Long Teller Poems

Athenian Epitaphs

Mariner, do not ask whose tomb this may be,
but go with good fortune: I wish you a kinder sea.
—Michael R. Burch, after Plato

Does my soul abide in heaven, or hell?
Only the sea gulls
in their...

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At the footbridge Sue was meeting her beau
(He was married to a woman called Flo)
Sue soon found out his deception
She dismembered his erection
For his love life it was a massive blow

To the hospital fled poor...

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"Dream 1: 4 Weeks in Positano"



Kisses long linger warm lips tasted intense
so sweet like cured Valencia Oranges
lips liquored triple sec not dry drunk on love
softly grazed, then held long

slow, deep, warm and wet

The story is...

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The Story so far…
Makani (The Rising Wind), a beautiful extra-terrestrial researcher is sent to a remote island to observe earth. She finds Sam, a shipwrecked earthling near death owing to drowning. Sam (Ka ‘Lo -...

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Friday May 13th, 2022

An excerpt taken from a lengthy tome,
written courtesy a favorite poet of mine.

Paraskevidekatriaphobia  struck within a blink,
I swear yours truly never took a drink,
nevertheless he witnessed
and falsely accused of being a...

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Once upon an evolving time
we were a great first nation,
or second nation,
depending on your historical perspective,
but definitely not a third nation
although some cooperative economists
thought we might be competing ourselves
in that over-invested and ego-inflationary direction.

This first...

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Inferiority complex as a kid, adolescent and emerging adult

Yours truly (an amazingly,
gracefully, and markedly modest
passively aging baby boomer -
formerly introverted long haired
pencil necked geek),
prattling wordsmith doth behold
nostalgic memories regarding father
(Boyce Brandon Harris)
long ago lapsed decades

during...

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When does ambiguously free verse
also become emphatically political verbing verse?

I was emphatically reading pieces
ambiguously written 
about my sons,
to my oldest son's girlfriend.

The longer I read
the more she cried.

Now it had been my hope
and passion
to become...

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The old man stood;elbows resting on the old stone wall
Wistfully he gazed over the snow laden field,
Watching the sheep nibble on bales of hay,
He thought back remembering his working day.

In his leather like work hardened...

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I inherited a restaurant, from my parents who had retired.
It was a classy one, and only the best of staff were hired.

Overseeing its operation, was genuinely a labor of love,
As the noon warming sunshine, oversees...

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“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”



The Dilettante Diaries: Avian Notes on the Sensate Slip Stream : The Silent War in 3 Acts

(Part 1)

Starlings singing...

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THE INCUMBENT
by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS

I am sick and tired of hearing the same old line
My elected representative says every things fine
He just does not represent the people I know
He’s been there forever its time for him...

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Hypothetical Lust

                                 ...

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Long Ago, Memories Of A Cold Winter Night Conversation
(Narrative/Rhyme)

Hebridean isles, once sang to me in a dream,
She her beautiful hair silky, so very long
There rests magnificent treasure few ever find
A good poet would use it...

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O' Baobab! O' Baobab! O' Baobab
Ace of the furnace, finest of the dynasty 
You strut your breast high
And ply strain against the yearn, 
Against the fire, the desire for sigh 
Haughty, you stand, before the...

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Five strangers rode into Bodie, a small gold mining town
They didn't look at anybody and kept their heads down
At the Citizens bank they halted, it had been a long ride
Four then entered the bank and...

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I had my plan memorized, 
and I picked the right time.
I walked into the bank 
when there was no line.
I walked up to the teller 
and presented a note.
She hadn’t lived my life, 
you see,...

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In the late 1970s, I was going home on a Friday evening,
and needed a little more fuel in my truck, 
enough to get back to work on Monday morning.
I had $3 on me, pulled into...

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If I could drink my life away,
I would...
If I could smoke my life away,
I should...
I shouldn’t think this way
No, not today...

There’s no point in living this lie, this lie
Or lying in front of your face...

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I was making a deposit at the teller window of my local bank.  As the teller proceeded to finish the transaction, she asked if I would like to apply for their credit card. ...

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Yours truly embarks on wild goose chase after elusive pot of gold

two alternate titles: 
1. Gander seeking goose that laid the golden egg
2. Incorrigible lottery dreamer
linkedin with previous poem I wrote
though modesty deters 
crafty, lofty,...

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Mardi was at the Darby;
Yet he was not invited to the party;
Very upset at what he could not get; 
He went over to the teller to make a bet.

“Mardi, you came to the Darby,” the...

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(alternatively titled: tardy duff fender of assertiveness,
especially after adjusting following insanity clause
affixed with rubber baby-buggy bumpers)

Methinks I nearly got snookered
courtesy CVS employee at store number 7569
(address: 1206 North Gravel Pike,
Zieglerville, Pennsylvania 19492)
September ninth, two thousand...

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I was an invaluable bank teller, loving peaceful life and daisy blue sky days,
Like yellow sun warming sweet seasons, inducing vibrant, natural displays.

I left for pleasant work every day, with a determined and practical purpose;
And...

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~ (~) ~ By design this poem is interchangeable within-and-with-itself either 
way being or which ever Nonet you chose to read firsts, they always recycle 
themselves. ~ (~) ~ 

~ (~) ~ This poem can...

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