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"whistler" poems
Age and Grace Her steps were always slow; Even in youth she swayed, Walked with sultry composure And seductive flow. Like a heathen goddess, She tempers movement with grace. It was not done out of vanity, But pleasure in the flowing stream of steps That mark her pace. The relaxed fulcrum of her hip Tilts with undulations in the turf; Her feet tread lightly with a claim On the summer fields, On the bending trees Where beauty still abounds.. She savors the trailing of her skirt Through unseen paths in drooping grass. Until the evening mist accrues From out the forest paths Caressing her as she yields, Until she and it are almost one. Like Whistler’s “breath on a pane of glass”, She bargains with nature, Waning to become an aesthetic phantom. She stops at a window and watches With a sad smile, the warm light on life, The laughter, talk and dancing grace Of her children, who don’t yet know The bittersweet taste of withered garlands. Yet she accepts and passes into the dusk. Now she executes a careful, Battement fondu as her hands dip To reach the soaking pods Of next year’s summer flowers. Every move must be planned, To manage every hour. For they are as precious now, As her own days, Fading into glory and reborn, Into spring and youth’s careless riot.
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Sep 24, 2018
Sep 24, 2018 at 11:19 AM UTC
Age and Grace
The emus formed a football team Up Walgett way; Their dark-brown sweaters were a dream But kangaroos would sit and scream To watch them play. "Now, butterfingers," they would call, And such-like names; The emus couldn't hold the ball - They had no hands - but hands aren't all In football games. A match against the kangaroos They played one day. The kangaroos were forced to choose Some wallabies and wallaroos That played in grey. The rules that in the West prevail Would shock the town; For when a kangaroo set sail An emu jumped upon his tail And fetched him down. A whistler duck as referee Was not admired. He whistled so incessantly The teams rebelled, and up a tree He soon retired. The old marsupial captain said, "It's do or die!" So down the ground like fire he fled And leaped above an emu's head And scored a try. Then shouting, "Keep it on the toes!" The emus came. Fierce as the flooded Bogan flows They laid their foemen out in rows And saved the game. On native pear and Darling pea They dined that night: But one man was an absentee: The whistler duck - their referee - Had taken flight.
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9.7k
Fur And Feathers
Standing in the darkened garage I listen to the whistling winter air And think of times so long ago And of one who is not there My Grand dad was a whistler No matter what he did Whether reading, sitting, standing still Whistling is what he did He told me once the secret was To purse your lips and blow It took me years to figure out But the secret I now know No one whistles anymore I love to hear a whistle or a trill whether someone is just walking by Or it's a bird out on the hill I think of Grandad everytime I hear a whistle sound I only wish deep in my heart That he was still around Chopin, List, John Lennon It didn't matter one **** bit He would whistle what was in his head And I would listen and I'd sit Grandad could make music No matter where he was His whistle made him special At least, special to us No one whistles anymore I love to hear a whistle or a trill whether someone is just walking by Or it's a bird out on the hill I think of Grandad everytime I hear a whistle sound I only wish deep in my heart That he was still around The wind sounds high and vicious As I listen through the door It's a sound Grandad made daily It's a sound I hear no more A simple act of moving air Across one's lips is all But Grandad could translate it Into a wild birds call No one whistles anymore I love to hear a whistle or a trill whether someone is just walking by Or it's a bird out on the hill I think of Grandad everytime I hear a whistle sound I only wish deep in my heart That he was still around.
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Jan 30, 2013
Jan 30, 2013 at 4:13 PM UTC
No one Whistles anymore
Standing in the darkened garage I listen to the whistling winter air And think of times so long ago And of one who is not there My Grand dad was a whistler No matter what he did Whether reading, sitting, standing still Whistling is what he did He told me once the secret was To purse your lips and blow It took me years to figure out But the secret I now know No one whistles anymore I love to hear a whistle or a trill whether someone is just walking by Or it's a bird out on the hill I think of Grandad everytime I hear a whistle sound I only wish deep in my heart That he was still around Chopin, List, John Lennon It didn't matter one **** bit He would whistle what was in his head And I would listen and I'd sit Grandad could make music No matter where he was His whistle made him special At least, special to us No one whistles anymore I love to hear a whistle or a trill whether someone is just walking by Or it's a bird out on the hill I think of Grandad everytime I hear a whistle sound I only wish deep in my heart That he was still around The wind sounds high and vicious As I listen through the door It's a sound Grandad made daily It's a sound I hear no more A simple act of moving air Across one's lips is all But Grandad could translate it Into a wild birds call No one whistles anymore I love to hear a whistle or a trill whether someone is just walking by Or it's a bird out on the hill I think of Grandad everytime I hear a whistle sound I only wish deep in my heart That he was still around.
