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"railroad" poems
I march to a different drummer My life it is my own I'm an explorer of experience That is how I'm known I've seen snow in South Dakota I've been on the Vegas strip Had barbeque in Kansas My life has been a trip I'm a gypsy of the railways I'm a legend in my time I move on in a boxcar Brother... spare a dime? I've been through all the landlocked states Five provinces as well I've seen Niagara Falls all frozen I've seen it flowing fast as well I've had margaritas in Key West And Bourbon in Kentucky Craft beers out in Oregon In my life I have been lucky I travel on my stories Feed myself with all my tales I'm an explorer of experience I'm a gypsy of the rails I never stick around too long I don't wear my welcome out I come and see just what I want That's what life is all about I've railroad friends in Texas Some up in BC too We've shared drinks in San Diego And had a great Alaskan brew I'm not one to live by your rules I find my rules suit me fine I'm an explorer of experience And I'm riding on the lines You can find me down in Georgia Or eating spuds in Idaho I never know just where I'll be Until my ride begins to go I'm a gypsy of the railways I'm a legend in my time I move on in a boxcar Brother...spare a dime?
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Feb 21, 2014
Feb 21, 2014 at 12:12 PM UTC
Gypsy of the Railways
4am conversations I'm talking in my sleep While you are somewhere crying You say this isn't me. You say that I have pretty thoughts And I have pretty words. But you don't see the under layer (I'm dying in my sleep) The scars go down like railroad tracks (These pills are killing me) And never seem to cease (I'm dying in my sleep.) This heart is barely beating (How could you say that to me?) My lungs are last to fail me I'm singing in my sleep.
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Jul 21, 2014
Jul 21, 2014 at 8:40 PM UTC
Sleeping Beauty
Yogurt. "I begin the day buying yogurt in a small favorite grocery store." Not pizza, nor gatorade. Bananas although they are imported from afar and grown in monocultures. Attract fruit flies in August. Peaches locally grown with rainwater. I ate all the farmer's peaches alone stacking them by the railroad tracks. Water -- rainwater, tap water, distilled water, carbonated water, spring water –-- deep gulps, infinite sips. Nuts in moderation, or not, unsalted, raw, replacing chips. His bowl of filberts, almonds, walnuts quiet weekday mornings. Edible plant parts -- roots, leaves, stems, flowers, fruit, buds. In olive oil or butter. Potatoes -- look online how best to prepare. Baked or fried. With a little fish or meat. Tea and honey, play and prayer. Swimming and running, talking quietly. Bread? Bread's possible as the Bible. Each is liable to bloat us. Wine and dandelions. Dandelion wine's Ray Bradbury's story. Cans in a pantry, books on a       shelf to the end of time. Pasta we used to call spaghetti, never noodles. I wonder if I can remember       how to make grandma's sauce. Tomatoes -- cherry, grape. Grab God's eye going by.
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Aug 11, 2015
Aug 11, 2015 at 11:34 AM UTC
Yogurt and Honey
*I lost my innocence Beside railroad tracks And learned my love Of - why? - when I Watched the train go by.*
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May 31, 2014
May 31, 2014 at 11:48 AM UTC
Train tracks
In nineteen hundred forty-nine China was won by Mao Tse-tung Chiang Kai-shek's army ran away They were waiting there in Thailand yesterday Supported by the CIA Pushing junk down Thailand way First they stole from the Meo Tribes Up in the hills they started taking bribes Then they sent their soldiers up to Shan Collecting ***** to send to The Man Pushing junk in Bangkok yesterday Supported by the CIA Brought their jam on mule trains down To Chiang Rai that's a railroad town Sold it next to the police chief brain He took it to town on the choochoo train Trafficking dope to Bangkok all day Supported by the CIA The policeman's name was Mr. Phao He peddled dope grand scale and how Chief of border customs paid By Central Intelligence's U.S. A.I.D. The whole operation, Newspapers say Supported by the CIA He got so sloppy & peddled so loose He busted himself & cooked his own goose Took the reward for an ***** load Seizing his own haul which same he resold Big time pusher for a decade turned grey Working for the CIA Touby Lyfong he worked for the French A big fat man liked to dine & ***** Prince of the Meos he grew black mud Till ***** flowed through the land like a flood Communists came and chased the French away So Touby took a job with the CIA The whole operation fell in to chaos Till U.S. Intelligence came into Laos I'll tell you no lie I'm a true American Our big pusher there was Phoumi Nosovan All them Princes in a power play But Phoumi was the man for the CIA And his best friend General Vang Pao Ran the Meo army like a sacred cow Helicopter smugglers filled Long Cheng's bars In Xieng Quang province on the Plain of Jars It started in secret they were fighting yesterday Clandestine secret army of the CIA All through the Sixties the Dope flew free Thru Tan Son Nhut Saigon to Marshal Ky Air America followed through Transporting confiture for President Thieu All these Dealers were decades and yesterday The Indochinese mob of the U.S. CIA Operation Haylift Offisir Wm. Colby Saw Marshal Ky fly ***** Mr. Mustard told me Indochina desk he was Chief of ***** Tricks "Hitchhiking" with dope pushers was how he got his fix Subsidizing traffickers to drive the Reds away Till Colby was the head of the CIA January 1972
