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"geraniums" poems
You are going to ask: and where are the lilacs? and the poppy-petalled metaphysics? and the rain repeatedly spattering its words and drilling them full of apertures and birds? I'll tell you all the news. I lived in a suburb, a suburb of Madrid, with bells, and clocks, and trees. From there you could look out over Castille's dry face: a leather ocean. My house was called the house of flowers, because in every cranny geraniums burst: it was a good-looking house with its dogs and children. Remember, Raul? Eh, Rafel? Federico, do you remember from under the ground my balconies on which the light of June drowned flowers in your mouth? Brother, my brother! Everything loud with big voices, the salt of merchandises, pile-ups of palpitating bread, the stalls of my suburb of Arguelles with its statue like a drained inkwell in a swirl of hake: oil flowed into spoons, a deep baying of feet and hands swelled in the streets, metres, litres, the sharp measure of life, stacked-up fish, the texture of roofs with a cold sun in which the weather vane falters, the fine, frenzied ivory of potatoes, wave on wave of tomatoes rolling down the sea. And one morning all that was burning, one morning the bonfires leapt out of the earth devouring human beings -- and from then on fire, gunpowder from then on, and from then on blood. Bandits with planes and Moors, bandits with finger-rings and duchesses, bandits with black friars spattering blessings came through the sky to **** children and the blood of children ran through the streets without fuss, like children's blood. Jackals that the jackals would despise, stones that the dry thistle would bite on and spit out, vipers that the vipers would abominate! Face to face with you I have seen the blood of Spain tower like a tide to drown you in one wave of pride and knives! Treacherous generals: see my dead house, look at broken Spain : from every house burning metal flows instead of flowers, from every socket of Spain Spain emerges and from every dead child a rifle with eyes, and from every crime bullets are born which will one day find the bull's eye of your hearts. And you'll ask: why doesn't his poetry speak of dreams and leaves and the great volcanoes of his native land? Come and see the blood in the streets. Come and see The blood in the streets. Come and see the blood In the streets!
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I'm Explaining a Few Things
You are going to ask: and where are the lilacs? and the poppy-petalled metaphysics? and the rain repeatedly spattering its words and drilling them full of apertures and birds? I'll tell you all the news. I lived in a suburb, a suburb of Madrid, with bells, and clocks, and trees. From there you could look out over Castille's dry face: a leather ocean. My house was called the house of flowers, because in every cranny geraniums burst: it was a good-looking house with its dogs and children. Remember, Raul? Eh, Rafel? Federico, do you remember from under the ground my balconies on which the light of June drowned flowers in your mouth? Brother, my brother! Everything loud with big voices, the salt of merchandises, pile-ups of palpitating bread, the stalls of my suburb of Arguelles with its statue like a drained inkwell in a swirl of hake: oil flowed into spoons, a deep baying of feet and hands swelled in the streets, metres, litres, the sharp measure of life, stacked-up fish, the texture of roofs with a cold sun in which the weather vane falters, the fine, frenzied ivory of potatoes, wave on wave of tomatoes rolling down the sea. And one morning all that was burning, one morning the bonfires leapt out of the earth devouring human beings -- and from then on fire, gunpowder from then on, and from then on blood. Bandits with planes and Moors, bandits with finger-rings and duchesses, bandits with black friars spattering blessings came through the sky to **** children and the blood of children ran through the streets without fuss, like children's blood. Jackals that the jackals would despise, stones that the dry thistle would bite on and spit out, vipers that the vipers would abominate! Face to face with you I have seen the blood of Spain tower like a tide to drown you in one wave of pride and knives! Treacherous generals: see my dead house, look at broken Spain : from every house burning metal flows instead of flowers, from every socket of Spain Spain emerges and from every dead child a rifle with eyes, and from every crime bullets are born which will one day find the bull's eye of your hearts. And you'll ask: why doesn't his poetry speak of dreams and leaves and the great volcanoes of his native land? Come and see the blood in the streets. Come and see The blood in the streets. Come and see the blood In the streets!