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52
Hark! Now everything is still, The screech-owl and the whistler shrill, Call upon our dame aloud, And bid her quickly don her shroud! Much you had of land and rent; Your length in clay ’s now competent: A long war disturb’d your mind; Here your perfect peace is sign’d. Of what is ‘t fools make such vain keeping? Sin their conception, their birth weeping, Their life a general mist of error, Their death a hideous storm of terror. Strew your hair with powders sweet, Don clean linen, bathe your feet, And—the foul fiend more to check— A crucifix let bless your neck: ’Tis now full tide ‘tween night and day; End your groan and come away.
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3.9k
The Shrouding Of The Duchess Of Malfi
When, like a running grave, time tracks you down, Your calm and cuddled is a scythe of hairs, Love in her gear is slowly through the house, Up naked stairs, a turtle in a hearse, Hauled to the dome, Comes, like a scissors stalking, tailor age, Deliver me who timid in my tribe, Of love am barer than Cadaver's trap Robbed of the foxy tongue, his footed tape Of the bone inch Deliver me, my masters, head and heart, Heart of Cadaver's candle waxes thin, When blood, spade-handed, and the logic time Drive children up like bruises to the thumb, From maid and head, For, sunday faced, with dusters in my glove, Chaste and the chaser, man with the cockshut eye, I, that time's jacket or the coat of ice May fail to fasten with a ****** o In the straight grave, Stride through Cadaver's country in my force, My pickbrain masters morsing on the stone Despair of blood faith in the maiden's slime, Halt among eunuchs, and the nitric stain On fork and face. Time is a foolish fancy, time and fool. No, no, you lover skull, descending hammer Descends, my masters, on the entered honour. You hero skull, Cadaver in the hangar Tells the stick, 'fail.' Joy is no knocking nation, sir and madam, The cancer's fashion, or the summer feather Lit on the cuddled tree, the cross of fever, Not city tar and subway bored to foster Man through macadam. I dump the waxlights in your tower dome. Joy is the knock of dust, Cadaver's shoot Of bud of Adam through his boxy shift, Love's twilit nation and the skull of state, Sir, is your doom. Everything ends, the tower ending and, (Have with the house of wind), the leaning scene, Ball of the foot depending from the sun, (Give, summer, over), the cemented skin, The actions' end. All, men my madmen, the unwholesome wind With whistler's cough contages, time on track Shapes in a cinder death; love for his trick, Happy Cadaver's hunger as you take The kissproof world.
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3.4k
When, Like A Running Grave
When, like a running grave, time tracks you down, Your calm and cuddled is a scythe of hairs, Love in her gear is slowly through the house, Up naked stairs, a turtle in a hearse, Hauled to the dome, Comes, like a scissors stalking, tailor age, Deliver me who timid in my tribe, Of love am barer than Cadaver's trap Robbed of the foxy tongue, his footed tape Of the bone inch Deliver me, my masters, head and heart, Heart of Cadaver's candle waxes thin, When blood, spade-handed, and the logic time Drive children up like bruises to the thumb, From maid and head, For, sunday faced, with dusters in my glove, Chaste and the chaser, man with the cockshut eye, I, that time's jacket or the coat of ice May fail to fasten with a ****** o In the straight grave, Stride through Cadaver's country in my force, My pickbrain masters morsing on the stone Despair of blood faith in the maiden's slime, Halt among eunuchs, and the nitric stain On fork and face. Time is a foolish fancy, time and fool. No, no, you lover skull, descending hammer Descends, my masters, on the entered honour. You hero skull, Cadaver in the hangar Tells the stick, 'fail.' Joy is no knocking nation, sir and madam, The cancer's fashion, or the summer feather Lit on the cuddled tree, the cross of fever, Not city tar and subway bored to foster Man through macadam. I dump the waxlights in your tower dome. Joy is the knock of dust, Cadaver's shoot Of bud of Adam through his boxy shift, Love's twilit nation and the skull of state, Sir, is your doom. Everything ends, the tower ending and, (Have with the house of wind), the leaning scene, Ball of the foot depending from the sun, (Give, summer, over), the cemented skin, The actions' end. All, men my madmen, the unwholesome wind With whistler's cough contages, time on track Shapes in a cinder death; love for his trick, Happy Cadaver's hunger as you take The kissproof world.
