Diet
He bowed to the food machine
but what he ate turned him green
His whole life flashed
his stomach was trashed
But it helped to keep him lean
Limerettes 251 Diet
Feel
When you sigh I want to cry
I think I’ve lost my zeal !
With a little empathy
and a lot of sympathy
You sound just like I feel
Devious Metaphors 252 Feel
Heavy Metal
There once was a guy named Cody
a drummer without a roadie
These drums weigh a ton
he said on the run
And now he’s feeling quite grody
Limerettes 253 Heavy Metal
Johndering
As the days go by
the thoughts do fly
I sit here gently pondering
I am unique
new name I seek
I think I’ll call it Johndering
Devious Metaphors 254 Johndering
Life
Reality must have an arc
decided Charlie on a lark
Fire all the writers
they’re a bunch of blighters
This gig has jumped the shark
Limerettes 255 Life
Lowbrow
This form of poetry I’m told
is not for the highbrow fold
John said up your nose
the straight stuff blows
and lives on the books he’s sold
Devious Metaphors 256 Lowbrow
Open Mic
At Wordslinger’s Bar a poet
Charlie said “hey don’t you know it”!
I come for the chips
but I stay for the quips
And I hope your rhymes don’t blow it
Limerettes 257 Open mic
Play
The sting of the bee
is shown to me
in colors bright as day
It gives me a thrill
a makeover pill
It’s all just a way to play
Devious Metaphors 258 Play
Ports
Any port in a mind-storm
from the rocky to the smooth
Whatever it takes
pull out the stakes
and get back in the groove
Limerettes 259 Ports
Punny
There once was a man from Salisbury
who said he had one big worry
He could be funny
you know, really punny
but it might turn his brain to slurry
Devious Metaphors 260 Punny
Relief
You just have to ask
And I’ll take to task
to provide aspirin for thee
There is nothing to gain
from avoidable pain
though some might disagree
Limerettes 261 Relief
Rose
There once was a lady named Rose
who put the twinkle in my toes
She wrote erotica
loved exotica
silky voice taking off my clothes
Devious Metaphors 262 Rose
Strings
Someone’s jerking my string
I’m a puppet that needs to sing.
I’m out of my tree
I’m down on my knee
but my thoughts are on the wing
Limerettes 263 Strings
Sweet Revenge
There once was a candy machine
that was proud of being mean
when it withheld a snack
it suffered attack
And was caused to severely lean
Devious Metaphors 264 Sweet Revenge
The Plug
Johnny had the computer from hell
everyone feared that cranky old Dell
John got his chair
a whip and a dare
Pulled the plug of that ne’r do well
Limerettes 265 The Plug
Tripping
Thinking blindly, I suspect
can have a really big effect
‘Times it’s rough
watch out for stuff
Ego trips over intellect
Devious Metaphors 266 Tripping
You
The brain is important, that’s true
for all things a person will do
From reading to writing,
and skiing to biting,
It makes up the person who’s you.
