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"watertight" poems
Often I get messages That say this site is not secure. Frequently, I can't sign on, Which is a bunch of steer manure. The site creators ought to fix The problem. Could it be that hard? I think that hackers could break in And leave a nasty calling card. So, site creators, do us a favor And do what it takes to secure this site, Making it less vulnerable AND a bit more watertight. -by Bob B (9-7-25)
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Sep 7, 2025
Sep 7, 2025 at 2:27 PM UTC
Issue with This Website
When clouds are overhead It doesn't bother me, I lay my weary head Right on my lover's knee, With her fingers in my hair To soothe away dull care. I go walking in the sunlight of dreams In the sunlight Radiant sunlight In the ultra-white I'm alright Sunlight of my dreams. When lady luck won't smile I send her on her way The weather may be vile. All the livelong day. But if wintry winds do blow And summer doesn't show I go walking in the sunlight of my dreams In the sunlight Happy sunlight In the living right Watertight Sunlight of my dreams. Where skies are darkest blue And trouble's far behind Young love is ever true And hearts are always kind. Everyone has time to spend And pleasures never end. I go walking in the sunlight of my dreams In the sunlight Laughing sunlight In the dynamite Golden bright Sunlight of my dreams.
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Jun 1, 2013
Jun 1, 2013 at 6:54 PM UTC
Sunlight Of My Dreams.
Caulk these broken bows, please whether salt or fresh water, it has weight, presence and if allowed to pour in it will sink me Trying not to think too much won’t work as the only perpetual motion found in this empirical life is in our anxious minds so as life jackets go it’s a no no To ask for a shipwright is unfair but to have you there, tar brush in hand is enough
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Sep 4, 2021
Sep 4, 2021 at 5:25 PM UTC
Watertight
Itching, itching in unending irritation, eyes puffy and leaking, spilling salt over molten cheeks - bed-bound and awfully weak. I cannot stand it; I am a shell, broken my pieces are very light and punctured - not watertight - I let in a virus, vicious, with the waves I languish; only a withered cord tying me to life. For in a few weepy blinks I might die. It comes to me as no surprise this disease - please, it speaks no lies, it eats my brain just like some blind child that’s starved and so senselessly wild. No memory, no hesitation, this is me - alive, afloat with those ****** bubbles, those parasites that gloat and bruise my concentration - wreak hell upon my mind. So see me, here, flattened, by the potion of alienation I am pie-eyed, senseless; a study for your contemplation.
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Aug 31, 2012
Aug 31, 2012 at 7:07 AM UTC
I am Poorly
may we have some nicer weather please? At least some sunnier days than these! It's been so cold and unbelievably wet, it's horrid enough to get upset. It's a bit like April but in reverse, instead of better it's getting worse. Can't make any plans to go outside for a short walk or bicycle ride. Whenever I get ready to leave the house, heaven looks like I'm in for a douse. Sometimes I go out in spite and realize I'm not watertight. Then I get drenched to the bone, it even destroys my mobile phone. Worse yet after it's been warm, the sky rips open a nasty thunderstorm. That's the part when danger lurks with thunder lightning and the works. Because holding up an umbrella can sometimes torch a poor fella. But wait, before I get into hail, earthly tempests like heavy gale, tornados, hurricanes and the likes. It's definitely not worth it, yikes! Instead of giving myself a permanent frown, I put the kettle on and try piping down.
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Jul 5, 2021
Jul 5, 2021 at 3:27 AM UTC
May, May, May,
I was born as a chaste Hindu And hated its watertight caste system The rigid ritualistic custom I became a cosmopolitan Christian The Christianity always discussed forgiveness I did not have that much greatness I was fed up with its teachings of kindness I converted my self into a Muslim I grew a long beard and traveled in a costly car And believed in the inspiring holy war The police put me into a huge prison The best place for my enlightened vision Which God would save me from this cell? I did not know if I would go to heaven or hell The only thing I could do was to yell Into a bottomless pit did I eventually fell?