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50
Whether it's winter and skiing, or it's spring site-seeing, Either summer and biking, or even late fall hiking; Whistler has it all. From snowshoeing to canoeing, even as far as golf to frolf, Whistler is the place to be, with so much for you to see. There's zip-lining to fine dining, or ice skating and fish baiting, including a tour of bears, you choose your story to share. Many come from far away, just to live the Whistler day, as we bring people together, while they make memories forever, because Whistler has it all.
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Mar 22, 2015
Mar 22, 2015 at 3:05 PM UTC
My Whistler
WHISTLING AND SNIFFING SIMULTANEOUSLY Whistling and sniffing at the same time Can’t hold hands or rather get married United and collaborative in any case This duo may perhaps land into the life of some person The kind of man whose who acts, Performs duties of the shepherd on the flock. Like his initial master, He condemns wickedness, Goes against what is religiously evil, And exults the righteous. But he soon he craves for another pair of his robe For he does accumulate an avalanche of resources, His eyes are soon blinded. Would his robe evade being soiled? Co-operative sniffing and whistling, Can hatch into temptations to anybody, Even the half-human, half God Did he not get tested in the wilderness? Our big man opens his eyes one day, Finds himself campaigning and competing for, Trying to woo for citizens’ keys, Essentials for serving the people in a wider circle. Perhaps his whistling guides his path. Brings him in the companionship of Other servants of the people. Any devoted service present in that house really? Brotherly whistling and sniffing, May make one’s conscience slither backwards, Two or more steps into mud. He is now influential, A famous societal figure. His fat salary seconded with some allowances. Or even thirded with public developmental resources, Guarantees him total luxury. Is this not an opportunistic opportunist? Our Sniffer and whistler is contended, Complacent with his success. Jubilant with him servant is his ‘first Master ’ For keeping to the ‘sacred’ scriptures. The vehicle which carried him straight, One way to heaven gets crippled, It can’t manage to hit the road Like its American, British and Chinese counterparts, His sincere promise goes unfulfilled Unmet due to his pretentious pretence. His ‘second’ Master gets extremely mad. For loyalty and faithfulness denied. And furiously plucks him from glory. Simultaneous whistling and sniffing, The ‘initial’ heaven can’t simply put up with them. A wise servant of the masses A true leader should only whistle at a time, Sniff at a time. But not sniffing and whistling simultaneously.
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May 6, 2013
May 6, 2013 at 3:28 AM UTC
Whistling and Sniffing Simultaneously
WHISTLING AND SNIFFING SIMULTANEOUSLY Whistling and sniffing at the same time Can’t hold hands or rather get married United and collaborative in any case This duo may perhaps land into the life of some person The kind of man whose who acts, Performs duties of the shepherd on the flock. Like his initial master, He condemns wickedness, Goes against what is religiously evil, And exults the righteous. But he soon he craves for another pair of his robe For he does accumulate an avalanche of resources, His eyes are soon blinded. Would his robe evade being soiled? Co-operative sniffing and whistling, Can hatch into temptations to anybody, Even the half-human, half God Did he not get tested in the wilderness? Our big man opens his eyes one day, Finds himself campaigning and competing for, Trying to woo for citizens’ keys, Essentials for serving the people in a wider circle. Perhaps his whistling guides his path. Brings him in the companionship of Other servants of the people. Any devoted service present in that house really? Brotherly whistling and sniffing, May make one’s conscience slither backwards, Two or more steps into mud. He is now influential, A famous societal figure. His fat salary seconded with some allowances. Or even thirded with public developmental resources, Guarantees him total luxury. Is this not an opportunistic opportunist? Our Sniffer and whistler is contended, Complacent with his success. Jubilant with him servant is his ‘first Master ’ For keeping to the ‘sacred’ scriptures. The vehicle which carried him straight, One way to heaven gets crippled, It can’t manage to hit the road Like its American, British and Chinese counterparts, His sincere promise goes unfulfilled Unmet due to his pretentious pretence. His ‘second’ Master gets extremely mad. For loyalty and faithfulness denied. And furiously plucks him from glory. Simultaneous whistling and sniffing, The ‘initial’ heaven can’t simply put up with them. A wise servant of the masses A true leader should only whistle at a time, Sniff at a time. But not sniffing and whistling simultaneously.
