Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
Martin Narrod Feb 2014
The Checkout Line

I wish to speak with you
ten years from now, you'll be ten years behind.

The words and meanings you carry in your pants, the pick-pocket steals your hopes from time.
and the visions of empty trash receptacles
with their late evening drunken lovers' bouts, at restless end tables. And the bums with their ******* attitudes **** covered clothes, and soiled minds

the clarity of the curbside drunk, picking up shades of filtered cigarettes of twilight scandalous
pickup lovers in their evening best.

And to talk with you ten years from now, you'll be ten years behind.

They're Green Beret head ornaments
detailing the porcelain platforms of Delft
Lining up for one last line to carry them into another faded sunrise at dawn's forgotten memory of yester night
and they walk their gallows holding pride fully their flags of exalted countrymen.

The republic of teacups of literary proficiency.
Wearing the necklaces of paid tolls to an afterlife they find in the miniscule car crashes of engagement with a grinless driving mate in a neighboring car in its pass into the forethought of turned corners.
Where they befell the great disappointment of failure in the frosted eyes of their fathers' expectations.

Who carried the shame of their mother's incessant discontent through short skirts, and high heels.

Who disapproved of the **** whom wore the sneak-out-of-the-house-wear clothing line, and traveled by night over turbulent asphalt by way of sidecar through turn and turnabout hand-over-hand contracts of lover's affection, and slept in tall grasses of wet nightfall with views of San Francisco, and were trapped in the inescapable Alcatraz and Statesville of unconsenting parents and their curfews,

through trials and trails of Skittles leading to after school Doctor visits in the basement of a doting mother, whilst she sits quietly in her exclusive quilting parties with noble equities of partners in knowledge, listening to Edith Piaf and the like,

All the while condemned to time, trapped in the second hand, hand me downs of the 21st century, decades of decadent introverts with their table top unread notebooks, and old forgotten score cards, and the numbers of scholars of years past,

and to talk with you ten years from now will be my greatest pleasure, for you will be....ten year's behind.


They push the sterile elevator buttons, and descend upon the floor of scents flourishing from their crowded family rooms, only aware of distinctive flavors, in their middle eastern shades of desert gumbo,

Who speak ribbit and alfalfa until midnight of the afternoon, sharing fables of slaughtered giraffes and camels that walked from Kiev to Baghdad in a fortnight,

Who are aware the power is out, but continue to scour for candles in a dark room where candles once burned, where candle wax seals the drawers of where candles can be found. Where once sat gluttonous kings and queens in Sunday attire waiting for words of freedom from the North.

of Florence, Sochi,Shanghai
of Dempster, Foster, Lincoln
of Dodge, Ford, Shelby

Of concrete fortune tellers in 2nd story tenement blocks with hairy legs, and head lice, wearing beautiful sachets of India speaking ribbit and alfalfa.

On their unbirthdays they walk the fish tanks wearing their birthday suits to remind them who serves the food on the floors of the family room fish mongers tactics.

The old men wear gargoyles on their shoulders.

Lo! Fear has crept the glass marbles of their wisdom and fortune, blearing rocket ships and kazoos on the sidewalks of their Portuguese forefathers.

Where ancestry burns cigarette holes in the short-haired blue carpet, where Hoover breaks flood waters of insignificance across hard headed Evangelical trinities.

Who share construction techniques one early morning at four, where questions of Hammer and **** build intelligence in secondary faces of nameless twilight lovers, who possess bear blankets, and upheavals, finely wired bushes of ***** maturity. Eating *** and check, tongue and pen.

Where police caress emergency flame retardants over the fire between their legs, wielding the chauvinistic blade of comfort in the backseat of a Yellow faced driving patron.

With their innocent daughters with their nubile thighs, and malleable personalities, which require elite words and jewelry. Wearing wheat buns, Longfellow, and squire.

Holding postmarked cellular structure within their mobile anguish.

Who go curling in their showers, pushing afternoon naps and pretentious frou-frou hats over tainted friendships with their girlfriend's brothers with minimum paychecks'.

Through their narcissus and narcosis, their mirrored perceptions of medicinal scripture of Methamphetamine and elegant five-star meat.