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10.1k
CIA Dope Calypso
In nineteen hundred forty-nine China was won by Mao Tse-tung Chiang Kai-shek's army ran away They were waiting there in Thailand yesterday Supported by the CIA Pushing junk down Thailand way First they stole from the Meo Tribes Up in the hills they started taking bribes Then they sent their soldiers up to Shan Collecting ***** to send to The Man Pushing junk in Bangkok yesterday Supported by the CIA Brought their jam on mule trains down To Chiang Rai that's a railroad town Sold it next to the police chief brain He took it to town on the choochoo train Trafficking dope to Bangkok all day Supported by the CIA The policeman's name was Mr. Phao He peddled dope grand scale and how Chief of border customs paid By Central Intelligence's U.S. A.I.D. The whole operation, Newspapers say Supported by the CIA He got so sloppy & peddled so loose He busted himself & cooked his own goose Took the reward for an ***** load Seizing his own haul which same he resold Big time pusher for a decade turned grey Working for the CIA Touby Lyfong he worked for the French A big fat man liked to dine & ***** Prince of the Meos he grew black mud Till ***** flowed through the land like a flood Communists came and chased the French away So Touby took a job with the CIA The whole operation fell in to chaos Till U.S. Intelligence came into Laos I'll tell you no lie I'm a true American Our big pusher there was Phoumi Nosovan All them Princes in a power play But Phoumi was the man for the CIA And his best friend General Vang Pao Ran the Meo army like a sacred cow Helicopter smugglers filled Long Cheng's bars In Xieng Quang province on the Plain of Jars It started in secret they were fighting yesterday Clandestine secret army of the CIA All through the Sixties the Dope flew free Thru Tan Son Nhut Saigon to Marshal Ky Air America followed through Transporting confiture for President Thieu All these Dealers were decades and yesterday The Indochinese mob of the U.S. CIA Operation Haylift Offisir Wm. Colby Saw Marshal Ky fly ***** Mr. Mustard told me Indochina desk he was Chief of ***** Tricks "Hitchhiking" with dope pushers was how he got his fix Subsidizing traffickers to drive the Reds away Till Colby was the head of the CIA January 1972
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61
i am sitting and pressing green paint in misshapen swollen dots on my nail beds and thinking what if i mess this up? i am notoriously bad at fingernail painting and i ruin it and i am also afraid i will ruin myself by loving you. yes, yes i hear you like a train. my head is all railroads and oceans, but i hear you puffing and whistling he does not love you, he would not love you, he loves her. long hair hazel eye i am not her i cannot be that girl i do not want to be his girl but i want him to want me oceans trains
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Mar 4, 2018
Mar 4, 2018 at 9:59 PM UTC
green railroad dreams
Late December: my father and I are going to New York, to the circus. He holds me on his shoulders in the bitter wind: scraps of white paper blow over the railroad ties. My father liked to stand like this, to hold me so he couldn't see me. I remember staring straight ahead into the world my father saw; I was learning to absorb its emptiness, the heavy snow not falling, whirling around us.
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Snow
Night from a railroad car window Is a great, dark, soft thing Broken across with slashes of light.
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Window
The railroad track is miles away, And the day is loud with voices speaking, Yet there isn’t a train goes by all day But I hear its whistle shrieking. All night there isn’t a train goes by, Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming But I see its cinders red on the sky, And hear its engine steaming. My heart is warm with the friends I make, And better friends I’ll not be knowing, Yet there isn’t a train I wouldn’t take, No matter where it’s going.
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Travel
The oxygen secreted from the walnut tree, the snap-pole green beans growing up the side of the rusty garden fence, and bags of aluminum cans stored  in the shed with the old cash registers from the antique store. These are the golden frames caught and edited onto organic film, etched into grey matter, projected from a foggy lens onto reflective marble. We abandoned the clubhouse because of spiders; they took the place for themselves after a storm. Our new abode was the patch of grass between the walnut tree and the fence in the back corner of the yard; shady, rough terrain from fallen walnuts, and the grass always had a slight dew in places. "The place where the snakes live" is what we called it when we were sprouts; now we could catch them in both hands. One night, the wind blew over the shed doors; flimsy, sliding rail, aluminum thing. We slinked in and got to play with the old adding machines, foreign tools, jars full of door hinges, and rusty hand-crank egg beaters. Eventually, the roof of the shed collected so many years of twigs, walnut husks, and foliage fallen that tiny trees began to pop their heads up from the clutter. Crickets underneath the gutter guards- two types; the black singers and the ones you have to dig for that will draw blood if they get a hold of one of your fingers. Sometimes, if bravery was roused and boiling, we would drift closer to the railroad tracks in attempts to catch yellow jackets, or even hornets. One popped their stinger into the back of my neck.
