A Song to Share

 A Song to Share

 

In the darkest hour of the night

I am glad to hold you tight

With the promise of a new dawn

I gather strength to carry on

 

Hello I have a song to share

It comes from my heart with care

As sure as the sun in the day

I know Love and peace is the way

 

I see violence and ugly war

Do you know what we’re fighting for

Children dying mothers crying

My soul in gloom deeply sighing

I believe we can make it better

We just go to get it together

 

Hello I have a song to share

It comes from my heart with care

As sure as the sun in the day

I know Love and peace is the way

 

We’re all responsible for peace

It’s up to us to make hatred cease

One man what can he do

One man I’m talking to you

The longest journey has a humble start

Reach inside change your heart

 

Hello I have a song to share

It comes from my heart with care

As sure as the sun in the day

I know Love and peace is the way

 

Chasing the wind mad and blind

What the hell do you expect to find

A heart lusting full of greed

The world’s bursting in great need

You believe in God you have a cause

But your God is full of flaws

You curse the light you curse his name

Can’t you see it’s you I blame?

 

Sometimes I fall to darkest despair

Yet even the night with you I will share

Brothers on a journey hand in hand

I’m just glad that you understand

I carry your cross you can carry mine

In harmony we can cross the line

 

Hello I have a song to share

It comes from my heart with care

As sure as the sun in the day

I know Love and peace is the way

GREAT BOOK OF SONG LYRICS

The Big Book Of Song Lyrics, Check It Out!!

The Future Of Poetry

 The Future Of Poetry

 

By John Kaniecki

 

I believe strongly in poetry. It has worked before, and it will work again. It is infused in the culture of every civilization. Whether it's the Bible, the Odyssey, or Shakespeare, poetry has been extremely popular. Today poetry lacks the prestige it once held. There are no Robert Frosts in our time and age, let alone William Shakespeare. But that will all change with one simple formula. Let me share the secret.

 

Give the people what they want. Note I didn't say the editors, and I certainly didn't say, other poets. I said the people meaning the masses, the everyday man or woman who make up America. In fact, poetry in the form of musical song is both extremely popular and profitable.

 

A song lyric is a subgenre of poetry. It has an extremely tight format. There are strict rhyming and rhythm patterns. Also, there is a chorus that features a hook. All of this is done with a small number of lines.

 

What we have today in the poetry world are poems written for other poets. I heard a friend say that poetry is the only genre with more writers than readers. Why is that? I believe that poetry has lost its way—the exact reasons why this is I do not at this time care to elaborate. But let me say it doesn't matter how much education an engineer has if his invention is inferior to the man who never went to college. This principle applies to the world of poetry as well.

 

So what makes a great poem?

 

Number one, it has to communicate something. Why do so many people love the Beatles? I think the primary reason is that when they sing a song, people apply it to their personal life. That they recognize in the lyrics a situation very similar to what they have faced in their lives. This is evident in how the crowd sings along, sometimes word for word with the performer. The lyrics aren't archaic. Instead, the opposite is true; they are transparent; something is communicated.

 

Secondly, a poem must deliver something when it is read. That is, the language must tingle the ears in some pleasurable fashion. This is one of the primary differences between poetry and prose. Poetry is, or at least should be, the magical wording that entices the soul. Let's go back to an expert, William Shakespeare. How did he accomplish his success? His poetry is written with strict rhythm and rhyme. We poets would do well to note that. Of course, his presentations are enhanced with drama, metaphors, and imagery. But primarily, his words sing in a captivating way when uttered.

 

I went to the bookstore the other day and looked over the poetry section. As usual, it is tiny, especially when compared to the number of poetry books out there. I noticed an author I wasn't familiar with and picked up the book. I read one poem and placed it back down. I got nothing out of the poem.

 

Poems need to make people cry. Poems need to make people laugh. Poems need to make people think. Poems need to define life and give the words that others are searching for. All this needs to be done in a way where the words entice the mind. We need someone like Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, T.S. Eliot, or Emily Dickenson. The community of poets needs to get back in touch with what poetry is really about.

 

 And now, in conclusion, I will tell you why poetry is not as successful as it was. Writing the poetry I'm talking about takes a whole host of talent. Look at great songwriters, and one would note that it is a very exclusive crowd. Am I saying no poets have ability today? Absolutely not! But they are developing themselves into writing in a complex format that, by nature, is cryptic. What they need is a K.I.S.S of keep it simple stupid.

