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.

The Cemetery

Here, they sleep

Freedom from the troubles of living

Close to those that left before them

Welcoming those that have followed

In peace

In this restful place

Surrounded by the wooded hills of youth

Serenity is everlasting

Broken only by the chattering of squirrels

The summer song of birds

They have no need for dreams

In their silent world

Trees and grasses dance in unison

Upon a soft summer breeze

I can feel their happiness

There is no sorrow

Here they slumber

Perhaps one day soon…

So shall I

On By Jerry BrothertonIn Free Verse, Poetry4 Comments

Whispers of Change

On By Jerry BrothertonIn Poetry, Rhyming1 Comment

In America there is talk of changes coming

Revolution is the tune that we’ve been humming

We’re all standing on the ledge

They’re trying to push us over the edge

To politician standing below just waiting for us

 

It started off with whispered words in backroom places

From the shadows it took to the streets through nameless faces

At the start the song was soft and low

But then our emotions began to grow

Now we’re shouting the truth to all who’ll hear us

 

Our leaders have showed us that they are useless

They proved long ago how they have a hatred for us

Discriminate against poor or old

By turning healthcare into gold

Our human rights will all be sold to line their pockets

 

In America, we must act while we still have the right

It’s not too late for us all to stand up and fight

Join us now and yell their name

They’re the ones who hold the blame

Without change it will be the ending for us

 

Don’t let the government take our freedoms from us

Let us set the world ablaze with our chorus

Our voices ring out through the night

To show the world what’s wrong or right

Together we can make a better place for us

Fate?

On By Jerry BrothertonIn Poetry, Rhyming7 Comments

Do we start racing toward our fate

The minute we emerge from the womb

We kick and cry because we can’t wait

To live out our life before the tomb

We reach out to grab life by the throat

We know our actions make no difference

‘Cause the words have already been wrote

To pen the end of our existence

Or are we forever evolving

Changing our futures with every breath

Is our life constantly revolving

Until we succumb to the scythe of death

 

To Post or Not to Post

On By Jerry BrothertonIn Non Fiction, Poetry, Rhyming, Short Stories12 Comments

I read that question, “What’s on your mind?” I type my words into the empty box, place my finger on the return key, and stare at the screen…and stare…and stare.

I’ve filled the little white space with my thoughts. In my mind, I know that it’s the most beautiful thing that’s ever been written in the history of writing. But still, there is some part of me that just can’t convince my finger to hit the post button. So the minutes tick off the clock and the sweat runs down my arms and drop into pools on the floor. My mind begins to doubt itself. After all, this is the place that all my family and their friends go to when they want to know the last time someone farted.

What if I’ve done something dumb.. like typed ‘hit the post butt’. I better check again just to make sure. Even worse, what if no one likes what I have to say? What if I check later and see that nobody has liked or commented on it?

OMG! What if my friends and family are sitting around the kitchen table right now laughing at my futility? What if I go to work tomorrow and my co-workers are huddled around the water cooler, glancing over their shoulder at me and snickering; asking each other if they read that garbage that I had left for them.

What if, because of my post, the alien life forms that have been watching us through their viewing screens decides that they’ve had enough and send their laser-eyed zombie robots to put an end to us? How could I possibly live with the knowledge that I single-handedly destroyed the world?

Oh wait…

So I click the magical button that throws my words into cyberspace. Now there’s nothing to do but chew on my fingernails and wait.

Oh, the agony and the joy of it all.

Facebook Post

Facebook is a wicked but wonderful world

Like a house built out of glass

I let my thoughts and emotions unfurl

To any who comes scrolling past

I cry out to those passers-by

Not knowing if they hear my plea

But still I know that I must try

To get someone to stop and love me

Will you be the one to share me with your friends

Hurry, my time in the newsfeed fades fast

Or will you be the one that does not hit send

And just keeps scrolling on past

A Letter to the World

On By Jerry BrothertonIn flash, Short Stories9 Comments

For my friends in the U.K. and around the World

It’s times such as these that I wish I could pull some great words of wisdom from the air and lay them out on paper in such a manner that they would make some sense of it all. If only I could reach into my heart and extract those feelings that are there and give them to you so that you might use them as a blanket to protect you and perhaps ease your pain. If I could I would shield you with my pen and write for you a future without sorrow, without hunger, without hatred and without war…because that is what you truly deserve. But I do not have that power. Only God can make the ultimate decisions in how our lives will turn out and we must trust in his wisdom that all things will be provided for us in the end.