Long Flemish Poems

"The White Lady of Skipsea"


Last night I dreamt 
I dreamed of you
a kind of dream 
within a dream

Diaphanous, 
my soul escaped, 
this firmament,
my immaculate heart
held hands, my fingers 
did entwine with 
handsome Morpheus

Crystal radiate
twin gossamer...

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Marching out of the cloaked shires
Of landowners, stockbrokers, 
Hereditary Peers, and ruddy faced 
Squires:
A vast multitude of many varied 
Tribes.
Amassing in the great cities, where,
Inhabiting shadowy chambers, 
Behind nodding sighs and hushed 
Whispers, 
The Masonic...

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They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters:
These see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep.

From the 107th psalm




It's been the hub of the...

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When you are in the mood just do what you have to do and don’t get confused; when you are in the mood take a voyage to the moon and plant some poles in the...

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Le Bateau ivre (“The Drunken Boat”), an Excerpt
by Arthur Rimbaud
translation by Michael R. Burch

The impassive river carried me downstream
as howling warriors slashed the bargemen's throats,
then nailed them, naked, to their former posts,
while I observed all...

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It was in a socially and economically difficult situation that the musical cultures of Jews, Moors and mainly Gypsies began to merge into what would become the basic form of flamenco. The Flemish songs reflect...

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Tell all the worlds about the treasures found
Renaissance trace spellbound in the ancient form,
Tender and haunting; an era of time curves around
Past the present to a future beset with tech charm.

Historical pages cling romantically to...

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I Love Horses: A--Z

A is for... Appaloosa. They have 
blankets on their rumps. 
B is for...Belgian. They work 
hard and can pull up stumps. 

C is for...Clydesdale. They're 
BIG bays with white fluffy feet. 
D...

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What lesser mortals? 

What lesser mortals
than Rimbaud
claim themselves 
a poet within 
another self, 
for there is more 
than just one self

depending on the
time and day 
and nothing 

is as it seems
at first, 
we are born...

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They say
?There are a million ways?
To say I love you

In this day and age?
I could only find
?In my computer’s brain?
The words 
to say I love you?
In 53 languages 
of the 10,000 languages
?Spoken on this planet

Someday...

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i sat on the sandy shelf looking out to sea
intensity in the sunshine
set my head spinning
i could smell the sweet scent of the sea
could hear the breaking waves upon the dusty sands
and could feel in...

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Inviting you into my heart was both a blessing and a curse did you not think ?
to tell me in less reckless ways you lost yourself in this fragile dance for two 

Inside this tango...

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Beyond the bay the sun peeked over waves;
calm belied what destiny would tell.
A statue peers where sailors served and gave,
so far from Gloucester shores where seagulls yell.
So far from sheltered harbor's gentle swells.
Undaunted sailors dared...

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Wedding Kermesse

Common folk with few wants
(Toilers reaping earth’s bounty)
Enjoy life’s pleasantries
By escaping the harsh realities
Of day-to-day existence,
Expressed in a “Kermesse” dance
To the tune of simple instruments.

With joy in their hearts
And freedom unfettered,
They fling each other
Around...

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I am painted by a minor Dutch master
whose name is only known
as a Flemish squiggle.
Low clouds could evaporate
or lift the wings of varnished geese.
Wind-sails part a low-land mist.
I will send the black dog.
Pheasant and grouse...

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[Frans Snyders, oil on canvas 1614]

A young stag suspended by both hocks,
dead tongue lolling, brick-red,
from the corner of its mouth. 
A pair of rabbits slung across the board.
A pheasant and a string of songbirds,
silent. Even...

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I married the place where I was born at a second time, 
Even today, your chest is still holding,
The vibrations that become intense,
When my hand touches your rim. 

You acknowledge,
That we've always been willing to breathe
Perhaps freer...

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Jose Cuervo’s Spit Cocktail®
Anonymous Nazis® from Swatch
Ocean Spray’s Sl*t Juice®
Playtex presents Toxic Stockings®
Fortress of Deception® by Hormel
Time-Warner’s Urban Tan®
Flesh Box® by Band-Aid
Drano’s Septic Wish®
Trojan presents Sperm Banquet®
Rotten to the Core® by Apple
Squalor Sux® by Electrolux...

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Vacation in Manhattan

Thought I was going to be bored when we

Were told we were going to see

A panel hinged shutter

My speech was beginning to stutter

Jan van Eyck’s nude art I see


12/28/2015 

The Ghent Altarpiece by...

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