Short Thumbed Poems

slurped cream teas
chewed shortbread
thumbed through travel magazines....

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the thumbed cat hungers

fried onions and pineapple

sweet and sour puss...

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a higher purpose
celestial highway thumbed

eternity in focus...

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"war and peace"


when i was
hanging
from

a cliff
note
by

a thumb
i thumbed
through one

or another
of another
of another

and
read
what

i
had 
already 

wrote...

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Kermit thumbed a top shelf magazine
It had pictures; which were quite obscene
The frog got arrested
For it was attested
The worst ‘frog’s porn’ that they’d ever seen!

(poem based on an old joke)

07-20-17...

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Mister Jack Horner’s 
Shop on the corner –
His specials were cakes and pies.
While inspector was looking,
He thumbed in the cooking –
Now his shop is a Starbuck’s franchise.

Written on May 14, 2023 for the “Mother Goose Grows Up Poetry Contest”
(Growing up “Little Jack Horner”)...

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I used the language to my own end,
  never respecting rules or laws

I wrote what seemed the shortest path,
  between feelings and my thoughts

I thumbed my nose at sage advice,
  knowing what I wrote was true

The first cut then—the first cut now,
  the deepest through and through

(Villanova Pennsylvania: August, 2017)...

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Listen to poem:

I thumbed my way across the states,
flew over oceans. I lost myself in city crowds, 
tried the boundaries of my brain's
inventiveness -- yet I did not outrun Time.
I did the things some young men do,
avoided others. Years shrunk the heights:
my expectations changed. I fell and climbed.
The journey still excites; the roads still wind.
And, still, there is much to see.
That will never become enough for me.
But I'll never outrun Time....

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The world became truthful
in July last year,
and lies were not to be tolerated... 

The world became honest
at five past three
and we all stood up to clap and note it.

The world was tense
as it marked the change
and quizzical faces walked the stage.

(Playwrights were dumb
at the change of heart 
and thumbed down a bit
at dumbed-down parts.)

We were all perplexed
at how it would be,
but it was all a lie at ten past three....

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A catalogue came in the mail
Of places I could visit,
Descriptions of the journeys
Both exotic and exquisite.

The trips were educational,
For travel and for learning,
With some possible connections
To new friends upon returning.

The itineraries beckoned –
Every country you’d consider
If you had the savings ready
And the time that you could fritter.

So I thumbed through all the pages
Of the places for exploring,
But for now, my home has more appeal
Than anyplace for touring....

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