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Mar 24, 2015
Mar 24, 2015 at 9:06 PM UTC
Cousin Punches
The oxygen secreted from the walnut tree, the snap-pole green beans growing up the side of the rusty garden fence, and bags of aluminum cans stored  in the shed with the old cash registers from the antique store. These are the golden frames caught and edited onto organic film, etched into grey matter, projected from a foggy lens onto reflective marble. We abandoned the clubhouse because of spiders; they took the place for themselves after a storm. Our new abode was the patch of grass between the walnut tree and the fence in the back corner of the yard; shady, rough terrain from fallen walnuts, and the grass always had a slight dew in places. "The place where the snakes live" is what we called it when we were sprouts; now we could catch them in both hands. One night, the wind blew over the shed doors; flimsy, sliding rail, aluminum thing. We slinked in and got to play with the old adding machines, foreign tools, jars full of door hinges, and rusty hand-crank egg beaters. Eventually, the roof of the shed collected so many years of twigs, walnut husks, and foliage fallen that tiny trees began to pop their heads up from the clutter. Crickets underneath the gutter guards- two types; the black singers and the ones you have to dig for that will draw blood if they get a hold of one of your fingers. Sometimes, if bravery was roused and boiling, we would drift closer to the railroad tracks in attempts to catch yellow jackets, or even hornets. One popped their stinger into the back of my neck.
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32
i still **** my tummy in, imagine it smooth. my mom was surprised when i confessed i was shirtless, with nothing but my sports bra. (at least I’m tan) you say you like my tummy, and some days I do too. i still slap my thighs, imagine scrawny flesh, stretch marks are lost among photoshop wonderland. i’m an hourglass figure, you say, but I find it silly we compare body types to glasses, and fruit, for we are a combination of things, we are stars, and seas, and candy, and railroad tracks that sometimes go around in circles until we ***** i still see my limbs as different people, and i wish i could detach them like the toxins in my lungs. people like my *** so maybe that’s why I move it so much when I’m drunk. people say I’m Arabic, people say I’m Mexican, people say I’m Muslim, but really I’m all of those combined into a mixing bowl, and one day maybe, I’ll make cupcakes and swallow them whole.
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May 1, 2013
May 1, 2013 at 4:20 PM UTC
baking cupcakes
Hurry now, it’s leaving soon Car door slams, gravel underfoot And from the boot Grandmas lil helper is lifted Oh! Where did it go? Wind twists scarf to snake Released from frames captivity I stoop and tug Under your foot, Gran She shuffles, Ties it firmly around tiny shoulders Bright colour against delicate skin Paper thin, both, One for beauty, one to hold the blood in And may it hold the blood in, Just a little longer... The train awaits, Monstrous, Steele stark against surrounding bush. Matt has a sausage, Mum bothers about tickets, Both fuss and fizzle, I press lips firmly together Deciding then and there Never to let entertainment turn to stress; It’s more than it’s worth. We’re to be in the engine room, The rest will be left behind - As something faulty. Matt lifts Gran up; She’s tiny, She’s flying, She’s in. And then we’re all in. Crammed. We stare longingly through grimy glass At empty carriages Can’t we be in there? It’s all a bit stuffy. There’s a fire along the track But we don’t go any further. The smoke streams out over forest. And jerking and bumping, Dipping along, We reverse back to whence we started. Petrol fumes and smoke fill our tiny cocoon Here, let me help you Passenger to passenger, Fellow human, Compassionate eyes. Gran has a seat; She sways while we lurch. Deep within Railroad country I make believe I know something Of the girl Of the Plannies; That sacred connection To land and sky, To Native country, To Golden Macrocarpa I stare over hills of tree ferns, Kawakawa, Wheki, Punga And, knowing no other, I feel this land Majestically My own.
