Long Cassock Poems

IMPRINTS
(Part 1 of Trilogy for My Father)

His shoes by the front door make me cry,
like his glasses resting atop an
unfinished crossword
and his toothbrush in its holder
the bristles still damp.
And I wonder...

Did he brush his teeth...

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Sotoba Komachi is a modern Noh play by Yukio Mishima (1925-1970). Mishima's play is based on an ancient work by Kan'ami Kiyotsugu (1333-1384). The first kanji means "stupa" (the dome of a shrine) while the...

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When the stomach of a child
Who has overfed rumbles, it is not 
In memory of the empty hands of the past
Or what the future holds in hand
It is to mock hunger by saying all is...

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I beseech thee to
answer
Is there still
hope???

Forgetting their
vows of chaste they
become lecherous
Fighting for power,
they become
ambitous.
Their actions make
people shock
For they forget why
they put on the
cassock.
Respect for God, our
clergies no longer
have
But so greedy with
the things they
have.
They make not,
benedictions...

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How melancholic was the silent Saint Peter's Basilica
without a melody played by the bearded deacon,
priest of the Camelites who died in sea-washed Licata;
there, the Viol was played by Angelic of Jerusalem!  
For years, it...

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Jesus, I saw you hanging there alone
Like truth that needs neither props nor supports
Deserted by your studiously chosen apostles and
Disowned by Peter, James and his brother, the approved inner circle

Jesus, I saw you hanging on...

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dropping annie at the church
has become a habit now
every early morning
while we drive
i just look at the magnificence
of the rising sun then she talks about
trials troubles and tribulations
women are made to talk, i notice
she is...

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Many many moons ago
leaving the porch
of a south-facing canyon,
I hiked to a place 
where the foothills
narrowed,

Where the asphalt road
ran astride the reservoir lake
into which kingfishers
dived at will,  
and Great Horned owls
hooted at passerby,

And crickets...

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[4TH CONTINUATION]

I was in front of BEELZEBUB, my father-
My tender father, how tender!
He was smiling at me, smiling-
He was the famed LUCIFER. Sweet father so smiling.
	 1
He is the leader of the revolution against HEAVEN
He...

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Three Irishmen by a window in stare
At a building just over there
From their heads their eyes pop
Their mouths all agog
So close they all are to swear

"Would you look at that!" the first Irishman says
"I've never...

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The great change
I have a mask made of plestic glass covers the whole
face to avoid touching my face, of the type dogs, were
not to scratch their ears.
Surgical gloves are must when going to the shop,...

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One, waiting at the outpost prison on the shore,
Two, atop the soundless ship across the bay
and nearly to the open sea, 
both still in sight and bound as one
to the relentless motherland of Spain. 

On...

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Welcome into the world where I live
With the strength and fault
I care to share and give
To any soul who likes the vote

You need to nick
To win in the rat race
You kick and prick
Into the frownless...

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Within the vast cathedral’s lofty walls
A cardinal delivered his address
From proud zucchetto perched upon his head
To buckled shoes, a picture of finesse.

His scarlet cassock swayed with regal pride
And eyes admired the purity of lace
Exquisitely displayed...

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Three Irishmen by a window in stare
At a building just over there
From their heads their eyes pop
Their mouths all agog
So close they all are to swear

"Would you look at that!" the first Irishman says
"I've never...

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She left and from this point on, she new 
that the crook priest Gurgul will not give back her monies. 
When he was angry he resembled the raven
with his heavy, straight black hair and dark...

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For a man of the cloth, our dear vicar
is not very partial to clothes
He is almost allergic to trousers
and y-fronts get right up his nose.

Ev’ry Sunday as he climbs in the pulpit
(where the choir boys...

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Cassock dance 

The heaven hangs low today, just above
the spire of the village church, which
is closed since the priest hung himself 
in the vestry.
He drank, you see
lifted his cassock and danced 
lost respect among the parishioners
he had humiliated...

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Dust motes dancing through glancing light,
refracted through stained glass windows, bright.
The smell of old pine and communion wine lingers,
wax polish and roses from grieving widows fingers.
A faint smell of incense, intense in it's nuance,
old hymn...

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(Part 2 of Trilogy for My Father)

We stand on cemetery Astroturf
strategically placed to spare us the dread hole,
snow scaling the tops of our shoes
to compete with the ice in our hearts.

The old priest’s boots peek...

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he came, his sword unsheathed
like his forbears in -deed
cutting through thickets of injustice and oppression
he plunged deep into 
the hearts, and the heart of corruption 
he came, a priest in lyrics robe
made an altar of...

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A huge room not denied luxury,
The rejected in it: Misery
Of fine glass up to the bookshelf:
If one was close to it saw oneself:
The weight of a thousand Christian Books
And at what the smart owner looks;
Glasses...

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