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55
Under a stagnant sky, Gloom out of gloom uncoiling into gloom, The River, jaded and forlorn, Welters and wanders wearily--wretchedly--on; Yet in and out among the ribs Of the old skeleton bridge, as in the piles Of some dead lake-built city, full of skulls, Worm-worn, rat-riddled, mouldy with memories, Lingers to babble to a broken tune (Once, O, the unvoiced music of my heart!) So melancholy a soliloquy It sounds as it might tell The secret of the unending grief-in-grain, The terror of Time and Change and Death, That wastes this floating, transitory world. What of the incantation That forced the huddled shapes on yonder shore To take and wear the night Like a material majesty? That touched the shafts of wavering fire About this miserable welter and wash-- (River, O River of Journeys, River of Dreams!)-- Into long, shining signals from the panes Of an enchanted pleasure-house, Where life and life might live life lost in life For ever and evermore? O Death! O Change! O Time! Without you, O, the insuperable eyes Of these poor Might-Have-Beens, These fatuous, ineffectual Yesterdays!
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2.3k
To James McNeill Whistler
I'm tempted to yell Beneath the waxing moon, Call to the hood whistler To whistle a tune I knew. Just one I could recognize, One to identify; But it's well above zero On this shortest day of the year. My compassion over-rides The duality in the airs. Still there's no inkling Of whatever he's whistling; I can't locate Where it originates. He'll be inside soon, As we move to hibernate; I sincerely hope he's there, Whatever tune he airs, Come Spring.
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Dec 22, 2015
Dec 22, 2015 at 5:49 PM UTC
The Hood Whistler
_the mythic Esther notwithstanding_; the only Jewish Miss America was Bess Myerson;  Miss New York, & exemplar of classic beauty  c.1945 studying German philosophy living on the upper east side; surrounded by rich Park Avenue Jews - spewing Nietzschean Nihilism causing them to  _shudder_ at the thought of relatives dragged from homes  never to be seen again; they don't want to hear that **** - my buddy Mingus Jr. bringing mechanical bebop to his constructed paintings;                                                 on the other hand, I'm going on & on about Heidegger & Schopenhauer, Brian Eno, David Bowie, Hegel, ****** Goebbels  & Riefenstahl; my paintings are violent; as if Jack the Ripper & James Whistler were the same guy; all women are beautiful by nature, but I would've done it different - put the snooch on top, the udders on the bottom, *** in front, arms & legs splayed out to the sides;    yes, that's better,   Diane Arbus, Ann Frank, Hannah Arendt,  Dori Bernstein,      Alison Linefsky    &  Eva Hesse are more beautiful than Lilith & Eve mixed; I hate being called a antisemitic; it's a painful reminder that at the moment I don't have a Jewish gf
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Aug 21, 2018
Aug 21, 2018 at 2:17 PM UTC
How Rare is Semitic Beauty
*Winter, tricky entrapper, cozy cuddler, night fiddler nuzzler, tantalizer, whistler sharp nailed cruel lover seasonal unfailing seductress, sprawling on the bed cloth of December, rolling over a few months either side, I would never take her for granted. I see her peep through the window curtains, spying at the warm days eyeing me and waiting for her to climb down the steps; she is jealous, as she wants to linger playfully riding on my back. she seeped in to my blood stream, like the narcotic effect of grass, before I  know it happens little by little to make me forget my other loves completely even without my permission. Her wiliness is stealthily at work, to monopolize me fully separating me from others yes, winter is cleverness clad in white. Now, I am at her mercy, completely my fingers, chest and lips strangely enjoy the cold caresses, she gives each! I realize, she has taken over- my body and paints my mind's canvas, with bubbling hallucinatory white, she wants others tightly on her leash, my other loves complain: "you act just what is her will you always wear her fragrance, on you what an influence she wields!" can I help when winter my darling, brooks no excuses! She exposes me before others I look like a pusillanimous one, cowering and cringing before her none, even my true love, has such absolute control over me like she exerts, it's a secret but true that I wriggle to get out, of this white net she tenderly knitted- for my comfort, which is, pleasurable I think, to an extent, yet difficult to accept at the same time. Let us part before long, not to make our relationship much complicated, I'll wait, till the next season arrives you are in my list of periodic partners, I'll be ready with warmth in my heart, for your eventful visit, that leaves an impression far too long to ever forget.*