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Nov 3, 2014
Nov 3, 2014 at 9:47 PM UTC
Railroad Country, Sacred Land
Hurry now, it’s leaving soon Car door slams, gravel underfoot And from the boot Grandmas lil helper is lifted Oh! Where did it go? Wind twists scarf to snake Released from frames captivity I stoop and tug Under your foot, Gran She shuffles, Ties it firmly around tiny shoulders Bright colour against delicate skin Paper thin, both, One for beauty, one to hold the blood in And may it hold the blood in, Just a little longer... The train awaits, Monstrous, Steele stark against surrounding bush. Matt has a sausage, Mum bothers about tickets, Both fuss and fizzle, I press lips firmly together Deciding then and there Never to let entertainment turn to stress; It’s more than it’s worth. We’re to be in the engine room, The rest will be left behind - As something faulty. Matt lifts Gran up; She’s tiny, She’s flying, She’s in. And then we’re all in. Crammed. We stare longingly through grimy glass At empty carriages Can’t we be in there? It’s all a bit stuffy. There’s a fire along the track But we don’t go any further. The smoke streams out over forest. And jerking and bumping, Dipping along, We reverse back to whence we started. Petrol fumes and smoke fill our tiny cocoon Here, let me help you Passenger to passenger, Fellow human, Compassionate eyes. Gran has a seat; She sways while we lurch. Deep within Railroad country I make believe I know something Of the girl Of the Plannies; That sacred connection To land and sky, To Native country, To Golden Macrocarpa I stare over hills of tree ferns, Kawakawa, Wheki, Punga And, knowing no other, I feel this land Majestically My own.
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67
Describe fires in riverbottom sand, and the cooking; the cooking of hot dogs spitted in whittled sticks over flames of woodfire with grease dropping in smoke to brown and blacken the salty hotdogs, and the wine, and the work on the railroad. $275,000,000,000.00 in debt says the Government Two hundred and seventy five billion dollars in debt Like Unending Heaven And Unnumbered Sentient Beings Who will be admitted - Not-Numberable - To the new Pair of Shoes Of White Guru Fleece O j o ! The Purple Paradise
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3rd Chorus Mexico City Blues
I cherish my freedom Hard earned though it was Through the abolitionist railway And those who supported the cause An African slave, though free upon birth I was sold as a slave And was now bound to the earth Run for the caves boy Run for the caves Run for your freedom Or die here a slave Run for the caves boy Run for the caves Run for your freedom Or die here a slave Late in the dark I heard of the routes To the new land of freedom I was resolute I would run for my life Leave my family behind I would run for the caves And the new life I'd find Bound to plantation I was just something to trade I would run for my freedom The decision was made From South Carolina I'd head to the coast I'd run for my freedom I'd then be a ghost Follow the signs That was all that I heard They know you are coming Just remember the word Stray from the darkness A dead slave you will be With the last thought you'll have That you'll never die free Boats on the seacoast Up to Salem they sail Look for the sign And remember the trail Make for the caves They'll find you where The water is highest They'll come get you there From there up to Salem And one more step to go Stick with the railroad The way that they know Make way when the moon Is down low in the sky If you're found in the meantime It's a fact you will die Freedom is costly But, it is within reach Make for the caves At the north end of the beach From New England go on to the north or the west Both spell out freedom The end of your quest Don't look over your shoulder just follow the signs They know you are coming stay deep in the pines Remember all those Who have made Freeman Cave Follow their symbols And don't die a slave There are people who will Help you free from the strife But, for now find the caves And son, run for your life.... Run for the caves boy Run for the caves Run for your freedom Or die here a slave Run for the caves boy Run for the caves Run for your freedom Or die here a slave
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Feb 19, 2014
Feb 19, 2014 at 11:56 PM UTC
Freeman Cave
I cherish my freedom Hard earned though it was Through the abolitionist railway And those who supported the cause An African slave, though free upon birth I was sold as a slave And was now bound to the earth Run for the caves boy Run for the caves Run for your freedom Or die here a slave Run for the caves boy Run for the caves Run for your freedom Or die here a slave Late in the dark I heard of the routes To the new land of freedom I was resolute I would run for my life Leave my family behind I would run for the caves And the new life I'd find Bound to plantation I was just something to trade I would run for my freedom The decision was made From South Carolina I'd head to the coast I'd run for my freedom I'd then be a ghost Follow the signs That was all that I heard They know you are coming Just remember the word Stray from the darkness A dead slave you will be With the last thought you'll have That you'll never die free Boats on the seacoast Up to Salem they sail Look for the sign And remember the trail Make for the caves They'll find you where The water is highest They'll come get you there From there up to Salem And one more step to go Stick with the railroad The way that they know Make way when the moon Is down low in the sky If you're found in the meantime It's a fact you will die Freedom is costly But, it is within reach Make for the caves At the north end of the beach From New England go on to the north or the west Both spell out freedom The end of your quest Don't look over your shoulder just follow the signs They know you are coming stay deep in the pines Remember all those Who have made Freeman Cave Follow their symbols And don't die a slave There are people who will Help you free from the strife But, for now find the caves And son, run for your life.... Run for the caves boy Run for the caves Run for your freedom Or die here a slave Run for the caves boy Run for the caves Run for your freedom Or die here a slave
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84
Hidden under the honeysuckle and hibiscus Lies a stone. And as I sit, drinking a gin and tonic Looking over the spent plates where crusty bread fried calamari, which is a fancy word for squid, and two Oysters Rockefeller sat until recently consumed by two parents both in that awkward state of freedom and longing when their child is at camp, out past the ducks on granite rocks puffing themselves up flapping their wings towards afternoon sun on Winnipesaukee my thoughts and eyes are drawn back to the wheel of stone leaning against the rotting wall of railroad ties covered in a remoulade of Honeysuckle Rose of Sharon and other viney things that are unidentifiable to me. It has been painted during its time but the paint is faded and chipped and the feeling is that the stone has outlived the painter. Yet I do wonder. What was its job 50, 100, 200 years ago? Was it in a mill? Did it lie flat, grinding? Did it roll, upright, crushing things? What else did they use round stones for? Is this what retirement for a working stone is? Cast to the side, forgotten hidden under the honeysuckle and hibiscus in an alley next to a waterside Wolfboro restaurant where parents sit Looking at Winnipesaukee over spent plates of bread, squid and Oysters Rockefeller thinking of a child at camp.