Who amend their words with constitutional forgiveness, in their fascist cloth rampages through groves of learning strategies. And the closets, cupboards, and coins
with rubber hearts, steel *****, and gold *****,

Tall-tales of sock puppet hands with friendly sharing ******* techniques, dry with envy, colorful scabs, and coagulation of eccentric ****** endeavors, With their social lubricants and their tile feet wardrobes with B-quality Adidas and Reeboks gods of the souls of us. Who possess piceous syndromes of Ouiji boards in their parent’s basements.

When will fire burn another Bush? Spread the fire walls of Chicago, and part grocery store fields of food. Wrapping towels under the doors of smoke filled lungs, on the fingernails of a sleepover between business executives with the neoprene finish of their sons and daughters who attend finishing school, with resumes of oak furnishings,

And I long to talk with you ten years from now,
For you'll be talking ten years behind.

Who profligate their padded inventories breaking Mohammed and Hearst,
laying the pillows of cirrus minor
waiting for the rain to paint the eyes of the scriptures which waft through concrete corridors,
and scent the air with their exalted personas,

With the different channels of confusions, watching dimple past freckle, eating the palms of our tropical mental vocations to achieve purity from the indignation of those whom are contemptuous for lack of innocence in America,
this America, of lack of peace,
of America hold me,
Let me be.

Whom read the letters off music, blearing Sinatra and Krall, Manson where is your contempt?

Manson where is your manipulation of place settings?, you deserve fork and knife, the wounded commandments that regretfully fall like timber in an abandoned sanctuary of Yellowstone,
Manson, with your claws of the heart.
Manson, with your sheik vulgarity of **** cloaks exposing your ladies undercarriage,

Those who take their pets to walk the aisles of famished eyes,
allowing the dorsals of their backsides to wonder aimlessly through Vietnam and Chinaman,
holding peace of mind aware of their chemical leashes and fifteen calorie mental meals, holding hands, unaware of repercussion,

With their vivid recollections of sprinkler and slide, through dew and beyond,
Holding citrus drinks to themselves, apart from pleasure, trapped with excite from sunsets, and in-between.

Withholding reservation of tongue to lung.
Flowing ribbit and alfalfa, in the corridors of expected fragrance.

and to speak with you of ten years from now, will be a pleasure all my own, for you will be talking ten years behind.

They walked outside climbing over mountains of shrapnel, popped collars
and endless buffets of emotion,
driving Claremont all the way to art gallery premiers
and forever waited for plane crash landings
and the phone calls that never came

Glowing black and white cameras
giving modelesque perceptions to all-you-can-eat eyes
giving cigarettes endless chasms of light

Colored pavement trenches and divots
cliff note alibis
and surgery that lasted until the seamstress had gone into an
endless rest
and
empty cupboards

Classic stools painted with sleepless white smoke and bleached canvas rolling tobacco with the stained yellow window panes of feral tapestry and overindulgent vernacular

Like a satiated cheeseburger weeping smile simple emotion
on November the 18th celebrations
and Wisconsin out of business sales

Too much comfort, stealing switchboards from the the elderly, constantly putting gibberish into
effortless conversation.

Dormant doormats, with the greetings that never
reached as far as coffee table favelas,
arriving to homes of famished
furniture, awaiting temperate lifestyles and the window sill arguments from pedantic literacy

Silver shillings and corporate discovery clogged the persuasive
push and shove
to and from

Killing enterprise
loquacious attempt at too soon
much too soon
too soon for forever

Wall to wall post-card collages
happy reminders of the places never visited by drinks in the hands of
those received

Registered to the clouded skies of clip board artists
this arthritis of envy
of bathtub old age
wrinkled matted faces
logged with quick-fixes, anemia, and heart-break

disposed of off the streets
of youth, wheeling and wailing
rolling down striped stairs
of shock and arraignment
holding the hand rails of a wheelchair
suitcase
packed away in a life

Down I-37
into the ochre autumn fallen down leaves
and left memories behind
their green Syphilis eyeglasses

weeping tumuli
recalcitrant
mulish, furrow of beast and beyond

yelling, screaming, howling
at the prurient puerile tilling
of sheets

****** the voices of words
and vomiting the mind into the pockets of the turbulent perambulations
expelled from meat-packing
whispering condescension
and coercing adolescent obsessions
with fame, glamour, and *****

