Short Headlight Poems

Love struck/dumb/numb/ deer in headlight look...

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raccoons 
caught in the headlight
trash our trash...

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Stuck 
In the seams
My headlight
Beams
And I 
Go on
Ever as it seems...

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lying in tall grass 
I try to count twinkling stars 
deer in headlight glare...

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snow white doe stalls in the headlight of days —
                                                golden chariot awakes

9/7/2020...

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headlight came out of the dusk
heading straight down the middle of Highway Six
He is going to hit us!
The motorcycle drove through us
A ghost cycle
Our son...

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There once was a loud laughing star
Whose laugh was hardiest of har-hars,
She was asked to be quiet
Which she thought was a riot,
So they made her into a headlight for cars....

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Goes with the trend bravely but with half sight
ripe sexuality, her massive headlight
following growth so damp
every act gives a cramp
scaling through with my ancient words, she might....

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a lone car on a highway at 5am
its headlight beams knife the dark
no exit wounds
just a flash of steely light pushing 
deeper and deeper into the tarred body

the night bleeds slow
pales from the loss of black blood...

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blue flesh
chill fresh

high cheeks
red peaks

nose froze
deer pose

headlight
frostbite

Winter
splinter

logs split
flame lit

long night
snow white

cat’s purr
warm fur

cocoa
ho ho

applause
for Claus

11/14/2022...

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Scraps of metal 
Surround the trees
Lying on the leaf covered floor
Smoke still rising 
From the smoldering engine
Heating the leather interior
A headlight makes a path to see
The other in front
A shattered windshield
Shows the flesh torn body
And the beer cans that 
Survived....

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Hands on bars
Foot shift
Wheels custom
Seat smoothed shape
Saddle bags filled

Teardrop tank
Filled with fuel
Gage reads oil and fuel
Speed 0 to 60
Headlight on

Blinker clicks
Helmet smoked black
Kickstand down
Key in ignition
Ready to go

No Motorcycle License
That’s a no, no...

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I seek the light
                  from your look that
                  i lost at sea
                   of memories...
                  I seek it to clarify
                   the hope of my
                   look, headlight off
                    in the dense gale
                      storms......

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so many moons have danced a-sea

          and swum in eyes, entrancing me

               but such dear blessings pale to one -

     the chance to rise with each new sun.









Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden, October 6, 2023

( photo of sunrise at Portland Headlight taken by Gregory R Barden 1974 )...

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Listen to poem:

Gray skys backer to the tears; said; to a clearly ominous canvas
Millions of misty dots; swiped right; and left; truncated by this
Blades; so sharply cutting them; from left to right
Driving you away; after all, guiding was by headlight;
The destinations worth; is much more than the journey
To have said goodbye; would have been; privileged to me...

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great horned owl with headlight eyes
like yellow moons they are a huge surprise
you are a male of few words, we hear you swoop
you leave others behind as you glide and loop

there is fear in the woodlands when you appear
your presence is felt, some creatures shed a tear
knowing their loved ones might be in trouble now
you are gorgeous in your beauty – you caught one. Ow!...

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Uncle Charlie
Miracle Man
6/13/2022

He was older than old Dick Tracy,
more informative than a Sear’s catalog.
The stories he told were often racy,
but his life was taken by a one eyed dog.*

*A greyhound Bus with one headlight,
that came streaking across the land.
It mangled his body, what a gruesome sight,
he died with his cane pole in his hand.

Not really. LOL
...

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City lights, city lights –
Look at all the city lights!
Some are red, some are blue –
Some light up a roof –
Such are our summer nights.

A therapeutic wind blows
As I dare to look below
At the freeway steadily
Moving as an artery
By the bright headlight glow.

From such a great height
In the lateness of the night –
A thrill to young hearts
The scene before us imparts.
What wondrous city lights!...

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Today, I woke to a city dusted with white
like a fantasy scene in a snow globe.
It snowed heavily most of the night,
and everything seems surreal, blanketed in a down duvet
that glistens and sparkles in the early morning light.
Adding to the illusion of this Hallmark moment,
the city cacophony was never so slight.
I stare out my window in my slippers and robe,
mesmerized, like a deer caught in a headlight....

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she looks broken
lopsided, uneven, off
we look at each other
there are shadows
an eerie feeling on a country road

a motorcycle?
a car?
truck?
alien spaceship?
should we stop? I ask my husband
as we get a bit closer. 
he shakes his head no

she looks spooky 
in the dark
a single headlight 
switched off now
we both feel there is something ominous
about this lopsided, uneven, pick-up truck
on this deserted country road....

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Among hills Apache red
Where damas and vaqueros
Built up a homestead
Past the mercados
And hills with a vague past
Running aside the mission 
Its white walls chaste
In the glow of the noontime sun 
Past a dreamy mountain range
And several places where in brief
There was a Butterfield stage –
Runs a highway through my life
And whether bathed by the sun
Or a cloud of headlight glare 
It continues to function
And remain my anchor....

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Pure cotton ball fluffy
Most popular tissue, end of a q-tip
Fresh clean virginal snow
Bathrooms and bathtubs
Twinkles in the cosmos
White all around me

Lacy white collars
Lacy white anklets
Lacy white petticoats
Lacy white pantaloons
Lacy white old people
White all around me

Light fixture essence
Glow from a distant headlight
Porches and paper
All the same bright
Tails of deer, polka dots on a navy dress
White all around me...

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A helicopter hovered
In the east side New York sky.
It looked just like the hummingbirds
I spot in mid-July.

Its headlight darted left and right,
Like it was on a quest.
I wondered if the search was real,
Or was it just a test?

No boats were in the river
Over which the copter hovered;
That made me think that there was nothing
There to be discovered.

Some minutes passed and then it slowly
Chop-chop-chopped away.
Another New York mystery
To supplement my day....

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Roaring through the night,
eyesight and headlight,
all are set on bright.

Dawning crisp morning,
fresh air, wind bathing,
warm engine stroking.

Mind pictures forming,
throttle hand numbing,
white lines vanishing.

Downshift, getting set,
praying no deer met,
passing, onward get.

Sunrise before me,
riding to the sea,
leaving island lee.

Ferry ticket stand
snatches from my hand,
soon away from land.

Main side, off and in,
Mister J begin,
with students again....

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What was it?
Was it the halo of curls
Caught in the light from the sun
The flick quick back look of alarm
The unregistered color of inquisitive eyes
The open stare share 
of do I know you 
A nano before 
 defenses slam into place
Headlight hesitation
Freeze to instant disappearance
Paw withheld at first brush of hair
Flash bared teeth
And the instant knowing
Of  power to hurt
Followed or held
By the want to protect
The close proximity of
A perfect stranger
in a mind's eye...

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