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    Parker Owens
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Occasional Poetry - 35. Invited Guests and New Developments

em>Deep bows and hat tips to Gary, Tim and AC for their inspiration on these two. However, as usual, the errors contained herein are mine, all mine.
Invited Guests
 
If in my dreams I could receive
some visitors of wider scope,
perhaps I'd choose to spend an eve
with Dante or a Borgia pope,
or dine with wise daVinci, though
I'd rather Michaelangelo.
 
In Morpheus' salon I'd choose
a guest list of the rarest sort;
try chatting with Lautrec, Toulouse
(I never guessed he was that short),
and laugh aloud at wit Francaise,
or argue music with Varese.
 
My slumbered houseguests overflow,
spill out into the lawn to play;
see Dali dally with Van Gogh,
and pass hours d'oeuvres to Claude Monet,
while Maugham and Auden now complain
that Newton dropped his fruit again.
 
Tchaikovsky stayed an hour or more
with Wagner, whose Teutonic bray
was such a monumental bore
he drove the other guests away;
I didn't mind, in truth to tell,
I'll spend my dreams with you, as well.
 
 
 
New Developments
 
I lately read that Xanadu,
that place of stately pleasure domes,
had put a six-lane highway through,
so someone could build starter homes;
not far from work or shops, indeed,
two hours' commute is guaranteed.
 
The gardens green and rare are gone,
and every incense bearing tree
was dozed and made suburban lawn
so parched, there is no greenery,
nor ancient forests, glooming dark,
not even in the pocket park.
 
And as I read, so I bethought:
what then of Alph, the sacred stream;
what change had tools of man now wrought
where once a poet stopped to dream,
and emperors reflected long
on chariots and visioned song?
 
Now Xanadu, once paradise,
is flattened for its parking slots,
where once stood palaces of ice
are quarter acre building plots;
the keen developer went on,
I'm thinking that his name was Khan.
 
 
 
em>Comments welcome, pick or pan; you can do it, yes you can.
Copyright © 2017 Parker Owens; All Rights Reserved.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Hey Parker! I don't know why I deserve the hat tip, but thank you. I loved Invited Guests. It is extremely witty and glib. I too would enjoy entertaining such an illustrious guest list. Your last two verses were perfect, and made me laugh until the sweetness of the last line. Simply wonderful.
Unfortunately, the defilement of Xanadu would only cause a mild reaction in this day and age. People are quite willing to let past treasures wither and die for the sake of progress. While I found the concept(social commentary) amusing, even hilarious, the underlying message was a sober reminder of our lack of concern for our magnificent earth. Intriguing balance to this one, Parker... loved them both... cheers... Gary....

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I am awestruck at your ability to turn simple words into wit and wonder. What a joy your list of visitors. But far more the fate of Xanadu struck me. You see I leave within the "Garden Spot" of America. A place of incredibly rich and fertile soil. A place where once foodstuffs were grown but now it seems houses and commercial developement have become the most prevalent crop.

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On 07/23/2016 02:34 AM, Headstall said:

Hey Parker! I don't know why I deserve the hat tip, but thank you. I loved Invited Guests. It is extremely witty and glib. I too would enjoy entertaining such an illustrious guest list. Your last two verses were perfect, and made me laugh until the sweetness of the last line. Simply wonderful.

Unfortunately, the defilement of Xanadu would only cause a mild reaction in this day and age. People are quite willing to let past treasures wither and die for the sake of progress. While I found the concept(social commentary) amusing, even hilarious, the underlying message was a sober reminder of our lack of concern for our magnificent earth. Intriguing balance to this one, Parker... loved them both... cheers... Gary....

Your recent 'Reflections' piece hooked me, and the urge to be witty in verse took hold. Glad you liked the guest list, as it could have gone on and on...for some reason I woke up with the word Xanadu running in my head, and the early morning hours were spent wrestling with possibilities. But it is kind of sobering, as you say. Many thanks for your inspiration and kind remarks.

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On 07/23/2016 02:59 AM, dughlas said:

I am awestruck at your ability to turn simple words into wit and wonder. What a joy your list of visitors. But far more the fate of Xanadu struck me. You see I leave within the "Garden Spot" of America. A place of incredibly rich and fertile soil. A place where once foodstuffs were grown but now it seems houses and commercial developement have become the most prevalent crop.

