Long Hang back Poems

I had not long lost Shona (German Shepherd) and was not sure because of my age and disabilities  if I should get another when my daughter spotted an advert .
I thought long and hard...

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Jenna lived in rural Wyoming lands,
where grass rolled over small ridges and buttes,
a small town way out in the cow country,
where the ranchers still throw lassos in loops.

She was driving out to see her boyfriend,
who...

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II-Marie

It was two full days after this charade
when Marie was told the grim news,
her ex-husband had been shanked in prison,
killed by two illegal alien youths.

When she went down to the funeral,
she was greeted by the...

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The spring on the door reverberates. Freedom of the outdoors, a chill in Spring air. Minecraft becomes an imaginary sport. Boys swinging wooden branches - their swords, smacking the bark of innocent trees. We watch...

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My hands are busy with today, 
but my thoughts hang back 
in the humid air of a deceptive 
yesterday; to dinner and the jungle heat 
congealed under umbrellas, 
stained with the residue of city traffic,...

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I cannot be caretaker to you
self-medicated, altering perceptive fields by choice
seeking to numb the pain, escape mundane routine
circumvent natural boredom that could instruct
straight life is as subtle
as a babe moving its lips while sleeping
or as...

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The voice of one is crying out in the night.
Trying to be heard when nothing is going right.
Always trying hard to do their very best,
When sounds all around are mocking you, and
  You’re trying...

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You used to like me, what's happened now?

Ever since June, you've been so blue. 

Stressing over nothing at all?

A one sided drama, a small conflict?

Is that all?

I say hi, but you don't even peek, let...

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So, you stand there over me
You breathe the cold, clean air
Knowing that no one will ever see

You killed the truth with lies
They believed what you wanted them to believe
You never really knew me
The real me...

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Goosebumps and all
I lay
Under a bed of stars
Sparkling across the night sky like a diamond mine

Chinese Lanterns in the sky, hanging far from my reach
To guide me through the complexity of the darker night

The solitary...

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Each step I take 
draws to the abyss,
as I get closer
I hang back from the lip


Finding a squat
I kneel on the ground,
closing my eyes
to feel in the sound


A whistle of wind
draws me in first,
my soul...

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My Baby:
Don't be too quiet, yet don't be too shrill,
Don't be too restless, but neither too still,
Please grow up hardy, yet soft to the touch,
Not seeking too little, nor asking too much.

Years later …
My Child:
Don't...

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In 2022 I resolve to be less accommodating.
Not the first one to yell “I will do it”,
often putting everyone else’s needs before my own.
I resolve to become aware when I am being taken advantage of,
and...

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All puffed up, ducks, swans and goose
     fluffed feathers on the loose,
afterfeathers clinging to open flagged wings
     strutting as they move and sing.
Smaller birds hang back and...

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I’ve never been what you’d call outspoken; 
my approach is to hang back and take note.
Perceiving injustice my heart cried, “Quit!”
Fearful, I lingered, silence unbroken.
Unwilling, my voice stayed stuck in my throat -
apathetic, reluctant, unfit.

Insults...

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