Limerettes 267 You
Bla
There once was a bla bla bla
Who didn’t like bla bla bla
He bla bla bla
And bla bla bla
With his small little bla bla bla
So bla bla bla
And bla bla bla
For his great big bla bla bla
Devious Metaphors 268 Bla
Limerettes 269 Johnny Sonique
*Jeff Lims *
Playing with the formula
Devious Metaphors 270 Jeff Lims
ThwerheHooecnsawocmeaTrseeowfaltuadossstiqahanusegJaterurtfooenfnipbwvgeeeiggdtrhsweecviitssoiioognnet on wJietfhwf hwheioasy’sdmeHtlhieosai’o-dtt’kssreyanayoolutykyosionturud’arreiogffgahrtgteeuianytthe ThebreeiWnogrnwoacthleewLicwoaahvyasisstmnojsgeaohfrhefthiawsburomcittlohweakvneaeetrborroaekifnrain Jeff Lims
There once was a Jeff I’m told werHeislliedfkiterweahcotTsithwoehenroesetutgokoihnstbclsiehseswtausranemdarinSgknhaytHwemblaeuletwdfkttaeJwunrethrffyeonTodethutdehrooseeubegoehntcehewtausranemdaringnhfatomrbeuHhitdisltsJelufreeritfffwgtnehhbtdoTrthbairehnraoiefuin’gogshnhrttcisteghhwetseyrteutrnweodhreiagdhts bnautmteudrnJeefdf Johnny Sonique 271
and being a Knight so bold
He looked here and there
for the order of Square
And found kindred rebel of olde
T L Phe astThis is it folks !oem
Devious Metaphors 272 The Last Poem
I speak to you as a caring friend
I speak to the you inside all your
psychosocial layers
It is rare that I can do that
To actually share focused attention
in the present
speaking as equals
Navigating our journeys through life
I speak to you - for best communication
I don’t need to sugarcoat, inflate or lie
We set aside self-image to explore
A real exchange takes place
sharing energy, ideas and respect
Gaining congruency and actualization
through our dialogues
Playfully comparing, contrasting and
reinforcing our truths
I speak to you - with mental gymnastics
strengthening mind, brain and body
Filling cognitive needs
increasing Isness without ego
Opening sensitivity, awareness, and empathy
Creating unique synergies
Exploring without judgment
Johnny Sonique 273 I Speak To You
I speak to you - as energy is generated and shared
Going out to the universe
Adding to the pleasurable flow of mankind
Attracting other sources of healing encounters
Renewing itself in an ever changing
encompassing matrix
Coming back to you and I
Subtly changing our being, our points of view
We speak to each other -as problems
become challenges
The world becomes a playground
Statements of intention become actions
Our minds morph into life’s natural flow
Through the swirling mists of immortal time
we are the Large Idea Collider
We are the dynamic ONE
Devious Metaphors 274 I Speak To You
Johnny Sonique 275 Johnny Sonique
A Nuthor’sInspirations otes
Devious Metaphors 276 Author’s Notes
Art Muscle (2010) - This poem reflects the
struggle I had when I recently tried to relearn the guitar
after a 15 year hiatus ( I have been working with mu-
sic loops and step recording MIDI-no live playing). To say
I was rusty would be an understatement. Gone was the
flow and effortlessness. I had to think about every chord
and finger. In my songwriting I needed to get to those
notes quickly. I said to myself if I did it once I can do it
again. Now I’m almost back to my original skill level and
have learned a few new things along the way.
Beast (2003) - I was in Design class and had done
my homework, putting it on a floppy disk. I hadn’t real-
ized the Mac computer didn’t have a floppy slot. It made
for an odd moment until I quickly substituted something
else.
Brain Dance (2008) - I sometimes have problems
wirh decisions. It seems like there are two entities in my
skull. Jekyl and Hide? I’m also fascinated by the brain’s
capabilities for parallel processing and self deception.
Changing You (2008) - People affect each other
when they interact. Some influences are overwhelming and
some are barely noticed but they are there. We are never
quite the same after an encounter, especially if we discuss
ideas.
Johnny Sonique 277 Author’s Notes
Cup of Time (2010) - We mess around with
time trying to get more and do more but it seldom
helps. An expansion of time has to come from within. It
ends up being subjective.
CQ (2008) - Your Creativity Quotient id derived
by your (money+talent) divided by your (non-art time)
multiplied by your (passion). It is another aritrary mea-
surment.
Dayjobrant (2008) - Although being a necessity a
day job, that has no relationship to one’s art, is an an-
noying waste of time for a dedicated artist. An person
must work at his art or depression follows.
Devious Metaphors (2013) - Our lives are full
of meta phors. We use them to translate the
part of us that is emotional and creative and that Can’t
be put down word for word. They also lead us down the
path when creating poetry.
Dreamship (2009) - A metaphor for a free-sail-
ing, open mind.