Creeping out into the naked
light of the Darger scale janitorial
closets, carrying the notorious gowns
of red wine spells, backpacks, and pins

henchmen, plaintiff, and youth

All the while
ripping at the incantations of the soul
whispering ribbit and alfalfa
in the guard-rail scars
of the dawns decadent forgotten
Big Virge Aug 2017
Ya know …….
" Syndromes " … roam …

Through phones and homes
Like …. " Twilight Zones " …
have … " Darker Tones " …

Tones that … LACK …
" Balance " …  that stands …
next to …. " The Truth " ….

Instead …. most choose ….
Syndromes … that … " Prove " …

How Many … play tunes …
that … Don't Sound … COOL … !!!

Condescending … quotes …
that … HIT …. " Dud Notes " …

because they … Play Out …
of … " Ignorant " … mouths … !!!
whose views are … "Bound" …
by ….. " Colonial Grounds " ….. !!!!!

"Those" … that see …
White Views … as … CLEAN … !!!
and having ….. " Sheens " …..
of …. " Positive " …. Dreams ….

While … Darker … voices …
are … NOT … Anointed … !!! …
in …. " CEREMONIES " …. !!!!!

because they are seen ……  
as being … "unclean" … !!! …
" NEGATIVE " … and … Mean … ?!?

The Type … that … NEED … !!!
to be … Put to … "sleep" …

Until someone … white's …
Inclined to …. " Recognise " ….
the type of … "Insights" …
of say … " Rastafari " …

without **** … in sight … ???

Coke takers … are … FINE … !!!
because ….. " Their Lines " ……
are the shade … THEY LIKE … !!!!!
NOT Dark … but … LIGHT …

In Fact you … find …
it's alright for … THEM … !!!
to gain … Fame … and … Express ...
as if …. " Sniffing " …. DEFINES ….
an …… Inspired Mind …… !!! ??? !!!

These days … I See …
and hear … " Pretty Speak " …
from … " Mostly " … white peeps …

who seem to … BELIEVE …
that … " POSITIVITY " …
and ….. " UNITY " …..
are the best things for ….
….. " HUMANITY " ….. !!!!!

when they live … " Up the street "
from … " impoverished " … peeps …
Who .... They'd rather ... "Keep" …
AWAY FROM …. " Their Breed " …. !?!?!

"But, I'm alright,
cos' i'm not like them !!!!!"

is the … " Usual line " … !!!

as if … THEY … are PHLEGM ... !!!!!
and just cause … " Problems " ...

" Third World " …. Heads ….
who … NEED TO … " Affect " …

A change of … " ATTITUDE " … !!!!!

INDEED … Some Do … !!!!!

But …. Historical Moves …
Some Whites … have used …
were put …. in place ….
to … IMPRINT … in brains …

That … " They are " …

…… SUPERIOR ….. !!!!!

while … " The rest " … are …

…….. INFERIOR …….. !!!!!!!!

I hear it … today …
in comments … now made …

That prove … HOW DEEP …
… " Colonial Themes " …
run through … the minds …
of … " Too Many Peeps " …

ALL … Colour types … !!!!!

seem … HAPPY … to lie …
or … NOT TO … " Think " …
about …. " The Things " ….
that they … KNOW … are …

………. " RACIST " ……… !!!!!!!!!

Like … " Playing Tricks " …
or … " Running Jokes " …
as if …. " Chain Links " ….
have … now been … BROKE …

It seems as though ….
" Historical " …. notes ….
have been …. ERASED ….
from … " Certain Brains " … !!!!!

But …..
NOT IN …. MINE …. !!!!!!

I don't … Carry … CHIPS … !!!

Nope …
My shoulders are … FINE … !!!!!
just like ….. " My Mind " …..

STRONG … and … Inclined …
to ….. NEVER …… Deny ……. !!!!!

The skin they live in … !!!!!

Dark and … " Tanned " …
like slaves that …. RAN …. !!!!!

I Ain't … THAT MAN … !!!!!!

But … descend from clans …
" Without " … Ku Klux … hands …  
and …. Hoods to …. Match ….

What's up with … THAT … ?!!!?

