Poetry in Notions, Part I

  This Is Not a Life

      By Toby Weingarten

Do you see me here, waiting in the wings

For a cue that will never come?

I should be on the stage, strutting 

With the stars, pausing for applause

After each grand gesture or epic flail.

But I’m not.

I tried out for the lead, I was perfect for the part.

I should know.  I wrote it for myself alone

But I wasn’t good enough for the role.

So, here I stand, barely an extra in the crowd,

Blending into the background, not even needed.

Ignored by all.

Do they, the audience, even know what’s missing, 

As they laugh and cry, boo and hiss at the heel?

Yet, I was not good enough to be the ME 

They wanted to see, performed by real people

And not the pretender who wrote the words

That they hear.

I should leave.  I’m right by the rear door,

Just a few steps away.  Maybe five, or six.

A quiet passage, no one cares to watch my way

I wouldn’t be missed, but I dare not.

There’s still another act to be shown,

A final scene

So amazing and brilliant that it can’t be missed.

Not even by those who aren’t a part of it.

I must be there, somehow and some way

Perhaps an edit, or two.  I am still part of this show

No matter what has come before it, I will be there

For the end.

This is not a life, not the one that I wanted or wrote,

But this is what I have, and I will not give up on it.

Chasing the Perfect Storm

By Toby Weingarten

Darkening skies bring me delight,

Clouds streaking high above me.

A brisk wind tickles my face

Sending thrills throughout my body.

Rain races down to a waiting field,

Great rivulets of life flow rampant.

Blazing lights flash, then disappear.

A distant drum adds to the pageant.

Sparks twirl in their lively dance,

Darting through the joyful gale.

Icy spheres keep a cheerful beat

As they bounce along the dale.

A trumpet blare marks the arrival,

Squealing higher in anticipation.

The triumphant return draws near

For his majesty’s exaltation.

“I am tornado, king of storms.

Watch me stride across the land.

Bringer of fortune and blessed change.

Pay heed to my every command.”

Gone in seconds, a glorious ruin,

Leaving blank canvas to remake.

What beautiful destruction, nature’s fury,

A sweet nightmare while still awake.