Brian37 AKA Brian James Rational Poet…… My Poetry

  • Welcome to Brian James Rational Poet’s poetry blog

    Welcome to my poetry blog. I love reading Plath and Sexton and Dickenson and Maya. But to me, the best poets I have read are the unknows. The giants are great for sure, but the friends and locals and groups are a joy to participate in. I encourage everyone who writes poetry to be themselves. It is ok to have influences, but you should always in the end be yourself. There is only one them, and only one you.

    Let words be your canvas, show them the raw you, in all your happiness and sadness. Show them your love of nature, and empathy and kindness, but also make them think, provoke, even blaspheme. The poet’s job to me, is to never be shy or timid, but use every word in your vocabulary to paint the best pictures you can. Paint your sunrises, your sunsets, your romance, your fears. Paint your insecurities, your addictions, your successes, your tears.

    This blog is dedicated to my late mother Jane. She was my biggest supporter and never let me fall through the cracks. While she was a bit of an authoritarian growing up, that all melted away in her late years, and we grew as close as any parent child could. We had so much fun with our silly car games and rubber duckies, and counting the trees. And our wordplay games, and our thumb wrestling. And forget Yahtzee and backgammon, she always kicked my…… at that. I love you mom. I miss you horribly.

    And also my late best friend ever, Bob. He unfortunately passed away in 2017. He lived in Australia, he was a science geek, and he taught me a lot about debate, and some science. I can only grasp overall concepts, not real nitty gritty details. But he most importantly made me feel comfortable in my own skin. I miss you too Bob.

    Then there is this annoying guy from Okleeee homa, who says “tators”, and “videeeaaaa” instead of “video”. And don’t get John started on banjos. He is my best friend and he is always there for me, and I love that redneck.

    And also Dwayne, Stacey and Vicki. You saved my life all of you. Thank you.

    All poetry posted by me on this website is attached to RationalPoet@brianrrs37, handle “RationalPoet” on Twitter ,as well as “Brian James Rational Poet” on Facebook/ META. And is subject to copywrite on all my pages.

    A Special thanks to Brian Sapient of Rational Responders http://www.rationalresponders.com for hosting my poetry thread for so long. Thank you.

    AND….. YOU are more than welcome to share this link on your social media. Especially Meta and Twitter, but your own social media too. Any help bringing traffic here is more than welcome. THANK YOU. You may not publish individual poems without my express permission. Any links to my poetry must be credited to me.

    This poetry blog may contain some material that may be considered sensitive to some viewers. Reader discretion advised.

    Now, everyone, grab your popcorn, glass of wine, and watch me make a fool of myself. Enjoy.

    HEADS UP….. THERE ARE PEOPLE MIMICKING MY TWITTER ACCOUNTS……

    I only have two Twitter/X accounts. Twitter has now changed it’s name to “X”. So all poetry in this site referencing Twitter is also including the new name “X”.

    “RationalPoet@brianrrs37”
    AND
    “Brian@rationalpoet37”

    I have also joined Facebook/META poetry group “Facebook Poetry Society” Under “Brian James Rational Poet”

    Also I just joined http://www.allpoetry.com under the user name “RationalPoet37”

    THERE ARE MORE PAGES. WHEN YOU GET TO THE BOTTOM OF EACH PAGE, in mice print….. It says “Next Page”. <—-CLICK ON THAT.

    NEW EDIT………


    A special thanks to Zaylen of “Okay Atheists” on the Discord app, for allowing me to guest host this poetry reading available on their YouTube channel originally aired 5/22/23. Here is the link
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_ikCkc7lWE

    If you want to leave a comment to any poem, click on the BOLD title of the poem first, scroll to the bottom of the poem, and you should see a field to leave the comment in.

    UPDATE EDIT AS OF 11/13/2024. I have a new account at Bluesky Soical under the handle @rationalpoet37.bsky.social .

     

     

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  • Poisonous Marmalade

    Poisonous Marmalade, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @Brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

    The entire day in the orange grove
    They talked about the former guy
    Climbed the ladders between the branches
    They picked
    They could be heard saying
    “Nos trae vagones de ganado”

    The gnats hovered around Moses
    The speaker of the house, louse
    He ate the poisoned marmalade

    Mary Trump said bluntly, “I know this fella
    He’s not even the poor man’s mafia
    Disaster is what will happen”

    The sky was blistering hot
    This job no gringo wants
    In the endless farming rows
    Ladders reaching upwards
    Bushels line the pock marked road
    The grove was full of bronze tone men
    Not wanting him in that office again

    “The bill is not passed” Johnson said
    “We aught to have deported them long ago”
    “Don’t” pleaded the spray tan man
    I need them for campaign fear

    Migrant eyes waded in justified fear
    Moses said pettishly ” I can’t understand why
    We cant pass this bill now”
    “Don’t you worry Michael”
    The boorish boar responded.
    Now on hind cloven hoofs, he erected himself
    In sweaty dripping katsup, he begged the judges
    “How many delays, I need more time”
    They recorded his total in their public records
    And everyone returned to harvest

    Back standing in the orchards
    They plucked among the branches
    In syncopated succession
    Yet gently so as to not bruise
    Breaking them off the branches
    With the honest work he’s never done.
    (end)

    This is an ode to Sylvia Plath’s poem “Bitter Strawberries” . Hers is about the juxtaposition of stateside everyday life during the cold war, vs the threat of a nuclear war.

