April 2018 poems
https://allpoetry.com/group/14865-National_Poetry_Month_at_Allpoetry
Poetry Soup https://www.poetrysoup.com/me/jakecosmos | edit
I followed up in 2018, also on Triferet journal
journal @ http://tiferetjournal.com, and on a special community Facebook page @https://www.facebook.com/TiferetApril2018Poemathon/
and All Poetry, and Poetry Soup.
This year, 2019 I changed focus a bit and wrote them mostly following links in Writers Digest, https://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides/2019-april-pad-challenge-day-28
Creative Talents Unleashed, (add link)
https://creativetalentsunleashed.com/
*and Writing.com poetic forms forum. (add link)
https://www.writing.com/main/portfolio/view/jcosmos
as well as posting them daily on all poetry, writers digest and on my blog (which I did not have in 2017 and 2018.
I tried this year to experiment with more formal verse forms which is one of my creative goals this year. Writers Digest has a great list, as does All poetry, poetry Soup, Magnum Poetry Opus. For more info on formal verse forms see
https://www.poetrysoup.com/poetry/resources/
http://www.poetrymagnumopus.com/forums/forum/23-explore-the-craft-of-writing-poetry/
I also added images and audio clips. For 2017, and 2018 I have gone back and revised them slightly adding in images and audio clips. I intend to turn these poems into my first published book of poetry.
Comments and feedback greatly appreciated. I intent to make this an annual creative project and keep going as long as I can.
Now to the 2018 Poems:
Index
- published
April 01 Thank God For Angela
April 02, 2018 Angela Haiku
April 03, 2018 2007 How Much I Despise You
April 03 Trump’s Wall Against Reason
April 04 It Has been Done Before
April 05 Walls Divide Us
April 06 Mr. Trump Tear Down this Wall
< Aril 09 Trump
April 10 Haiku
April 11 Hiking in the Spring time Snow
April 12 Learning I am Part Jewish
April 13 There is Nothing More to be Said *
April 14 Hiking the Hills of My Youth Hanibun
April 15 Living with Pain Hanibun
April 16 Five Signs of the Apocalypse
April 17 Emperor Surveys the Eastern Sea
April 18 The General Unleashes the Kraken
April 19 Plead to the Computer Gods
April 20 Number of the Beast
April 21 The Neo-Fascists are Let loose
April 22 Life In Between *
April 23 the Light Will Prevail April
April 24 April 19 Samonka for Angela
em>April 25 62 Years Young
April 26 Married Girl of My Dreams *
April 27 The Darkness Grows
April 28 It was God’s Will They Say
April 29 Looking Out My Window
April 30 In Search of America – Hitching the USA in 1975
Audio Clips
April 1 to April 5
April 6 to April 10
April 15 to April 20
April 20 to April 29
April 30 Hitchhiking Tales
April 1—
Thank God for Angela
Every day I wake up
And see you there
I thank God
That he had the wisdom
To send you to me
To save me
By bringing you into my life
You are the sunshine
That lights up the day
You are the reason
I get up in the morning
And you are reason
I exist
Without you I am nothing
But dust blowing in the wind
Waiting until death
Takes me down
April 02 –
2017 How Much I Despise You
Following 2016
the second worst year ever
Will 2018 be any better ?
