Long Undershirt Poems

A beautiful Wintu girl reached puberty. Her sisters were sent to find 
maple bark to make her an apron. 

It so happened that Turtle, the mischievous son of the mighty ‘Sky 
Turtle’ stopped at the...

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My new husband was a farm boy
who didn't like to roam.
It always took a lot of nagging
to get him to leave home.
But we were newly married,
I hadn't learned all of his dislikes.
I imagined us as...

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He begs to know "what is that smoke,
it smells like burning human skin?
and then he begins to choke
and was there to witness the madness begin

i can see him
a tattered tot in tattered cotton slacks
a child...

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She was standing outside her classroom when I arrived
I did not recognize her; I know I have had her class.
But they all wear a different mask every day; I barely recognize any of them.
I ask...

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Naked to Nurture.  Naked, to Nurture.



Why not naked into woods?
We yank up gumboots.
Enshroud our piggies in wicking and itching sockbags.
Hoping to holdfast against the forfeiture of bought heat.

The city slickers in their shiny slickers
clasp...

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Holbert 

Brogans and overalls by Lee;
Making cotton baskets ‘neath a white oak tree.
A grandfather I never really knew 
that smoked Prince Albert; it was tried and true.

Went by the name Holbert.
His wallet in his bib;...

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Gundabooka  Sam

Old Sam squats at Gundabooka
Somewhere out the back of Bourke,
He lives in a shanty hut,
Doesn't seem to do much work,
He wears rope-held trousers
And a long-john undershirt,
His crumpled hat's seen better days
Always covered in...

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A sudden flashflood  gushed along the street,
That I wiggled out , romping and playing 
In my cotton undershirt as summer cooled,
To allow a downpour of monsoon rain.

Swerving through puddles  where  debris
Gathered around...

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[According to Mr Google, what we Brits call a vest is
what Americans call an undershirt]


The completely cuckoo cuckoo
Had got too big for his nest
And so he made a hammock
From a tatty old string vest
But when...

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My Guru stole my underwear! 
I don't remember when,
I don't remember where,
all I know for certain is
my Guru stole my underwear!

I practiced my mantra
for days and days
to reach a higher state.
what do I see when
I...

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He is sleeping.
And I have taken time
To watch and enjoy him; 
He is wearing a white undershirt,
That shows his white arms
And smooth skin; 
The line of his muscles,
Play with the light.
And I can not but...

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