These poems are from 2019 and before. All recent for me - an old man. My earliest poetry started fifty plus years ago, in a time when the pen was master, when speed was more physical. Always a dreamer though. Sometimes too serious for words, or too joyous. I like the comfort of imbetween, at a reasonable distance. It seems when I was younger, I was often blinded by intimacies. Distance, I feel, brings a higher, lasting intimacy.
Must get on. Happy reading.
For all the people
Yenom
a novel
for all
the people
Artists
like lennon
No lies
Do listen
Consider
the script
as it
is written
Yenom
a novel
for all
the people
Neil Felton - https://artis.co.nz
..more on Yenom
The picture below was taken in Mumbai, India, and the next three poems were written there.
( July, 2019 )
pavement cake
Slick city greys
Bayonet black beak
Black beady eyes
and tails
It’s smart rapper
Crow, eating
pavement cake
and moss to go
And my audience
I spy
watching mwa
centre stage
Pale face
with hand bag
Why not
Mr Crow
On stage
of concrete
Marble, bamboo
and mud
There’s cricket
of course, Mr Crow
Entertainment
on the green
*Brown
Pale face
In Mumbai
it’s brown
*(In city park. See pic above.
Might not be grand
but the enthusiasm is there.)
Neil Felton - https://artis.co.nz
( July, 2019 )
Mother Mumbai
(The affluent
and the effluent)
Sweet steamy heat
anoints with oranges
papaya, banana
Spices n herbs
While streaks
of urgent acid
vent dire
Metamorphic issues
Street people
asleep in
Mother Mumbai’s
luring heat
Neil Felton - https://artis.co.nz
( July, 2019 )
Street Speaks
Crow sounds
the wakening prelude
in Eb minor
with a ninth
Squawk! Caw caw
Caw caw, squawk
Beep, a bike announces
beep beep, joyfully
Craww, crow calls
belligerently
Barp Barp
says car on horn
Beep beep, barp
beepitee beep beep
Barp Barp!
Squark!
Inside park
on picketed grass
Wee squirrels only
leave no mark
No walking on grass
humans and dogs
Midday
moved on
To seamless
shuffle
of traffic
on steroids
Inside concrete
ventilator whirring
Still the street
speaks, beepitee beep, squarrk!
Mumbai, Mumbai
I’m on the beach
Beautiful sea breeze
Sand and all
But water’s edge
I fear to tread
To life’s end
in crawling refuse
The country, they say
Everywhere
they say
Is wonderful
With teeth new
I gratefully grimace
Down runway to lift off
Home again mate
Neil Felton - https://artis.co.nz
( December, 2018 )
My bike and I
My bike and I
on canvas career
crisply born
pails of light
Fall to bends
spring again
Tip toe o’er
the felt
Fine lines
fat spaces
Cosmic
zephyr
Lofty scents
compost
condition of
Rock n roll
Memories distant
as the milky way
Caress
Give way
Neil Felton - https://artis.co.nz
( December, 2018 )
De is here
De is here
Man or Woman
all De
no he nor she
It’s in the book
Yenom
by yours truly
in the book
Take my word
it’s yours
yours, yours
Years of quaint accent
Yours and Yours ago
we broke the mold
made the bread
lost the thread
Money gone
page Yenom
the book
of time
On our own
de
far from home
de
Moving on
de
lost the bread
that’s the thread
No excuse
No blame
No regret
No shame
Hands on heads
for bed time
stories
we were told
Moms and Dads
Girls and Boys
pink and blue
toys
Girls line
Boys line
clothes line
fishing line
No excuse
No blame
No regret
No shame
De is here
Man or Woman
all De
no he nor she
No more secrets
nothing to hide
reveal all
stand tall
Neil Felton - https://artis.co.nz
( Spring, 2018 )
De Considerate
De Considerate
doesn’t know
sees but doesn’t know
hears but doesn’t know
Considers
forms a picture
a movie
moving on
Alongside
with and without
lending a hand
conducting the band
Neil Felton - https://artis.co.nz
( Spring, 2018 )
Love you all the same
Two can make it more or less
one can make it just right-
buying time without a mate
Buddy
Companion
Friend
Love you all the same
Neil Felton - https://artis.co.nz
( Spring, 2018 )
Sing bird
Sing bird
of the air
Toll the bell
for all to hear
Over here
over there
Just so
Just so
Tweet and
watch it go
Silence
Indifferent words
Swing it
over here
Just so
Just so
Sing bird
of the air
Toll the bell
for all to hear
Neil Felton - https://artis.co.nz
( Winter, 2018 )
stumps me
Stumps me
says tree
I’ve been here
since elementary
last of
nature’s stand
wide view
of the sea
watery ways
that bore us
here
for what?
To grow
TVs and PCs
as microwaves fade
and oil recedes
Stumps me
says tree
would I be
if tall again
bald head
in the sky
missing lines
dreaming
bird’s sing
in perfect pitch
from tree tops
not stumps
Old salt
from the sea
olfactory
trails you leave
Cricket
I remember
foot to ball
willow on hide
stroke play
stumps call
bales brake
cup of tea
Stumps me
says tree
I’ve been here
since elementary
Neil Felton - https://artis.co.nz
( Winter, 2018 )
Winter tree
winter tree
with attitude
stands tall
and naked
twiggy
glint of eye
baton raised
to the weather
Neil Felton - https://artis.co.nz
This universe
Immense, minute
vacuous, tranquil
mindfully populated
with packaged matter
Questions begging
parasites and prickles
this universe
sings of many things
Beginnings, endings
spinning still
mindfully populated
with packaged matter
Neil Felton - https://artis.co.nz
Old Lovers
Holding hands
They face
the front
where teacher
points out
pitfalls of
red hoods
and wolves
They Look up
they look down
side by side
holding hands
Cows, asphalt
fluffy clouds
pyjamas
all day
Lullaby
allays cold
waking hand
of the sea
Neil Felton - https://artis.co.nz
The following "Oh Glorious Lady" was special. It was a long time ago and a long way from home. It was written pretty much in one splurt, rhyme and all. Around that time I was avoiding rhyme at all costs which also made it unusual for me. The ego was high, thought I could fly. Hoped I could. I was standing on shaky ground. It's probably the only poem I have written that has been so indelibly imprinted on my mind.
Oh Glorious Lady
you stand so tall
as you tiptoe through
my empty mind
you pick me up
in your feathered tree
with your smile
your eyes so pure to see
you dance and sing
of a fire that glows
that draws me near
that I might hear
your inner voice
of joy sincere
Oh dearest lady
do you wish to share
all this with me
that I may be
with you and see
through peaceful eyes
beyond the mist
beyond all lies.
Neil Felton - https://artis.co.nz
