Long Okra Poems

The Highways and the Byways
By Franklin Price
10/27/2107
(Inspired by Nancy McIntyre Stepp)

 The highways and the byways
Of this life in which we've grown
Bring back many memories
Of  places we have known

The Interstates most boring
They bypass most...

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Pedestrians are moving ups and downs the day can define the differences he experiences in the bathroom, cars buzzing their noise, around my understanding I cannot keep on thrusting for answers which has to be...

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We all have roots from seeds
In and on the fertile soil of our lives
Where we are planted to need
The place we know as home to thrive
Shaped and harvested we live to die
As the grains of...

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I've lived in Idaho before they turned our state sideways to resemble a gun
Seen lively conversation stop midsentence aftering catching a glimpse      Of the sun

Yeah and some may say we...

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To Eat A Peach

Spring is here.
The delicate tree blossoms replace
     the delicate white lights of Winter.
From the petals fruit will grow.

Pears, plums, apricots, cherries,
       nectarines...
Peaches.

I...

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The tomato is the Kamikaze
    of the kitchen ...
    every day in droves or
    sliced ??..

    The onion is offered
   ...

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A for Ahira not an Apple was found at the tree of life, Sustain ate Manna;
B for Band bananas Black beans in stride;
C for Corianders and Cocoyam's flown in from the skies, sustain ate Manna;
D...

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Not much to do today
caught up on some 
deferred reading
went to the store to pick up
 a few things
took a walk down 3rd Ave
 	to get some sun

Basima and Azhar 
play in the okra field
chasing...

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Mornings are magic in the garden.

Awakening plants open up slowly to the new day. As sunlight comes creeping over the horizon, touching sleeping leaves with gold, dewdrops are drenching the new spring growth. The light...

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You've been a rock
When I felt vulnerable and unsteady

You've been a comfort
When I felt weary and downcast

You've been a balm
When I was in agony and distrust

When those I counted as friends betrayed me
You stayed true

When...

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Summer meant playing with cousins
Until the fireflies started to dance and glide
Soaring just beyond our small hands
And, then, sometimes reaching the end
Of a journey inside a Mason jar

Summer meant riding with the window down
In a...

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Cigarette burns dot the seventies green vinyl chair and a floor television doubles as a table with a lamp and figurines. A six foot two inch three hundred pound strong man made the small room...

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Liken rejection to the most revolting vile taste known to man. 
Remember back to childhood, your very least favorite dish,
Recall how anticipation of this food caused a queasy stomach,
You would have given anything to avoid...

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Sojourner to far-flung climes;
When you return,
Will you remember the evening songs
Chorused by chirping under the baobab tree?
Will you still remember the fame of the great hunter
Whose courage put the forest sprite to flight?
Earning him the...

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The ABCs of Things Green

Algae, alligator, artichoke, asparagus, aphids, Andradite,
Brussels sprouts, broccoli, Buffalo Treehopper, and beans,
Cuckoo Wasp, Cabbage, cucumber, Common Green Darner, and celery 
Dog Day Cicada, Delphinium flowers diopside and dioptase, (rocks),
Emeralds, eyes, endive,...

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Sojourner to far-flung climes;
When you return,
Will you remember the evening songs
Chorused by chirping under the baobab tree?
Will you still remember the fame of the great hunter
Whose courage put the forest sprite to flight?
Earning him the...

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I travel in my imagination to talk to the sky about the sound from crying 
 Mum, the coastal area erosion my interest to take the risk to talk the 
night gown glowing beneath the...

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I am patently smitten 
With utmost contempt ,they treat any mention of its reality
The realm of the illusory is its permanent abode
Its at best transient , an ephemeral indulgence ,
A violet on a morbid pathway...

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A candy dish in cobalt glass
Reflecting temptations
Beneath the heavy cover

A hairbrush fuzzy with gray down
From the head it combed
On nights spent alone, awake

A cast iron skillet
Melting fatback and butter
Frying potatoes, tomatoes and okra

A earth colored...

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Lord, we are so grateful fer the gracious bounty of Yer Creation!
But there are some things You created that cause us some vexation.
We appreciate that You've given us ice cream, bagels 'n' strawberry shakes,
But was...

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They say “a mother knows best”.
Best for who?
Best for you?
You see, nobody knows me like I know me.
Yes, she may know me as a helpless infant,
But do you know the real me?
Favorite color? Like it...

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Tell me America ,
Will you win this war ?
Will you bring cruelty to gallows ?


I see you daily here;
Left and right like pendulum,
Ups and downs like leaf-cutters,
Building army, building allies,
Pacing faster on trick’s ladder;
Still this...

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Curry. Cumin. Saffron.
Mmmm, the hallways always smell of spice,
her seventy-year-old body perfecting the rhythm of movement
from icebox to oven in her efficiency kitchenette.
Tangerine wall paint cracks and mixes carelessly 
with bits of spice yet lingering...

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From the very moment my Mom taught me how to use a spoon,
From her mouth was uttered that old familiar tune:
"The kids in Asia are starving, now Bobby, clean your plate!"
Her admonition was final and...

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"Chidinma"
Your name is celestial like Manna!
I have not forgotten the way you taste
Nor did the flavour left my savouring mouth.
Honey is sweet,
Sugar is sweet...yet don't taste the same!
Don't ask me why
My mind have refused to...

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