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78
Lady, your room is lousy with flowers. When you kick me out, that's what I'll remember, Me, sitting here bored as a loepard In your jungle of wine-bottle lamps, Velvet pillows the color of blood pudding And the white china flying fish from Italy. I forget you, hearing the cut flowers Sipping their liquids from assorted pots, Pitchers and Coronation goblets Like Monday drunkards. The milky berries Bow down, a local constellation, Toward their admirers in the tabletop: Mobs of eyeballs looking up. Are those petals of leaves you've paried with them --- Those green-striped ovals of silver tissue? The red geraniums I know. Friends, friends. They stink of armpits And the invovled maladies of autumn, Musky as a lovebed the morning after. My nostrils prickle with nostalgia. Henna hags:cloth of your cloth. They tow old water thick as fog. The roses in the Toby jug Gave up the ghost last night. High time. Their yellow corsets were ready to split. You snored, and I heard the petals unlatch, Tapping and ticking like nervous fingers. You should have junked them before they died. Daybreak discovered the bureau lid Littered with Chinese hands. Now I'm stared at By chrysanthemums the size Of Holofernes' head, dipped in the same Magenta as this fubsy sofa. In the mirror their doubles back them up. Listen: your tenant mice Are rattling the ******* packets. Fine flour Muffles their bird feet: they whistle for joy. And you doze on, nose to the wall. This mizzle fits me like a sad jacket. How did we make it up to your attic? You handed me gin in a glass bud vase. We slept like stones. Lady, what am I doing With a lung full of dust and a tongue of wood, Knee-deep in the cold swamped by flowers?
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Leaving Early
Lady, your room is lousy with flowers. When you kick me out, that's what I'll remember, Me, sitting here bored as a loepard In your jungle of wine-bottle lamps, Velvet pillows the color of blood pudding And the white china flying fish from Italy. I forget you, hearing the cut flowers Sipping their liquids from assorted pots, Pitchers and Coronation goblets Like Monday drunkards. The milky berries Bow down, a local constellation, Toward their admirers in the tabletop: Mobs of eyeballs looking up. Are those petals of leaves you've paried with them --- Those green-striped ovals of silver tissue? The red geraniums I know. Friends, friends. They stink of armpits And the invovled maladies of autumn, Musky as a lovebed the morning after. My nostrils prickle with nostalgia. Henna hags:cloth of your cloth. They tow old water thick as fog. The roses in the Toby jug Gave up the ghost last night. High time. Their yellow corsets were ready to split. You snored, and I heard the petals unlatch, Tapping and ticking like nervous fingers. You should have junked them before they died. Daybreak discovered the bureau lid Littered with Chinese hands. Now I'm stared at By chrysanthemums the size Of Holofernes' head, dipped in the same Magenta as this fubsy sofa. In the mirror their doubles back them up. Listen: your tenant mice Are rattling the ******* packets. Fine flour Muffles their bird feet: they whistle for joy. And you doze on, nose to the wall. This mizzle fits me like a sad jacket. How did we make it up to your attic? You handed me gin in a glass bud vase. We slept like stones. Lady, what am I doing With a lung full of dust and a tongue of wood, Knee-deep in the cold swamped by flowers?
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44
Through an open window, I hear       the Big Thompson's steady music drifting up from the valley below. May breezes and gentle rains      coax the snow-capped peaks to surrender their alabaster cloaks       downslope into gathering streams. Silhouetted by light from the waxing moon,       a cinnamon bear lopes along water’s edge, pauses for a draught and meanders on. A bull elk newly coifed with velvet antlers         folds his legs beneath its belly and kneels into grasses beside a tranquil pond.         while the Big Thompson rushes on. Spring beauties, calypso orchids and geraniums          shake off their winter's sleep and dot every vagabond trail and verdant hill         while fresh new leaves adorn the aspen boughs. The Big Thompson inexorably presses on         bound for rendezvous with time and space and tumbles into the always patient sea. © 2017 by Robert Charles Howard
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May 28, 2017
May 28, 2017 at 8:57 AM UTC
From the Mountains to the Sea
339 I tend my flowers for thee— Bright Absentee! My Fuchsia’s Coral Seams Rip—while the Sower—dreams— Geraniums—tint—and spot— Low Daisies—dot— My Cactus—splits her Beard To show her throat— Carnations—tip their spice— And Bees—pick up— A Hyacinth—I hid— Puts out a Ruffled Head— And odors fall From flasks—so small— You marvel how they held— Globe Roses—break their satin glake— Upon my Garden floor— Yet—thou—not there— I had as lief they bore No Crimson—more— Thy flower—be gay— Her Lord—away! It ill becometh me— I’ll dwell in Calyx—Gray— How modestly—alway— Thy Daisy— Draped for thee!
