January 9, 2008
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ElectricPoetry: Poem for the New Year 2008
“Poem For the New Year 2008″
Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri
January 9, 2008 6:20 a.m. pstHow many times must the circle go round?
Leaving kind memory rife with regretful abandon.
It arrived here before and it made not a sound.
Spinning ever so fast and so smoothly around again.Before it began turning, the circle was still.
Imprints of life’s stamina shining from the surface.
With a short kick it began turning by it’s will.
Spinning ever so fast doesn’t seem as if it has a purpose.Photographs in mottled sepia fade askance.
Laughing children’s voices echo through the mind’s grottoes.
The circle asks not for a partner in it’s dance.
Embrace or forget, it turns swiftly as life follows.When the circle spun so slowly during youth
Never would we stare or comb for answers
We would let it revolve with the stark unknown truth
Hidden in the fulcrum were the ghosts of time’s harsh cancersThe circle started spinning fast and fast and faster.
But life got in the way, and no one seemed to care.
Revolutions rounded clean life’s celebration and disaster
Before we understood the circle rolled with brilliance and despairRound and round the bend of purpose and design
We lost the count of revolutions long ago and far away
Twas better in our youth to cast our eyes down as if blind
But now the circle seems to spin so fast it gets right in the way.How many times must the circle go round?
Really shouldn’t ask but merely experience it’s turnings.
Look into broken mirrors and straddle strong the ground
As time tarnished wisdom supplants youthful yearnings.“A Late Poem For the New Year 2007″
Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri
February 23, 2007 6:38 a.m. pst
Yet another stone in the path of existence
A brick in the wall of life’s bold persistance
Steps in what hopefully show to be paradise
Years pass and years pass with scant time to criticize
Old mantras chanted or new rules remembered
Another February disappears among the embers.Look in the mirror of remembered reality
They who return the gaze laugh at the fallacy
Even the shape of the head’s not familiar
More tis the pity, the whole image peculiar
So forget when dire memory cries out in pain
As we know it is apt to again and againCalendars ceased to appear on the walls
As pages fell faster than speeding pinballs
The careworn lines creasing the skin show dismay
A fleeting remembrance that life fasts away
A wan rollercoaster careens out of sight
Ne’er to return disappears in the night.Which means of course morning appears if on schedule
Advancing the year just one more day most faithful
Believe fill with promise, forget time’s great joke
Unburden the mind, and emerge from the yoke
Forget all life’s troubles, laugh away all life’s pains
Elbow aside life’s regrets, and polish life’s stainsSmash metaphorical mirrors and remove from the wall
Any form of reminder that time takes it’s toll
We shall live day to day, hour to hour, min to sec
Exist now in the moment, never bother to check
As the Poems for the New Year pile up in the tens
Leave the book open wide and keep ink in the pens“Poem for the New Year 2000″
Poetry by Michael F. Nyiri
December 31, 1999 2000 12:10 p.m. pdtWhen the books are all opened, and the covers thrown back,
The face of humanity will see the naked form of serendipity, wallowing in self-absorbtion, asking alms for creativity.
The number is so round, so pure, so oval.
In a past life one could never really grasp that humankind would arrive at this point.
Intact.
And in fact it is somewhat perilous, and with shaking hand,
That I address the multitudes on this momentous day.
A day like any other day,
And yet a day, which by it’s nature will cause it to be etched in the books,
Those same books, which upon opening, serendipity stares at us,
Wondering what all the fuss was about anyway.
Nature wouldn’t give presents to the inhabitants.
They stole everything they could get.
God couldn’t abide by the inquisitive nature of man which gave cause for the fall.
So upon leaving the garden one was given pause.
And nobody heeded the call.
In recompense, a short year hence, when the actual Millennium is nigh,
Will anyone be the wiser, and will I breathe a belated sigh?
Ago, now, the disheveled remains of circumstance see fit to
Tell the unsuspecting populace not to worry.
Youth ages, and the skin gets wrinkled.
I do not feel any older, nor any wiser today.
But I am glad to be alive, and glad that I could stay.
The same, pure, realization which draws the numbers,
Draws the wonder from my soul, and energizes the totality with electricity.
Something is brewing, something is conjuring up a delicate brew,
Which, when taken from the cup of kindness, will spark a Millennial attitude.
I will not have felt these feelings, nor lived this life. I will be refreshed.
I will drink without prejudice, and satisfy my hunger for romance.
I will bathe in the waters of satisfaction.
A new dawning, a new page turned from the book.
A clean white page beackoning to creativity.
