Long Ellis Poems

I wanted to write
 The best slavery poem   ever written—
Perhaps win a Pulitzer or Faulkner. 

I had every intention of conforming 
To the standards 
Of modern verse and composition, 
Lyrics fluidly written, 
Perfect...

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"Oh, indeed she was, young man ... I mean Greg. It IS Greg, if I recall correctly?"
     "Yes. Or you can call me True Friend if you like." I turned to...

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On Fam’ly Traditions - 2nd third -
 


“Might as well grab us some food an' some beer...some ice...and some bundles o' wood, an' prob'ly some charcoal....there ain't nothin' better than walleye from right off a...

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"Kaleidoscope" 

They say another
wrote the story, not I.
that I, mere I,
having little experience, shy 
and far removed from 
such an alien world,
would not possess the knowledge
of such terrible and ruthless, lusty 
characters of strong will;...

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December 14, 1965           

"Mr. Samuel Cooke. Sam Cooke??
You been in that casket for three days..
You a long way from Chicago, son?"

And Sam said, "What happened
Where...

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K373 and K374 of the THIRUKKURAL: Translated with Commentary

The poet's name, THIRUVALLUVAR [Thiru = Sacred and Valluvar = the name of the priesthood caste of the « Pariah » (whom Mahatma Gandhi prefered to call...

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As soon as I heard 
You were the First African American Male
To win the Pulitzer prize for Poetry
I wanted to run out and celebrate
I wanted to wake up Hughes and Dunbar
And Baraka and say we...

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1.    John Desmond Patrick Keegan
2.    Alfred, Lord Tennyson 
3.    Sally Aline Mae Beller
4.    Charles Edward A. Berry
5.    Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce...

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I never got why you always
Ate the red pink color out 
The Sherbet ice cream

It was like excavation
How you removed all the cherry
Without even affecting the other colors

Leaving the orange and the vanilla
Neatly for others
Who...

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				OLD MYSIE
	“As crazy as Old Mysie” my grandma used to say.

Land company made promises, too good to be true,
To fisherfolk from Isle of Skye, it seemed the thing to do.
Cleared up land and new built...

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CHANDRA
		  
Down to my last dollar, staring at the floor,
As lonely near two million as on Sable Island’s shore.
Another grey Toronto day, the saddest I had known,
No place now to lay my head, so...

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THIN LINE BLUE 

Sworn to serve and to protect, the dedicated few,                   
We are the ones who...

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Lyrical On 44th Street
 

The argument started at the table
 
He was too soft,
 too timid to quote Gable
 
She said ,"Your dreams aren't keeping the lights on.
 
If I see you writing again, your...

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EXCERPT (Approximately 30% of Poem)
                              ...

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I remember Christopher Robin
When helping Pooh find honey
Was my biggest problem
I remember the blustery days
We trusted each other in every way

I remember When we helped Eeyore
Find his way home from the Sea shore
Everything was good
In...

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TIME IS LIKE A COSMIC RIVER			

Time is like a cosmic river running to a somewhere sea,
As wide as all existence, long as eternity.
Time to be or not to be, time either foe or friend. ...

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I met my love one summer's day

Amongst the fields threshing hay

Her bonnet slung about her neck

As homewards afterwards we did trek

Her bonny brown hair

to waist length did fall

A comely wench with wherewithal

She at first was...

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I had to hook you up after Bloom dropped 
Shout out to Tag in and Tag out thank you for helping me out 
To Erwin Ellis and Papa K thank you for sticking with me...

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11-9-2016

On Election night, twentysixteen
I saw a strange and surreal scene
I looked cross the great harbor at Lady Liberty that night
And I knew right away, something wasn’t right
I saw Lady Liberty and she was crying
Because the...

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While listening to Schumann’s “Arabesque” 
and “Fantasiestüche” for the Mozart B flat Sonata,
I feel the warmth and love that’s powerful within;
a moment of instrospection, a source of intervention.

I live in a wonderful country, beautiful and...

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...“The bloodshed grew, the army was called in,
and sided with settlers as they often did,
Blue Hawk’s people were crushed, all rounded up,
put on the rez and told to stay within.

“Despite the peace both sides still...

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Armageddon 

Can you feel the raging storm approaching?
 Hear the ferocious winds scream, "It's true"?
 Can you see the coal black clouds descending,
 Concealing the bleeding Blood Moon from view?
 Do you smell the deadly...

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Myself I’ve never been
much of a mathematician 
Algebra and stuff
didn’t add up to much
when I made the decision 
to respond to you 
our multi-versed 
mathematical magician
Because even I know
all things aren’t equal 

I don’t know...

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KNOWN JUST TO GOD AND ME
                             ...

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With excitement, and hearts beating with anticipation
Five of us held hands...as if declaring, "We're in this together!"...
We sped upwards,..into the clouds,...or so it seemed....
Enclosed in a silver capsule...like amateur astronauts, ...
A steel and concrete world...

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