Long Decanter Poems

Near Sainthood
by Mirza Ghalib
translation by Kanu V. Prajapati and Michael R. Burch

On the subject of mystic philosophy, Ghalib,
your words might have seemed deeply profound
and we might have pronounced you a saint...
if only we hadn't found
you...

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The Room of the Unrequited
By Roger White
    That evening, stillness permeated the lavender-scented room.  Dusk crept through the windows
smudged by oily fingers, The day’s twilight left a dull umbra on wall...

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When I was only two bricks and a ticky high I wrote my first ever treatise

Three blind mice unbeknown to me highly philosophical not just to please

The Gods of poetry duty bound on their quest...

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I saw no one but felt a gentle nudge, 
As I woke up, she uttered not a word, 
But beckoned, gravity of time to judge, 
To follow her— wordless like a mute bird, 
I got...

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He Thought, ‘Cause He Was Old
And the Other Guy, was Just ‘Sprung’
That He didn’t have a Chance To Hold
His Own, Against The ‘Young-Un’ …

And In Spite of His Many Years
… Worn-Well, Like Battle-Scars
The Boy, Wet,...

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She came upon me in a dream deep down from within my destination

Which coursed the mind and soul of years for my memories' inspiration

The path was crowded with bouncing hooves and wagons decorated

With fantasies ornaments...

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I'm an ashen dove, 
fading in zephyr 
of wine valleys, 
saturating in fog 
upon enchanting hills, 
draped in 
grape-green silk, 
where fantasies of forest, 
sprout cynthia moon 
of a bygone 
medieval saga, 
amidst heavenly 
eventides,...

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And what doth bring me
          here to this spot

timely turns,
                ...

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In the fading heat of a waning falling October night

Trick and Treat travel on their broomstick’s front seat

high speed velocity twin turbo engines in roaring flight

‘We must beat others to hallowed doors and beat defeat’


‘No...

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Come see me.
I'm just at the end of the dirt lane.
Just pass the flourishing sycamore and maple trees.
Just pass the vast meadow where crickets play and butterflies probe for nectar.

Come see me.
I'm just at the...

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storm, weight of rain sloshes
o’er the sides of the acrylic tub
thunder of strobe, eyes blinking
slashes of screams, disaster —
utterance of lips, gutteral
door jammed, eye to eye contact
with the lion and lamb; the owl
on heights of...

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Nigh on sixty years ago this Yankee from the State of Indiana,
Wed a lovely Confederate lass from the State of Louisiana!
I thought I knew her pretty well by the time our vows were read,
But there...

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The old decrepit cemetery sits abandoned in the courtyard  
Whistling tumbleweeds roll, moaning and groaning out of perimeter  
Its an eternal hell hole for jackals,  sorcerers, witches and daemons. 
Damnation  is...

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Allegro
Crystal decanter, wine in a glass. 
Tabletop woodwinds court candlestick brass.
Fine sterling service, stems in a vase.
High-tone enamel meets low double bass.
Pale yellow roses, peaches and grapes.
Clarinet colors tint saxophone shapes.
Citrus in concert, lemon and...

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I have been pre - oc
cupied 
i have knot been per -
used to periodical nomanclature nor have I been be - 
spectaled by the enormity of my

self

but have been painting numerous
simple questions to my

self:

under guises...

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Courage is the pivot between cowardice and recklessness

harmony for the brave soul as reward for stout-heartedness


I used to enjoy pints of Guiness with a few drams alongside

shared my sorrows with the bottle which never talked...

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Seven applied for the position of traveling mayor.
Glorious sunrise shined upon the eager new applicants.
Welcome splurge of information came forth rather quickly.
We appoint watchers to take notes on contenders.

Spit dribble out of a mouth twice...

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Tonight we’ll share the heavens;
Souls knitted into one,
Fly together we, the ochre moontrails,
on gossamer wings.

The decanter overflows with nectar;
its sweetness permeates the ethereal void,
like ephemerous orbs when touched
by the hands of a child.

The secret Garden’s...

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Meet me on the other side with strawberries and wine 
take me on a fanfare ride, closer than the stars and moon 
Light the evening sky for me be my candle in the wind ...

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There is a longing in my soul, the emptiness created by the absence of my fathers role. 
I have had the happiness any child could wish for, I have had the sadness no child should...

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The decanter is filled with chicory blooms
(blue, for the sky is her pleasure)
while the snapshot turns nigrescent
marking rain for the evening weather
The ring with which they two had wed
lay gilded 'round her finger
With her eyes...

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the light streams 
down from the sun
    on the cherubic 
faces
     Let there be no doubt
that 
     these 
     ...

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The clouds blush with the sunset rays to flame the forest;
She sits with the urn waiting freedom for her lone love.
A wicked magician had caged him in the decanter;
For she had refused to yield to...

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Ruben looked deep down a decanter of hopeless glass

Engulfed in spirits of the wrong kind by his inner nemesis

Saturated with agony delusions and soaked surrender as he

Opened the screw top and drained drunken promises

Lingering at...

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BALLAD  OF   STRANGER.





I have come from a far off land
A stranger on the greyer steed
Thence I have seen my true love
Where all sweetness of her resides. 

She is a maid of starry...

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