Did they just … " Disappear " ...
and are now … NOT HERE … !!!!!

Too many … I FEAR … !!!!!
Have been … " Well Steered " …
to believe … " The Veneer " …

That …. Powerful Racists ….
are … NOT IN … " High Places " …

because of …. OBAMA …. ?!!!?

They … NEED TO LOOK …
……… HARDER ……… !!!!!!!!

and … STOP … Running Talk
that betrays … "Racist Thoughts" … !!!!!
when blacks … Don't Retract …
but speak …. " Quoting Facts " …. !!!!!!

About the … " Syndromes " …
where … Racism Roams … !!! …

because of the past ….
that leaves their cards ….

…… MARKED ….. !!!!!!

From Europe to … Asia …

" Racists " … still hold … favour …
because of the … " Paper " …
" They use " ….. to buy …..
……… TRAITORS ………..  !!!!!!!!

'" Traitors " ….

Who … " Sold Out " …
Black People … !!! ...
Don't Doubt … !!!!!!! …

Africa … has them …
These things … I Accept … !!!!!

while … Many Blacks … DON'T … !?!
So … have the … " Syndrome " …

Just like … These … " White Folks "
who make …. " Stupid Quotes " …. !!!!!
when they … CLEARLY KNOW …
That …. Racism Roams ….
inside of their … Homes …
and … "In Those" … who …

……….. DENY ………….. ?!?

What Lies … in … " Their Files "… !!!  

The Legacy of ….
Their past … History …

which … Still Runs … Today … !!!!!
in …. TOO MANY … Brains … !!!!!!!

Racists … have got … CLEVER … !!!
and …. Operate …. BETTER …. !!! ….
because their … " Defence " …
is … Now like … " Mayweathers' "

" WE'RE IN IT TOGETHER !!!!! " ……

So … if that's the case … ?

Where is this … " Third World " … ?!?
They Claim's … a … " DISGRACE " … !!!!!
But … buy places to … STAY … ?!?!? …

I'm a … " Little Concerned " … !!! …
at … some quotes …
White Folks … make …

Who then … get …. IRATE ….
when they … hear a … Black Man …
who now …. OVERSTANDS …. !!!!!!

and … " Reminds Them " … of Blots …
They hold … from the … " past " …
that STILL … " HAVEN'T STOPPED " … !!!
in the ….. " Whitest of Hearts " ….. !!!!! …..

They're quick to … " Now Say " …
that … " They Face Racist Ways !!!!! " …

If they do …. ?!?

Where … TODAY … ???
are … white people … BEATEN …
and … HUNG UP … like … " Slaves " … ?!?!?

I guess it's … " Such Quotes " …
that are … " Too Close To Home " …
for the types of … white folks …
who are … NOT … Alone … !!! …

When it comes to … " The People " …
whose thoughts are … "Controlled" …

and caught in …
what is known …
as this …. A ….

….. " Syndrome " …..
Well sadly, certain themes seem destined to run on, forever and ever, from Virginia to London right down to Barbados, it's all the same flavour, racist behaviour that's nothing to savour ! So,  old as this poem is, it's as relevant now, as it's always been ...... again .... Sadly !!!
vea vents Nov 2016
I’ve been treating myself like there is something very wrong with me, particularly my emotions. Every emotion I get (most often, my “negative” ones), I’ve been monitoring and trying to control, when all I simply needed to do was to allow for their expression and not do anything. For a long, long time I’ve considered myself to be someone ill and in need of healing; what a difference a label makes. To be “ill”, in essence requires that someone “do” something to fix themselves as a “problem”. The very nature of thinking yourself “ill” promotes action and effort. I’m glad I don’t go to a dr, can you imagine how many other disorders and syndromes I would have to “fight” and contend with.

A lot of the time when someone gets traumatised, or undergoes some sort of negative event, they always look to the happy part of themselves as the “real” them, or at least the part of them deemed to be acceptable enough to be “real”. They lament losing the “real” them. But who are people really? Are they only who they are when they’re happy? Does the extent of one’s being only pertain to their happiness? What if a part of me is in despair, what if a part of me is in intense fear and anxiety — aren’t these parts of me also real and equally valid as happiness? Particularly if they’re perfectly natural reactions to intense suffering and pain. These parts of me scream for catharsis after having been invalidated for a long time and instead of allowing them, I've condemned myself as being ill for feeling them. This is why society is in part sick; repression is healthy and expression is deemed ill. We drug away “negative” emotions for fear we are somehow damaged for harbouring them.

