Poems
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- 862 reads
25th October 1415
Bring me my bow of burning gold. it wasn't gold. It was just yew. And gut. Taut. Tight. Terrified. So many. So few. Bodkin. Sounds nice. Forged then...
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- 413 reads
A Sad Poem
Hate seeps from love like air from a tyre. Imperceptibly. For love and tyres, What's left is useless.
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- 654 reads
A Sixties Childhood
On a windswept Yorkshire hill The snowdrops fight daffodils, For space on a tiny terrace Caterpillars starve and butterflies wane In jam jars of...
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- 297 reads
At My Mother's Graveside
All the times she did, And all the times she didn't. Love comes in spurts, the Voidoid said, But when it's not spurting it's hurting. Visceral love...
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- 407 reads
Be Happy! You're Free!
You clean the rich houses, Be happy! You’re free! You wipe shit from toilets. Be happy! You’re free! Your boiler is broken. Be happy. You’re free!...
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- 677 reads
Bed and Circuses
Last night my bed was full but I was lonely. Tonight my bed is empty, but I have no fear. Bring circuses to my bed! Elephants rearing! Acrobats...
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- 388 reads
Cynthia
No dear Cynthia, The black man will no longer bring our tea. And you may find it hard to love yourself Without superiority. Fear not dear Cynthia,...
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- 281 reads
Dark and Silence
They didn’t want to die. They didn’t want to. They didn’t plan to. She was thirty two. He was five. The other She was three. The older She was a...
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- 452 reads
Death in the Colonies
Old men die in foreign beds with no last words to say. The women cry, Their time will come, tomorrow or today.
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- 348 reads
Fear of Accusation
When women lie, Men cry. I don't know why. Or do I? Penetrative sex is rape she said. I'm no rapist. They writhed with me for intimacy And I clawed...
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- 483 reads
Friday Night
So we laugh at the sadness of yesterday Yet weep at the hope of tomorrow The evening which will not forgive us. The morning that might cut us slack...
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- 531 reads
Giant
Tell me I'm a poet and I'll kiss you on a Monday. We’ll wake up, make love, go to town, we know we’ll have a fun day. Tell me that you love me and I'...
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- 419 reads
Hope
Tomorrow is a land whose parents are memories. Of closed Sunday shops, and drizzle on slate. And when we felt bad for not going to church. And...
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- 272 reads
I Know You...
She tugs hard on her leggings. It pleases her to please me. Her chin dips imperceptibly as she turns to look at me. Like a novelty nodding dog on the...
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- 370 reads
In Vino Veritas
The drip of wine belays the truth, That sober never says. Of hate and fear and endless tears. And prayers for those who live. So leave me, as I lie...
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- 853 reads
Let Me Lie Lonely...
Let me lie lonely not seeking poor solace In tangled limbs and loveless lips. I have no desire for mind-less bodies. Sex - a chimera without the...
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- 1451 reads
Love Poem
I loved her already, stepping off the plane. I came, saw, conquered. She came more. Love and lust, intoxicant flame! Please be my love, please be my...
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- 428 reads
Manhatten
Come to me October, With your dawn mists and low, heavy boughs. I will thrill to your chill. I will sing at your silence. And when November's icy...
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- 1899 reads
Musings Regarding An Imminent Consummation
How will you feel my flesh when I feel yours? My hard mouth is not your sweet lip. My rough hand is not your silk-soft breast. Violating, my harsh...
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- 471 reads
My Brexit Poem
Bring me wine and whisky I will weep for our salvation. And piss my fury on the bleaching bones of a once great broken nation. I won't take the...
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- 448 reads
Nonsense Poem
We’re gamboling to Jupiter We'll stop for tea on Mars We might go on to Uranus If we don’t think it’s too far. We'll roll around in Rimini And dance...
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- 449 reads
Not Rats
When you wake in the night it’s the not-rats that bother. The noise they don’t make and the not-chew of shoes. When they don’t bite your larynx, Or...
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- 279 reads
Not Today
I love her but I dare not say, I cannot let my words betray my feelings. Not yet. Not today. For I'm not free, and nor is she, Can't kiss in public...
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- 417 reads
Now and Then.....
Before you came I ate fillet steak, And looked out of my window, And wondered... Who, what, why.....? Now I feast on dry bread and water. Water...of...
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- 400 reads
October
I would picture myself on my final bed. Reflecting. The nurses would be kind, the morphine warming. And I'd console myself. After all, my Darwinian...
