Broken Bits of the Rainbow: Poems By

By Gary R. Kirby

A stunning rainbow of beauty from Birth to Death. Over a thousand poems attempt to honor my pledge:

to sing
to return to the earth
the earth sent songs
from this frail string
of a love tuned singer


The poems follow life from birth to death. The contents:

life

youth

love

family

beauty

nature

destruction

creation

off balance

wisdom

sex

humans

quirks

society

aging

death

Samples of the poetry are available at another click.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Feb 24, 2011
• ISBN: 9781450283625

Gary R. Kirby

I am a boy dreamer masquerading as a logical adult—I wrote a college text, Thinking, as my adult costume. I received two masters, and then got a PhD in English Renaissance Literature from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. I have taught at the University of Illinois at Chicago; McMurry University in Abilene, Texas; Villa Maria College (now Gannon University) in Erie, Pennsylvania; and recently I retired pro temp (I love it so much, it still calls me) from Gateway Technical College in the Wisconsin Technical College System. Next to teaching and being surrounded by Nature, I love writing. Hopefully my books will show that: My first adventure was myth and magic with The Karjill ( a quest to restore order from chaos) and The Wizard (a coming of age of a boy growing to face dark forces). Then Sow the Storm (an adventure/danger/challenge of the young and bright against the abusing global power structure). I rashly wrote a poetical overview of human folly, God: an autobiography. I hopefully showed the cleansing power of nature in The Other Edge of Beauty. Then the 2000 election fired up my patriotic spirit and I wrote: America, the takeback, followed by a strong wake-up call to action in: Bridge Out: full speed ahead. That book ended with founding an organization: TheEarthAct.org which has a simple, profound, doable plan to deal with the environmental and economic crises. Sounds delusory, but it is logical (refer to Thinking, above, and check it out yourself). A book of 136 children’s stories followed with a name just as big—Stories of Sunshine and Funtime, Wonder and Thunder, Mystery and Magic for the Young to Grow On—whew. And now, the lifetime accumulation of my poetry, 1300 poems written when life kissed me on the cheek or kicked me in the groin—both needed, welcomed, and thanked for the poems they yielded in Broken Bits of the Rainbow. As my poem, dedicating the work to life, says: to life: how soft you sift the thick wet snow each twiglet white in the windless stillness of the night I stand frozen in your beauty brain cells seize ink blood thickens weak words flail to tongue your works mistress and mother yet i your creature pledge to sing to return to the earth the earth sent songs from this frail string of a love tuned singer I am currently working on a book, tentatively titled: T-Boned. It begins, “My mother was T-boned in an intersection. She died… It starts a path opening a novel which probes fate, destiny, providence, random chance, bad luck, karma—life. I have been gifted beyond measure by life, and hopefully when my life ends I will be watching the sunset over mountains or the ocean and feeling thanks and writing…

Book preview

Broken Bits of the

Rainbow

poems by

Gary R Kirby

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

Broken Bits of the Rainbow

Copyright © 2010 by Gary R. Kirby

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4502-8361-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4502-8362-5 (ebook)

Printed in the United States of America

iUniverse rev. date: 2/17/2011

Contents

Life

Birth

Youth

Love

Family

Beauty

Nature

Destruction

Creation

Off Balance

Wisdom

Sex

Humans

Quirks

Society

Aging

Death

General Dedication

to life

who has birthed me

blessed me

and gifted me

beyond all measure of worth:

missing image file

how soft you sift

the thick wet snow

each twiglet white

in the windless

stillness of the night

I stand frozen in your beauty

brain cells seize

ink blood thickens

weak words flail

to tongue your works

mistress and mother

yet i your creature

pledge to sing

to return to the earth

the earth sent songs

from this frail string

of a love tuned singer

Special Dedication:

to my wife Midge

the best of my life

source and center

of many of these poems:

missing image file

how age blossoms your beauty!

while flowers fade and blow

in my beholder’s eye i deny

you ever fade and die

but beauty blooms in thee

stronger higher realer

than mountain thrust

past firs all blushing green

graced golden in the sun

To the Reader

I have failed to honor beauty, nature, people, love--some poems shadow darker urges, some stage antagonists, some hold beliefs--none play the tunes I wish. The poems sing what they will, and I have yielded to their songs.