    I updated ode to her poem, to the fear of the end of democracy and the threat to minorities the orange turd and GOP are. FYI Michael Johnson is the Speaker Of The House and he has been called Moses for some stupid reason.

    https://allpoetry.com/Bitter-Strawberries












  • Is Not To Worry

    Is Not To Worry, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @Brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

    The same emptiness, nothingness, you fear
    The lifeless pet, needle at the vet
    The end of a loved one dear

    The melting clock hands warped and bent
    The last tick of tock, to ashes you’re sent
    The casket closed, to the ground you went

    The thing you cannot fight
    The call of the endless night
    The obsequious resistant flight

    The stillness therefor after
    The stillness therefor before
    The acceptance there is no difference

    Is the difference between being paralyzed
    Over that which once realized
    Fruitless, frees you up to live

    Live not for the unseen
    Live not for false hope
    Live in the now, don’t shorten your rope
    (end)

    Death happens to all of us. Life after you die will feel the same as it was before you were born. Don’t waste your life on old mythology. Enjoy the finite time you have now. Love now, feel now, care for others now. Don’t obsess over death. Don’t run to it either, don’t feel pessimistic or fatalistic. Just know it happens, and stop worrying about it. Live now, because now is all you have.

  • Everybody’s Shouting

    Everybody’s Shouting, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @Brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

    Everybody’s shouting, “I got it right!”
    Everybody’s fighting, day and night.
    Everybody’s dying, running out of time

    Guilt assigned, all others maligned
    Fewer fellow humans, willing to be kind
    Weapons drawn makes doomsday spawn

    Everybody’s shouting, “I got it right”
    All the gods are fighting, day and night
    Everybody’s dying, running out of time

    Myopic and short sighted, focused one’s tribe
    If your God cant threaten them, maybe use a bribe
    Divisions getting wider, based on arrogant pride

    Everybody’s shouting, “I got it right”
    Everybody’s fearful, reason is out of sight
    Everybody’s dying, running out of time

    We are all the same species on the same ride
    First class, coach, or sitting way in back
    Our species won’t survive, if we focus on attack

    Everybody’s capable, of seeing we’re all the same
    Speaking different languages, wearing different cloths
    Eating different food, hoping good is where it goes
    (end)




  • Bench Marks

    Bench Marks, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet On FB/META and @Brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

    It was early afternoon, death rattle soon
    I stood over her, she was facing doom
    The abyss of nothingness

    I could watch the motion
    Leave her face, last her lips
    Puckered as if wanting to kiss

    But I knew it was just the neuron’s last twitch
    I still desperately miss our companionship

    Rewind to 7 years ago
    Where she died in the nursing home
    She’s not around she cannot know

    I cannot share the bench mark here
    This will be poem 200 at this site so dear
    I wish I could send more prose to her ear

    But her ashes have long since disappeared
    In a Carolina beach she loved to be near
    I love you mom, I want you back

    For 400 poems, but that won’t stack
    (end)

    This is poem 200 post at All Poetry.com

    My mom died on this day back in 2017. We had polar opposite personalities and politics. We fought like cats and dogs growing up. But when I moved in with her to help her in her old age, all that melted away and we became really close. We still fussed, but we grew to understand each other more. We became really close and I wish I still had her around.

    It is bittersweet that I am at my 200th poem on this website on the same day she died. I love you mom. I miss you so much.

  • 52 Pick Up

    52 Pick Up, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @Brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

    Your giant lottery jackpot is small
    Even with the power ball
    300 million combinations are small

    Take out a deck of playing cards
    Shuffle and shuffle the epics of bards
    Shuffle and shuffle and shuffle some more

    You’ll never see the same sequence as before
    52 factorial, multiply by 51 then have some fun
    Multiply by 50 then 49, keep on going you’re doing fine

    All the way till you get to 1
    That is 8 times 10 followed by 67 zeros
    “Unvigintillion” math are the hero’s
    (end)

    This is mind blowing. You’d need the life span of several universes to get to the point where you would repeat the same sequence.

    https://www.facebook.com/reel/236989545998900


  • Recommendation

    Recommendation, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @Brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

    Watergate, Watergate,
    May have sealed our nation’s fate
    The DOJ protected Nixon

    And now it may be too late
    If no man is above the law
    You cannot deny what sane eyes saw

    “It’s going to be wild”, said the child
    The coward said he’d be there
    But ran back to his bunker

