Short Undersides Poems

Step silent, listen
for the sizzle-slither
of a sister

snake who listens

soft for me, slides
among stones,
subsides

to undersides
of shadows, striking 
soundless sinuous as 

S, then slips 
away...

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Two
birds - sleek
ebony,
with tinge of blue,
undersides of red
and dotted tails - dart when
I step out of my back door.
Circling overhead, they soar.  I’d
like a closer look at them, to find
their nest. . .but  just can’t catch that pair at rest!...

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From evening's very ground it seems
  gathering swelling sounds
waves crescendo-ing, grandeur...

appear the first colors on the horizon
  streaks of magenta lighting up 
undersides of slate-gray clouds
  powerful organ chords struck, playing
a frenzied symphony
  in an ominous sky...

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patch of blue sky
behind acacia foliage
turns ominously black,
winds wail, winds blow,
impatient, agitated,
flipping up undersides
of shaken leaves;

deluge comes,
crack and dazzle,
ripping away twigs,
tearing down branches,
lightning blasting away
at everything standing
upright in its way....

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The brook claps over the tumbled rock bed
applauding the Spring thaw 
like a gaggle of Irish revelers;
setting the man high marsh grass 
to dance a slip jig in the bonnie breeze.

Returning Canadian geese chorus overhead
saluting the rippling waves
in the slate gray pond.
The white undersides of their wings mimicking
the flashing and snapping of the white caps on the lake.

Blodeuwedd, Flower Face;
returns with a fiddlers bow....

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The undersides of school chairs
   all gooey with gum
We thought it such fun
   back in sixty-one

In sixty-two we tore fruit loops
   from the backs of girls' shirts
The innocent way
   we first learned to flirt

In sixty-three we all wore
   skin-tight 'H.I.S.' pants
That ripped near your bulges
   when you started to dance

Memories glorious
   like your first cigarette
Or a long drawn-out kiss
   with that gorgeous brunette...

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