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Some go along with the flow
and some swim against the tide
some like me sip a cup of tea
while watching the world outside.

In the 'house of fallen women
treading water
not quite swimming
I try to blend in.

There's a moral out there
in here
somewhere,
there's a lesson I could learn.
In their paper skin
Under the burning sun
Smile the paper flowers
In bracts, pink and white
purple or orange
Colourful red,
never fade or bleed
Evergreen in their woody homes
They fly with the wind
In their paper skin
Walking through the cottonwoods
along a blue-green sea of reeds
the spring pond ripples
with ducks and coots
glint of red on wings
the singing blackbirds
silver minnows flash by
and wriggle in beaks
of fisher birds, so swift
the time to live
and die.
Ziegfield girls with Gatling guns
in complete synchronization,
decked out in Erté.
Watch your step, soldier,
for what's often considered foreplay.

Much like Peter and the Wolf,
one thing leads to another
on this daisy chain,
and as you know,
Burke's only jealous of Lorainne.

I'll tell you what,
dress warm for the ******* snowstorm,
and there'll be a place alongside
such an ingenue.
But what a terrible let down
it would be to find out
she was always smarter than you.
Erté (pronounced AIR TAY): Romain de Tirtoff's pseudonym; he was a 20th-century artist and designer in an array of fields, including fashion, jewellery, costume and set design for film, theatre, and opera.
plenty of time
for something,
if you want everything
get up earlier.

I sat for a while
my mind
quite still and quiet
to listen,
I heard nothing but the
noise of emptiness
that surrounded me
and all surreal to me
as if Dali had visited me
and left a painting.
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