Long Coil Poems

"Cocoon"

They say...
a New World 
traces over the old,
leaving the unaware,
erased, far behind 

the old unaware, 
left far behind,
crawls the walls
in its web of lies
spinning suspect 
strings of silk 
in the air

glistening diamond nets
slick and sticky...

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(based on Aldous Huxley's book "Brave New World")

Human hatchery

Clink clink clink clink...
Test tubes prattling past
along the chrome plated production line.
Glistening under fake fluorescence
humming in harmony
with the magnetic motors
of conveyors, centrifuges and camshafts.
Biological blobs of gamete...

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The Raven and the Bard
-Daniel Henry Rodgers

The Raven's quill drips shades of blackest night,
Its haunting words, a melody of fright.
The Bard's natural lines, like "Evangeline's" fair hair,
Shed history's warm light to chase away all care...

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Lord Of Long Shadows, Master Poe And I 

Lord of long shadows had invaded hearth and home
sauntered in amidst cracklings of hot fireplace flames
Saying, " I like this sad place, may I freely roam
you know...

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I.
You can always tell by the eyes
When they’re starting to go
You’ll fall for a few of their lies
Before you begin to know
And you will just defy it
(But they know you will never go)

They’ll glide through...

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To this day, the breath labours on still 
Marrow birthing blood same as ever 
to keep this battered carriage oiled
The soul wills the flesh to hobble on 
and prays the spirit keeps aflame 
The game...

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She stirs first..restless..looking longingly over..senses awakened.
Their feet shuffle slowly under warm covers. The moonlight shines thru the window catching her face. .illuminating it…her tousled hair frames her face.
She looks up, hopefully for his eyes to...

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“In the time when the heart beat slows” 

In the time when 
the heart beat slows
I close my eyes 
and meet you there
that place of aether
the either or,
the conversation 
takes a turn,
all the trees holding
creatures...

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In realms where thought and tempests meet
where shifting sands outpace the feet
a creature stirs with cunning guise
Circumlocution cloaked in darkened skies
its words like desert viper’s sting
they strike the heart then coil and cling.

Through jungles thick...

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My umbilical scar is hollowed out
Now it's like a tiny wormhole on my belly 
Its a cherished remnant of the coil that nourished me into existence 
I still feel a little tug through my bell...

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Hidden beauty resides not in the grace like charms
Of coy smiles 
Painted across a gentle Madonnas face.
Nor is she vested within the chastened vows
Of saintly knights; encased Great-Helm:
Thus maketh the pale maidens meek pulse
To so...

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APRIL TO THRILL ME

                My Birth-Month April appears in mirth.
          ...

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I. The Pastor’s Hand

At dawn’s brittle cusp—
  he climbs, each step
    a nail in time’s coffin
  breath ragged
    a Psalm torn mid-hymn.

The rope tastes of incense and...

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Written: May 17, 2025, for contest Sponsored by: Michael Fulkerson

Quote: “Do good to the people for the sake of God or for the peace of your own soul that you may always see what is...

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In the silent chambers of the questing mind,
We seek the thread that binds our fragile souls.
Eudaimonia, concept undefined,
Beckons us towards our highest goals.
What makes a life well-lived, a heart fulfilled?
Is it in wealth or fame...

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Against a willowy wailing backdrop of inner chaos,
an indignant incendiary mask stifles the simmering cauldrons,
of a stoic stage clown post lachrymose performance wearily stunning yet stung,
or the surreptitious posture of the laugh it off as...

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What is it to dwell in the realm of melancholy? Is it merely a cloak of desolation that we wear, or rather a wave of sorrow that engulfs us, rendering us incapable of envisioning a...

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Sometimes I...sometimes I wish I could combust
burst into flames, spontaneously erupt; magma
Sometimes I...
sometimes I just wish emptily, heavily
I was someone else, something better
but all the wishing I do
there's not a single one that will bother...

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Written by: David William Breidenthal and Jake Ponce 

D: Blessed breeze sweeps over us 
J: Whenever I leave the door ajar at night, 
J: I felt myself grow pale from the humid howls 
D: Gravity...

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(1.)

(*I wish I didn't know now, what I didn't know then.*)
Bob Seger, song lyric, from, " Against The Wind"...

I Wish I Didn't Know Now, What I Didn't Know Then

I recall rambunctious racing boy of a...

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Abandoning the expected, you’ll find clarity in chaos,
       allowing our minds lens to transform, tune in, brighten
Believing in you is being just you, the simplicity of you,
  ...

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Ooh a scented grape graphic. Now that's wisdom. Contained a logical pattern in a juice cup. Heron haven heaping. Wisdomstic of a Judas flaw. Consealed in Sanskrit. Heavenly heaping cream on a very large bun....

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TO BE, TO FEEL, TO LOVE, TO LIVE, TO DIE

TO BE is that existential moment that defines each of us on our
respective life paths as we each individually acknowledge the
reality of our human existence on...

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Saturday, Saturday
'Why'd you do this to me'
was my first question, my first reaction
a reflex to point myself the victim
point myself an inquiry I had no response for
I wanted once to see her
to know her face...

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So many, maybe millions
No, billions. Trillions?
Of stars, a quiet, hot snowfall
of white stars; sandal season squall.
Each birch tree here outdoing 
January's record accumulation.

Weeks of hour after hour after hour
upon day upon day upon day of
birches'...

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