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Aug 17, 2012
Aug 17, 2012 at 9:11 AM UTC
Stone
With mechanical portals known to be doors That either lead to different worlds or take you home, These cabled vehicles like tunnels on wheels fastened on a railroad track Stretch to both ends of the universe under a single route. And as you get in for closure, You put your trust on the obscure. Just say the magic words; It will take you anywhere you wish to be. Even though magic always comes with a price, The only cost are countable units of your time And also a few dimes, In return for the travel of your life. Across the carpeted walkway of reaching out, Through the glass windows of visible silver lining, Behind the blank and arid faces that lure the soul to sink in deep wonder, The lights and skyscrapers, and mist silhouetting the scenery, All appear in bokeh, all blend in your eyes; Your eyes that glow brighter than fire on ice. The coldness lashing perennially on your skin And shaking your bones to its final breakage, Couldn't beat the absolute zero amity between these strangers. But your fascination has enough radiation To melt the tip of the iceberg And shine over what's behind their opaque walls. Settled on the plastic seats that serve as time machines, They nestle between unfamiliar bodies; Static, in a state of inertia. Blocking out force, resisting change; Like cars stuck on parking mode, Couldn't bring themselves to unload. Grasping on loose handles With a grip more secure than seat-belts, Some tend to pull away despite of the constant push. Like engines on reverse, they take time to backtrack. For all we know, for every action, Is an equal and opposite reaction. The brakes hit; there goes a screeching sound. But when it comes to a break, we don't really hang back Or fall to a complete stop; We only slide forward. For we must keep moving ahead, In order to keep our balance. The portals once again unlock to let you out to the open galaxy And let in another for the same adventure. You've reached the end of the trip, But not the end of the road; nor the destination. For the journey is infinite; you know you are going to ride again and again, Until you've run out of wishes of where you want to be where.
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May 31, 2013
May 31, 2013 at 12:33 AM UTC
Wanderlust Through Railroad Dust
With mechanical portals known to be doors That either lead to different worlds or take you home, These cabled vehicles like tunnels on wheels fastened on a railroad track Stretch to both ends of the universe under a single route. And as you get in for closure, You put your trust on the obscure. Just say the magic words; It will take you anywhere you wish to be. Even though magic always comes with a price, The only cost are countable units of your time And also a few dimes, In return for the travel of your life. Across the carpeted walkway of reaching out, Through the glass windows of visible silver lining, Behind the blank and arid faces that lure the soul to sink in deep wonder, The lights and skyscrapers, and mist silhouetting the scenery, All appear in bokeh, all blend in your eyes; Your eyes that glow brighter than fire on ice. The coldness lashing perennially on your skin And shaking your bones to its final breakage, Couldn't beat the absolute zero amity between these strangers. But your fascination has enough radiation To melt the tip of the iceberg And shine over what's behind their opaque walls. Settled on the plastic seats that serve as time machines, They nestle between unfamiliar bodies; Static, in a state of inertia. Blocking out force, resisting change; Like cars stuck on parking mode, Couldn't bring themselves to unload. Grasping on loose handles With a grip more secure than seat-belts, Some tend to pull away despite of the constant push. Like engines on reverse, they take time to backtrack. For all we know, for every action, Is an equal and opposite reaction. The brakes hit; there goes a screeching sound. But when it comes to a break, we don't really hang back Or fall to a complete stop; We only slide forward. For we must keep moving ahead, In order to keep our balance. The portals once again unlock to let you out to the open galaxy And let in another for the same adventure. You've reached the end of the trip, But not the end of the road; nor the destination. For the journey is infinite; you know you are going to ride again and again, Until you've run out of wishes of where you want to be where.
