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 Nov 2017 Mike Marshall
L B
What She Look Like?
  
…Like one
tenderly hushing
water in her lap
Elemental peace
No place to go
No more to be
…Like the ocean
in the background
of a photo on a warm spring day
belying
rage
and the random possible
thrash--

out!

at all guilty ******* in her path
Toss in the next sentient soul
who should happen to pass
within range
who should have seen
who should have known
what a storm could do….

Moody in the aftermath
and sorrier than rain
With the tide in retreat
grumbling excuses
Hiding out waist-deep in dusk’s Merlot
Waiting for night to sleep it off

to heal the rifts
cleanse the shame

Rising
yellow, bright— and

“What the hell happened, here?!”

____


Her hair
a winter’s tragedy of trees
upside down—
No wait— the wind has put her right
to ragged random branches
swaying, wet with intermittent hues
of dark and silver
caught in collar, flying inelegant and free
at the shoulders of the levee
tossed and softening shyly
sagging jaw and nose a stump of tree
All perspective changes…

if you watch a while—

She’ll raise her eyes
into the sunset
to catch an eagle
entering
flight

…and then you might…

___

She looks like—
a pudgy robin
querying grass
mud soaked
that hides the fire of her breast
tugging at a worm
more than half her length
“I will feed them, **** you!
Give it up, you son of a snake!”
_____

...Don’t miss her hour of music though
for anything
Encroaching darkness
from the rooftops
she listens to the hearts she breaks

Remember this in winter
she can give but she will take
it out on February
when you’re longing
for her
Only male robins do the singing; females do the choosing.  

There are very few recent  photos of me.  Thus this poem.
 Nov 2017 Mike Marshall
L B
Patience
(no one noticed)
hardly moves its wings
Playing the atmosphere's
instrument
Poetry
Plying
well-known
Instincts....
Sensing lift of thermals
curling physics
with feather tips
Hanging
motionless
effortless
in love...

...its own
dynamic
unaware

Precursor of imagined--
tracing wind
taming flight
suspending  
beauty

Soaring
in the failing words of winter

Slaying
energy
in disbelief of air
2:00 AM poetry must stop!
I hear a wind whispering from the hills
It comes down tickling the woodland rills
From far is heard the frightened murmur of leaves
As it pounces on them like wayside thieves

It shakes the branches of flowering trees
And their weak petals drop like confetti in the breeze
Over hills and trees it loves to skip and stray
Always in motion, never inclined to stay

It moves unhampered over streams and field
With no resistance to its might, they simply yield
Like a child, it romps over the sloppy meadows
In its gentle touch, dances the gleeful flowers

It skillfully pleats the blue chiffon of the ocean
Sometimes curling waves in electric motion
Over the sea it runs puffing up the sails
And over the sky heaping clouds in bales

Sometimes it steals furtively like a lover
And disappears kissing our cheeks under cover
Often it comes capering with a lilt and a swing
We feel delighted when we hear its merry song

Like a nomad, the wind roams from place to place,
Hiding its mysterious presence from our glance
From an unknown hide out it comes like a spirit
But always making us feel its vigorous might!

At times it gains force and roars like a beast
Felling trees and wreaking havoc with its twist
In rampage, it sweeps the sea and the ground
Triggering sparks of fear and horror all around
So happy to see this enthusiastic response to my straight and simple lines. I have no words to thank you dear friends, especially to Kim who has given an extra shine to my poem......!
 Nov 2017 Mike Marshall
L B
I suppose there has to be a reason
or at least a note
to mark that day--

He ate his breakfast
She let him out
He walked along the railing like the plank
defying death for pleasure
of his lady's company
to get his belly rubbed
sprawled long
across her lap

She released him
to chase the squirrels of his dreams
to his black cat adventures
to the aching green of life's
late summer ways

But, the days assemble against your return

May the angels find you quickly
my darling, Bailey
Dark beauty of coal
I was a Tuesday, bereft
You disappeared--
like the shadow of a whisper

Disappeared like hope--
in the last blow of day
Black cats, so often feared by the superstitious, are the last to be adopted at shelters and often singled out for cruel treatment by the heartless.

Bailey was on "Death's Row" after being seven months in the pound. Even his status as "The Pet of the Week" could not get someone to want him.  I saw his little vid with the TV reporter --and he belonged to me.

My first impression of him:  
"Gawd! what a tall cat!"
We want options but hate making choices.
Looking up to others waiting for their voices.
Easily swayed when someone claims.
This is the right one, no one to blame.

Dating, living, food it is all the same.
The abundance just makes it a game.
Who, what, where fits us best.
Giving up on the original moving onto the rest.

How to pick one and be happy.
When you are just another fish in the sea.
Not hunting for what you need.
Clouded by objects, luxuries.

They say lovebirds only need each other.
Fluff their feathers and stay together forever.
We are no different, no need for royalty.
Just make a decision and keep some loyalty.
The moment you forget.
Mind wanders with regret.
Eyes blurred, lose focus.
“What’s my current purpose?”

Is spontaneous enough?
Chasing a dream, tough.
As a child we rushed,
what was all the fuss?

The lost moment finds.
The lost moment unwinds.
The lost moment reminds.
Messes with our minds.

