Long Wake the dead Poems

A Stolen Memory
A Mirthful Chorus
By Sy Roth 


We surrounded him 
Asked to let go.
She stared at the misshapen face,
Unshaven sandpapery skin 
Eyelids a tabula rasa
Fluttery sere skin
And we could see the humor blossoming in his...

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[Continued from ‘Terror Bugs: Part 2 - A Freezer Mice Adventure’]
__________

London’s streets resembled an al fresco mausoleum 
They tracked a trail of body parts which led to a museum
A thousand Terror Bugs were massed, in...

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The inspiration for this partially true piece was my older brother, Joe, and his 2 grandkids (circa 1994) - 


I can clearly see the moon, and feel the sultry breeze
(It was an unforgettable event).
Despite the...

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We all have favorite times of year, and I am no exception.
If I were forced to pick a favorite time, it would be fall.
Though not because it sports the finest garb, although it does,
But rather...

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Now, I am not a huge man

I'm not large by any means

In fact it is surprising

I still wear normal jeans

My pants don't have elastics

I still use normal towels

But, my BMI stats tell me

I'm a word...

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Screaming from his office was loud enough to wake the dead
by our trucking company foreman who was livid when he said,
“That useless bloody mongrel, that scum of the flamin’ earth,
has loaded up a truck with...

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This raggedy pew has, I’m sure, seen many breakdowns and pleas. I grip it with both hands and stare at the stained red plush carpet under my worn converse, something that aren't exactly acceptable at...

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In Jan, nineteen thirty-three, there was man called Mick Malloy
At the time he was an alcoholic and a poor homeless boy.
A young Irish fire-fighter out of work
He left his home in Donegal - to find...

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He was a cowboy problem child
rescued by a mendicant sage brush sorcerer
resulting in his remembering everything
flawlessly insolently permanantly
birth death life things in space have a beer
owner of his own head at last
thanks to whiskey tainted...

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These two poems composed to honor this truly great poet,
Elinor Wylie....
 
(1.)
Heaven Smiles And Its Light Awaits
 
Icy winds have died, winter fled
Hope has sung, Spring has sprung
Love and promise have wed 
new life's radiant...

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You call me a boy, because you feel you should.
But, I'm a man Momma and made my decisions because I could.
There will come a time when every boy leaves his home.
Walks out the door and...

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To the gravedigger, dear sir
let the ivy grow and the rain fall in the stele
As a flower fall from Eden, I hear the angels sing
While I slightly twist and turn in the God’s acre, so...

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The evening dark and foggy as the children in their guises
with Mums and Dads in tow; collecting trick or treat surprises.

My porch, festooned with spiders, ghosts and ugly-looking gore,
signalled that I’d welcome them if they...

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Well some they say though straight or gay
Get fun from innuendo
While others wait ‘til dark
To get their kicks outside your window

Some do the deed without a sound
Some labour in the dark
While others roars would wake...

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I must be getting old,
beginning to hate the cold,
perhaps instinctively,subconsciously knowing
cold's connection to death,
I can hardly catch my breath,
smoking like a fiend
since I was fifteen,
knuckle enlarged and red,
the pounding in my head,
just wanting to take...

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Social injustices can affect so many

A hand to grasp to hide & hold
Set on fire to its oratory fragrance...

The streets were fought for territorial rights;
Out of negotiations with a long line of strife
The gangs outside...

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I been thinking about you all morning

I just love you to no end

I been singing you song of welcome

Bring your spirit into this place

Breathe on me with your presence of grace and mercy

I love you

If...

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Life is short
Too short to read all the poems ever written
Talk less of novels and plays

This life is too short
To listen to all the music ever recorded
And certainly too short to watch all the movies...

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my first love, my high school sweet and shy girlfriend.
a feeling never felt before, I prayed it wouldn’t ever end.

the drive-in movies, the carnivals, we did them all in style,
I had no car, to see...

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You never feed me.
Perhaps I'll sleep on your face.
That will show you.

You must scratch me there!
Yes, above my tail! Behold,
elevator butt.

I need a new toy.
Tail of black dog keeps good time.
Pounce! good dog! good dog!

The...

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Unshakeable groggy state
plagues mein kampf
impossible mission to awaken
this comatose zombie
drugged horror - by potent

self manufactured narcotic -
oppressive tantalizing
nightmares indistinguishable
when supposedly conscious,
eyes cannot differentiate

dusky "reality" from
twilit zoned lifelike slumbers
confused with medication
induced hallucinations ferrying
me to lands unknown

lack...

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Death is like a dream
Hope that keeps me wishin
I know I'm not going to heaven
I've done too much sining
Stars hanging in the sky
Like cherries I can pick
Teaching me a lesson
Somethings are impossible to reach

What's the...

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Continued from Part 1

The City’s blur? A sepulcher for Christians, Muslims, Jews –
Cathedrals, Temples, vacant now, enshrine their residues,
for churches, mosques and synagogues abide without a bruise.

No cantillation, belfry bells, monastic chants inspire
and Minarets, though...

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I should have listened when they said:
"Don't grow up, you'll wake up dead."
Now here I am, left behind 
Reality is not one in which you can confide

Spread the word, youth is a trap! 
I've given...

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I look upon the dark of night, and go to bed content, 
Knowing that, tomorrow l will eat and be replete, 
But I know, as you well do, the same cannot be said, 
For brothers...

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