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Right Words

 

 

He looks good

from a distance

up close

not so much

the women all say

he is a catch though

because he knows the words

to all them country songs

and after all

isn't that

what women want

a guy who knows

the right words.

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Love Reduced

 

She took it

then gave it back-

now love is used

and on the markdown table

waiting for some other fool

to come along

who thinks he

found a bargain.

 

 

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Cat Food

 

I turn up my nose

as I go by

the junk

you put in my dish

stinks

and looks like

death warmed over

only it's not warm

it's cold

and disgusting

if I eat it

I will probably

throw up on your carpet

and leave a permanent stain

that will teach you

now pet me.

 

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WORK

 

In the old days

a job meant you went to a location

punched in

worked a solid 8 hours or more

got 30 minutes for lunch

got told what to do and when to do it

got a paycheck every two weeks

got a day off for Christmas

got a handshake when job was done

got a gold watch when you retired

a far cry from what work is today

no one goes to work

now work is home-based

...

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3 CATS

 

3 cats sitting on the curb

like 3 old grandmas

all bunched up

like they were meeting

for breakfast

exchanging meows

small talk

 

what do cats talk about?

the weather

food

kin

 

just like regular grandmas.

 

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High & Low

 

 

When you find something

to get an automatic high

so jubilant that

you have stumbled across

something for free

without working for it

an accidental reward

 

but then you get to thinking about

the person who lost the thing

in the first place

you set your mind to worrying

and begin to have second thoughts

you begin to feel bad for that person

you lo...

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Why Do Hummingbirds Hum

 

Why

do hummingbirds hum

do they not

know the words?

 

Their humming is nice

but a song is preferred

surely they could

if only they'd learn

 

Why do they only hum

it's frankly absurd

since they only hum

their true voice is obscured

 

The thought of a song

to them never occurred

they seem smart enough

so to song should be spurred

 

Sin...

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Plastic Flamingo

 

 

I saw one today

one of those plastic pink Flamingos

people put out in their yards

to give a tropical look

but this one was faded out

blistered by the summer sun

and looked sickly and confused

stuck in the brittle ground

its head looking down for water

the abandoned Flamingo

was turning yellow

stuck in hardened ground

it tilted to one side

it could n...

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Thoughts

 

I think of things from long ago

those wished I could repeat

then there were times I dare not go

memories are bittersweet

 

I think about the present time

wish more of it to spend

the present is the best of times

wish it would never end

 

I think about the future

its importance underscored

the future is a furtive thing

what will it hold in store

 

...

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Two Poets

 

 

On stage

two poets

spouting poetry

to each other

taking turns

reading their own

the spotlight shines

the sound of their own voice

spellbinds them

a preponderance of profundity

for such a

small audience.

 

 


 

 

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Audio/Miserable

 

She says
be patient
he hears bad bacon
she says need some cash
he hears empty the trash
she says they're coming over
he hears get out your mower
so it goes...
they fail to connect
both older now
with compromised hearing
trying to get along
one not hearing the other
still it seems to work out
he mumbles
she mutters
both their meanings lost in translation
sometimes it is better
...

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Cicada Summer

 

Cicadas sing to me

in the morning

when I go out in the yard

 

they are my companions

serenading me vociferously

hidden yet heard

a choir up in the trees

 

oh I know

it is really the sound of

their contracting abdomens

but I like to think they are actually singing

in full voice

music to my ears

the waltz of the Cicadas

played every morning

exp...

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WEST TEXAS

 

 

West Texas

famous for dust storms

and flatness

if there were ever a place

sandblasted by nature

it is here

the barren and brutal landscape

the result of receding seas

and God's error

he took sandpaper to it

and erased all its hills

and all its trees

and left its surface smooth

to the horizon

which started the rumors

who says the earth

is no...

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Sahara Sand

 

 

The wind blows

Sahara Sand

clear across the Atlantic

and deposits it

grain by grain along the way

until it finally ends its journey

here

of all places

 

Sahara sand aggravates the sinuses

and aggravates the citizens

who now have watery eyes

and scratchy throats

and have to wash their cars again

 

to think

that sand from the Sahara

which ...

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Underfoot

 

 

sad looking

crushed thing

laying on the floor

 

stepped on

a dead bug

a roach

a spider?

 

I pick it up

and see it is only

the remnant of

a raisin

 

a raisin escapee

who didn't make it

 

now left here

all wrinkled and sad looking

 

I hope I don't end up

like this

 

a blot on the floor

the dirt under

someone's feet.

...

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Crayon Clouds

 

 

Clouds come out

all fluffy and white as popcorn

like balloons in cartoons

they speak to us of

kids in kinder

drawing their first pictures

 

the beginning of art

their first renderings almost always

sky and clouds

simple things at first

from minds that soon will mushroom

grow overnight

reaching up and out to find

new thoughts as changing as the wi...

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Comparing Zebras

 

Comparing zebras
all black and white

How do you distinguish
they all look alike

Yet to them
we too appear likewise

In truth not everything
is black or white.
 

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Undocumented Poems

 

 

Poems need papers

to travel

to work

published or

in the copy machine

they have to have papers

to be read and legitimized

just a blue screen

will not suffice

poems need to be documented

and allowed free access

because so many are

courageous and honest

and do the work the rest of us

do not want to do

poems should be able

to climb walls

and...

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Under Questioning

 

On advice from my attorney

I refuse to answer

I plead the 5th

I don't remember

I can't recall

It wasn't me

I don't think I know the answer

and even if I did

I would not give it

because I am shifty

and sly

and super slick

and I can talk for 10 minutes

without answering

what you asked

 

next question.

 

 

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The Day The Fish Died

 

The fish we kept has passed away

a sad and lonely death

all by itself in darkened tank

it took its dying breath

 

There were no clues to analyze

as those with pets expect

still death took on real tragedy

upon which we reflect

 

She took it very personally

having fed it every day

had oddly grown attached to it

and its peculiar ways

 

If hearts are p...

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Leaving A Lasting Depression

 

I was going to write about depression

but I got depressed just thinking about it

 

they say to write your way out of it

but after reading my own poetry

 

I am even more depressed

than when I started

 

depression is a state of mind

depression is a state of mine

 

I would continue but

I am heading for the tropics

 

the subject of my next poem

Trop...

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Click Here


If you do not like the NEW poets
and would like to change to
the OLD poets
CLICK HERE
and I will arrive shortly
as I am indeed an old poet
with a bunch of old poems
however know this
that once you switch
there is no return
you do not have an option
you can never go back
the old poet may be snarky
and cranky and
half mad
but an old poet
is classic font
he reads well
and has that...

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On Writing Poetry

Writing poetry

can puzzle

can bore

can put people off

best keep your thoughts

to yourself and not

write poems for strangers

just write for friendly folks

allies

relatives

who will in mercy not tell you

what you do not want to hear

who in graciousness

will not tell you

to look for another line of work

who in embarrassment will lie

to protect the innoc...

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The Celts

 

The Celts were famous

for fighting

conquering

leaving their artifacts

scattered around England

and Ireland

even France

but the Celts were

most famous for

founding the Boston Celtics

who played basketball as if

they were invading

another country

and carrying off

their women.

 

 

-d.knape

 

 

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