Dualism (2010) - The world feels like one dual-
ity after another as we learn, in black and white terms,
from parents, teachers and our own personal filters. The
Devious Metaphors 278 Author’s Notes
wisdom we acquire along the way shows us the many
possibilities for gray. Duality fragments us and causes fear
between races and cultures.
Epic Poetry (2012) - Just showing respect for
the form and sharing it.
Expired (2008) - We all have experienced the
frustration of wating in line for something you don’t re-
ally feel you need in the first place.
Finished Work (2008) - The writers, pencillers,
and inkers are the mostly unsung heroes of comic books.
Getting an issue completed and out the door is a wonder-
ful thing. Captain Rochester is a comic book put out by
my former employer.
Fire Bell (2008) - A playful combination of Edgar
Allen Poe and Christopher Walken.
Gathering (2012) - I had the pleasure of recit-
ing several of my poems for a group at a local bookstore.
They were wonderful people who exhibited gracious recep-
tiveness to my ramblings. This is a poem about
the store.
Johnny Sonique 279 Author’s Notes
Homeosynthesis (2013) - Wondering what it was
like after the big Bang, and consciousness came into being.
I Speak To You (2010) - Personal comunication
is one of the most important things we have as human
beings living in a society,
I Want To Play (2010) - Playing is important
for growth and creativity. It can be a struggle as an
adult, to make time to play but we have to if we are
to be engaged in pursuits of the mind. Open-minded day-
dreaming is good. It promotes learning.
Jeff Lims (2015) - An experiment with a textual
formula for a friend.
Just Like Me (2010) - We are more like each
other than we think. It is great for an artistic person to
have someone help them with the dichotomy of day job
and artist time. We influence each other more than we
know. Misery loves company.
Kaleidoscope (2010) - There are many kinds of
people in the world. Lets respect each one and see where
there strengths lie. Celebrate uniqueness and personal tal-
ent. Mystique is a shape-shifter (change).
Devious Metaphors 280 Auhor’s Notes
Last Resort (2012) - Sometimes one feels as if
he has tried all there is to try, used up all the energy
available and come to the end of hope. If there is no one
who cares then one can choose to scatter his atoms and
return to the star-stuff of the Universe. The only down-
side is the pain.
Limerettes (2002-2015) - Limericks are a fun
way to play with words and rhyme in a formula. The
best ones have double meanings.
Listen 1 & 2 (2015) - These are two takes on
how useful buying one of my friend’s books would be. It
is an experiment in contrasts.
Motto (2008) - Heroes have mottos. A guy where
I used to work fixed a problem with a loud compressor
and became a hero. He then used his charisma to expand
his myth.
Murphy (2010) - We;ve all had Murphy looking
over our shoulder, especially when we;re doing something
important. Because we know he’s out there watching we
can chuckle when everything goes kerflooy. He teaches us
to go with the flow because you’re going to make mis-
takes.
Johnny Sonique 281 Author’s Notes
New Idea (2010) - Sometimes pearls of wisdom
come from the most unlikely places. I enjoy them if I
can stay open-minded.
Ode To Ele (2014) - This poem was written
on the occasion of my mother-in-law’s (Eleanor) 85th
birthday. It illustrates some things in her apartment
and her lifestyle. A Munchkin is a brand of water boiler,
Freddie is a contractor, and Ferry Rd is where she lived.
Out There ( 2009) - I’ve always wanted to have
my conclusions about the world cross-checked by a source
outside of my environment...maybe a space alien? How
do I know if my ideas are correct?.
Painting the World (2012) - Use your art to
create what you feel regardless of the status quo. You
may just make someone’s life better. Look at the Big
Picture for each other.
Pen To Paper (2010) - An ode to the craft of
drawing and writing. Getting lost in a painting or a sto-
ry is a wonderful thing.
Pied Piper (2008) - Captain Rochester saved
the microchip industry by feeding counterfeit chips to
Devious Metaphors 282 Author’s Notes
microchip eating monsters. I was a receiver at a mi-
crochip factory. Counterfeit parts were always a prob-
lem, I wondered if there was an up side to them.