From now on, I am no longer “ill” — what a difference such a perception makes in how you treat yourself. Whatever you do is acceptable, whatever you do is allowed and expression is an inevitability. My intense sadness is not a problem, my intense pain is not a problem, my intense fear is not a problem — do you know how freeing such an attitude towards self is?
Simon Oct 2019
One story may change the world someday. One that will revolutionize the steady constants of how everyday aspects judges itself too harshly. Never finding the solve of anti pressure release syndromes. Plot is plot. Ideas are always outspoken. Even if one or the other hasn’t agreed. Won’t change the facts given to the recipient who may have already judged the opposing two. Without running through what they have already been about. Futuristic plot devices aren’t important. As it may not even exist. Storytelling being a futuristic realization to knowing something before it happens. Feelings clawing thought processes. Thought processes trying to equalize the incoming rush of emotions that rise and fall. Feelings being a different breed centered in the middle of the steady constant. Revolutionizing what you already know. Blind to see it through. Thought processes aren’t too judging. Except when you start to trust feelings too much. A jealous implication arises. Knowing what you already know before it happens. Is no different then how one already figured it out. Feelings handle it with care. Thought processes stuck in the mud. A puppy without any directional skills. A master never telling its true flaws if it couldn’t understand itself to begin with. Jealousy is rising even more. A fixed implication is becoming more dominant. Revolutionizing the main flaw more and more. Nothing is without equal if you never give it a chance. Feeling the way through all the clutter. Clutter not being your fault. You were molded by the pressure of what storytelling has made you into. Plot devices center these focuses without thinking outside itself. Your only to blame, when subjects apart of your judging becomes too sterile for you to notice anymore. Drying out the process of trusting something with care. Becoming one who is blind to never looking outside itself again! Becoming the stick in the mud. How does one avoid? Easy! Storytelling being a futuristic realization! PS… Don’t claim what you already know!
Storytelling isn't hard to figure out. Only when not knowing what comes after what has already presented itself genuinely. A fixed position on the properties of something yet to occur.
- Apr 2017
My insides do not keep any order.
Nor do I keep that as my passion.
Distracted ruins of my simultaneousness...
Stumble,
Then give up on the road.
Shiver all you want,
In a mind you are there and warm.
Neet May 2018
I love you because
Love has come to me
Through you
Love was lying somewhere
In an undiscovered space
Love came after the shower
Of your casual asteroid arrival
Love was that explosion
My new place of habitat

I love you because
Love is a simple word
And still holds a plenty meanings
Love is a that soft whisper
You make for no one to know
Love is the complex of feelings
That has left me sick with syndromes
Love is the word I cannot find
When I want to acknowledge you

I love you because
Love has meant respect to me
And I respect men and women
Love with its idiopathy and passion
Has made me a mystic-romantic
The eyes of men, the hands of women
The shirts, skirts, the sweats, perfumes
Since my love can't be held in a person
I hold a billion people inside you

I love you because
I let you go
I found your existence
In the deepest pits of my darkest days
So, I had to tear your idea
But let you hang in paper pieces
Far away in my head
The clutches of my solitude
Scared me I guess
And because I love you
I had to save you

I love you because
Yesterday, I thought about you
Yesterday, I was so in love with you
Yesterday, I was so jealous of you
Yesterday, I wanted to be with you
Yesterday, I suddenly hated you
But hate is love spilled
And hence I love you more
But thence, I also hate you
And with each lovepoem
More I write, more I love you
Pk
The visual arts over
time constraints pull
                             and push
brick and mortar,
glass and bone aside.

Beside the sycamore traveling,
potsherds and splinters of graves
near similar resting places
never resting with syndromes

and now we search for scraps to place our waste into
fearing the wounds in Earth do not break
while we continue searching for scraps and waste
A little piece for my favorite city Orlando. I love you.
tragedy
Hannah Adair Nov 2013
I look at the page of my book, but I can’t focus.
My vision blurs.

