The next time you feel chagrined,
be like the mighty penguin.
A bird who does not soar the sky
but dives to depths few can survive.
© 2008 henry toromoreno
The next time you feel chagrined,
be like the mighty penguin.
A bird who does not soar the sky
but dives to depths few can survive.
© 2008 henry toromoreno
→ No CommentsCategories: american · new · poetry
Tagged: animal poetry, henry toromoreno, poems, poetry
I was so wrong
But I was so scared
I was hit so hard
I guess I didn’t care
And I believed
that better men knew best
how things should run
and I succumbed to what came next
flags and songs
and guns for sons
right and wrong was lost
among the hunger to get
something done
in those moments I felt strong
we all knew that we belonged
as we gathered up our arms
and marched toward the front
the crowd threw up
prayers and psalms
so that we could move along
continue with our lives
as though nothing
and no one had been bombed
I was so wrong
But I was so scared
I didn’t dare to stand up
As war plans were prepared
And I believed
I believed that
better days would come.
But I was wrong.
I was so wrong.
© 2008 henry toromoreno
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Tagged: american writing, apology poetry, henry toromoreno, poems, poetry, protest poetry, war poetry
for Father’s Day, in memory of Tim Russert
In case the world should end
before I can tell you everything
I hope when that time comes
You’re old enough to know –
I was just a man,
Like both of you, but less.
Much less, and more at once, too.
The times we had together
So much you don’t recall,
Cannot be expected to remember.
I carried that around for us,
That history we have
that I dig up in writing this,
Though it is less. But more.
Much more, of course.
For in the cadence of each sentence
And the twisting of each letter
The separating spaces I told you both
Was the breath of each word
You understand our grand connection
And why the stories that define us
Go way beyond “the end”.
© 2008 henry toromoreno
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Tagged: farewell poetry, father's day poetry, father-son poetry, henry toromoreno, love poetry, poems, poetry, tim russert poetry
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Tagged: civil rights leader, henry toromoreno, protestor, watercolor
proves my whole idea
that you been trying to figure out
who I am and where I live
and that you’ll probably be
looking my name up on the internet
and checking out my interests
and vital statistics and hobbies
and such
and all that information
that you are gathering for
(we know who)
will be put together
with my social security history
and you’ll know how much money
I made, legally
and if that matches
what I spent on my credit cards
and on my cell phone
the text I sent to friends
about what I pay for rent and car bills
and you’ll figure out how much mileage
I put on my car by checking
my EZ pass and my tire treads
and my Metro Card,
and you’ll know if I was hanging out
someplace I should not have been
instead of working
because they have cameras
everywhere nowadays
And then all of this information
will be tagged, sorted and filed
put together mathematically
and run through that supercomputer
that made the chess champ look
like Koko the Gorilla struggling
with her awkward hands
unable to signal for help
And this little note
will also be filed and labeled
and later be used to prove
that I was crazy and dangerous
to everyone around me
because I had it figured out
→ 1 CommentCategories: american · new · poetry · strange · writing
Tagged: electronic culture, henry toromoreno, new poetry, paranoia, poetry, poetry about the self
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Tagged: alex, alexander toromoreno, drawing, line art, line drawing, toromoreno
Y Porque conmigo se
acaban preguntas de inmigracion*
I was born in Brooklyn and
have blood in the Bronx
Y porque conmigo se
acaba tener que hablar espanol**
My kids speak English
But they know where I’m from
Y porque conmigo se
comienca una nueva cancion***
I understand what it means to forget
As we learn to become.
translations:
→ No CommentsCategories: american · latino · poetry · strange
Tagged: henry toromoreno, latino poetry, new poetry, poetry, poetry about the self, spanglish
The sounds in your head, the things that you dream
The way you’ve learned to understand and mean
The things you recall, your memories and all
The yesterdays you put away, your nightmares and the disarray
It all belongs to someone else, when you consider what you became
There’s almost nothing of yourself; your face has changed, you’re not the same
You’ve learned since you began to be,
to use the “I”s around you to make your me
But perhaps you took too much, too much.
In such a rush to be filled up, you let yourself become corrupt
Disrupted what there was of you, while trying to stay connected.
© 2008 henry toromoreno
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Tagged: electronic culture, henry toromoreno, latino poetry, poetry, writing
→ No CommentsCategories: Uncategorized
Tagged: henry toromoreno, latino poetry, line art, new poetry
Unicorn burgers and unicorn franks,
Unicorn sweaters and unicorn pants,
Unicorn hats and gloves came together,
Both beautifully made of unicorn leather.
Unicorn belts and unicorn shoes,
Unicorn horns made into musical flutes,
Unicorn tails and unicorn hooves,
Both lucky charms, but that’s half a truth.
Unicorns used to sing such great songs,
But there are so many uses for unicorns,
And that’s why,
That’s why the unicorn’s gone.
→ No CommentsCategories: miscellaneous · new · writing
Tagged: children's poetry, dark poetry, henry toromoreno, poems