Poems Autumn 2025

1. The Amateur

So defensive are you,
My good friend, for your soul
Cries out every word. Speak!
One day you may be the
Grandmaster poet. Though know
“A sigh is just a sigh
“A kiss is still a kiss,”
Therefore, seek the fortune
Of friendship… not barren
Craft of your own echoes.
Cares, joys, life lived in verse;
It will pass you by… she
Will look on you when you’re
Old, and say, “Where had you
“Lived?” and you will say, “I
“Lived in my mind…” and die
Knowing life was out there.
Yet, trapped in the silence,
And adventure is not
Possible, for a meek
Soul is your possession:
Write… yet know few truly
Can read. It’s all mirrors;
They don't actually know you.
As that is how they’re trained.

2. A Vision of my Future Wife

I see you, with your eyes so bright...
Looking at me in a vision.
Awake... alive...
Your beautiful face 
Framed by your eyes
Wholesome, true, for me.
Is it adoration? No.
Simple friendship and love.
It is that you like me...
And we love each other for all days.
And your eyes, shift to that wholesome desire,
They narrow, and look down.
Not bashful, or ashamed...
Simply as my wife,
With whom I will share true friendship.

3. Love

Your auburn hair—eyes so awake—
The beautiful nose, and teeth…
Lips with sensuous lines…
Will you smile for me?
Will I hold you in the moonlight?
Will our scent be filled in our room?
Will our house smell of us and our things?
I know nothing… save that I love you.
Laws change, wisdom changes, all things change.
History is written by victorious warlords.
Romance is defined by a few misanthropes.
Philosophy made new by new sages;
And then again forgotten except by other forgotten sages.
But, I know between us, what is defined
And my heart beats for you.

4. Calculus

Bonaventura Francesco Cavalieri;
How you bring your math to the forefront.
You discover Geometric Series,---
And some say Archimedes was close,---
And combined them with Babylonian math---
Of area underneath a slope---
And the knowledge of Asymptotes, so
Leibniz and Newton discover Calculus.

5. My Love

My Love is not a mathematician,
Like me.
She is not a student of literature,
Like me.
She is not a historian,
Like me.
She knows no psychology,
Like me.
She doesn’t understand politics,
Like me.

Why do I love her, though?
Because she understands something more worthy
To be called a subject…
Which is how to authentically love another person.
When we talk, she listens,
And she understands me.
She knows my ideas,
And often repeats them like her own.
She is loyal to me, and no one else.
She loves me… you understand?

I would give up all wisdom for her,
Save that one Lawful wisdom on how to love.
I’d be poor, and a ploughboy for her.
I’d give up my dreams and forfeit all knowledge
Just to know her.
For, what better thing is there on Earth?
Than to love the one who loves you?

6. Happiness

You see that I am unhappy
And you then say, "Aha, Aha!"
Without knowing, o thou foul fool
You destroyed my wealth, heart and joy.
As a kid I was full of joy.
I had love in great, great measure.
Rich off the sweet fat of friendship.
Then you all taught me how to sin.
And joy slowly stripped away, self, 
I was told to love;---and you too.
Your counsels made me so selfish.
And then you say, "Why, fool, don't you
"Rejoice with the world like we?"
And I say, "I'd rather suffer
"For doing no wrong, than rejoice
"In the mournful glee you possess.
"And then return to my joys once
"Again, when I enter heaven.
"For here, is no more of those great
"Ecstasies I have once tasted."

7. The Merchant

He lived life, a noble life.
It was not great, nor was it strong.
It was meekly blown by winds of fortune and chance
Where men could sail over the billows of foam—
He the sailor of life, not the captain nor the crow’s nest,
But the tar who shined the deck.
Fortunes were lost, fortunes were gained
Time was spent in vain and in noble pursuits.
Love was scorned and love was embraced.
Neither pirate nor a soldier,
But a marine upon a merchant ship…
He bore no arms, but was virtue itself.
His voice mild and tender, and without force…
He sung a thousand songs on that ship, never made rich
But never made poor.
The ship of life we sail.

8. Five Limericks

I talked to my girl last Tuesday;
She fell off the horse in a lewd way.
Cause she got steaming drunk
And called me a hunk
But I said “Ma'am it must be April Fool’s Day.”

I sent my son to the bar.
He couldn’t make it very far.
He came back with a degree
But I wanted some mead
Yet to scold him I hadn’t the heart.

I had some stomach pain;
My mistress, she had the same.
So we sat on the pot
And juggled a lot,
And that’s how Ol’ Scotty O’Neal was made.

The poet was told by the thief,
“You have nothing,” oh what a relief.
So the poet turned some lines
The thief drank a flagon of wine,
And the poet won himself peace.

There was a dog that always howls,
And a cat that had always prowled.
The Woman of the keep
Made a great leap,
When they couldn't even catch a mouse.

9. Fall of the Roman Empire

The fall of the Roman Empire,
Romans fight with Goths and Visigoths,
Vandals and Franks, as they also fight.
Then, the German Suebi, and Sciri and Rugii and Heruli
Fight their wars with the Goths and Visigoths.
Comes the Huns from the East,
And the many factions war.
And as the Western Empire dies,
Europe is born, from Franks, Vandals
Visigoths and Goths
Suebi, and Sciri and Rugii and Heruli,
Who become French, and Germans, and Spanish
And Portuguese. 