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I tend my flowers for thee
Twelve o’clock. Along the reaches of the street Held in a lunar synthesis, Whispering lunar incantations Dissolve the floors of memory And all its clear relations, Its divisions and precisions, Every street lamp that I pass Beats like a fatalistic drum, And through the spaces of the dark Midnight shakes the memory As a madman shakes a dead geranium. Half-past one, The street lamp sputtered, The street lamp muttered, The street lamp said, ‘Regard that woman Who hesitates towards you in the light of the door Which opens on her like a grin. You see the border of her dress Is torn and stained with sand, And you see the corner of her eye Twists like a crooked pin.’ The memory throws up high and dry A crowd of twisted things; A twisted branch upon the beach Eaten smooth, and polished As if the world gave up The secret of its skeleton, Stiff and white. A broken spring in a factory yard, Rust that clings to the form that the strength has left Hard and curled and ready to snap. Half-past two, The street lamp said, ‘Remark the cat which flattens itself in the gutter, Slips out its tongue And devours a morsel of rancid butter.’ So the hand of a child, automatic, Slipped out and pocketed a toy that was running along the quay. I could see nothing behind that child’s eye. I have seen eyes in the street Trying to peer through lighted shutters, And a crab one afternoon in a pool, An old crab with barnacles on his back, Gripped the end of a stick which I held him. Half-past three, The lamp sputtered, The lamp muttered in the dark. The lamp hummed: ‘Regard the moon, La lune ne garde aucune rancune, She winks a feeble eye, She smiles into corners. She smoothes the hair of the grass. The moon has lost her memory. A washed-out smallpox cracks her face, Her hand twists a paper rose, That smells of dust and old Cologne, She is alone With all the old nocturnal smells That cross and cross across her brain.’ The reminiscence comes Of sunless dry geraniums And dust in crevices, Smells of chestnuts in the streets, And female smells in shuttered rooms, And cigarettes in corridors And cocktail smells in bars.’ The lamp said, ‘Four o’clock, Here is the number on the door. Memory! You have the key, The little lamp spreads a ring on the stair, Mount. The bed is open; the tooth-brush hangs on the wall, Put your shoes at the door, sleep, prepare for life.’ The last twist of the knife.
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Rhapsody On A Windy Night
Twelve o’clock. Along the reaches of the street Held in a lunar synthesis, Whispering lunar incantations Dissolve the floors of memory And all its clear relations, Its divisions and precisions, Every street lamp that I pass Beats like a fatalistic drum, And through the spaces of the dark Midnight shakes the memory As a madman shakes a dead geranium. Half-past one, The street lamp sputtered, The street lamp muttered, The street lamp said, ‘Regard that woman Who hesitates towards you in the light of the door Which opens on her like a grin. You see the border of her dress Is torn and stained with sand, And you see the corner of her eye Twists like a crooked pin.’ The memory throws up high and dry A crowd of twisted things; A twisted branch upon the beach Eaten smooth, and polished As if the world gave up The secret of its skeleton, Stiff and white. A broken spring in a factory yard, Rust that clings to the form that the strength has left Hard and curled and ready to snap. Half-past two, The street lamp said, ‘Remark the cat which flattens itself in the gutter, Slips out its tongue And devours a morsel of rancid butter.’ So the hand of a child, automatic, Slipped out and pocketed a toy that was running along the quay. I could see nothing behind that child’s eye. I have seen eyes in the street Trying to peer through lighted shutters, And a crab one afternoon in a pool, An old crab with barnacles on his back, Gripped the end of a stick which I held him. Half-past three, The lamp sputtered, The lamp muttered in the dark. The lamp hummed: ‘Regard the moon, La lune ne garde aucune rancune, She winks a feeble eye, She smiles into corners. She smoothes the hair of the grass. The moon has lost her memory. A washed-out smallpox cracks her face, Her hand twists a paper rose, That smells of dust and old Cologne, She is alone With all the old nocturnal smells That cross and cross across her brain.’ The reminiscence comes Of sunless dry geraniums And dust in crevices, Smells of chestnuts in the streets, And female smells in shuttered rooms, And cigarettes in corridors And cocktail smells in bars.’ The lamp said, ‘Four o’clock, Here is the number on the door. Memory! You have the key, The little lamp spreads a ring on the stair, Mount. The bed is open; the tooth-brush hangs on the wall, Put your shoes at the door, sleep, prepare for life.’ The last twist of the knife.
