Long Trader Poems

The Amistad Mutiny

Slavery, a dirty word no matter how it’s pronounced:
Abducted and herded to the slave fortress of Lomboko1 for trade.
To be tossed in chains below deck on the Portuguese ship Tecora,2
Sailing the Atlantic Middle...

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Poem revised Memorial Day May 30th, 2022 at 1500 hours

Flagrante delict adulterous sordid behavior 
automatically linkedin with Lothario;
an unscrupulous seducer of women, 
based upon a character 
in The Impertinent Curious Man, 
a story within a...

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“There,” Lumi said suddenly and Joulupukki looked through the trees, seeing a small house. 
     “Wait here said Joulupukki, I'll be right back.”
He made his way to the house and called...

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Now Regan and Megan were down on their luck
    and faced with little or no choice.
So with a quiet trepidation... a deal was struck
    and from now all would...

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Written in summer of 1976.


I used to eat my lunch with groups
of businessmen from Campbell Soups.

We drank a drink at lunch each day
Of Coca-Cola mixed with hay

And talked of pending corporate plans
And willow-haired orangutans.

I spent...

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FATTI GLI AFFRI TUOI THE SIMPLE PLEASURE OF LIFE IS ALL WE REALLY OWN IN THIS LIFE I TRIED TO TELL YOU BUT YOU SURROUNDED YOURSELF WITH A CONVOY OF HATRED TO MURDER ME I...

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Deva Ossig, the landlady (and property owner) turned rogue

Just a couple weeks shy 
and seven years ago to the day,
I still remember contractual obligations
our previous residential abode
724 West Railroad Avenue, 
Bryn Mawr 19010 zip code
volatile...

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How simple are the circles in which life turns
How strange are its tangled fingers
Through intricate woven tapestry burns
The wonder that yet lingers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They made their way to the mercantile using the paths less traveled, Lumi hiding...

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Scotch Tape Sweepstakes

The easy to handle
sticky sided material
made of a variety of materials, including
cellulose acetate, polypropylene,
PVC, and adhesive
(alluded to in the title)
applied in an innovative manner
allowing, enabling, and providing me
the means and ways to affix...

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Talismanic mystical duties of an aardvark is best performed upon a desert landscape or in a dense jungle for it is merely in these two places that wild fauna can be located and ancient brands...

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Times and Protests

Times and protests are troubling
All of our problems started doubling
In minds Trumps seeds are planted
With him as President are disenchanter
White House water has stopped bubbling.

For hours at poles we waited
Can this election be invalidated
Due...

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Talismanic mystical duties of an aardvark is best performed upon a desert landscape or in a dense jungle for it is merely in these two places that wild fauna can be located and ancient brands...

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V.
She knew he was right, and had little choice,
winter had set in, travel was hard,
but Reid had killed elk, frozen meat to spare,
the ponds he worked were never that far.

Mink kept her guard up when...

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My roommates are all up and about. It’s finals week and everyone is hustling about.
Lisa came in from an early exam, it was snowing lightly, she looked right at home.
“How’d it go?” I quizzed.
“E-Z,” she...

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Decided...
 
Scene 1 (years earlier)

Years of indecision 
Ended in an instant 
My life in third revision 
Starting in the present 

Touching everything I've owned 
Importing their very essence 
Of each and every feeling they borne...

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That Bay was just misery, just when I thought he was ready to gentle down, 
He’d cut loose shinning and shying from anything that he had a chance to fear, and he’d get to bucking...

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Mother
                     —Statue of Ebony Black—

A woman who cried for freedom,
not for herself but on behalf...

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II.
They did not use Reid Gibson that kindly
as they drove him swiftly on up the trail,
when he fell behind or misunderstood
the two would both strike him without fail.

Was he to be held for a big...

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Pretty like the crystalline canyon rocks -
   Fair like a deer wandering in the morn' -
With the Great Spirit as a faithful witness
   A baby girl named Red Feather was born...

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There was a shouting in town, everyone was saying 
Be careful all the ladies ,The trader of love is coming to our city
He'll knock the door of every house But keep the lock on 
Once...

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We need to remember our heritage and the reason we celebrate the 4th of July.
 
Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Their story. . .
...

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This is Uganda
My motherland
My home that I love so much
Boom, boom, boom,boom
Another prominent leader has been shot dead
Who is it?
Abiriga, the yellow man
Panic here, panic there
Some arrests here and there
And that’s it
He is gone
And the...

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For all that day the frantic chase went on,
until evening’s gloom started to spill,
even in the middle of a warm August,
Yukon nights can give a man a chill.

And the gang stared to complaining,
all three of...

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The spouse betook monthly outing
today May 4th, 2022 
to 3938B Ridge Pike, 
Collegeville, Pennsylvania 19426.

No more bare cupboards,
fridge, and deep freezer
since returning with more than
our share of daily bread,
plus other sundry provisions
referring to this mister,...

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Here's a story about a Leprechaun
But it's not exactly what you think
For this one was over seven foot tall
Til one day when he started to shrink

Now everybody knows about leprechauns
And how they hide their pot...

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