fantasy, poems, poetry

Papo’s Toy Figurine Fantasy

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Once upon a twilit soliloquy
I pondered thoughts between pounds of ocean tides
Tchaikovsky overture in Phillip Glass hues
sandpiper played notes with patter feet strides

I ride upon the Asian Unicorn
in saola herds of Laos and Vietnam
through wild forests of Khoun Xe Nongma
just me alone a solitary man

Seminole Injuns in Everglade grass
in solitude a wild panther roar
his pineland growls aside suburban sprawl
some countryside vittles, trolly cart tours

All the world’s parklands a menagerie
of plastic toy animal figurines
appear to move with fur, to chirp and bark
two giraffes with long necks chew leaves and glean

The purple aura moon in silhouette
upon the mountain trail unicorn
it’s yesterday’s glass dew now morning haze
the last is bones and flesh like Capricorn

Twisting brown paths of dust dissolved tombs
of tigers, lions, purple elephants
one dreams of Kwanzan pink cherry blossoms
soft chaise longue grass, sun-soaked relevance

Regard the floating plastic figurines
in ribbons aurora borealis
sky dragons in paper lantern auras
like Injun smoke clouds of the realist

I am awake in vistas castle moors
relieved, yet drenched in pools of darkly sweat
all puffs of Cerberus breath vaporous dreams
my knightly rounds along the parapet

poems, poetry

Something About the Massanutten mountains

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By Lewis Jackson aka Papo– Poet of Ksanakai

The starry nebulae in mountain sky
a spotted fawn beside her mother’s side
stands motionless in golden morning sun
till indigo buntings set hooves to stride

Melodies whistle top the early morn’
atop the dew wet roof top sings the song
of fidgeting wings and dream’s desire
to run midst shady trees ‘pon ribbons long

I harken to the bluejay ‘pon the roof,
which casts its eyes along the mountain ridge
the anxious groundhog scurries ‘neath the house
shivers slightly yet narley moves a smidge

Tis not a snake this long black ribbon road
still whispers to my feet this darkened path,
which undulates as waves upon the sea,
“lick licorice, but heed the aftermath.”

And swallow down the taste for marigold
in farmer’s fields, purple spiderwort
as berceuses to soothe the bleary mind
a respite from this journey’s battle fought

The road ascends and seems to dissipate
at crest, a vacuous blank horizon
portends the road has drifted into space
yet closer, a butterfly arisin

Erasing doubts like powder on its wings
it seems to trace a path to follow home,
a patch of sweet blackberries on the vine
sublime as honey makes my buds to foam

My spirit roams, like Roman architects
these mountain mists in bluish clouds
echoes, Massanutten Indian tribes
smoke signals, silhouettes of ancient shrouds

Which tribes beneath the forest canopy?
what stories hide in fallen tree debris?
the black road blankets Indian trails…
just whispers linger as bird songs in breeze

The doleful gaze of gentle pasture cows
cavernous marble eyes, entwined in whole
I’m sullen by the thought of their demise
with ear tags marked unlike the blissful foal

I wish to emulate the waterfalls
that shimmer through prisms, glassy brilliance
an ageless hourglass, flowing chandelier
sunlit pearls of formless resilience

My feet roll under me in oiled joy
wheels, frictionless, mechanical calm
in thumping pulses, waterfalls of sweat,
like smooth ball bearings, timeless sultry balm

poems, poetry

Post your poem

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Thank you for visiting Papopoetry.com Post your poem in the comments or “Leave a reply” below. Looking forward to reading 📚 your poem and I hope you get a lot of constructive feedback.

Sincerely yours in poetry,

Papo- Poet of Ksanakai

PS: Please post only poems in good taste. I reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts such as overtly sexual themes; promotion of hate, vulgarity, et al.

poems, poetry

What makes this a good poem. Robert Frost

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Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening

By Robert Frost

This poem only scored a 3 on allpoetry.com auto-rank. So what makes it a good poem?

Whose woods these are I think I know.   
His house is in the village though;   
He will not see me stopping here   
To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   
To stop without a farmhouse near   
Between the woods and frozen lake   
The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   
To ask if there is some mistake.   
The only other sound’s the sweep   
Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   
But I have promises to keep,   
And miles to go before I sleep,   
And miles to go before I sleep.

poems, poetry

What is poetry?