Beauty is flawless. No cosmetic words. Seeking brevity, I have left puzzles by cutting flesh to the bones. Hopefully some poems shine in their bare beauty.

I have grouped the poems thematically from birth to death, but expect some overlapping since beauty, truth, and love transcend categories. Because I have written these poems through my lifetime, you might find a love poem of springing virility sitting next to one of sagging senility.

You might wish to browse in the topics of your choice, and hopefully you will find poems that sing to you.

Life

missing image file

wild in me

life sings

itself

no moral musts,

or unreal ideals

spoil the surge

of pure notes

don’t ask why

just be

be the singing

surging of life

missing image file

let loose your grip

and take a sip

of the fine wine

of time

you have but a blink

to kiss or wink

despite the time

that you may think

missing image file

the knife of life

can burn like hell

the knife of life

can heal as well

the double edge

is the other edge

of danger

death and life

are no stranger

one shines sun

one dark shimmers

when day is done

they together run

dark and light

are the point of life

so fondle the handle

of life and death

missing image file

not of our choice we come

nor of our choice we go

but how we stay

and how we go

breaks--or makes

our life a go

missing image file

i fear the pain of dying

but have no fear of death

i go to where i know not

but know where i have been

searching still the riddle of who i am

my eyes were bathed in sunsets

and sprinkled by the dawns

one smile was worth my living--

thank you life

my ears were rinsed with music

from fingers birds and voice

my lilting children’s laughing

soothed life’s deep final sleep--

thank you loves

my lungs were filled with fragrance

of lilac rose and pine

and one valley’s lily

was worth the life of mine--

thanks

my fingers have furrowed fur

and flesh and flowers and rocks

and a tip touch on a child’s nose

surpasses all steps down life’s roads--

thanks

my hands have dug in sand and seas

and arms have wrapped around some trees

but one hug fills my reach to overflowing--

thank you love >

my mind has played with stars and toys

and leapt backdown rocks to big bang

and forward flying dream stars

and any metaphor has bought the thoughts--

thank you life

missing image file

youth jumps in her cheeks

wild love sparks in her eyes

rose lips part to suck

earth’s sweetness—

her picture sits

upon her coffin

missing image file

we all search

what it means

we can’t know

we can accept

missing image file

we are spume on the surge of the sea

we are holographic light

held together by this breath called life

we but feel this solid flesh

in moments of immortal delusions

missing image file

grant me but one wish—

one summer more

to do my thing

become myself

grasp my goal

and gently die

but why my wish

and what my goal?

i’ll likely have many

and not do any

and screaming die

missing image file

far on the infolded

old new essence of things

all life turns

as questions of death

answer themselves

in the swirl of answerless yes

missing image file

will a song of fate and folly

come rolling out of me

i sit and hum and search and strum

for strands of poetry:

I think of birth, I think of death

I know they’re both the same

the gambit and the checkmate

in our most precious game >

lady luck deals the cards

we can only play them

we hold, draw, bet

call, fold, and raise ‘em

luck will trump skill

but it’s not the hand you hold

what counts is not your gold

what counts is how you play ‘em

the game of life

oh the game of life

it’s played by living things

by all who eat, by all who grow

by all who dance and sing

by those who roll the doubles

and those who drink their troubles

by those who move too fast

or those who go too slow

by those who go to jail

and by those who pass to go

we gamers play but once

we gamers set the rules

so give it all your gusto

it’s play and win or lose

it’s how you think and chose

at the closing of the day

the game is how you live

the game is how you play

missing image file

in the long line of life

in the vast spread of space

i am a photon of flash

and gone

missing image file

racked on rails

of irreconcilable

iron think and feel

looking back i see the racks

issue from a single track

and gazing front

(tho i know not where or when)

