"flue" poems
A flea and a fly in a flue
Were imprisoned, so what could they do?
Said the fly, "let us flee!"
"Let us fly!" said the flea.
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
Ogden Nash
Jul 17, 2017
Jul 17, 2017 at 6:48 PM UTC
Women bent over in a circle
A quilt is being born
Created with precision
of structure, harmony
Geometrically perfect
wedding band,log cabin.
The men are far away
fishing, hunting bisons
A dying fire, logs glowing
Icy winds wisttle under the door
back out through the chimney flue
Strong women, used to dangers
hunger, incertitude
marauding Indians
hidding out in the woods
Tighten up your circle
warm up your fingers
the quilt must be ready
For the new bride of spring
Colette Anne Naegle
copyrights 2009
Mar 1, 2012
Mar 1, 2012 at 2:36 AM UTC
Her Father's old wool jacket,
from Johnson Mills,
in creamy white,
dark forest green,
golden amber,
in a lovely patchwork,
A soft dark winter tuke on her head,
that dark green in the background,
with rusty speckles on her cheeks,
Wet snow falls silent,
the sky is a crisp Winter blue,
the air is cold and clear,
& intoxicatingly clean,
As she breathes life in and out,
then,
looking down at her black Sorel boots
and her worn black denim jeans,
a nice old holey wool sweater,
and a maul,
A **** lumberjack?
Maybe...
Dressed to hack the wood,
the plumber thinks so,
he stops by,
a friend of hers,
sorta,
Huh?
Not invited,
but no one is around here,
we all do it,
so he helps too,
Hey I'll make lunch,
harmless flirting,
I suppose,
Because,
wood warms you 3 times they say,
Once to chop it,
two to stack it RIGHT,
three to bring it in & burn it,
But if you count the starting of the,
cantankerous chainsaw & the guy,
helping you,
And you hafta arrange & rearrange, everything,
cleaning the flue and chimney,
I'd say a few more than that,
& don't ferget to pay the man,
the cantankerous one,
Yeah he got lunch too,
and about them ashes,
could be pretty hot,
take 'em out regular,
that stove cranking too,
OUCH,
She ends up gets burned,
a few times each year,
Taday,
she's on step too,
as she picks up the heavy maul,
not to heavy for this gal,
all the way back,
watch yourself,
As a neighbor winches,
a woman chopping wood?
Yup.
That's right,
a way of life,
for her,
always has been,
poised and ready,
swing and smack,
if you hit it right,
you hear a crack,
Just like a baseball bat,
hitting a homer,
Big pieces,
are made more manageable,
when you don't try to control the force,
when you let the sharpened maul,
Do all the work,
for you.
Cherie Nolan © 2016
Nov 20, 2016
Nov 20, 2016 at 1:40 PM UTC
You want to know what's unfair?
Unfair is having diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of 22 despite never having smoked a single cigarette your entire life.
Unfair is having to take 3 months unpaid leave because you're "not safe" to be around anybody.
What's not fair is the inability to walk 5 steps to the kitchen without running out of breath.
What's not fair is the never ending painful coughs at night and having neighbours complaining.
You know what's unfair?
Unfair is losing half of your lung in a battle you never started.
What's unfair is hearing your family members talking behind your back claiming you have Aids, despite never been with a woman before.
What's unfair is fighting so hard to get back on your feet, to get back to full recovery only to get the news that you are now diagnosed with Bronchitis;
Hearing that you will never be able to run like you used to.
That you will never be able play soccer again.
What's unfair is the constant fear that follows after.
The fear that no girl would ever want you.
The constant fear that you might never be able to satisfy any girl.
The fear that, what if you get someone sick despite being 100% cleared?
Now that is unfair.
Unfair is whilst other people take few days to heal from cold and flue, you have to take weeks of antibiotic treatment, just to rid off the same cold.
What's unfair is people constantly thinking your TB is back everytime that cold starts.
Unfair is constantly having to explain why you breathe so heavily.
Unfair is always trying to act "normal"
You really wanna know what's unfair?
Unfair is having your brother lose the battle against the same TB you won against 3 years ago.
What's unfair is having him leave behind his 3 year old with no one.