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78
My mother grew up in a small town and she married in a small town and she lived in a small town and she passed away here. And our neighbours came with their casseroles And the florist gave my family her best violets And there was a discount on the casket. My sister grew up in a small town and she married in a small town and she lived in a small town And she works at the high school as an English teacher. And she takes her kids to the park every Saturday, And her car never uses more than a liter a month And there is always a booth for her family at Sal's Diner. My brother grew up in a small town and he never did marry but he never did leave. So now he lives in this small town. And he only ever takes his job as a deputy seriously And every Sunday he tends to his geraniums, And there is never any mail in his mailbox And his coffee order has always been the same. I grew up in a small town and nothing ever changed and so I left. And I will never manage to travel to all the bus stops And my barista never ever remembers my face And the librarian is stern, always, instead of friendly And there is never ever a dull moment In this little world I've created in my big town.
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Oct 20, 2013
Oct 20, 2013 at 6:43 AM UTC
Small town, slow town
Butterfly, the wind blows sea-ward, strong beyond the garden-wall! Butterfly, why do you settle on my shoe, and sip the dirt on my shoe, Lifting your veined wings, lifting them? big white butterfly! Already it is October, and the wind blows strong to the sea from the hills where snow must have fallen, the wind is polished with snow. Here in the garden, with red geraniums, it is warm, it is warm but the wind blows strong to sea-ward, white butterfly, content on my shoe! Will you go, will you go from my warm house? Will you climb on your big soft wings, black-dotted, as up an invisible rainbow, an arch till the wind slides you sheer from the arch-crest and in a strange level fluttering you go out to sea-ward, white speck!
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Butterfly
They set off from white rocks, red geraniums, blue tile, and let the green sea lift and drop their ships far above the white foam waves. The stony islands that were home were swallowed in minutes by the hungry Atlantic but they hunted the big fish, the giant whales  with human eyes who rolled and sang and swam in oceans a continent away. They came from Sao Jorge, Sao Miguel Faial, Pico, Terceira, Horta - Nine island emeralds set in a black volcanic chain, neither of the old country nor the new: Halfway there and halfway gone - secret jewels of the Portuguese sailors. They sailed into unknown waters, south around tropical shores where dragons smoked and writhed on the rocks and birds with brilliant red and yellow plumage rose in clouds around their heads. Then north, and north, north again to colder waters where sea lions barked and lunged at the strange massive wooden beast that coursed the waters, strung with brown bodies swaying on the lines and cursing the sails. North still they swept casting contemptuous eyes on the cheap turquoise waters and monstrous slow turtles of the Sea of Cortez. Coming up from the desert, past the palms and the yucca, the Joshua tree and Spanish daggers, they chased their smooth grey prey, riding the vast Pacific on their wooden island, herding the leviathans onto their spears, adventurers with an audience of only gulls and sky and seal. Until they sailed too close one day to a rock-strewn shoreline and saw the golden hills. Gnarled oaks like grandmothers from home with orange poppy jewels at their feet, missions strung like beads in a ruby marked rosary. The boats slowed, ****** in by a Scylla of soil rich and brown and loamy waiting to be seeded with grapes and apricots peaches, avocados, lettuce, alfalfa, fertile and heavy with sweet promise. And the whales sang and the lions barked and the gulls cried but the sailors were entranced, encharmed, ensorcelled. The treacherous sea, the mysterious deep, the stony jewels of home, called and wept and waited in vain for the sailors   - beached and grounded - cutting not waves but earth, tracking seasons not whales, seduced by dirt.
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Nov 29, 2014
Nov 29, 2014 at 9:51 PM UTC
San Joaquin Sailors
They set off from white rocks, red geraniums, blue tile, and let the green sea lift and drop their ships far above the white foam waves. The stony islands that were home were swallowed in minutes by the hungry Atlantic but they hunted the big fish, the giant whales  with human eyes who rolled and sang and swam in oceans a continent away. They came from Sao Jorge, Sao Miguel Faial, Pico, Terceira, Horta - Nine island emeralds set in a black volcanic chain, neither of the old country nor the new: Halfway there and halfway gone - secret jewels of the Portuguese sailors. They sailed into unknown waters, south around tropical shores where dragons smoked and writhed on the rocks and birds with brilliant red and yellow plumage rose in clouds around their heads. Then north, and north, north again to colder waters where sea lions barked and lunged at the strange massive wooden beast that coursed the waters, strung with brown bodies swaying on the lines and cursing the sails. North still they swept casting contemptuous eyes on the cheap turquoise waters and monstrous slow turtles of the Sea of Cortez. Coming up from the desert, past the palms and the yucca, the Joshua tree and Spanish daggers, they chased their smooth grey prey, riding the vast Pacific on their wooden island, herding the leviathans onto their spears, adventurers with an audience of only gulls and sky and seal. Until they sailed too close one day to a rock-strewn shoreline and saw the golden hills. Gnarled oaks like grandmothers from home with orange poppy jewels at their feet, missions strung like beads in a ruby marked rosary. The boats slowed, ****** in by a Scylla of soil rich and brown and loamy waiting to be seeded with grapes and apricots peaches, avocados, lettuce, alfalfa, fertile and heavy with sweet promise. And the whales sang and the lions barked and the gulls cried but the sailors were entranced, encharmed, ensorcelled. The treacherous sea, the mysterious deep, the stony jewels of home, called and wept and waited in vain for the sailors   - beached and grounded - cutting not waves but earth, tracking seasons not whales, seduced by dirt.