Politicalrant (2008) - This is my 2 cents on
peace even though the issue is never as simple as we’d
like it to be.
Reaper’s Rebirth (2012) - Defending the free-
dom to have new ideas is important. Sometimes battles
have to be fought. Working together we win. I’ve also
played with some nonsense words.
Religionrant (2008) - Lets cut out the middle
man between us and God. Organized religion can get too
big and, as well as causing culture clash, can lose its spir-
ituality.
Recycle (2010) - The Universe is a big circle where
matter and energy are reused over and over. Many of
the deep questions of science may eventually be answered
only by looking in the celestial mirror-loop.
Safe Harbor (2007) - This poem was written for my wife’s
birthday. It’s a wonder feeling to have someone with whom you feel safe
and secure. They’ve got your back.
Johnny Sonique 283 Author’s Notes
Sculpting (2010) - An art metaphor about how fun
it is to play with ideas. Don’t limit yourself. Mere words
don’t usually convey the subtleties of uncommon ideas
though; I wish we had telepathy.
Short poems (2008-2012) - (Dancing with Ideas
& Drinking the Artist’s Whine)- These are short poems
that aren’t big, pompous and sprawling. They sit there in-
viting quiet eyes to enjoy them.
Status Quo (2014) - The status quo is order-
ly but stifling. It’s like a room that needs the windows
opened. How do you know how far you can go until you go
too far. We need that freedom.
The End (2016) - One of the many conundrums of
life. An end can be a beginning ... or a circle.
Time’s Tragedy (2010) - I greatly enjoyed the
1980 movie Somewhere in Time starring Christopher Reeve
and Jane Seymour. This is my poetic take on a particular
scene in the movie.
Tomorrow (2010) - Procrastination is an excellent
way to get out of doing what you don’t want to do. It
fools you and the people around you for a little while. But
is it always bad?
Devious Metaphors 284 Author’s Notes
Weavers (2019) - I think spiders are interest-
ing creatures and often think about how useful they are
in the environment and to us in other ways. They are a
metaphor forwand being everywhere. They are also artists
in building their varied web shapes.
Wisdom (2011) - Yes, I said this twice in the
book. I believe it’s that important. Most wisdom comes
from just having an open mind.
Johnny Sonique 285 Authors Notes
AcknowledgementsI’m indebted to you all
Devious Metaphors 286 Acknowledgements
My love and appreciation encircle my wife who cre-
ates the gentle space that is required to think and create.
Along with our cat, the great weather and lots of Diet Coke,
I have the purrrfect space.
Thanks to Jeff Sadowski, my longtime friend and mind-
mate, for being a sounding board for the creative process
above and beyond the call of duty. He has eloquently lived
through the velvet verbal assault of poetry unfinished and
has repeatedly climbed the long slippery steps to my word-
drenched ivory tower.
Hats off to a former workmate Charlie Cody, a fine
drummer and artist, who inspired in me, the first notion
that it was possible to get my thoughts down in a rhythmic,
poetically pleasing form.
Proof reading is an inevitable part of creating a book. Af-
ter looking at the words hundreds of times the brain starts
filtering things out. Thanks to XXX for this tedious but very
necessary editing.
I couldn’t have persisted in the inevitable busy-work side
of writing without the breaks provided by our feline fam-
ily members through the years; Isabeau, Roland, and Calypso.
Two are Persian princesses, the other a seasoned street fight-
er. They have contributed to my life and well-being immense-
ly.
Looking at the Bigger Picture, thanks to the inventors of
paper, ink, and the transistor, along with oxygen, and my im-
mune system. Life is a team effort!
