Best Southland Poems

The fall birds sing a sweet refrain,
The melodies from my youth
Surge forth to bind me to the land.
The darkened trail by the pasture vale
Comes into...

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In a house by a highway by a railroad 
Eyes open to a self-set sleep-destroying buzzer 
That waking mind impudently pretends 
To ignore. 
Penetrating the...

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Imitation! Creative Compliment, Lacking in Originality, or Plagiarism? 

This week takes me back to college days. I was taking a graduate course (as a Physics...

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fall’s foliage wingless
man too longs for a southland -
future mist defined

Brian Johnston
December 19, 2015...

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We would like to
eat steaks in Alaska
or fry battered mushrooms,
but the there is money
to be made
in the Southland.
The irises bloom here thickly,
and roses bleed,
while tinkering...

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King Ptolemy the Second (cont.)

Sleek of line for speedy sailing 
It was rugged in construction 
Several layers of well cured timber
Lined the hull and bridge...

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So many lives lost, so many hearts shattered
Across the Deep South, twisters shook all that mattered
All over our nation, heads are bowed to mourn
A show...

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Odyssey from Africa 14g

“This research by young Alinda
Tells us something most important 
For we find upon our beaches
Plants that are entirely different 

“From the flora...

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A melancholy fills my soul,
When Lady Northwind wails.
She lifts the waves and churns the foam,
As she fills the schooner's sails 

While the clouds of winter...

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Oh, what a year this past year has been'
I hope we don't see one like it again.
First a tsunami in the Far East;
Thousands killed-to say...

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Well, I woke up this morning 
Put my blue jeans on 
Drank my morning coffee 
Answered the telephone 
Had another assignment 
Another body had to...

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Odyssey from Africa 15c (Southland, continued...)

Being rich in skill and talent
He soon gained the feel and measure 
Of the boomerang’s employment 
Sent it arching near...

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Odyssey from Africa 15b (Southland)

“Like an antelope in stature 
Yet they hopped along like sparrows!
On big hind limbs like a rabbit’s
With a rat-like tail behind...

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Metronome heart beats in 4/4 time while mandolin chimes in staccato voice.  In the background, guitar hums and banjo sings.  Bluegrass echoes across...

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All my mortgage years
This featherless gosling flightless
Kept chickens for peers
Suffering gravity's wretched pain
While dreaming of the southland
Coded in my bones

Like a chicken I circled 
The...

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