Long Jiggers Poems

She never got to know SpongeBob,
Or the thrill of Jerry and Tom, 
She never had the fun of quarreling with the maid,
Or hiding the bathing soap just to watch cartoons.
Her life has been one big...

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The Director 

By Sy Roth 

 

The directors--  

For want of a nail 

They were not wanting 

 

So many nails,  

A cache of nails 

To drive into their coffins 

 

Paid in...

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Mary Worth’s Secret

You’ll see her snow white hair
With a bound round bun in the back.
She’s traversing the shopping mall,
Un-noticed now by one and all.

Blue flowered calico is what she wears,
Black oxfords to protect old feet,
But...

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It is May again, milners, mariners, militants
Ye laborers in union chafing come
And breathe beyond the cankerers fields
Crawl, fruit despised sucklings, from your dusty
Lung corroding mines
Walked the muscled roads your sweat
Have softened for freedom
You propertyless citizens...

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YOU DIDN’T KNOW

Maybe you didn’t know
But your single plate fills mine a day
That note you give for the bill
My hair would shine a month
But I guess you didn’t know

Step lightly lest you pop out my...

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Backyard summer time blazing,
jiggers packed down with precision.
First few thoughts, simply amazing,
prepping my mind for tunnel vision. 

Roller coasting beyond the storm,
strapped into buzzed up seats.
Lungs that feel so smokey warm, 
drum line chorus heart...

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Sorry
Sorry to that mother,
Who lost her blessing,
On our delivery beds,
Who bled to death,
Under our vigil watch,
Who lost her womb,
For reasons we could not avoid

Sorry to that man,
Who lost his hope,
 Of beating cancer,
Whose liver ,
We...

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Teeth freed late of jaw
Catch feign vulture caw
Keep time with thumb gum massage.
Three jiggers to rinse
Fire stick of incense
Lifted induced camouflage.

Shirt off shorts glued on
Vision of futon
Once upon a time life rocked.
Tent wants repairing
Sirens shrill...

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I am a refuge here!
In this foreign land-
Of luxury of darkness
Where darkness
Laughs at me
Angry winds,
Bite me like scorpions,
Mosquitoes,
Drink me like a pot of beer
Bed bugs, my nocturnal guests,
Hold conferences
To celebrate on my ribs 
Jiggers,
Rip my...

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The Hair of the Dog

You can drink til your dead as a log
And get up with your head in a fog
tomato juice cocktail
two jiggers ginger ale
and a taste of the hair of the dog

She calls...

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