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Dec 29, 2013
Dec 29, 2013 at 7:58 AM UTC
This strange affair with Winter
*Winter, tricky entrapper, cozy cuddler, night fiddler nuzzler, tantalizer, whistler sharp nailed cruel lover seasonal unfailing seductress, sprawling on the bed cloth of December, rolling over a few months either side, I would never take her for granted. I see her peep through the window curtains, spying at the warm days eyeing me and waiting for her to climb down the steps; she is jealous, as she wants to linger playfully riding on my back. she seeped in to my blood stream, like the narcotic effect of grass, before I  know it happens little by little to make me forget my other loves completely even without my permission. Her wiliness is stealthily at work, to monopolize me fully separating me from others yes, winter is cleverness clad in white. Now, I am at her mercy, completely my fingers, chest and lips strangely enjoy the cold caresses, she gives each! I realize, she has taken over- my body and paints my mind's canvas, with bubbling hallucinatory white, she wants others tightly on her leash, my other loves complain: "you act just what is her will you always wear her fragrance, on you what an influence she wields!" can I help when winter my darling, brooks no excuses! She exposes me before others I look like a pusillanimous one, cowering and cringing before her none, even my true love, has such absolute control over me like she exerts, it's a secret but true that I wriggle to get out, of this white net she tenderly knitted- for my comfort, which is, pleasurable I think, to an extent, yet difficult to accept at the same time. Let us part before long, not to make our relationship much complicated, I'll wait, till the next season arrives you are in my list of periodic partners, I'll be ready with warmth in my heart, for your eventful visit, that leaves an impression far too long to ever forget.*
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55
Your new side was fake And covered in all the rust you need To start a war. There were springs sticking out From holes in the mattress The night you told me I was void of form. It must haunt you now To think that I'm such a good abstraction. Lacrimosa, Lacrimosa... My dear, I'd prefer to sing alone. To think of you washed In all the colors falling Like Whistler's Rocket So far below the moon... I cry away any sanctity Placed upon me in my youth. When I am stricken With all the words Uttered over the silence Of our modern, beautiful Communication... I will fall silent. I will fall still. I will be quiet, But I will be swift, And I will be void of mercy To all but myself.
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Oct 21, 2015
Oct 21, 2015 at 7:38 PM UTC
Danube, Blood Red.
Paintings delight my eye and ignite my imagination: Devotional icons, the omni cubist view, the brazen eyes of Whistler and Manet; and Monet's lilies. The perspectives of the renaissance and the violence of Caravaggio; the lush glowing skin of Rubens' nudes; and more! I celebrate the intellects that created these.
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Apr 21, 2016
Apr 21, 2016 at 6:04 PM UTC
Paintings
The whistler was a policeman He whistled when he wrote a ticket One citizen was so incensed He told the officer to stick it. But the officer understood. He had heard complaints before. They seemed to miss the point As what this whistling was for. They didn’t realize that he Whistled as well when nervous. He monitored himself carefully When he was in the service. War is often no kind of place To be making unwitting noise. He was reprimanded by The officer and the boys. But Sam, the whistling cop Had done so all his life He whistled different ways Even like a sailor’s fife. He could trill like a bird And do the best of all; That kind of whistle That wonderful taxi call. It was an amazing to hear; He could whistle too From the side of his face So you had no idea who Was making that music As his lips were not pursed. That made it more maddening To a few people that cursed. As part of his job, one day, A hotelier called him in To deal with the issue Of a dead resident within. Sam hated blood and death. It made him quite queasy. So, he went about this task But for him, it was not easy. With a dead body in his arms Quaking with internal fear The hotelier objected to his song Sam asked what he wanted to hear. He was whistling The Blue Waltz’ In his pitch perfect rendition To keep his mind off of the corpse And off of his own condition. But, oh boy, could he whistle Making music in every day. Creating lasting memories I recall up until this day. That officer, Sam, you see Too often in a spot of bother Was known as Whistling Sam And was also my father.
