Long Burdock Poems

Deep in a silva of the Emerald Isle there hides a peculiar coppice,
Shaped in a spiral labyrinth which is seen only on the summer solstice. 

As the sun rises to its highest of tides and...

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I love having pointless conversations
Pointless and boring to the wrong ears
But a captivating landscape of possibility to the right ones
Me and my friends talked about a clock on a stick for about 45 minutes once...

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Even before the arrival of the first snows, so brilliantly candid, 
we climbed mounts less dangerous than the Alps's;
and we proudly chalked it up to our experience.
Now the snowy cliffs with bouffant boulders,
have lost their...

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THE PRINCESS AND THE SWAN

As the storm raged, there were several knocks on the door,
She stood the completely drenched, from her head down to the floor.
This stunning princess was looking for somewhere to stay
Her name...

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The old faith healer carefully got things ready.
She had spring water collected from the source
that had been taken at the night of the new moon.
Some special herbs also gathered by moonlight.

Setting the pebbles in a...

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Pocket Money.
.
Pocket money
Was a way of shutting us pesky kids up
At least for the rest of the week
If Mum and Dad
Had the luck
.
Fifty pence
Was quickly spent
Out of one hand into another
A race to the ...

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I have the rhythm of a winding road
how do I consign myself to being confined
rows of poplar pillars prop
the rendezvous canopy beneath we meet
—I self-cajole on ooh-la-la afternoon 

yellow eyes; daffodils watching 
lean into gossip...

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When I was a child, 
I had a tomcat that loved sleeping in my bed, 
and a dog that lived outside
and barked at night when demons would come. 
I wore sneakers, shorts, 
and a green...

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When I was a lass, we didn’t have much
Funny how we liked it though, just as such
We played in the street with a whip and top
In the school playground on a hopscotch we’d hop

Streets were...

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Strangeness
Seeing the play of the book I hadn't read
Ocean at the End of the Lane

I've read no Neil Gaiman (though when I was 19 my then boyfriend went to a book signing and said I'd...

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Blowball and cankerwort,
words born from a common tongue.
English is most practical
when it is rustic and colloquial.
Lions tooth, priests crown,
moles salad and pee-a-bed.

‘Swine snout’ snorts loud upon the page.
The yarrow-yellow flowers last for hours
then overnight turn...

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Draft

I bought you a sun hat
Taught you to make daisy chains in the sun
A thing you'd taught me
But the knowledge had gone

You asked about my work
As you didn't recall
If the place that I worked at
Was...

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Mabel Vera Cone

1893-1911

No one knew I existed.

No one knew I died.

No one, not even my family,

Knew I lived in the back,

Out back, way behind the small white house

On shady Canobie Street.

No one cared one iota.

No...

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Oh, Burdock! Let me see spring's fuchsia
Against sapphire skies touched with clouds bistre
Let ivory raindrops flow from clouds lackluster
To nurture emerald hallelujahs 

Let thy fuchsia slowly fade turn to a ball
An emerald ball filled with...

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Blow-ball and Cankerwort,
words born from a common tongue.?
Lions tooth, ?
Priests Crown, ?
Moles Salad and piss-a-bed.?
?
English is most practical ?
when it is rustic and colloquial.

‘Swine Snout’ snorts loud upon the page.
The yarrow-yellow flowers last for hours
then...

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I make this detection
upon introspection
of the woodblock inside me named soul
I'm sightless to beauty
on par with a cootie
or, moreover, an underground mole

I distinguish not burdock
from daisy nor hollyhock
a flower is a flower; just that
in all...

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Enjoy a lively walk among stinging nettles in spring. 
Skip along and listen to your heart sing. 
Dash through fields of dandelions in summer,  
Feel the vibrant energy of the finest gossamer. 

Get comfy...

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