And what we have suffered
The darkness settles on the land
Like a curse on the land
As our mad demented senile
dotard king wannabe
Struts about the world’s stage
Ushering America’s inevitable decline
April 03 –
Angela Haiku
Every day I wake up
To the love of my long life
And say Thanks to God
April 04,-
Trump’s Wall Against Reason
The President wants to build a wall
Against the southern hordes
Another great wall
To keep the barbarians out
He wants to build a wall
Against reason
Against science
Against the modern world
Hiding behind the wall
On the southern border
Desperately trying to keep them out
The unwashed masses
The undocumented
The illegals
Streaming across the border
Seeking to wreck the pure land
Murderous hordes
Rapists, drug dealers
Coming to take our land over
As he stands on the border
Trying to stop the hordes himself
April 05th –
It Has Been Done Before
Before Trump’s Wall
There were many other walls
The Berlin Wall
The Great Wall
Hadrian’s Wall
All the walls
of the ancient world
All failed
To keep the enemies out
The enemies of freedom
The enemies of the state
Still came across the border
To loot, steal, rape and plunder
And nothing could stop
The flood of history
April 06
Walls Divide Us
In Modern America
We all live in gated communities
Trying desperately to keep them out
Out of sight
Out of mind
And out of our lives
And yet we fail
Fail to accept the others
Are human beings
Are our fellow creatures
As we wall ourselves off
Into our separate communities
We lose our humanity
And we lose ourselves
As we hide in our walls
Hide in our bubbles
April 07
Mr. Trump
Please tear down this wall
Please open up your heart
Please stop this madness
We are all Americans
We are all one people
And your wall
Will not stop us
From becoming one people
Please tear down this wall
Please build bridges to the future
Please open your heart
And let the love shine through
April 8
Angela
Angela is my life
No better friend in the universe
Greatest Love of all
Every Day I thank God
Love of my life
Angela My Soul Mate
Love of my long life
Everything I ever desires
Everything I ever needed
April 9
— Trump
The President of the United States
Republican Leader of the Free world
Uber ales nations
Muttering insanities
Preposterous Nonsensical tweets
April 10th,
Putin
Post Modern Leader
Uniting all the Russians
Triumphant against all enemies
Including the Great Satan
Nevertheless always living in fear
April 11
Hiking in the Spring Time Snow
Talking a walk in the mountains
In the spring time snow
Snow falling down all over the trail
As I wander through the hills
Breathing the early spring smells
And seeing the world covered in white magic
The last remnants of the winter’s touch
Before the spring time gambol of flowers
Overwhelms nature once again
Preparing for the summer’s hellish heat
April 12
Met My Fate Haiku
I met my late fate
In a bar room face one night
My fate started that date
April 13 -,
Learning I am part Jewish
Recently I learned that I was part Jewish
That was long rumored in our family tree
Never confirmed until DNA came again
But whether my Jewish ancestors lived
Or died in the holocaust I have not heard
Never again will we live through that pain
April 14 –
There is nothing more to be said
There is nothing more to be said
Nothing more I can add
Nothing more than this
I will love you
Until the end of time itself
and death does us part
April 15 –
Hiking the Hills of My Youth
I grew up in Berkeley, California in the 60’s. Ever since I was a youngster I would wander the hills of Berkeley hiking for hours by myself and sometimes with my friends. I explored every nook and cranny every corner of the hills and got to know nature in its infinite beauty.
Ever since those days, I have longed for the day that I could spend my days hiking and wandering in the hills. Now that I am retired and living in Korea I can go for a long walk in the hills every day I want. It is not the same as the hills I grew up, no vistas of the Bay and it is in Korea to boot but most days it is sufficient as I head out early afternoon and conquer four or five miles of hills just enjoying that fact that I can still move and am still very much alive at age 62!
I grew up hiking the hills of Berkeley, California
Grew up knowing every corner of the hills
And the infinite beauty of the Bay Area
And now I find myself in a strange land
With time on my hands
I wander the hills above the airport
In Incheon Korea
And wander about here and there
Just being grateful
That I am still alive
And kicking at age 62
April 16,-
Living with Pain (Hanibun)
Back in 1996 I had the accident that changed everything. I went jogging one morning. It was dark outside, and I thought that I knew the trail. Big mistake. I fell down a ledge hidden where the trail should have been. I shattered me heal in a million pieces. I was rushed to an ER and told that I need an emergency operation and would be bed ridden for four months.
My wife was in San Antonio at the time serving in the Army, I was in DC working for the State Department. I flew in a wheel chair to San Antonio where they proclaimed that they had to wait a week for the swelling to go down before they could operate. The Air force doctors wanted to try a new procedure – using shark cartridge as a bone supplement. The operation was a success until I quit taking antibiotics six months later. I was in DC by myself then. I went to the hospital for an unrelated thing -removal of a cist I think. But the doctors took one look at me and proclaimed that the staph had become a multiple drug resistant staph and I needed an urgent operation. The next day I had the third of 15 operations. I endured six months at Walter Reed hospital but that was in the 90’s prior to the wars of the 21st century filled the base up. They had few customers and I got to know the doctors well.
