A daily poetry practice to generate and sustain the Life/Lines among us, for published and novice poets alike
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Prompt
Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines.
dog-eared
politicians
jest
purple
sync
Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.
Today’s words were contributed by Jeannette Cooperman, writer for The Common Reader, WashU’s journal of the essay. You can read more of her work here.
Poems submitted for April 16
The constitution is dog-eared
By politicians looking for red and blue compliments
No jest - we would all be more in sync
If they could only read purple statements.
***
Expressly Beautiful
You can love purple
Its former glory
Does not
Sync
Politicians their signatures dog-eared
Better a Sweater with worn elbows
A jest to return
Confidence
james goodman
***
Purple-faced politicians sync up platitudes
This dog-eared playbook would read as jest
If it weren't so cruel
Kwin
***
Inspired by Mitch McConnell
Politicians are jackanapes and deserve an unfriendly "grrr" when they come to the door.
They deserve a cat's claw as well as a dog's tooth and a snake's zzzz, all in sync when at the door,
looking for bucks and votes, their purple eyes bellying their choir chorus of chortling good intentions.
I can't ingest their jest they call political science as they try to pick your pocket.
The beliefs, promises are dog-eared derangement printed on little business cards.
The small print s so small their lawyer will insist it says everything and nothing at all.
— Dan Cuddy
***
The Mayor’s Wake
The old politicians sat in close partisan circles, whispering
eyes drooping
dog-eared as their press clippings
purple-veined
out of sync
full of jest
out of power.
Steve Givens
***
I put down my dog-eared Derrida
and said, Look,
politicians are dummies.
That threw the conversation
out of sync. And when I went
to the Redbird game I
made sure to wear purple.
But life is not a jest.
It's an infinite test
of your stamina.
--Matthew Freeman
***
Fox News vs. MSNBC
Pundits and politicians
Jest and joust for ratings
Dredge dog-eared documents
For tired facts
Bright red and blue opinions
Out-of-synch with this purple country
***
The Perennial Jest
The politician
Pulls out his old dog-eared
Ideas
Smooths out the wrinkles
Puts them in a
Brand new folder
Pulls his imaginary
Royal purple cape
Over his shoulders
And walks out
On stage
Gazing deeply into
The eyes of whoever
Happens to be in the
Audience
He declares,
“I am in sync with you.”
Carol Haake
***
Purple, dog
-eared politicians
jest in sync.
Jamie Moog
***
(Some?)
politicians
puff their chests,
stuff their vests
(or is it that they
puff their vests,
stuff their chests?)
either way,
they speak in jest,
take the best,
leave the rest,
say, "May the USA
be blessed."
they're not in sync
with the oppressed,
their dog-eared lies
we can't digest,
with power
they are all obsessed,
with purple face
and angry fist
they leave me -
pissed.
J Kiefer
***
get in sync with the best
of dog-eared texts
of politicians’ purple passages
what infinite jest
by Lloyd Klinedinst
***
Sometimes I think-
politicians only jest.
Their dog-eared, over-used ideas
need to be now put to rest.
If they're not in sync in practice
and don't ever pass the test,
it is time to just move on to
purple skies and a new bequest.
***
Dog-eared, dancing man
Impromptu soft shoe in exchange
$5 “Bless you, Missus.”
$1 Smile
Purple words for anything less
Toothy in jest, like politicians and preachers
Hands outstretched.
Feet in sync.
-Erin G
***
the jest of politicians
out of sync with Main Street
they think we’re fools
the FDA Purple Book is more fun
than their dog-eared speeches
John J. Han
***
The dog-eared notepad, now a smudge of red and purple
from the blood splatters.
still the policeman tries to write the report from an eye witness.
only 1 hr. earlier, the rapid gunfire was in sync with the city traffic noise.
as one bystander responds to another,
“Surely you jest? Get all the politicians to agree?”
as frustration and horror give birth to the tears in his eyes.
d. bates
***
The dog-eared politicians
suppose to be in sync
with people
But
As you know
in a country like India
they are beating them
and after beating
They say in jest
“There are too many people. What can we do if they die?”
Jey Sushil
***
in sync
with purple jest
politicians
hound voters until
their ears are dog-eared
Terrie Jacks
***
the on the political front
the purple politicians
jest with orange bums
both in sync
with the tricolored,
dog-eared crooks
all things status quo
with the crook and bum
politicians
TJ
***
Sync
Politicians jest
as we read until we're purple
and our books turn dog-eared.