In that moment there is clarity.
We connect with our reality.
Understand humanity.
Endless possibilities.
Test our comfortability.

A chance to breathe.
Rebirth and see.
Are we where
we want to be?

Take that lost moment,
to reset your focus.
To find yourself and
your new found purpose.
It haunts us, we are scared of it.
But we spend a lot of time thinking about it.
We walk around wanting it.
It drives us, makes us passionate.
Ditch everything we know just to chase it.
Wake up the next morning hoping to revisit.

It is different for each person, and we try to make the most of it.
Next year we make a bunch of promises, and swear to it.
No more this, no more that, but more of it.
Finally be the person we want to be, get really fit.
Time passes by, we forget it.
Maybe next year we will regret it.

Once you look around, you will remember it.
Slow things down, take a glance, it will hit.
Every second counts, do not ever quit.
You only get it once, before you split.

It is called life, cherish it.
How important is grammar when writing?  Is it a big deal or is it something that don't really matter?
Are you a grammar police officer?
As long as I can follow and understand what your saying then it's all good.
But I do want my poems and prose to be correct.  I want the reader to be able to understand and follow what I'm saying.
The bride stood before her groom and a group of vile wedding guests covered in darkness wearing a veil of evil waiting to be joined in unholy matrimony.  The heat and hate that filled the air was so thick that they all choked on it.  Lust the biggest **** ever getting married to Greed had every one baffled and amazed.  Everyone watched with confusion as a union of sin was joined in unholy matrimony.
Pride the priest took the left hand of Lust and puts it in the left hand of Greed then he took the right hand of Greed and puts it in the right hand of Lust and began the ceremony.  The words that flowed from the mouth of Pride the priest cut through the air like swords cutting through flesh.
"Disgustingly wicked we have come together in the presences of demonic forces to behold the joining of this devil and **** in unholy matrimony.  This band and covenant of marriage was established by evil in darkness.  Lust will you have Greed to be your husband to live together in the covenant of marriage?  Will you obey him, lay with him, and fulfill his ****** desires as long as you both shall live?"
With the flames of hell burning in her eyes Lust answers "I will."
Pride looked at Greed and said
"Greed will you have Lust to be your wife to live together in the covenant of marriage?  Will you supply and adorn her with riches as long as you both shall live?"
With a twinkle in his eyes that sparkles like gold Greed answers "I will."
"By the powers invested in evil the groom and bride may kiss" said Pride.
As Greed and Lusts's lips touched their wedding guests were as silent as a corpse.  Lust turned her back to her wedding guests and threw a bouquet of Poison Ivy over her head.  Envy stepped in front of Sloth and snatched the bouquet of Poison Ivy out the air.
"Nice catch Envy" said Sloth with slow, slurred, speech.
"Thank you Sloth and I do believe green is more my color" said Envy.
Lust turned around to see who caught the bouquet.  She wasn't a bit surprised to see Envy holding the bouquet of Poison Ivy.
"Well Envy I guess you're next to get married" stated Lust.
Pride motions for Hatred to release the Owls.  Hatred unlocked the huge cage and released the Olws.  Slow to take flight the great Owls flapped their wings and ascended into the darkness.
"Let's get this party started" yelled Greed.
As the sins partied the night away in the country Darkness the sun came rising in the country Tranquility.

"Are you ready to spend all eternity together?" Loyalty asked Love as they stood on their balcony.

"My dear, dear, husband soon to be you already know the answer to the question you ask" said Love.

As Loyalty and Love stood locked in a warming embrace being kissed by the rays of sun the two share a kiss of their own.

Written by Keith Edward Baucum
 Oct 2017 Mike Marshall
wordvango
lauren elise  Normally I wouldn't instigate like this, but NFL players aren't simply taking a knee for the fun of it. If you want to go as far back as Normandy, let's talk about the forced migration of slaves to the United States, the colonialist division of African nations, and the pillaging and ****** that accompanied that. Let's talk about the forced separation of black families as they were sold off like livestock, the rapes of slave women, the beatings of slave men. Let's talk about the implemented indentured servitude after slavery was abolished, that kept free black people enslaved and poor because they had no resources, no money and no dignity. The lynchings and the discrimination. Let's talk about the de jure segregation that divided school districts, neighborhoods, and deprived people of color of access to equal education and job opportunities. How about the exclusion of black women from women's rights movements? They did not receive the same rights at the same time as white women. When segregation was abolished, how about the de facto segregation, the redlining, the defunding of black neighborhoods that sentenced them to poverty and disqualified them this American notion of "equal opportunity?" What about when the poverty and lack of education increased the crime and drug activity that has led to the mass criminalization of black communities? The school to prison pipeline? Think about the fact that people of color have not been legally "equal" to white people for even 100 years. The police brutality today mirrors the police brutality of the Civil Rights era. Everything that black people face on this day is a result of the dehumanization and discrimination that white people imposed on them from the start. This is not coincidental protest. This is not ungrateful. Our soldiers have fought for our rights from the start, but not always for the rights of people of color. Peaceful protest is an American right. Plus, let's not talk about disrespect for American soldiers and veterans when our very own "President" is the first person to disrespect them.
LaurenElise  well written. This needs to be seen.
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