Long Percussion Poems

His words stung me, as the cries from the maelstrom seem to retort
Their scattered, foreign words and wails retching their say
I listened, almost mesmerized,
Pulverized

“Come,” Said he,
With threatening authority

Upwards, higher than the balcony from which we...

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"Burnt Aqua"



I can taste the sun
on my tongue
it spills down 
my throat
like burnt aqua
healing the beating frisson

I am ebony inside
shading in my shadow world
some somnolent soul
waking from slumber’s dream dance 
a small death in life...

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"Tears, grief, memories and tributes of respect. "

                          ...

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Four of eight decades rest in the past
So fortunate but how long can this last
I’ve romanced, loved and married
Living a life ever so harried

Raising a family, I’ve worked hard
A successful career achieved without fear
I’ve traveled...

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I'm the topic of discussion, a lot of me is functioned
Off of the asumption that I've probably been punching
Things to harm by beating it, the gossip is percussion
But the anger pulls me in and I've...

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ISLAND HOPPING
by

JOHN M. ARRIBAS


My first day of community service at Glen Oaks
Assigned to spend time with a few elderly folks
Spotted an old gentleman staring out into space
Weathered beaten hands and a sun etched face
How are...

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An Ode to The Eagle & The Dove

As I look in Eagles eyes,
As they scan what lies ahead.
He stands a strong guard,
Knowing others have bled,

Many died, doing this,
This standing the guard
The Dove thinks it’s easy
While...

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The bombers began to bleed
their heavy tears of death
from 20,000 feet above the breathless battlefield, 
B-17 Flying Fortress formations
moving with apocalyptic aplomb
the shadows of high metal crosses by the hundreds
rippling along the rugged roman earth
bringing...

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The Heraclee sky was a lurid, neon blue but the morning was surprisingly cool (at 54°). The antemeridian sun managed to cast sharp, surreal, black-hole shadows, giving the world a baroque art look, as if...

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Where the Railroad Track Meet 

Grasping, lunging as does a donkey for the
dangling apple leading it forward, I reached
for the ever elusive spot.  That place where
the railroad track meet.  Almost had it in
Idaho...

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Blood, , urine, in order; perfume and sweat, pleasure combined
Visually impaired by smog and darkness
I can sense bodies; I can smell life and excess
The taste is overpowering and I gav
I'm quiet as a mouse, fearful,...

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1.
(Whispered; snapping percussion done by dry firing real guns)

Rock it
Shock it                        ...

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I glimpse the tidal waves, rise high,
Sweaty brows drip, a dry.
surf boarders and  dipper are so many,
dolphin rides touts coerce you for just a few penny.

red vested lifeguards always on their toes,
A breath of...

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When Marcelino Manuel da Graca aka Sweet Daddy Grace came to town.
 At an early age, I must admit that I was excited along with the majority of the Black community of the South East...

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"The Hummingbird Cake"




The day started bright -

Bright Eggshell Blue
and ended in percussion
dark and cloudy stormed in
thunder pummelled drums
against a backdrop of 
bruised eggshell dijon yellow
sweating heavy sage green
spitting spoilt the swollen pride of purple,
a wet...

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I hit the master switch
And all the lights and racks come on at once
The mood lights overhead, the rack equipment, flashing, glowing
Keyboards, amps, mixer, recorder, effects, EQ, sound mods, sequencers
Screens, laptop, pedals, playback system, and...

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This axis mundi,  rotates,    
   within and outside the veils
I remember walking with you  
 and how we manifested anything we agreed upon
leaving us both slackjawed and yet...

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**A Travel East**

We pass the Grand Mesa cruising like lightening at 95mph, 
I feel like a passenger on a toy train.
A mountain 11,000 feet above the ground,
auburn colored, rock faced cliffs, complimented 
by a spectacular...

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Facts beyond Illusion

The absence of who you are falls short of whom you could truly become.
The decline that leaves you slain without hope. Sliding down a slippery slope after slippery slope. Looking back at the...

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SACRED

At a farewell dinner I told my new friends
on the El Camino Real that I had been married before
They said the church works hard to discourage divorce
but many live separate and call it OK
Angry and...

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Percussion plays once in a while beyond its curtain
In duo with the flash of paparazzi’s capturing film
Prelude to an exhilaration of blissful days’ chain
Where rain and sunshine smack on a rainbow beam

In duo with the...

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He expressed the need for
her to be more efficient.He
wanted her to know that she
was best at what she did and her
voice and personality could make her
affords, to be the most successful in her craft.
She believed...

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Emotional tension fills the air...
 Lights and laughter everywhere

 A fiesta audience waits eagerly for a night of passion.

 The dance of Spain and a sensual dancer
 The Andalusian Gypsy dancer
 El baile flamenco tonight…Ole!

...

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Seconds to go.
I am locked away, set aside.
Throat opens, body twists.
Face distorts, voice roughens.

The tangle man wakes up.
He is twelve, seventy, eighty.
Sick and lame. 
Trembling and tight.

Blank eyes peruse him.
There will be tears, mania and...

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ART

A esthete, I am for I love, love and appreciate works of art and
B eautiful things including alluring women and good looking men.
C reativity of the artists on display, being appreciated and critiqued.
D ance, movements...

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