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Dec 25, 2010
Dec 25, 2010 at 4:32 AM UTC
A BOTTOMLESS PIT
~ *With all too familiar moorings, holding fast the chain of sons and daughters, this hiding place isn't watertight, life trickles in everywhere, hopeful to the bitter end.* ~
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Apr 14, 2022
Apr 14, 2022 at 2:28 PM UTC
The Boat House
stand like that, babe, don't undress, tonight stand, looking at the moon, stand, turning your **** to me. oh as I imagine the moist gingerholes that lie behind those cheeks. oh the borderline: mezzanine - that's polite for everything fine on the bottom floor, isn't it? what's the word for it - paroxysm? stand that way: no sight like hindesight, as they say, flashlight, watertight, those plugpoles
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Mar 4, 2014
Mar 4, 2014 at 1:13 PM UTC
Mezzanine
I used to think that thunder was The sound of the Hammer, Thor, He’d beat it up on the clouds above Each time he was waging war, He’d quell his foes with a lightning strike Or drown them all in his rain, Whenever he came along at night His purpose was always pain. For we lived down in the valley where The tendency was to flood, Whenever the river was swollen with A squirt of his enemy’s blood, We’d have to climb up to higher ground And sit there, soaked to the skin, With lightning flashing around our heads We’d need to pay for our sins. ‘Pay for our sins,’ my father said In a voice that rumbled and roared, He’d pull a hood up over his head And speak to the god called Thor, Then Thor replied with a mighty blast To drown out my father’s cries, As if he answered him there at last, ‘All that you speak are lies!’ While mother sat in a silent weep As often she’d done before, ‘Why did you have to build our house Way down on the valley floor? We would have been safer, further up And still walk down to the stream, To carry a bucket of water up, But all that you do is dream!’ That was his sin, my mother said, He didn’t know black from white, He never looked far enough ahead He didn’t know wrong from right, Dreaming up schemes that failed, it seems Like a prophet, living in dread, That one black night at the river’s height We’d all be drowned in our bed. ‘Not that his bed means much to him,’ My mother would often moan, ‘Not since that gypsy girl, that Kym Stayed in the valley alone, He spends his time in her caravan Drinking her gypsy tea, And letting her hold and read his hand, He never did that with me!’ And so it was on a cold, black night He’d gone to her caravan, ‘Just to check that she’ll be all right,’ He said, just playing the man, The thunder crashed on the mountain top While we prayed, and gave up thanks, To the mighty Thor beating at our door That the river not break its banks. Lightning flashed though the vale of trees Where she’d parked her gypsy van, And then my mother was on her knees As we heard a mighty bang, For lightning struck at the heart of sin And it set the van ablaze, While both the sinners were trapped within And paid for their sinful ways. We buried him on the valley floor For my mother said, ‘It’s right. He doesn’t deserve a headstone Nor a grave that’s watertight.’ Whenever the god of thunder calls And the river overflows, I think of my father down below And I wonder if he knows. David Lewis Paget
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Jul 3, 2015
Jul 3, 2015 at 6:22 AM UTC
The Hammer of Thor
I used to think that thunder was The sound of the Hammer, Thor, He’d beat it up on the clouds above Each time he was waging war, He’d quell his foes with a lightning strike Or drown them all in his rain, Whenever he came along at night His purpose was always pain. For we lived down in the valley where The tendency was to flood, Whenever the river was swollen with A squirt of his enemy’s blood, We’d have to climb up to higher ground And sit there, soaked to the skin, With lightning flashing around our heads We’d need to pay for our sins. ‘Pay for our sins,’ my father said In a voice that rumbled and roared, He’d pull a hood up over his head And speak to the god called Thor, Then Thor replied with a mighty blast To drown out my father’s cries, As if he answered him there at last, ‘All that you speak are lies!’ While mother sat in a silent weep As often she’d done before, ‘Why did you have to build our house Way down on the valley floor? We would have been safer, further up And still walk down to the stream, To carry a bucket of water up, But all that you do is dream!’ That was his sin, my mother said, He didn’t know black from white, He never looked far enough ahead He didn’t know wrong from right, Dreaming up schemes that failed, it seems Like a prophet, living in dread, That one black night at the river’s height We’d all be drowned in our bed. ‘Not that his bed means much to him,’ My mother would often moan, ‘Not since that gypsy girl, that Kym Stayed in the valley alone, He spends his time in her caravan Drinking her gypsy tea, And letting her hold and read his hand, He never did that with me!’ And so it was on a cold, black night He’d gone to her caravan, ‘Just to check that she’ll be all right,’ He said, just playing the man, The thunder crashed on the mountain top While we prayed, and gave up thanks, To the mighty Thor beating at our door That the river not break its banks. Lightning flashed though the vale of trees Where she’d parked her gypsy van, And then my mother was on her knees As we heard a mighty bang, For lightning struck at the heart of sin And it set the van ablaze, While both the sinners were trapped within And paid for their sinful ways. We buried him on the valley floor For my mother said, ‘It’s right. He doesn’t deserve a headstone Nor a grave that’s watertight.’ Whenever the god of thunder calls And the river overflows, I think of my father down below And I wonder if he knows. David Lewis Paget
