Poetry
"LOOKING OUT A WINDOW ON TENT STREET"
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There's a futility
In tenderness.
When arms are
In arms, bodies
Together
You sink.
Sink into the womb
The dark, the warmth
The quiet room.
She looks at you
As predators reign
Outside's so far away
You never felt pain.
You could live there,
Forever
and the rest
A shrapnel of time
Held in the chest.
This night will end
As the sun rises,
Crests of light
No more surprises.
And morning come
A beacon, a summons:
"Raise, ye weary men"
It shouts, as you -
are Born again.
"FRIEND OF A FRIEND"
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A friend of a friend
Is a friend of mine
They may not bend
And they may not mind
I'm on the mend
And they know that well
As they sit, upon
The carousel
Of course I know John!
We go way back
But where were you from?
Pulling from the black
Into the red
The white wine's gone
Sorry to ask
But I forgot your son
Was he called Jack?
Have you been to Tucson?
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A friend of mine
Is a friend for time
We all end
Smelling the sea brine
It's good to meet you
I've heard a lot
Ask me what's true
Gimme your best shot!
I beat my shoe
And avoid the rot
It's not me, it's you
That's all I've got
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Stories abound
News does the round
But we're now acquainted
How does that sound?
No longer tainted
And I heard you're sainted
A friend of a friend
Is a friend of kind
But call me a cynic -
Be careful what you find.
"WHOLESALE SOUL"
​
A limerick for one
A poem or two
Have 'em for free
Just four you.
​
Games ain't fun
If they're already won
You surely knew that
Zero-sum.
Betwixt your fingers
Get up and come
Though the thought lingers
As the day is done.
Rise to the challenge -
I may not care
Wall your garden
But better play fair.
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Wholesale soul
The offer's great
What a show
At a discount rate -
A house of snow
Let me know, help me intuit
Don't be slow
If you see yourself into it
Like an In-uit -
Please be quick,
Don't say 'I knew it!'
It's off the table,
In a minute!
​
Tell me it's good
Whether it's fitted
Just be honest
It's fully kitted!
I don't have the time
But the money's right
So the fall is mine
Every night.
"A LETTER TO A YOUNG MAN"
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Young man -
One day, you’ll look where you are
From behind a wall of glass
Use it as a raft, a Northern Star
Fast the days pass, yet that sense
The one in your heart, will last.
Young man -
One day, you will be old:
You’ll look
And see a man in your place
Out of time, wearing your face
The eyes are duller, but the pupils
Fuller - an auditorium of lessons
Teachers and gifts, the past beckons
Only to deepen the rift;
Yet, young man -
Do not fret, for there’s a lifetime of can
Cannot, and will not do - knowing that,
Is knowing you.
"THE WORLD IS A SMALL PLACE"
There are mountains and trees
Rivers and oceans
Birds and bees
And your tokens -
Small symbols
Of joy and devotion
It's all it takes
For my Locomotion.
And in the early hours,
Stirs a commotion -
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Tempests and teacups
Strong fire burns
And with good luck,
Good people learn -
The smoke reaches up
Above the fern
For the prairie and the hills,
A dogged yearn -
On the cusp
For the winter chills
A heart churns
For it must - it knows it well,
Over and over
Arteries swell.
Tracing the lines
Around the feeling,
And tightly wound -
Does the sealing.
The world is a small place.
A rat race, with a cat chase
Round the rim and over the pole
One hopes with great haste
To find their hole.
Fill it with things, loves and trinkets
It is what it is, that's why they think it's
The right thing to do, a path well worn
But the light is wrong - and leaves you torn
Between yourself, and the people's scorn
Rememer now, and remember tomorrow:
The world is a small place
For your sorrow.
"SHARE MY DISEASE"
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Share my disease
Find it in me
The forest, the freeze
And the bending knee.
Share my disease
Hold it close
Until you can see that
No one knows.
Share my disease
It’ll help us both
Plants our seeds and
Makes our oath.
Share my disease
It’s good for the heart
A moment to seize
To go from the start -
Share my disease
For The Time is now
I want to share
In the sweat on your brow.
No place for care
As the clockwork ticks -
The running mare and your old wound licks
Knows it’s fair
Your old heart tricks
But the mind’s
A jester
Don’t make it sick!
Lock it, forever
Keep it there -
Share my disease
But do not stare!
"OLD MAN, HOLLER AT ME"
Carved by hand
With deep-set wrinkles
And scars from shingles
A better man:
An older face,
A desolate land -
Skin of lace.
An old man's holler makes
A Mountain undulate
Shifting the plate
Spews hot, hot smoke and hotter
Phosphate
The coal city bustles
A feeling - it can't take:
A hunger, for which you won't
Satiate.
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Old man, holler at me
I'm in a coma
From which I won't wake
No more days, spent at the
Lake
And as the line
Breaks
You forget my face
Losing the race
Brother, for my sake
Look what's laid
Smother, take -
Out of the shade,
The light within you
The one your mother made
Make it, forge anew:
Take a stand
As embers burn in blue
The way hot ashes and
Fireflies do.