I know pain
Intimately aware of every ache
Every pain
Ever since that day
When I went under the knife
And had the 14 operations
That saved my life
But I am not one to complain
I became one with the pain
Which I endure to this day
Knowing that I am alive
Having cheated death
Twenty times in life
Waiting for the grim reaper
To finally claim me
But that day has not come
And until then
I will endure
April 17th –
Five Signs of the Apocalypse
One
Watching the evening news
Spin forth
the latest scandals de jour
The fake news and spin
The daily propaganda
And the utter destruction
of common sense
And reason
The thought comes to mind
Are we living in the end of times
Is the Apocalypse drawing neigh?
Two
The signs of the coming
of the end times
Have been endlessly debated
Among the
Christian right wing blog sphere
Ever since Israel was reborn
Apparently
triggering the cosmic count down
“According to Revelation 12, a pregnant woman will be hunted by a satanic seven-headed dragon eager to eat her unborn child. The woman will be clothed with the “sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne. The Scripture continues to explain that the “woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”
But the pending eclipse is
another astronomical sign
the end is near
and that the Rapture is fast approaching.
….the image will be created in the sky on Sept. 23. …..Virgo represents the woman
in Revelations 12 who will be clothed in sunlight.
She will be in position over the moon
and under the nine stars and three planets.
….More importantly, to trust
the right God,” he reported to the publication. “If people want to be ready, the one thing you can do is accept what He has offered, which is the gift of grace and forgiveness. That’s all we have to do to be ready.”
Yet September 23 end
and the world is still here.
Are there other signs
that the end is near?
All of this
is speculation as Jesus said He didn’t know the date or hour when the Almighty would close the final chapter on mankind. Scripture clearly states in Mathew 24:36 that no one knows when the end will be. “But of that day and hour, no one
knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
Three
Yet the fear persists in my heart
As I watch the news
The days grow darker
Moment by moment
The light of reason
Seems to be replaced
By famines, rumors of war
and false prophets galore
All in according
to revelations
the false prophets claim
Gods plan
unfolding as we speak
“Things like wars, earthquakes, famine and technology (implanted microchips in our bodies already have been tested by BioNyfiken in Sweden) all point that we are moving toward Jesus’ return.
“The prophecy of Daniel 2 alone shows we are in the time of the end and all the other evidence proves we are in the very end times,” the site reported. They
indicated that the world was going to a 100 percent cashless system and how the “powers of this world are now trying to make cash obsolete, and are actively pushing pure electronic forms of payment, like PayPal and Google Wallet for instance. Take a look at the news and you will see this being reported in different countries of the world.”
Yes this has occurred already.
In India they wiped out the 100 rupee note
in an attempt to go cashless all at once !
and it failed.
Yes the signs are all about us
If only we have eyes to see
And ears to hear
And minds to understand
Four
“Non-Christians will find it hard to believe we are living in the last days of earth’s history. It’s in the Bible,
II Peter 3:3-4, TLB.
“First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will come scoffers who will do every wrong they can think of, and laugh at the truth. This will be their line of argument: ‘So Jesus promised to come back, did He? Then where is He? He’ll never come! Why, as far back as anyone can remember everything has remained exactly as it was since the first day of creation.’”
Yes, why has not Jesus come back?
Is that yet another sign the end is near?
They all say the coming of the Antichrist
is a sign of the end.
“It’s in the Bible, I John 2:18, NKJV. “
“Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.”
What moral conditions will be characteristic of society in the last days? It’s in the Bible, II Timothy
3:1-5, NIV.