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- 340 reads
On Platform Two of Basingstoke Station One Night in October
Trains, on a Saturday night. They thunder in. Pause for a while. They thunder out. They carry the lost and the loveless. Through the black dark to a...
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- 770 reads
Parenthood
So kiss your daughter And hug your son, Till the night takes your reason And the love burns your bones. They laugh at you now, For a while they still...
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- 702 reads
Poem Written On A Plane Over The Atlantic Attempting To Justify A Life Of Debauchery
But surely now my wings must melt. I’m flying so near the sun. But the victims of sobriety Have not run as I have run. I have no right to judge of...
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- 870 reads
Quietly
Quietly drinking, quietly thinking. Quietly wishing white men to stop hating. Quietly laying in her empty space. Quietly thinking about her face...
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- 341 reads
Release
In a prison of my own making, Yours was the voice whispering at the door. Door cracks, the light shining in. Blinding at first. It dawned on me that...
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- 828 reads
Rivulets
Tremors are fancy. Earthquakes are love. Mountains make claims. Nobody cares. Rivulets tempt gauche lovers to drink from unspoiled pools. Drink...
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- 836 reads
Sailing
You must sail, they said, you must sail. Across the salt grey sea that surrounds our island home. so I went to sea in '76. A shy and nervous deckhand...
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- 401 reads
Sit With Me Quietly
Sit with me quietly, just for an hour. Search my face as you hold my hand. Speak with me of our hopes and dreams. Remind me of our future plans. Will...
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- 1737 reads
Small Bedrooms
Did I love you yesterday? Will I love you tomorrow? You were the same as you will be. Strands of darkness will still strafe your face. And your...
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- 513 reads
Sometimes
Sometimes I need words. Sometimes I need touch. Sometimes I need both. I need so much.
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- 315 reads
Summat or Nowt
Speak to me softly, like April rain. Remind me that winter goes again. Ruffle my hair, I’m your favourite dog. Pat me and stroke me, I’m craving your...
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- 311 reads
The Waiting
A private kingdom of six by four. Bedroom, refuge, library, prison cell. An only boy lost in books from a suitcase. A lonely boy, a fantastical world...
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- 398 reads
Weep Till Forever
Weep till forever, morning won't come. Long for the closeness that only she brings. You thought that you had her held tight in your arms But she...
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- 765 reads
When It Comes
Lie with me. Not now For now the New must breath the Old world's air, And sing the children’s songs. But when it comes. Lie with me. In England’s...
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- 384 reads
ZANZIBAR
The anchor is hauled but the ports still remembered. The spice-lemon salads of Zanzibar town, And charcoal-melt lamb in Old Agadir. Farewell the...
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- 680 reads
My (Re-Posted) Brexit Poem
Bring me wine and whisky And I'll weep for our salvation And piss my fury on the bleaching bones of a once great broken nation. I won't take the...
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- 851 reads
Absence of Self
Abscence of self. Knowing, not knowing what I am. I lived, did I? In this world of tears. Curse the mother’s lonely egg, The father’s anxious sperm...
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- 315 reads
The Journey Home
A girl in a stained checked shirt, Ran through fields and fell in the dirt, And dreamt of love to come. A boy in a grammar school tie, Was shocked...
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- 268 reads
The Sins of the Fathers
Quiet nights. Quiet frights. Quiet chimes. Quiet crimes.
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- 576 reads
Blossom and Steel
Cherry blossom on a stem of steel. An iron heart pumps fearless blood. The world is not her master. Till the bedroom door closes. And slants of...
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- 264 reads
Raindrops
Talk to me then, of raindrops. The ones that lay whole on your face. And wash away guilt and nourish the soul. They say. But they don’t. The rain of...
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- 515 reads
The Sixty Year Search
You still burn bright. As I fight the cruel light which taunts me with fading. We must find where to dance, My Love. A dancehall, Where every tune's...
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- 549 reads
On An Imminent Death
We do not picture the empty seat. We do not plan our loss. We lie to ourselves that nothing will change. Of the man, the bull, the boss. The biggest...
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- 783 reads
Eulogies
I stood by her grave a s the casket was lowered. A shame that h er friends had commitments. I hardly knew her. "Good morning" as we passed. And two...
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- 856 reads
Welcome Decay
I can never know the stakes to which you were tethered. Or how I can loose the straps. You can never know the anchors of my childhood. That drag me...
