From our porch we knew him, a six-foot heap,
Though neither voice nor sound was heard;
Secure we felt atop stairs so steep,
Should he utter a single word.
"Nick", his name, or so they said,
Feigning circles around their ears;
"Loco", said one, pointing to his head,
At least "loco" to one appears.
And oft I thought those Summer days,
Of "Nick", in coveralls of blue;
His gait most strange, and stranger ways,
Much thinking for a boy to do.
Then, one day, ensconced in Summer thought,
A shadow fell and loomed;
It was Nick, I quick an exit sought,
"Dear Mother", I was doomed!
Surprise it was, the voice which came,
Quite gentle, still and warm;
"C'mon to the park", and asked my name,
"Won't do a boy no harm!"
A thousand shades of green it seemed,
Those shaded, bowered lanes;
Fields rife with Summer people teemed,
The Winter's loss, the Summer's gains.
And Nick would sift that resonant sound,
From those thousand parts of air;
From trill to bass did that place resound,
The calliope holding our transfixed stare.
They counted our nickels two by two,
For our fare was well esteemed;
The ticket taker giving Nick salute,
And I, as Nick's eye beamed.
And so in motion they set us spinning,
On that stationery yet rounded course;
One horse whinnying, the other winning,
Lord we screamed till we were hoarse.
I learned a lesson that special day,
To dreams fulfill though small;
To each and every their special way,
And their learning ever recall.
JF Johnson
Allpoetry-bluffininlv
Author notes
I think I mentioned everything in this poem but the brass ring you get on the merry-go-round. Perhaps that is a poem of its own.
Regards-John
What did you think
Comments
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A bautifully written piece in an unusaul style, it had something very special about it, the visuals were wonderful. its ,flow was a smooth as silk, the story is lovely, I great write that shows talent, keep penning would like to read some more of your work,lately there have been some great poems and stories on site,as if the gods are smiling. beautiful poem
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The poem is written with grace and charm. I truly enjoyed it
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Dear Blu,
Thanks for reading Calliope tonight. You know, I really don't intend to use the poems I have to convey any message, but it seems that is the way they sometimes come out.
Thanks again for your kind thoughts on my poems.
Sincerely,
John -
Thanks for your reading my poem on the carousel this evening.
Hope you enjoyed it. It was an actual occurrence of my childhood
that I recall vividly today.
Again, thank you so much for your candor!
John-Las Vegas, Nevada -
This was a truely talented and entertaining read. My words can't capture the feeling it gave me, just absolutely wonderful.
A joy to read 
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a nice message in there. a nice poem. good flow. good job with writing this. enjoyed. was worth the read.
Blu -
Dear el D,
Thanks a lot for giving this a read. I'm glad you weren't thrown off by the third verse or so!
My New Year begins in about 15 minutes. It is custom to make amends to anyone you have offended before entering into a new year. So I want to apologize for going off the handle like I did.
Hope all is well with you and yours, and may the New Year hold the promise of peace for us all!
Regards,
John-Las Vegas -
Cool!
I love the vocabulary... I didn't really get what the poem was about though..... Keep up the good work!!!!!!!!!!!1 -
good job unusaul but good
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Wow, I like this one...it starts off and I felt completely disoriented...it was just the strangest feeling, but as I kept reading this intriguing piece...
I just wanted to keep reading! I couldn't help it. Before I knew it, I was at the end, and the rhyming here, in any other poem, I don't think I would like, but here, it really enforced the rhythm of the piece. For while the rhyming is a bit whimsical, I feel, the piece itself is more nostalgic, more serious not in the sense of something dark or mature, really, but just a well-crafted work. I hope that somewhere in that muddle was a semblance of reason...oh well. In any case, I enjoyed reading this. I'll leave it at that.
~EL d
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Hi Anasuya,
I gather you liked this better than my 'Dark Poem'!
Glad that you liked it. It certainly is the longest poem I've tried so far.
Hoping to post something new in the next couple of days.
Trust that you are well!
Thanks again for your comments!!!
John
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Oh I just loved the wording in this poem. It reminds me of Sense and Sensibility. Don't ask why because I couldn't really tell you. The speech, the grammar maybe. Anyway, it was wonderfully written with so much eloquence that I can't see straight!
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Dear Danna,
Glad I could get you away for a bit! This was a true story
of an event long ago.
Sometimes I do that, try to get the whole thought out and the meter be d__d, so some people catch me at it.
Still, glad you liked it!
John
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I loved this! I always love poems that take me somewhere, and your images and descriptions work so well! I really didn't have a problem with the meter like it seems others did. I think it sounded great.
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Very ejoyable...the one problem I have is that the meter seems to be off at points...but it was very well written
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Sweet and delightful story. Enjoyed reading it very much. Thank you. One minor thing. These two lines "The ticket taker giving Nick salute,
And I, as Nick's eye beamed." just didn't have the flow as the rest. I know it's okay to break up a sentence and a thought in poetry lines. It's just that the rest flowed so nicely that this break seemed out of place. Otherwise it was very, very well written and very enjoyable.
Edited on Jul 28, 11:11 p.m. because ''. -
This poem really reminds me of "Of Mice and Men" I'm not really sure why, but maybe it's just the time period this piece makes me visualize. Great job.
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Dear Nikki,
So glad that you liked reading my Calliope.
This was a factual incident when I was about eight years old.
I learned to not just read the covers of books, but go beyond
what is immediately evident.
Thanks again for your kind comments!
John-Las Vegas -
Dear Pierre,
Thanks for your comments on The Calliope.
Was so pleased that you liked it.
I would love to ride these as a boy!
Again, thank you very much!
John-Las Vegas
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Dear ATC,
I'm so glad that you favored this poem. This was a memory that I had all these years. I'm glad I was able to put it in writing.
Thank you very much for your kind words!
John-Las Vegas -
Thank you for taking a peek at this poem.
I am glad that it was to your liking.
It is true story that has stayed with me all these many years.
Once again, thank you from my heart.
John -
This is wonderful and sooooo meaningful! I enjoy very much poems such as this, and you have made me definitely remenisce tonight! I love Carousels and going for the rings, YES even at my age! I am truly a BIG kid at heart!
Thanks for this wonderful and meaningful write which you have here shared!
~Nikki~ -
excellent
Not many would remember these, but I remember my grandmother talking about them.
Well told!! -
Awww, I like lesson poems... they are sooo meaningful!
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Great! I loved it! You did an excellent job. You're flow was flawless. Your rhyming was perfect, every other line. Yay! Excellent!
God bless you,
~~~~~Crosseyed387
~~~~~
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I like your rendition far better.xoxo
Regards,
John-Las Vegas -
a carousel that carries all in a journey far away and back again, even old men ride it and become young lads high in the saddle, chasing the winds of time away from their parchment face, the music lilting innocent smiles where once sad visages bent....Artis
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