Long Pronounces Poems

I have an old friend who was told some time ago he had six months to live. We live far apart now and he told me about this in an email shortly after the doctor...

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Our cold crisp air augurs an early snow before Thanksgiving. I need to look for my warm fur-lined gloves. The snow tires are heaven knows where in our cluttered garage, but they must be searched...

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The Foe

With strong arms, the warrior raises his crimson stained sword against the mighty Foe.
Death for the cause emboldens me in a strong clear voice he shouts.
The Foe peers down with its fierce coal colored...

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We’re (my pose is gathered this Saturday morning because I made a pancake and bacon breakfast) listening to a Britney Spears song, off one of Leong’s playlists. “I remember when I was about 8,” I...

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I am born into the Calvagna family, a weak frail child. 

At the age of three I tell my mother I will be a hero someday. She weeps holding me closely. 

In late August everyone...

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AmI haveI willI doI as all been some will be with all the helping verbs from Ahman and Ricks in jr high in a timed collective to last a lifetime, I be a  planetary...

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We were (Leong, Peter, Anna and I) eating at a popular Italian eatery (outdoors) and the check arrived - I swooped across the table and grabbed the check from the waiter. Peter whispers, “You can’t...

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He searches in the shady sides,
traces of vanished light,
a drift of the felt,
all of nuances and transitions.

Perhaps is it too early;
cold dawn maintains suspended
the pulsation of the heart,
spreading the ashes,
incomprehension of lack,
in the slow progress...

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It’s boxing day (the Brit name for the day after Christmas) and Pamela, Lisa’s grandmother is visiting our little pandemic ark. Pamela’s a Cowboys fan so we’re watching them slaughter Washington - between commercials -...

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Since advent of Homo sapiens
objection overruled against immortality
all across millenniums humans
generated, amplified, and

idly reverberated (Billy me) rebel yell,
when finality 'twixt consciousness
eternal existence doth die as well
grievous news laudable hospice staff did tell

us (meaning yours truly...

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With day full of sleep, moon falls in the river.
Its beams danced on water with shadows of trees
to a beat of rhythm from wind till it died 
and buried in music of quietness of night....

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It’s midnight on June 24th. We’re returning from a “Hot Wax” concert - they were wretched. We’re heading back to Paris tomorrow, so we decided to just stop at the (Kube Hotel) lounge for nightcaps....

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It’s Saturday morning, and even though it’s Thanksgiving break, Lisa and I are in her bedroom, in NYC, studying.

“Ok,” Lisa stops, looks up and says, “give me a 5ex symbol.”

“I.. I don’t have one on...

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Three lying deacons 
swim in a handbag -
and a lone, celibate pastor 
paces longingly bemused.
Michael, the Arc Angel, 
poses silently,
in dusty Gabbana drag,
cursing the lipstick-painted laymen
writhing in rancid attar -
naked 
and intentionally 
unused.

Four wide-eyed boys...

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(tales from the viral lock-down)

Brice (my brother) is cutting through what smells like a stack of cinnamon french toast.
My stomach growls at the aroma like a hunting cat. 
I jump out of bed, grab my...

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“You can have any wish,” the genie said.
“Any ONE wish?” the girl asked, a little disappointedly.
“One wish,” the genie answered, shrugging.

“Oh.. then” she said, thinking it over. “I wish for.. a banana,” she said whimsically.
“A...

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Sad songs in sad times
Band aid bruises
We feel as climbs and pantomimes
Fail to rouse enthusiasm in cruises 

Which fail to light and wrap up
Enthusiasm in partners
Who feel our coquettish cup
Rains no brainers

That subtract sustenance and...

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Moses and his sweet Molly Mouse 
have a puzzling dilemma.
They have used all the names they know
from Marvalee to Maryemma.

They have followed all mouse name rules.
Each must begin with letter em.
After their hundreds of babies,
they...

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Please Pogo music, wake me up. The night, now reduced to warm laptop light, is inching toward dawn. I pray to the patron saints of writers - is it Neri or Ávila? Whichever is on...

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Twilight finally at rest peace serenely blanketing.
Singing of the ticking timepiece, patter at the stillness.
High-pitch sound of quiet lingering insanely.
Hour’s transient, expressions of a book, devours the mind.
Unexpectedly, the eye catches a dim glimpse of...

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She's getting married at Christmas,
The granddaughter who had said she'd never wed.
We are all quite fond of the young fellow
Who convinced her to forget the words she'd said.

She's getting married at Christmas.
The church will be...

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The jaws sing
As the drip, drip, drip,
Of the petroleum chorus
Dances across 
The inverted aluminum
And the hissing starts
And the hissing stays
Its smell a warning
A final omen
Like the last rose
Of summer
Or the fragrance she wore
For that final...

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The jaws sing
As the drip, drip, drip,
Of the petroleum chorus
Dances across 
The inverted aluminum
And the hissing starts
And the hissing stays
Its smell a warning
A final omen
Like the last rose
Of summer
Or the fragrance she wore
For that final...

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The jaws sing
As the drip, drip, drip,
Of the petroleum chorus
Dances across 
The inverted aluminum
And the hissing starts
And the hissing stays
Its smell a warning
A final omen
Like the last rose
Of summer
Or the fragrance she wore
For that final...

Read More

The jaws sing
As the drip, drip, drip,
Of the petroleum chorus
Dances across 
The inverted aluminum
And the hissing starts
And the hissing stays
Its smell a warning
A final omen
Like the last rose
Of summer
Or the fragrance she wore
For that final...

Read More