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- 312 reads
Waking At 6.00am On A July Morning
The treacherous dawn rose silently to steal my stupor, Through cracks in curtains hurriedly drawn last night. A single skylark repeating lovesongs...
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- 249 reads
I Wish, I'm Sorry....
So I drank the thin gruel of rejection. Disguised under armour of love. It tastes of cold vomit, cold tit milk begrudged. Don’t preach to me now of a...
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- 351 reads
The Ballad of Laura Middleton
And then there’s Laura Middleton Of beauty unsurpassed. Who taught me how to breathe again When they said I’d breathed my last. And taught me I could...
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- 740 reads
Trying To Move On
"Will you look at her picture?" "I have, I’m a man." "Will you gasp at her beauty?" "I can’t, I’m a son." "Do you love Leeds United?" "You cursed me...
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- 234 reads
The Festival
In Spain they have festivals. The sun is fierce as the oranges ripen. And senoritas dance, Flashing coy glances at him, or is it him? No one can know...
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- 241 reads
Fragile Armour
I come to you in fragile armour, A hasty glance can pierce. I come to share your life and drama, And gently dry your tears. And stand the fool for...
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- 222 reads
An Unlove Song to My Country
Greener than reality could be. Aching vistas I’ve seen today, Again. I have no words For your green majesty But you lied to me, You lied to me. I don...
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- 244 reads
Stumbling
Wander. Wonder. Aimlessly. Drift. It's OK. You can. We all do. And nobody gets hurt. The loveless walk freely through the forest. Only the lucky ones...
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- 232 reads
November Now
November now. Dark now. And always will be. April will withhold her light. We’ll hope but she will scorn our pleading. May will laugh at our writhing...
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- 253 reads
Hope
What did you hope for when hope was an option? Even the colour blind see blue bright sky. Through apple blossom white, and the green. An only love? A...
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- 248 reads
Be Quiet
Be quiet. Lay quiet. When all is done. Her face is still the same. This morning’s kettle boiled without her. I must be alive. Be quiet. Lay quiet...
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- 269 reads
Fall. Out.
Letters from nowhere fall soft on the sill. And yesterday's anger subsides, as it will. Healing is slow, but surely will come. And we hope we'll be...
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- 390 reads
The Day Before Christmas
I’d like to have sex Tonight, but I won’t. I’ll watch trash tv Exhausted, alone. But I will sleep warm. Don’t cry at self pity. My belly is full. Don...
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- 3 comments
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- 635 reads
The Day Will Come
The day will come When life has gone. Then love will claim dominium. As I search through the stars, I'll know where you are. And find you. Eternal...
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- 226 reads
A Lament for How It Was Meant To Be
They lied to me. In 1967. They lied then. They lie more now. The doctor visits the 10 year-old in his squalid bedroom. She strokes my throat gently...
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- 302 reads
Small Hours
Welcome the quiet hours after midnight. One. Two. Three. Laptop. Tablet. Phone. Turned off. A chance to think before dreams distort. A single man of...
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- 426 reads
I Give Up
Paint the door white. The cross will come later. Huddle and scuttle and hope for the best. Pull up your blanket then look in their eyes. The old are...
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- 230 reads
Before You Sleep
Before you sleep tonight Think of the others. They need not think of you. They lie in pits, grateful now, In their shared but silent space. And...
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- 403 reads
Clumsy Love
Best not speak today. Both fragile. In bed on different continents. The glass is five days old, unwashed. The body so much older. The love took sixty...
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- 267 reads
Love Is A Tender Wound
Love is a tender wound. Always vulnerable. Always scared. Pity the man then That begs she look his way. Pity the girl Who coyly glances With dreams...
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- 243 reads
Defiance - 2
Everything changes when I see her face. Defiance needs no lipstick. Defiance is in her soul. The silver hairs that I deny Are there. And strangely...
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- 490 reads
Soft Landing Rain
The sound of the wind is fretful and scary. The soft landing rain lies, Uncomfortable. It will be gone. So soon. As will we all. I wish I’d never met...
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- 190 reads
Watching Julia Napping In The Late Afternoon
When will she wake again? Not yet I hope. Except for a tick, a tremble, a sigh. For I like to watch the slats of ever softer light Edge up her body...
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- 205 reads
Tread Where?
Tread softly? Tread where? What stepping stones can take me from this hell? Governments should love. Did no one tell them? I swear I will take my...
