Long Walnuts Poems

Ceridfen had little trouble adjusting her menu to accommodate the new arrival.  She brought out a terrine of pumpkin soup, savory with a hint of spice and honey.  A casserole of squash and...

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It gradually turned chilly between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Although Frosty the Snowman rarely visited our part of Texas, his pal, Jack Frost, surely did.  He wafted his way through the drafty house, chased by...

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Kitchen counters alive; the vivid colors of red, green, purple and yellow glass jars. Your garden flourished.
.
Pickled beets mingle boiled eggs; a pretty periwinkle purple.
.
Yellow and purple tinted fingers; dandelions and elderberries distilling; musty aroma...

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The holiday season is upon us, and I delight in the memories of my childhood yuletides.  One such memory stands out quite clearly. Just before Thanksgiving, November’s blustery winds arrived, weaving frost spider webs...

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A sudden feeling propelled me to go down to Ellanor C. Lawrence Park
and walk on top of the old colonial Spring house  wall 
I have been to that place before and walked  back...

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They say that a tree is known by its fruit
But there are many trees whose fruits are unknown
Apple bearing pear and pear bearing apple
And a cherry blossom tree cannot bear sunflowers
"Keep out of trouble now"...

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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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Christmas Past and Present Bring Me Tears 

My legs of yesterday's 
walked into a Christmas storybook,
a glorious past,
pages filled with good tidings.
And as young kid, once with open eyes,
with clinging beliefs
in good shepherds,
it was
my parents,...

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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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Well, I had promised Ernie and Snowy I'd walk them downtown,
It was cold so I tucked them warmly inside my jacket pocket.
Sneaking out of that rail yard in daylight was quite tricky,
I guess by now...

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These are the times
I sit and ponder at the beauty of it all,
amazed at the bounty of my blessings
Overburdened with foolish reminiscing
For the time has come for the present...

...life's never ending event

I admire the lovely...

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See them gather around you, observing everything that you do, see them on top of the tree, listening to your heart beat and measuring your speech. 

See them sitting underneath the tree talking about your...

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Winter came with its usual cold, rain, ice, snow, and pain.  By late Winter                    ...

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Cathedrals in tea cups. Jingle jangle playtime then. Golden slippers on a carpet of custard. Slip slide. Drip. No droop. Flavoured water is never fake. Obviously. And count the jellied eels in a bath of...

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wishing he had sung his prayers last night
from both ends to the middle
fell to the ground in adoration
tore a wake through the ink stains
but not from satisfaction
plastic Jesus hold my head
a round of applause for...

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1.
the crystallised handkerchief 
of one’s span of life

your handloom-bird brings with its lips 
some musical notation of the nimbus  

holding that waves within the heart 
how much growth does occur 
to the sandal-line of...

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Time’s up 
mind’s plucked 
watch me cave in 
rhymes suck 
my luck 
hair’s wearing thin 
corrupt 
destruct 
stops me thinking 
clocks stuck 
bell struck 
sound silencing 

Now I told you the minds plucked 
first line...

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Cornucopia
          By Dane Smith-Johnsen
                      ...

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It’s 5pm and sunny in Ohio, 40 degrees
and dropping,
by dusk it will be grey turning to red
then black.

Where is the oyster shell now?
The heavenly picture
of a pale spume-tickled .
An unmarried Tudor lady
applies more cosmetic beeswax
to...

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We are the people of a new era, with patchwork hearts and longings in craters,
The generation of bold dreams sketched on shards of fallen stars.
Let us not forget, let us breathe in: the source of...

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It was just this morning.  That it was. 
At the table there sat only three.
There was Tux, the foam Linux penguin.
The others were my oatmeal and me.  

I never do tire of oatmeal.
But...

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Cornucopia
          By Dane Smith-Johnsen
                      ...

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It was a party, but so much more.
Each participant came directly from
their origins; not from the community
store. There was no alcohol and all the
beverages were Fruit and Vegetable based.
None but healthy fruits and veggies were
allowed...

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It's not always good for me.
Sometimes, it is forbidden.
A little dab will often do me,
but I keep reaching for more.

I have a strong preference for home-made creams.
And once ice cream has become ice cream, you...

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I found it in a small community grocery store.                          ...

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