Bicycle Poem by David Michael Jackson

bicycle poem

 

The Bicycle Poem

My legs are tired from pumping today.
I smiled at many people.
Most smiled back,
some produced a sullen fruit
which I carried awhile
and tried to not consume.
We build greenways by the river here.
I make sure my
bicycle is light
and I
glide,
pump,
glide.
I went too far.
I tired and
I rested at a small dam.
I
rested with the
water sounds
flowing and
falling in a mist.
I rested like a poem
like a painting.

I watched the lovers on the
other side of the river
as I rested.
They poked at each other
playfully and pretended to
fight for the fishing pole,
these lovers across the river.
She stood alone on the rocks
for a moment
and stretched her long thin arms
and touched the water
like a siren,
Oh tie this sailor to the boat!

I had gone too far for an old man
on his bicycle
and the sun was low and the road called,
“Home…
ride toward home.”
So I rode that bike
and now
the bicycle is in the hall and
these hands are busy hands and
the lovers are in this
poem.

Why Me Poem by Andy Derryberry

Why Me?

Why me? Could be a test I guess
Not by a company but by life in general
It goes after you where you”re weak
Strikes where you”re armor is thin

Could be random aggravation
Not per a plan just chaos
Hard to fight that
So many sucker punches

Maybe underlying universal evil
Kicks everyone around basically the same
Sorta fair I guess but
Maybe fair ain”t all that great

***

House Ghost Poem by David Michael Jackson

Gogglelagoshee

I am the house ghost tonight
making the floors cry out

as I try my words out
on my half lit house.
Tonight this restless soul
wanders the halls,
listens at doorways
for God,
or someone like God.
Love waits
in some of the rooms,
pain waits in others
and the ghost asks little
of either,
only a taste to say

I was
here

After She is Gone Poem by Joan Pond

The Gardener’s Fern Book
by Joan Pond

The gardener’s fern book

was filled with clutter.

A program from a flower show

at the Mattatuck Museum,

with a special thanks from Dr. Gray.

Mom’s ‘hide and seek’ exhibit

was judged,

too sophisticated for the masses.

There was a Father’s Day card

and

A Valentine for Someone Special.

Imagine going through this book

after she was gone?

With all her belongings

falling,

as leaves

from a tree.
***

Creek Paintings ~ Three Paintings of a Creek

Creek Painting 48″ x 36″

creek painting
creek painting

This creek painting was painted from a photograph of Passenger Creek in 1989. There was a tree in the photo which was not falling but certainly about to fall. It makes me think of the “tree falling in the forest” statement we all know. Maybe it was caught up in that branch. It adds an element of anticipation on the creek.  Here is our earlier post of this creek painting

All paintings have a story and even maybe a byline. This one has a byline. I painted it the day my brother died. I’d cut it into a thousand pieces if I could get him back. The last strokes went on when the phone rang. I was painting it for Wayne Jackson.

Creek paintings are plentiful. Fcreek-painting-02creek-painting-o3amous creek paintings I cannot seem to reference. Maybe this should be one.  Things don’t turn out that way though.

My first effort with this photo was this smaller creek painting . This painting was owned by  Wayne and is now in my possession. I had just started painting and he put it on his wall and bought a light for it. This sparked my painting efforts. The creek, in particular passenger creek has always been special for me. The creek represents a small out of the way unnoticed peace and tranquility. A place of small sounds, insects and birds. I grew up on a farm on a creek. My earliest memories are walking the trails beside this little creek, fishing and swimming with my brothers.

These creek paintings were my earliest efforts and maybe my best. They were impressions of peaceful times, of good times as a child. Oil paint has a way of becoming more translucent over the years. These creek paintings were painted in 1989. A few years later I began painting on paper and painted this last painting of the creek. This one is dated 1992. It is the last of the series.

Here iwayne jacksons a pic of my brother, Wayne Jackson.

 

 

Here is a link to his poems. He was, and is, my brother and friend. These paintings and my art are dedicated to him. He encouraged me. That is the greatest gift.

David Michael Jackson

editors@artvilla.com