Virgil Chabre
This is the poetry site of poet Virgil Chabre
This is the poetry site of poet Virgil Chabre
Welcome to the Website of poet Virgil Chabre. Author of four books of poetry: Silhouettes, Images,and Faded Memories; The Night She Left and Other Poems; Column One (Poems 1982-1992); and Washington D. C. (2010)
Contact: virgilchabre13@gmail.com
Anyone interested in discussing poetry or sharing their poetry, please contact me. All comme
Welcome to the Website of poet Virgil Chabre. Author of four books of poetry: Silhouettes, Images,and Faded Memories; The Night She Left and Other Poems; Column One (Poems 1982-1992); and Washington D. C. (2010)
Contact: virgilchabre13@gmail.com
Anyone interested in discussing poetry or sharing their poetry, please contact me. All comments and responses are welcome and appreciated.
Quotations:
"Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead."
"The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it – basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them."
"We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us."
-Charles Bukowski
Fred Wright is Gone
I was a college student
Working at the Ford garage
Detailing new cars
Actually
A car washer
Making new cars shine
When I returned to school
I was replaced by Fred Wright
An African American with a smile
As big as the state of Louisiana
He would always say
“When I die I will become a cloud
And after the rain I will
Disappear and wat
Fred Wright is Gone
I was a college student
Working at the Ford garage
Detailing new cars
Actually
A car washer
Making new cars shine
When I returned to school
I was replaced by Fred Wright
An African American with a smile
As big as the state of Louisiana
He would always say
“When I die I will become a cloud
And after the rain I will
Disappear and watch the
Flowers grow”
I would say, “Flowers hell, Fred
Nothing will grow around here except
Weeds.” He would smile
And say “Weed can be a good thing!”
Fred would never pass up
A good thing in wine, women and song
Went to New Orleans with his guitar
Not to make it rich
But play his guitar to share his passion
He could walk on any stage
And play with the best of them
Could not read notes
But the guitar became part of him
An extension of his soul
I never would believe
Our paths would cross again
I was working construction in Wyoming
A Paymaster hiring workers
Managing payroll
We needed an oiler for the cranes
Fred Wright walked through the door
His smile still as big
As the state he left behind
He had more stories to tell me
Than a Mark Twain short story book
I could listen for hours
There was never a dull moment
With Fred
He still played the guitar
Always a song in his heart
His passion was still
Wine, women and song
One day I heard the news
Fred Wright is gone
My heart skipped a beat
I thought of how much he gave me
But saw a cloud in the sky
A light rain was falling
Tomorrow there may be flowers
A few weeds
Life will go on without Fred
For he is in the clouds
Floating by
Smiling as big as the state
Of Louisiana
Rain can be a good thing
Fred Wright is gone
Standing Still Man
For: Joy Harjo
I see and feel
The warmth of the sun
The moon and stars
Fade as the sunrise
Moves into existence
Darkness now in the past
The earth stands still
Afraid to move
On its axis
I feel pain in my heart
History repeats itself
The earth moves
Beneath my feet
I cannot walk anymore
Too many clouds
Fill my skies
I stop and hesitat
Standing Still Man
For: Joy Harjo
I see and feel
The warmth of the sun
The moon and stars
Fade as the sunrise
Moves into existence
Darkness now in the past
The earth stands still
Afraid to move
On its axis
I feel pain in my heart
History repeats itself
The earth moves
Beneath my feet
I cannot walk anymore
Too many clouds
Fill my skies
I stop and hesitate
Unable to take that step
Into the future
Haunted by the past
Broken promises
Broken dreams
Broken treaties
Broken bodies left behind
In a world
Out of control
I am Standing Still Man
MENDING FENCES AVAILABLE ON Amazon NOW
Virgil Chabre has been influenced by Gary Snyder, Richard Brautigan, Lyn Lifshin, Javan, Lou Reed, John Trudell and Bob Dylan.