What's unfair is that you didn't choose any of this.
And Unfair is writing all of this with a broken heart and a tear rolling down my cheek, because this is a true story.
It's My story. And regardless, I'm Still here.
Mar 26, 2019
Mar 26, 2019 at 3:07 AM UTC
The evergreen edges of the newly cut
box hedge border look greener now
with its cleaner lines and stronger bark-spines;
the train's in an hour so pack up and go,
leave Christmas where it is,
leave Christmas at home.
Un-sent Christmas lists sit in the flue still,
they never got delivered and never got through,
houses stand with their lights on up the hill,
they blink and sparkle and blaze and gaze at the night
with competition, cheap goodwill.
Dec 22, 2013
Dec 22, 2013 at 2:17 PM UTC
After seeing a Flea flee,
along with a fast fleeing Fly,
I wondered what Fleas and Flies do
if in fleeing, they flew into a flue?
Now should a fleeing Flea flee,
with a Fly that flies with flu,
does flying with a fleeing Fly,
free the fleeing Fly of the flu?
When seeing a Fly fly into a flue,
followed by a Flea with the flu
does it mean that the Fly that flew
by flying into the flue, was fleeing
from the flu or the Flea with the flu?
When a Flea and Fly are flying
is the Flea fleeing with, or flying from a Fly?
or was the Fly that flew, fleeing from a Flea?
Or:
When a fleeing fly with the flu, flies into a flue
and a flea with the flu, is fleeing along with the fly
with the flu, into the flue, is the flea flying with
the fly with the flu, into the flue, or is it happenstance?
You tell me! A little bit of fun!
Rhymer. February 28th. 2018.
Feb 28, 2018
Feb 28, 2018 at 9:51 AM UTC
Such a beauteous day outside,
Drivers driving fast while tires slide
It's raining yet I behold the beauty of nature
Rain and wind create such a chilly flavor
I had no reason to go outside
Therefore I stayed indoor.
I drank hot chocolate while rain pure
People said it was messy outside because it was raining
Supernatural rain drops on my roof sounds so amazing
Birds flue in the rain while water ran in the drain
Rain, rain and more rain.
Black clouds covered the sky while she said goodbye
Goodbye my dear friend
A friend forever until the end
Maybe tomorrow I shall see her
Sadly one day I will leave her.
We have been friends for a while
I like her some much
Yet I never complement her stupendous smile
Her smile is the sky and the ocean combined with butterflies
Butterflies like unto no other butterflies
Her garments are beyond glorious
Her splendid blue dress is notorious.
Oct 3, 2018
Oct 3, 2018 at 11:45 AM UTC
Gray gathering
Signs fell on the musty register. Two pallid
Faces infatuate, braiding the ley lines,
Were married in a dimly lit registry.
Outside, the sky in Dublin was a dark pool,
The clouds were omen, birds, startled in
Your eyes, a flashing flue of doves, all wings
A warring coo, escaping into the dusk.
We walked a ways to that room of dreams
And dined in the Shelbourne’s Aisling room.
I was Ormond, I was Yeats and you
Were gone. Your happy tears were notes singing
Our sorrows that day. Our love was castaway
Our love was time bomb. Crossing stars, we trembled
As we talked. Two birds setting sights on some
Lost ocean’s horizon.
When first we met,
At the meeting hall, cradled in a tempest
Eye, you gave me your name and it burned on
The paper as it now burns in my mind
Like Brigid’s fire. At once, once, we were one.
Conjoined yet neither one of us a joiner.
Anointed under the votive stars violently
Innocent your heart, a spike, my heart
A rail. Our love was charmed, our love was time,
Balm. To what end this new beginning?
Sep 20, 2012
Sep 20, 2012 at 1:20 PM UTC
My mom tells me it will be alright,
Yet I sit and cry about it day and night
As the people in my family become out of sight
It seems that the numbers get higher
I become not the only crier
Other parts of the world are crying too
My mom tells me it's like a flue
1 million are dying every year
My heart drops, for my moms time is near
So I began to pray
When evening comes around,
I began to frown
For my stomach groans
For within the day,
Their was nothing not even on the ground
But dead body's lying around
We bless them,
for in their afterlife,
Their will be grapes and veggies in sight
But for now the rest of us starve
Did you know 20,000 die every day
And that's just children
So we must pray
Pray for the ones that go to bed hungry every night,
Pray so in the morning there will be food in sight!