The pages yellow.
The world rages on.
The centuries too much like each other.
--Rita Winters
***
DISORDERLY
Surveying the crowd he sat there
As the chairman of the board
The aging politician, annoyed
Holding meetings he deplored.
When a purple-haired lady
Her dog-eared sweater glaring pink
Shouted not in jest: “You lying crook!”
Tossing order out of sync.
TED
***
E Pluribus Unum
The old adage, “How do you know if a politician is lying?”
“Their lips are moving”
Smile at this dog-eared jest
While funny enough to keep us laughing until we are purple in the face
All the way to the voting booth
Unfortunately, a bit too in sync with the truth
Incessantly broken trust
System frozen with rust
Try as we must
Another double-down and bust
We can not let internal or external forces
Shirtless thugs riding horses
Divide and conquer US
This is a moment we must seize
As the world rises from the virus
That brought us all to our knees
Though the road is treacherous and long
With all divergent backgrounds uniting
We are strong
Out of many, one
K.J. Boehler
***
USA USA USA
The pages of the prayer books are dog-eared,
the plea for an end to sorrow and grief hollow.
Politicians can be heard, their words in sync
throughout the land -- from purple mountain majesties,
sea to weeping sea -- the lies of caring for Americans;
the sanctity of life. “This can’t be allowed
to continue.” It’s all in jest.
Their taste for blood money is unconscionable.
~~M.E. Hope
***
I was walking down the road
When I bumped into a purple toad.
Your time and space, he said, are out of sync.
But I can help, he swore, with a wink.
It sounded like the talk of politicians,
Of which I've heard multiple renditions.
He flicked his tongue, said, I don't jest
Then pulled a dog-eared book from his vest.
His autobiography, as you probably guessed.
—John Randall
***
Ignore the politicians clamoring for donations.
Your questions are answered on the dog-eared page.
Be in sync with the people who do not jest.
Admire the purple flowers and pay attention to the dispossessed.
Their cause is just.
Margaret Fourt Goka
***
In sync
politicians?
Never
not even in jest
they use their
purple dog-eared
note paper to
incite, to lie, to betray
us
all.
Sara Burke
***
"Womanist is to feminist
as purple is to lavender."
Words don't just live in dog-eared dictionaries,
or only used in clever jests,
or politicians' deployment.
It can give back sound
to people who've been long deprived,
up the volume of once soundless protests,
let communities march to the center in sync.
Yixuan Chen
***
Mockingbird in jest, rifles mindlessly through tunes
stolen from birds that know their songs by heart.
In sync with the cadence of the practiced politicians
that drone through dog-eared speeches, pieces
stolen sounds, words well worn, born of human heart.
Harsh light of day thrums purple, into the quiet of sacred night.
The mocking of heart echo on.
Bernie Mossotti
***
The Pied Piper’s Insurrection – 01/06/21
Those dog-eared fools, with Confederate flags flying,
marched in sync in vicious jest, worshiping an idol
of ignorance, an orange oaf who tried to steal a crown
and wrap himself in rich purple robes to bring down
our imperfect freedoms, our duly elected politicians,
in favor of the King of Liars and his pied musicians.
RC Wood
***
When they finally, mercifully, broke up,
We shook our heads and said, “They were never in sync.”
What he served up as devoted offices of love
She took as misplaced rituals of guilt:
Canine adulation probably meant for his mother.
He wanted to please everyone, like someone running for office.
So when she finally couldn’t take it anymore,
She chose to humiliate him right before her friends:
Make a cruel jest to make him turn purple with shame.
And so, with everyone assembled,
She fixed him in her gaze and cried
“You are a dog-eared politician!”
Robert Henke
***
Purple Urkle?
Is this a jest?
Does this suggest
That minds are in sync
With the modern day link
Between marijuana
And the all mighty dollar?
Politicians turned those dog-eared law books
And turned a 'hood hustle
Into a billion dollar-industry bustle.
~J. Thomas
***
Reassessment
Surely you jest when you sync your
prejudices to one-way-thinking
politicians with their dog-eared dogma.
Instead of reeling from distinct
reds and blues, rights and wrongs,
let’s work together to blend
a peaceful shade of purple.
Linda O’Connell
***
Headline image: Nareeta Martin via Unsplash