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59
The frost is still there, Throttling the rhododendron leaf, And ice stalls the dissolve Of the stone-like snow, Yet I am happy. The sun-rays are almost Etruscan, Filtered low through lace and blind, Like that ***** of sunset on Irene’s hair Sad “couleur de feuille-morte”. Yet it is sultry. I can open a window And breathe the warming air Finches flock close, careless, Now desperate for food And pluck menescent fruit Off an ice-bound branch. In the distance, a cardinal sings. Thick drapes are drawn aside And geraniums strain toward the light. In a nook outside the door, An old cat basks on a corner of sun. He yawns, seeing me, and strolls across the snow. All nature seems to wait, but poised, For the final unfettered token. Will it be a sudden, favonian breeze? Or the robin’s unrelenting noise? Telling us, “Winter is broken”?
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Aug 2, 2018
Aug 2, 2018 at 10:34 AM UTC
Spring Day in February
stars hang out at night linen left to dry red geraniums along the balconies nodding, nodding willing to agree to anything just to keep their color a gang of kids running through the streets faceless pranksters the moon a plate held before each face who am i? saying who am i running through the streets saying who am i the shadows of the buildings becoming cats that move away the trees immobilized left to stand alone in the dark rubbing their bark from regret like cicadas oranges have more delicacy softly falling, falling in the groves on the hills softly eaten, eaten by the earth swallowed whole as if by a snake not earth as if by millions slithering in the groves at night millions stalking the oranges that fall softly softly to the earth hunting there in the groves that form a ring around each town
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oranges from the south of spain
the only things I remember about New York City in the summer are the fire escapes and how the people go out on the fire escapes in the evening when the sun is setting on the other side of the buildings and some stretch out and sleep there while others sit quietly where it's cool. and on many of the window sills sit pots of geraniums or planters filled with red geraniums and the half-dressed people rest there on the fire escapes and there are red geraniums everywhere. this is really something to see rather than to talk about. it's like a great colorful and surprising painting not hanging anywhere else.
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5.4k
all that
I take an early morning walk and watch the bluest sky the impatiens and the dark pink trees the silence of the birds who hum in tune with time I watch the flower boxes in front of every house geraniums in red and white the energy of bees amidst I string it all together inside my crowded mind and **** out all the clutter to bring in the quiet message I stop and breathe within Alone inside my thoughts I see the day begin Salvation at it's highest...
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Sep 5, 2013
Sep 5, 2013 at 7:59 AM UTC
Morning Walk
Diaspora From the Greek When I heard the word I felt it And I looked it up In my old red dictionary I could have used the Internet, I suppose But I like to run my forefinger down pages Of words I read the definition And I felt it Oh Oh We are diaspora. Am I using it correctly? We are a diaspora. Diaspora From the Greek From the green valley of Ottawa From Scotland From Ireland on wooden boats From the French village thirteen children From the mines in the North From Poland and from Germany From the churches and From the Blueberry patches From the Island Manitoulin From the dark lake Kagawong From Kinburn and Arnprior From Markstay and from Sudbury From Waterloo From Kitchener, Michener From the Suburbs Oh From the Suburbs From the red bricks, red currants And geraniums From green island cabins From the desert Oh From the desert From the potholes and pipes From the salty wind Cracked Caspian Sea From the middle of the east of nowhere. From the mountains Oh From the mountains From the crystal water fountains From the tram bells On the cobblestone streets From the torrents of the Rhein From the white cross Oh From the white cross On the green hill From the river Laurence From the French and from the English Plains of Abraham We are diaspora We are a diaspora Diaspora From the Greek How did it end up here on my tongue? It is diaspora. It is a diaspora Diaspora is a diaspora And I wonder if it misses its other pieces The way that I miss mine Ours There is no Roping us back together now There is no Home to go back to There is no Point of meeting Of reunion No White steeple in our old town No Yellow slide in our backyard No Old folks on an old farm No Walled house on a hill No Luzernerring 93 No Familiar riverwater There is no Ancient Greek anymore Diaspora Only fragments of fragments Of roots of stems of words In different dialects There is no Place for you to belong, Diaspora You’ve been sliced to pieces And scattered Into the wind But When people ask you Where you are from You say simply From the Greek Oh From the Greek And When people ask me Where I am from I say simply From the diaspora.
