Throw-Away People...

Throw-Away People...

Out to pasture young,
Fifty isn't too old,
Nor fifty-five.

When people are just a ledger entry,
In a world of "throw-away..."

Society is insane.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 07/09/2017

"Rembrandt Sleeping," Poem # 25

If A Raindrop Had Eyes...

Post by AquarianM on Mar 28, 2008 at 9:13pm

If A Raindrop Had Eyes...

Floating in a sea of breezes,
Heated, excited, expanded,
The sky is pulling and I fly from blue to nearly black.

Chilled through I shrink,
Speeding toward a mountain top,
Sparkling like a jewel in a sea of stars.

Resting in windy frozen silence,
Contemplating stars and sunshine,
A crack - and my congregation bullets down-slope.

Warming we slither down in congregation,
Picking up toys to play with,
Rocks and pebbles and sticks and paper and molecules.

We sweep all before us,
Anything lying or thrown in our path,
Pills and dead weeds and the things that killed them.

Muddy we sweep into the sea,
Carrying it all,
And some we even keep when we expand up.

Some day soon you'll drink me - and all that I carry.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 03/28/2008

A Highly-Charged Particle...

A Highly-Charged Particle...

The stress of the pennies,
They don't rain from Heaven.

A bucket of marital bliss,
Wrapped in a dollar-sign bow.

The wires buzz and hum.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 07/08/2017

Rembrandt Sleeping, poem #24

The Great Yuku...

Post by AquarianM on Apr 5, 2008 at 5:23am

The Great Yuku...

Once there was a dragon,
Creature of lightning flashes and sparks,
Master of a sea of dreams,
Subject fishes flying low over the waves,
Dropping poetry from their teeth in tiny splashes.

Rainbows and memories are the treasures in the dragon lair,
Missing posts fought out by thieving gremlins,
Who have no dreams of their own.

I sat in a cigar chair smoking,
The Dragon saw me as a child-god,
Twisted and spinning in the mists of real-time,
A mystery of zen-karma lost in emotional currents,
Trying to save a world from its own blindness,
Bearing nothing but a pen and notebook.

I let free a puff of smoke,
To the Dragon's great delight,
Flipped the ash from my cigar,
Jotted down a few lines,
Turned into a zeppelin fish,
Dreaming loudly,
I raced out over the sea.



AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 04/05/2008

Dry...

Dry...

In the midst of nothing,
Sleep is calling,
The well has nothing,
No Muse to move me.

Set the alarm and drift,
Nothing.

So that was last night...

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 07/08/2017

Rembrandt Sleeping, poem # 23

Sweetheart Moon...

Post by AquarianM on Apr 23, 2008 at 11:15pm

Sweetheart Moon...

Sweetheart moon,
Over you,
Shining bright,
Silver light,
Shining down,
On your hair,
Your lovely gown.

Strolling the beach,
Aside the sea,
Waves that roar,
Endlessly,
Hand in hand,
As we move,
All the way.

Starlight jewels,
Abed the ink of night,
Warm winds,
Caress my sighs,
Heart afire,
Over you,
Timeless tale,
We shall share.

Love me now,
Hold on tight,
Forever walk,
The sands of night,
My sweet Love,
My heart's delight,
Forever found,
Forever right.

Sweetheart moon,
Over you,
Shining bright,
Silver light,
Shining down,
On your hair,
Your lovely gown.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 04/24/2008

The Legend Of Dac…

Post by AquarianM on May 1, 2008 at 2:27am

The Legend Of Dac…

$15.00 is a small loan,
Even in 1982,
A war-weary collections department,
Frustrated after five years failing,
Seeing through to never-land,
Outburst arisen.

The party at Mom’s that night,
Jokes and a few beers,
One more time I ask,
“Return me mine, Terry.”

Refusal in my own home?

Leave then!

The crowd intrigued,
Drama before dawn,
Arguing back and forth,
“Hand it over or flee the place!”

“No! Two hamburgers on Tuesday!”

“Five years of Tuesdays!
Pay up or get out!”

“No! Two hamburgers on Tuesday!”

“F-you, Terrydactyl !”

Dac for life – worth every penny,
His beak still writ large,
As per the nom de plume.

They still roll on the floor just to think it,
As time stops for a belly roll once more.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 03/01/2008

At The Heart Of The Dream...

Post by AquarianM on May 18, 2008 at 10:11pm

At The Heart Of The Dream...

I've heard what life is,
Slow,
Conceptualized,
Approximated,
Rendered,
Interpreted,
Dreamed,
Acted,
Felt.

Dreamers,
Change your dreams,
Take the reigns of the nightmare,
Ride for gentle pastures,
Recognize life wherever it is,
Before every breath in the world is stilled.

Outside the dream is inside the dream,
If we dream it right we survive,
If we dream it better we thrive,
If we dream it best,
Love is all we really ever needed.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 05/19/2008

www.pachamama.org/

Our Hands...