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A husband -> a wronged wife "My dear take a chair Your affair is unfair I can't stand A suffocating air This way you and I Could no longer continue A loving pair Soon to my parents I must repair! How come for love of a **** A marital vow You thwart? " This way since You decided me desert For what I did spurred By transient lust Chagrin my soul has hit. As usual in deep slumber When I extend my hand To ascertain whether You have slept sound And stir you up So as we sleep entwined Yet get awake to a tragedy stark That I but draw a blank My heart indeed Incessantly bleed From the loss it incurred Your obeisance and love divested. If you can't find it in your heart My folly to forget Forgive me my dear For without you near My life turns insufferably sour. A wronged wife—>A husband After your body you befouled And proved a down to earth cad, After your spirits perfidy you debased Impudently you demand As before I should you hold An esteemed husband. Indeed this I will not! For rancor laden my heart Bleed incessant It mustn't! Away to my parents I fled For you failed to abscond After what you did. 'Once bitten twice shy' Forgive you how could I? A husband—>A wronged wife Your forgiveness but Nothing depurate The blot In your eyes Down me brought. I hope Forgiveness is the least Your impeccable heart Me could grant. Even the ocean of tears I wept Whitewash me still not My dear there is a second Man goes wild And commits a deed He condemns absurd, My perfidy to nothing but To this folly could be imputed. Man is prone to err So you should consider What matters is his bid Improprieties away to clear. So my dear Give me a chance second To prove, you loving husband. Your forgiveness will be a credit That surely you catapult To ensconce In the apex of my heart. A forgiving personality Is a virtuous quality Besides your heart Me 'love' that taught Which is also on me soft Won't follow a policy Watertight and Once for all me smite A wronged wife—>A husband Raving ans volleying Boisterousness nay, nay! You stultify Must not I. My mind is bedeviled Since you I missed. On your misdemeanor Brood I shall no more To night Come to the cathedral We first met As a jump-start Together out We have to spend the night. The night's Zephyr wet Will wipe away Our disagreement!
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Dec 15, 2015
Dec 15, 2015 at 9:25 AM UTC
Duel Of Hearts
A husband -> a wronged wife "My dear take a chair Your affair is unfair I can't stand A suffocating air This way you and I Could no longer continue A loving pair Soon to my parents I must repair! How come for love of a **** A marital vow You thwart? " This way since You decided me desert For what I did spurred By transient lust Chagrin my soul has hit. As usual in deep slumber When I extend my hand To ascertain whether You have slept sound And stir you up So as we sleep entwined Yet get awake to a tragedy stark That I but draw a blank My heart indeed Incessantly bleed From the loss it incurred Your obeisance and love divested. If you can't find it in your heart My folly to forget Forgive me my dear For without you near My life turns insufferably sour. A wronged wife—>A husband After your body you befouled And proved a down to earth cad, After your spirits perfidy you debased Impudently you demand As before I should you hold An esteemed husband. Indeed this I will not! For rancor laden my heart Bleed incessant It mustn't! Away to my parents I fled For you failed to abscond After what you did. 'Once bitten twice shy' Forgive you how could I? A husband—>A wronged wife Your forgiveness but Nothing depurate The blot In your eyes Down me brought. I hope Forgiveness is the least Your impeccable heart Me could grant. Even the ocean of tears I wept Whitewash me still not My dear there is a second Man goes wild And commits a deed He condemns absurd, My perfidy to nothing but To this folly could be imputed. Man is prone to err So you should consider What matters is his bid Improprieties away to clear. So my dear Give me a chance second To prove, you loving husband. Your forgiveness will be a credit That surely you catapult To ensconce In the apex of my heart. A forgiving personality Is a virtuous quality Besides your heart Me 'love' that taught Which is also on me soft Won't follow a policy Watertight and Once for all me smite A wronged wife—>A husband Raving ans volleying Boisterousness nay, nay! You stultify Must not I. My mind is bedeviled Since you I missed. On your misdemeanor Brood I shall no more To night Come to the cathedral We first met As a jump-start Together out We have to spend the night. The night's Zephyr wet Will wipe away Our disagreement!