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I think it’s best to start out with what it is not…. it is definitely not an article like in a newspaper; it can tell a story, but it’s not formatted in paragraphs or sentences like a story– you can write in prose, which uses the tools of a poet like metaphor, alliteration, and personification.

But prose isn’t strictly poetry, or more exactly a poem, because it departs from the poetic structure, which is the use of “the line” or a set of lines in a stanza. Prose is more like poetry in sentences. Your stanza is the so-called “paragraph” or section of a poem made up of lines. A good line will stand alone, affect the reader somehow usually through its imagery, and becomes more significant when combined with other lines in the stanza.

To me a poem is a special way of conveying an experience, an event, a feeling, from my perspective. I don’t just want to tell you what I experienced, I want you to experience from my persona. That’s a tall order, 😳 living someone else’s experience as they experience it. So a poet’s task is to transport you somehow into their virtual reality realm.

I’m gonna use bad words, which some poets like myself will deny, but okay… seduce, sell, manipulate using the tricks of the trade, rhyme, metaphors, simile, meter, rhythms/ patterns of sound, alliteration, personification, allusions to color, time, place, objects; in other words, anything to make that quantum shift of consciousness to perceive and experience there unique perspective.

You might think of it like taking a mind altering hallucinagin without popping pills 💊. [Don’t do drugs BTW. There’s a safer way to experience escapism and it’s called poetry]

exercise, General

You can do 100 push-ups per day!

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Yep, you can, if not then set a lower more reasonable goal.
I’m a school teacher with a busy schedule, so I do my 100
in the morning’s with my 9 year old son who does his 30
push-ups.

Here’s how I do it:

5 push-ups times 5 sets– that’s 25 push-ups as a warm-up.
I rest  comfortably between sets.

Now my body is ready…

10 push-ups times 4 sets– that’s 65 push-ups. Only 35 left!

20 push-ups straight– my personal challenge.

15 push-ups to finish it up.

But 2 minutes of abdominal crunches
is included for a complete workout.

That’s it… and you can do it too.

Just set your goal and believe in yourself!

PS: If you are in slump, this workout works
great!

exercise, fitness, running

Running Daytona Beach, Fl

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It’s December 26th and we’re talking 80 degrees in Florida. I’m not complaining, chilling at the Wyndham Club Resort. I’m still tired from returning from a week in Long Island, NY this Friday. So driving to Daytona on Saturday is not a good fit for me. I’m still doing 100 push-ups a day. Today is day eight. I managed sets of 10 today and this put me in a good enough state to run for 30 minutes on the beach.

wow, nobody is wearing a mask 😷. Just me looking weird as I leave the resort through the pool area and onto the beach ⛱. Finally I take off my mask. You know running is very tough with a mask. I’m zig zapping through crowds. It’s seven feet distance not really close enough to worry about covid. I’m more concerned 😟 with these little tots crossing my path. And don’t want to be a bully and step on their sand castles, even accidentally.

it’s civilization, being around people without masks, seeing their faces, acknowledging other people’s human existence. I’m 15 minutes out a good clip and only now on my return run do I feel a bit of struggle. Keeping in mind the past few days and my daily push-ups I’m happy just to be enjoying the beach, the shoreline, the splashy water. Seagulls and sandpiper congregate and then disperse, some scamper away with their quick little feet, others take flight and tease me to try to tag them. Not today.

I’m greeted with a neat little surprise at the end of my run: a man is sculpting what looks like an Indian resting on his elbows reclining in the sand. It’s obvious he is talented. My wife informs me later the sand sculpture was actually a mermaid. I plan to post the 📸 on my Instagram.

poems, poetry

Love’s Waterwheel Dancing Orchard Fields

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A rocky mountain moved by faithful rains
which trickle underneath in rivulets
without such love could flow the smallest grain

Sew charity of golden amulets

as leaflets fall from trees my palms in want
my body laid to waste upon a stage
in failing love a quil with fading font
papyrus reeds like shadows on the page

The hands of love loom steady in the storm
as gentle as a dove in plumage clothed
embracing crumbs despite a tepid warm
a modest sheep amongst the flock betrothed

Thus fleeced in wool as pearly as the snow
a wooden nickel ever bends the bow

It’s hooves upon the hearth and fireplace
to scrape a singe of orange crackling flame
as blind before a shearer gives its face
yet never holds a mirror up to blame

Love’s feet skip light in meadows minted sage
in crystal glass of purple dappled hues
its blossoms cleanse and never seem to age
another sunset, another morning dew

Despite the wintry weather and the chills
a seedling threads the weeds to brush the sky
from palate to the canvas daffodils
the buttercup attracts the butterfly

With just a drop the waterwheel flows
and through the soil dancing orchards grow

poetry

Push-ups for performance day five

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This morning, Friday December 24th, I awake at 3:45 am to catch a flight ✈ from LA Guardia, NY back to my second home Florida, where I now live.