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Oct 19, 2015
Oct 19, 2015 at 10:50 AM UTC
From the Greek
Diaspora From the Greek When I heard the word I felt it And I looked it up In my old red dictionary I could have used the Internet, I suppose But I like to run my forefinger down pages Of words I read the definition And I felt it Oh Oh We are diaspora. Am I using it correctly? We are a diaspora. Diaspora From the Greek From the green valley of Ottawa From Scotland From Ireland on wooden boats From the French village thirteen children From the mines in the North From Poland and from Germany From the churches and From the Blueberry patches From the Island Manitoulin From the dark lake Kagawong From Kinburn and Arnprior From Markstay and from Sudbury From Waterloo From Kitchener, Michener From the Suburbs Oh From the Suburbs From the red bricks, red currants And geraniums From green island cabins From the desert Oh From the desert From the potholes and pipes From the salty wind Cracked Caspian Sea From the middle of the east of nowhere. From the mountains Oh From the mountains From the crystal water fountains From the tram bells On the cobblestone streets From the torrents of the Rhein From the white cross Oh From the white cross On the green hill From the river Laurence From the French and from the English Plains of Abraham We are diaspora We are a diaspora Diaspora From the Greek How did it end up here on my tongue? It is diaspora. It is a diaspora Diaspora is a diaspora And I wonder if it misses its other pieces The way that I miss mine Ours There is no Roping us back together now There is no Home to go back to There is no Point of meeting Of reunion No White steeple in our old town No Yellow slide in our backyard No Old folks on an old farm No Walled house on a hill No Luzernerring 93 No Familiar riverwater There is no Ancient Greek anymore Diaspora Only fragments of fragments Of roots of stems of words In different dialects There is no Place for you to belong, Diaspora You’ve been sliced to pieces And scattered Into the wind But When people ask you Where you are from You say simply From the Greek Oh From the Greek And When people ask me Where I am from I say simply From the diaspora.
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113
First Girl When this yokel comes maundering, Whetting his hacker, I shall run before him, Diffusing the civilest odors Out of geraniums and unsmelled flowers. It will check him. Second Girl I shall run before him, Arching cloths besprinkled with colors As small as fish-eggs. The threads Will abash him. Third Girl Oh, la...le pauvre! I shall run before him, With a curious puffing. He will bend his ear then. I shall whisper Heavenly labials in a world of gutturals. It will undo him.
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3.2k
The Plot Against The Giant
the vagrant, a pretense letting light in tiniest cracks on the pavement, again wherever did i pass out seizing the Ssseferoth sufferer syndrome sinking in this suffragette i am almost a cough away from zeitgeist the world complained the gods , sure they listened but only with a nuisances negation does the noose hang higher nonsense st of patient anger plagiarize my past lives seal my fate with cement pavement, how do i feel you when my ashes scatter how do i fill you with children, cracks seeping sin and sensation eradicated slowly by noiseless geraniums
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Nov 1, 2013
Nov 1, 2013 at 7:16 AM UTC
beef
Buy me chrysanthemums Not lavandula or geraniums Or phalangium with their low hanging bulbs Why don’t you know I love chrysanthemums! Chrysanthemums, Dahlia…Hera…Willow? Lillian! Lillian, How could I take chrysanthemums from Lillian? You should know. I shouldn’t have to say anything! You should know. Buy me Viognier Not Muscat or Chardonnay Or Furmint with its corky taste Why don’t you know I love Viognier! Viognier, Vionnier…Vienne…Vienna? Dalmatia! Dalmatia, How could I take Viognier from Dalmatia? You should know. I shouldn’t have to say anything! You should know. Dalmatia, near Sibenik From where I dine on scallops, Or do you not know that I love scallops? If not then you should know that I love fickle, false and fair It’s my nature and you are my nurture If you did not know then know this, love’s a hapless farce
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Mar 11, 2012
Mar 11, 2012 at 8:55 PM UTC
B U Y M E C H R Y S A N T H E M U M S
i see the petunias , lilacs and forsythia. the tomatoes , strawberries, grapes and pine cones and the squirrels in my garden and i know God is there and He brings me gifts of flowers and sunshine and butterflies and hummingbirds and sweet, sweet air and i know God is there He lets me play in the garden my garden is my art He brings me lilies and daisies and asters marigolds and sweet alyssum ...memories from grandmas a magnolia and butterfly bushes from my sons foxgloves from a time spent with my precious friend and bittersweet geraniums... memories of my mama's grave... cj 2016
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May 20, 2016
May 20, 2016 at 12:45 AM UTC
my secret garden
Writing poems amid the potted geraniums and diving sparrows, their nest above me in the rafters. The oak tree just beyond is lush in the slanted summer light, and I feel a hush fall through me, a deep, green, pooling quiet I’ve never known before. It is the unfamiliarity of the house, I imagine, this place along with the late-August heat that lulls me to sleep like a cat in a patch of sun. Every wall has been hand-painted, white-washed, scrubbed-clean. I know every imperfection intimately. There is peace to be found in making the old new again. Work is required to call someplace home. Each evening, as the coolness of the oak seeps into the patio, I write poems, exhausted, processing the beauty we have found and created here. The sparrows sing their advice to us: Breathe deeply and rest now. Joy is where we look and find it.