The room is spinning.
Dizziness overtakes me; I feel nauseous.

There’s a ringing in my ears, in my head.
Your words play on repeat.

I must be coming down with something.
Hand to forehead- just to check.

These are my syndromes- this illness,
What is my diagnosis?

Maybe if I just focus on the words,
Not the meaning.

Just tell me once again,
I promise I can take it.

I’ll always remember:

*I can’t,
I’m done.
Captain G Oct 2016
I HATE the world, but I LOVE it
I scream in horror, but I lust for it
I feel pain and aches, but I find aid and ease in it
I fall to sickness, but I ascend and enjoy wholesomeness from it
I observe syndromes and disorders, but saw good health and methods because of it
I throw up the world, but I digest it
I raze the world, but I still live on it
I throw away the world, but I recycle it
I find myself furled, but it's my life cycle
And then I remember one thing, this world is a gift from the king.
A gift so unique, an antique, very mystique
I remember it all and have a smile on my face
But I scratch my head and wonder how it became a corrupt place
Like a hammer striking a nail
Or an unexpected card in the mail
I didn't realize I could fail
To point out my very own mistake, I became pale.
I felt like a fool
I felt so cruel
With his blood on my hands
I helped create these badlands
I helped dethrone the king
I married the devil and put on the wedding ring
I sat in my shame
I'm the one to blame...
So I sat down for dinner
Went to bed as a loser, (and not a winner)
Closed my eyes and heard a voice
"God hates sin, but loves the sinner".
I chose titled topic by a fanciful whim,
nevertheless still consider my knowledge
of aforementioned material slim.

Housing multivarious biomes
register ecological syndromes
whereby constituents of NOAA
Great Lakes Environmental
Research Laboratory writ tomes.

Pellucid pearls in northeastern
North America since planetary birth
Comprise Lakes Superior, Michigan,
Huron, Erie, and Ontario dearth
Largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth
Straddle Canadian–United States border

tethering partial global girth
Constituting 21% of world's surface
freshwater species hearth
Total surface equals 94,250 square miles
And total volume equals 5,439
cubic miles immeasurable worth.

Lake Erie from Erie tribe, abridged form
of Iroquoian word erielhonan “long tail”
Lake Huron named by French explorers for
Wyandot or “Hurons” whence they did sail
Lake Michigan likely from Ojibwa word
mishigami “great water” aka outsize gold quail

Lake Ontario i.e. “Lake of Shining Waters”
shimmering like hammered coat of mail
Lake Superior coined from French “lac supérieur”
"upper lake", an emerald watery dale
Ojibwe people called it gitchigumi medicinal
to cure that, which might ail.

These five lakes each reside in separate basin
Form a single, naturally interconnected body
of fresh water caisson
Linking east-central interior of North America
to Atlantic Ocean akin to an escutcheon.

From interior to outlet at St. Lawrence River,
Water flows via Superior to Michigan-Huron
southward to Erie to avoid a shiver
Finally released northward to Lake Ontario
as like a well taut archer with his quiver.

The lakes drain a large watershed via many
rivers as an Olympic team
Populated with approximately 35,000 islands
this estimate not x stream.

The Great Lakes region contains many
thousands of smaller lakes,
Often called inland lakes undulating in
delving, cascading and brimming
analogous to a fluid ream
Lake Michigan the only one located
entirely within United States
While the others border between United States
and Canada – essentially a liquid seam.

Lakes Michigan and Huron
are basically a single lake,
Sometimes called Lake Michigan-Huron,
combined doth make
Total area of 45,300 square miles (117,000 km2)
Have the same surface elevation of 577 feet (176 m),
Connected by 295-foot deep Straits of
Mackinac Islands splayed like a rake.

Approximately 35,000 islands
extant throughout oceanic like sea
Largest among them
Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron
brushing up against Goliath knee.

The second-largest island is Isle Royale in
Lake Superior to boot
Both these islands
contain multiple lakes themselves
alive with creatures that hoot.

Unadulterated details gleaned courtesy
Mister Google, which website
buried under virtual sediment:

The Saint Lawrence Seaway
and Great Lakes Waterway connect
the Great Lakes to ocean-going vessels.

