Long Matins Poems

"The Payload" 

The payload 
came crashing down
like rain expelled
from the fat belly 
of a ruinous pregnant cloud 
bilious with buxom promise

it came crashing down 
like school fish released 
from the tight confines
of a course rope...

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It is not mandatory
However, I feel that it is my duty
To respond to Carl Brouard
‘Knowing how to drink is not an art
Drinking is not a duty’
But a necessity which is obligatory
As it is crucial even...

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"The Tree Hugger and the Lost Paradise"

They called her 
the tree hugger,
her forest was full 
of trees that watched
silently, they had 
no mouth to speak,
rustling their leaves
like fingers writing 
strange stories coded
for decoding a mystery
on...

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I write only for you,
Not for the king, so smart,
Not for Paris,
Not for the mirrors of the sky,
I only write for you.

I do not write for the abbot
Who weeps before God,
I don’t write for the...

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Dream Weaver

The weaver sits before the threshold of the daystar  
Upon a carpet dyed in ebony spread across an alabaster porch, 
Hidden by a cape of ivory shimmers,
In between twilight’s caress and the palest...

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THE CERTAINTY? 

Every Sunday at 10.35, whatever the season,
The elderly couple from down the road walk by on their way to Matins.
It used to be 10.45 in their prime but, as age creeps on, it...

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Stone Spires

Stone cathedral spires rise
          Sharply
From freely flowing waters
 Birthing rebirth -
Lifting up unto the eternal
 A psalm
   A canticle
    ...

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Down in hell, that stronghold of sin.
strange things stir, but let me begin.
I'll get to the point. Some details I'll skimp.
I tell the tale of a mischievous imp.
Of two imps in fact, to be more...

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Awakening Perpetually
by Odin Roark

Awakening perpetually knows well
Perfection’s tuning fork disquietude,
Its awareness that any off-key meandering
Can cloud over a caressing sunshine rising,
Sour a dawning’s gardenia fragrance.

One reaches skyward with morning’s extension,
The opening of shuddered windows,
Inviting breezes...

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I love my solitary matins,
morning excursions and incursions
toward simply divine places,
reading to hear voices from my past
Interior Landscape prophesy 
occupy BeLoved community futures.

In this sacred space
we sing full RealTime ReSolutions
eco-therapeutic gospel by day
and dream this...

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Don your hat, grab your cape and walk with me,
let's stalk the streets, take in the frosty air
on cobbled lanes, necromancing we see
confined people of shade suspended there.
They strain against the lock, peer through the...

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Voyagers, convene thyselves to return, among us...
Caesura, crown nigh clod, a sylph unwept,
elision thy silhouette, meno thy minuet...
Thine late occurence on thee, wake of cerise sand

Thou belief, like a billow, upon your whitish cheek,
'Twas marina...

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Skylarks Call Across Light of Morning 1-11-23  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Skylarks Call Across Light of Morning

“Skylarks call across morning light”
After cold quiet stills laughter
In the deep shafts of ebony
Matins roll away stubborn stones.

Daylight spins on dawning’s spread...

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Beauty Celebrates Dawn

Beauty Celebrates Dawn's Exquisite Flush
Mauve melding into magenta’s fuchsia blush
Pink cherry blossoms hide the sleeping thrush
Crimson cardinals dream in amaranth hush.

Like Misty Nascent Opulent Pruce
Daybreak dances in orchid shades on boughs of spruce
Soft...

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 In Paradise, in it's  grass, they dig holes.
 In which, to place the ashes of those who can pay.


The grass grows between the Cloisters, Cathedral and
the silence of stone monks.

From within the Cloisters,...

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Roses and Ice Cream

He would bring her roses and ice cream
And on warm summer nights they sat huddled
Closely, watching  silent stars slowly advance
Toward morning and waiting to hear the morning bird.

Years quickly faded into...

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I looked for you again today,
I just forgot you'd gone away.
At our restaurant, you weren't there,
just me, the waiter and an empty chair.
I thought I saw you on the heath, with the dog,
but, when I...

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Letter chosen "V"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Virtuoso

Carnelian dawn reflects red sun rising,
Mirrors glow of vermillion flycatchers,
With scarlet plumage, so mesmerizing,
Dawn’s songbirds – virtuoso stature.

Flight song resounds through the still morning mists,
Woodland thickets embrace the day song,
Artists on wings with...

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I feel the warmth of early morning sun.
The blackbird, singing in the cherry tree
Entrances all with matins just begun –
Ethereal plainchant, plangent melody.

The snow-white blossom hides a darkling bird
From eyes that would discern this source...

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This is a true, but amusing tale,
Hope your laughter does not fail,
'Tis a saga of a cockatoo,
Of life, he held a jaundiced view,
At the going down of the sun,
Cocky embellished his own fun,
And at the...

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Father....where were you when the Jews were gassed,
and countless slaves, whipped and slashed?

Father....where are you when the child-killers roam,
forever now from mother’s home

Father....where are you when your priests abuse the young,
in your house when matins...

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