Apr 18, 2015
Apr 18, 2015 at 7:17 PM UTC
Even now, as we lie here, heartbeats like a metronome for the coming storm, I write songs in my head for you. And though my voice will never sing them, they are the soundtrack of your kiss. Each record scratch on my heart like a pressed vinyl love letter. Shaping my sinking chest into drum skins that my pulse beats against.
If I were covered in magic dust, you would be my happy thought. And all my childish notions of what it means to be romantic would be written down the sides of Chianti bottles in melted wax, like an oak. And in that bottle we would keep our hungry mouths.
And still I find my heart adrift. Ripped sails and ropes leading skyward like veins. Split and tattered and stitched haphazardly together, waiting for the lightning to strike twice and bring it to life. My throat a bricked flue, leading to an open mouth, spitting smoke from the torches my heart fears but always seems to carry.
And I stretch my spine skyward. Trying to wedge my head back into the clouds but manage only to cast the shadow of an orchid that has begun to lose its color and wilt at the edges of its wingspan. Coming to terms with the idea that it may never be picked. Not even its petals, even numbered like a deck stacked against it that it might lose in a game of being loved and loved not.
We want for a little more time. Arm wrestling clock hands into submission with god like fury. Ticking tongues to dampen the prophecy of false mediums. We practice fighting so we may fight for each other. Fight for the greener grass on the other side of the pavement walls we draw our chalk hearts on.
The clock tower is a lighthouse. The lighthouse is a windmill. The windmill is a giant. The stories never end.
Even now as we lie here, heartbeats like a metronome for the coming storm, I write bed time stories in my head for you.
Jun 19, 2013
Jun 19, 2013 at 11:24 AM UTC
Gray gathering
Signs fell on the musty register. Two pallid
Faces infatuate, braiding the ley lines,
Were married in a dimly lit registry.
Outside, the sky in Dublin was a dark pool,
The clouds were omen, birds, startled in
Your eyes, a flashing flue of doves, all wings
A warring coo, escaping into the dusk.
We walked a ways to that room of dreams
And dined in the Shelbourne’s Aisling room.
I was Ormond, I was Yeats and you
Were gone. Your happy tears were notes singing
Our sorrows that day. Our love was castaway
Our love was time bomb. Crossing stars, we trembled
As we talked. Two birds setting sights on some
Lost ocean’s horizon.
When first we met,
At the meeting hall, cradled in a tempest
Eye, you gave me your name and it burned on
The paper as it now burns in my mind
Like Brigid’s fire. At once, once, we were one.
Conjoined yet neither one of us a joiner.
Anointed under the votive stars violently
Innocent your heart, a spike, my heart
A rail. Our love was charmed, our love was time,
Balm. To what end this new beginning?
Jul 26, 2013
Jul 26, 2013 at 12:18 PM UTC
Gray gathering
Signs fell on the musty register. Two pallid
Faces infatuate, braiding the ley lines,
Were married in a dimly lit registry.
Outside, the sky in Dublin was a dark pool,
The clouds were omen, birds, startled in
Your eyes, a flashing flue of doves, all wings
A warring coo, escaping into the dusk.
We walked a ways to that room of dreams
And dined in the Shelbourne’s Aisling room.
I was Ormond, I was Yeats and you
Were gone. Your happy tears were notes singing
Our sorrows that day. Our love was castaway
Our love was time bomb. Crossing stars, we trembled
As we talked. Two birds setting sights on some
Lost ocean’s horizon.
When first we met,
At the meeting hall, cradled in a tempest
Eye, you gave me your name and it burned on
The paper as it now burns in my mind
Like Brigid’s fire. At once, once, we were one.
Conjoined yet neither one of us a joiner.
Anointed under the votive stars violently
Innocent your heart, a spike, my heart
A rail. Our love was charmed, our love was time,
Balm. To what end this new beginning?
