The Daily Poem

FIRST SIGHT

The words come in and play their image on my screen,

And so I see the things I never would have seen.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Epigram)

HUNGRY GIANT

I pulled all the fish from the seven seas,

   I snared all the birds from the seven skies,

I shot all the beasts off the seven lands,

   And put all their meat in a million pies.

There's not a meat that's left to eat

That isn't in my silver tins.

Just plankton is left in the seven seas,

   Just insects are left in the seven skies,

Just lizards are left on the seven lands,

   And everything else is cooked in the pies.

Fee Fie what have I done?

Foe Fum what have I done?

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Novel Verse Form)

INFINITY SANDWICH CUBES

The aerial delicatessen serves

   Infinity sandwich cubes

That taste like Cinnamon Fin hors d’oeuvres

   Still wet from the harvest tubes.

They send a dozen icy trays,

   For Tuesday-nighter's church.

We sing and dance our songs of praise,

   From our communal perch,

Where the aerial delicatessen serves

   Infinity sandwich cubes.

And when we’re done, we simmer down

   With Bubble Pearls on rye,

And not a soul refuses when

   Again the cubes go by,

That taste like Cinnamon Fin hors d’oeuvres

   Still wet from the harvest tubes.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Novel Verse Form)

18628

Today is number eighteen six two eight;

   Just one more happy day until I'll be

The ever-dreaded eighteen six two nine.

I can't imagine time beyond that day,

Since eighteen six three oh is nothing more

   Than vaguely vague hyperbole drift to me.

   And so within today's eternity,

I'll track the moments well and hide their fates

In seldom seen syntactical disguise.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Novel Verse Form)

THE CAPTAIN'S VOICE

A trace of gold below the stormy waves,

Beneath the tomb-like wreck of a brigantine,

A ghastly ghostly place of twisted graves,

Believed to hold the souls of a king and queen.

Confused by changing winds and darkening skies,

Directed by no star, the sailors wait,

Convinced that Death in veils of gray disguise,

Descends upon their ranks with icy hate.

Effusive in his nonchalance and poise,

Ferocious in his optimistic stand,

Erasing fear, the captain spurs the boys,

"Fear not. Stand firm. We soon will raise the land."

Gregarious he moves among the men,

"Go on toward shore, for gold we'll come again."

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Shakespearean Sonnet)

ON THE COUCH

The thunder rolls, I light the fire

And pray you'll be home soon.

My head is tired, my body weak,

This gray gray afternoon.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Ballad Meter)

GET OUT QUICK

When the work of paying dues

   Dryly slights the dynamite,

Just drop the stones and light the fuse,

Daisy chain the dominos,

   Masquerade a fast cascade

And tip your hat before it blows.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Novel Verse Form)

SOMETHING ELSE

You hide your other face so well,

   And though you'd never tell,

I've learned a thing or two you know,

   My girly mademoiselle.

Perhaps you know I know it too,

   Pretending it's not you,

But still we meet and make believe

   It's not a rendezvous.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Ballad Meter)

SPENDTHRIFT

We ride the years

And give our taken breaths away.

We ride the years

To lift the setting sun's frontiers,

Content to find what loss we may,

To largely spend our little day;

We ride the years.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Rondelet)

HEART SHIP

There lies a bitter ache in every heart

For one sweet truth to hold its rhythm strong,

To ratify its sense of right and wrong,

To steer it through the narrows of the chart.

Since from so many sides the arrows dart,

And courage flags in doldrums left too long,

There lies a bitter ache in every heart

For one sweet truth to hold its rhythm strong.

The captain of the soul must stop and start,

To avoid a squall, or the deadly siren song,

Or to pause in port to jolly the crew along,

Well knowing that within its deepest part

There lies a bitter ache in every heart

For one sweet truth to hold its rhythm strong.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Rondel)

THE SCOUNDREL'S ESCAPE

This is all the room he's going to get,

Let me show you where he propped his hat;

That is not the way we do it here.

Near the end he's sure to reminisce.

This is where the scoundrel stole the vat

That we knew was full of something wet.

Let his legacy be changed from fact to fear;

Near the gate is where the scoundrel spat.

That is also where he stood to piss.

This we found in Bluestone Odor Smear

Near the curb where Idlling One Corvette

Let him slip aboard to New Abyss.

~ D. Edgar Lamp ("Tetrahedragram")

THE WOMEN OF THE STATION

A whistlestop farewells the leaving train

As ladies lift their flutes of fine champagne

Who did what they could do to entertain;

   Already memories in their mind's eye view

   Begin to turn from done to next redo,

   A visual echo loose like déjà vu.

   Perhaps they did it best in déjà vu,

Another time, another leaving train,

   So perfect as to glibly spurn redo;

Their brief unbuttered toasts of dry champagne

   Bring back the double-take to clearest view

Of what it was and is to entertain.

Accepting one last call to entertain

   The Girls had felt the tug of déjà vu,

   Together forging one nostalgic view;

They'd set the stage to greet the coming train

With magnum flasks of pink champagne

   Like none had done before nor would redo.

   A thing well done resists the cheap redo,

And laughing at it now they entertain

The notion that perhaps the spiked champagne

   Brought on the raucous reeling déjà vu;

The secret substance may have bent the train

   Before it's afterimage vanished from their view.

   Although they share this standard view,

   The women of the station wish redo

Was possible, but know that then the final train

And everything they'd conjured up to entertain

   Would never transmutate to déjà vu;

Imaged acts dissolve like poured champagne.