i see my rails run single at my end

missing image file

a dawning sun

backlights a horse

it glows, radiates,

fills the greening hills

a horse in space and time

lit my world--

a treasured image

illuminator of life

missing image file

life is short

so what’s new

we all know it

we just don’t live it

missing image file

the great women are dead

the small women are dead

you’re next

missing image file

dawns a new day

dear healing life

may i grace this day

your doctor healer

open my ears to the unsaid

with no reproach

of fears and pain

open my fingers

tactfully touching

tangibly exploring

softly respecting

open my mind

to medical newness

alternate methods

and the patient’s wishes

open my heart

to sick and old

fair and foul

aloof and aloft

open my mouth

in honest words

of what i know

and gentle words

of what to do

be in my patients’ eyes

where i see life’s from you

my skills from you

and at our deaths

our lives come back to you

missing image file

i was born in the sun

and you, birthed of the plasma,

and in the light lines of life

i wrap my arms around you

and old turning

we burn back to the sun

missing image file

i have bought death by beauty

each buys with his own coin

life the price, death a must

acceptance is our own

missing image file

legs tensed--exploding

leap of life--surging

eyes upward soaring

wind sun space time light

cosmic all bursting

into evernevermore

yes yes yes

life life life

missing image file

my life sits

like soft wind

over waters

waiting

for the coming storm

missing image file

pace on the path

too sad for tears

so curse and smile

and haul ass

down the road

missing image file

the flash of running legs

shakes my bird crane stilts

stirs memories of motion

dreaming running still

i’d trade a week

for five minutes running

for when i ran

i did not know

how fast the pace

how short the race

missing image file

from stars

from atoms

from strands of dna

from father’s sperm

from mother’s eggs

from fluids in the womb

from the breath of sky

from the liquid sea

from the green of land

i rise

i walk

i think

i love

i thank

whoever, whatever

before i return

wherever

missing image file

flabby baby flesh

love life sculpted

for thirty seven years

into brass brain and balls

can one

dark galleried year

melt me down

to quivering jelly

missing image file

short sharp brittle

you shred my fingers

as i grasp too much

i go round you once

but damn it, damn it

i want to dance

a round again

missing image file

try hard as you please

to catch the summer breeze

forestall the winter’s snow

or stop the river’s flow

the wind of life will blow--

away away fast or slow

all will go

missing image file

from nadir to zenith

hydrogen to human

all atoms bond

we are bound to all

missing image file

it’s not how long you live

but how you make it shine

the faster it goes

the more it slows

so run like hell

and live long well

missing image file

your life, a flash

and then the crash

so choose it, use it

well

missing image file

oh to drink deeply

the dreams of youth

but fantasy fades

drinking only the dreams

we miss the draft

from the fountain of life

missing image file

dragon fierce fly

mating in hissful bliss

on a swaying rush

a duck swims up

two untwisting bodies

in a pink dark belly of a bird

give birth to death

the duck glides quietly by

missing image file

vita brevis, wake up calls

for a tree’s blush of green

for a sea wave’s shine

our life star twinkles

then sinks to the ground

to the atoms unwound

to the sea and the stars—

and the twinkle

life is a song

sad sweet and low

softly it sinks

in the sunset’s glow

or maybe it marches

quick hard and strong

in militant stride

to the drummer’s song

but when the song’s sung

then life is done

life is a candle

of limited wax

a jar makes it longer

but without a doubt

it burns ever lower

and then goes out

life is ice

in the sun

simmering sizzling

then it is none

life is a breath

suck in the sweet scent

as the breath blows out

life too flows out >

life is a letter

partially writ

then sealed and sent,

and so your life went

life is a wind

blows when it will

then breezes and billows

stops and is still

life is a sleep

dreams wet or sweet

sweating or screaming

sleep dies—done dreaming

life is a wave

washing to shore

crested or hollow

it ceases its roar

life is an itch

scratch it or not

the moment it itches

is all that you’ve got

life is a walk

step up or down drop

thru flowers or mud

our steps will soon stop

grab life hard

clench press palm

unclasp your hand

and feel life gone >

life is a smile

crinkles the corners

lips part to pinkness

tip of teeth shows

white white flash stun

then smile is done

life is a blink

maybe a tear

a frown or a cheer

a gleam or a dream

a stone or a plum

a final blink

your time has come

see the spark

check the clock

take a quick walk

sleep in the dark

inhale a sweet scent

see ice in the sun

tell them you love them

before your life’s done

life is a touch

the tongue of a lover

or maybe the wind

or the hand of some other

a leper a mother

a sister or brother

a kiss of the dawn

then life is gone

missing image file

life is a puzzle

yours