Long Stopover Poems

China Tour Diary Moment #1
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KUNMING THOUGHTS


Sunday morning flight to Kunming city;
East bound to explore vignettes of China;
New vistas to sight, postcard memories;
Feast visual galore on tour agenda.

Yunnan province greets our earthly landing;
Brisk clearance and we...

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March came in like a lion
And never let up, not really 
The children, Markie and Stu, spent most of their day outside
Except, as usual, for a quick lunch and a quicker hug

In the country, the...

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THE AFTERLIFE

As I come to the end of my life,
Its toil and struggle and strife,
There waits for me a new plain
Where I will be living again.
No, I will not reincarnate;
I’ll live in eternity’s state.
The prospect...

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Call of the wild

We talkspeak and nothing much is 
said until a bright spore spot spawns
and gets a seed for sale—compliant
of brotherly love passions filler like dirty
socks in a hamper  forgotten   we...

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Flight Of Fancy
                                ...

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You carved your smile into my solitude, the chisel of your memory digging deep into the marble of silence,
Leaving orchids to bloom in the cracks of my pain, petals of hope in the desert of...

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Up in smoke a caterpillar creeps in your ear                          ...

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Where will I be?
When your plane bursts the clouds
On its way back home
To your boys’ embrace and Asia 
Dissolves
Like a forgotten stopover
On another ticket to Destination 
Life.

So where will I be?
When the softness of your...

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I begin my descent on earth in the vertical
charmed to spin Chantal in the horizontal
100 times I could feel beating at the sleep his liver 
then to take the tangent when she awakes just after
there...

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December rains
Hurl aqueous tears;
Salty aftertaste

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Monsoon season
Wet and wet again;
Abrupt mood swings

~~~~~~~~~


Seek knowing
Beyond word count;
Awareness sums

~~~~~~~~~


Wet market lanes
Slippery slimy walkways;
Jerky footfalls splash

~~~~~~~~~


Bargain hunters
Black Friday sales;
Mob mentality

~~~~~~~~~


Hot tea brew
Random conversations;
Drifting away

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Rustic tea house
Aromatic fragrance;
Poignant deluge

~~~~~~~~~


Elemental harmony
Geomancy fortifies;
Feng...

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Evening cicadas
Cacophony climax;
Night time music

~~~~~~~~~


By this playground
Noisy frolic parades;
Little feet gather

~~~~~~~~~


Haiku moment:
Brief promontory,
Dragonfly buzz

~~~~~~~~~


Raining non-stop
Wet moments splash;
Umbrella parade

~~~~~~~~~


Aqueous verses
Heavy pieces drowning;
Pouring rain recites

~~~~~~~~~


Walkway cobblestones
Busy footfalls conspire;
Old man ponders

~~~~~~~~~


Odd faces
Cellphone conversations;
Bus-stop queue

~~~~~~~~~


Gone away
Cannes vacation;
Stopover at Nice

~~~~~~~~~


Fruit...

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*Image of Take In North America by Amtrak.
Training Experience: Novice

All onboard, the Pacific Coast-Liner,
it is seventy-seven, my first leave
of a first year's work. A bit sideliner
on board, the conductor took my bag, "We've
an opened dining...

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Rainy deluge
Wetness clouds;
Moody day

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Sitting still
Thoughts subside;
Just being

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Stray stopover
Fluffy white snow;
Harsh elements

~~~~~~~~~


Death configures
Body at rest;
Time cut short

~~~~~~~~~


Snowy cascade
Fluffy feel;
Freezing here

~~~~~~~~~


Old-timers
Strolling hand-in-hand;
Lifetime of love

~~~~~~~~~


Brisk snowfall
Wild swirls here;
White splashes

~~~~~~~~~


Wet departure
Goodbye kiss;
Sad glimpses

~~~~~~~~~


Cold winds blow
Misty wild;
Wintry beauty

~~~~~~~~~


Old hands clutch
Strolling...

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Morning buzz
Grandeur and grace;
Pleasant surprise

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Floral bouquet
Scented extravagance;
Rose garden escapade

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City lights twinkle
Evening charades;
Dinner for two

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Father's Day comes
Commercial success;
Family reunion

~~~~~~~~~


Ink stains
Words on paper;
Cursive metaphors

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Kitchen chit-chat
Witty small talk;
Espresso ideas

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Sleepy somnolence
Eyelids heavy;
Dreamy pursuits

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Birdsong duet
Dawn serenade;
Hopes and dreams

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Late night escapade
Tryst...

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Friday evening flight,
A touch of urgency,
Changi Airport Terminal One.


Check-in smoothly,
Baggage and all,
A trip Down Under.


Three souls plus one,
Baby in tow plus three adults,
An outback escapade.


A commercial air flight,
Departs near eleven pm,
A journey far away from...

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I wasted so much time
dragging this body shell around
and living for the expectation
it was due. You see, I realized
the truth too late in my allotmment
of material experience.  It was
exploitation of naievete, I think.
I'm not...

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Was searching, searching for lucky clover,
when a loud bawdy fairy flew over;
and said, she was a Colleen,
said, to stop touching her green;
KEEP GOING-  cause this is no stopover !

So, I left and went looking...

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(Dedication: For Zhou Junchen, Joseph
-- Our Chinese tour guide in Yunnan, who 
took us on an amazing journey, with 
kindness and great patience.)
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Yield to memories in pictures we take;
Urge strange new cultures to shape experience;
Note...

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We went to Date-on Ohio
164 miles away to
Do the gig.
Swank and Swiggle
Has successfully convented
Our manager to stopover
 Linzzies Supper club
To hear the orchestra
Swede got drunk and
Wanted to mingle. He
Caught up wiff sum slink
she was tryna...

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Evolution’s Speed Bump
                                ...

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Haiku journal
Poignant insights;
Experience sculpts

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July moon
Speaks softly;
A lover's sigh

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Voices cease
Sleep intrudes;
Metamorphosis

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Ask for the way
Seek that strange road;
Dear nowhere man

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Tiny grey parrot chick
Brief sojourn here;
Gone with the wind

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Brief timeshare
Short stopover;
Teary grief

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To come is to go
To go is...

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A bit of great cuisine history
was made by Philadelphian Pat Oliveri.
Along with his brother Harry,
the steak sandwich was created in 1930.
They were the men to whom we all owe thanks.
Being hot dog vendors who ran...

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Let’s take a trip to the moon
And built a tent in there 
Let’s visit the sun
And offer him a drink to chill
Let’s stopover in the planets
And find new friends
Let’s provide the medals
For the running asteroids
Let’s...

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The slow, murky, drought-affected river
Snakes its way around meandering shores.
Its surface littered with leaves upriver
Like colorful scales on a constrictor.
Within its gut swim impervious prey
That nourishes it along its lengthy
Journey to the sea. All along...

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