I’ve no time for push-ups as my brother, Jim, is arriving momentarily to drive me to the airport. I feel fine physically, no soreness or anything from prior days push-ups. My body is being conditioned to the hundred a day.

The thought passes my mind to do push-ups at the airport… whatever, I can imagine the reaction– fanatic or Terrorist alert ⚠️ Sanity prevails, but the thought lingers on as I’m spending practically all day waiting for my connecting at Reagan Airport, Washington. Finally, arrive in Florida and my beautiful 😍 wife, Princess Claire, drives me home.

I really hate to break the hundred a day streak and really, didn’t I earn a day off. Plus there’s the possibility 😏 of injury because you should get adequate rest between workouts. But you know what? I do them anyway.

And it’s amazing how you can underestimate your ability to achieve more, if you only go past that precipice. I did the in pairs of 5. That is 5 push-ups short pause and 5 more for a set of ten and then a few minutes break, gradually working my way up to 100. So I did it cautiously, considering the possibility of injury, but I felt really good and much better afterwards.

Now it’s time for a confession– my daughter, Shannan, aka Ksanakai brought home pizza 🍕 one of the worst destructive foods for your body. But you know what? I deserve it. 😌

poems, poetry

What makes this a good poem? Sylvia Plathe

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This famous poem ranks only a 4 on AllPoetry.com auto-rank. So what makes it a good poem?

Mirror
By Sylvia Plath

I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful ‚
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.

Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back and reflect it faithfully.
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.

exercise

Resistance/ weight training is key

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100 push-ups, day 3. I’ve been running steadily on my treadmill 5 days per week for the past month. To be honest, I’m happy with the progress I’ve made. But even after all this cardio, push-ups gave me more immediate results as far as being more functional throughout the day.

I’m not 60 years old yet until this June, but at this age one can become a bit disillusioned at the prospect of getting one’s youth back. Your body is literally on strike against optimal health, bacteria is more aggressive, things like toxins and mucous build up aggressively in the body. You wake up in pain and go to bed in pain, often for no apparent reason. And this can be very discouraging.

As a friend said to me many moons ago. “It’s time to hang up the running shoes.” Now that I’ve thoroughly depressed you, it’s time to reveal the honest truth: you’re in a boxing ring through no choice of your own and your opponent is your terminal life span. It’s either fight back or get knocked out early. Enjoy infusing life in your years versus life slowly ebbing out of you.

Anyway, once you stop resisting, the aging process accelerates. But paradoxically, when you become assertive and push back despite feeling miserable, exercising becomes an energy return system. You literally get back more energy than you expend from exercising– I guess it’s because exercise exorcises toxins/ waste from the body, and you become more efficient. I’m fortunate not to have any major ailments or injuries. Getting a good night’s sleep and healthy eating play a major role. Being vegetarian helps a lot to retard the visible effects of aging because meat being the hardest food to digest, along with sugar and processed foods wear the body down from inside out.

If I could only choose between resistance training and cardio workouts to stay healthy, I would choose resistance training. Ideally, the best exercise program combines the two, but for me, weight training/ resistance training/ even calisthenics like push-ups gives me the most immediate health results. In fact, I would venture that most runners as they age must include resistance training of some sort to continue running at an above sluggish pace.

Which brings me to push-ups, doing 100 push-ups daily. I told my brother, Curtis, do what you can in sets. If you can only comfortably do two push-ups at a time, then do sets of two push-ups and work your weigh up to what your goal is. Hey, this morning I didn’t feel like doing push-ups. I started out with 5 push-ups at a time and then ventured into 10 push-ups at a time until I reached 100 push-ups.

You know yourself. Don’t let people intimate you with talk of doing 100 push-ups daily. Set your goals and work towards them. And always remember resistance training is key to staying young and healthy longer.

Papo's Poetry of KsanaKai poems and daily blog musings on poetry, and living a fit healthy life