left handed poems by klaus j. gerken 2015 2am help desk call ring help desk im trying to get some money out ok it wont give me any are you at the atm whats an atm a bank machine i guess so did you insert your card in the slot what slot the one to the right ok anything happening its beeping that means you inserted the card the wrong way take it out and insert it the other way around ok pause anything happening its blinking thats good now what does the screen say what screen the one in front of you welcome and below that what would you like to do and what would you like to do get some money ok then press withdraw it doesn't do anything did you press the button next to where it says withdraw no try that pause anything happening another screen came up and what does it say select the amount you would like to withdraw i dont know you must know how much you want to withdraw i just want some money and how much would that be five dollars the smallest amount you can withdraw is $20 that's not fair it's my money why don't you just say...select twenty if you say so but you have to give me back the 15 if it works well well talk about that later i want to talk about it now just press twenty it doesnt do anything did you press the button next where it says twenty you didnt tell me to ok then try that pause anything happening another screen came up and what does it say insufficient amount well then you dont have enough to withdraw $20 but i only want five then you will have to go to the bank teller and withdraw it at the counter but the bank is closed tomorrow morning then the bank opens at 9 i need it now im sorry i cant help you there well what the fuck are you good for then slam have a good night kjg 238am 3 aug 2015 * phone call to god ring god here hey god man hows the weather up there where up there you know heaven there is no heaven no heaven nope hell no hell either so whats the purpose then no purpose none whatsoever then whats all this adam and eve bit beats me abraham moses jesus nothing i had anything to do with you dont say they had to blame it on someone well let me tell you the reason im calling theres a rumour going around that youre planning to retire its been a long time you dont say how long has it been at least 13 or 14 billion years i dont remember much before that not any of that 4004 bc thing then nothing like that so if you dont mind how did it all start well you know i was playing around with my sons chemistry set and one thing lead to another you have a son hundreds of them you dont say the wife doesnt like it but you got to do something when you live forever it gets pretty boring after a while just one wife yeah not much out here to choose from so whats all this thing about celibacy in the church beats me old boys club i guess so all these sons oh some turned out ok but they kept interfering with things so i had to call a stop to it daughters too oh yes cant have one without the other so what happens when you retire chaos i guess but they'll never notice itll be just like a normal day well thank you that was really interesting oh by the way youll have to pay for the call im kinda broke these days you know all those televangelists robbing me blind no prob keep cool kjg 210pm 3 aug 2015 * storm the cafe au lait spilled on the table tiny drops of foam filled up the sidewalk the splish-splash engines of automobiles fluttered wild horses raged a blistering storm nostrils flaring on the counter top of the local butchers the waiter prayed mon dieu pater noster seven times and crossed his heart with iron no one dared look at the sky that cast a blunt forced shadow elegant gentlemen clasp their bowler hats while running scatterbrained into the nearest sheltered doorway ladies held their skirts down and screamed and then it was over and the yellow orb appeared out of nowhere like a messiah made of glass kjg 1104pm 3 aug 2015 * who am i to complain who am i to complain i am broken and suffering when 3/4 of the worlds population is more broken and suffers more than i do who am i to complain who am i to complain that i am hungry when i have forgotten to grocery shop and there is nothing in the fridge for me to eat 3/4 of the world population is hungry each day and has no fridge to store non-existent groceries in who am i to complain who am i to complain my thousand dollar mattress is lumpy when so many sleep on a dirt or cement or straw floor who am i to complain who am i to complain when i have a good wage or pension when so many have no job and can never look forward to retirement who am i to complain who am i to complain when i live in a country that has universal health care when so many have no medial assistance whatsoever who am i to complain who am i to complain when my country settles disputes by debate and not by senseless violence who am i to complain who am i to complain when my country strictly controls guns and mass murders are almost non-existent who am i to complain who am i to complain when free speech is a privilege not to be abused and lies do not enter the news nor hate fills the airwaves disguised as religion who am i to complain who am i to complain when i still have something to be thankful for on thanksgiving and others have nothing who am i to complain no one kjg 757pm 4 aug 2015 * the clowns are back the election is a-comin were all gonna vote the election is a-comin they shove it down your throat the candidates all tell me their policies are best but no one can explain to me what crap will happen next they might kiss the babies they might pet the dogs but when it comes to common sense the meaning will be lost so dont come knockin at my door i aint got time for you the moment that you get my vote you shove it down the loo and if i sound irreverent take it as you will i've never seen one vote i cast make it to