Post by AquarianM on Mar 6, 2008 at 4:33am

Our Hands...

A hammer is light,
Swinging it flashes,
Nails driven quicksilver,
Houses or crosses,
In our hands.

Fish hooks and old leather,
Falling coconuts adrift,
Dying palms in a rising sea,
A plastic swirl bigger than the USA,
All at our hands.

A garden of summer delights,
Picnic for the hungry,
By the lazy riverside,
Flying cottonwood seed,
Prepared and tended by our hands.

Double edges need no swords.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 03/06/2008

Good Night Maine Coon...

Good Night Maine Coon...

Orange ball of purring,
Fuzzy good-night.

A heart the size of California,
My buddy Corona.

Who needs words,
When you can head-butt and purr?

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 07-06-2017

Ducking The Poison Pen...

Post by AquarianM on May 15, 2008 at 9:40pm

Ducking The Poison Pen...

Rage,
Fire,
Fury,
Frustration higher than Everest.

I can no longer climb that Mount,
It's peak is lost to my failing and misted sight,
As the air is vacuumed from my lungs,
Horror strikes.

I have tried to burn no pages,
To leave only kind words,
But my ink is ablaze in green flame and the well overflowing.

This unholy house is consuming me,
Just as America is burning,
Smoldering just out of sight,
I know I am but one of millions.

What will it take before the rule of compassion surpasses the lie of law?

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 05/15/2008

Burning For The Lie...

Post by AquarianM on May 27, 2008 at 2:13am

Burning For The Lie...

Have you ever had your dream broken,
Hope left completely unspoken,
Found you had no chance,
To go another round of the pin-head dance,
Lost your way wandering in a trance,
Nothing left to say,
Just another day,
Burning for the lie?

No place to call home,
Chips crashed all alone,
All for number one brings on the fall,
'Cause no one's ever for us all,
The system is completely broken,
Each of us made just a token,
Just another way,
Of burning for the lie.

Tell me to work hard,
For my just reward,
But it all rolls uphill,
Never our dreams fulfilled,
I'm shaken and I'm chilled,
It's a horse-sized bitter pill,
All the edges fray,
Burning for the lie.

My belief is somewhere,
Under the floorboards the bank is going to own.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 05/27/2008

No Wasted Moments...

No Wasted Moments...

If sleep is a necessity,
It is also an enemy.

While I love dreams,
There is a limit I face.

Only so many hours,
Only so many days,
Years on this Earth,
Those are always counted.

If only dreams were instant...

---Or lives endless.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 07-05-2017

"Rembrandt Sleeping," poem # 21

Luminaries...

Post by AquarianM on Jun 17, 2008 at 7:03am

Luminaries...


June is rampant lush in the Midwest,
Utter green in every-other-day rain and heat,
Sun hazed down upon us like clock hands noon,
The hay is tall enough to mow before half past,
Birds flutter and sing about all busy.

I sit in my lawn chair,
Reading of kime and art,
Slow with the scent of fine cigar and kona coffee,
Light falling like a slow drain as orange and indigo fly up,
And there over the fence,
The first rulers of summer come out,
Right where low grass meets hay.

Yellow-green flashes in twilight always make a child of me –

Delighted.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 06/17/2008

(*Kime – the complete focus of attention, intention, and action as a Karate move is executed correctly.)

Sparklers...

Post by AquarianM on Jul 6, 2011 at 3:21am

Sparklers...

www.archive.org/download/Sparklers_736/Sparklers.mp3

Sparklers,

Fire in the sky,

Fourth of July,

Let the bombs die,

Just try,

Sparklers,
Firecrackers,
Hot celebration,
Of the nation,
Hyper-inflation,
This is our space,

Sparklers,

Fire in the sky,

See the pretty colors,

Falling all around,

Flutter and spark,

In the dark,

Hot Summer,

Hot love,

Sparklers,

Keep it bright,

In the night,

Independence,

Full of remembrance,

Sparklers,

Color in the dark,

I love this freedom,

Let's love this spark,

Sparklers,

Beautiful tonight.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 07/26/2008 - music & lyrics

Last Edit: Jul 6, 2011 at 3:28am by AquarianM

Words are the mind's bridge - it's connection to the universe.
Love is the heart's bridge - it's connection to all other souls.
Loving words can work miracles.
---------------------------------------
All of my published poetry is at:
www.lulu.com/spotlight/coloringbookforallages

This River I Run...

Post by AquarianM on Jul 2, 2008 at 8:13am

This River I Run...