Jun 1, 2012
Jun 1, 2012 at 2:31 PM UTC
Gray gathering
Signs fell on the musty register. Two pallid
Faces infatuate, braiding the ley lines,
Were married in a dimly lit registry.
Outside, the sky in Dublin was a dark pool,
The clouds were omen, birds, startled in
Your eyes, a flashing flue of doves, all wings
A warring coo, escaping into the dusk.
We walked a ways to that room of dreams
And dined in the Shelbourne’s Aisling room.
I was Ormond, I was Yeats and you
Were gone. Your happy tears were notes singing
Our sorrows that day. Our love was castaway
Our love was time bomb. Crossing stars, we trembled
As we talked. Two birds setting sights on some
Lost ocean’s horizon.
When first we met,
At the meeting hall, cradled in a tempest
Eye, you gave me your name and it burned on
The paper as it now burns in my mind
Like Brigid’s fire. At once, once, we were one.
Conjoined yet neither one of us a joiner.
Anointed under the votive stars violently
Innocent your heart, a spike, my heart
A rail. Our love was charmed, our love was time,
Balm. To what end this new beginning?
Jan 7, 2013
Jan 7, 2013 at 6:23 PM UTC
My words spill out like mice
hiding in the cupboards and in the bread
Each ******* is crumbled
and humbled by gnawing
The tables are dusted with
delicate clawing
The marring is whispered
in squeaking silent sound
Impossible to see but
they are rife across the ground
In bed they find the warmth
in the goose down and the cotton
now sullied small diseases
will soon go washed forgotten
Trapping tactics once tried and true
seems wasted on these careful few
Snapping empty in the dark
no silent stealing will squeeze them stark
Each dream they waltz across the screen
like small and spying rolicking ribbons
Through the snowy evergreens and wanton queens
yet waking finds that they aren't fiction
To tame them in time
is what must be
So no more is cradled
by their incredulous creed
Now that they have all run of the house
From the floorboards to the flue
My fighting is futile against this furred Faust
For in my great battles, my life they've consumed
My motions through doors
now move with great heed
over my rasped wooden floors
of naked tails and featherweight feet
Each morning they find
themselves feeling bold
and swim like sirens
through my cereal bowl
At noon when I read
they shred and they gnaw
so I can no longer see
one word without a paw
In my evening bath
they sport small diving bells
As I dry myself off
from my towel I shake twelve
They admire in the mirror
and prance piano pirouettes
they've failed to adhere
to give respect to any threat
One day a magic made it though
to the edges of my mind
to cut short this ever frothing flow
and put my tongue in a bind
Then slowly, slowly, one by one
they folded flew and fell
I'd hardly hope this trial was done
but it all continued well
One night when they were scarce and few
only the faintest furred remained
I wonderfully slept sound and anew
Haunted dreams I no longer detained
The lonely left began to nestle in
an exodus through the sheets and bed
each whisker scraped soft on skin
and climbed back inside my head
Nov 13, 2010
Nov 13, 2010 at 11:32 PM UTC
s'whine flew round the earth
sowing devastation
swindling scared
the po or stupid
buy math e mat i call
bait & switch
the vir us slipped
in two
the slop
infecting
yo ungold
stomachs trem bling
ay
king for
some
thing
humane
a gain
Dec 2, 2011
Dec 2, 2011 at 2:18 AM UTC
As I gazed at the flames of the fire,
It rekindled a childhood vision;
Memories of a chill winter morn,
Wrapped in a blanket, I watched
A daily ritual unfold.
Cold, dead, grey ash was removed.
Wood, coal and paper then placed
With pious propriety. A sacrifice offered
Of one single match.
Drifts of dark smoke and crackles of wood
Nurtured cold coals into life.
The fire was fanned until roaring
With bright yellow licks that leapt up the flue.
A welcoming warmth would draw us together,
Working and playing in a radiant glow
Of orange incandescence.
In the evening we would always make toast
Before the dying embers were lost.
Mar 1, 2012
Mar 1, 2012 at 6:39 AM UTC
Oh where oh where is mister bear?
Beneath the bed? Behind the chair?
He is not here he is not there
Oh where oh where is mister bear?