Mending Fences is a book that is hard to place in a particular category. It is a story that started with a poem. This story takes place in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming and Paris, France. It is about a cowboy, an artist, a very spiritual Native American and Gypsies. It displays the influences of Richard Brautigan, Gary Snyder, Lyn Lifshin and Bob Dylan. But most of all it is a love story.
Link to Mending Fences on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=mending+fences+virgil+chabre&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
She was all I had left from the war
Waited patiently for me to return
I saw her every time I closed my eyes
She was always there
But my eyes are afraid to close
Anymore
There was a fire burning in the night
It was another dream
The dreams overtake me
Giant centipedes crawl in the darkness
Waiting for their next sting
I cannot separate reality from dreams
The war consumed me
Agent Orange crawling on my body
Never-ending rain
Snub nosed monkey swats a mosquito
The feast is over
I stood alone in the darkness
Looking at the body on the ground
Lifeless
Friendly fire they would say
But there was nothing friendly about it
He dropped a grenade
Afraid to let it leave his hand
Self-destruction or collateral damage
The jungle on fire around us
I clutch my dog tags to my chest
Look at my toes to try to keep the dog tags away
I close my eyes and see the tunnels
I pull a body out
The sun shines today
The jungle is empty
Silence fills the air
A water buffalo stops by
Looking for food or water
He is alone
I hold her tonight but keep my eyes open
Afraid of my dreams
The smell of burning flesh and napalm fills the air
My eyes must stay open
I must face reality
Prepare for the day tomorrow
Some say tomorrow will be a new day
But nothing is new after war
Just the sound of ammo in the night
And friendly fire
I remember when I arrived passing him
He was leaving Vietnam
On his way home
The words that came out of his mouth
Stayed with me
“The enemy is in the distance,
You will find them,
Watch your friends
They cannot be trusted
This is war”
How could I describe
You to someone
I could say you
Look like Julia Roberts
But you do not
Or you are sexy like Sharron Stone
But that falls short also
You are like electricity
A current running
Through veins
You can take darkness
Make it light
You can change light
Into darkness
You can take the cold
Give it warmth
Or on the warmest days
You can send chills
Down the spine
You have the ability
To recharge people
At their lowest times
Full force energy
From your soul
You can give a shock
Leaving those you
Meet trembling
Wondering what hit them
As they recover from your touch
You are electricity
Not Afraid of Tomorrow
For: Hannah
I saw her walking today
Moving in the shadows
That follow her
On sunny days
She has seen light
She has seen darkness
It is all in her journey
Through life
She is not afraid of tomorrow
For she has seen yesterday
And today
And knows
The future is distance away
And distance is not measured
By time
There will be roads
That will lead to storms
Sunshine will follow rain
Leaving a rainbow in time
Stardust is all that remains
From falling stars
Granting wishes
To those
Who have no fear
Of tomorrow
She was a stranger I saw
Out of the corner of my eye
She did not look like Lady Gaga
Or Marilyn Monroe
She was younger
With dark hair
And glasses
A photograph I could file away
In my mind
I did not realize
I must have been staring at her
As I tried to focus my eyes
On the curve of her lips
As she sat silently
Sipping upon a cola
But when I got up and left
And looked back
She blew me a kiss
A stranger I will never forget
Filed away forever
In my mind under
A kiss that slipped away from me
Standing There
She was a raving beauty
Blonde hair flowing down her back
Standing there alone
As dance music filled the air
I watched closely as she
Turned down dance after dance
I wanted to get to know her
Feeling left out
I approached her
But words failing me I just stood
Next to her
She refused dance after dance
As I stood silently
Unable to start a conversation
When she was approached
Once again to dance
She turned in one swift move
Grabbed my hand
And said I am with someone
I felt the warmth of her hand
Run clear through my spine
She said can I be with you tonight
I am tired of the guys asking me to dance
She then led me to the dance floor
And we danced