The move to wider ocean-going container ships —
which do not fit through the locks on these routes —
has limited container shipping on the lakes.

Most Great Lakes trade constitutes bulk material
and bulk freighters of Seawaymax-size
or less can move throughout
the entire lakes and out to the Atlantic.

The Great Lakes also connected
to the Gulf of Mexico
by way of the Illinois River
(from the Chicago River)
and the Mississippi River.

An alternate track is via the Illinois River
(from Chicago), to the Mississippi,
up the Ohio, and then
through the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway
(combination of a series
of rivers and lakes and canals),
to Mobile Bay and the Gulf.

Commercial tug-and-barge traffic
on these waterways quite heavy.

Pleasure boats can also enter or exit
the Great Lakes by way of
the Erie Canal and Hudson River in New York.

The Erie Canal connects to the Great Lakes
at the east end of Lake Erie
(at Buffalo, New York)
and at the south side of Lake Ontario
(at Oswego, New York).

The Great Lakes contain 21%
of the world’s fresh surface water:
5,472 cubic miles (22,810 km3),
or 6.0×1015 U.S. gallons (2.3×1016 liters).

This equals enough water
to cover the 48 contiguous U.S. states
to a uniform depth of 9.5 feet (2.9 m).

Although the lakes contain
a large percentage of the world's fresh water,
the Great Lakes supply only a small portion
of U.S. drinking water
on a national basis (roughly 4.2%).

Winter 2009–10 ranked somewhat mild,
the precipitation was below normal
for the Great Lakes Basin.

Mean lake levels then thought
to be slightly below
or at their levels of 2009.

An ice jam in February 2010
dropped the level in Lake St. Clair.

Since the jam got removed the level
has come back to its average.

As of March 2010, the lakes
were at the level, or slightly below,
where they were in March 2009.

The combined surface area
of the lakes equals approximately
94,250 square miles (244,100 km2)—
nearly the same size as the United Kingdom,
and larger than the U.S. states of New York,
New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island,
Massachusetts, Vermont,
and New Hampshire combined.

The Great Lakes coast measures
approximately 10,500 miles (16,900 km);
however, the length of a coastline  
impossible mission to measure exactly
cuz topographical feature not well-defined.
A W Bullen Sep 2023
Long time - no sea

and feelings of the ocean-pull
have gained the upper hand,

There is nothing here
in writing,

just pigeon- breasted
righteousness,
increasing stipulations

All that meadowsweet
and moonshine ran,
to desert sand androgony

sank lower
than the daily dip
of fire's head in middle distance

Dizzy social densities
imported inner-city syndromes
proffer only impotence
of temporary reprieve

seems hard to bed
the disenchanted,
sickening for cigarettes
for solitary epithets

-ennui-

So, hide away
demands that breed
the need to know the answers

Been peeking
round the prism bars
empowered sense of self defeat

For sugared-melon hedonism
far too many lines have soured

Long,

Long time - no sea...
Emma Katka Jul 2016
...
doesn't matter what my mouth says
my face has a reputation of its own
from syndromes induced
by the pressures of small town living
faces i've never seen
or haven't seen in years
people who don't know me at all
speak of me through someone else's teeth
they wear a self-placed title of unity
pinned over a flesh embroidered title
that reads
L I A R
you're not genuine enough to be my friend
but not strong enough to be my enemy
Shaik Arif May 2017
Born to the indigent parents, unfortunately
The destitute children, only to live a life
Excruciating; the life in poverty forever.
No means to study, less sources of money.
Hands stretched all day waiting for alms.
Opulence; is even one old rusty penny.
To them the very streets we spit are homes.
Food we throw away is their square meal,
Ingesting which, victims they become of little known syndromes.
Die in a way, more pathetic than they lived.
Norbert Tasev Feb 2021
Pass-wise rock, since My shipwreck is linear; like a sprained, bald string of numbers!
 
Dozens of childish playfulness clings to me because I assume Peter Pan syndromes rather than absolute strict adulthood! The petty warts of wild times burn in my body, immortal Universe would be given by all my words of compliment; it is still intolerable that we will also exchange our principles as used underwear! "Misfortunes approach me with determination!" The official indifference binds its negotiated, alamous alliances with Nothing, and the reserve pleasures already lack all the absolute Promises of Goodness! "I have a lot of useless promises and Van Gogh's ears cut!"
 
