Long Grady Poems

“ChatGPT-4, can you give me your literary opinion on the following sonnet? By the way, it is preambled by an explanatory prolegomenon which discusses the sonnet’s theme and my inspiration for composing it:”

Mental “Masturbation”

(The title...

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It was many years ago that I sat there on the floor
With Aunt Allie and my cousins, we knew what was in store.
The clan was gathered there around the Christmas tree
Just eagerly awaiting their Christmas...

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Don Winslow of the Navy at the movies...…., the Lone Ranger, and the shadow, on the radio. Three of my favorite pastimes in Wilmington NC, From just before my first grade in school to the...

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"Sappy Daze"- the Fonz gets a job in a Vermont maple syrup factory and faints 
from the fumes.

"Fiends"- The gang decides to desecrate a cemetery.

"The Tyro Banks Show"- newly formed banks struggle against the established...

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The graveyard still stood in the glade by the woods,  
casting shadows against the tall pines.  
Last words on a stone, standing off all alone,  
in a tangle of branches and vines....

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I
Ayanda is a Zulu name (A to Z already), my daughter
Brindha is her aunt in KwaZulu-Natal, my "sister" - remember -
Calling cousins siblings is common among us (Tina's daughter, 
by marriage to my uncle Krish,...

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The Doldrums of 2020

Hullabaloo, nothing to do.
the doldrums latch on to you. 
Rickity dink, slippery slimy slue.

We scheme, we plot, we fold and cry a lot ! ! ! !
We fan, we plan, exhausted, but...

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The Doldrums of 2020

Hullabaloo, nothing to do.
the doldrums latch on to you. 
Rickity dink, slippery slimy slue.

We scheme, we plot, we fold and cry a lot ! ! ! !
We fan, we plan, exhausted, but...

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The Doldrums of 2020

Hullabaloo, nothing to do.
the doldrums latch on to you. 
Rickity dink, slippery slimy slue.

We scheme, we plot, we fold and cry a lot ! ! ! !
We fan, we plan, exhausted, but...

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Pictures in My MInd
My granddaughter sits tall in the saddle
on a white horse she calls Shadow
My grandson struggles to ride his bike 
the first time with out trainers
Three year old James flies by on his...

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Patrick Ferguson and the battle of Kings Mountain

He rode up to the mountain in great haste
planning vile acts, and much wonton waste.
Hiding, the whigs taunting, scattered about.
They were in waiting, the mountain through out.

Brave volunteers...

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I
A few hours after April 9th began
My puppies yelping woke me, helping
Me be thankful for this holiday -
Easter day! Better yet: Resurrection Day
For Easter was pagan, named for Oestre
A Persian goddess (?) Yet Persia had...

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My Favorite Junkyard was owned by Fred G. Sanford
The G stood for Good Times
He was full of surprise with humorous delight
As a kid I would visit his junkyard every night
If he wasn’t filling me with...

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Mr. Brown Baby
By Valerie Odom
February 14, 2017

Mr. Brown Baby
You either knows too little or too much
The white man still gonna beat you on the daily

While you're still accused of raping that young lady
Everywhere you goes...

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Come now, you days so dreary,
with thoughts mundane and weary.
Both windy rain and bitter cold,
find comfort in blains and days of old.

To sit and sigh and wonder why
this if and when the eyes are dry
and...

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The Cause 

The cause is come...
To live or die
not for those who
sit and wonder why

It’s one for all, and
all for some, or none
for those who sit and cry.

Hang tough!
get off that lazy duff.
It takes more
than...

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I feel the pain
I should not bare
I am suffering heart-brokenness
To young of an age
but I'm still here
I will not give up
I will feel the pain and just turn the other cheek
I suffer
So i can become...

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Without Your Love

Without your love, my life
I feign would ebb away.
Without you love, that
kindled flame of passion’s fire,
would turn to ashes cold and gray.

Without your love, my heart
grows cold, my feelings dead.
Without your love, those...

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