Long Mouthwash Poems

My Iphone softly played Reveille as my 4:30 morning alarm.  Without opening my eyes, I found the phone in the dark and tapped off the alarm.

I gradually worked my way out of the guest...

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Out of all of the plastic mouth wash bottles in America, I had to fall into this one.
It happened in the middle of a life changing moment on Tuesday when I wished too hard to...

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Circumstances
Poem
Lionel Derbyshire

Circumstances leaves you few A chances.
No nick, no pick, no give me more.
Just a little sauce.
No custard tart.
You on shoestring circumstance
It's rough-and-tough
In the orphan jungle

All I can stitch together in memory is my big...

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Her lips caress another cigarette
A fading belle looking for love
The smoke veils a creature of habit
Chasing a young girls dream

But this Genie found the palace doors locked 
Her youth distilled into a bottle of gin
Diluted...

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Daylight is greeted with the horrific stench of food chunks 
swimming in stomach acid, dribbling onto bed sheets.
Accompanied with the embarrassment of
brown syrup puddle stains.

Head is pounding 
like a hammer - hammering nails into the...

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We were best friends. 
We were lovers.
Inexorably linked.
For such a commitment-phobe, I fell in love quickly.  But I didn’t fall, really.
I dove headfirst.
I chose her.  No, she chose me. 
She was always lurking...

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Zooming around the room in wheel chair-moves
our child greets us by his beeping toy’s cheer
allowing pets to bark and meow freely.

Gesturing to hush us midst vibrant shhh
our son mumbles his morning prayer list
murmuring our names,...

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As I strolled  down Beaker Street
A neon sign flashed in front of me

That said "Only Serious Poets Need Apply" 
(Blink) "Need Apply" (Blink) "Need Apply"

So it was I thought to myself
I can think of...

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fear makes it all so real,
the people round us dropping like
flies, with no age spared & no
combination of genes, environment
or upbringing, determined to be
perfect, so as to locate its reason or
motive---for it creeps in, seemingly
indiscriminately...

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My nutty week stays long in my memory
My brain didn't process like it would normally
But just to be sure I now lay of the pink gin
I will share you my tale and shall now begin.

Paracetamol...

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It was vanity that killed him,
not the flames, nor acrid smoke.
If he had got out straight away,
they would have said, "What a lucky bloke."
But he stopped to put on his best PJ's,
which hung behind the...

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I have rituals
for the first day of class
like a superstitious athlete 
they get me into a good frame of mind
where I feel like a juggernaut who has total agency
and I don’t need to seek validation
It’s...

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Hobgoblin in the gutter under canopy of midnight, 
magic brew of muti without rein.
Shadow figure torchon, darting half-light dare.
Spine chilling droplets wobble slowly down drains,
rusty copper mouthwash at the edge of jagged chutes. 
Eerie urban...

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Hey you! 
Yeah, you. 
Know what I plan to do?  
I’ll spread Vaseline all over your windshield 
And Krazy Glue your wipers in place.  
I’ll insert sewing needles, point up, 
Into your driver’s...

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I've tried to tell you you’ve got bad halitosis
When you open your mouth folk can’t fail to notice!

The stench of your putrid dog breath I simply abhor
Just use a toothbrush before you head out the...

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At the end of the night,
you walked her up to the door in the light.
What you expected next would be a delight.
You did not get that goodnight kiss.
Your girl discovered there was something amiss.
While you...

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Coming off third shift, My brain in a haze… Feeling worn and ancient, Dragging through the day’s maze.

I got home exhausted— As tired as a dog. Reached for a drink— Spilled water in the fog.

Grabbed...

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Scope is the drink sans pleasure
That always burns a hole
And stings your gums -and have you heard
It's worse than vile gall

And Listerine is more absurd
And sure your tongue to harm
Yet mouthwash wasn't meant to hurt
Like...

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There’s been a lot of speculatin’
‘Bout the cologne some cowboys wear,
And the toothpaste and the sweet mouthwash
And the way he combs his long hair!

I’s here to clear up the confusion
‘Bout these gallant ol’ equine gents—
And...

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Dear Abbieanne, my love life is in tatters.
All I seem to do now is blither and moan.
Absent a mate all my dreams have been shattered.
In spite of best efforts my prospects have flown.
I thought a...

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The glass was half empty until he smashed it on the room divider

		Tequila Sunrise on the wall

Shattered the pieces lay on the ground when he walked on his shards

		Barefoot floored surrender

A bitter taste of guilt...

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There’s one special moment during your day, 
When you can be honest and open and true,
And that’s the moment after you roll, 
With your one special lover and you,

And your words should be coated with...

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On Sunday I went to the movies,
A space that the theater now shares
With a church that was holding a service
On the second floor, right up the stairs.

As the clerk took ahold of my ticket,
I noticed...

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putting on deodorant in my car
no shower....no wash-off
brushing my teeth with mouthwash
no toothbrush....no toothpaste
shaving with focus on being alert
no privacy....no home
still stinking....still nappy....still jobless
all i have is my plastic bag and my latest travel clock
i...

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Say good morning to the cold bathroom floor-
mouthwash tastes like a reused mojito
vomit erupting from a molten core-
in the sink, fermented blood starts to show
from sacrament taken on Thursday night,
my last supper. Judas, feel what...

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