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”
And this is so true in the era of Trump
and the new oligarchs who have taken over
The swamp monsters have come out
of the dark slimly corners of America
Proclaiming
it is their time to come out
And openly
rule the world
And the bible confirms
this dire prophecy
Five
“Talk of peace and safety are a sign of the last days. It’s in the Bible, I Thessalonians 5:2-3, NIV.
“For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
The gospel will go to the whole world and the end will come. It’s in the Bible, Matthew 24:14, NIV. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Yes, I say on to you
When talk of peace in the world is upon us
When the Korean lions lay down their weapons
And proclaim their new found brotherhood
Perhaps the end times are finally coming to pass
“We have seen how seven biblically prophesied circumstances could not have come to pass until recent times. In fact, the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 was clearly a major turning point in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, as was the acquisition of the hydrogen bomb by the two superpowers of the 1950s that led to the period of mutually assured destruction.
All has now become possible. This, in turn, makes it much more likely that our generation will live to see Jesus Christ return and establish the Kingdom of God on earth. After all, Jesus Himself said that once these things begin, the generation alive at that time “will by no means pass away till all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34).”
And so, we close
Where we began
Fearing
that the end of the world
is coming
How it will end
is beyond anyone’s guess
Perhaps
the zombie apocalypse
will end civilization
More likely
nuclear war
and nuclear winter
Will doom us all
Perhaps a super volcano
Will blow us all to hell
Perhaps alien invaders
will take us over
Exterminating us
as we try to do
to the Native Americans
Perhaps
an AI will
take us over
Leading us
To terminator Land
Perhaps
the rapture will occur
And the grim events
In revelations
will come to pass
And perhaps
nothing will happen
We will somehow survive
The end times
But I am afraid
That the end times are coming
Sooner than we think
And so, the world ends
Much as it began
With a big bang
Or a soft whimper
God only knows
And he is silent as usual
April 18th
Emperor Surveys the Eastern Sea
The Emperor of the known world
Stood out on his balcony
In the eastern sea palace
Surveying the wilds of the Eastern Sea
Wondering who
or what lived across the sea
Or if there were lands there
As rumored by all
Lands ruled
by nameless
bearded ape like men
The Emperor of all the Lands
Ruled all the known world
From the imperial capitol
He had build in the dessert
He ruled all he could see
From the Eastern Shore
To the wild waste lands
Beyond the great wall
The Emperor had fought hard
Over the years
To unify the people
Under one banner
Fighting against the wild ones
Of the Western wastes
And their allies the witches
Of the inner world
And yet he was not satisfied
He knew that
he would have to lead
And expedition to the lands
Beyond the eastern Sea
And he could rest
Until he had finally
Conquered the known universe
Bringing it
under imperial control
That was his destiny
To rule the known
and unknow universe
As foretold by imperial soothsayers
And the prophetic books of ancient days
April 19 –
The General Unleashes the Kraken
General Lee
Stared out at the Eastern Sea
Wondering what was out there
On the other end
But today he had a mission
He was going to show
The Emperor
That his sailors had captured
The dreaded kraken sea monster
And had figured out how to ride it
And they were going
to release the kraken
As they put down
the latest rebellion
Among the restive folks
of the Eastern Shore
Who were resisting
becoming part of the Empire
The general ordered
Release the Kraken
And the kraken
A huge sea dragon
Came out of is dark dungeon
And two sailors climbed on board
And the Kraken
went into the ocean
And attacked the fishing
crafts of the villagers
Killing everyone in a few minutes
Of frenzied violence
The kraken came back
And the sailors
climbed off its back
And the kraken attacked them
Killing them
in a frenzied act of further violence
The emperor turned to the general
Very impressive
But needs a bit of work don’t you think?
The kraken looked up at the general
And screamed out curses
Saying
that the kraken
worked for no man
And that other kraken would be summoned
To revenge the attack on the kraken’s honor
And he leaped up
Grabbed the general and the Emperor
And dove into the ocean —
April 20, –
Plead to the Computer Gods
Today I woke up
As I usually do
To yet another mystifying morning
Of unspecified computer errors
Could not get the computer to work
Then when I finally got it to work
After an half an hour
Microsoft word did not load
And when it did
I finally located my work
From yesterday
I had to find it in the roaming file
Why?