10. Jim

I read an unapologetic account of the life of one man.
The most wretched human being, the most soulless,
The one with the least amount of love for anyone but himself.
I read it, and understand... yes... this world is built for him.
Let him have it. All of what he's saying is false...
But he will never know, as his lifestyle becomes more popular.
And then, people who want the real thing
Will never have it. Because of Jim.
A 71 year old swinger.

11. Genius

If rich, you shall be seen by all.
If poor, you shall be ignored...
So said the poet McGonagall. 

If we just read it without music...
Not that artificial bell and hop...
Just read it like prose,
And let the music naturally aspirate...
It would not create the funny effect it does.
And we'd get an entire education.

I must say, I see myself in him.
I see myself in Chaucer, also.
What we learn, is politics makes the man;
And boasts leave you destitute.
But, McGonagall is right.
Genius is rewarded, more for the wealthy
Than for the poor.

12. Genius

Genius is rewarded,
Yet only if you're rich.
The poorer you are, the less there's to get.
The poor in their factories
Many a man,
Were by the blackness of coal
Worldly damned.
They could be great inventors
Or artists, or the sons of the dawn.
Yet, they died poor and miserable,
Enriching their magnate's sons.
Their peers say, "Enough!
"Try not to reach for the skies!
"Just do your work, and let your ambitions die!"
So they do, and are said to be stupid like you...
Yet if a wealthy man, no one would say it were true. 

13. Investing Advice

Find a way to make a lump sum
Of 1,000,000 dollars.
Invest in stock that pays out 5% dividends;
Or buy CDs at 4% annual interest.
Gambling.

Other than that,
You go into 120,000 dollars of debt
To purchase a degree
In an industry that may or may not exist in ten years.
You get brainwashed by bad information
And radicalized.
Too much debt.

Or, you go work for 15 dollars an hour
At some job, which never increases
And 10 years later your 15 dollars is worth 33%
Of what it was originally valued.
Too much work for too little.

Or you go to trade school,
Learn a blue collar job--which is safe--
But for someone who has a physical disability
Or isn't the most coordinated
This may not be an option.
Good for someone who has keen body awareness.

Or you become an Engineer or Doctor 
Or Accountant or Lawyer. Which loads a person with a lot of debt.
And some people may not be the best student
So won't do well in those professions.
Good for A students.

Go into the Military
Or become Police.
Good for ruining your faith in humanity.

14. A Basic Love Poem

Roses are red,
Violets are blue;
Come find me my love,
So our lives are made new.

Through the lattice
And by a cracked door,
The keyhole is found
And you I’ll adore.

Come find my my love
And we’ll be ever at peace.
We shall be wed to our deaths
And indulge every feast.

Roses are red,
And violets are blue;
I know not your face
But hope you come soon.

15. I Sit Upon my Chair, and I Wonder

I sit upon my chair, and I wonder…
What have liars said of love?
Was it all knowing, all seeking, all encompassing?
Was it brave? Was it irresponsible? Was it foolish?
When I was young I knew, and knew love well in me
Through every moment… every pretty girl out there, gave me
Swells of infatuation.
Now, I have dim feelings.
But, spark the fire again in me…
I know I am better for it.

16. As a Poet, I Put My Heart to School

As a poet, I put my heart to school,
Listening carefully to my tutor's words.
They impressed upon me, though once a fool,
A wide girth of knowledge and no great curse.
I saw the hyacinth grow, tuft to bell,
And its sweet perfume was sweet to my nose.
For life without poetry would be hell,
So no snob of this age can turn me cold;
Though they write upon my gray epitaph:
"He was lame, and dull of mind and so dumb,"
I harmed, know this all, I harmed at the last
Through my heart's pleasing epistles no one.
For without my songs I would then turn dark
And never found God, I would not be smart.
And at last, with fortunes made I'd turn black;
And upon my good God have turned my back.
For with the knowledge of this shining craft,
I have made to God a divine road-map.
I have laughed, and shed many a clear tear
And written of peace, for two dozen years.

17. A Poem

I look upon the rosy world
And I say, “My, how things have changed.”
Yet cruelty still abounds my dear,
It just took on a different name.
Suffering has been great and cruel
The mind dulled by the loathsome sting;
Where once men ate porridge and gruel
They now feast on sweets, figs and wings.
Yet they have no love to caution
And no comfort of greatest springs.
Where once all men had to suffer
Now in pleasure they call it king.
Thus, I wrest from my own demons
To warm my fellows with my wise.
I spar with them with sword and shield
And I kill them by being kind.
Yet I gaze at the prideful looks
And I shake my head with great grief.
I see revelry is partook
And I see none do lack their needs.
I say, “World is fat, and full
“And all eyes feast upon sweet pears.
“The white of their dolce, oaky flesh
“Says now, ‘Never have to beware.’”
Yet the world has coldest hearts
And men have sought the golden prize;
Wealth exchanged for loving virtue
Pleasure exchanged for what is wise.
And what was a good world turned back
To what was impoverished and grey;
As my expressive face grew flat
I found I needed Christ always.
For if I acted right and true
And wrestled my demons, not yours;
I’d be a better man, who soon
Would lift your sorrowed heart some more.
For I could light you with a fire
And make you taste what I now know;
All love and goodness and great joys
From Lord God Jesus Christ do flow.

©2025 B. K. Neifert
All Rights Reserved