February 9, 2005

• ElectricPoetry: Valentine's Day 2005

  

  "The Last Love Song"
  Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri
  © 1972 (18 years old)

  
  Embodied, sweet nectar o'erflowed
  A subway rushing through a tunnel
  Still-wet grass clinging to slick bodies
  A jar of something in the bathroom

  Butter slapped upon a piece of toast
  An open mouthed kiss on the porch
  Magazines strewn on the coffee-table
  A wisp of a nightgown being removed

  Trains bellowing through the dark night
  A single rose alive in a pot
  Creaking of a broken shutter
  Mewing of a hungry cat

  Two lithe bodies touching
  One hand caressing a soft breast
  The rhythmic beating of two hearts
  For a brief instant in sync
  And out of touch with reality

   

  "Untitled II 2-12-73"
  Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri
  © Feb. 12, 1973

  
  I laughed I floored the pedal
  As I thought of my baby
  As I thought of my
  Pretty laughing too.
  She was laughing pretty loudly
  She was laughing pretty badly
  So I left and laughed
  The highway turned so blue.

  I was laughing on the road
  It seemed so funny to me then
  It seemed Ironic, pretty funny
  When she said all that she said
  I simply told her that I loved her
  Told her simply that I loved her
  But she threw her head back
  Nearly laughed me dead.

  I cried I turned the corner
  As I thought of my honey
  As I thought of my
  Petty, rotten luck.
  I had laughed the situation
  At my heartached remonstration
  As I laughed, I died
  I never saw that truck.

   

  "After the Last Love Songs"
  Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri
  © January 4, 1974 9:45 p.m.

  
  Yes, some can turn to everybody else,
  Pretending they're extremely extroverted,
  masking all their hopes in return for a date,
  But as I gaze upon
  all the young girls
  With their inward smiles and
  locked-up diaries, I find I'm looking for an open
  book-
  Not a page on Saturday night,
  But a novel to peruse with my existence.
  I will find her someday
  But until that time I'll keep trying,
  Wistfully writing my last love songs to her
  And hoping someday she'll pick one up
  and read

  
  "Valentune"
  Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri
  © February 3, 1979 3:05 p.m.  (newly transcribed)

  Let me sing for you a valentune
  In hopes to win your heart
  Erase all past disappointments
  And make a brand new start

  Hear me, sweet young angel
  Love so pure and fair
  Let my song enrapture
  As it travels everywhere

  Simple gifts of kindness
  We oft forget, I fear
  And I forgot your kindness
  With the path I chose to steer

  How sad, in light of memory
  That I tried to blight your presence
  But even smiles which hurt me
  Express a warm transcendence

  I will sing my valentune
  In hopes to win your heart
  I wish to be made whole again
  No more remain a lonely part

  My voice will ring the heavens
  My words will wake the world
  And I shall not stop singing
  Till love's valentune's fulfilled

  
  "Chance Encounter"
  Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri
  © February 21, 1979 5:45 p.m. (newly transcribed)

  Will empty waking hours compense
  the evening's satisfaction?
  Can one measure feeling through
  a physical attraction?
  Are we interrupting life for small
  But lyrical distractions?
  And does the echo far surpass the moment?

  Two chance encounters script the pages
  of a passion play
  The separation bars itself behind
  the doors by day
  And must I wait for some bright future
  door to open way
  Or may I touch you once again tonight?

  Comics laugh the tears away but tears drop
  just the same
  All the lonely people cry just who
  are we to blame
  Poets wish to fall for love but
  do not know her name
  And does one kiss ease pressure on the soul?

  One chance encounter taught me what
  I might have left to give
  Two chance encounters prove I have
  some more life left to live
  And I'm filled with wonder - whence the
  third encounter arrives
  And this time will it be
  again by chance?

   

  "Valentestimonial"
  Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri
  © February 4th, 2004 4:39 a.m. pst

  
  Last love songs sang a valentune for the ages
  Many missed opportunities, many tear stained pages
  Words calculatingly caressed the tenor of my soul
  But there was nothing solid there to pay love's wages
  And my broken body never could be made so whole.

  In the beginning, when younger I felt electric
  Penning youthful wisdom with a naivete eclectic
  Muses gathered in the dust at my feet with purpose
  I could gear up for a life of wishing frenetic
  Feverish gales of love would wash over us.

  Us didn't exist at all, and the years silently passed
  More words than can be counted, and no love song was the last
  The moon fills and wanes, and I stay in life alone
  A vessel filled with life and love, emotion's iconoclast
  No love was lost, no hearts were broken, save my own.

  The present arrives and the lines on my face increase
  Did I stop looking, I wonder, did the search for love surcease?
  No, a personal note, none fulfilled, but I yearn
  For Cupid's arrow to sting, and to pay love her lease
  And I want to feel the ecstasy of the sting and the burn.

  But now as I exist in this extreme time and tide
  Simple love rhymes seem sorrowful, subtly filled with pride.
  Mankind seems to have stopped loving, this isn't his behavior
  The last love songs for eternal bliss seem to have died
  And Cupid's arrows seem now to be what mankind needs to savor.

  Last love songs sing a valentune for all time
  A wish that humanity would find a common ground to share
  I might find the love I crave, I might find the time to rhyme
  But a global love would be a wondrous gift to share.

  ---

  I know it's a bit early, and Valentine's Day is next Monday, but I recently read that most single guys always remember the day on which Valentines' Day falls, and married men don't. So I am posting some Valentine's themed poetry. For those who read this blog who belong to my ElectricPoetry Group, there are 2 additional poems in this entry I have not posted on ElectricPoetry. The second piece, entitled "Untitled II 2-12-73" is a "joke poem" parody of a country song and is not to be taken seriously. 

  Everybody knows that Valentine's Day was named after St. Valentine, but nobody knows anything about the chap. The "history of Valentine's Day is shrouded in mystery. (I've always contended that the holiday was "invented" by Greeting Card Makers). I reprint some of the various "identities" of St. Valentine below, according to the History Channel website. They got some of their facts from the American Greetings Company.  Yes, it's true they make Valentine's Cards.

  "One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons. According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today."  MFN

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