Pandora’s Box(“Pandora’s Box”, 2014, original pen and ink and oil)
Pandora’s Box
I don’t know who she was,
What she did or how she did it,
And maybe it was something sublime
Or maybe she was just another woman
With the kind of perfect snatch
To launch a thousand ships
In a sea of broken hearts,
But Pandora certainly left her mark
Even today,...
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Categories:
allegory, culture, mythology, spiritual,
Form: Free verse
CustomerThe proposal
Was a postal
Verded, nouned
and decisive
Told to a family
Of peoples
Humored and
Decisive
Tanks like ponds
Our Giant Prawns
A District
Countisourre
A taste fresh and delicious
One a seafood lover
Couldn't ignore
We propose in business
A site to construct
And build
A marvelous facility
With freezers and trucks
and skills
People Oh people
Your talents to create
A Product for
Millions
Where there is millions
To make
Internal and external
The environment we
Do...
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Categories:
business, career, culture, film,
Form: Ballade
NGWondersIn Nigeria’s heart, the wonders shine,
From Ogbunike Caves to Yankari’s line.
Farin Ruwa falls with power and grace,
While Owu’s waters dance in place.
Olumo Rock stands strong and wide,
Idanre Hills with age and pride.
Obudu’s mountains, calm and high,
Where Niger and Benue rivers lie....
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Categories:
africa, blessing, creation, culture,
Form: Free verse
Early One October MorningThe smell of humidor
Charmed the old house and
Frightened me as I ascended the
Narrow stairwell that gentle
October morning.
The song of autumn was playing
Low, and with astute grace.
Silent, the royal smell wafted between Cuba
And Denmark,
Across fat rank grass of fecund roots.
I snuffled through fogs of earliness,
Webbed by clamping cold.
Cigars without smoke took over from the
Humidor and hugged...
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Categories:
culture, october, society,
Form: Free verse
Fall of Western civilizationNickel
and dimed, nickel
and dimed: the neglected
human center can't hold undone
for gold....
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Categories:
culture, abuse, betrayal, change, conflict,
Form: Cinquain
Ode to TapuyCome! Bring forth the jar that for months had stood
Patiently undisturbed in the shadow!
Lift its lid, remove the leaves that serve as hood
And help age the wine that’s about to flow.
Catch a whiff of its sweet smell long detained
That now perfumes the air around us here.
Take some of the liquid with a bowl unstained
And--wait! Before...
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Categories:
celebration, culture, drink, wine,
Form: Ode
ANDY'O ON THE SHOWAndy O’(Snaps fingers rhythmically) The air hangs thick with midnight blue/And the city hums a graffiti tune/ a voice cuts through, a velvet blade/Andy O’, where stories are made/Poet, Musician, Broadcaster's soul/Navigating the sonic scroll of a downbeat that will never fade/KUVO Jazz, a haven's light/On Sunday nights, banishing the uptight/The Nightside a whispered...
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Categories:
culture,
Form: Spoken Word
The Letter saidDearest Tenser:
Told you I would write you about the weekend.
Pray for them flood peoples and all. But got some news for ya.
She used a chrt to list the men she'd been with. We sat in the dining hall listen to her presentation. It was right before the BBQ.
She went inside and started cooking. Acting like...
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Categories:
beach, beautiful, bullying, culture,
Form: Bio
Follow the flow of the TeesFollow the flow of the Tees
Meet the folk whose sweat
and tears shaped the land,
brought in the bounty,
shifted the steel to build
Better places.
Follow the flow of the Tees.
Meet the people who fish
in peace. Look for a seal or two.
See them bobbing, watching you
watching them. Observe them catching the
rays of the sun on the...
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Categories:
animal, appreciation, culture, fishing,
Form: Free verse
GazaTwo thousand five, the Israeli PM thought there he knew the way
HE had to get out of Gaza, it's impossible to stay
"We can't rule over all these people, and the world will thank us too"
So he pulled out Jewish villages, but troubles only grew.
Hamas took charge in Gaza, it blamed even World Wars on the...
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Categories:
bible, culture, evil, islamic,
Form: Lyric
Get this show on the roadLet’s get this show on the road,
The car's still empty and we can't seem to load
Susie's applying makeup, Jake’s playing video games,
Mary’s scrolling her socials, where friends call her names.
I want to get to the airport, I want to be
clambering into an Impressionist painting of the sea
Ride the chestnut ponies, get back to something real,
My...
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Categories:
childhood, culture, dad, freedom,
Form: Lyric
Petit Fours Etiquette- The Soupbone CroonersWhen asked what there names were
one responded quickly and spoke with a very heavy voice
saying his stage name was "Rink rasher"
and his partners was " Fresh Meat"
he shook my hand and began a conversation:
while his partner stood silent with a frown on his face.
I was try to bring him into the conversation asking questions often...
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Categories:
character, culture, film, music,
Form: Ballad
Old Shaftesbury WomanConcrete dust drifts like sand across a coastal path.
An old woman battered with facial features that hung on her face,
Disconnected and hanging.
She leans forward in her blumonge, waterproof, unwashed nylon flares from Matalan.
They ruffle in the wind as she looks out withdrawn onto the A350.
Her gaze is muffled by a sheen of...
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Categories:
character, class, culture, humanity,
Form: Free verse
Matsuo Basho: English translations 3Matsuo Basho: English translations of haiku about birds, flowers, candles, life, death.
Naptime!
But my drowsiness is nixed
by busybody warblers.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch
Carolers:
the sparrows smile
at their warbling.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch
Giving thanks to the flowers
for brightening my visit:
farewell.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch
Melancholy nub!
The bamboo bud’s
sad end.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael...
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Categories:
bird, culture, death, flower,
Form: Haiku
Matsuo Basho: English translations of Haiku about Life 1Matsuo Basho: English translations of haiku about clouds, geese, departing, empty nests and huts, lonely, loneliness, drinking alone, sake, longing, loss, death, hawks, the moon, Japanese culture.
As clouds drift apart,
so we two separate:
wild geese departing.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch
The old nest deserted,
how empty now
my next-door neighbor’s hut.
—Matsuo Basho, translation by Michael R. Burch
Yesterday?
Departed,
like...
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Categories:
culture, death, loneliness, lonely,
Form: Haiku
Specific Types of Culture Poems
Definition | What is Culture in Poetry?
Poems Related to Culture
fashion, art, ability, science, practice, experience, civilization, perception, skill, manners, learning, polish, dress, urbanity, gentility, capacity, discrimination, erudition, savoir faire, elegance, improvement, cultivation, enlightenment, finish, elevation