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Yeah, right now I feel alright I feel you here tonight Missing you, my sweet starlight Fill my darkness darling bright Against the roar you're my respite Against the storm you're watertight Despite no happy end in sight I won't lose you without a fight To keep you here I have no right So until dawn I'll hold you tight And love you dear with all my might
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May 19, 2016
May 19, 2016 at 1:59 AM UTC
All My Might
My first time at a High School Dance I went alone. Me, the new girl at the high school who Hadn't quite found her sea legs yet Who slipped behind Forgotten, as the crew sailed through Hallways and lunch lines Always stuck on the outside, Looking in. I went alone, But someone did ask me. A boy in the Junior class Who was missing a forearm Asked me if I'd like to be his date. I said “yes” But he warned me he might skip The dance entirely and Go to Worlds of Fun instead. I didn't care, I was ecstatic someone Had finally asked me, or Even noticed me At all. At the end of the day He walked me to the front Doors where my Mom was waiting to pick me up. I wasn’t Sure if he liked me, or if he just was Being nice. He never did ask me For my phone number, so I assumed he Was merely being nice. The night of the dance came, And we had not discussed any details Or even spoken to one another since. So I assumed he would be riding roller coasters Rather than slow dancing with me. I didn't blame him, really. I wasn't hot stuff and Neither were Christian high school dances. At the dance, I tried to enjoy myself But I felt so out of place Surrounded by people Who had known each other their entire lives. I was a sea monster, Begging to be taken aboard As they readied their harpoons. The night dragged on, and the music grew louder And I sunk lower and lower. It occurred to me that the pit of pulsating teenagers Might swallow me And I'd disappear once and for all So I pulled off my heels and sat On the stage at the front of the room. I could feel the beat of the music Bounce around the inside of my rib cage. The room seemed to grow bigger And I felt smaller. Like a faint wave lost in A sea of bodies Going whichever way the current pulled them. And while I sat there on the stage by myself In my fluffy green homecoming dress, Watching people I didn't really know dance I realized it was possible To feel alone in a room flooded with people. So I shut my eyes, Watertight portholes to the soul, And let myself drift off at sea.
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May 13, 2018
May 13, 2018 at 4:13 PM UTC
Homecoming: A Memory
My first time at a High School Dance I went alone. Me, the new girl at the high school who Hadn't quite found her sea legs yet Who slipped behind Forgotten, as the crew sailed through Hallways and lunch lines Always stuck on the outside, Looking in. I went alone, But someone did ask me. A boy in the Junior class Who was missing a forearm Asked me if I'd like to be his date. I said “yes” But he warned me he might skip The dance entirely and Go to Worlds of Fun instead. I didn't care, I was ecstatic someone Had finally asked me, or Even noticed me At all. At the end of the day He walked me to the front Doors where my Mom was waiting to pick me up. I wasn’t Sure if he liked me, or if he just was Being nice. He never did ask me For my phone number, so I assumed he Was merely being nice. The night of the dance came, And we had not discussed any details Or even spoken to one another since. So I assumed he would be riding roller coasters Rather than slow dancing with me. I didn't blame him, really. I wasn't hot stuff and Neither were Christian high school dances. At the dance, I tried to enjoy myself But I felt so out of place Surrounded by people Who had known each other their entire lives. I was a sea monster, Begging to be taken aboard As they readied their harpoons. The night dragged on, and the music grew louder And I sunk lower and lower. It occurred to me that the pit of pulsating teenagers Might swallow me And I'd disappear once and for all So I pulled off my heels and sat On the stage at the front of the room. I could feel the beat of the music Bounce around the inside of my rib cage. The room seemed to grow bigger And I felt smaller. Like a faint wave lost in A sea of bodies Going whichever way the current pulled them. And while I sat there on the stage by myself In my fluffy green homecoming dress, Watching people I didn't really know dance I realized it was possible To feel alone in a room flooded with people. So I shut my eyes, Watertight portholes to the soul, And let myself drift off at sea.
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Afire, alight, the hunting stone The flame burns down deep through the bone But none may see the tragedy Of all the hunts gone fruitless. I don't know how, it's good for I To try to fret over the sky For hope and fate are growth and hate And now I'm driven clueless. I saw the light of promise die Those without eyes fall and cry But this cold night was watertight My torch still shone the brighter. I danced around, with light and sound And without aim an arrow's found But now the smoke has ceased to choke I became more the fighter. The empty space of battlefields No more is mine to watch and yield I left the war, but not before I had my fill of riches. My comrades fell, alone and cold I had to leave them, I was told Their ghosts may chase me through disgrace Each one left many stitches. A brief melee, but now it's passed The future calls, it calls at last.
