Long Unwatched Poems

"The Forgotten Legion of Rose Thorns"



Reversing roll calls
the Anti-Hero 
jumps through 
burning hoops
instinctively

bathed in the magnum glow
designed to fire cartridges
with a kick like a field gun
a bloody victory 
is eventually won

lacking conventionality
novel and picaresque
placing bad...

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V.
It was several minutes before Singh spoke
said,“There was a beacon on your life raft,
we saw here it went after you ship sank,
knew if you reached ground then things would be bad.”

At this Zack perked up...

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The Palace Guardiennes were the sultan’s delight,
resplendent in their tight uniforms
of scarlet and magenta silks,
embroidered with golden flowers,
with sterling silver scimitars in
ruby studded scabbards
hanging off lovely hips,
and boots and belts of finest faun-skin
and helmets topped...

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On the hill top staring out to the bottom
Life seems so far from me 
Up to the heavens I look and pray as I am on my knee
Living life like an unwatched DVD
Up on this...

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Samantha feels like spider kill --
horribly alive, but stuck.
Stuck!
Inside the  web
functional furniture
desperate office art.
No windows, so no seasons.
Thank God her mind took protective, evasive
measures long ago.
She's unbudgeable.
She's prehistoric!
And it's a beautiful day in the...

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for Mahathero Gunasena

In a makeshift vihara in the heart of London
Bikku then disclosed his parents long gone
Might one dare utter after all these years
Was it yesterday he would shed dry tears

Somewhere in the saffron folds...

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Coming of Age

Sitting on my front porch
Watching the world go by
I wonder what I’ve learned
At the age of 55?

What were the 60’s all about?
Did we need to yell and shout
As young men died and distant...

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Like a baby
screaming out 
exciting
mind to action
speechless heart
thinks in silence.
Happy thoughts 
stretch a smile
sad thoughts
wet the eyes
jealous thoughts
invent a lie
envious thoughts
grab the knife
fearful thoughts
talents hide
tying jails
the inadequate.
In the garden
of the mind
left unwatched
cockle thrives
love unlocks and
grows...

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Oh Sleepless night oh Glory be
The stealth of nature burdens thee
As winter washes o'er the stones
Your cold caress doth sear my bones
An unfurled sail on straining yard
The banshee howls, its breath bites hard
Tossed from main,...

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It’s rare I find the depths to plumb;
I pen the silly and the dumb.

I don’t scream much into the void
about things with which I’m annoyed.

I cannot rage about my ex
or brag about hot hookup sex,

or...

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My Favorite Animal
A Dog
Yorkshire Terrier 
My Dog Peanut 

A standard Yorkie over sixteen pounds, 
Long silky ash coat with beautiful brown 
Blond mane. Fast, energetic, never down 
Especially if there squirrels around. 

Gentle and playful;...

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Does a seed see the sprout
as it changes underground
or a creeping caterpillar 
know it will fly above the cloud?
Pregnant clouds mist the sprout
cracking earth into a smile
feeding bees and butterflies
as it blooms and when it...

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MY NIGERIA
Proud and ready to dare, blessed and fertile
Named from nature and born from the pursuit of freedom,
A freedom that defied chains and made colonialism futile!
These are the stories taught about Nigeria, this kingdom.

Where have...

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Rats and other vermin abound through the waste of mankind's making,
No one working to keep streets safe, such an important undertaking.
The jobs of such are perilous, dirty and disgusting,
Yet these humble jobs in the ditch...

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Silent night sister,
is your hunting done?
you sit in perfect calm
catching each one
of the silent stars
that hang in the sky
like eyes, still and watching
the silent night go by.
Have you no nest to retire to?
Or are you...

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