Another election came and went
after it was over we found
we had a brand new
president or an old one
re-done
but one who doesn’t
represent the will
of his constituents
I’d call him a bully
a liar
a thief
but that would be
a compliment
Category: Free Verse
First Kisses
I would love to say,
I saw lightning flashing,
heard thunder rolling,
fireworks exploding in the air,
like on ‘Love American Style’.
But I was too busy,
shaking and sweating.
Television and realty,
are never quite the same.
~What’s Yet to Come~
I can’t believe
how things have changed
yet so much has remained
exactly the same
It’s been four years but…
I look at the headlines
and wonder if we’ve fallen
through a time warp
or a hole in the floor
or been smacked on the head
by a one way door
What the hell happened to
the last four years
or four decades for that matter
progress has been
stripped away
in a matter of days
to make a new way
for us to pay
crack out the bullwhips
and light up the crosses
round them up
put them in chains
and send them off
on airplanes
and forget they
ever had names
~Flip or Flop~
if you see me sitting around
with my head tilted down
face wrinkled in a frown
hands shielding my face
just trying to figure out
if I can survive in this place
if I can finish this race
I know. I got it
change will come
and change will go
for better or worse
we won’t know
until we’ll either
suffer through hell
or find Heaven’s grace
if we’re to be celebrated
as conquering heroes
or banned in disgrace
the true story
will not be told
until those very last
words unfold
and in the end
they are rejected
or embraced
~Who Knew~
Back when I was a child,
they said I was poor,
but I did not know it.
Until one of my teachers pointed at me and said,
it’s okay for you to show it,
and that you have no cause for shame.
I should have asked her then,
but my mind didn’t comprehend,
and to this day I still think about what message
she was trying to send.
Ashamed of what— I never knew,
so I lived my childhood
without a clue.
Maybe there was something,
or someone I should blame.
But I was never one to follow the rules of the game.
I just smiled and said okay,
then I walked out to join my friends,
on the playground’s monkey bars.
I was the king of the monkey bars,
and I was not ashamed of that either.
Jerry Brotherton 