Who knows?
Only to find
That most of what I wrote
Had vanished into the ether
No explanation no warning
It was there saved yesterday
And now gone for ever
Once I did an experiment
Tracking computer errors for a week
75% of the time I encountered errors
Most of the time simple
Screen freezes
no response message
Then when I recovered
the program
The data was gone
Microsoft has yet to respond
to my e-mail
I suppose I need to do it again
But today I will close with a prayer
To the Computer Gods
Just once I would like
You to do what you are supposed to do
Open my documents
Save my work
And not give me any errors
Crashes or other unspecified problems
Is that too much to ask
Oh, Computer Gods
Just once
Do what you are supposed to do
That is all I ask of you
April 21
Number of the Beast
Behold a vision
A nightmare
The legendary beast of revelations
Comes alive
Sniffs the air
Assuming the mantel of leadership
Turning into the Orange man
With unnatural hair
Spewing forth sweet sounding nonsense
Spraying hate with every word
Inciting the world into madness
He continues
into the halls of power
Walks down the street
Unleashing hell on earth
Soon all know
the number of the beast
666
As he prepares the world
To accept the anti-Christ
And all bow down
To worship their new master
As he leads the world
to hell itself
April 22nd –
The Neo Fascists are let loose
The Neo-Fascists are let loose
By their champion the man in Orange
Whose racist mutterings have let loose
The ranting nutty voices of the right
Championing their god given right
To rule and regulate
all that they see
April 23 -,
Life In-between
For years I have lived
In-between two worlds
Korea
where my wife’s
family comes from
And the Bay area
Where I grew up
and the laidback progressive
wild west coast
and the cutthroat
Dour eastern establishment
Washington DC
Where I worked for 27 Years
And I live between
My official duties
And my desire
To be a wild-eyed poet
And life in-between
Means you belong nowhere
Yet are everywhere
Always disoriented
Always half lost
Never really feeling you belong
That is life
Living in-between
April 25
Somonka for Angela
I have dreamt of you
For almost seven long years
And now you are here
What can I do about this
Only thing to do love you
You are all I want
All that I
need in this life
Thank to all the gods
For bringing you in my life
From now to the end of time
April 24
The Light Will Prevail
Mrs. Which says
This much we know for sure
Despite the lateness of the hour
And the growing power of the Dark Thing
In the end lightness will prevail
Defeating the dark one
April 24
62 Years young
I am 62 years young
62 years around the sun
37 of those years
I have spent
with the love
of my life —
April 26
Married Girl of My Dreams
I married the girl of my Dreams
first dreamt of her
back in 1974
Eight years later
she walked off a bus
and into my life
April 27 –
The Darkness grows
On distant Comazotz planet
The red eye one smiles
It is satisfied
The black thing is spreading
All the way to earth
April 28,
It is God’s will they say
It is God’s will they say
The neofascists and their ilk
It is the white man’s burden
To rule the unruly masses
To this I say
Never again
Will we let them
Take over the world
And lead us back
to the dark dangerous days
Of the Holocaust
Or the 19th century colonial era
Never again
Never again
Until hell freezes over
And the world ends
April 29—
Looking Out My Window
Looking out my window
In Incheon
What did I see
The neighboring apartment buildings
Obscured by the April rains
And yellow dust of early Spring
And in the distant the mountains
Aflame with spring colors
Beckoning me outdoors
Looking out my window
In Oregon
What did I see
Green trees
Silently watching me
And the cats gamboling along
Looking at me
While I look at them
Each wondering
what sort of weird creatures
The other is
And who
is the real alien species?
