Short Spines Poems

Contradiction viewed
As flower blooms on cactus
A plant of spines...

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Fraught with fiercest spines, 
Forbidding—yet flaunting such
Flamboyant flowers—...

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fingers spawn new continents
hospitals leave creatures spines
footfalls echo daylight express...

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though stray buds frazzle

    pricking spines of moon’s unrest…

          twined love endures all...

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Gunshot Saguaro 

Long spines.  Waxy skin.
Wounds within your flesh abide.
Tall.  Distinguished.  Dried.

© Dane Ann Smith-Johnsen
December 6, 2009...

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A riverbank of memories
saturates cultured minds
such succulent visuals
of precipitation
so moist, so pleasant
spines shiver in longing
howls ascend
veneration...

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the desert mountains
peppered with snow
winter comes
with its frosty glow
a beautiful photo
remains in my mind
of saguaro standing
their spines sparkle
with ice...

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A palm tree sprout hides bashful in the bushes
perhaps ashamed of his unique décor
Oh little tree! Their silence is their nature!
Inside their roots they envy your sharp spines!...

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Praise Mind of all minds: Supermind!
Spirit of all salutary spirits: Come Holy Spirit
O Spine of all prophetic spines: Superspine!
Poet & poetess with gospel of shalOm: Superpoet...

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Locks untangled slide freely over life giving, affirming white glow.
The indentation along the spines contours,
head moved forward, leant, exposed nape,
the very essence of, in archetype....

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Sweet sugar cane,
So sweet and juicy
Well, it just makes
Your mouth,
So watery, inside
Harvest bounty from 
The Savannah fields
Sweet sap running
Down their long 
Slender green spines...

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Who says that the beasts can’t have valentines
Each of them loves in fur, feathers or spines
Positions may vary
But “the missionary”
Is surely for hedgehogs and porcupines...

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Winding twisting spines
Wild hair
Frozen in time
Wrapped around like vines
Of red, and yellow there
Frozen in time
With branching spurting lines
That shed when there is ware
Frozen in time...

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Halloween night
with
a
bright orange jack-a-lantern moon
hanging in the spooky sky 
while
chills running
up and down
our spines
as
we 
walked and whistled gently
pass the graveyard still...

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Leaving your family at home,		
Having no sleep…. you roam!		
Know your speed and signs;
Invaluable are people’s spines!	
Be attentive at turns and stops;
Avoid needless entry of cops!



...

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Blood of gems
crosses the tides

a fractured tremor
of a weary river

fog of marrow
diluted by tremors

spines chained
to the edges of a coral
sinking deep

stones upon a shore
that quivers

and the body hears
only
a wave
mute
that carves....

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marigold tongues
water a flowering seed
as downy hands
mend a crushed bruised reed.

a flaxen shaft
lights a smoldering wick
as a ‘lectric beam
starts a heart’s soft tick

spines in strain
raze a barrier wall
marigold tongues
make a blade stand tall...

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I dance on the backs of horses 
  and oil slick seagulls wheel 
across the storm bled sky 
  for life is theirs to steal; 
and the steps on frothing spines 
  underneath the shadowed span, 
speeds tempo in a winged chase, 
  I am dancing as fast as I can......

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Golden spades of lemonades
Grasp the citrus garden.
The blues of berries pardon,
And apples cave my heart in.

Trees spines of vines
Caress my soul of passion.
A splash of fine wines
Perish an everlasting fashion.

Crispy dew, the wind blew,
Fork my mind, so confined....

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A hedgehog sat upon a log
And ate a purple fig.
Soon, all that he had left of it
Was half a purple twig.

Next morning, he arose anew;
Declared that he felt fine.
Except for one development,
He now had purple spines!


1st Place in “Animal Nonsense” Contest
Sponsored by Kevin Shaw...

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Magenta buds wait their turn on birch trees stately
    while cedars' spines soar skyward so straightly

  Barren branches of oaks sans customary green
    yet shiver while down low tulips blossom and preen

  Spring shows off her wares at varying stages
    a coloring book for adults of all ages...

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We read each other's poetry
   s-i-m-u-l-t-a-n-e-o-u-s-l-y
I  howl at hers
   She roars at mine
Giggles race up and down our spines... 

It's a bit of 'spy vs. spy,' you know
   back-to-back, we pivot so slow --
Boo! ~ Oh, Hi there! You frightened me
   You're the last thing on earth I expected to see...

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Volcanoes erupts in
Three dissimilar ways

Spines on its hills
As gases run low

Lava down its slopes
Total destruction in its path

Fiery bursts of black ash
Burst through its mountain top

Ash fills the air with murky dust
Form miles away

Lava destroys neighboring life
Plants, Insects, animals, and people alike...

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A snaking mouth sloughs two spines;
the rattle of vertebrae.

A woman learns to ride them, feels
the trombone slide of a dragon’s tail.

A man lifts on tip-toe
not wanting to fumble.

They knit lusts to opening prayers,
cadavers to body bags, 
close a gnash of gaping space -

block a cold throat
from an exposed face....

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water towers sag
in rusted sunlight
under the weight 
of rain & time

held up by raw
fear of embarrassment
& two determined steel bars

i offer myself,
like an aquatic Atlas
to bear the load

just long enough
for them to catch 
their breath

or get a well earned
massage on their knotted,
sun-wrecked, iron spines...

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