Long Mantelpiece Poems

if you’re reading this piece 
right now,
you’ve got the world at your
fingertips---
might not feel like it, might
feel like your own life is gonna
come crashing down upon your 
head, might have a thousand
skeletons in your closet...

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Trains run alight terminate on time like clockwork 
never ending endless procession of precision conductors
the conducted walk down the line warped tracks of 
cynically divided isles dead ends of ‘labour making free’ 

Evil strips uniformed...

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COLOURFUL LAMENT

I combed cool waters of your 
baby blue crystalline Jewel as you 
waded waterfall waves washing 
my stellar rainbow rays 
Arching it melted into the warm 
womb of transducing tangoing Earth

Her Violet Flame devoured...

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Distressed by Rob Barratt

My furniture is all distressed
It's unusually unstable
The oak bookcase is quite depressed
As is the coffee table

The worktop has a thin veneer
It seethes beneath the surface
The taps know how low they can… sink
And...

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                                  ...

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Goodbye Halloween it's Christmas time to tout.
We'll all be getting presents then.
We won't go door to door or dress up anymore.
Here Santa comes at Christmas when...

Midnight strokes of Christmas Eve.
Our stockings by the fire.
Wax candles...

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For three straight
years
I have
looked
into 
those
brown
eyes
and
I simply
Can’t look away

For three 
straight years
I have
dreams which
are
painted so brilliantly
With 
memories
which are
snapshots
of beautiful
sounds and smells
like oil paintings
priceless
for three straight years
that smile
moves me
to
greatness
like
the work of David
my
inspiration
and staring through my camera lens
I...

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What’s it about for them, then
Loneliness, poverty, pain
Bang of the bailiff at the door
Death in a ditch in the rain

What is it like for the Joneses
Bigger and better you think
Posh port and pigs in blankets
Sick...

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There’s a billy on the open fire
Piles of beech wood by the door
Smokey stains adorn the iron roof
Wax drips on bench and floor.

Old cobwebs drape the windows
Dog-eared cards upon a shelf
The half a dozen Readers...

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CHRISTMAS MOURNING DAY
 
Not for all, is Christmas day a happy time
Some like he, wake up, to just another day
Alone, curtains shut, blocking out the world
Christmas cards on the table, remain unopened
In the distance, he...

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"How can the dead be truly dead when they still live in the souls of those who are left behind?"
—Carson McCullers, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

Which moron invented the term joy-riding
tell me... where is...

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They are poor…they’re removed, they struggle through life,
Every day is a burden on the edge of a knife,
They’re stuck in the circle, that’s all that they know,
And there’s not work around, and nowhere to go.
...

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when the surroundings of the will
begin to suffocate it &
the hands grasping for some kind of
deus ex machina
slip 
    slip 
        slip 
like butta’ melting...

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To be left alone
                           to be a cat
 ...

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JUST A DREAM
When I was young and still had dreams,
I dreamt of fame and fortune.
With all the recklessness of youth
I had no doubts.
I knew
I knew I’d be a household name one day.
Perhaps a second Beckham
Or...

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Dream on a raft

A balsam raft, with a mast and a Latin sail, I built for amusement on summer days on the inner sea, 
but I found myself too far from shore, daydreaming is dangerous,...

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On the oak and iron studded door
There hung a wreath of yuletide
That was so pleasing to the eye 
It seemed to welcome you inside

The hallway was lit with candles
Of every shape, size and hue
And tasteful...

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X. insects that are impossible to see with the naked eye
crawl through what is left

IX. knocked by accident off the mantelpiece &
spread all over the shag

VIII. burnt in a crematory, stuffed in an urn &...

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His sins, many thousands of them, 
Lie buried in the anonymous soil.
Over his mantelpiece a proverb hangs: 
"Aus den Augen, aus dem Sinn." 
On his shelf "Mein Kampf" is visible. 
"It must never happen again,"...

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Surrounded by the glitz and frippery
the ribbons, bells and stars all meant to warm you,
on the mantelpiece, parading with the cards
the one that silently ' regrets to inform you'.
Muffled merriment, jaded joy 
from those who...

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They call me a silly old jester
A title I'm proud to possess
Love making people titter and giggle
Some dribble all over their dress

Don't mean to cause embarrassment
If some of you can't keep control
Numerous trips to the...

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Winter Reveries
Scents from fir trees wafting leisurely through the air
Pine cones strewn atop the mantelpiece
Two perfectly straight candles lighting up the grim and darkened room
A  fluffy pup curled up near the fireplace

Snowy footprints markings...

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I look up at the mantelpiece
Where hang the Christmas stockings. 
Red, blue, green and yellow socks
For Mom’s little darlings.
I wonder what is held inside
Each foot that is bulging?
I sure hope they’re full of chocolates
And some...

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Guitar case Buddha 
Out back is a room with a tin roof
& there somewhere among
The old paint cans
& broken furniture
Is a guitar case
& in the flap where you
Stash picks & spare strings
Is a small wooden...

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In my youth, I am sure I was slim,
a figure both modest and trim;
but now I am old, I'm frequently told
my features are wrinkled and grim. 

As a girl, I was agile and quick,
my dancing...

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