Short Menthol Poems

spectacles crackle...
tortured song of the grackle
menthol can’t tackle...

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Falls trees turning leaves
Blanket the bare autum ground
Skies of grayish mist
A prelude of snowey days
We awate the menthol spring...

Tanka,sorta......

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An old lady from Bristol,
Walks around with a bag of menthol, 
She unwraps and licks,
Every time she an answer seeks,
An old lady with a heart like a ball....

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I was smoking 
non-menthol cigarettes 
and tying my 
threadbare new 
balance 
shoelaces 
at the corner deli 
waiting in line 
to buy more non-menthol cigarettes....

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I died
And when I awoke
All the women were tall
Wearing sweats
Had their hair up
Cursing
Smoking menthol cigarettes
They say god loves babies and fools
There are babies out there
And fools in here

chris lampton
1-24-15...

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Hootin Bootin Shootin Tootin Smokin Lokin Caterpillar
Running around in the recesses of the darkened cellar
Taking long deadly drags from his menthol minded mary jane.
We cannot sing this song without a lively mootin grootin refrain....

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Gideon is trembling with fear
His wife shivering with cold;
Some chattering sounds to bear;
A discomfort from The Cold
Now learnt a fitting lesson;
A bucketful to now heat
“Menthol at home a blessing 
To Life-Threatening Cold beat!?
He is near Seventy-Eight;
Agnes’ loss would be a weight?...

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Memories
of Formica
kitchens
And 2-burner
Hotpoint 
stoves
Lipstick on
a menthol
butt
Costume
pearls
in rows
Perfume
from the
five and dime
Drive In’s
on the 
field
A promise
made
a promise kept
And 
love
— that time can’t steal

(Listening To Patsy Cline: July 4th, 2025)
...

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Is that the same habitual pain 
The one I didn’t expect 
To reappear once again
Like fume of menthol cigarette
I smoked ten thousand days ago
When snow was blooming lily-white
And withered leaves were whirling slow
Across the dimmed sunlight 
I thought to make a worthy plan
Before the winter’s timelessness
It wasn’t superstitious then
More likely, a result of stress 
It’s back, in luxury edition
Which is expanded overseas 
Am I to live under suspicion?
I cannot bear all this....

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