FOUR FEATHERS PRESS ONLINE EDITION: SCHOOL SHOES Send up to three poems on the subject of or at least mentioning the words school and/or shoe, totaling up to 150 lines in length, in the body of an email message or attached in a Word file to donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59 PM PST on August 16th. No PDF's please. Color artwork is also desired. Please send in JPG form. No late submissions accepted. Poets and artists published in Four Feathers Press Online Edition: School Shoes will be published online and invited to read at the Saturday Afternoon Poetry Zoom meeting on Saturday, August 17th between 3 and 5 pm PST.

Monday, August 5, 2024

Don Kingfisher Campbell

Summer School Senryu

 

(1) PRE-TEST

 

It's like light rain

heard outside a window--

students writing.

 

(2) CLASSWORK

 

Binders opening

and closing--popcorn,

popcorn, popcorn!

 

(3) FRIDAY TEST

 

Chair leaning back,

looking for answers

in the ceiling.

 

(4) STUDENT DESK

 

Orange edged,

scraped wood butterflies

leave graphite droppings.

 

(5) NO LOCKERS

 

On the tables of

the Creative Writing class,

Algebra and Calculus books.



Walk a Mile in Black Nike's

 

They were a birthday gift from my love.
The first pair of this brand I've ever possessed.
They're light and springy.
Fun to walk in.
I'm almost bouncing every day.
But my feet are cold when it's chilly outside.
No kicks ever did that before.
I can feel a breeze through them.
I bound to the car feeling younger.
Step on the pedals.
Sense the give.
Reminds me of you know who
as I remember to think about it.
I go to school, lunch, back home.
When I am free, I spend time with her.
Take 'em off.
That's even better.
Then I ponder...
who made the shoes.

Knowing the answer all along.





The Single Hit in High School

 

when my best friend pitched me

an easy gopher to smack for a double

other than that, I had to figure out how

to get the other guys to like me

every lunchtime some of us would hang

in the band room to listen to records

there I discovered Emerson, Lake & Palmer

more importantly I realized I could be

a one boy licorice pizza dealer

I was home taping anyway

selling my long players back to the store

so if I might turn on my friends

into buying elpees from me...

I sold them Chicago

They requested Bad Company

I became their agent

to easily fulfill musical desires

I was even allowed to post

sales flyers on classroom walls

the result, I was asked to join a band

but I couldn't play an instrument

only wrote poems

my buds said we need a singer songwriter

I penned Statues, lyrics about icons

my religious fellow bandmates didn't appreciate

my secular vision, thus ending

my short-lived rock and roll career

you better stick to poetry man


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