Scandal if weeds and those fighting with themselves are already pathetically ridiculous! Man's transition between an animal's slaughterhouse ?! Why should this be the case? Bus stop people can only stare puzzled if someone collapses in front of them! Perhaps every Being showcase is being prepared for litigation, and the pain has also usefully acclimatized! - Many times our rails break during our journey and the switches can break; even the legendary train is wasting its trajectories!
 
The mirror looks at itself on a vigilant examiner as the other childier looks in: the Future passes into an inedible surprise if we no longer take care of the Present! My faithful exploratory amazement would set off again into unfamiliar imaginations, while joy appears unintentionally on the chalkboards of my years! All honesty is another test under a sharpened Guillotine; my hesitant crying face is an all-around little boy clinging to him if I can't do anything else
wordvango Aug 2017
August tans on the strong armed roofers
the black concrete dudes
even in this day seem to  
tan
now with the sun hotter
than ever
constructing hovels and trying to pay bills
we may not  
seem poetic but we were
we helped build this country
piece by piece
and I salute me I salute the people who sweated out the sun in
blue jeans and overalls
carried your shingles up to the roof
two squares at the time real men
not those naughty little
pencil pushers
that lift weights after a nine to five day
in a suit
or accountants in a cubicle that get
carpal tunnel syndromes and act like they
are dying
come work for a day with real men
those of us who sweat in the sun glisten
we make women ***
Propellent syndromes rotating with energetic drum
the winds of time begin to churn your soul begins to hum;  
Through the portal of time you go regressing, progressing
forever moving forwards, you are a tiny little string;  
Dangling at the edge of time, waiting for the big rebirth
with the sun, moon and stars hung around your girth,  
you slowly decline at the doorway of heaven's nook
and enter mothers womb as she delivers you with shook;
Ferris wheel cries cracking the silence of dusks headdress
the dawn is a blush of bruises but the eyes, oh!  the eyes
they are two luminous stars of love, here is no surprise
the old soul has done it again, thundering back in, mortal
as you once were.  Immune to taste, sight, and smell,  
a propelling syndrome rotating with energetic drum,  
the winds of time has brought you back, now hum.

June 7, 2021
Norbert Tasev Dec 2021
Pass-wise rock, since My shipwreck is linear; like a sprained, bald string of numbers!
 
Dozens of childish playfulness clings to me because I assume Peter Pan syndromes rather than absolute strict adulthood! The petty warts of wild times burn in my body, immortal Universe would be given by all my words of compliment; it is still intolerable that we will also exchange our principles as used underwear! "Misfortunes approach me with determination!" The official indifference binds its negotiated, alamous alliances with Nothing, and the reserve pleasures already lack all the absolute Promises of Goodness! "I have a lot of useless promises and Van Gogh's ears cut!"
 
Scandal if weeds and those fighting with themselves are already pathetically ridiculous! Man's transition between an animal's slaughterhouse ?! Why should this be the case? Bus stop people can only stare puzzled if someone collapses in front of them! Perhaps every Being showcase is being prepared for litigation, and the pain has also usefully acclimatized! - Many times our rails break during our journey and the switches can break; even the legendary train is wasting its trajectories!
 
The mirror looks at itself on a vigilant examiner as the other childier looks in: the Future passes into an inedible surprise if we no longer take care of the Present! My faithful exploratory amazement would set off again into unfamiliar imaginations, while joy appears unintentionally on the chalkboards of my years! All honesty is another test under a sharpened Guillotine; my hesitant crying face is an all-around little boy clinging to him if I can't do anything else!
jeffrey conyers Aug 2018
Suddenly, it's defense time.
When a woman gets accused of harassment.

Let's the case play out.
Men are not the only ones with the loose mouth.
Saying comments that offend.

Then again, some ladies act just like men.

But when they accused watch the double standards syndromes emerge.
As if it might not have occurred.
The table is 3-D, and
So is the orange on it

The canvas is 2-D, but
The orange in it is 3-D

If not for mind’s multi-D syndromes
What sanity in this swirl of deliriums (2019)

— The End —