Author: Jerry Brotherton

I am The Backyard Poet and I warn you that, not only will I ramble on about nothing but, I have been known to stand upon my soapbox and rant about things I care nothing about just to hear the sound of my own voice. I will try to force my opinion upon anyone willing to pay the slightest attention.

Starry, Starry Night

On By Jerry BrothertonIn Non Fiction, Short StoriesLeave a comment

Driving down country roads. Rocks and rubber singing in harmony. Rows of brown corn flash by and disappear behind us. You tune the radio and the melodies form images in our brains. We’re ready to Drift Away on the Midnight Train to Georgia. Your Killing Me Softly with your closeness. I whisper Give Me a Little Love, you sing Dream On. Later, lying on the hood, the warmth from the engine against our backs we stare at the stars in the sky as they dance to the rhythm of Diamond Girl. The radio croons Let’s Get it On.

Crazy Ideas

On By Jerry BrothertonIn flash, Short StoriesLeave a comment

Most ideas will sound crazy, stupid and uneconomical and then they turn out to be right – Reed Hastings

We all know the stories “That’s just a wild and crazy idea young man, no one with half a brain would ever pay good money for that. So take your ‘Pet Rock’, ‘Mood Ring’, ‘Bottled Water’, ‘Canned Air’, ‘Beanie Baby’, and ‘Santa Mail’ out of here and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

If you believe in yourself, don’t let people convince you that you’re wrong. Keep on trying.

Do you remember the year?

On By Jerry BrothertonIn flash, Short Stories1 Comment

Well John and Mitchy were getting kind of itchy, cause it was kind of a drag to not be groovin’ on a Sunday afternoon. So I said we’re going to San Francisco and I don’t care how much money I gotta spend, so we can fly. Here, the hometown looks the same but, you’re gonna meet some gentle people there and the rows of houses are all the same and nobody seems to care. Nothing is real and there’s nothing to get hung about. So there’s not a trace of doubt in my mind that when logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead, you can either stand in the pouring rain or hide behind rainbow’s wall.

Now, it was on the third of June, another sleepy, dusty delta day you asked me if there’ll come a time that we’ll go riding along on a carousel. I thought you looked too good to be true. You told me, “I aint never loved a man.”

But baby, I need your lovin’ and I know what you want…baby, I got it.

So let’s spend the night together and don’t worry ‘bout tomorrow. Then, all over the world you can hear the sound of lovers in love.

That’s when we skipped the light fandango because we both knew that all you need is Love.

They Sold Your Soul

On By Jerry BrothertonIn Free Verse, PoetryLeave a comment

They Sold Your Soul

There is a place that exists
Between Hell and Heaven
And we’re doing a tightrope balancing act
On the center rail of humanity

America I pledge allegiance but I can’t tell anymore which country you are
I’ve asked the questions  but never get a straight answer
There are times when I can feel the sun shining on my back
But it  quickly fades back to hate and blame

When did life get so damned hard
When did the answers to the questions become more questions
When did the light at the end of the tunnel
Turn out to be a street lamp on the corner of Lies and Mistrust

They all run around screaming silence at each other
Each one wanting to know why the other can’t understand the lie
When it’s as plain as the  pimple in the ass crack of their insanity
It itches but they won’t scratch it for fear we’ll smell the shit on their hands

So somebody please tell me where did the innocent children go
I know they were here just a few minutes ago
I heard them laughing and playing out on the lawn
But when I turned back to look they were suddenly gone

They’re in the bathroom with a razor slash across their wrists
Because they know the big white house on top of the hill
Is just a meeting place for the worlds auctioneers
And what is for sale and who is in line to buy it

Those Who Wait

On By Jerry BrothertonIn flash, Short StoriesLeave a comment

“Things will come to those who wait”

Unfortunately, it will only be the leftovers from those who hustled. You know all the clichés. The early bird gets the worm; first to table gets the hottest food or first come first served. My personal favorite, #1 is always the winner and #2 is just another loser. I think Warren Buffet probably summed it up best in his philosophy for investing. “Always go with the original”. I can’t tell you how many products I’ve seen in my lifetime and said, “Man, I thought of that years ago.” But while I was just thinking about it, someone else was doing something about it. So whatever it is you’re dreaming of… be the first to act.