#georgefilip

[poetrythreesixfive]

Early Risers

The daffodils sprang in December

while winter was barely new;

the earliest I can remember,

the daffodils sprang in December,

they had only decayed in September

when the summer was scarcely through;

the daffodils sprang in December

while winter was barely new.

-GeorgeFilip

#poem #poetry #poetrythreesixfive #georgefilip #spilledink #poetryportal #poetsandwriters #poetsontumbler #spilledwords #global warming #early spring #triolet #daffodils

[poetrythreesixfive]

Retreat

When humans disappoint me,

I find my way outside

among the tall and shady pines

where isolation hides.

The dangers of the downfall,

a threat of tooth and claw,

where every errant step you take

rebukes you, pained and raw.

No pretense of the handshake,

no practice by the book,

no judgment for the words you say

or how they way you look.

Just wind and sky and water,

just stone and cold returns,

a classroom where the man

with zero expectations learns.

So when the sweetness sours

and life turns cold and stale,

don’t seek me in the busy streets;

you’ll find me on the trail.

-GeorgeFilip

#poem #poetry #poetrythreesixfive #georgefilip #spilledink #poetryportal #poetsandwriters #poetsontumbler #spilledwords #retreat #nature #the woods #misanthrope

[poetrythreesixfive]

Your Touch

What is it about your touch

that makes life worth a damn?

I need it so fucking much,

what is it about your touch?

I never thought of it such,

but it’s everything that I am;

what is it about your touch

that makes life worth a damn?

-GeorgeFilip

#poem #poetrythreesixfive #poetry #georgefilip #spilledink #poetryportal #poetsandwriters #poetsontumbler #spilledwords #love #devotion #passion #triolet #touch

[poetrythreesixfive]

Secret Love

If only you are fortunate

to have a secret love,

that no one else can criticize

or cancel from above

that stirs your soul to passion,

accelerates your heart,

that makes you count the hours

when your bodies are apart

that turns your ear to music,

makes poetry of breath,

inspires you to contemplate

the certainty of death

you’ll wish to tell the world,

but keep your joy untold,

for valuables are never safe,

and love like this is gold.

-GeorgeFilip

#poem #poetry #georgefilip #poetrythreesixfive #spilledink #poetryportal #poetsandwriters #poetsontumbler #spilledwords #deepthoughts #love #secret love #secrets

[poetrythreesixfive]

Scoured

Following the storm, the March wind scoured

the countryside like a brazen dream that wakes

us with its stark truth, leaving the debris of life

in its wake, tree branches and newspapers and

empty plastic recyclables tossed from a rolling

bin, appointments and expectations, interviews

and promotions, all brushed aside with leftover

autumn leaves ripped from gutters and gardens

to tumble down the street into elegiac disarray.

-GeorgeFilip

#poem #poetry #poetrythreesixfive #georgefilip #spilledink #poetryportal #poetsandwriters #poetsontumbler #spilledwords #deepthoughts #March #wind #scoured #surreal

[poetrythreesixfive]

Come and Gone

I would like to think that somewhere

there is a low stone wall capped with snow

upon which lean two small boys wearing hats

and talking about the meaning of Christmas

while inside the school auditorium, children

dance like zombies and whirl-e-gigs while

a blonde Beethoven aficionado plays a jangly

jazz piece punctuated with Latin rhythms

a white dog decorates his doghouse with lights

and stars while his best friend, a tiny yellow bird,

flutters and drifts like the snowflakes hovering

in a sky strewn with painted constellations

I don’t know if these things really happen out

in Iowa or Kansas where I imagine them to be,

but this unsettled world would be a much

lesser place if it were not somehow true.

-GeorgeFilip

#poem #poetrythreesixfive #poetry #georgefilip #spilledink #poetryportal #poetsandwriters #poetsontumbler #spilledwords #deepthoughts #charlie brown #charles schulz #peanuts #snoopy #christmas

[poetrythreesixfive]

Time is Money

Long-term investment is like having

a really good friend to whom you say,

Hey, can you hold this money for me?

and if you don’t mind, can you keep it

for say, twenty years? And he says,

Sure, no problem—and tell you what,

when I give it back, I’ll give you three

times the amount. How’s that sound?

to which you respond, Really? Wow,

you are a really good friend. But I don’t

get it. Why on earth would you do that?

And he looks at you, smiles, and says,

Why not? I got nothing else goin’ on…

-GeorgeFilip

#poem #poetry #poetrythreesixfive #georgefilip #spilledink #poetryportal #poetsandwriters #poetsontumbler #spilledwords #money #time is money #finance #investment

[poetrythreesixfive]

November Rain

We’ve had a dry November,

it hardly rained at all,

which seems a bit unusual

for this late in the fall.

The withered leaves are crispy,

the dirt is hard as stone,

the branches dead upon the grass

are weathered white as bone.

But clouds arrived this morning

with darkness on display,

and when it finally rained in full,

the world got washed away.

The streets were fully flooded,

the sewers overflowed,

parked cars were washed away 

into the creek beside the road.

The airlines all were grounded,

with travelers stuck for hours,

and even trains stayed off the tracks,

delayed by endless showers.

And when it all was over,

we all came out to find

November washed away

with freezing winter close behind.

Be careful what you wish for,

when weather is in play;

you may not always like

what Mother Nature has to say.

-GeorgeFilip

#poem #poetry #poetrythreesixfive #georgefilip #spilledink #poetryportal #poetsandwriters #poetsontumbler #spilledwords #rain rain go away #november rain

[poetrythreesixfive]

Separation Anxiety

I wish that I could call my dog

and get him on the phone

to say what a good boy he is

and treat him with a bone.

