Long Rationed Poems

"Who Put Luebella down the Wych Elm?"

There are rumours
about me, some 
come seeking me
with their geiger counters
and ouji boards
with their heart 
shaped planchettes

unanswered questions
in the woods, crackling
within the sounds of leaves
invisible dead things speaking 
underfoot...

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I used to slit my arms open like I was peeling fruit—careful, slow, watching the skin give way like wet paper. The box cutter blade was dull, sticky from God knows what—maybe dried glue, maybe...

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Galactic Strings or Void of Space?

A poem’s akin to a necklace, one fashioned
of water-worn pebbles (from rarest of realms),
stone cold truths tumble-polished, love’s chord weaves together.
Do fossilized beads left behind in Life’s wake
spark faint hint...

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THE GREATEST GENERATION
by

JOHN M. ARRIBAS



Many Have Called Them the Greatest Generation
They Had Struggled and Survived, an Ugly Depression
It Was an Era of Hard Times and Simple Diversions
Like Bank Night, Singalongs  and Picnic Excursions
Band Concerts...

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Written words
Lines and verses
Poetry
Fragments of an author's soul
Frozen ink on paper
Entombed emotions
Imprisoned ideas
Trapped thoughts
Sentient silhouettes
Paper phantoms
Paper ghosts

School during a civil war
In six easy steps
A place of learning and reason
A propaganda soup cauldron
A refuge of normality...

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I was seven years old when began World War Two
And eleven became by the time it was through.
I have vague recollections of things when that small,
But events during wartime I clearly recall.

Since there was no...

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See them scattered everywhere in buses, trucks and horse buggies, thousands of them lined the street with only the clothes on their backs and a bottle of water to wet their dry throats when the...

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still the climbing green lianoid lass


her tender tendrils torn  


massive metal lying like a cutlass


in her lap forlorn


                ...

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I bury my face in my hands to cover the shame because everything was not the same, the spectacular air parade was blocked from the balcony and trooping the colors were searching for their destiny.

The...

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walk the urban sprawl, 
where skyscrapers pierce the sky 
cities bleeding_assoc. 
carnival lights bloodshot dreams that flee, 
like squirrels unconfined biting frost of winter, 
within the tumultuous mind —

stares into the landscape, tattered, mined;

flickering neon...

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Overzealousness and assiduousness...

now propels yours truly towards restitution
courtesy sophisticated mountebank,
whose criminal mind
filched mine banknotes
rationed for when I exhibit decrepitude.
Cutthroat robber baron
re: newly minted vandal
an alumni matriculated

from school for scandal
a sheep in wolf's clothing
said culprit I...

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Oh, For The Simpler Times
Y2K is coming
Written: by  Tom Wright
2000 

I eagerly watch,
as darkness gives way to dawn;
as preening birds
begin to stir.
I sip hot coffee, 
stretch and yawn,
and lament that things
aren't as they were.

The...

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On the banks of the mighty Skagit,
where the rushing waters flow,
sat a fisherman of merit,
the one known as Farmer Joe.
Long he sat there, long he fished there,
always waiting for the day
he would catch a mighty...

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Until last Wednesday I never thought 
I'd been bought up by narcacist, the thought made me distraught 
But then the memories flooded back in
A narcissist raised me, now let me begin 

I thought of my...

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WHO WERE THE PILGRIMS ?


JAMESTOWN
1607 



 Four hundred years ago high-born Brits sailed to America
Seeking fast fortunes, adventure and fame.
Many would never endure their first year here
Cultivating, foraging, and hunting game.

Arriving in Virginia they came...

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I tell you I like, that Wayland a bunch
He'd be the guy, to be there in a crunch
Not afraid of humor, he paves the way
With clerihew words, he loves to play

Let's talk of Eileen, the...

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Reality is rising out of the earth, mixing water with dirt, the children are playing in the mud from morning until sun down and the crisis in the street have disrupted the long awaited peace,...

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Reality is rising out of the earth, mixing water with dirt, the children are playing in the mud from morning until sun down and the crisis in the street have disrupted the long awaited peace,...

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Meeting a princess

It was, according to the old, the coldest winter
any could remember, the wise said it was because 
the war had disturbed the weather pattern
One day, it snowed, then it got mild, after that...

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THE FIRST THANKSGIVING



The Pilgrims held the first Thanksgiving
At Plymouth in October 1621.
The bitter winter of 1620, was over
With a loss of many father, mother, daughter or son.

Life for survivors was much better now
As a good...

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The blood curdling screams rang out into the night
The little beggars were dragging someone to their lair
Huddled together, trembling with fear, we closed our eyes
She whispered “Do you think they will come?” 
I held my...

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Anxiety peak's as mundane attention seeks.
Fear and excitement compete as boredom seeps.
This powerful small action is not an option I possess.
My desire to please is within reach, the winner of an underdog's match.
Adrenaline a premature...

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dang,
grandma    was a real hubba bubba-
killer-diller
khaki wacky   boycrazygirl

a spiffy    hot damn    hoofer

during the dark hours of WWII
and the devastation
followed with
unrestrainedjubibilation
beat me daddy eight to...

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it was that dull ache that kept her going

a longing for freedom whatever that meant

confined to the straight-jacket of her mind

she tore at the shackles until her heart bled

clots obstructed safe burden-less passage 

stenosed angry...

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Make the world Greta again.


The world is on fire and you just sit there getting higher.
Inhaling the pollution, you are no solution.
Neither are you the answer, but you can change the question.
I call you a...

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