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Nov 8, 2015
Nov 8, 2015 at 10:59 AM UTC
The Porch
Wild geraniums collected in pocket, red painted petal stains my feet squish, squash in this forest the earthy mud a mossy sponge with fern and lichen the trees are hung upon the ground greening with maidenhair fern my satchel filled with dainty floral sprigs in spring the sparrows gathering vine and twig June's an efflorescent carpeting, soft with lady slippers in summer the wildflowers and grasses wed when celebrates all the flying things wooded bees and butterflies in the sun sparkling with faceted, glistening wings.
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Jun 22, 2016
Jun 22, 2016 at 12:51 PM UTC
Forest collection
how do i even begin to describe this color, because it is so ******* versatile. firstly it is the color of royalty and magic-- stuff of fairy tales that leap from the page and into your mind's eye. richly-hued gowns reach the polished floor; crowns and scepters shine with amethyst, with jasper, with tanzanite. this color shines in the stardust of a wizard's cloak, shimmering in the candlelight as he pours over texts and trinkets with a glowy-eyed owl brooding on his shoulder. it billows from the smoke of a witch's potion-- eye of newt and wing of bat and toe of frog combine into a roiling haze that will make the princess fall in love and then kiss death. "double, double, toil and trouble... your dreams and despair await." this color is also one of spring. it dots on the hills in delicate petals of heather and lavender, and the slightly darker pansies and geraniums. it scatters on the wind and leaves its perfume for butterflies and bumblebees and girls in love. before the sun rises and paints the sky in its warmth, the world stands still in a state that is neither dark nor light. the stars have gone but morning has not quite arrived to take its place; birds are not yet chirping and bugs and not yet buzzing-- in fact the only sound is your own mumbling as you press your face into the pillow as though trying to push away the responsibilities that loom in the daytime. it is here that this color is perhaps at its softest. now, there is one more place this color shows itself, though I'd rather it not be the case. it is the shade of hurt and fear, the shade of loneliness. this color blooms on her back and shoulders and over her eye-- in bruises dark enough for her to seek cover-up and a restraining order. this color outlines the handprint of his attacker, when he was wrenched into an alley and stripped of his sense of security. this color looms over the dispossessed no matter how brightly the sun is shining. instead of hugs and kisses, these lost souls are met with remarks like "loser" and ***** and ****** solitude is sanctuary as invisible hands attempt to choke the life out of the outcasts. do you see what i meant when i said that this color is versatile? it is a color of kingship and witchcraft, of nature and pain. it is not the color of singular definition.