In Washington DC
Looking out my window
What did I see
I saw the squirrels
in the trees
And the peaceful trees
Of Capitol Hill
Near the seat of power
Yet somehow
I felt It all far away
In Suburban Virginia
Looking out the window
What did I see
I often looked out my window
At the trees and the jungle
In my back yard
And heard the distant roar
Of traffic on the busy suburban street
As people rushed to get to the freeway
In the early morning hours
In Madrid Spain
Looking out the window
What did I see
I looked out at
our Spanish neighborhood
Seeing the beautiful Madrid ladies
Walking down the street
Secretly admiring them from afar
In Barbados
Looking out the window
What did I see
The monkeys in the trees
Looking at me
Contemplating raiding my garden
As soon as I went away
In Seoul
Looking out my window
What did I see
The neighborhood
Alive outside my window
For so many years
In Seattle
Looking out my window
What did I see
I saw the ever changing green
Sea of trees
that is Seattle’s true color
The city is so lush and green
And alive with life’s
endless possibilities
In Stockton
Looking out the window
What did I see
The traffic moving
Through the dense fog
That often fell upon the city
Obscuring everything in its embrace
And growing up in Berkeley
Looking out my window
I saw nothing
But the dirt and trees
And shrubs
Of my ancestral home
And felt nothing
But loneliness
And a desire
To leave my home
As soon as I grew up
That is what I see
When I look out my window
Even to this day
I see where I have been
And wonder where I am going
As I stare out the window
Knowing that my life
Will surely come to an end
As I stare out at the world
Waiting waiting waiting
For my fate to unfold
April 30
In Search of America 1975 – Hitch hiking Tales
When I was young and foolish
Broke and stubborn
I hitchhiked across the USA
Started in Salt Lake City
Where my greyhound bus pass
Was stolen
The station manager
Could have helped me
But refused to do so
Threaten to call the cops
When I grabbed my bags
Without the stolen tags
I said
Go ahead
But I am
so out of here
Wondered about Salt Lake City
Went to a bar
Found I had to buy my booze
Next door
And they would
mix it for me
Had to order food too
After a bloody Mary
And a burger
I walked about town
Saw the Mormon Temple
Finally about 3 pm
It was time
to hit the road
Did not look back
Ended up in Cody Wyoming
Got a room shower
Steak beer
Using my rapidly
depleted cash
Spent 25 dollars
Money really went far
Back in those days
A band of professional
Communist agitators
Gave me a ride
To Des Moines
Lots of weed, booze
And politics later
Got off the road
Slept outside
Next day
A beautiful woman
Drove me to near Chicago
In a red mustang
Might have been
The girl in the song
Took it easy
Digging her vibe
She invited home
But was not sure
If her estranged husband
Would welcome me
So I being foolish
And inexperienced with women
Did not go to her place
And always regretted
That I had lost
My chance that day
Then on to Chicago
Several rides later
Visited friends
Hit the road again
A series of uneventful rides
With truckers
And others
And a week later
I ended in New York City
Slept along the way
In cars
In truck stops
In high way rest stops
Always moving
Always going
None stop talking
And lots of free weed
And beer
And conversation
One more memorable ride
Occurred outside Albany
On my return to Chicago
A middle age
creepy looking man
Picked me up
In a brand new Cadillac
He was
he said
a dynamite deliverer
For the Mafia
Went to various places
To blow up shit
He hated a lot of people
Particularly hippies
from California
And Jewish people
Looking at me to confirm
That I was both
I told him
that I lived in New York
And had never been
to California
And although
I might looked Jewish
As I had
what was called
back in the day
A “Jewfro”
I was not Jewish
Many years later I discovered
That I am indeed part Jewish
But then I did not know
And I felt a bit of
strategic misinformation
Might keep me alive
Then I realized
that he was just
jiving with me
And we relaxed
And he pulled
out some weed
And beer
And we mellowed out
But I believe
that he really
was with the mob
Perhaps not a dynamite dealer
A real made Italian
made mafia member
By Chicago
I had enough
I called my Dad
Told him what had happened
Wanted a ticket home
And he sent me a ticket
And 500 dollars
And I went home
I told him I would tell him
My tales some day
But never did
I learned so much
About my fellow Americans
And the strange vibe
That was 1975
And now it is too late
But I wanted to finally
Tell the world
Of my hitchhiking tales
In search of America 1975