We are all, at once, a doomed and fallen lot,
Yet we are infused with this wonder and this capacity for understanding.
Humankind is the duality of the universe.
One man, one woman.
A thousand thousand meager understandings spark me this afternoon.
This is my poem for the new Millennium. This is my viewpoint for the stars in our souls.
As the numbers seem so round and full, so does my love.
Satisfaction upon being, a delicate balance fulfilled.
I approach this year, this decade, this century, the Millennium,
With a rapture of feeling for the Godhead’s mysteries fortold.
I open my arms to this enthusiasm in the ether.
And stand transfixed, ready to welcome time into my bosom again.
BEHIND THE POETRY: I present my latest poem first, the “Poem for the New Year 2008″, one of an ongoing series of yearly traditional musings. Last year’s “Late Poem for the New Year 2007″ is also presented, as is the Millennial “Poem for the New Year 2000″, a quite ambitious work I wrote on the last day of 1999. The graphic is a version of the “ElectricPoetry Banner” from the ElectricPoetry website. The image is from a painting by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and has been the “ElectricPoetry” banner image since 2000.
Comments (22)
Dear Mike,
I’m always amazed by how prolific you are. Your rhyming skills are as sharp as ever (you know how I loves my rhyme) and of these three, two of which are rhymers, I like your latest one best. It is the evolved and mature Mike who writes and photographs and produces the best content in Xangaland. I appreciate it even more knowing the back story and seeing your progression, getting it all “from the horse’s mouth”. You’ve made any future biographers redundant. May you blog forever.
Ben :fun:
Stopping by to say hi
Dear Mike,
Such skill! I should be so lucky to have it myself! RYC: Funny you should say that. . .I find that when I think about subbing to someone’s site, I’ll “check them out” first. . .you know, visit a few times to see whether or not they keep their posts positive. Deep I can go with, intelligently written, goofy, fun, thought provoking. . .all good for me, but when someone whines and complains about each and every aspect of their lives. . . I bail! Of course, as you read on my post, it did wake me up to the positive in my own life (and honestly, had it not been for them, I’d still be complaining myself, so in essence, I suppose there is a reason for them to be!). Thank you for the compliment on my background. . . I love it, as well I should because I designed it myself! But you know that because you read my blog. . .*slaps forehead*. . .I’m working on quite a few more, but the kick in the pants is that I don’t know how to set up a site on the internet (or Xanga for that matter) to feature them! I’m still slow at learning html and don’t even know how to make a second page. . pfft! At any rate, enough rambling here! Have a wonderful week Mr. Mike!~Jeri_Dee, wishful writer, half century maven, and happily existing as a human being.
the first poem brings to mind the little spinning thing we used to play on in the playground -the round thing and life is like a blur and the sounds of laughing and being alittle terrified everytime I rode it and holding on for dear life.
HI MIKE! Thanks for the nice note….
I found you through the Queens web site. I have been with her for several years. I like coming back cause you are a detail person and I enjoy the complexity and completeness of how you think. I am suck in big picture mode. I don’t do details well…..to anxious.
Plz visit me anytime…I sure will stop by too!
:sunny:, QE
You are a writer!
Thanks Mike for the Anniversary comments….neat poems on your post…..Have a great day and may God Bless you….Mike:sunny:
Mike, I have been reading your blogs through the years…quite a few of them, I might add. I always look forward to your new poem each year. I even remember the 2000 poem, but perhaps from reading back.
As to the popular name, Michael, in the late 90′s I had a class of about 28 kids in a journalism class, and five of them were named…you guessed it, Michael. I had to have a system to keep it all straightened out. Two obliged by having the surnames of Brown and Green. That worked for two of them. One was just Michael, because he was first in the rollbook. Right after his name…Michael Michael…the double named Michael worked well all year. Of course, Michael was not his last name, but he was on the roll right after the first Michael, so I would call out Michael, Michael and it stuck. This left only one Michael. Everytime we started something new or different, this gregarious fellow was not paying attention and always said something to the effect of, “I’m lost, or I don’t get it.” Just a real cute personable fellow; he became, “Lost Michael.” Last I knew of the Michael’s….One is a highway patrolman, one was a pro football player, one is the head of grounds maintainence at a beautiful college campus in this area, and “Lost Michael” is a minister. I am not sure about the other, but his wife was teaching school and he had a college degree.
Somehow Michael just exudes success. Thanks for stopping by.
RYC: Mike, I see all comments made in response to my posts – even the older posts. Thanks for stopping by. I really need to find some more time to stop by the Island.
Hi Mike,
I really like the poem for 2008. You definitely have a gift for the poetry.