There's a place I come from,
That little midwestern town by the river,
I can never escape it's call,
No matter how far I go,
Trees green,
Water near the same,
Limestone and dams,
The festivals of summer,
A glimpse of peace crosses my face as afternoon sunshine,
As the boat cruises down the Rock,
I feel at home,
Where I know in my bones,
This place has never left my blood,
In spite of pains,
In spite of travels,
In spite of gains,
This river I run is at the root of me,
These banks hallowed ground,
My childhood screams it's name,
My family's fate has long been surrounded by it,
The seeming languid waters deceptive in their power,
My grandmother and grandfather,
Mother and father,
Brothers, sisters,
Cousins, aunts, uncles,
Near all have watched this water run by,
And timeless times I remember,
As lives flow slowly by,
Their seeming languid pace deceptive in their power,
And I thank God for moments most would call me fool for,
To cherish this small, unknown, struggling town,
This place so often ridiculed,
But as they often say here,
Beloit Wisconsin calls you,
One can leave,
But in some fashion,
Everyone winds up coming back,
Even if just in memory of times loved or hated.
Happy as I am,
I miss the river I run.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 07/16/2001


Beloit & Janesville, WI underwater, Rock River still rising...

Wish I could go up & help sandbag or something - it's really bad. Beloit is my home town for those who don't know, and Janesville is right next to it.

www.gazettextra.com/photos/galleries/gazette-staff-flooding-photos/

www.beloitdailynews.com/shared-content/gallery/?galleryid=1&gallery_page=0&album_page=0&albumid=1&mediaid=82

Sparklers...

Sparklers...

http://www.archive.org/download/Sparklers_736/Sparklers.mp3

Sparklers,

Fire in the sky,

Fourth of July,

Let the bombs die,

Just try,

Sparklers,
Firecrackers,
Hot celebration,
Of the nation,
Hyper-inflation,
This is our space,

Sparklers,

Fire in the sky,

See the pretty colors,

Falling all around,

Flutter and spark,

In the dark,

Hot Summer,

Hot love,

Sparklers,

Keep it bright,

In the night,

Independence,

Full of remembrance,

Sparklers,

Color in the dark,

I love this freedom,

Let's love this spark,

Sparklers,

Beautiful tonight.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 07/26/2008 - music & lyrics

Independence...

Post by AquarianM on Jul 3, 2008 at 1:03am

Independence...

Sparklers and bangers,
Lightning bugs and picnics,
Swimming hard and warm stars,
Love in the Summer,
Watermelon delight.

It seems so easy,
I always think,
But this dream we live,
It needs eyes that see,
Every day.

Keep your heart in it,
While you see those lights.

Sparklers and bangers,
Lightning bugs and picnics,
Swimming hard and warm stars,
Love in the Summer,
Watermelon delight.

It seems so easy.

AquarianM

(C) 07/03/2008
By: Daniel A. Stafford

My new sax tune just finished this morning - "Sparklers."

www.archive.org/download/Sparklers_736/Sparklers.mp3

Alief Texas 1978...

Post by AquarianM on Jul 25, 2008 at 2:25am

Alief Texas 1978...

All the Gang was round back then,
Young and hale,
Big Lisa & Little Lisa,
Mona & Kit,
Juanita & Angie,
Scott & Michelle & Nick,
I'm sure I'm forgetting a face or two.

Mischief was always the order of the day,
One a.m. night flights to Galveston beach,
Sunshine in the pool,
Wild Parties with parents gone,
Teenage angst and lust in the heat.

What to do with life,
Who grew huge hooters,
Who didn't,
Where was life going.

I stood up for Lifeguard Laura,
Two years older than me,
Southern Belle glam and charm,
Called me her "cuter than a bugs ear" hero,
Cuddlier than her teddy bear,
Left my puppy heart behind when we moved.

It was always like that,
Uprooted every time I grew an inch,
Nothing stays in place,
Except the rosy glow of thirty years patina on old memories.

They're all lost now,
Scattered to time,
I hope all still hale and alive.

I wonder if I'd see a one on that moonlit beach.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(c) 07/25/2008

Rock County Nights...

Post by AquarianM on Jul 25, 2008 at 4:35am

Rock County Nights...

Is there a band playing tonight,
Or will it be the DJ under the light?
Should we cruise Pier 44,
Or the City Limits once more?

Wet T-shirt Thursdays?

You said Gyro's Lounge?
How much can we scrounge?
Pulaski's has a killer floor,
And I want to dance some more.

Pitcher of Water Melon cooler, sunset in glass.

Are they Dropping The Bomb on me?
Is there a cover or is it free?
Man those girls move fine,
Might just make one mine.

Moving in stereo to the rhythm.

Colored lights and a sequin strobe ball,
Gettin' tank topped and bouncin' off the wall.
Lover Boy and Judas Priest,
It was a dancers' feast.

Thump, thump, think I'll do The Bump.

I see what you're shakin',
And I'm hoppin' 'n swayin'.
Back Bar punches out the Metal,
After we go find a kettle.

Let go of that Swamp Water, man!
It's Ladies' Night!

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 08/02/2000

Author's Comments
In my very late teen years and twenties, Beloit and Janesville, Wisconsin were home to the best dance clubs around, folks used to come from out of state just to hit the floors and boogie down. I put a few moves in in my time, too. Every one of the places I used to go to has either closed, burned, or just went under. It's a sad state of affairs. Winter nights walking home after two in the morning smiling...