Long Gaines Poems

She struggles to provide the essentials
Everyday
Every waking moment is like a cast iron weight around her neck
But this was her flower
And if her only option had been wringing a damp rag
This little flower would surely...

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They call you corporate?
Well then so am I
You’re that same guy I saw pass by
And cut your eyes in my direction
Like I was some kind of menace
But we’re both lawless
I run my world from where...

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Today I met a woman of one hundred and one years
All her faculties in full cooperation
And while hypnotized by her discernment
What in hindsight was most likely a fleeting thought
Is now a conceivable notion
A true encounter...

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If never your situation has resigned you to expiration
Then professing “What he should have done” is quite the meaningless declaration
So if never you’ve felt the frigid breath of death upon your own neck
Your second guess...

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Never in my life
Would I have ever thought
The things I knew to be so right
Would be so wrong in your eyesight
Chastised by my own kind for what you thought to be blatant lies
And my true...

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The brilliant magician
You almost had me 
Waving that wand seductively from side to side
With such effortless finesse
Always in tantalizing dress
So dangerously hypnotic
Magnetized by the way it pulled me in 
Of majestic intention
Oh how you flowed...

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Maybe it’s me
Always overly acquainted with the all knowing eyes
And the rubbernecking of studying stares
The steady flow of innuendo
Perplexing
The arrows of displeasure aimed in my direction
All for having lowered my anchor
Rejoicing in where I’ve landed
Maybe...

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Every night he plays
Lost in a melodic never land
Far beyond the controlled confusion of this place
Where they hear but don’t listen
A man and his woodwind meld so sweet
Like French vanilla melting under a warm butterscotch...

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We commemorate the death of our love ones
We don't celebrate the death of our love ones
Today is not a great day
Today is a very sad day
We don't care about wealth, avarice, money and cupidity
We abhor...

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Sweet Angel of mine
Euphoria as high as the eye can see 
The immediate cultivation of a man
In the most blissful of moments
On that special day you came to be
So delicate, so precious
Those distinguishable features
Leery eyed,...

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"Ah ... to be young!"

FOR LOVE ...

Driving 15 miles at 2 AM to
Get to my girlfriend's house,
Parking four blocks down
The street, collecting "just

The right size" pebbles while
I walked to her house,
Storing them in my shirt
Pocket,...

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The sprawling fields of Healdsburg
Like grids of perfectly manicured pastures
It’s the carpet that spreads across the rolling hills 
The flawless symmetrical rows of lightly kissing trees  
Create the smooth flowing orchards that born the...

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Every part of her so sublime
Every gratifying inch 
Not one mouthwatering piece out of place
And not one living soul who wouldn’t stand in line
For just one small savory taste

But for me
It’s those eyes
There’s just something...

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Heavenly Father
Has there ever been a day when I was more in your need?
For your grace to be the only cure for my sputtering esteem
I have wallowed in the valleys and seen my darkest days
And...

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IMAGES OF THE PAST AND PRESENT

Old men like Phil, Howard, Kenny, Walter, and Gaines are forerunners of the past.
They walk with canes now and are in blazers and slacks.
They still talk game about equity.
They state...

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