Life’s No Joke

some of us
are jokers, some thieves,
whichever
way you look
at it, whether young or old,
life is not a joke

life’s no joke
for barefoot children
cold and sad
on the streets,
homeless, hungry, innocent
and robbed of their dreams

life’s no joke
for the old and tired,
foggy with
confusion:
abandoned by their children,
helpless and alone

life’s no joke
for the dispossessed:
happiness
robbed by war,
enemies are at the door-
nobody has worth

© Kim M. Russell, 2016

‍

‍My response to Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie B&P’s Shadorma and Beyond: Bob Dylan – October 22, 2016, also linked to imaginary garden with real toads: Kerry Says ~ It’s Blowing in the Wind

This week Paloma has asked us to look at the lyrics/poetry of Bob Dylan and use his works to inspire a shadorma: a poem that can be one stanza or several – so long as each stanza follows 3/5/3/3/7/5, while Kerry at Imaginary Garden with Real Toads challenges us to select a line or lines from the work of Bob Dylan as the spring-board for a poem.  

My shadorma was inspired by ‘All Along the Watchtower’:

“There must be some kind of way out of here,”
Said the joker to the thief,
“There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief.
Businessmen – they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None will level on the line
Nobody of it is worth.”

“No reason to get excited,”
The thief – he kindly spoke,
“There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I we’ve been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now
The hour’s getting late.”

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants too
Outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl.

29 thoughts on “Life’s No Joke”

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