Think about it carefully

And see

First draft of history

They say

Belongs to journalists

Whoever they are

So many editors

And publishers

These days

Plugged into a world wide net

Sharing ideas

Before we forget

Whether or not

Anyone cares

Electronic pages

Instant stories

Asking

Answering

All kinds of questions

Making suggestions

Crazy sometimes

Wilder than any rhymes

I might make

That’s when I head

To the library

To see the slender sheets

Of real newspapers

Hanging out on a rack

For us to grab and hold

And read

And put back

On the stand

Precious gold

In my hands

Pencil Poems J Smith January 14–2023

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SHOW BUSINESS—OUR BUSINESS

Morning sings us

Into each new day

Eat

Brush your teeth

Shower

Off to work for you

Another day

Of rhythm and melody

Even when you’re retired

The music of life

Gets you fired up

To go

On with your show

Entertainment

At your fingertips

Trips to the moon and beyond

Blasting off

For adventures

Entertaining yourself

From the bookshelf

Lap top

Desk top

Open up

Adventures

To read or write

Charlie Brown

Flying that kite

Kicking the ball

Winning the game

This time

Mission impossible

No longer

Dog house

Circles round the moon

Life playing a happy tune

Sunshine or storm

You still perform

Show biz is your biz

Smile on your face

Tears in your eyes

Beam aboard the Enterprise

Even as the sun sets

And it’s time to rest

A dream or two away

From another new day

Another sunrise

Another dawn

The show goes on

Pencil Poem J Smith January 12–2023

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ONCE UPON A TEACUP

Agatha Christie

Jane Marple

Solves a mystery

Eyes and ears

Open all the time

Knows who’s

Doing what to whom

Marriages

Divorces

Infidelities

Marple knows

What’s going on

Who’s doing wrong

Agatha worked in a pharmacy

When she was young

Her mind seems to be

An encyclopedia

Of poisons

So many characters

Mothers

Daughters

Fathers

Sons

So many suspicious ones

Somehow I never know

Plot so hard to follow

My mind goes

Where Jane Marple goes

Enjoying her charm

Just like the sergeants

And inspectors

I look into the face

Of each of these folks

And always get it wrong

Murders are rarely

The obvious ones

Whom the police

Want to arrest

Bad folks always

Seem to get the best

Of things

Until Jane who’s been

Watching and listening

Carefully

Solves the mystery

In a quiet way

Faithful readers say

She’s just their cup of tea

Pencil Poems January 11–2023

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RED STATE STORY

Burning coal

Oil

Gas

Smashing atoms

Making tons

Of

Missiles

Bombs

And guns

Imprisoning all kinds of animals

Farms

Fields

Zoos

Hunting down each bird and beast

Harvesting ocean beings

For our feast

Grabbing each day

Our daily plunder

No wonder

Who’s the master race?

Not mongrel migrants

Or those we used to call Indians

Not the miserable workers

Who mind the land

And run the machines

Fueled by a menu

Filled with drugs and sugar

Sold at sky high prices

Way over their heads

All for the benefit of us

We’re the ones

In charge of everything

Keeping America red

Pencil Poems J Smith January 10–2023

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SOUND STORY

Still enjoy

Just about

Every old tune

Even a few

New ones too

Breakfast with the Beatles

Weekend companions

To keep you company

Superstars still shining on

Never quite gone

Sounds from another century

I Want to Hold your Hand

Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

With a Little Help From My friends

This Boy

So much to enjoy

Tough

Sweet

Clever

Separately or together

Just as great as ever

Pencil Poems J Smith January 8-20023

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STILL TUNED IN

From universe to universe

I go

Streaming shows

Podcasts

Network programs

Moving pictures

Sometimes

I don’t know where

Tumblr

Facebook

Instagram

Pictures and words

Cosmos full of chaos

Buying

Selling

Telling stories

Singing songs

Pictures

Stories

Endless menu

Star Trek Picard

Moving from star to star

Charlie Brown

Getting put down

Rising up again

Tom Cruise

Making impossible possible

Marc Maron

Interviewing entertainers

On everything

Here am I

Beyond earth and sky

Swimming

In the stream

Of

Electronic

Dreams

Pencil Poems J Smith January 7–2023

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CHARACTER ACTOR

Woody Harrelson

Someone everyone knows

Small screen

Big screen

On stage

Good guy

Bad guy

In between

Wild guy

Mild guy

Doesn’t have to try

Always a character

Putting on a show

Everybody knows

Favorite entertainers

Intimate strangers

Familiar faces

Unforgettable voices

Beloved

Hated

People we’ve come to know

Thru dreams

So many here

At our playhouse

No older than seventeen

So many have already passed on

Others like Woody

Immortal

Already

Pencil Poems J Smith January 6–2023

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PLAYING IN THE RAIN

Can you hear it?

There’s a jukebox

Playing in the rain

Elvis telling us

About the cool Kentucky rain

Temptations

Wishing it would rain

Everly Brothers

Crying in the rain

So many raindrops

Says Dee Clark

Raindrops

Teardrops

From the sky

So many rain songs

Coming on

Wishing for more rain

Or wishing it would be gone

As water enriches the land

Or damages things

Sad mad glad songs

Fall down as the rain falls

On the window pane

Flood

Mud

Rivers of tears from the sky

Heaven cries

Reminding us of things we’re sad about

Deaths that come too soon

All kinds of pain

Yet sometimes joy

Just walking in the rain

Getting soaking wet

What a glorious feeling

Singing

Dancing in the rain

So much rain

Falling from above

Feeling like Noah

Waiting for the return

Of

The

Dove

Pencil Poems J Smith January 5–2023

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ATTENTION SHOPPERS

Where on earth is Woolworth’s?

Some folks say

Retail apocalypse

Has taken it away

Just like more and more places each day

Independents and giant chains

Of shops and stores

Are no more

Nothing’s as it was

Because fear

Suspicion

Bad planning

Unfairness

Sickness

Misunderstanding of supply and demand

Have knocked the giants down

Changed the landscape of the

Land of the Free

Mervyns

Montgomery Ward

Gimbels

Tower Records

Sam Goody

Blockbuster

Are just memories

Radio Shack’s not coming back

Yet somewhere I hear a bell ring

Look at a man begin

Selling ice cream from a truck

Could be my imagination

Maybe I’m back

In the Twentieth Century

Again

Pencil Poems J Smith January 4–2023

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WHERE AM I?

Still in exile

Here on Easy Street

Along with the folks from Cheers

Jimmy Dodd and the Mouseketeers

The starship Enterprise crew

And wonderful you

Flung into a time away from time

In a slingshot maneuver

Light years disappear

As the decades fade

We never really know

Where we’re going to go

Can anyone really believe

What he or she hears?

Where ever we fall

We land on our feet

So great to be

Part of Starfleet

Dreaming with you again

It’s been so long

I’ve wondered

When

We

Would

Meet

Again

Pencil Poems J Smith January 3–2003

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ABOVE THE RAINBOW

Here are

Robert Young

Jane Wyatt

Sidney Poitier

Hugh Downs

Namoi Judd

Irene Cara

Angela Lansbury

David Brinkley

Gilda Radner

Dave Garroway

Relaxing at Walt’s

Malted Milkshake Bar

Somewhere above the rainbow

Everyone we might know

From the past year or long ago

Rooosevelts

Windsors

Gandhis

Kennedys

In conversation

With

Barbara Walters

As if it were

Some

Distant

Yesterday

Pencil Poems J Smith January 2–2022