Stopped by to say hello. I see your smiling face on every blog I visit. You certainly get around!
perhaps the answer to the ‘why’ Sysyphous, “to experience the turnings”…insightfully loaded.
randomly dude,
j
Hi Mike,
The 2008 poem is a treat to read. I am more and more aware that the spinning seems to go faster with age…so I could relate well with the poem. Keep writing
I really like that line “time’s harsh cancers…..” That is gold.
Your new post sounds very familiar, especially with the first line. Good stuff, as usual, but reading poetry in general is always an effort for me. Especially stuff in meter. But I’ll get better
The Atreus play sounds interesting and ghastly and a lot like Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus. Good good stuff. I’ll look out for the Rhionceros play, too 
I just got three more of my schoolbooks from the library last night along with some gardening books. 
Happy happy joy joy joy.
Dear Mike;
Regarding your comment on Kween of the Queens:
I know it takes time to go to each entry, trust me, as a blog ring leader it’s just part of the job. This particualr challenge generated a response that is atypical of the participation level that has been occuring as of late. I think that the relative ease of it brought some of the lost souls back. . .I honestly don’t expect to rouse such a response with the next challenge. This almost seems like a fluke! Althought there are so many members, I, like you, find that only a core group tend to participate each and every time. As in the past, I’m feeling the urge to purge. . . I occasionally go through the list and delete those who have never participated, or haven’t had any post up on their blogs in over 3 months. Had I never done this, I would have well over 200 memebers. But that means nothing if they never participate!~Jeri
Mike,
Death has been lingering in my mind for as long as I can remember, therefore, I am particularly sensitive to this topic. Perhaps my father’s own worries regarding death rubbed off on me at an early age, or maybe it was all the vietnam war stories he told. Death haunts my thoughts during my time awake and haunts me in my dreams every night. I lay there still in my bed, and close my eyes, and is hopeful that I can quiet my mind enough to fall asleep. I try counting sheeps, one sheep, two sheep, oh crap the sheep fell down and died. I think of a beautiful sunset on the horizon…oh crap, the titanic just killed all of its passengers. Death seems to find me wherever I go. It swings from one vine of thought to another and never seems to ever let go. I am overwhelmed with worry that death will walk in at an inopportune time on me and on the people i love.
When I hear stories of people losing there love ones, or perhaps having an illness, it gets me depressed, and it stays with me for a long time. Though I may not know you nor do I know your roommate, however, I have thoughts of your roommate since the last time I’d read your entry. I hope you both are doing well.
Wonderful post and I do so enjoy poetry… The poems you have posted are very complex with a great deal of thought & imagery. A wonderful tribute to each year – come and gone. Certain lines stuck a cord with me so I will tell you now which ones (I know -how tedious). Poem for 2008 the first 2 lines and the last 2 are the ones I so strongly relate to. Poem for 2007 the lines :
”The careworn lines creasing the skin show dismay/ A fleeting remembrance that life fasts away/ A wan rollercoaster careens out of sight/ Ne’er to return disappears in the night.” And last but not least the Poem for 2000: “I will not have felt these feelings, nor lived this life. I will be refreshed./ I will drink without prejudice, and satisfy my hunger for romance./ I will bathe in the waters of satisfaction./A new dawning, a new page turned from the book./A clean white page beackoning to creativity.”
RYC: Enjoyed your comment. Yes, I was sooo late jumping in on this challenge but I had missed the last couple so was determined to do it. I love your take on the moon… Indeed it is a rock in the sky but it’s very mystery invites wonder. Every night I have to look up at the moon. peace – Jane
Mike, and here is an afterthought. When you do make it to the moon please give it my regards & I will tell everyone – “I once received a comment from the man on the moon”
.
Dear Mike,
As I was reading the newest challenges you listed on Internet Island, I noticed that the blog ring has been on line for 2 years. . .which prompted me to check on Kween of the Queens. . .I too have been heading that blog ring for over 2 years. . .since Oct. of 2005. . . .I thought that was rather interesting. . ..don’t know why I felt the need to share though? It’s all good! Have a nice weekend!~Jeri
Thanks Mike, for your comment, and I hope to contribute to the Internet Island blogring as time goes by.
Nice poetry, very talented on multiple avenues.
Hopefully you’ll find what I post about either amusing or thought-provoking as well….or even just a moment away from the rush of boredom that can fall upon anyone.
Until later, be blessed.
Hey, Mike! I’ll come back and comment on the poems another time. I’m catching up tonight, but I’m still a little too ADD brained to concentrate on poetry.