the hill you see i dont vote for parties but whoever is the best and that rules out almost everyone who has a mind to test kjg 201am 6 aug 2015 * religion the hungry ones they eat like hamsters the starving ones they crave dessert theres wine for everybody and the hogs enjoy the dirt i cant begin to tell ya how often its been told rust destroys the hammer and the hammer turns to mold golgotha was a boneyard and calvary a hill the cross should not be worshiped like a gaddam holy pill whoever is your saviour be that as it may but humbleness will never force a man to pray so keep an open noggin religion obscures faith its not some wooden vessel you shape upon a lathe kjg 728 am 2015 * dont sweat it if you dont have to throw back the curtains open the blinds and let the morning sun enter theres little to do but to mend the torn seams and clean where the sun does not enter down by the shore the north wind might roar but right now you cannot defend her you smile at the sky so brazenly high the storm will not rage on forever so dont sweat it if you dont have to theres so little time that is left you what poison seeps in can't be expunged when youre six feet below where the spade plunged so as each day reveals what hasn't been sealed revel in whatever is out there there's a positive meaning in every redeeming feature that grabs the whole spectre so beyond the horizon is not where you find them - the lost rambling shoes you admired theyre not in the asking and not in the tasking but in every breath you require so dont sweat it if you dont have to theres so little time that is left you what poison seeps in can't be expunged when youre six feet below where the spade plunged let youth have its fling its a positive thing youth learns by the scars it acquires youth settles down slowly it isnt that holy age will soon come and tame the wild fire so gather around a tankard to down and live life as if there is no hereafter the only regret will be to miss out because you were too busy paying so dont sweat it if you dont have to theres so little time that is left you what poison seeps in can't be expunged when youre six feet below where the spade plunged kjg 1151pm 8 aug 2015 * told dont blame me for the dunkin that goes on when you are thunkin of the coffee beans and donuts smoking your petite coronas theres a honking nightmare out there where you wouldnt place good stemware where the aftershock will hit you and the cake dust really fits you dont despair its only fair no one argues lifes to bare hock the silver hock the gold stand up bold do as youre told all your life youve stood in line what a way to waste your time the lions shares not what you get so suck it up get over it so somewhere theres that silver road that gets you to that pot of gold when you find it there you are twinkle twinkle little star dont despair its only fair no one argues lifes to bare hock the silver hock the gold stand up bold do as youre told so be the master of your home its all youve got except the loan and thats good for th'economy sweeps the floor and keeps it clean so i salute you in your cave survey the valley see your grave a monument to stout and brave hoist a tankard wave a stave dont dispair its only fair no one argues lifes to bare hock the silver hock the gold stand up bold do as youre told kjg 421am 9 aug 2015 * bring in the clowns when i didnt approve of your razor sharp tooth you asked me for proof you called out the cops just to see what was up it wasnt too much you called on the willow to sob in the pillow and never calm down it wasnt like christmas but ended like business so bring in the clowns you rode on a horse a stallion of course you didnt use force the wind blew you hair like flags at a fair so debonair it wasnt so always when you walked down the hallways in a state of renown but those days are over youre sitting on clover so bring in the clowns [instrumental] it was a beautiful moment i recited a poem and then you fell down i gathered the pieces and fix your caprices so bring in the clowns the wind became hollow the night cast a shadow it's hard to let go i blew it away but it came back to stay what can i say i remember you always your profile was sideways in a meadow of down so when the false vision becomes a derision then bring in the clowns kjg 1059pm 9 aug 2015 * intrusion ring hello this your local politician i wonder if you have time to answer some questions im in the middle of supper it wont take long im in the middle of supper and i said it wont take long listen what do you not understand about im in the middle of supper why are you being so hostile all i would like to know is who you will vote for in the election none of your damn business and certainly not you slam kjg 1016am 10 aug 2015 * someone sent me a message: hi are you single or married? i answered: neither; i'm varied. kjg 512am 10 aug 2015 * life through lifes journey we come naked and born on the run awkward like a faltering foal no one reminds us that first we must crawl through the darkness we see the blind light sometimes shadows revert us to fright always sensing theres more to be done from the rising to the setting of sun no ones there to define it for us whether books or a barrel of dust were alone and we do as we must theres no hammer and the nail turns to rust sometimes all we can do is to trust a broken old stranger so from cradle to a too shallow grave we are inside a terrible maze theres no fog that can arrest the heat so we stumble and accept defeat bow to the masters and smilingly grant we are born on a beach and theres nothing but sand as the salt water rushes and kisses our feet we thirst in the knowledge weve done a good deed there are rivers of plenty weve heard all the tales sometimes we might just capture the sails and a new bold horizon will gather no lies yet