P.S. A Column On Things

My Beat Poetry

Some would call this a rap. I think it is beat poetry, so I had it set to beat background music. In any case, it’s about growing up in Portland.

East Side Boy

Paul’s Poetry Corner: And That’s It

I’ve run through my poetry outburst. I am now seldom producing new poems. Was it a phase I was going through? A Covid hobby? Most likely, it was 68 years of backed-up inspiration, like George Harrison’s first couple of albums after the Beatles broke up. Eventually, you use up all your seed corn and have to start new production at a (likely) slower pace. Perhaps my muse will come roaring back. Or, perhaps, I have thought of every possible way for me to express my love for Vicki and my joy in my new mindful life of gratitude. Every day no longer brings new snippets of inspiration. At the start of this project, I felt almost frantic with inspiration, filling my iphone with notes for new poems, with couplets and rhymes. Now, it’s just filled with shopping lists and the names of films I want to see. I suspect I will return to my half-century habit of plodding along in prose.

Paul’s Poetry Corner: Your Hand on my Knee

Link to: Your Hand on my Knee

Which begins:
When your hand’s upon my knee,
There’s no place else I’d rather be.

Paul’s Poetry Corner: I Had Some Light

Link to:  I Had Some Light
Which begins:
I had some light,
Wanted to mingle it with yours.

Paul’s Poetry Corner: Reincarnation

Link to: Reincarnation.
Which Begins:
Reincarnation.
I’d be surprised
If we’re offered choices
About other lives.

Paul’s Poetry Corner: Three Little Words

Link to: Three Little Words

Which Begins:
I love you.
Three words in English,
Two words in Spanish and Italian.
Why do I need to say them?

Paul’s Poetry Corner: On Being Your Pillow

(I normally don’t explain, but I like this poem, despite the fact that it about my grandson’s odd habit of asking me to act as his pillow)

Link to: On Being Your Pillow

Which Begins:
I’m too big
To stand behind you
As you sit on a chair,
To hug you and say,
“Paul is your pillow.

Paul’s Poetry Corner: Citta

Link to: Citta

Which Begins:
For centuries, the Hindis knew;
Their word for heart and mind
Is the same:
Citta

Paul’s Poetry Corner: Happiest Man On Earth

Link to: Happiest Man On Earth

Which Begins:
“Make me the happiest man on earth.”
A proposal.
A question.
A cliché.

Paul’s Poetry Corner: Different Ways of Saying I Love You

Link to: Different Ways of Saying I Love You

Which begins:
“You are such a sweet kisser,
And so generous with them.”
It’s just a different way of saying
I love you.