Long Pops Poems

It may have been the devil himself who prompted the kids in my schoolyard back in 1947 to chant "Patsy Foley's roly-poly from eating too much ravioli."

At first, no one could remember who started the...

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She looked at him concerned
"Oh my God, we forgot the buns!"
A barbeque happening
Guests arriving
Coals flaming
Food prepared
But nothing to put burgers on
For their housewarming

Hasty instructions and some cash
From his Lover and her roomies
Then he starts to...

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“Now behind the eyes and secrets of the dreamers in the streets rocked to sleep by the sea, see the titbits and topsyturvies, bobs and buttontops, bags and bones, ash and rind and dandruff and...

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The weight of the water is heavy in my chest, a force pressing against the ribs. It rises when I don’t expect it, like a flood breaking through cracked, neglected seams. The truck of my...

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I'M REALLY SORRY TO HEAR THAT WE HAD SO MANY LAUGHS ON EVER SUBJECT BOY THE FBI SCRATCHED THIER HEADS LISTENING TO US 7 YEARS  RIGHT SOMETIMES I WISH I COULD ORDER THOSE TAPES...

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I remember my cherished Wolf Cub pack, 
How I loved those Wednesday evenings, 
The games, the pomp and seriousness of the camps, 
The different coloured scarves, sweaters and hair 
During the mass meetings, 
The solemnity...

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What if poetry soup just shut down 
with all your work before you edited
always copy you work even if you have
to go to the library check your 
titles as well sometimes 
identity thieves actually rip...

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Half a dozen plus years ago the following became a near reality

Countdown to homelessness – 
mars this earthlinked sole Harris - son
panhandler would would register 
pyrrhic victory won.

10…9…8…3..2..1… 
Found me linkedin at the end of...

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The Tyrant

Was born ginger
and learned WhiteRacist
from Dad
dead now about a year.

Possibly opioid addiction
but certainly something
in growing families
of yin-suppressed
self-medicating
LeftBrain too dominant
addictions
to chemical acclimations.

Dad left by death
Tyrant's also addicted
and chronically depressed mother
And his only white racist
twelve year...

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t         e         t        e   
     ...

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After a hard day at work I come home
Hear my boy rapping the words to his headphones
Every bleep comes another bleep
As he keeps dancing to the beat
Come upstairs and barge through the door
Say to him,...

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Race Track Thinking

16… little did I know the initiation began. 16 is hard enough navigating adolescence. Hormone dumping, the anguishing struggle to fit in any way—- relinquishing my individuality, and being true to myself. Unbeknownst,...

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rainfall cascading
		
            quenching the thirsty parched lands
			
                 ...

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"The In-Between"

I ripped the pages of 
that tired old story 
from the heart, a body of work

buried the misdiagnosed slanders
then wiped their mouths
with the back of my spoon

the feed they found,
passed the disingenuous time;
some found...

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"Paper Tigers"



eyes mark slow time
spotting leopard rhyme
never changing its spots
black balled
white pops
the want-to-be bees
sting the dripping honey spot

slapping cards down
kitty pots are shuffled
bluffing intelligentsia
between the gaps
flatulent poets floss their teeth
waxing lyrical strings
tied to the weary...

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The Grizzly Old Cowboy's Night At The Saloon


That wash-bin washed away tons of trail-dirt
Many a pint of blood too said the old man
He was lean and mean in his cowboy shirt
Weather-beaten face and western sun's...

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About Bill Posters and Bill Greenwell

Words not to use in poems

In 1993, I (Bill Greenwell) went on a three-day workshop with the poet Peter Sansom, who co-edits The North, and runs the Smith/Doorstop imprint. He’s...

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Sand in my lungs and in every nook and cranny possible, nothing out here not even a simple bush or tree. Everything is dead and dry as a bone. My own skin holds no life,...

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An early wintry storm hit late last night on this date, September 11th, 2035. There was strangeness in the air like a stale aftermath of partying.  Frigid. Strange that people still celebrate Freedom Day...

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1. A constant smile is the alabaster
for struggle’s ornaments be made faster
average looks with a smile can be labial
its absence points to problems so filial,
may not keep the wolf away from the door
or deliver salvation...

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Oh that Lily, she the epitome of a  
Golden Child as I watched her
Exuding effortless grace, a liquid-silver baton—  
a Haddon Heights Garnett.  
a Blazing Comet /  
enchanting /  
popular...

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Unquotable quotes: Beggars - XXX

Who said beggars cannot be choosers?

Who chooses for them the place, the moment or the people they choose to beg from; the hours of the begging day; the alms they refuse;...

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I stood on the corner this morning
Absorbing the fresh morning air
listening attentively to the morning news
That has everyone so upset and confused
The morning sun is just peeping out
with its orange and yellowish color
Stirring lazy bodies...

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Inspection took place February 17th, 2023...

At 1330 hours (indicated
courtesy notification slipped under door
less than twenty four hours)
hence foretold ill fate
by property (crooks and quade) management
the head honcho zaftig, wanker,
(who replaced the warden)

and Rich (BOLD FACE...

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Cry me a river  cry me a river

The change has arrived

Where are all the heroes

Heroes like jolting Joe D

Hit the ball to outer space

Running from first to Homeplate

Kids cheering kids jumping

Popcorn all over the...

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