To tell him that I miss him,

and that I am coming home,

and that I feel really bad

for leaving him alone.

He’s likely sad and worried

and waiting by the door

wondering why I didn’t take him

with me to the store.

But I can’t even get him

to acknowledge the T.V.,

so answering the phone, I fear,

is just not meant to be.

Then again, perhaps

he’s sleeping peacefully and free,

and the only one who’s wondering

and worrying is me.

#poem #poetry #poetrythreesixfive #georgefilip #spilledink #spilled words #poetsontumbler #poetsandwriters #poetryportal #dogs #ilovedogs #separationanxiety

[poetrythreesixfive]

5 O’clock Somewhere

Filling out a work report,

a tiny slice of hell;

paperwork is never done,

but only time will tell.

Clock is ticking by the hour

consistent with the sun,

pursuing time and cash until

the corporate day is done.

The clients billed by hours,

the hours stacked in rows,

the timesheets tracking money

as the workload never slows.

Until the day is over,

with promises to keep;

it seems my work is never-ending

even when I sleep.

Perhaps it’s time to question

exactly what I think—

ask, what would Jimmy Buffett do?

and go and have a drink.

-GeorgeFilip

#poem #poetry #poetrythreesixfive #georgefilip #spilledink #poetryportal #poetsandwriters #poetsontumbler #spilledwords #deepthoughts #jimmy buffett #rip jimmy buffett #it's five o'clock somewhere #workingman

[poetrythreesixfive]

Enter: October

October has arrived

with a chill beneath the door,

it snuck in through the cracks

and crept across the floor.

It blew in down the chimney

and rapped upon the pane,

a sudden shift of shadow,

a darkness in the rain.

An amber in the sunset,

a timbre to the breeze,

a wilting in the flowers,

a sadness in the trees.

It will not last forever,

I hope it stays a while,

for some, it feels like sorrow,

for me, it makes me smile.

                     -GeorgeFilip

#poem #poetry #poetrythreesixfive #georgefilip #spilledink #spilledwords #poetsontumbler #poetsandwriters #poetryportal #autumn #october #ilovefall

[poetrythreesixfive]

A Good Poem

you know a poem is good

when every time you read it

you get something new.

a poem is, you know, good

when every time you read it

you get something new.

a poem is, you know, good

every time, when you read it

you get something new.

a poem is, you know, good

every time, when you read it

new, you get something.

a good poem you know is

something you get every time

when you read it new.

a good poem you know is,

when you read it new,

something you get every time.

something you get every time

when you read it new

is, you know, a good poem.

when you read something new,

a poem, you know you get it,

every time it is good.

you know you get something new

when you read it, a good poem,

it is every time.

you know you get something new

when every time you read it,

a good poem, it is.

you know you get a good poem

when every time you read it

it is something new.

when every time you read it,

you get something new,

you know a poem is good.

when every time you read it,

you know a poem is good,

you get something new.

you get something new

when, every time you read it,

you know a poem is good.

you know a poem is good

when every time you read it

you get something new.

-GeorgeFilip

#poem #poetry #georgefilip #poetrythreesixfive #spilledink #poetryportal #poetsandwriters #poetsontumbler #spilledwords #deepthoughts

[poetrythreesixfive]

Once Upon a Poem

Once upon a poem,

a line came into form,

a simple line, at first, that seemed

to simulate the norm.

But then it found another,

the icy white was warmed,

two more joined in, like kinfolk,

and a stanza then was formed.

A second then was added,

a third soon found its place,

and pretty soon, the clacking keys

could not keep up the pace.

The only thing still missing

was some insightful theme,

a notion whose emotion would

be much more than it seemed.

By stanza four, it found one,

that opened like a door,

allowing readers entrance where

they’d never been before.

Like any decent poem,

it did not spell it out,

but let the watchful reader search

and find what it’s about.

And seven stanzas later,

through miracles and laughter,

the lines ran off together, living

happily ever after.

-GeorgeFilip

#poem #poetry #poetrythreesixfive #georgefilip #spilledink #poetryportal #poetsandwriters #poetsontumbler #spilledwords #deepthoughts

[poetrythreesixfive]

Cage Free

Let your children wander free

to roam the field and wood;

you know that if you were their age,

you’d join them if you could.

The time they spend alone outside

plants wonder in the heart,

and if they keep it as they grow,

then you have done your part.

                    -GeorgeFilip

#poem #poetry #poetrythreesixfive #georgefilip #spilled words #spilledwords #poetsontumbler #poetsandwriters #poetryportal #cagefree #safetyism #children #nature #outside

[poetrythreesixfive]

Deathwatch

The crows are watching, silent,

perched upon their branches—

some dismiss their prophecy,

but you can take your chances.

Omens ripe with sorrow,

harbingers of mourning—

if some menace this way comes,

I’d rather have forewarning.

-GeorgeFilip

#poem #poetry #poetrythreesixfive #georgefilip #spilledink #poetryportal #poetsandwriters #poetsontumbler #spilledwords #deepthoughts #autumn #october #crows #amurderofcrows #scary

[poetrythreesixfive]

Flaming Out

The painted autumn skies

are summer’s final parting,

an exhibition for the eyes,

the painted autumn skies,

a sudden blaze that slowly dies

while winter is slowly starting;

the painted autumn skies

are summer’s final parting.

-GeorgeFilip

#poem #poetry #poetrythreesixfive #georgefilip #spilledink #poetryportal #poetsandwriters #poetsontumbler #spilledwords #autumn #iloveautumn #sunset #winteriscoming #triolet