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2007
Poetry
by Arden Benson
Arden
shares his poetry with Eastrose, and through our website, the world.
If
you wish to quote his poertry, please read the statement at the bottom
of this page
NO, NO, A THOUSAND AND ONE TIMES, NO!
Back in school, back in college,
We were beset with formal knowledge.
Double negatives were abjured.
(Logic was said to be secured.)
Yet, back in the school-room, Grade 3 or 4,
We learned that the problem
involved something more.
There was that thing in arithmetic --
Something about it made it stick:
A negative number, added to another,
Made it more negative. Oh, brother!
I can not think 'bout this no more.
So:
I don't s'pose you don't know nobody
what ain't goin' down-town, and wouldn't
give nobody no ride?
Arden Benson, 11-21-2007
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MY PET
TIGER
Yes, indeed, I once had a pet Bengal Tiger!
(I had found her while searching around with my Geiger.)
Both of us knew we were friends, right away.
(If anyone dissed me, there'd be hell to pay.)
So I took her back home, there on Ankeny Street,
And most of my neighbors, they thought she was neat.
But one day, coming home, to my horror I found
That Lucy, my tiger, was nowhere around!
She'd been seen, they all said, down by the park.
Oh, God! It was just an hour until dark!
I heard drums, drums of India, that subtle beat,
And Lucy was dancing, upon her hind feet.
When she saw me, she jumped like a big friendly dog,
And toppled me over. I fell like a log.
She gave me a big wild tiger's embrace,
And she planted a kiss, right on my face.
But the drums they went on, they went on, they went on,
And before very long, my Lucy was gone.
I hope she enjoys the theatrical life.
(I know it will bring her some joy and some strife.)
Back home, as I looked at her half-chewed-up bone,
I know that I always will miss her, alone.
Arden R. Benson
September 27, 2007
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OUR BOAT
What is this watercraft, this boat,
In which we ride?
It is caught on some rocks,
Here in the river.
It is poised on the edge
Of a waterfall.
If we pry away some of those rocks,
And proceed --
Will we plunge swiftly
(And not very gently)
Down to the lake,
The deep blue lake,
The most beautiful lake
On the world --
The one called Love?
Or will we fall and fall and fall
Toward a destination
Never to be known?
Maybe we should leave those rocks
Alone.
It is nice, here,
And the fishing is good.
Arden R. Benson © 2007 |
| THE PLACE
There is a place
Somewhere in space --
Acclaimed a veritable
Eden
(No, not Oregon nor
Sweden).
There, every action ever
taken
Is guided by God's beams
To improve the lot of those
forsaken
By their dreams.
We cannot find it, and it's just as
well.
We know its name now: it is
"Hell".
Arden Benson
July 23, 2007
Yes, it's true, the Muses still
persist,
They still insist
On pestering those of us
mortals
Who can't
resist.
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TSUNAMI
What if a wave --
A real wave, a huge wave
Of Near-Eastern religion
Were to sweep over us, over
These United States
Of America?
Most of us would become Muslims.
We would worship Allah
Five times a day.
Only:
We would have to choose up sides.
Sunni? Shiite? Kurd?
What would become of us?
And what would become of those
Who strayed?
Who became once again
Christians?
Jews?
Unitarian-Universalists?
Please do not ask.
Arden Benson
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THE
WATERFALL
What is this watercraft, this
boat,
In which we ride?
It is caught on some rocks
Here in the river.
It is poised on the edge
Of a waterfall.
If we pry away some of those
rocks,
And proceed --
Will we plunge swiftly
(And not very gently)
Down to the lake,
The deep blue lake,
The most beautiful lake
In the world --
The one called Love?
Or will we fall and fall
And fall, toward a destination
Never to be known?
Maybe we should leave those
rocks
Alone.
It is nice, here,
And the fishing is good.
Arden, July 6, 2007
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EVE
Yes, Adam, it's me, Eve.
(Where did we get those
names?)
Yes, I know it was all my
fault.
And yes, Adam,
I know you loved that
Garden.
(I loved it, too.
Only,
All that long
time
There seemed to be
something
Missing.)
Yes, Adam. We were
naked,
And we knew not what
that was.
Well, we do know,
now!
Yes, Adam, had we not eaten of the
fruit
Of the tree of
knowledge
Of Good and
Evil,
Cain and Abel would not even be
here,
Today.
Yes, Adam.
Perhaps the Lord
God
Was
right.
Arden, April 28, 2007 |
| Thoughts While
Expanding
Now we know the story of the Big Bang
Is a true account, thus:
Nothing = Everything.
Then, as our Universe expands,
Approaches, and reaches,
Another unimaginable discontinuity,
The one called Infinity,
Well --
According to the above equation,
Everything -- will equal nothing.
Nothing at all.
Let us continue to study
Some other problem.
Arden Benson © January 31, 2007
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MEMORY
Some time, when you are out walking,
Try this:
Let your arms swing free,
Free as they like, while you walk.
"How good this feels!" you might say.
"How natural."
Yes. A hundred million years ago,
Your arms, your hands, were fins.
Now, they remember.
Now, you are swimming in the air.
There's more:
Disable one fin. (Put one hand
In your pocket.)
Feel that! Feel that!
(Feel what?)
Try it. You will be surprised.
Memory is a powerful force.
Arden Benson © March 1, 2007
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