We know
what’s best
Make the right decisions
Know the right culture
Have the right religion
Use the right words
No one else is as good as we are
It’s all black and white
Except for all that grey,
and all those other
rights.
poem- computer woes November 24, 2017
You ask me for my email address
When given, much to my distress
You claim it’s already registered.
Why yes! I tell machine, that’s me, for sure!
You ask me for user name and password
But when I type them, you claim I’m invalid.
Oh, you passive aggressive machine,
You’re not acting like part of this team!
Inside the circuits of your brain
you’re plotting how to cause me pain.
I can hear your fan blade snicker,
as you plot to raise blood pressure.
Oh computer, use your power for good,
and work like the techies claim you should!
.
.
(Another day, another frustrating encounter with technology!)
poem-point of view May 5, 2017
So often
what I think is a conversation about me
you think is a conversation about you.
My feelings
aren’t just feelings, they’re an attack.
But they’re not.
They belong to me
and they’re allowed to be
what they are.
I long for you to acknowledge
how I feel
what I wonder
what I want
isolated from your sense
of inadequacy.
I’m tired
tired
tired of your issue
always overshadowing
any of my concerns.
Mental illness
is annoyingly
narcissistic.
Please consider other points of view.
It isn’t always about you.
Really.
Sometimes it’s about me.
poem- walk for refuge February 8, 2017
During the election
we heard some American folks joke
If he wins, we’re moving to Canada!
and we laughed.
But
four hundred and ten
have really done it.
Last week alone
twenty-two
walked for frozen miles
in minus twenty Celsius
to cross the border
to freedom in
(really?)
Manitoba.
They lost fingers and toes to frost bite,
but not their lives to the sound bites
of a xenophobe.
.
.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/refugees-emerson-border-manitoba-1.3923747
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/refugees-frostbite-highway-75-winnipeg-1.3923430
poem- Tech Lament February 11, 2016
Once more our tech is down;
Our secretary wears a frown.
Without access to the school network
Her computer has a little quirk:
It’s become a desk decoration
So she delivers colourful oration
On the difference it has made
To get these awesome tech upgrades.
We can not print. We can not copy.
We miss the days when disks were floppy!
We can not file. We can not type.
Improvements? Man, that’s all just hype.
They haven’t improved our telephone
It still works ‘cause they left it alone.
While twiddling our thumbs at least we’re paid
To celebrate these tech upgrades.
This year has been remarkably frustrating for us. Our school district has ‘upgraded’ its technology so everything runs through a network- all our DVD players, copiers, printers, projectors, and computers. This would be fantastic if the network was stable, but it’s not. At least half a day each week, and often two or three days, the network is down and we can’t do *anything.* Students can’t access their work. No one can research. We can’t access our presentations. We can’t show a movie. Our photocopiers run through the network, so we can’t even copy a paper if we have it in our hand. We are BEYOND frustrated with these ‘improvements’ and wish they’d just left us alone. Last year, every thing worked! We have a innovative school doing amazing things, except when the network shuts us down. >>>sigh<<<
poem- surprise November 6, 2015
You cannot make me do this work!
This class is dumb and you’re a jerk.
I will not hand in a single paper
You cannot make me do it later.
Hey, our report cards have arrived
HE FAILED ME? (insert dramatic sighs)
I hate this school! Look at this report, see-
how all the teachers clearly hate me!
Don’t tell me that they can’t give credit
unless there’s work for them to edit.
Don’t tell me if I don’t show what I can do
then they have nothing to give them a clue.
None of this is my fault, you shrew!
I’m quitting school, so screw each and every one of you!
.
(This has terrible scansion. I apologize)
poem- matchless October 15, 2015
“I want a wood fire,” she sighed.
“Go light a match on the porch,” he said,
“and never say I don’t support
your dreams.”
.
.
.
Oh, the sarcasm! But since they don’t have a fireplace in their house, I guess this is the best that could be managed.
#Outlander poetry- Jamais etre pris vivant October 8, 2015
Jamais être pris vivant,
for to be martyred to a great cause
is man’s greatest achievement;
a sacrifice of love,
so say the rolls of honour,
and the government never lies.
Jamais être pris vivant,
for to return from horror
is to revisit it in dreams,
to sacrifice freedom of mind
and peaceful sleep.
Jamais être pris vivant,
for the love waiting for you
will not tolerate your absence,
will battle with the darkness
will pull you into light.
Jamais être oublié vivant,
for a life embracing love
triumphs despite nightmares,
for hope defeats death.
.
.
I just finished viewing the whole 2nd half of Outlander season one today, and then flipped back to “The Watch.” The French army toast “Never be taken alive!” seemed particularly poignant in light of Claire’s efforts to pull Jamie back from the brink, hence this poem.
Shawn L. Bird 
poem- amazing? October 14, 2015
Tags: amazing, comment, irony, observation, poem, poetry, sarcasm
When you said my outfits are always amazing
did you mean they cause great surprise?
or that they leave you in wonder
or that you find them astonishing?
I’m not sure it’s good that you think I dress
in ways that are astonishing, astounding,
surprising, stunning, staggering, shocking,
startling, stupefying, breathtaking;
awesome, awe-inspiring, sensational,
remarkable, spectacular, stupendous,
phenomenal, extraordinary, incredible,
unbelievable; mind-blowing, jaw-dropping;
or wondrous.
Was your comment verbal irony?
or have I tipped the scales into weirdness?
I’m sure I’m not really so startlingly impressive.
But if you truly think so,
Thanks.
I guess.
.
.
.
Someone I admire made this comment at an event, and while I took it as a compliment, I pondered that one can disguise true opinion in the flexibilities of English! What is irony but a twist of meaning? With thanks to the Google dictionary for this one.
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