Short Narrows Poems

Watch the
Waves
On the 
Morrow
Let’s go down
The flourintine
Narrows...

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the Thames estuary;
a flock of caravans
and a low sun
that narrows my eyes,

a seawind strong,
that pulls my kite
over the water....

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Love narrows your options,
it finds ways
for you to disappear under fingertips.
Some say it’s a chemical reaction,
if so,
I’m an enzyme....

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Love narrows your options,
it finds ways
for you to disappear under fingertips.
Some say it’s a chemical reaction,
if so,
I’m an enzyme for love....

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The passage 
narrows 
as I incautiously 
wedge onward. 
At this stage in the game
do I still have to worry
about finding the way back?
Why can't I 
just let the days lighten, darken, 
terminate?...

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specificity in poetry
narrows down possibility.
With this nonet, I portray
my theme as a word stream.
See it now narrow
as it flows with
exactness
to the
end.


April 17, 2019...

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Cliff edge narrows, steps in place
 danger looming strong
Height above me terror laced
searching right from wrong
Summit beckons, flag to place
and leave my name among
Flocks of pilgrims reaching grace
—to finally belong

(The New Room: July, 2022)...

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A stored ripening sunlight,
opens veins under wet sods.

We are conveyed on the thaw,
upon the guttering soil
through the squelching narrows
of wayside hedgerows.

Spring mops and sops,
breezes furbish,
unlock a pearly dew
to melt the frosted prints
of paws and claws....

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My window opens wider
  as my focus narrows down

The words are now much richer
  than what I used to think profound

The light brings joy and substance
  filling corners deep and closed

Its breezes tinged with lilac
  —all negatives exposed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)...

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My window opens wider,
  as my focus narrows down

The words are now much richer
  than what I used to think profound

The light brings joy and substance,
  filling corners deep and closed

Its breezes tinged with lilac
  —all negatives exposed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)...

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the yellow forest 
is darkened by dusk
blue opulence 
shining through black branches
the crunch of the floor 
as beings pass
becomes louder 
at the sun's last cast 
vision narrows 
to creatures of the night
oh how they play 
with lack of sight
the cold wind 
shakes the leaves 
the yellow forest 
never sleeps...

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Who is at my shoulder now
What lingers in my shadow?
See how quick the waters flow
Where the river narrows

Hungry as a sparrow
Sinister as a crow
Floating like an arrow
Up from the lake

Comes a Heron here to take
The crow’s eggs if he can
But they are awake
And alive to his plan

Now comes a raucous battle
And so the scores are settled....

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Mud cracks its teeth.
Roots crunch and seep
a stored sunlight. 
There are open veins
under wet sods.

We are conveyed above the melt
on guttering rapids
through the narrows
of squelching hedgerows
toward the drumming
of new-sprouted stems.

Winter thaws in hollows,
pushes heat into slick droplets
for the sip and swallow
of greening throats....

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First imagination narrows
as your world is being changed,
your outlook becomes different
your priorities rearranged.

Your friends are taking second place
your darkest thoughts have light,
the lonely feelings gone at last
the future's looking bright.

You may not be religious
or believe in heaven above,
but anything is possible
now that you're in love....

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Mud cracks its teeth.
Roots crunch and seep.
A stored ripening sunlight,
open veins under wet sods.

We are conveyed above the melt,
on guttering rapids,
through the narrows
of squelching hedgerows.
Paws soak in a sparkle of dew.

Winter thaws in hollows,
pushes heat into slick droplets,
into the sip and tipple
of as yet untrodden stems....

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Take care not to slip
Into that dark tunnel
Where vision narrows 
And focus is lost for 
Fate often waits to funnel
Us into places where lives
Are often randomly tossed

Guard well your free will
Beware of false visions
Be master of your domain
Tho’ few really do…
And know that we all
Have our own prisons
And all of our debts
…will come due…
...

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Slithering distractions

Taunting from the narrows
Rummaging the pain
Oscillating arrows
Lasting is the stain

Lurking in the alleys
Seeking other’s tears
Once the number tallies
Nudging on the fears

Slithering distractions
Ominous display
Undesired actions
People run away

Spewing like a fountain
Unimpeded hate
Cast them from the mountain
Kick them to their fate...

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She was taken undercover of daylight
by the nightly throng of a grinding poverty.

They swept her away into a street so narrow
you had to enter it like a thin shadow at midday.

No one kidnapped her, she was taken
by the swirling winds of indifference,
the barred places of no other place to go.

Where she is now
only the gutters could tell,
but they are too busy escaping
their own narrow....

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"All a man really wants, is a girl who looks good in a bikini." - Jack Freestone

Hot white sand sticks,
tingles the salacious sense
of beach-braced feeling,
clad in skimpy bikini.

Out of the blue the golden sun gilds 
the skin unconcealed,
lubricious assets fix attention focus,
the imagination latitude narrows. 

The construct of the consummate mind,
the unsculpted bikini body beguiles....

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SUNDOWN TANKA

two ducks on the pond
and one on the stony path
right around sundown
i must wonder where they sleep
then, looking homeward, must yawn

such a shallow fence
along the wintery trail
just logs and runners
nor for keeping in nor out
but skirts the deep, dark forest

where the stream narrows
someone has laid down a log
questionable –
which side to use for camping?
balance in the forest gloom?...

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The places I’ve been
all part of me now,
roadmaps of intention
tracking landscapes endowed

The history I’ve written
covers chapter and verse,
of promises made
and commitments diverse

The road ever widens
my scope narrows down,
the past out of focus
leaving town after town

Tomorrow unbeckoned
I search for today,
the future unreckoned
—the moment in play

(The New Room: March, 2021)...

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shade bleeds a velvet texture
stretching far and wide 
strides to smother 
clawed hands grasping thread 
rip apart layers to shed 
bear the stains of men 
rise and swagger free 
struggle to breathe  
steps in spites deceit
skipping stones of jaded need
trail of tears in layered debris
vacant rows of burdened clay 
broken back bent to gather neat 
harvesting the last belief



Terry D’Arcy-Ryan...

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Day's window narrows
  the sun now fleet of foot
bolts from yesterday's darkness
  heads toward the jaws of today's

Frost decorates windshields
  drivers lick their breath as they swear
bare branches shiver, some to snap
  brown patches, meadow's outerwear

Pale orb sinks below the horizon
  no colors linger, no twilight show
Night's deep shadows overcome you
  white of winter too soon come to woo...

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AT ODDS WITH ODD GODS

Here stand I
Against all odds
Here I stand
Against all gods

Here stand I
Surrounded by slings and arrows
Here I stand
Wherein the wretched road narrows

Here stand I
Between blood and war
Here I stand
Beside guts and gore

Amidst lead and gun
Here stand I
Satan's most obedient son
And ‘tis here I shall surely die
                    © 2012.....PHREEPOETREE...~free cee!~...

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I am a consensus environment night, can't see
I am walking in narrows path, can't see
How can I reply, shall I rely on mine eyes in the dark
O Lord I can't t see myself in the dark
Can't see, in the dark yet now I know now
I am the light
I am the light
I am the light
And now in my dark path
I see the world
I am light of life
And I see myself
I am the light

12/3/22
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2022...

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