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48
Oh simplicity how you reach out to my closed arms   in fear of how simple it may be to be happy   Without worldly posessions in grasps of their needy hands I've never felt so at peace as the trade winds sweep my hair on delicate sunsets of May   where red wine makes me lush but aware...   of the magnificence of this moment,  here,  now. The geese migrate, I seperate from the man made sounds of the city   although the connect the dots of street lights seem to guide me The shifting landscape   the shifted skew of my life   five years ago I wouldn't have guessed this far The time is so simple, slow-moving, sweet    I can almost feel the heart beat of excitement   or the beat within my youthful feet. The railroad still gleams at dusk   as does the lake shine   as does the hidden blackbirds and blossoms of springtime. I now spend here alone as I did when I was young   troubled, I would run.... to the same spot   and watch the same sun as it shone   day became night   the stars endless candle light Now I'd ponder for hours   leave here smittin   relieved by the gift of life I often forgot how precious simplicity is as I rush through the day... But why can't we just lay back in silence wallow in what is... ponder like a little child of what may be out in the universe I lay here now,  alone Spell bound by what I see an array of colourful hues and natures generosity I wish you were here with me Smoke plumes heave as I exhale through these lungs This place of mine, timeless memories still live here I've come to remember all I have known and the simplicity of happiness still flourishes here just got to stop and wallow...
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May 9, 2013
May 9, 2013 at 1:24 AM UTC
Oh Simplicity
Oh simplicity how you reach out to my closed arms   in fear of how simple it may be to be happy   Without worldly posessions in grasps of their needy hands I've never felt so at peace as the trade winds sweep my hair on delicate sunsets of May   where red wine makes me lush but aware...   of the magnificence of this moment,  here,  now. The geese migrate, I seperate from the man made sounds of the city   although the connect the dots of street lights seem to guide me The shifting landscape   the shifted skew of my life   five years ago I wouldn't have guessed this far The time is so simple, slow-moving, sweet    I can almost feel the heart beat of excitement   or the beat within my youthful feet. The railroad still gleams at dusk   as does the lake shine   as does the hidden blackbirds and blossoms of springtime. I now spend here alone as I did when I was young   troubled, I would run.... to the same spot   and watch the same sun as it shone   day became night   the stars endless candle light Now I'd ponder for hours   leave here smittin   relieved by the gift of life I often forgot how precious simplicity is as I rush through the day... But why can't we just lay back in silence wallow in what is... ponder like a little child of what may be out in the universe I lay here now,  alone Spell bound by what I see an array of colourful hues and natures generosity I wish you were here with me Smoke plumes heave as I exhale through these lungs This place of mine, timeless memories still live here I've come to remember all I have known and the simplicity of happiness still flourishes here just got to stop and wallow...
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39
Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! The world is holy! The soul is holy! The skin is holy! The nose is holy! The tongue and **** and hand and ******* holy! Everything is holy! everybody's holy! everywhere is holy! everyday is in eternity! Everyman's an angel! The bum's as holy as the seraphim! the madman is holy as you my soul are holy! The typewriter is holy the poem is holy the voice is holy the hearers are holy the ecstasy is holy! Holy Peter holy Allen holy Solomon holy Lucien holy Kerouac holy Huncke holy Burroughs holy Cas- sady holy the unknown buggered and suffering beggars holy the hideous human angels! Holy my mother in the insane asylum! Holy the ***** of the grandfathers of Kansas! Holy the groaning saxophone! Holy the bop apocalypse! Holy the jazzbands marijuana hipsters peace & junk & drums! Holy the solitudes of skyscrapers and pavements! Holy the cafeterias filled with the millions! Holy the mysterious rivers of tears under the streets! Holy the lone juggernaut! Holy the vast lamb of the middle class! Holy the crazy shepherds of rebell- ion! Who digs Los Angeles IS Los Angeles! Holy New York Holy San Francisco Holy Peoria & Seattle Holy Paris Holy Tangiers Holy Moscow Holy Istanbul! Holy time in eternity holy eternity in time holy the clocks in space holy the fourth dimension holy the fifth International holy the Angel in Moloch! Holy the sea holy the desert holy the railroad holy the locomotive holy the visions holy the hallucina- tions holy the miracles holy the eyeball holy the abyss! Holy forgiveness! mercy! charity! faith! Holy! Ours! bodies! suffering! magnanimity! Holy the supernatural extra brilliant intelligent kindness of the soul! Berkeley 1955
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4.3k
Footnote To Howl
Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! The world is holy! The soul is holy! The skin is holy! The nose is holy! The tongue and **** and hand and ******* holy! Everything is holy! everybody's holy! everywhere is holy! everyday is in eternity! Everyman's an angel! The bum's as holy as the seraphim! the madman is holy as you my soul are holy! The typewriter is holy the poem is holy the voice is holy the hearers are holy the ecstasy is holy! Holy Peter holy Allen holy Solomon holy Lucien holy Kerouac holy Huncke holy Burroughs holy Cas- sady holy the unknown buggered and suffering beggars holy the hideous human angels! Holy my mother in the insane asylum! Holy the ***** of the grandfathers of Kansas! Holy the groaning saxophone! Holy the bop apocalypse! Holy the jazzbands marijuana hipsters peace & junk & drums! Holy the solitudes of skyscrapers and pavements! Holy the cafeterias filled with the millions! Holy the mysterious rivers of tears under the streets! Holy the lone juggernaut! Holy the vast lamb of the middle class! Holy the crazy shepherds of rebell- ion! Who digs Los Angeles IS Los Angeles! Holy New York Holy San Francisco Holy Peoria & Seattle Holy Paris Holy Tangiers Holy Moscow Holy Istanbul! Holy time in eternity holy eternity in time holy the clocks in space holy the fourth dimension holy the fifth International holy the Angel in Moloch! Holy the sea holy the desert holy the railroad holy the locomotive holy the visions holy the hallucina- tions holy the miracles holy the eyeball holy the abyss! Holy forgiveness! mercy! charity! faith! Holy! Ours! bodies! suffering! magnanimity! Holy the supernatural extra brilliant intelligent kindness of the soul! Berkeley 1955