remind us there will be a prize but whatever we do a thunderstorm cries and we take cover so small things we cherish the most family friends and watch children grow to claim the land were the seeds we must sow and we cannot ourselves ever go so we gather our things and continue our way into the tunnel where we cannot long stay the heat is oppressive but few would give up for something much better than a torn paper cup shared among many and worshiped enough that the dull of its lustre rises above the hardship endured and the hunger in mouth and whatever is pure just has to be love till on the horizon we see no more clouds and then its over kjg 1023pm 10 aug 2015 * 1am empty k worn and fragile no longer agile broken like thunder it doesnt get better lost and alone without any home you bow to the wind without any spring the past is your shelter the present a danger youre long from the manger with no one to hold you forsaken with anger no truth whatsoever kjg 1234am 12 aug 2015 * gratitude dear mr gerken, i would like to express my gratude for all the time and effort you have put into publishing my poetry in ydgrasil this has now resulted in a major book of poetry for me and the position of poet lareate for my town none of which would have come about without your help unfortunately now that i have acheived my ba in the arts and am a major draw at many poetry readings all over the county i must inform you that i will no longer be friends with you on facebook or any other social media it would simply not look good for an estabisled poet like myself to associate with people of lower stature please dont take this in any way personal but rather as a career advancement on my part sincerely, established poet ...bla bla bla * sb arkensas rode into a mellow sadness with tangled hair of medusas madness she inched her way through canvas on canvas with colours that bled a desperate darkness * the life of an idiot ones got to believe in truth when crusted banana peels stick out from under your toenails and squash an empire of ants who hardly know that we exist except for shadows to avoid its no good to pretend they know it all already the ones who run the carousel around and around we go and no one dares get off solid ground is not their fortitude so the trolly rings the sandman five blocks below san francisco where the molten lava bubbles quick solutions to a zen fiasco no one dares bring flowers anymore one does not folly meet with folly nether does one shadow box a tree the devil rises in the courtyard and the grail is three times in whether wind or hail or thunder the king and fool reclaim the throne the cave was way too damp and cold the hounds of hell regurgitate their young after swallowing their progeny osiris rises where the christ is hung around the neck of virgins and no one young or old complains hosannas ring the moon in solitude the crown the cross and the pillar where blood supplants the mockery of caesars false arrival the king at lake nimi fool for the crowned what is not solid must be water the chalice does not differentiate knowledge more than ever has deserted us facts are dust upon a barren land the vulture hovers where the prophet cries upon the plate a tongue the lies stops the frenzied dance but not for long the feast continues with the host the caverns ravenous a mass of breathing contractual obligations when push comes to shove reason signs upon the cross of resurrection glory to the highest most awful god preferring blood sacrifice to peaceful grain the king and his fool decline to speak the walls of the cheap hotel are paper thin the roar of subways crush the crowds in the madness of the rush hour execution before the sun goes down and three days over the idiot regains his tarnished crown kjg 553pm 14 aug 2015 * i went to the doctor i went to the doctor the doctor explained there cant be much damage if you feel so much pain i spoke to a psychic and she did me in the hand that will guide you will always be sin i went to a cliff and stared at the shore i drank a few bottles to contemplate more along came this woman strew flowers in my path she said thats for you dear i just had to laugh we spent time together i left her at dawn her graciousness made me feel quite alarmed so back to the boredom so subtly supreme those who are silent silently scream kjg 452am 16 aug 2015 * to contemplate life is to contemplate death some will deny it to their last dying breath just as some only have time to live their own lives for public approval and a fistful of lies kjg 459am 16 aug 2015 * when in the grips of a terrible cold don't laugh unless he been told. kjg 235am 18 aug 2015 * he came down from the mountain drank from the village fountain they caught him and they jailed him if they could they would have nailed him he babbled incoherently they shouted he was mad but no one listened in their rage to the message that he had they pillared him with ridicule they drove him out of town don't you ever come back here next time you will drown he went back up the mountain in solitude lay down and dreamed a dream of peace and love and not what he had found kjg 1036am 18 aug 2015 * So you say this war is fought by God - A flaming sword - it woundeth hard!- By god and his commander Christ - 'Tis hard for me to realize - I mean let's say perhaps it's true That Satan has a hold on you - Why would God revert to war When love would open any door? In distant lands a thundercloud On dark horizons screams out loud And god forsaken, builds his rout As Satan in his disrespect Always knows what to expect - Love and hate run neck to neck. gerken 25 feb 1982 * we all must die i dont know why its hard to see up in the sky forever seems so far away when we below are only clay kjg 605am 23 aug 2015 * *** Copyright 2015 by Klaus J. Gerken Published by Ygdrasil Press