 

With the world of publishing so wide open with self-publishing and small presses, a whole new generation of popular poets will arise. When I get a book review, and it says something to the effect of "I don't like poetry, but I liked this book," I smile and know I've done my job. It is only a matter of time before poetry books will once more be popular sellers.

POET TO THE POOR, REVOLUTIONARY POETRY

Bells and Whistles, Thorns and Thistles

 The Seven O’ Five Train Is Running Late

 

Ding, Ding, Ding, Hear the Bells ring

See the train, clear and plain

Life’s insane

 

Ding, Ding, Ding, Hear the Bells ring

Bars descend, Blocking tracks

Bars descend, Traffic held back

 

Woooooooooooooooohh!!! Goes the whistle

Woooooooooooooooohh!!! Goes the whistle

Hear it blow,

So everyone will know, the train comes near

So everyone will know, deep dark fear

 

Feel the ground, Rumble and Shake

A loud deafening sound, Hard to take

Silence shattered, Birds have scattered

We have defiled, everything that mattered

 

The seven o’ five, A little behind

It’s seven fifteen

                 The passengers

ARE OUT OF THEIR MIND

They’re getting mean,

TEN MINUTES LATE!!

Hurry, hurry, worry, worry

Can’t debate

Deadlines to make, Punch in the clock

Rules to break, A world in a lock

Governed by Mammon

A spiritual famine

Cold and cruel

M a n y   t h e  f o o l 

And thus begins an epic tale of Edgar the banker and his exploits focused on the train he uses first to commute to work and then to 'escape.'

ALL ABOARD THE TRAIN!!! Commuting has never been this exciting. Edgar, the banker, goes on a philosophical journey and a literal one. A well-to-do businessman from the suburbs commuting to the megalopolis of Babylon. But surely, there is more to life than the golden calf he bows down to. Perhaps it is ill-begotten to use people unscrupulously to maximize profits. But what does Edgar care, after all, "I got mine!" Sadly, or perhaps happily, Edgar is on a grand exploration. This pilgrimage is faithfully recorded in poetic grandeur. Terrific poetry here tantalizing the ear. Images burst like supernovas. Unforgettable characters. So go buy that one-way ticket and let's travel by the old humming steel rail. Kick back in your seat and enjoy the passing scenery. Bells and Whistles, Thorns and Thistles poetry for the coming new age! 

Check Out Bells and Whistles, Thorns and Thistles

"Letting It Out" by John Kaniecki

Letting It Out

Prose Poetry

Poetic Observations

Words are nothing more than combinations of letters. Letters are than the rudiments of almost everything. For words are used to describe and analyze. Words are powerful. The pen is mightier than the sword. The victory is won or lost in the mind.

“Letting It Out” combines the world of philosophy with the world of poetry in the context of these modern times. It is an exploration into thinking. The witty words will make you smile while the profound revelations will make you think.

“Letting It Out” is a poet’s personal journey and his candid observations on life. They are reflections of the past and present, pointing to one of our possible futures. “Letting It Out” are words that demanded to be spoken. Words that that insisted to be put into print on the page.

End of the Road

When the road ends you can always make a u turn. Of course the possibility of four wheeling always exists as well. Then there is the natural avenue of a pleasant stroll. The end of the road thus is largely symbolic and not founded so much in reality. Even if you reach an ocean or a large lake there exists the possibility of a ferry. So death is portrayed as beyond the River Styx. Things do end in life. Relationships terminate. Sometimes goodbyes are final. But then again there always remains memory. Like watching a movie over and over on a video tape we can revisit our past. Now new roads, that sounds like an exciting venture.  Race tracks are oval and even if more complex they always form a circuit. So technically some roads have no end but rather are perpetual repetition. But we always have the choice to stop driving, simply to refuse to proceed any further. As a society we are plummeting forward at an alarming rate of speed. While some intend to accelerate our collective advance others with gritty determination dig in their heels to bring the whole thing to a halt. I go one step further for it is my desire to retrace our previous steps. Not quite exactly a u turn but rather a journey in reverse. One final note is that the road may end when there is no more gasoline. In our technical dependence many approach such a notion with trepidation. Yet on the brighter side the roads ends and the path begins. When something is born something must die.

Letting It Out