Short Nau Poems

What if it were so,
that the title was longer,
than the whole poem?

-Edlynn Nau
©April 19, 2019...

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Underground waiting

joys of green seeking free sky

puffs cast off and fly 


-by Edlynn Nau
©April 15, 2019...

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Impatience

The Millennials
stand in front of microwaves
yelling...HURRY UP!  

-by Edlynn Nau
 ©April 14, 2019...

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REHEARSAL

Knees bent in plié
Pink chiffon twirls in chaîne 
Shoe lost in dismay.

-by Edlynn Nau 
©April 19, 2019...

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Flys heavy to rose
     buzzing dopey bumblebee 
     with its pollen toes 

     -by Edlynn Nau 
     ©April 16, 2019...

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Clockwork Cat

Pats my sleepy cheek.
Hits my eyelids, boops my nose.
Yelling please get up!

-by Edlynn Nau
©April 13, 2019...

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CONFRONTATIONAL

Must always be right!
Louder, bigger, when she’s wrong.
Always has the last ...

-Edlynn Nau
©April 19, 2019...

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FLATBREAD FEAST

     Fine flour folded food,
     Broil beef, broccoli, and beans,
     Tasty taco treat!


     -by Edlynn Nau
     ©April 19, 2019...

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ETIQUETTE 

I wrote a poem
waited for all the replies
people said, "Tanka" 
(as they quipped back a note)
I said, "You are most Welcome!" 

- Edlynn Nau
© May 14, 2016...

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Walking down / the distant road
Finding nau / ght but pain
Always findin / g ways to goad
Never found the / distant stair
Lying down, ou / r voices slain
For we are onl / y halfway there...

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NOT THE WORD

It's all about the picture and not the word.
They think everything in ink has all been heard.
In a painting or in film, it's the image that's inferred, 
Cause it's all about the image, not the word.

-Edlynn Nau...

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BASE NOTE

In gray and moist banks of wet promised bliss, 
we watch the clouds scowl in ominous pout. 
Their gray heads collide in bumps that won't miss, 
and all the creatures at home, won't come out. 

By Edlynn Nau
© May 5, 2016...

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GUNS AND ROSES

Another rain of bullets in the dead of winter.
A terrorist runs through like an Olympic sprinter.
Another candlelight vigil glows from the steeple. 
And America loves her guns more than her people. 

-Edlynn Nau 

December 4, 2015...

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Nautilus, chambered. 
Mathematics? Not really. 
By nature only. 

Smells more like…
Ah…normal distribution
(Of golden spirals). 

You could look it up. 
FIBONACCI? Not really. 
Logarithmic coil?

Not exactly. Else
One or the other would fit. 
Only nature fits....

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THE EIFFEL FINGER

After
The Avalanche 
Of Bullets in France,
I held My red sore heart 
In both My hands. The darkest shadows were questioned...
What Shall We do now? 
Amour Vous les uns les autres plus.
You love Each other more. 
Plus D'amour.
More Love. 
Amour

-Edlynn Nau
11-14-2015...

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I.

Ta da, ta da, flip,

like cards in bicycle spokes,

percussive shoe, flop...



II.

Long spaghetti straps,

full circle twirly skirted,

sundress in warm breeze.



III.

Morning sand dune climb,

woven basket, cheese, red wine,

noon apéritif. 


-Edlynn Nau
©April 17, 2019...

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DRAT THAT DROUGHT

Relinquish water's recipe and rain from sky.
All rain dances done left California dry. 
Ignited fires baked us like a Scottish mutton pie.
Now let us wash it down with RAIN and not with rye. 

-Edlynn Nau 
© November 9, 2015



Contest: Wind, Snow, or RAIN  [AcrostRain]
Sponsor: Jan Allison
PLACED: SECOND PLACE...

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Tanka_tok-singsing

ai bilong nait

raunim poin, 			ikam, 	ikam

                 klostu tru nau

solwara bai tok-singsing

arere long nambis


Translation:
Tanka_poetry

the eye of night

bouts the point, 		        rising, rising

                      very soon now

salt-water will speak poems 

at the fringes of the shore...

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IDES OF MARCH  

           Beware the Ides of March. 

           Slender Dancer Moves Minds. 

           The Chained Maiden, Andromeda Waits. 

           A Smile That is Her Name.

           Brave Hearts Go Forward.

          -Edlynn Nau 
          ©3-15-2019  (dedicated to my daughter Cameron born on the 
                            ides of March)...

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REFLECTION

Reflecting the world tiny one, 
In what you see where you've landed.
Dancing, copying, becoming. 
Now, a yellow wild canary.
Then, a dandelion puff.
Not pretending but reflecting,
Becoming, summed in soul. 
In the mirror I see the wrinkles, 
In the silver see your smile. 
I see the outside in decline, 
You only see inside, for awhile.

By Edlynn Nau
© May 11, 2016...

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STRETCH SCREEN

We study the flowers in the field,
One by one...
Discover their properties and what they yield,
Numbering the petals...
We classify them by leaf, and by their seeds,
We give them names...
Discovering new trees, fungus, and weeds, 
One by one... 
We catalog thousands, living and dead,
Perspective is close... 
Unwittingly lifting a tenacious head, 
we finally see ... the field.

-Edlynn Nau 
© February 19, 2019...

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EVERYBODY WRITES A BOOK

They write a script, 
A poem on quips,
A paragraph,
A typed last draft,
He wrote a play,
She wrote today, 
They wrote together,
A score that's clever.  
It takes time,
To write a rhyme, 
And jot down notes,
With double quotes, 
Compose sublime,
In double time, 
Move the dance, 
With old romance.
The written condition, 
(It's my suspicion), 
Or one I took,
That when I look,
EVERYBODY, 
WRITES A BOOK.

by Edlynn Nau
© February 12, 2016...

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ABSENT

Like one hand clapping, 
or night owls napping.   
A whistle with no pea, 
or a buzz without a bee. 

Like a city with no crowd,
or a snore that isn’t loud.
A wind which cannot sigh, 
or a storm without an eye.

When bread doesn’t rise,
Or there’s no fruit for pies. 
Like an orchestra for one, 
or a song that's never sung.

Like a story with no plot, 
or a gift without a thought. 
A life abruptly taken,  
in a country so forsaken.


by Edlynn Nau
© March 20, 2020...

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