Long Gum Poems

I believed that I was rural … that I lived in country style,
where the city was close handy … that big distance was a mile.
Trains and buses ferried daily; a freeway ran close by …
comforts...

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(Created using the bAbBlE sentence generator, various text excerpts, and a minuscule bit of human editing.) 

And she smells good without keeping all ...

Beef, sitting lonely on that lies floating on the tufted floor. "Surely,"...

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Hate the feelings of ew's and ugh's...let's pause before we put our paws on this unmanageable cause with silent applause (quiet interest or hushed enthusiasm)
What's the cause of these negative, gross, worthless flawful laws that...

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                                  ...

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The excitement mounted as we rummaged around in the attic looking through old steamer trunks for discarded clothes and props to make Halloween costumes. With an old suit and hat of Granddads, I became a...

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* This poem was written for a contest originally, but was used by Professor Anne-Marie Thornton of Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, to teach her WAR POETRY class in the spring semester of 2017. My...

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Her small angelic face ...

Once a place where broad smiles bloomed like butterflies on marigolds,
is streaked with the furrows that countless tears have etched into the
layers of dust and dirt and explosive residue that now...

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Long in the tooth male doth recount, reflect, reimagine...
his woebegone damn dental daze today May 5th, 2021 

No particular rhyme nor reason
garden variety indentured flunky (me)
revisits his salmagundi salad days, 
when oral blight smote 
left...

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{verse 1} 
Stream of blood drips unto the sink…it’s in a puddle of muddled, bittersweet blood – whisper hope in my ears
My heart pumps…in fear of losing you…uoy…u…
Teeth ache, gums bleed on…I blink…never good enough...

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WINTER, 1948 [40 Saxton Street]

for W.W

The winter nights that pass now
are so unlike the winter nights
that passed before, that I often
struggle back in those suspended moments
when sleep grapples for a hold,
to once again hear the...

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All the guys and gals that I had graduated with, from Jimmy Dorsey High School, back in 1935,
Half a century later were dispersing all around us, surprising me with whom among my class was still...

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This is how it starts
the decline of who we are, the decline of something more
the start of wars
Installed in us is confidence
confidence, a blessing or a curse
Without confidence we stand degraded, disenchanted, alone
while with too...

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Whether you have come to possess this compendium of doggerel confessions by chance or by choice, should you decide to venture beyond this page, I politely suggest you consider the contents to be nothing more...

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Sun and traffic - day economy.
Six a.m. drive to plywood mill. Too tired
to be angry. Each day a step
toward death. What is being accomplished? The
small satisfactions
within each day. Book consciously read.
And frustrations. Package dropped, honey...

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I was walking while reading
because this had been recommended,...

Well,...
actually more like required reading
while walking,
rather than too much blindly reading
while passively impassively sitting through
Earth-reflective stalking exercises

For improving body health
and soul wealth,

Not that these are really two...

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Like a Phoenix, I rise up from the ashes of my past 
Your beautiful tune mended the Earth with exquisite mirth 
Like a runner, I'm running forward to the finish line oh so fast 
You're...

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Word Fantasy in F Sharp Minor  (3 Movements)

1

(Andante con moto)

Hey man. Take this.

I got it last night,
under a fractured street light,
with shattered pieces of clear glass, scattered
at the nexus of an obscure dark freeway...

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Downstairs I go
Elevate me, you know 
I'll get over the luv floo
Over the bad days too
Acting like a weirdo
A clown with an upside down frown... I'm a positive Poe 

I'm out of my mind
I can't...

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Happy is he who isn’t led astray
He walks in happiness in his stride
Tranquility is in His Word today
Here, I lay in silence in which I hide

Blessed is he who doesn’t speak with ungodly men
Blessed is...

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You healed me…you saved me with a kind, kind heart of sympathy
With well-spoken words (and you deleted the history of my endless rage)
Of empathetic wisdom and positivity…erasing the negativity and rehearsing accord in my mind...

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BUSHFIRE
                                  ...

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Good morning from the ascending light 
Good night from the descending night 

I'm sorry, darling of past glee
I'm not sorry that we were together and happy

I'm a house and you're the ground
I'm the mouse, caught...

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Book in hand, I strode the path
in awesome Autumn splendor.
The warmth of the sun caressing my cheek,
while the cool breeze gently tickled 
goose bumps across my warm skin.
All around me the crepe paper litter
piled brilliance...

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People say my personality is perky, many seem to find me intriguing;
And I greatly enjoy being popular, as I don't find society fatiguing.

Having traveled to myriad places, I have seen many beautiful sights,
Such as very...

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Morning has come, new day is here
Predicaments of all sorts are what lie ahead…
Morning has come, I don’t have fear
Sentiments aren’t manifesting into utter dread…

Morning has come, I have become numb
I lie on the sofa,...

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