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Best Poems From
HERBERT NEHRLICH
(04 October 1943)
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37.
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Mother's Funeral
It has been fun,
she says at last.
Pure shock spreads
quickly 'cross her face,
from ear to ear.
Yes, fifty years it's been
and time enough
for shreds of hatred
to mature
into indifference.
And now she finds herself
at the well-rusted iron portal
of her familiar God's Green Acres
to say one last farewell,
with just one whisper
of a fleeting thought
'bygone it be.'
When unknown arms
of roughness
turn her away.
And from the depth of
one new grave
a melody is heard.
It is the taunting sound of
scornful laughter.
Herbert Nehrlich
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38.
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My First Teacher
They say the years from one to five,
when tiny tots become alive,
li'l professors they are, really
as they take in and store so freely
an overload of information,
as if by heaven-sent dictation.
Those years of active acquisition
are followed by the earnest mission
of teachers in the local school
who teach even the dumbest fool.
And, if you want to know the reason
why some of us learn out of season,
continue to obtain the goods
about the why's and what's and should's,
in playgrounds and on dusty streets.
It's when your hungry, blue eye meets
that of the teacher to connect.
In a split second a direct
and lasting bond is herewith born.
And from that moment you are torn
between the world and your first love
when she regards you from above.
But if no spark arises there
the two of you will never share
a common path through those first years,
and when your graduation nears,
you'll say good bye with no regret,
as cool as on the day you met.
For those who do feel adoration,
in early years a fair sensation,
you will increase your own IQ
because you understand the true
sweet essence of your little mind.
You learn to count, to write and find
that teacher's eyes are your reward.
When other pupils do act bored
you whip your mental faculties
for one good reason, it's to please
the one who does appreciate
your intellect in a debate.
You learn a trillion silly facts
about strange wars and secret pacts.
And, in the end, when you're all grown
it is as if you'd always known.
Your parents spend with you their days,
but seldom shower you with praise.
You learn for life, say those who know,
not for the school system, oh no.
But mine was such a lovely creature,
I did my thing just for the teacher.
Herbert Nehrlich
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39.
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Awesome Dreams
It is a bit shocking,
to have a dream
that is nothing,
not spectacular,
not weird at all,
but just normal.
Like a narrative,
taken straight
and without
embellishments
or intriguing
and beguiling
or so scary
bits of action.
Last night
it was, again,
all about me.
I stood
and stared
upon the two,
I now shall call them
the darling buds
of Fay,
shyly revealed
behind the
Ponderosa Pines,
because the mill
had people close,
too close.
And I was frozen,
in space
and time,
a man made
of curare.
The freeze remained
in place
but blurry vision
changed
the image,
it went from boobs
to a big head,
emerging from
the birth canal
in silence.
The awe was
just the same.
Those awesome dreams.
Herbert Nehrlich
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40.
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Cherokee Traditions
A very wise, and old tradition
passed on through many generations
concerns the rules of going fishing
in all the lands, of all the nations
be not to take all you can get,
let little ones go out and grow,
and do not use a fishing net
attached behind your boat to tow.
Since Nature knows how to provide
for all her people and her critters,
you must go hunting far and wide,
and of the wild beasts' springtime litters
you may take one, perhaps a pig,
raise him at home to feed the tribe.
Always think small and don't act big
and only rarely do imbibe,
as white man's water, mixed with fire
can rob you of your heart and soul,
convert you into a big liar
and take away from you your role.
If there is one way that we measure
all man and beast by (ancient rules) ,
that word is HONOUR, and a treasure
and those who have it are no fools.
Herbert Nehrlich
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