Cliff sides

cave walls

rock paintings

left by ancients

lost tribes

lost people

art of vision

stick men

in war paint

in pigment

charcoal and clay

ritual

spear and feather

symbols

ocher biographies

still clinging

to stone

through ashes

through ages

stick men

lasting

asking to be heard.

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Little old gray-haired lady

with heavy coat and scarf

fights the elements

and her walker

trying to make it fit

she is trying to get it into her backseat

she turns it one way

then the other

trying to get it in

but it will just not fit

finally she stops

and stares at it

defeated in spirit

frustrated in her feeble attempts

we've all been there

have we...

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She is the most alive person I know

joy and enthusiasm emit from her

like rays of sunshine

she makes happiness appear

brings light into a room

her big brown eyes sparkle with love

her smile as natural as breathing

and all the while

an aura surrounds her

just being in her presence

makes people feel better

there is nothing negative in her thoughts

she spreads...

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Eat Cream

Of Wheat

slide under

sheets

Turn up

the heat

start counting

sheep

With each

sheep's bleat

the deeper

sleep

Without

a peep

sweet dreams

I meet.

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I now have Larry's Gitis

I don't know how I got it

I don't even know anyone named Larry

wonder if Larry knows

he has a disease named after him

I know I know

it's not actually a disease

but it's still bad

when you try to speak

the words get stuck

in the back of your throat

and can't get out

then a few seconds later

like on a time delay they fall out

I ...

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Joggers who run in street

soon lose unwanted weight-

skinny, but dead.

-Tse Wen, Chinese Philosopher

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Common Sense was common

once upon...

Now it worries us

Common Sense is gone

Nonsense replaced

it seems so wrong

Dumb is common since

Common Sense is gone.

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Once in awhile

a dream will circle back

it's rare but some dreams recycle

like part II of a serial

they play out again in rerun reels

with the same story line

the same cast of characters

in the glow of misty light

dreams project upon our mind

this dream is so familiar

we recognize the lead

and so we let it play

to see if the plot resolves itself

if ...

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You've seen those

giant freeway signs

that flash the warning

Amber Alert

Amber Alert

if so and so

is found

call 911

etc.

Actually

I have had a Silver Alert

put out on me

the warning

slightly changed:

"If Found,

Do NOT Return To Family"

Now everybody

knows my age

they could have been

more discreet

But at least I go...

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This poetry thing

is not working out

I work at it everyday

but so far

have only earned $4.50

for all my time and trouble

needless to say this is below

minimum wage

and beneath my dignity

so I will be resigning my position

and seeking another line of work

perhaps writing Obituaries

unlike poetry

death is certain.

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Remember the A's

you got in school

how proud you were

to have them

and how proud to share

your report card

with parents who would

brag on you and

embarrass you with praise

and tell all the relatives

about your success

but then came graduation

and real life happened

and suddenly the A's

went away

and you became just

"meets expectations"

only a...

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Cats like to purr

each are distinct

Cats often purr

when to leg linked

While purrs occur

we can concur

We don't really know

what purrs are fer.

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No lingering death

hooked up to tubes

no dying drugs

to more confuse

No monitors

from toe to head

no more the limbs

strapped to this bed

Please please be quick

with gentle nudge

permission given

pull the plug

Then let me go

to heaven's sleep

and weep no more

my soul to keep.

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They say they love their members

but how they pitch a fit

when a member of their company

wants to drop their membership

Why would you be a member?

you must be a Nitwit

to join a club or Union

that will not let you quit!

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I could not imagine

my parents being young

they were old the day I met them

and remained old till the day they died

but I often wonder

how they would have been

as young people

as young lovers

I wonder how they met

and if they kissed on their first date

or kissed at all

until they tied the knot

the whole idea of sexuality

seemed so foreign to them

it w...

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An empty space inside my head

was just not being used

I tried to use this vacant space

but thoughts were mighty few

to have an empty space like this

you think is surely wrong

yet I'm prepared with open space

should something come along.

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Isn't it odd

that when we retire

we still have things

we don't get around to

even though we no longer work

or have busy schedules

there are still things

we never get accomplished

things that accumulate

because it's easier to put things off

to walk by them

pretend they don't exist

tomorrow is a wonderful excuse

not to do something

we can relax because

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When bad stuff happens

it is always the fault of somebody

I don't know why it is

but somebody is always

screwing things up

making errors of judgment

or execution

I don't know why somebody

doesn't do something about it

why doesn't somebody think things through

or plan things out

somebody is always failing

it's obvious to anybody

I sure am glad

I am not...

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i ain't much of a poet

i just play around with it

because i found out wimmen

like poets

once in a while

a pome will pop up

in my mind

that's purdy good

then i'll read it

to my old dog

here on the porch swing

his head layin gentle in my lap

the dog is good to read to

he listens well

and critiques the pome

with his tail

two wag...

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I'm going bald

there's not much left

no hair on head

nor hair on chest

Don't it beat all

I must confess

when hair falls out

it causes stress

No need to trim

my hair unless

in nose or ears

where it grows best

I wanted hair

but was not blessed

when all is gone

what's going next?

:)

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Everywhere

pavement

paints over the natural

the green and good

pavement poured into

parking lots

freeways

malls

roads upon roads

we crisscross

our land with pavement

millions of miles

and wonder why

we have floods

and global warming

there is no place

for rain to go

the sun radiates its anger

sizzles on pavement

rain and shine

are orp...

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I identify as

a common Bean

Could be Garbanzo

could be Green

Unusual?

yes, so it seems

yet with my luck

I'm a Has-Bean.

:)

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Red light cameras

stare at you from on high

looking down menacingly

like hawks about to pounce

their beady eyes watch

your every move

as you sit in line

they systematically record you

if you move too soon

or too late

you are on tape

evil eyes follow you

to make you behave

it's Big Brother in the sky

he who spies can also lie

with the full power of ...

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Divorce is like

an ice berg

dangerous

foreboding

prone to sudden cracks

Divorce

moves slowly

rearranges geography

you never know

what is really going on

underneath the ice

its nature is deception

you do not know

where it will end up

or who it will

break apart

and sink.

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Please come see me

before I die

it would be so nice

to talk of things we used to do

the places where we used to live

the things we had in common

there is such joy in the remembering

yet it has been too long

now we no longer know each other

and only meet at funerals

every ten or 20 years

still we can relate

our memories bind us together

please come a...

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Those in old age

repentance seek

The life they lived

so bittersweet

For sins performed

now showing grief

The closer death

the more the heat.

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Don't bother me

I'm writing a poem

I need quiet

my attention span is short

I had an idea

but before I could write it down

it got loose and sped away

now I have to go chasing it

and I'm still in my pajamas

it's hard enough to think up a poem

much less trying to chase one down

in slippers

poems are fast

and fleeting things

Corvettes of the literary...

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In this day

it is the thing to do

to insult

to put down

to use the F word

every other word

to be angry

to be mean

to ridicule

to put things on Facebook/Twitter

without facing your foe

it is so easy

hide in the cloud

in anonymity

in essence

justify your existence

by demeaning others

glorify thought

by eliminating it

promote bad behavior

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Just an hour

all that's left

of the house

of time

the new year

pulls up in the driveway

the old year

starts turning out the lights

the new year

peeks through the window

the old year turns

its back

one is ready

to move in

the other worn out

from the packing

one anticipates

waking up

in the morning

in its new house

...

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