I closed my eyes and counted slow
I've looked up high I've looked down low
I've searched the house from top to toe
oh where oh where did teddy go?
I searched and searched and searched some more
behind the blinds and bathroom door
from attic roof to basement floor
and out around the Apple store
The garage checked the outhouse too
and even checked the barbecue
Beneath the ash and up the flue
oh where oh where dear Ted are you?
Not in the pool or by the slide
Or on the swings he loves to ride
not in the leaves now crisp and dried
oh mister Ted where did you hide?
Olly olly oxen free
please come on out you've beaten me
as now it's time to eat our tea
oh where oh where can teddy be
Oh here I am behind you so
I followed you so quiet and slow
and all the time you did not know
he chuckled soft and fell down low
Oh mister Ted you silly bear
what happy times we too do share
and don't we make a funny pair
playing our games without a care
Now time for tea as dad's made steak
and Mommas baked us both a cake
to wash it down there's ice cream shake
we'll eat until our bellies ache.
Then brush our teeth and into bed
to softly rest our sleepy head
and don't forget your prayers I said
or that I love you mister Ted
Oct 12, 2013
Oct 12, 2013 at 10:16 PM UTC
Gray gathering
Signs fell on the musty register. Two pallid
Faces infatuate, braiding the ley lines,
Were married in a dimly lit registry.
Outside, the sky in Dublin was a dark pool,
The clouds were omen, birds, startled in
Your eyes, a flashing flue of doves, all wings
A warring coo, escaping into the dusk.
We walked a ways to that room of dreams
And dined in the Shelbourne’s Aisling room.
I was Ormond, I was Yeats and you
Were gone. Your happy tears were notes singing
Our sorrows that day. Our love was castaway
Our love was time bomb. Crossing stars, we trembled
As we talked. Two birds setting sights on some
Lost ocean’s horizon.
When first we met,
At the meeting hall, cradled in a tempest
Eye, you gave me your name and it burned on
The paper as it now burns in my mind
Like Brigid’s fire. At once, once, we were one.
Conjoined yet neither one of us a joiner.
Anointed under the votive stars violently
Innocent your heart, a spike, my heart
A rail. Our love was charmed, our love was time,
Balm. To what end this new beginning?
May 17, 2016
May 17, 2016 at 10:43 PM UTC
Stop.
It.
Mind.
Just SHUT UP for once
Stop the streams from overflowing out from that useless brain
Put on breaks on the car you're driving fast and insane
Mind is stupid bleaming useless rhymes
To the twisted nerves of the twisted inward eye
Unfaithful teachings, Just stop before being taught
Untruthful preachings, it's all a lie but you don't get caught
You're all an illusion
But my thoughts, an addictive dillusion
It's all impossible things I think of
Then it's hard to breathe when I know it's true
That it's impossible to be with you
Just slow down the streams
That flow within me like a flue
Contagious to make me clear to stand away from truth
Stop deceiving me as if I am a stranger
Make things to me more elucid
Instead of pushing me into danger
Because I am a mere innocent kid
Trapped on your purposely slippery pathways
My car to future like this would soon skid.
You are me, you understand?
Stop pushing me and give me your hand
Take me up and up
Higher, I am not a scared pup
I know what you are doing
I am family, don't get me falling
DOWN
BACK
TO EARTH
You are a part of me
Then let me see
How we could be
When we co-operate together in harmony.
So, brain,
Don't leave me alone
Be in control
Don't lose your track
I am behind your back
I'll be there for you
You'll be there for I
Let's not make us fall into the pit
Instead make the sky a target we should together hit.
Please don't cheat on I
Because you're the last one me trusts
Do never say to innocence your goodbyes
Or else like my words
We'll both be stuck here like
DuMb wOrst bUds.
Apr 24, 2015
Apr 24, 2015 at 1:12 PM UTC
Gray gathering
Signs fell on the musty register. Two pallid
Faces infatuate, braiding the ley lines,
Were married in a dimly lit registry.
Outside, the sky in Dublin was a dark pool,
The clouds were omen, birds, startled in
Your eyes, a flashing flue of doves, all wings
A warring coo, escaping into the dusk.
