Poetry by William T. Yates

<body class="bgwhite"> <div class="center"> <h2>Poetry</h2> by<br /> <h3><em>William Theron Yates</em></h3> </div> <br /> I have been writing poetry for some time. One of my poems has been published in <i>Verve</i> magazine, some have been read over KUSC radio in Los Angeles, and others published in church newsletters and read from pulpits. I write both rhymed and free verse and song lyrics. Here is some of my poetry. <br /><br /> List of Poems: <br /><br /> <a href="#Father">Father</a> <br /><br /> <a href="#Cold Feet">Cold Feet</a> <br /><br /> <a href="#His Hands">His Hands</a> <br /><br /> <a href="#Bones">Bones</a> <br /><br /> <a href="#The Difference Between Man and Beast">The Difference Between Man and Beast</a> <br /><br /> <a href="#Invitation to the Dance">Invitation to the Dance</a> <br /><br /> <a href="#The Lesson of Love">The Lesson of Love</a> <br /><br /> <a href="#Man of the Moment">Man of the Moment</a> <br /><br /> <img src="../resources/rainbow-line.gif" width="585" height="2" alt="[Rainbow line]" /><br /> <h3><a name="Father">Father</a></h3> You stare at me from the black-rimmed frame:<br /> forever smiling, forever young<br /> in your officer's white uniform.<br /> You held me in your arms who am now<br /> older than you ever were or ever will be.<br /> Did I cry? Did I smile? Did I learn to know you<br /> before you became unknowable?<br /> Am I like you?<br /> Is my son?<br /> <br /> <div class="footer">© 1989 by William Theron Yates</div> <br /> <hr /> <h3><a name="Cold Feet">Cold Feet</a></h3> You ever hop into the bed<br /> And pull the covers tight?<br /> And try to get your toes to warm,<br /> When your feet are cold at night?<br /> <br /> They feel like living blocks of ice,<br /> Your left foot and your right.<br /> Frozen solid to the bone,<br /> When your feet are cold at night!<br /> <br /> You turn the blanket up to ten,<br /> But where it's tucked in tight,<br /> There is no heat above your heels,<br /> When your feet are cold at night!<br /> <br /> But if you've married someone nice,<br /> Who loves and treats you right,<br /> You'll warm each others toes and things,<br /> When your feet are cold at night!<br /> <br /> The only remedy I've found<img align=absmiddle width=11 height=1 src="../resources/dot_black.gif" alt="[dash]" /><br /> (Be sure to get this right!)<br /> There's nothing like good warm love,<br /> When your feet are cold at night!<br /> <br /> <div class="footer">© 1991 by William Theron Yates</div> <br /> <hr /> <h3><a name="His Hands">His Hands</a></h3> All his life his hands handled the wood,<br /> forming it, shaping it, cutting it,<br /> measuring its strength.<br /> Now his hands are placed, backs to the wood,<br /> unable to turn to grasp it,<br /> nailed in place.<br /> <br /> <div class="footer">© 1993 by William Theron Yates</div> <br /> <hr /> <h3><a name="Bones">Bones</a></h3> From image and word, vision and rhyme,<br /> we grow the bones that shape our life,<br /> with the antique hope that,<br /> long dead years after,<br /> some poet paleontologist will<br /> reconstruct our spirit from<br /> our embedded bones.<br /> <br /> <div class="footer">© 1993 by William Theron Yates</div> <br /> <hr /> <h3><a name="The Difference Between Man and Beast">The Difference Between Man and Beast</a></h3> The cat calls at our bedroom door,<br /> having waited for the light to go out.<br /> "I'll let her in for a few minutes of love,"<br /> says my wife,<br /> "And then she'll have to go away."<br /> I lie in the darkness pondering the difference<br /> between man and beast:<br /> When I get a few minutes of love,<br /> I get to stay.<br /> <br /> <div class="footer">© 1991 by William Theron Yates</div> <br /> <hr /> <h3><a name="Invitation to the Dance">Invitation to the Dance</a></h3> With fine-pinioned flowing of corporal motion<br /> And sinuous twirling in axial joy,<br /> Holding with lightness the beauty of loving,<br /> I turn with the tempo of music and wine<img align=absmiddle width=11 height=1 src="../resources/dot_black.gif" alt="[dash]" /><br /> And sit lone in wonder, and dance in my mind!<br /> <br /> <div class="footer">© 1988 by William Theron Yates</div> <br /> <hr /> <h3><a name="The Lesson of Love">The Lesson of Love</a></h3> Actions always planned are never completed.<br /> This is the lesson of love.<br /> For always holding you in my mind,<br /> I never held you in my arms.<br /> For always writing love letters in my mind,<br /> I never wrote them in your heart.<br /> For always asking you in my mind,<br /> I never asked you with my mouth.<br /> For always planning our union in my mind,<br /> I forever will be incomplete.<br /> <br /> Planning forever is a coward's way out.<br /> In this imperfect world there is no perfection,<br /> the time is out of joint and will never be right.<br /> The circumstances are beyond our control,<br /> and will never be good.<br /> The omens are cautious, there are no tea leaves with instant tea.<br /> The heart is adventurous, the mind is careful,<br /> and it may be right.<br /> But mind over heart leaves you alone at night.<br /> <br /> <div class="footer">© 1994 by William Theron Yates</div> <br /> <hr /> <h3><a name="Man of the Moment">Man of the Moment</a></h3> I saw a man on television who<br /> Cannot remember anything<br /> More than thirty seconds old.<br /> He unknowingly lives the logical conclusion of<br /> The philosophy of living for the moment.<br /> No past to haunt him or give him anchor,<br /> Forever awakening to a new world,<br /> Unable to recall his nameless illness<br /> He lives eternally the horror<br /> Of a timeless soul.<br /> <br /> <div class="footer">© 1988 by William Theron Yates</div> <br /> <img src="../resources/rainbow-line.gif" width="585" height="2" alt="[Rainbow line]" /> <br /><br /> <a href="../writing.html"><img src="../resources/back_btn.gif" width="40" height="40" alt="[Back button]" align="middle" /> Return to Bill Yates' Writing Page</a><br /> <div class="footer">Updated 5/20/01<br /> http://www.billyates.com/billyates/poetry/poetryfr.html</div> </body>