    Nixon had the decency
    To accept that he was wrong
    But he should have been indicted

    To keep our nation strong
    Employing the 14th Amendment
    Would keep us from a deadly bomb

    6 robes at the seat
    May leave democracy in defeat
    Despite evidence having meat

    We’re seeing the rise of fascism
    Hiding behind one religious cross
    The cult leader a dangerous mafia boss

    The DOJ after the hotel break in
    After the congressional hearing
    Said you shouldn’t indict a sitting president

    But this was never precedent
    Never codified by law
    It was merely a recommendation

    Maybe if Nixon had been put in a cell
    Maybe America in 45’s petulant smell
    He wouldn’t be the top of the swell

    There is no option, not to vote
    The end of our experiment
    Is not that remote

    VOTE VOTE VOTE!





  • Red Shift

    Red Shift, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @Brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

    My angel and my panther
    Crouch in position
    Ready to pounce

    I do not announce
    To them, where it will go
    Across the vinyl wood floor

    From the island to the wall
    They dart about having a ball
    Under the chair they crawl

    The red dot is a lot of fun
    Watching them chase it
    Run run run

    A flick of my wrist
    Their bodies twist
    Their eyes are fixed

    Dash dash dash
    Chase the red dot
    They catch the spot

    Only to find it gone
    They look around
    Until they have found

    Of this toy they’re fond.
    (end)

    If you have figured it out, my sister/brother cats love to chase the red laser dot on the floor around my house.

    One cat is named “Kelly” after the original Charlie’s Angels tv show. That is why I call her “angel” in the first stanza. Her brother “Anneplath” is a hybrid name of two of my favorite poets “Anne Sexton” and “Sylvia Plath”, thus “Anneplath”. But I call him my “panther” in the first stanza because he is jet black.

  • 061-UOX

    061-UOX, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @Brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

    California yellow on blue
    On your beige Mustang
    That everyone knew

    The only angel to make it through
    All 5 seasons, you gave it to
    In chains to taxis private eye’s clue

    Charlie, Bosley, Jill and Kris
    Sabrina, Tiffany, and Julie too
    Kelly dear Kelly, you were the glue

    When I was young I looked up to
    The lady in the Mustang who
    Gave the bad guys their justice due.
    (end)

    Although Jill Munroe was my crush, along with Julie Rogers in the last season, Kelly was always my favorite hero of the show. She had a compassion and empathy that was to me unique.

    “O61-UOX” was the (BACK THEN) the license plate of the beige Mustang the character Kelly drove.



  • Prankster Me,

    Prankster Me, By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @Brianrrs37 on (Twitter/X)

    Walking down the main hall
    Of my local 1985 mall
    Looking for something to do
    To have a little ball

    I noticed a familiar Radio Shack
    To look for a computer to hack
    Over my shoulder I did look back
    To insure the employees didn’t see my attack

    I noticed this display model computer
    Windows in it’s infancy days
    Easy to use the DOS commands
    In such immature mischievous ways

    I clicked on the icon to get to the screen
    Monochromatic c prompt now seen
    “Format C:” I did so quickly typing
    Snuck out the store silently escaping

    10 minutes later I passed by again
    Looked in the Shack to see goings on
    Manager and employee with angry face
    For of that hard drive I did so erase

    To reinstall all that software
    Back then, at a snail’s pace
    I bet they’d have wanted to
    Punch me in my face.
    (end)

    Not that I am proud of it. But I really did once sneak into a Radio Shack, back before Windows was easy to manipulate with DOS commands. I went to the “C:” which is basically the hard drive’s name. And when you type in
    “Format C:” It erases everything on the hard drive, and reformats the hard drive. You can think of it like when a teacher writes a bunch of stuff on the whiteboard or chalkboard and you take an eraser and wipe everything off it.

    But back then it took forever to reinstall software so it took them I am sure a couple of hours if not more to get it back to where it was before I did that. I wouldn’t do anything like that again.

  • Factory

    Factory, by Brianrrs37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @brianrrs37 on Twitter/X)

    You’re just a factory, all you will ever be
    Spread your legs for me, it was meant to be
    You’re just a factory, make me a baby

    You’re not in control, our government did so stole
    Your uterus has a mole, dominance is the goal
    You have a gender role, make me a baby

    You’re just a factory, I don’t care if you die
    Your abortion might save your life
    You’re just a political pawn, all your rights are gone

    You’re just a factory, you belong to me
    Your congressman has a medical degree
    You’re just a gender role, make me a baby

    You’re just a factory, my bible does tell me
    You’re chattel for me to breed, cant refuse my seed
    You’re just a gender role, make me a baby

    You’re just a field to plow, just submit and bow
    Your Supreme Court no longer will allow
    You’re uterus has a mole, dominance is the goal

    You’re not a factory, end their tyranny
    Set your body free, shout until they see
    You’re not a factory, demand your sovereignty.