Ben's Poetry

We've been going through a bunch of things as we pack and I ran into these poems Ben wrote. I think they are very good and wanted to share them. My talented husband! He says it was just a phase. :)

This one is my favorite

My Grandma Taught Me How to Lie

My Grandma taught me how to lie,
But I blame it on the Alzheimers.
“Where’s my car?” she chanted.
She never believed us anyway,
When we told her she couldn’t drive anymore,
That the last time she drove that old Crown Vic
She knocked down a tree
And tore up the neighbor’s yard.
Sounds funny now in retrospect.

“Where’s my car?” she asked again.
“It’s being serviced, Grandma.”
“It’s in the parking lot, Grandma”
“Why, I drove it here for you Grandma!”
It was sold.
But I told her what she wanted to hear,
So that she wouldn’t get angry,
And try to hit someone.

My Grandma taught me how to lie,
But I blame it on the Alzheimers:
Stupid disease crippled my poor Grandma’s mind,
But it broke my heart when she asked
“Who are you?”

By Benjamin Barreth

Here's another one:

Some Blustery Time

I never presumed the wind to be warm

tugging at my hair

nagging child.

it seems friendly today

I thought.

Walking on the beach

pieces punching at my feet

and water shy toes.

I pondered over the sea

awhile

gaze stuck by

wandering cosines.

My thoughts are like waves

I suppose

sometimes my emotions are carried

like a boat

up and down with the

minutes of time.

Each curve is stuck to another

you know

a giant jumble

doesn’t make any sense

on its own.

My very serious thoughts

are trawlers

bobbing slow

and stupid.

Happy thoughts are little canoes though

so out of place

on this

big bump.

But sailboats are my feelings

going quite fast

triangles cutting the sky of

my heart

hiring a cheap chauffeur

the wind.

The wind, ah yes

today it is my friend.

it makes my boat go.

I don’t mind.