Poetry by Roxanne Hoffman (Robert Burns)

Two poems
by Roxanne Hoffman
Inspired by Robert Burns

My Heart’s in Manhattan

My heart’s in Manhattan, my heart is not here;
My heart’s in Manhattan, a-drinkin’ a beer;
A-drinkin’ the tall beer, and telling tall tales –
My heart’s in Manhattan from where I hail.
Farewell to Wall Street, farewell to the City,
A mecca for talent, the well-clad, the witty:
Wherever I wander, wherever I roam,
The Upper Westside will always be home!

Farewell to skyscrapers all covered in soot;
Farewell to the traffic, the noise and the dirt;
Farewell to the crowded streets of Midtown;
Farewell to the friends, the job I’ve abandoned.

My heart’s in Manhattan, my heart is not here;
My heart’s in Manhattan, a-drinkin’ a beer;
A-drinkin’ the tall beer, and telling tall tales –
My heart’s in Manhattan from where I hail.

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A Red, Red Nose

O, my cold is like a red, red nose,
The kind that Rudolf sported,
A cold unlike any malady,
Or flu that’s been reported.

As fair art thou, my handsome man,
So teary eyed am I,
That I will stay home still, my dear,
Until my nose runs dry.

Until my nose runs dry, my dear,
And its endless sneeze subsides!
And I will stay home still, my dear,
With Kleenex at my side.

So fair thee weel, my only luve,
A fair thee weel, today!
For soon I’ll come to you, my luve,
Tho’ now ‘lone in bed I’ll stay!


Author bio:

Roxanne Hoffman, a former Wall Street banker, now works nights answering a patient hotline for a major home health care provider based in New York City. A member of The Riverside Poets, her poetry has been published in No 8. and No. 10 of their annual chapbook as well in Nomad's Choir, The Brownstone Poets 2007 Anthology, The Rogue Gallery online at Roguescholars.com, Red River Review (www.redriverreview.com) and Lucid Rhythms (www.lucidrhythms.com) and is forthcoming in MÖBIUS The Poetry Magazine, Champagne Shivers, Amaze, Asbestos, The Long Islander (Walt's Corner) and the upcoming Green Pavilion anthology Dinner With the Muse. Her poetry can be heard during the 50-minute independent film, Love and the Vampire, and shown at The Arlene’s Grocery Picture Show's 2005 Festival, and also has been aired on cable (Poetry Thin Air, The Art House Show), UHF-TV (The New Yorkers), WKCR FM NY (Art Waves), and Live365 web radio (Eadon's Place). Still trying to reconcile writing poetry and making money, she curates Poets Wear Prada, a website designed to promote poets, their readings and their poetry at Poets Wear Prada she owns a small press by the same name.