Long Palisades Poems

A Search, A Quest For A Lost Paradise - 
a collaboration with Susan Ashley


I will take flight, into another zone
how far off to wander 'tis now not known
no regret, as dear point is to be...

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I will take flight, into another zone
how far off to wander 'tis now not known
no regret, as dear point is to be free
beyond sadness, into a joyful sea
to a purple land, a paradise realm
I hopeful...

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July 4, 1961

           Well HELLO MARY LOU, 

You won’t believe this but I just HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE that someone else was 
getting a...

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don't even think about it
a bucket of motel ice in the face
proving the thing in itself does not exist
because he registered all the meanings all the time
with a nausea so profound 
the retching never ended
rearranging...

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SENSITIVITY

They’re all ignored by us, but they have feelings too :
A black  gravestone  in  New York, down in the world, 
Recalling its halcyon days as a part of 
The impressive strata ...

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The paddlewheel unloads people,
tourists who were out on a cruise,
above the docks and the gift shops
the brown palisades come in view.

(The canoes draw up on the beach,
Iroquois out looking to trade,
in the fort the merchants...

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I WISH I WEREN’T AN ORANGUTANG
by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS


I wish I weren’t an orangutang, living as a captive in a zoo
Orange stringy, hairy body, is this the best nature can do
Gangly arms, puffed cheeks, a face...

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So it was that tragedy, which lead me finally,
Have another invasion, upon my lands-never, 
To guard my boundaries, and bolster my army,
Let the pain in my heart, with cold fury- wither

The petty palisades of wood,...

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Word Trio in D Minor

Who? Me?
Dude, I’m just a confused star-watcher like you.
The movie of life continually plays before us,
Here in the cinematic darkness of another dying day;
Celluloid memories dressed in black parade before us...

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After the Ice Rain.
The woods outside look like a glazed forest preserved in an arboreal museum.  Each tree is candied over in clear icing, the pines stand like tall fluffy blondes, the willow tree...

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I keep tripping over hurdles
Barriers forged between our hearts
Walls of a garrisoned fortress
Lofty palisades I must ascend
without crawling on my knees

I admit my faults lie at ego depth
Perhaps it's why I expect too much of...

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a day we went round in cycles until our senses cracked open
our eyes into the vangogh
greens birched our ears smacked by seabirds gulls
gobbing off perchpolluted in our nostrils the toxic bay
and ozonescent that seaweed belches...

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It always starts with a whisper.
A quite before the storm.
Building up to a rip, a fissure
then inside eruptions
kaleidoscoped palisades
divided by mirrors.
My eyes elope into one
that sees much more clear.
The fluid pours uncontested
to the mouth of...

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******This old post deserves another posting, I tried to convey the tragedy of war and is hauntingly reflecting of current world affairs; ...'Where once stood great Love' is my favourite line; the word 'once' is...

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The other night I dreamed of spiraling downward,
But the earth delayed rising up to receive me.
I watched my unending fall into masses of despair
Falling rapidly, I found that I could not flee;
I could only hope...

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A lovely walk, a promenade leads the way
Burnt orange succulents stand like bushes serene
Crushed tepid deep, whitewash stirs up behind the scenes
Delightful blends of blue sky in-between
Entwined the seaweed branching out for a reach
Finely tuned...

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Forgetting is a vain refugee camp,
    Madonna, for still these walls get
    breached, amidst the daily, frenzied
    barter of honed art for bread,

While slaking arid, thirsty...

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At peace midnight he blew his whistle
Down the street he walks alone
Followed behind by his own shadow
He makes the dark aware not to be lone. 
There he steered by the chromatic moonlight
And fight against those...

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Brooklyn Cyclone number nine 
Is not ready to decline 
Clipity clop it climbs 
Into the blue sky where the sun shines 
Until it turns orange while enjoying evening wine 
There is magic in the air...

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Shattered forms that shape the dust,
 where in passing foot falls gust,  
has left an imprint, only just, 
 
where she once walked across my floor.

In the winds small wisps of swirling,
a small leaf...

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LORD'S PRAYER

Life’s flailing hope falters in awhile, losing its flickering lights
On the spots of so many  catastrophes and evil strife,
Roaring thunder, lightning or storm may surge to strike; but
Daily prayers are palisades surrounding all...

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Emboldened metal torso dusts her in pink Himalayan flecks
Her mahogany neck persuaded to turn in his grip
Rendering fragrant dark bite from her deep spice chest
The two infused together perfect a harmonious marriage

Her mahogany neck persuaded...

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A bear furtively steps on the stones in the swift river. 
Her cubs eagerly wait on the stone clad shores.
A prominent welt lies beneath mother bear’s coat of warmth.
The river has both sides lined with...

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lush slopes mirrored
round an islet of pines. . . 
verdant bounty

where clear water
reflects the mountains’ splendor. . . 
a lovers’ château 

at the ridge's feet. . . 
sunshine in guise
of daffodils

pure water’s pool
where valleys converge...

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SUMMER WITCH HAIKU
Husband bite your tongue.
Mother'n law comes visiting
threatens not to leave.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
     BUCKS COUNTY PICNIC AT DELAWARE CANAL HAIKU
Picnickers are there
bridge from nowhere to nowhere
haven't got a care

nap beneath the...

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