We walked a ways to that room of dreams
And dined in the Shelbourne’s Aisling room.
I was Ormond, I was Yeats and you
Were gone. Your happy tears were notes singing
Our sorrows that day. Our love was castaway
Our love was time bomb. Crossing stars, we trembled
As we talked. Two birds setting sights on some
Lost ocean’s horizon.
When first we met,
At the meeting hall, cradled in a tempest
Eye, you gave me your name and it burned on
The paper as it now burns in my mind
Like Brigid’s fire. At once, once, we were one.
Conjoined yet neither one of us a joiner.
Anointed under the votive stars violently
Innocent your heart, a spike, my heart
A rail. Our love was charmed, our love was time,
Balm. To what end this new beginning?
Jan 16, 2015
Jan 16, 2015 at 3:23 PM UTC
Dancing ****
Swirling as a dying ember
Trapped in a flue,
Warm tears leaping from my cheeks
Tumbling,
Stumbling
Before finding solace in the cool grass,
And sparkling like diamonds
The tears watched me dance too
All because I felt myself
Fall
in
love,
With
you.
~AD~
Feb 26, 2010
Feb 26, 2010 at 6:48 PM UTC
In a different perspective I learned that life comes in sections
I was a fool to believe in world's total perfection
It became dark without changing its complexion
It's now lethal like a fatal infection
I'm in a maze lost with no sense of direction
Guided errors with no proof of correction
"You'd all be there if you had listen to the selections"
I know it's going to take more than repairs to pass this inspection
Who knew? Today I'm full of questions.
Why do people solve their mistakes with mistakes, like theres no such thing as correction?
Nowadays the only way winning is winning with deception
You say, " But this didn't start as my intention!"
"Look at it this way you can't be president without winning the election."
You can stop the flue but every year there's a different injection
"I realize there's not just one but quite a broad selection."
We can beat this oppresion
I had dreamt my inception and got pushed by the tension
I just have one more question
"What's after that? What's after us are we the end of what's mentioned?"
Or just the start of an infinite collection?
If so, why are we forced in this perpetual detention?
I'm getting, tired too much ingestion?
If I had to find greatness, I'd look at my own reflection
Even if it's over, giving up from the beginning was out of the question...
Not that I know, I had changed my expression
The truth "we are realistic inventions
same role, just in different dimensions...."
Yeah I dreamt my inception
It only took knowing to realize that was just the start of the session.
May 6, 2012
May 6, 2012 at 10:29 PM UTC
When the only snow you see in December is in your snow globe
When the only Christmas spirit is alcohol
When you've filled up on too much on Christmas food
and the super market cashier is being rude
When your turkey won't cook
and kids and toys are making too much noise
and the adult boys are out for the count after eating
and your so tired you feel like you've taken a beating
when Christmas telly is all repeats
and you are the only person in the street without decorations
and you are left alone to make preparations for the big day.
When you've got a stinking man flue cold that won't go away
and the smell of cold Brussel sprouts is like mould
and you've been told that this Christmas hasn't met expectations
and the box of chocolate sensations has all gone
Remember it's one day and it'll all too soon be over.
Dec 22, 2016
Dec 22, 2016 at 1:24 PM UTC
I was told to write a poem you see,
A poem of Suessical proportions
I was told to write a poem, just me!
So here's my verbal contortion:
A cat on a mat
Is quite silly
But the cat
Chose to name the mat "Billy"
Billy the friend,
There till the end
Until the both
Left for Chop-Suey
Chop-Suey for Billy and Louie
(The cat, with the mat named Billy)
On a weekend in March
Both felt quite parched
And afterwords, felt rather "flue-y"
"This won't do," said Billy to Lou
As they sat inside the house
When all of a sudden
Cute as a button
Out from the wall, came a mouse
Zip-Zop-Zibbidy-Bop
The furniture came a crashin'
As Louie chased the mouse
To a shop in Manhattan
O me, O my!
Said Billy
Starting to cry
For he was all alone
"Do not fear,
O mat, my dear
For I can call by phone."
Jan 25, 2013
Jan 25, 2013 at 3:31 PM UTC