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Dec 31, 2014
Dec 31, 2014 at 9:37 AM UTC
Education Through Fire
Just sitting there last night by the fire watching the sunset over the trees Another pleasant evening, a cool breeze, peaceful. Or was it? A few dark clouds overhead, they'll come to nothing But then....Patter patter patter down came the rain So what, I've experienced worse So into my shelter snug and warm, a little rain will cause no harm But then came the wind, not just any wind but a tearing screaming gale blasting the rain with the force of a bullet. Tearing at the skin, numbing the flesh My firepit now a pool of ***** grey sludge, cooking kit scattered far and wide OK, drop the sides so I'm watertight, one last warming scotch then I'm in for the night Close my ears to that wild banshee screaming out there in the dark 0545am The wind has lessened but still the rain is pouring down, a muddy swamp where was once hard ground The gentle stream where I keep my beers cold now a raging torrent of ***** brown water (I never lost my beers though) I have a routine I rarely miss, a hot mug of tea after taking a **** And I won't be beaten by a small summer storm So into a dry bag where I keep some stuff, a few bits of wood and tumble dryer fluff Between the roots of a tree a fire soon takes hold, on goes a *** and soon steam arose On goes a pan with some bacon and beans And then, out came the sun To be caught in a storm like that isn't much fun but it's all part of the wild camping game
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Jul 7, 2014
Jul 7, 2014 at 4:02 AM UTC
And So The Rain Came Down
It was only fifty quid to join. Looking For An Affair. So is the girl next door. What I could do with the girl next door. Joined immediately. Met big Mary the wrestler. Lost that fight. Moved onto Jill who told me it was such a thrill. Told me her life story twice. Rechecked website just to make sure I didn't get affair mixed up with affliction. Third time lucky, met Jasmine, her husband didn’t understand her, fantastic I thought, now we’re talking. Three hours later we were still talking. So double rechecked website just to see if I was due a counselling fee, complained no end to them. Was promised immediate action, they would hook me up with sultry Sandra. So anyway it was a real shock when I met the wife, who I certainly would’ve demanded an explanation, if a watertight alibi was at the ready. The no wonder I need a woman cos you’re never around just didn’t seem appropriate at the time, and for once she was lost for words. So anyway, we decided she would join another website. I would take up counselling full time.
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Mar 3, 2016
Mar 3, 2016 at 2:42 PM UTC
The Website.
My life is dripping out of my hands fingers aren't watertight sticky palms sticky jeans red streaks down my shirt Just a little puddle, cupped and the **** thing's dripping out. Run down my wrists smear in my elbows stain my shirt sleeves blue, my tears are chapped lips run dry watch as I drown in my favorite hue.
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Dec 17, 2021
Dec 17, 2021 at 11:35 AM UTC
Surface tension
Owner of Eyes that even fish envy For the allure they own Holder of Lips that even bees lust after For the honey they always bathe in Possessor of A voice that even parrots adore For the jolliness it embodies Governor of A fragrance that even flowers fall for For the happiness it carries Heiress of A waist that even goddesses praise For the curves of the world it can construct Dear oh my dear You are the only soul in the world Who can mutate my madness To a level never before seen or heard of As you maneuver my fate To the enamoring realm of rapture Asthore oh my asthore Come and pour your sweetness On this sad shrinking heart And breathe life into it By branding me with thrilling bites As much as you want With no qualms or second thoughts And drown me in the sea of love Bound by a watertight embrace Until we sink to the deepest depths of idyll And explore all there is to experience.
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Jun 17, 2019
Jun 17, 2019 at 10:59 AM UTC
THRILLING BITE
Do you want to lose your self in the labyrinth of life The door has been open day and night You can be red or you can be blue and you can decide everything that you do The world you saw wasn’t really here your black magic made it appear Undo that dream, the one you don’t like this world is not watertight Though it seems like a circle going nowhere in the end you will travel from here to there Leave your car and your cases behind they won’t fit into your new mind Bring your umbrella and your chapeau the one that looks like a rainbow Bon voyage your journey now must start as you descend down to your heart
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Jun 12, 2018
Jun 12, 2018 at 8:13 AM UTC
LABYRINTH
Two people cannot run towards each other blindly without colliding at some point, maybe breaking each other just a bit, cracking all the boundaries we have built for structure and protection in this confusing world. I understand that you need a bit of time, to teach yourself to either become watertight again, or to at least appear so, or maybe to live with these small vulnerabilities. So hey, I'm opening my eyes. I'm not running, unseeing, at you (r core), anymore. Take your time, take some air, learn the feel of you(r walls) once more. I'm walking carefully, now, feeling my way around the painfully invigorating reality I couldn't see before. When you are ready to see me again, I will walk to you, and meet you halfway. Until then, I am just waiting. And that's something I need to teach myself to do, too. And that's okay. I know that if I see you again, our eyes will be clear, and our smiles honest, and our fissures healed, or just maybe they will have become another essential opening, to let the other in.
