Long Kalamazoo Poems

I had a dream the other night
Of walking in a field of cornbread
Golden brown
Baked just right
One solid
Unbroken field

As I softly crunched my way
I looked up
Coming toward me
Was a line of tigers
With a man in the...

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I had a dream the other night
Of  walking in a field of cornbread
Golden brown
Baked just right
One solid
Unbroken field

As I softly crunched my way
I looked up
Coming toward me
Was a line of tigers
With a man in...

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“Let’s Ban War”

Have your ever thought
About banning war?
How much better we
All would be
If we just banned war?

So much more we could do.
We could buy food
And clothe the poor.

We could chase butterflies
Around in a Zoo.
Look at...

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who knew?

firstoff, i wish to say, but not overdo,
that i never knew, what the new gnu knew
he never really said very much, and i knew
he wouldn't as such, since, being a new gnu
he hadn't much...

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No objection to cold weather, but...

ah jest wanna boomerang back into the womb
to escape unrelenting forbidding gloom.
perhaps cuz mine generation 
nsync with baby boom.

No matter birth canal
long since got breached,
countless (three plus) scores of years
I...

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No objection to cold weather, but...
ah jest wanna boomerang back into the womb

No matter birth canal
long since got breached,
countless scores of years
I quickly grew
impossible mission to plunge
(think Nestea commercial)
headfirst back into utero,
haint got any got...

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“The more you know, the more you know you don't know.”

Said quote attributed to Aristotle,
     stands the test of time,
     and not only did out last
many another...

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(Note: In this abecedarian poem, I redacted the name of the particular denomination to protect the innocent and to universalize the context. Fill in your own favorite groups! Prejudice against those perceived to be “other”...

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Walking the yard with shovel in hand
Cruising back and forth just as planned
Trying to pick up every last pile
If the wife steps in one she gets hostile

Didn't think this through from the start
Three dogs are...

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Me and the guys have been around 
quite a long time
Hung out with women 
most of our lives
It's now come to the point 
where me and the guys
Would like to apologize

From all of the things
we've...

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Our dad drives with the recliner down like a waterbed as uncapped bottles of water gushes down. My older sister putting on her third face now, none of it hides her stuck-out tongue at me....

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avid arm-wrestling against awesome Allie
brave Billy Bouncer balks a bit at Ballet.
cocky courage cancelled, civic concentration.
during Des Moines Diamond demonstration
energetic efforts enthuse eager Eddie
facing fearless frog-legged Freddie
gracious Greta grants gorillas gratuities
harry harpoons happy harpy Helga...

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avid arm-wrestling against awesome Allie
brave Billy Bouncer balks a bit at Ballet.
cocky courage cancelled, civic concentration.
during Des Moines Diamond demonstration
energetic efforts enthuse eager Eddie
facing fearless frog-legged Freddie
gracious Greta grants gorillas gratuities
harry harpoons happy harpy Helga...

Read More

It’s the latest vacation spot, my friend the vole said.
We have to experience it before we are dead.
We had many friends missing, from here to Kalamazoo.
It was a consternation. We did not know what to...

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Dandelions, babies crying
walking in the woods,
astronomy, philosophy
chickadees and childhood.

Speckled trout, (a technical knock-out)
strawberries red and sweet,
winter, spring, summer, fall
Butterfinger and little "Twinkie" treats.

Dragon flies, questions why
There’s anything at all,
Making mistakes baking cup cakes
Cumulous clouds and...

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We got married on October tenth of nineteen seventy-one. 
We had a great honeymoon, lots of giggling, and a lot of fun.
We actually eloped, and were married by a really nice judge.
I wore a brown...

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Kalamazoo kids went off to war
leaving giddy gals to go forward in fractured
factories ~from music to munitions
gay guitars would wait until battered boys
came hurriedly home...

or would they wait?

The thought was there but Gibson's gals 
did...

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Okay little kiddies, gather around
Here's a game to chase away frowns
Tell us about your most happy day
Yes, dear Johnny! What do you say?

Well dear teacher, when I was just little
Said little Johnny who sat in...

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I’ve got a girl in Kalamazoo,
sing Miller, Swing Miller, Ding Miller doo…
Moonlight cocktail anyone?
Glenn’s orchestra is on the run.
come on down. Let’s have some fun!
boogie Doogie Moogie Hoogie. Choo Choo Choo
Chattanooga if you want to...

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We left on a Wednesday headed for Kalamazoo
Michael and I and my dog named Old Blue.
We were a tiny crew, and a teensy bit cuckoo
But at least we did not bring my brother True Boo.

Boo...

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Merry Jolly happy prancing funny Santa Claus has no time to waste
His long fluffy handsome fanatical beard as white as Elmer’s paste.
His amazingly giving, generous heart is so full, the man has no waist.
Plus he...

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A man I know from Kokomo 
Went to Kalamazoo 
He took a train then caught a plane 
To the shores of Timbuktu. 

A man from Kankakee sailed the sea 
Looking for buried treasure. 
In Pango...

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Tricky squirrels come out of the oaks 
Run around in the yard, flashing their tails
Distracting us as their cousins steal our coats,
Grabbing our newspaper, and our best mails.

They have a sneaky way I cannot explain.
They...

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They had to notify and call it in.
They had to cordon off and begin.

Apparently, he was middle-aged.
Apparently, he was married.
Apparently, he was a father.
Allegedly he had a mistress.
Allegedly he had left his job.
Allegedly he had...

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They had to notify and call it in.
They had to cordon off and begin.

Apparently, he was middle-aged.
Apparently, he was married.
Apparently, he was a father.
Allegedly he had a mistress.
Allegedly he had left his job.
Allegedly he had...

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