Long Undercarriage Poems

Leslie Holden came from East Adelaide a South Australia town 
When on 26 May 1915 he enlisted in the 4th Light Horse of the AIF renown
He was a driver when the 4th left for Egypt...

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twelve miles of useless... road 
if you want to call it that
so washed out, rutted, and rocky that
usually you drive around it
three beers to go such a tiny distance
hay meadows across the creek 
always teaming...

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Somewhere over Europe
A B-17 flies
Strafed and damaged
In her enemies skies

The flak has taken
Its toll on the plane
This crew so brave
In this theatre of war campaign

Many hours have passed
With no sight of the channel
Only land ahead
Is...

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“Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate", most frequently translated as "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here". A. Dante, 14th century Italian poet

They sway the power over mere mortals
They drop the words that cannot be appealed
Gods...

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Oh boy, she was gorgeous and I made mention of bed
She said she really liked me but she won’t until we’re wed
She often said there’s stuff that really ought to be discussed
But I could only...

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It descended hard and hot -
must have been a rookie,
flaps oscillating mightily
correcting overcorrections,
undercarriage lowered and high angled
wings up and wide
spread out for maximum deceleration.

If there had been a computer on-board
it would have been repeating:
"too low...

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.

                  fathom this fellowz
              ...

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Consider the chance meeting of a man and a dog on the street.
The man smiles and smacks his lips – a calming signal to the dog.
The dog, head down, tail at half mast, wonders what...

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A cool breeze
    like the slightest graze
of the recently passed
flows under the shaded thickness
     of the ancient woods.
  The worn paths,
      ...

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The heart of a lion 
The soul of a flea
The energy of a gnat
Please do not let this be me

Reaching into my junk drawer
I pick up three items that give me glee
A candy bar wrapper,...

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I am a bonafide certified mommy-fied leader of a dog pack.
They currently sit at my feet waiting to see what we will do next.
Beau our newbie is the only renegade who keeps running from the...

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I am a grossly overweight midget 
of later years.  

I have a penchant for funny women, 
the absurd, 
and baked goods.  

I have 826 thousand dollars in the bank 
and a dose of...

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Over the past two weeks
I've seen people held against their will
heard their desperate cries to be rescued
watched them be shut up-beaten up- blown up
I've watched them plummet from the undercarriage of a rescue plane..
and just...

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Street-lights golden nuggets on a plane
I shimmer with anticipation
Aircraft dips left like a soaring hawk
Golden eyes zero in on its prey

Aloft and descending turbulence
Undercarriage open like talons
Binocular vision so alert
As screeching rubber thumps the tarmac

Decelerate...

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When brother was fading away
black chimes signaled for the demons to play
They attacked all sides of the hobbled mind
Treating the heart like an orphaned marble
They were rabid and had brackish intention
hope chipped away like crowbar...

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I'm a big tree and a vast forest,
I shade the undercarriage,
I'm a kid slash florist.
I live to raid any broken marriage.

This is a stick up, give me the goods,
Wonder, get lost and stolen,
This is a...

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PAPER PLANE

A project with my small son
After so much paper folding
Sharpening important creases
Anticipation slowly increases
Thumb and forefinger holding
First flight testing has begun

He sees me throw the plane
Into the garden’s warm still air
At first it floats...

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