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- 1 comment
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- 434 reads
Tragedium
Spin a man and laugh at his death. He tried to be good but he lost. He went to his grave with his love for a girl. He found out to his cost. She...
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- 574 reads
Five Thousand Miles to Texas
There’s only one girl I will ever love. Hear gears crunching in reverse. Look around at the blondes and ravens. They aren’t her. She taught me how to...
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- 217 reads
Five Thousand Miles To Texas - 2
I’ll book the cab the day before. Eighty quid to Heathrow. A couple of pints before boarding. The day that I see her again. Ten hours direct to...
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- 294 reads
Missing
The vastness of the morning Is a hill I cannot climb. I send the signals, ask for help. The billions don't reply. I have my health and have my wealth...
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- 1 comment
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- 458 reads
The Queen of Texas
A bastard fell between us And caused so many tears. And I know that I will love her For a hundred million years. She made me feel a man again Then...
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- 211 reads
Walking Into The Sea
Take off your shoes on the beach by the water. It’s fun at first. The ghosts of the waves that tickle your ankles. They welcome you. “We’re friends”...
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- 531 reads
Texas Lies
Tell me your Texas lies again. Say those words that you don’t mean. They made me happy for a while. As we drift apart, unclean, unseen. Remember,...
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- 343 reads
Wings
Why did your wings fall so softly on my heart? Why when I saw your face I knew we’d never part? What’s done is done and must be done. But you and I...
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- 201 reads
I'll Call You At Midnight
I’ll call you at midnight. When the guilt is like ten thousand faultless people lying on top of you. I call you at midnight. When you only remember...
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- 222 reads
How To Be An Alcoholic
I refuse to believe in false prophets. I only know a lonely boy. I watched him from afar. Not afar. I stood next to him. As he walked around the...
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- 432 reads
Rise With Me!
Under louring clouds in Northern towns. The mothers queue in Tuesday's food banks. Pasta again, to last till Friday. A man with no legs. Is "Fit to...
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- 178 reads
Seven Months now, or Eight.
Seven months now? Or eight? Is the Texas sky still blue? Or black with the corpses of those who should have lived. Does Karen still tend her garden?...
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- 223 reads
Sixty Days Dry
Sixty days dry. The tyrant won today. My daughter knew. As did my lover. I have to choose.
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- 440 reads
Distance
The jolly grapes and the devil grain Will never salve The pain of midnight’s ache The separation of an ocean. Is nothing to a single mother. Like...
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- 159 reads
The Ballad of Anna Appletree
Oh Anna, Anna Appletree Of beauty unsurpassed. She taught me how to breathe again When they said I'd breathed my last. She came to me when all was...
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- 155 reads
Thursday Evening
Today I took a leaf from her book. Turned off the TV, the radio, the phone. Lay under her throw, reading her books, And wearing the sweater she...
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- 184 reads
Don't Dance With The Serpent
"Don't dance with The Serpent my son." The Other-Witch forced her last croak. Then sank in forever to a world we can't know. The Acolytes wept as she...
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- 320 reads
Intention
Do all tyrants know they're tyrants? Can a despot be blame free? Can assassins with their blood soaked knives Ask smiling, "Was that me?" Did the...
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- 176 reads
On The Death Of A Friend This Afternoon
Last night the candle swayed and danced. I gazed enraptured and entranced. It filled the room with joy and hope, And cast away the dark. The candle...
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- 401 reads
When To Call...
Call me when the kids have got straight A’s in all their classes. Call me when you can’t decide on which new pair of glasses. Call me when the dog...
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- 1 comment
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- 211 reads
The Farm Girl
See the farm girl gather her eggs, Her lusty lungs and sturdy legs. She watches what the animals do, And loves to do the same with you.
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- 319 reads
Half Horse
Time is the benevolent tyrant. (I do not lie. Not any more.) Kneel before her dominion. And be grateful for her blessings. The stars will align,...
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- 162 reads
Transatlantic
I loved you for a while, In autumn, in fall. Too warm. Delphiniums bloomed. I loved you for a time, In winter, in Texas. Too cold. The powerlines...
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- 125 reads
First To Wake
Still like death, Except for breath. I’d die but wake her now.
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- 134 reads
Even Croesus Had To Sleep
The billions have nothing The billionaires the lot. Sorry won’t be enough. A bowl of pasta once a day, While rocket ships just fly away. Sorry won’t...
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- 2 comments
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- 159 reads
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