Selected by Susannah Bec
This poem can be found at:
Burdens & Smiles
Laughter Revolution
We need new hippies
Another generation to enjoy the now
A people that pull rainbows from the dull cities
Flowers in the rifle barrels part two
Society should be looking beyond tabloids and our own dead ends
When we sweat, yank the clothes from our bodies
and teach us to dance in the gritty acid rains
Our neighbors should take their last dollars and use it on instant smiles
It’s a time for the poets and songwriters to quicken the pulse of the world
To show us there is more to life than cable boxes and the latest tickle me Elmo
We should smile more often and wander the streets like gypsies
Camp out on the sidewalks sucking in the yellow rays of sunlight and laughter
We need to open borders and close-minded fools
Allow the daring to run to the top of any mountain they choose
And while there let them scream from the top of their lungs
Holler every verse of Dylan’s Do Not Go Gentle
Families should learn to not despise who our children are
They need to embrace them
Empty their pockets till they have every crayon possible, even periwinkle
Extract the dreams from the dulling eyes and witness them happen
Let us all be spent by one another’s exhausting joy
We need to relish today so that tomorrow they know it is what they will do
~ Robert Lloyd
(This poem was selected by Susannah Bec. She is currently one of our contributors and poets found here at Poets United. If you would like to learn more Susannah about or read some of her own poetry you can visit her blog "Out of my Ocean" or keep an eye out for more of her posts. We would like to thank her for all of her hard work.)
exhausting joy...
ReplyDeletelove the idea.
lovely selection.
Thanks for sharing!
there is a place and a people like this...it is called Humboldt County, CA...rainbows are alive and well...very nice Susannah...great pic...Congrat's Robert....bkm
ReplyDeleteHOL-EE COW!!!!!!!! Robert! This is my favorite poem of yours, and I somehow had not come upon it. I obviously need to search more corners of your site! I SO LOVE this! As an aging wanna-be hippy, always attracted to alternative lifestyle folk, you are preaching to the choir with this poem!!!!!!!! I so love every line, every image.......gypsies! rainbows! yelling from the tops of mountains! Exhausted with joy! Oh, yeah! One of the best poems I have ever read. But seriously! Susannah, you have found a true gem here - thank you for posting this. It made my day (and till this moment, I had been having a difficult one.) Fantastic, full-throated, hopeful and inspiring poem. It makes me want to throw over the traces and go dancing down the middle of Beaver Creek Road tossing flower petals - YES, flowers in gun barrels! Just for starters!
ReplyDelete(And this is all just on one cup of coffee:) hee hee! Good thing I never did drugs - can you imagine????)
Sherry, I had the very same reaction when I first read it and raved about it in the comment section of Roberts site at the time. I just love it and was SO glad to be given the chance to pick it for my first poem of the week!
ReplyDelete"every crayon possible, even periwinkle"
...brilliant!
Robert, I just love this poem. :-)
Brillant...I am reading this poem first time and I like its essencse.Susannah you have done a good job..Got to check both of you...may be I can find more poems like this ..a gem
ReplyDeletewe definitely need another revolution... and after the message of Love of 60s, a message of Laughter seems so appropriate...
ReplyDeleteI love everything about this poem Robert...the flow, and rhyme is perfect....the message is wonderful! Thank you for sharing this Sussanah! :-)
ReplyDelete