Short Runoff Poems

At first it was just a drop
A tear from the heavens
Then two drops
Then more

Within months
the showers grew 
To be a monsoon

Until the runoff 
turned into a roaring river 
Carving an endless canyon
across the porous surface of my soul...

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Regarding raindrops,
Rivulets run,
Readily regroup,
Recreate raging runoff rivers,
Relentlessly ravage, reshape, round, reduce rough rocks,
Remove residue,
Reach reservoirs,
Refresh, relax recalcitrant recreators,
Rest,
Rinse,
Repeat
...

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It’s not fair how the heart fails
to completely heal, no matter 
friendly medicines proffered, 
prostheses patiently plugged,
eventual atrophied acceptance;
memories fade away, like streams
joining a river, but not to wash away
they just become part of the ocean....

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Mud rocks and dark waters
Runoff into the grounds
Dark days dying trees
Damage in the skies and creeks
The rivers flow the oceans storm
And my little friends black crows and silver squirrels hide
Deep into the leaves where the water dives and diversges

We need you do not forget us as the next months pass us...

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Why me?  Alone.
At edge
Of decimated deciduous
Sanctuary destroyed.
I long for boughs
Now taken
Ringed history
Sacrificed
On the altar
Of a paved future.
I am the hope
Of a backyard rope swing
A Robin's nest
A squirrel's sustenance.
I shall ride
The muddy flow
Of unchecked runoff
Sink deep my roots
And grow.

John G. Lawless
5/4/2020...

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The lil chocolate chip
Was lost and alone
He just wanted a place
To finally belong
He saw a candy bar
And though it was home
He had to runoff but 
Still ends up alone
While he searched around
With tears running down
Lots of chocolate chip steps that
Made him look like a clown
But low and behold
He stumbles across
A beautiful plain cookie
Who made him the boss...

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Week One of two with zero running water
Faucets are dry because of a labor strike
Corrupt politicians and unions in S. Africa
Frustrate! But Our Lord is a God of Grace
Our watertank (for roof runoff) is emptying fast
I asked a neighbor just yesterday
Is there rain in the forecast (he didn't know)
All night it rained, our Tank is near full again
Hallelujah and shalom shalom. Trust Him...

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the porch boards are precariously weak.
water runoff has warped and damaged them again.
we have had this porch rebuilt a few times
one board has a giant hole in it.
I put a garbage can over it, so the dogs will not break a leg.
Our handyman says he will come and fix it soon.
Yesterday I noticed two spots that felt like they were giving way.
Will he get here soon enough or will I be the one with a broken leg?...

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White chalk in the rain

I can’t stand the thought of
sitting on a street corner,
writing on the curb
with white chalk in the rain

Outlining puddles
in runoff contaminants,
bleeding into the asphalt,
following the cracks and crevices
of the last poem I wrote
in permanent ink,

when the sun danced
across her smile
and my words
brought blue skies
to the pages of
my heart’s desire

I hate chalk….....

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That kind of kiss and runoff.
Why don’t you concede to the fraud ?
It was a haunted dilemma,
kidnapping of a verdict.

Dinosaurs were wiped out
by a clean sweep of a meteorite
long back, millions of years. Now,
present ones, tiny reptiles

still survivng in water, air and
earth by active faults.
The  great Indian Bustard was again
sighted in a poor man’s field.

Are you a moon friendly ?
I am dispossessing all my domestic clouds.



Satish Verma...

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That kind of kiss and runoff.
Why don’t you concede to the fraud ?
It was a haunted dilemma,
kidnapping of a verdict.

Dinosaurs were wiped out
by a clean sweep of a meteorite
long back, millions of years. Now,
present ones, tiny reptiles

still survivng in water, air and
earth by active faults.
The  great Indian Bustard was again
sighted in a poor man’s field.

Are you a moon friendly ?
I am dispossessing all my domestic clouds.



Satish Verma...

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Warm sunny day slowly melts
snow lying on the cold ground
the warmth creates puddles
with slush ice moving slowly
down each path it could find
like a flash flood it creates
its own pathway 
meandering down the street
to find the nearest drain
sitting watching it all happen
from the living room window
while sitting fighting the flu
you think of the force of water
and it finds its way through
the winter ice and snow
nature is a wonder
as is the beginning of spring...

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