Johnny Sonique 287 Acknowledgements
AttributionsDevious ornaments
Devious Metaphors 288 Attributions
Pages 1, 5, 10, 20, 30, 34, 36, 41, 42, 44, 46, 52, 56,
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131, 137, 151, 157, 161, 207, 233, 267, 284, 285 JS logo
Largeclear
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Johnny Sonique 289 Attributions
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Devious Metaphors 290 Attributions
Devious Metaphors 291 Johnny Sonique
AfterwordLast thoughts
Devious Metaphors 292 Afterword
Just like a mummy, I’m wrapping up this tattered display of
creative dabbling and shuffling off into the sandy sunset.
I’ve always had an analytical mind with possibly too much
think and not enough play in it. The more playful parts of De-
vious Metaphors is an effort to balance the purely cognitive
with the irrational and abstract; a mini-vacation from cerebral
noise.
Now that I’ve challenged some of your most cherished be-
liefs, made scrambled eggs of your religion, and whipped up your
ancient primitive defenses, is there anything you can take away
that might make your life a little happier, or perhaps more in-
teresting?
These are merely ideas wrapped up in a coat of rhyme to add
to the alphabet soup of your life. If I’ve overstepped my social
boundaries just remove me from the gene pool.
These poetic ramblings are neither the best nor the worst
that have ever been, but they are Me. Entropy is melting them
back, however slowly, into Time and Universe even as we com-
municate via these printed symbols.
This ink, paper, or magnetic impulse will be recycled and
eventually reassembled into something even more wonderful. The
ideas will become nothing more than neural nets in your wet-
ware to be remembered, built upon, or forgotten, and that’s
ok.
I wish everyone and everything, no matter where they are,
what they are, or how they make their living, peace, happiness,
and a meaningful existence.
~ JS
Johnny Sonique 293 Afterword
A About theWho is this guy? uthor
Devious Metaphors 294 About the Author
Johnny is a baby boomer songwriter poet in the
Southern USA whose greatest pleasure is sharing ideas about
personality, self-actualization, and being a unique part of our
Universe.
He grew up in Southern California in the 50s and 60s
as a part of what used to be called the Middle Class and has
always known where his next meal was coming from. This gave
him a humble position from which to observe, with less stress
and prejudices, the ebb and flow of life and its many faces.
Johnny is a chronically curious philosopher/reductionist/
observer of Universal Cause and Effect. He has partial degrees
in Music, Philosophy, and Graphic Design, is the owner of
Sonic Soup Music & Design, and spends a great deal of time
composing music in the land of semiconductors and software.
He has interests in neuroscience, personality, computer
programming, graphics, weaving words together, poetry, pure
creativity, and the purr of a fast Harley.
Johnny exists on a line between music and metaphor
amidst a well equipped sound studio, a cat and tons of books.
Being a Taurus he keeps stubbornly pursuing enlightenment,
creativity, and musicianship.
He is still working on a new all-inclusive website and may
get it finished before the next ice age (or lava flow if global
warming comes to fruition).
Johnny Sonique 295 About the Author
THE ENDWhatistheend?
merely a rearrangement
of thought and molecule;
a subjective place in time,
swimming in context
If this is truly an end,
why can the reader
visit again these words
of playful wisdom ?
Swim on!
Devious Metaphors 296 The End
Having left his mark in this galaxy he went on to
other things
Johnny Sonique 297 Cosmic Hitchhiker
D Mevious etaphorsEclectic poetry and thoughts for humans!
You are about to embark on quite a marvelous
journey. One that’s full of wit, wonder, and mystery.
For this isn’t just another poetry book, dear reader.
By carefully mixing the perfect blend of big ideas,
weird but wonderful words, and ways to put them to-
gether that will make you smile, I’m sure John would
agree that any one of his poems are only here for two
very good reasons. To entertain you, and to expand
your mind.
All that you’ll need to do from here is to keep
your mind and your eyes wide open, and keep your
hands and feet safely inside, until the ride comes to a
complete stop. Enjoy the Trip!
This collection is for all the thinking people out there in
our big wide world who wonder with playful curiosity at
the complexity and order/disorder of the universe; espe-
cially for those who don’t quite fit in...