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42
how we dress up the imperfect parts of ourselves presentable flowered smile. lies cracked porcelain good morning in a broken jaw breakfast line barefoot pipeline running the secret underfoot the railroad's coming and ain't nobody talking no, ain't nobody telling a soul sell off the parts of you that you have no use for but where does it stop sticking to you? memories, residual dew of choices and transitions clarity of the third person, but who is that? wandering the sleeping shores of Sunday on cracked feet and torn sails flowing strong in the strange wind blowing through the trees. sail my ship to shore by candlelight reflected endlessly across the water cavernous echoes echoes in the depth don't lose your heart in the caves of tomorrow searching for sunshine again with a lingering song in my heart
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Feb 8, 2015
Feb 8, 2015 at 6:50 PM UTC
Caves of Tomorrow
Neal Cassady February 8 ,1926  -  February 4 , 1968 San Miguel D'Alene , Mexico Dead from extreme exposure Four days short of forty-two Only fitting , next to a railroad track He had many words to haul back The wolf sleeps next to the silver rail Howling at a silver moon that fell I see here he drove a ******* Cadillac Through the San Francisco streets With the top down Smiling free , it was meant to be Life is a quasar
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Nov 19, 2014
Nov 19, 2014 at 10:01 PM UTC
Neal Cassady
Big Four Railroad In the past a little one had an interest in this story and one of the racers and the longest freight train The race team was in the living room and their story was being read from the paper mother clueless We laughed and snickered about our secret that old engineer was proud of us we were not vain Down the hill we sped past Bino’s station across Jackson the B&O; he was high balling we had to pour it On between the two tracks he was closing the gap he had nothing to lose but his pride for us it was Curtains the long black limo a one way ride we streaked the line fifteen feet to spare we just stopped And turned what a salutation from the engineer half hanging out the widow of that great engine his Balled fist a shaking you sons with the deafening roar of that train so close we didn’t get to hear the rest And the train carried him on down the track so Jerry and Larry and the other guy continued on to the Swimming pool pleased with our speed we forgot about it until on the front of the paper in the bottom corner it read three Pana youths out run train I guess the old engineer cooled off as he sailed on down The track we didn’t know he talked to the tower as he passed so we didn’t get first prize or a blue Ribbon but in a small way we entered into the great and wonderful tales of train lore along with Jessie and Frank I told you when in trouble I had three actions fight talk or run that day the running won the Day for these three amigos this memory was triggered by that same old paper this time it was talking About the Amtrak detour I remember those passengers all those years ago setting there in their seats flying through our town and the hook and the mail sack from the tower where that old bakery could be smelled all night all the way out at the park as we watched tables for old F.S. Refinery I’m glad we didn’t race a passenger train or this would be a hamburger story enjoy G.H.
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Jan 8, 2012
Jan 8, 2012 at 11:53 PM UTC
Big Four Railroad
Big Four Railroad In the past a little one had an interest in this story and one of the racers and the longest freight train The race team was in the living room and their story was being read from the paper mother clueless We laughed and snickered about our secret that old engineer was proud of us we were not vain Down the hill we sped past Bino’s station across Jackson the B&O; he was high balling we had to pour it On between the two tracks he was closing the gap he had nothing to lose but his pride for us it was Curtains the long black limo a one way ride we streaked the line fifteen feet to spare we just stopped And turned what a salutation from the engineer half hanging out the widow of that great engine his Balled fist a shaking you sons with the deafening roar of that train so close we didn’t get to hear the rest And the train carried him on down the track so Jerry and Larry and the other guy continued on to the Swimming pool pleased with our speed we forgot about it until on the front of the paper in the bottom corner it read three Pana youths out run train I guess the old engineer cooled off as he sailed on down The track we didn’t know he talked to the tower as he passed so we didn’t get first prize or a blue Ribbon but in a small way we entered into the great and wonderful tales of train lore along with Jessie and Frank I told you when in trouble I had three actions fight talk or run that day the running won the Day for these three amigos this memory was triggered by that same old paper this time it was talking About the Amtrak detour I remember those passengers all those years ago setting there in their seats flying through our town and the hook and the mail sack from the tower where that old bakery could be smelled all night all the way out at the park as we watched tables for old F.S. Refinery I’m glad we didn’t race a passenger train or this would be a hamburger story enjoy G.H.