The vanished effervescence of champagne,

   The yesterdays that slowly fade from view,

   The haunting ecstacy of déjà vu,

   Have coalesced beyond the caught redo

And tripping from their corner set to entertain

The charming ladies sally toward the train.

Again the déjà vu returning train,

In parallel redo of pure chamgagne,

The old compelling view to entertain. 

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Sestina)

FREEDOM'S GUARANTEE

And then the boom comes down,

The way it does when things go wrong,

But nothing's wrong

Around or down;

The snaring net released,

As if the prey is ripe to catch,

But none will catch

What's been released.

~D. Edgar Lamp (Novel Verse Form)

HIDE & SEEK

I want to know

   Though I can't hear

The voice of One

   Who does not speak

To see the One

   Who stands so near

Although His face

   I ever seek.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Novel Verse Form)

INSTRUMENT FLYING RULES

It's not too late to change your mind

(Unless, of course, you're just that good),

From line of sight to flying blind.

You're aeronautically refined

(Perhaps a bit misunderstood);

It's not too late to change your mind.

The reason's rather ill-defined,

To change your style (as if you should),

From line of sight to flying blind.

You've flown the crafts of rarest kind

(The ones they said nobody could);

It's not too late to change your mind.

The logic's weak to leave behind

Your skill, and turn (as if you would),

From line of sight to flying blind.

It'll be (if you remain resigned),

A burning hole where once you stood.

It's not too late to change your mind,

From line of sight to flying blind.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Villanelle)

DON'T LET THE MONSTER

Don't let the monster pinch your face,

His ogre tech is so passe;

Just hit him with your knowledge base.

He stalks you from his scary place,

Imagining you're made of clay;

Don't let the monster pinch your face.

If creeping from his steeple chase,

He traps you with his dossier,

Just hit him with your knowledge base.

He licks his lips of ghostly lace,

Believing you're a puffed souffle;

Don't let the monster pinch your face.

He'll gobble up your kung-fu mace,

And snap your slinging shot crochet;

Just hit him with your knowledge base.

Remember when from outer space,

He presupposes you're his prey,

Don't let the monster pinch your face,

Just hit him with your knowledge base.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Villanelle)

NAVI GATOR'S RUN

Navi Gator felt an upward pull,

 "Upward Mobility" by Ken Rose at

http://www.duck-artshop.com/acatalog/Ken_Rose.html

Started up the crazy stairs,

"Oh No Did I Hit The Crazy Stairs" at

 http://katiefirich.blogspot.com/2008/08/on-no-did-i-hit-crazy-stairs.html

Found a classroom's open door,

"Open Door" by Mark A. Hicks at

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/clip/opendoor.html

First grade multimillionaires,

"The Multimillionaire's Club" at

http://mattbacaksystem.com/

Ready to anticipate,

 "Gleeful Anticipation" by Steve Chong at

  http://www.i-marco.nl/weblog/archive/2006/05/20/the_amazing_photography_of_ste

Synthesize and integrate,

"ASIN - Archetecture and Synthesis of Integrated Nanostructures" at

http://www.tcd.ie/Chemistry/staff/people/duesberg/ASIN%20web%2027-10-09/research.html

Felt a sudden downward push,

"Gently push downward..." at

http://pottery.about.com/od/centeringonthewheel/ss/openclay_2.htm

Found the window open wide,

"The Open Window" by Juan Gris at

http://www.dl.ket.org/webmuseum/wm/paint/auth/gris/open-window/index.htm

Leaped into a bramble bush,

"A Bramble / Blackberry Bush" at

http://birdtablenews.com/2009/03/hedges-for-birds/

Ran back to the other side.

"See You On The Other Side"  by Jasohill

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonellphoenix/galleries/72157622385913010

NAVI GATOR'S RUN

Navi Gator felt an upward pull,

Started up the crazy stairs,

Found a classroom's open door,

First grade multimillionaires,

Ready to anticipate,

Synthesize and integrate,

Felt a sudden downward push,

Found the window open wide,

Leaped into a bramble bush,

Ran back to the other side.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Novel Rhyme Scheme)

UPWARD MOBILITY

You'll end up where you should,

If you start from where you're good.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Epigram)

http://www.duck-artshop.com/acatalog/UpwardMobility.jpg" alt="See full size image" height="80" style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: 1px solid; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 10px 10px 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px solid" />

"Upward Mobility" by Ken Rose

http://www.duck-artshop.com/acatalog/Ken_Rose.html

S.A.L.T.

How many times can one endure

   The other cheek, the extra mile?

A daisy yields to wind and rain

   And ever offers up her smile.

But I'm more like a block of salt

   Left out of doors for ten long years,

Eroding down with every storm

   Until there's nothing left but tears.

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Ballad Meter)

THE LONG RIDE

Forget the sights on either side

   I’m all about the road.

She blows her skirt up all the way

   And lets her loose be showed.

Her honey-drizzled dotted line

   Directs my driven wheel,

She offers up her flighty groove,

   Her windy-nippled feel.

And all the world's a fuzzy blur

   Peripheral to this,

The throttled moment bending down

   To taste her raven bliss.

On a North-to-South U.S. 101 Ride, California

~ D. Edgar Lamp (Ballad Meter)

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hwy50/images/US_101.gif" alt="See full size image" height="80" style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: 1px solid; FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 10px 10px 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px solid" />

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_101_in_California