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 Oct 2012 a maki
Shel Silverstein
Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly
in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions
of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying
flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
How did it go?
How did it go?
She who did not come, wasn't she determined
nonetheless to organize and decorate my heart?
If we had to exist to become the one we love,
what would the heart have to create?

Lovely joy left blank, perhaps you are
the center of all my labors and my loves.
If I've wept for you so much, it's because
I preferred you among so many outlined joys.
 Oct 2012 a maki
Salil Panvalkar
Walking down the street, you catch a glimpse of the most beautiful woman

And in a second, your life flashes by, she’s with you till the end

Your grave is freshly dug, she sheds a tear

You've not had enough of her, you refuse to leave

She goes home and your ghost follows

She holds a picture of the two of you, forces a smile

Dinner seems to be the most silent and most painful

The television helps, at times

The actors fall in love time and again, this gives her hope

They make her laugh, yet your ghost just sits there. Expressionless

She reads, and reads some more

Books seem to be her new love

The pile next to her bed grows weekly as she can’t stop turning the pages

An old friend visits her, they speak about you

She puts on a smile but she’s not ready yet

They drive down to the fields and the grass clears her mind if only for a while

Your ghost takes a walk and leave her be for a while, but it’s not done yet

Weeks pass, your ghost wanders

She smiles a lot more, even laughs time and again

Once again, she has others in stitches

The second passes.

She walks past.

And yet her ghost just sits there. Expressionless
 Oct 2012 a maki
Milliane
I wrote a poem.
I deleted it.
I wrote another one.

I can't seem to put the words together.
I cannot compare you to any
thing I can think of.

You were a mistake
I can't seem to forget.
A drug I can't seem to
stop thinking of.
It was fun while it lasted.

But tonight, I let go.
I forgive myself.
I forgive you.
I let you go.
 Oct 2012 a maki
Maya Angelou
They have spent their
content of simpering,
holding their lips this
and that way, winding
the lines between
their brows. Old folks
allow their bellies to jiggle like slow
tamborines.
The hollers
rise up and spill
over any way they want.
When old folks laugh, they free the world.
They turn slowly, slyly knowing
the best and the worst
of remembering.
Saliva glistens in
the corners of their mouths,
their heads wobble
on brittle necks, but
their laps
are filled with memories.
When old folks laugh, they consider the promise
of dear painless death, and generously
forgive life for happening
to them.
 Oct 2012 a maki
Samantha Kathryn
do you feel it, do you feel it in the air?
everyone can, everyone is
it's time to jump in and e m e r s e yourself
in the feeling of the century
you won't regret the true feeling
of absolute b l i s s
you'll keep wanting it, you can keep getting it
just r e l a x
t a k e  y o u r  t i m e
try not to lose your mind
let it flow, let it go
and most of all, take it s l o w
Your eyes are autumn

          The dance of the leaves falling

Whispering secrets
 Oct 2012 a maki
spysgrandson
one chunk at a time
he knelt
grabbing each stone
casting it into the barrow
sometimes counting
sometimes not
all to clear his field
for the planting
for tomorrow’s time
while the stones
behind him
silent in the rusted tray
measured other worlds
other time
Someone in Denmark told me it was Geology Day--this two minute work is what popped out. Last year, I introduced the "10 Word Poem" here and the form was embraced by many. More than 1000 had been written and added to the collection before the reconfiguration of HP's website. I am now thinking of offering a new form, one in which the writer is constrained by only one parameter: it must be written in two minutes. More on this soon...
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