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20
BAND concert public square Nebraska city. Flowing and circling dresses, summer-white dresses. Faces, flesh tints flung like sprays of cherry blossoms. And gigglers, God knows, gigglers, rivaling the pony whinnies of the Livery Stable Blues. Cowboy rags and ****** rags. And boys driving sorrel horses hurl a cornfield laughter at the girls in dresses, summer-white dresses. Amid the cornet staccato and the tuba oompa, gigglers, God knows, gigglers daffy with life's razzle dazzle. Slow good-night melodies and Home Sweet Home. And the snare drummer bookkeeper in a hardware store nods hello to the daughter of a railroad conductor-a giggler, God knows, a giggler-and the summer-white dresses filter fanwise out of the public square. The crushed strawberries of ice cream soda places, the night wind in cottonwoods and willows, the lattice shadows of doorsteps and porches, these know more of the story.
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3.9k
Band Concert
Pradip is newborn (impossible wisdom) “a new day, a new chance for my soul... to heed a small voice ... to give flowers, to plant new seeds. to not trample on wildflowers and unwanted weeds...” Sally “Sweet baby with your head on my shoulder I'm no more growing older...” Pradip ~ the unpredictability and randomness of the winds, seed carriers, of small voices, yearning to be heard, powerless in appearance only, for within are powers superior heroic, who can grow others       who can feed                                  who can sustain multiple living creatures each seed unique, a poem composed and complete, authored by precedents, authorized by predecessors, utilizing the cocoon of soil and sun, rainwater from space and deep driven to the clear milk of underground railroad rivers, to give nurture to its revisional generational code these new children of an old mix, are quiet lifesavers giving proofs positive, that those who will one day grow old, with deep gnarled roots, are most capable of finding ways of manufacturing fresh youth whim within, to those who give babies homage, in attendance this then the newborn miracle, the new seed, wind borne, replants itself in old soil, taking but more so giving, injecting bits of vitality into its arterial ancestry, how can this be?*** *I do not know the why or the how, but am evidence of the therefore, and the thereafter, of impossible wisdom* 7:07am 4-5-19 a newborn poem for poetry passing grandparents
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Apr 5, 2019
Apr 5, 2019 at 7:19 AM UTC
Pradip is newborn (impossible wisdom)
Pradip is newborn (impossible wisdom) “a new day, a new chance for my soul... to heed a small voice ... to give flowers, to plant new seeds. to not trample on wildflowers and unwanted weeds...” Sally “Sweet baby with your head on my shoulder I'm no more growing older...” Pradip ~ the unpredictability and randomness of the winds, seed carriers, of small voices, yearning to be heard, powerless in appearance only, for within are powers superior heroic, who can grow others       who can feed                                  who can sustain multiple living creatures each seed unique, a poem composed and complete, authored by precedents, authorized by predecessors, utilizing the cocoon of soil and sun, rainwater from space and deep driven to the clear milk of underground railroad rivers, to give nurture to its revisional generational code these new children of an old mix, are quiet lifesavers giving proofs positive, that those who will one day grow old, with deep gnarled roots, are most capable of finding ways of manufacturing fresh youth whim within, to those who give babies homage, in attendance this then the newborn miracle, the new seed, wind borne, replants itself in old soil, taking but more so giving, injecting bits of vitality into its arterial ancestry, how can this be?*** *I do not know the why or the how, but am evidence of the therefore, and the thereafter, of impossible wisdom* 7:07am 4-5-19 a newborn poem for poetry passing grandparents
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34
Railroad track in ole' tall grass singing small crickets chirping
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Jul 28, 2015
Jul 28, 2015 at 12:42 PM UTC
Railroad
The railway is a silver line piercing through the gloom of this lonely place. The night train’s slowly sliding by shining in the moon lighting up my face and it makes such a lonesome sound. The full moon is a cruel friend beaming cold and bright on the railroad track. The night train echoes back again ghostly in the night, never coming back; and it makes such a lonesome sound. The north wind blows into my soul filling up the void that the night train made. The night train is a memory that I can’t avoid as I make my way and it makes such a lonesome sound, such a lonesome sound, such a lonesome sound.
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Aug 25, 2015
Aug 25, 2015 at 6:05 PM UTC
The Night Train