It was the start of a relationship
With the touch of a hand
And a dance
That I will never forget
for: Veronica
Born in Wyoming
Among the sagebrush
And antelope
In the dusty fields of mining
Subsidence shaking
The earth below
She has the strength of a dragon
The wisdom of Minerva
She felt the world
On her shoulders
and stumbled
But did not fall
She had the ability
To balance her life on a tightrope
The fortitude
To lead and not follow
She walked on solid ground
As the earth swallowed
Those around her
Not afraid of yesterday
Looking forward toward tomorrow
The future on her mind
She found solitude
Among the forests of Idaho
A new journey
In a life filled with stones
She learned to smile
Walk a mile
And not look back
Always enjoying the present
The future unlimited
She found the true meaning of life
She found herself
For: Hailee
She wants to go to Wyoming
Experience the mountains
Where snow never melts
The wind blows strong
But hearts stay warm
I can see her now
Bundled up in four layers
Of clothing
Seeing the frost on her nose
Her breath in the cold air
Running through the snow
Making snow angels
A snowman
Or just sliding down a hill
Finding life away from the Arizona sun
That can melt your soul
And leave you cold inside
Unable to find a reason
To carry on in life
She understands life
Always chasing freedom
But in the Wyoming air
Freedom is chasing her
It is all a vision she sees
Reflected in the eyes
That tell many stories
And yet
Leaves many stories untold
When someone asks us
Where we are from
We smile and say
We're from under Wyoming
The land of our fathers
And their fathers too
It's in our blood
The earth within us
We're not happy in the sunshine
We spend our days
And nights in tunnels
Where darkness is our friend
The gophers and prairie dogs
Live above us
In tunnels of their own
Sometimes they don't understand
The sounds down below
In the winter when they sleep
They dream of metal monsters
Digging in the earth below
When spring comes
Sometimes they are awakened early
By the sound of fireworks
Before the fourth of July
We work the earth
Like a farmer works the surface
Following the steps
Our fathers took
They walk in our shadows
Protecting us from the sun
I was born
A coal miner’s son
Watching my father
Come home
Covered in black dust
When he was
Not breathing coal dust
He smoked cigarettes
I heard him wheezing
And coughing in the night
Unable to catch his breath
Black Lung they called it
The disease of coal miners
The black earth
Took away their ability
To breathe
As I witnessed him
Fighting to take
His last breath
I cannot answer
All of your questions
Or place meaning
In the emptiness
That surrounds you
I can only give you
Some time
To think about today
And not worry about yesterday
Or have any fears
About tomorrow
Today is the memory
We will build upon
Without barriers
To provide a ray of light
That can be remembered
At the darkest time
We may face alone
For: Lori
She is a treasure
An angel
But she cannot fly
She does not have wings
Yet she is swift and smooth
On a racquetball court
Precise in every swing
She is a true caregiver
Her personality thrives on giving
To her life is not measured
By the ticking of a clock
Or the beating of a heart
But by the breath
That you take
Living life
One breath at a time
My father was a coal miner
He had Black Lung disease
Pneumoconiosis (CWP)
Coal dust hiding in his lungs
An oxygen cylinder by his side
It would have been positive
To have someone like her
By his side
As He was fighting
To take his last breath
The desert heat doesn’t bother me
Not the empty space across the horizon
Or the scorpion moving across the sand
What bothers me
Are the dreams I haven’t had
The hands I forgot to touch
The mystery in the eyes
I never solved
Or walking away
When I should have stayed a moment longer
So many things lost in life
Like the silence following a poem
I never read
We talk from long distance spaces
Where an echo can be heard between us
It works out so much better that way
If we get too close
We become lost in thoughts and phrases
As the words we speak
Get in the way of our relationship
So I’ll continue to say hello
From where I stand
And all you have to do is wave
And I’ll know
It does not mean
Good-bye
She said there
Are homeless people
But security
To calm your fears
But I do not fear
The homeless
I fear the men in suits
Working on Capital hill
Causing pain
Far deeper than a homeless person
Searching for shelter