Long Grouse Poems

I know I need to get outside myself.
The more I complain, and focus on my sore gums, tender knee, and achy shoulder, the more griping I do, the more I suffer.
Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! The pain...

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The sixty-year reunion
of the class of '55
was quite a celebration
for the ones who had survived...

First came prissy Pomeroy-
then Milford, Meeks, and Moody
who like old crows, perched and cawed
at busty old Miss Trudy

While Trudy curled her...

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“…Let the sunshine (and let the sun shine on in)
Let the sunshine in (You got to open up your heart)…"
-- From Aquarius, by The 5th Dimension


The times they were a-changing,
an age of great unrest.
A Ball...

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MY LAND

Staff rod in hand and, on my feet a good pair of hardy leather shoes
Set off onto the bight coastal track to a view of many colourful hues

In four score plus ten of my...

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Upon bitterly cold dawning hours of one January 2000 day
the Harns family desperately sought a place to live – “hay
there” Nelson Swartley (an independent realtor) 
politely responded bringing unwelcome news viz our sos re lay
informing...

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She bustles
her boys out of bed
grouse, groan, growl
groggy gripes
snarky snipes, as they squabble
their way to breakfast

Packs their lunch
crunch, smack, munch, they eat
hurry boys-
catch the bus
flurry and fuss all the way
outdoors, scuffing floors

She sighs, so
relieved, can't...

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The Smarts And Dogged Callisthenics...
Cannot Wall The Will Of Catapulting Mice

A titled unwritten poem requiring
little effort to dip and dive
I accidentally, inadvertently,
and unexpectedly scrolled up in digital archive
among various and sundry literary endeavors,
eh, maybe about...

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A Doctor’s Personal Notes

By Elton Camp

See John Jones on my appointment list
Several things on which I must insist
Even though I know he’s doing just fine
A few little tests won’t be out of line

No X-rays since...

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Thus upon a strategic seat we hoped for,
or politely sought from manager of the house
ah, our luck to be situated in close proximity,
where impossibility to stave gaming hunger,
though neither myself nor honorable guest grouse.

Now decision...

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To MOM; March 11,1979
This is the story of an animal trainer,
Whose mettle and courage, couldn't be plainer. 
A search'd reveal if you'd care to explore, 
None greater exists than El Eleanor.
She's faced the very meanest...

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Cowards die many times before their deaths…
Julius Caesar, Act II, Scene 2 ~William Shakespeare

spouse 
a souse 
classic grouse 
a big girl's blouse

portent ominous 
assertions blasphemous   
obscure and anonymous 

his skulking is nefarious 
utterances...

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War Horse by Steven Cooke

Taken from Cloven fields, 
Where skylark and Grouse Linger.
Into the bowels of a troopship,
No scent of Morning Dew, No Bird song
Only sweat and urine,
And the distant sounds of war. 
No light,...

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There is an antique writing desk
in my little study
handed-me-down
from generations of would-be
writers in my family

And there are ancient creatures
from days gone by
living in this old desk still
evil, larcenous little creatures
envious of literary skill

This explains much

Lately,...

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Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house
Hearts were eager and energetic – as wild as the sage grouse
No one could sleep because of those presents beneath the tree
They’d gone to bed at...

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He knew he had rubbed against some big shoulders.
Some like him and other were anoyed. What bothered him was they all existing relationships of there own. Some were ones you didn't wanna get involved with,...

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The purple on his chin was tellin'
there was just no use to lie.
That pesky, good for nothin' goat
had eaten Mother's pie.
She  had set it on the porch 
jist to cool it down a bit,
and...

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   pioneer esprit de corps front tier brisk.
*     *     *     *     *     *...

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Marriage to alarmingly ballooning...

dramatically expanding spouse,
when adorning buttons 
pop off undersized blouse
which spurs yours truly to grouse,
and ruffle mine tail feathers 
while listening to Scheherazade.

Eats her weigh out of home and house
unsolicited feedback courtesy
quite doubtful,...

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It was after Mom’s dad passed her mom bought canaries.
Grams felt life less lonely, I think, with their singing,
and gave her idea that flying the coop to
live close to my mom could be Southland for...

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Issued paper fibers mirror those of the straw bale,
The waters of the great canal through the morning sail.

In spite Venezia was tied, the chairlift was jostling,
Twisting its way through the small calli in haze whiting....

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At three a.m. the annoying telephone rings
“Hurricane Kate will soon be making landfall;
Drive to Panama City, start collecting your things” 
Microphones and tape recorders, I pack them all

Just one week till the end of hurricane...

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Once upon a time, Prunella
dwelt amid a magic wood
a dainty pixie most rare
whose temperament wasn't good

Last one of her purple line
in that dreary, dreaded glen
where beasts ever feared to tread
and mankind had never been

For purple...

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Old Bald Frog and a toad named Ander
saw Sally wander down by the road.
Said Frog, "Now Sally, me and Ander
been wondering where you do meander?"
Now, Ander was a three-toed toad,
had four before that Sally strode
upon...

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Marriage to alarmingly ballooning...
dramatically expanding spouse

Eats her weigh out of home and house
unsolicited feedback courtesy
yours truly, she does grouse
quite doubtful, she could pose
for playboy and/or penthouse
returning explicit volley
of trailing appellations lobbed

expletive laced epithets
directed at her...

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Who am I? I am not Fred Flintstone, nor am I Billy Goat Gruff,
And I am not Will Shakespeare, nor a Scotsman named MacDuff;
I am not Tom, I am not Dick, and surely am not...

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