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Feb 24, 2014
Feb 24, 2014 at 5:23 AM UTC
cracks.
I am taking sweet sips of you Stalking your infinite breath Always leading me back to those eyes watertight and obvious You were the one who saw thru it My superman but I am the heroine You’ve bled from the marrow into the split lip I am nothing without these fists You drove into me as if you were stone and I sunk into you like rain
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Dec 17, 2015
Dec 17, 2015 at 12:51 AM UTC
Sink Into You
Reptile skin, thick and watertight. Nothing penetrates. But you are warm. Weak and porous. and everything sinks in like gasoline penetrating wood.
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Oct 7, 2019
Oct 7, 2019 at 7:03 PM UTC
Can't you be ******* stronger?
Arranging for a ****** in ****** land- to buy peace. Human voices were forbidden. You look absolutely cozy in fragrant mode, sitting eyes wide open, under the jasmine shrub. Raising the conscience money for no guilt. Now sit beside me and listen to the pinnacle crumbling. Naked as a moon, I don't need clouds to cover my scars. A watertight, flawless promise with destiny was made of- Incontrovertible friendship.
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Aug 27, 2018
Aug 27, 2018 at 10:42 PM UTC
Will Meet Again
The truck was crushed and dented Almost beyond recognition When the county boys reached the scene (Though, as one of the deputies remarked, Having seen the vehicle tottering around town For virtually all his born days Still ain’t much worse than when it started) Apparently having slid off the Stamford Road Then down the embankment Where it had made an unhappy embrace Of a utility pole near the old Ulster and Delaware tracks, A rather unhappy ending to what had been An arguably equally unhappy existence, Though old Doc Benner had surmised The junkman had probably been dead Before the truck had made the shoulder, Or so he had said at the graveside service (He being one of the three or four in attendance Feeling that one who’d been a common thread In the existence of so many for so long Should not go without some commemoration In this already frayed-at-the-edged little town) And he remarked that the old man had once told him, When the doc noted the old saw That one man’s trash was another’s treasure, *The main diff’rnce ‘tween trash and treasure Is just a matter of expectation*, And it would have been most poetic if, After the reverend’s perfunctory hand-off to the Almighty, The clouds had broken and a thin shaft of light Had fallen upon the junkman’s stone, Or perhaps a gentle rain commenced To heal the disturbed sod, But the skies remained a slate-gray truculence As the sexton’s ancient pickup tottered away, The ropes and shovels tossed higgledy-piggledy Under an ancient and somewhat watertight old tarpaulin.
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May 10, 2021
May 10, 2021 at 3:46 PM UTC
graveside services for the junkman
The truck was crushed and dented Almost beyond recognition When the county boys reached the scene (Though, as one of the deputies remarked, Having seen the vehicle tottering around town For virtually all his born days Still ain’t much worse than when it started) Apparently having slid off the Stamford Road Then down the embankment Where it had made an unhappy embrace Of a utility pole near the old Ulster and Delaware tracks, A rather unhappy ending to what had been An arguably equally unhappy existence, Though old Doc Benner had surmised The junkman had probably been dead Before the truck had made the shoulder, Or so he had said at the graveside service (He being one of the three or four in attendance Feeling that one who’d been a common thread In the existence of so many for so long Should not go without some commemoration In this already frayed-at-the-edged little town) And he remarked that the old man had once told him, When the doc noted the old saw That one man’s trash was another’s treasure, *The main diff’rnce ‘tween trash and treasure Is just a matter of expectation*, And it would have been most poetic if, After the reverend’s perfunctory hand-off to the Almighty, The clouds had broken and a thin shaft of light Had fallen upon the junkman’s stone, Or perhaps a gentle rain commenced To heal the disturbed sod, But the skies remained a slate-gray truculence As the sexton’s ancient pickup tottered away, The ropes and shovels tossed higgledy-piggledy Under an ancient and somewhat watertight old tarpaulin.
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