First Poems
Secret Page #3
Now, to preface this section, I only got into writing poems when I was very depressed right out of high school (I know, so many clichés, where does one begin?). So, the samples I have are not as old as some of the other examples of my earlier works. They are also not that fun. Mostly just bummers with basic rhymes and rather simple “I’m sad” messages. So, those old poems are not even funny in their badness, like my younger stories. However, I did some digging and I found this “song” that I wrote for no particular reason. I remember thinking it was very goofy (I was 16 at the time), and imagined it as part of a musical or something, hence the conversational interlude.
The Manatee Song
If I had to be a manatee, then a manatee I would be,
I would not wait, I shan’t falter
for I would be a manatee man with no halter.
Oh, if I were a manatee, then I would swim in the great blue sea.
Jumping with the dolphins, swimming with the sharks,
it would be a grand life down there in the dark.
I would gorge myself on seaweed, I would swim over the coral,
I would calmly watch all the fish in their great titanic quarrels!
They do not know worry, they do not know hate,
and they sure love to mate!
Oh, if I were a manatee, it would be spectacular, don’t you see!
I would spend my days bobbing about,
like a great gray ocean buoy, without a doubt.
I’m the cow of the sea, though I don’t eat hay,
I am the ocean's mermaid, at least that is what Columbus would say.
I will never stop, I will never go back, I’m the ocean's equivalent of an aquatic underwater Yak!
Still not convinced? I understand, for it is hard to be equated to the pigs on land,
but still I beg, I’m down on one knee, won’t you just be a manatee with me?!?
We would swim in the ocean, we would swim in the sea,
for it’s a manatee’s life for me! HEY!
Oh, won’t you be a manatee with me, it’s a wonderful life down under the sea.
We would live in the ocean, we would just simply be,
for it’s a manatee’s life for me! HEY!
Wow hang on, we manatees have problems too!
What really?
Yeah, and the biggest one is you!
You see, we manatees live in a world full of dangers
with red tides, shark attacks, and other predators.
But the biggest threat to our existence
is from the ones who claim they are only offering their assistance......
Oh my......
Yeah, it is a real problem.
But... if I were a manatee then.......I would not be blamed for anything of it, right?
Umm, no, I think that......
I wish to be a manatee swimming in the open sea,
water abounds from eye to eye, a crystal blue in the sky.
Fishes jump and fishes leap
all throughout the great blue deep.
If I could have but one more life
I would have a manatee for a wife,
there would be no struggles, there would be no strife
if I only had a manatee for a wife.
I would fly and fly into the sky, I would climb and climb so very high.
Then down I would come, I’m falling so fast,
with a sound like a drum, I hit the water a last.
I’m not saying it isn't strenuous,
my girlfriend is mad, and my best friend is envious.
Okay, here’s one more.
Alright, I guess I’ll include one of the real poems too. When I wrote this (I was 17, I think), I remember thinking it was good. Not great, but interesting, worth saving at least (but I save everything). I didn’t get stanzas at the time (and still don’t lol) and just kind of wrote, and rhymed, and thought I’d done something amazing. Now this one just makes me cringe. It’s not the worst, by far, but still. Reading it now, the rhymes are so boring and there isn’t even really a story, or message, or even point! Now, it had no title, so I’m just going to call it Fall, Flee, or Burn… because that’s a cool title and this poem needs something going for it.
Fall, Flee, or Burn
The sky is falling down,
You must flee this town,
The walls are burning,
Hearts are Turning,
And the heathens are yearning,
They look for what they can’t see,
They search for what can't be,
This life they lead,
No one can supersede,
minds and hearts full of greed,
This is not what people need.
You can run,
But when it's all said and done,
They will have all the fun.