There is a spot nor far from where I live that used to be a wide, green field. Last week, the earth movers arrived; it is to become a storage parking lot for a car dealer. A travesty, if ever there was. That must have run in my subconscious as I wrote New Developments. Don't I wish I could entertain like that in my dreams, though. Many thanks to for comments and reaction.

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They're both very good, and the first one especially makes me want to be bold and recommend you check out the poetry prompt on the Ballade. The intricacies and rewards of mastering that form might be something you'd really derive a great deal of pleasure from.

 

Great work, as always! :)

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Both are terrific Parker. Some of your guests i'd love to hang out with.
The second.. makes me sad and wonder too where our food will come from if we keep paving paradise.
Lovely job on both of these... xo
tim

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On 07/23/2016 07:50 AM, Mikiesboy said:

Both are terrific Parker. Some of your guests i'd love to hang out with.

The second.. makes me sad and wonder too where our food will come from if we keep paving paradise.

Lovely job on both of these... xo

tim

Me, too. And I have looked out over fields like that, counting Killdeer, only to have them turned into parking lots...you are so kind to read and react to these. Thanks a million.

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On 07/23/2016 05:10 AM, AC Benus said:

They're both very good, and the first one especially makes me want to be bold and recommend you check out the poetry prompt on the Ballade. The intricacies and rewards of mastering that form might be something you'd really derive a great deal of pleasure from.

 

Great work, as always! :)

I wondered if I was getting ready for a new thing. It will be worth checking out Ballade. And I am glad you liked these; your inspiration made it so very easy!

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Your poems are perfect for passing long, hot bus journeys. :)

 

We could all invent our own guest list of the great and good but very few could present it so wittily and with such good humour. (I have to say neither Wagner nor Tchaikovsky would be on mine :pinch: )

 

'Luxury homes for sale - K. Khan developer'. Picturing this sign after reading this poem was great fun.

 

Thanks for both! :)

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On 07/24/2016 03:02 AM, northie said:

Your poems are perfect for passing long, hot bus journeys. :)

 

We could all invent our own guest list of the great and good but very few could present it so wittily and with such good humour. (I have to say neither Wagner nor Tchaikovsky would be on mine :pinch: )

 

'Luxury homes for sale - K. Khan developer'. Picturing this sign after reading this poem was great fun.

 

Thanks for both! :)

Yes, 'Luxury Patio Homes' are the thing hereabouts these days. Unfortunately, they seem to pop up everywhere. But a bit of humor on a dark subject sometimes makes it bearable. No, neither Wagner not Tchaikovsky are favorites, but they would have made fascinating conversation...thanks for reading these and hope they shortened your bus ride.

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Those are so nice poems Parker. But don't hit me with guest list once you have read what I had to say... :unsure: Because it was a really mixture of sour sweet, the review.

 

I really really liked the 'Inviting Guests'. That just excited me all along and made me smile. That has humor, brilliance and full packet of guests( :P ). Also you involved the reader(of the poem) in list be last two line. I really loved it.

 

Coming to the 'New Developments'. I am sorry its just not clicked to me. Its fine and true that it carries a lot of concerns and the human threat(if I am on track only) to the nature and all. But just not clicked. I am sorry. Actually its a nice poem too.

 

Thank you for publishing... :)

 

~Emi.

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On 07/24/2016 04:20 AM, Emi GS said:

Those are so nice poems Parker. But don't hit me with guest list once you have read what I had to say... :unsure: Because it was a really mixture of sour sweet, the review.

 

I really really liked the 'Inviting Guests'. That just excited me all along and made me smile. That has humor, brilliance and full packet of guests( :P ). Also you involved the reader(of the poem) in list be last two line. I really loved it.

 

Coming to the 'New Developments'. I am sorry its just not clicked to me. Its fine and true that it carries a lot of concerns and the human threat(if I am on track only) to the nature and all. But just not clicked. I am sorry. Actually its a nice poem too.

 

Thank you for publishing... :)

 

~Emi.

Thank you for responding so honestly, Emi. New Developments referenced Coleridge's famous poem, 'In Xanadu, did Kublai Khan a stately pleasure dome decree..." And so it comments on how what was once a great wonder could be bulldozed for cheap suburban sprawl. My list of guests invited to my dreams could vary widely from night to night. Perhaps in my slumbers, I will see all my poet friends, too.

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