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Apr 18, 2013
Apr 18, 2013 at 10:49 AM UTC
p u r p l e
how do i even begin to describe this color, because it is so ******* versatile. firstly it is the color of royalty and magic-- stuff of fairy tales that leap from the page and into your mind's eye. richly-hued gowns reach the polished floor; crowns and scepters shine with amethyst, with jasper, with tanzanite. this color shines in the stardust of a wizard's cloak, shimmering in the candlelight as he pours over texts and trinkets with a glowy-eyed owl brooding on his shoulder. it billows from the smoke of a witch's potion-- eye of newt and wing of bat and toe of frog combine into a roiling haze that will make the princess fall in love and then kiss death. "double, double, toil and trouble... your dreams and despair await." this color is also one of spring. it dots on the hills in delicate petals of heather and lavender, and the slightly darker pansies and geraniums. it scatters on the wind and leaves its perfume for butterflies and bumblebees and girls in love. before the sun rises and paints the sky in its warmth, the world stands still in a state that is neither dark nor light. the stars have gone but morning has not quite arrived to take its place; birds are not yet chirping and bugs and not yet buzzing-- in fact the only sound is your own mumbling as you press your face into the pillow as though trying to push away the responsibilities that loom in the daytime. it is here that this color is perhaps at its softest. now, there is one more place this color shows itself, though I'd rather it not be the case. it is the shade of hurt and fear, the shade of loneliness. this color blooms on her back and shoulders and over her eye-- in bruises dark enough for her to seek cover-up and a restraining order. this color outlines the handprint of his attacker, when he was wrenched into an alley and stripped of his sense of security. this color looms over the dispossessed no matter how brightly the sun is shining. instead of hugs and kisses, these lost souls are met with remarks like "loser" and ***** and ****** solitude is sanctuary as invisible hands attempt to choke the life out of the outcasts. do you see what i meant when i said that this color is versatile? it is a color of kingship and witchcraft, of nature and pain. it is not the color of singular definition.
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Scarlet dancing poppies ruffled skirts flung high pansies and geraniums nod to an August sky foxglove mint and rosemary move with the wind and sway a summer garden party and a fragrant cabaret
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Sep 28, 2023
Sep 28, 2023 at 11:02 AM UTC
Garden Party
the robin came down as he cleared the ground, all red chest, pretty eyes. we discussed the earth, rich now, without the stones. we could grow potatoes as they did here in the war. i have the photograph. these are fortunate times, while have disliked the tuber since the flu struck. there has been a lot of it this year here. we plan a pretty little greenhouse, all white with embellishments, red geraniums. the robin watched, i am told he will like mealworms. sbm.
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Feb 11, 2015
Feb 11, 2015 at 1:56 AM UTC
. growing potatoes .
Kale greens. Beets grow fat and wine-dark. Carrots spin sun into fibrous orange. Someone carried soil up these stairs. Onions open long fingers into the morning fog. Small herbs and winter squash keep quiet company here on the rooftop while sirens pass below. In the afternoon one or two leave their e-mail and ascend to this improbable place. “Put your hands into the dirt,” a doctor advised, and you’ll feel better.” There is a time to plant and a time to reap. A time when nature, nearly spent, needs tending in small places. Boat-weary immigrants lay bok choy along the sidewalk’s edge. Geraniums bloom in window boxes. Here and there insistent chilis dangle on a bush in a half- barrel. A rooftop is world enough for now. You don’t need forty acres or a mule. A few square yards, drip line, a couple of spades and willing hands suffice. The rest is blessing.
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Jun 19, 2017
Jun 19, 2017 at 11:21 AM UTC
Rooftop Garden
Awakened in a strangers bed by a breeze through a skylight dusting traces of rained-on geraniums and newly cut grass across my face. My lips taste like salt-rimmed margaritas when I lick them and the flames from giant candles that danced and flung our mad leaping shadows against the walls the night before have all blazed out, cried themselves into waxy puddles overflowing into a stolen hotel ashtray full of half-smoked cigarettes. The comforter slides off, silk whispering as it pools on the floor and I am naked beneath, hips dotted with tiny bruises from fingertips, hairy belly still sticky with release and I wonder what possessed me hours earlier to so savage the worm, that ridiculous prize lying at the bottom of a tequila bottle. I could die of thirst. I spy our spent casings on the night table and remember. Thrown clothes, then skin. Reloading during the battle. The hot breath of secrets over a white-flag pillow when the cease-fire came. Then no sounds at all. Adrift in a shamble of blankets, sleepy kisses till dawn. I hear the shower turn off and remorse sets in making me wish hard for mints, a better memory than this, the removal from my chest of that hive of angry bees grieving a dead queen, and God only knows who’ll walk through the door so I brace myself. Wrapped in sheets, I wait.
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Jan 18, 2014
Jan 18, 2014 at 10:29 PM UTC
One Night Standstill
When Friday buried Thursday at the cemetery I was eating eggs and bacon in my bathrobe. The other days wore black attire to the burial and brought white geraniums. I stood in silence for three minutes after I finished my breakfast then wrote a note for the weekend: “My time will come, don’t wait for me,” and left.
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Jan 12, 2017
Jan 12, 2017 at 3:46 PM UTC
Days Pass