Long Rancour Poems

Three cousins played a “game’ of war
A map of Europe spread across the floor
No adults there to keep the score
As each of them wanted more and more

Three of four empires lay upon that map
As they...

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As allies falter from his Blitzkrieg force,
the blood of British sons infuse the sand.
They pray their brothers front the Channel’s course
for they have failed to gain the upper hand.
And, so they wait as devastation rides
upon...

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Herr Schneider and his Heidi 
Lived a staid and peaceful life
In a suburb prim and tidy,
Free of rancour, free of strife.

One blessing only Heaven denied
To this prosperous married pair
No infant’s laugh or baby’s cry
E’er pierced...

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The Silent Killer

The silent stealthy cancer
Creeps and spreads inside
With no warning it's deadly rancour
When it strikes none can abide

Relentlessly eating through and through
As remorseless as a snake
Crushing muscle, bone and sinew
While asleep and while awake

No...

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A New View, Translation of Carlos Bousono’s poem : La nueva mirada

(My own view of Carlos Bousono stems from a full academic year – from the beginning of September 1970 to the end of May-June...

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“Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
                I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
  ...

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Pray, I know, I feel it, I sense it
The intuition which is mightier than my wit
Tweets it to my mind
And I just trust it
As it holds the same power
As a walking stick would, to a...

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Written: July 28, 2023,               No anchor for Rancour Poetry Contest          
 ...

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Tossing and turning after a heavy economic loss
The shock shattered my peace of nights
Hugging my pillow tight with unshed tears
The sorrowful thoughts trudged haltingly
To my grandma's antique sewing machine
Lying impassively in the cluttered store
Guilt shook...

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As along our long life journey we sail
We all do encounter belied expectations 
Feeling of deep hurt results from betrayal 
Our shrivelled heart writhing in contractions 

The hurt needs healing so we go to a...

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THE PAUPER


Bent and frail, the old man stood
Seeking alms only when in need of food
Without any whining to gain sympathy
But an upturned palm and a silent plea

In the five odd years that I saw him...

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Crying, screaming, blaming?
 It's never your fault 
Irk beneath is flaming
 And outpouring daunt

Close your eyes, hey goddess 
And let it burn 
Open them again 
And behold them burn

The avarice in their lusty eyes 
The...

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In London Town he was born and bred,
A ramshackle abode down Popham St.
In Queens' Cottages hunger was he fed,
In London Town he was left for dead.

The landings above the square surveyed
Bins big enough where children...

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My heart is a plume renditioning over a lyre, my soul. 
You are but the fume of frozen fire, on parole.
I am a scintillating bud of ray in the moon,
You are a void sphere on...

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Upon those who yield to anger, I should take pity
because words they spit are like sandpaper, gritty.
A loathsome temper causes them to fume and fret,
sometimes churlish ones spew what they will regret.

Restraining venom is an...

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Three states of the same nape, Translation of Etiemble’s Trois états d’une seule nuque by T. Wignesan

(End-rhyme scheme: ababacac//abab//ababaccddddddd// )


Nape no 1

Since so many lovers have thought it beautiful,
and have extolled it earlier on than...

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Unmet expectations damage the dormant psyche,
unkept promises smother the rays of fading hope, 
unkind words tear the lattice of the mangled mind,
life then turns into an urn of fabricated resentment.

The sane senses become the fast...

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Shedding blood is not a scathe,
Saving people is not a salvage,
Ruining kingdom is not an outrage,
War, as they say – is fine to indulge,
Putting lives to mortgage.

I have seen war – fear in her eyes...

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In company, 
Amidst friends cum acquaintances,
Conversations of barrenness,
Chattering lips uttering programmed responses,
Smiling faces concealing bitter hearts, 
Prejudiced minds feigning solidarity,
Rancour concealed in laughter,
Grudges obscured by affability,
Sprained facial muscles,
From prolonged smiles of pretence,
Ensconced in mistrust,
I dialogue...

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Rancour is a canker
That eats us from within
Bitterness and anger*
Are sure to cause chagrin

Malice is a chalice
From which we should not drink
It will turn us callous
With hearts tuned out of sync

Hanker not for rancour
Let love...

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Only a demon looks at children and feels hate.
Only a monster looks at innocence with a spate
of envious rancour, then mercilessly shoots
to kill, and laughs. They are nothing but brutes!

These murdered children go straight to...

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The Joy of Wind

Wind isn't spiteful.
Wind doesn't intentionally ruffle your coiffure
Gusts may act like a harried paramour, 
tugging at clothes, desperate for your ardour
It casually casts aside fripperies that are not secure
It disregards human constructs
propriety,...

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In the pit, deep and hollow
Burning furnace, cried of sorrow
Cried his veins, but unyielding
Before the punishment unleashed 
In countenance to arrogate His power

Heaven this day turned to hell
When in challenge of His kingdom
As a horse...

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Against the castles walls tonight
The broken assemblage of squires and knights
Dance around the damsel in delight
Her distress dispersing dreamers into fights

This America deserves a better show
While the bugles rage, against the muffled heart 
The cold...

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Icicles hung from the roof 
like translucent fingers 
Clawing towards the ground 
While behind the eaves, 
She brushed her plain brown hair 
Tired gray eyes in the mirror, 
Discolored around the fringe 

And gravity pulled...

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