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Oct 21, 2015
Oct 21, 2015 at 12:38 PM UTC
WHISTLER
The whistler was a policeman He whistled when he wrote a ticket One citizen was so incensed He told the officer to stick it. But the officer understood. He had heard complaints before. They seemed to miss the point As what this whistling was for. They didn’t realize that he Whistled as well when nervous. He monitored himself carefully When he was in the service. War is often no kind of place To be making unwitting noise. He was reprimanded by The officer and the boys. But Sam, the whistling cop Had done so all his life He whistled different ways Even like a sailor’s fife. He could trill like a bird And do the best of all; That kind of whistle That wonderful taxi call. It was an amazing to hear; He could whistle too From the side of his face So you had no idea who Was making that music As his lips were not pursed. That made it more maddening To a few people that cursed. As part of his job, one day, A hotelier called him in To deal with the issue Of a dead resident within. Sam hated blood and death. It made him quite queasy. So, he went about this task But for him, it was not easy. With a dead body in his arms Quaking with internal fear The hotelier objected to his song Sam asked what he wanted to hear. He was whistling The Blue Waltz’ In his pitch perfect rendition To keep his mind off of the corpse And off of his own condition. But, oh boy, could he whistle Making music in every day. Creating lasting memories I recall up until this day. That officer, Sam, you see Too often in a spot of bother Was known as Whistling Sam And was also my father.
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56
There was once a boy who almost drowned inside his own self pity and doubt. But if you could ever get him to smile, he would sit in his car and whistle a while. He whistled Coldplay, he whistled Muse, he whistled notes only birds could use. He whistled the sweetest, saddest songs, that made you wish you could sing along. There was a time that came one day when I sent that whistling boy away. He almost drowned, but then he was saved by the only girl that made him cave. So when he came back, there I met him, there, in his car, with the lights all dim. And there he played his Muse and Coldplay And there he whistled until the end of his days. It reminded me of how life should be, a sweet and complicated melody. He taught me to whistle, the best gift of all a gift I can always quickly recall. I realized then that we'd always be friends, until he whistled no more at the end. But for now, we'll sit and whistle a while, I'll do my best to get him to smile. I look forward to when I see him soon, so he can whistle to me life's beautiful tune.
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Dec 24, 2013
Dec 24, 2013 at 8:19 PM UTC
The Whistler
We follow the bridleway that dissects the growing field of wheat, now dark green and vigorous after it's Spring dose of nitrogen. Pass the smouldering ruin of a bonfire which has been awaiting the torch for weeks. Charred black are two big sections of oak trunk which I considered purloining every time I passed, but decided they looked too heavy to move. Reach the road, rein in the dog's lead, turn right. The thatch I renewed a few years back is definitely not looking new any more. Past the houses, past the one where the whistler lives. All the way across the wide East Anglian field I often hear him trilling, when we are both pottering in our gardens. He has a brick outhouse, probably a former loo or wash house. A thrush is sitting on top of the chimney and a blackbird on the weather vane, they look about four feet apart. I pick up a lager can, crush it and slip it in my back pocket. A pigeon climbs, claps its wings and glides back down. Jogger's footsteps catch up from behind. It's the chap who owns a Harley Davidson. I turn back into our lane, a skylark is singing loud and clear above us to the left. A rabbit dashes across the lane a few yards ahead, disappears. The dog's ears go straight up and he eagerly sniffs its trail. Back home.
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May 20, 2016
May 20, 2016 at 4:58 PM UTC
Wide East Anglian skies
Her steps were always slow; Even in youth she swayed, Walked with sultry composure And seductive flow. Like a heathen goddess, She tempers movement with grace. It was not done out of vanity, But pleasure in the flowing stream of steps That mark her pace. The relaxed fulcrum of her hip Tilts with undulations in the turf; Her feet tread lightly with a claim On the summer fields, On the bending trees Where beauty still abounds.. She savors the trailing of her skirt Through unseen paths in drooping grass. Until the evening mist accrues From out the forest paths Caressing her as she yields, Until she and it are almost one. Like Whistler’s “breath on a pane of glass”, She bargains with nature, Waning to become an aesthetic phantom. She stops at a window and watches With a sad smile, the warm light on life, The laughter, talk and dancing grace Of her children, who don’t yet know The bittersweet taste of withered garlands. Yet she accepts and passes into the dusk. Now she executes a careful, Battement fondu as her hands dip To reach the soaking pods Of next year’s summer flowers. Every move must be planned, To manage every hour. For they are as precious now, As her own days, Fading into glory and reborn, Into spring and youth’s careless riot.
0
Nov 11, 2018
Nov 11, 2018 at 10:38 AM UTC
Age and Grace
Nothing I say is funny, but somehow it's hysterical. I hear whistling in the morning, but I don't see the whistler. Go jog; then to a sprint. (through a slaughterhouse) Tell me, can you imagine yourself? (covered in insects) Rotting between the ears, Do you ever find yourself trying?                                       (too hard)                                                (way too hard) Trying to account for lost time. Wake up at 1 a.m. -getting shocked. Feel your heart (sprint) and stop on a dime. Feel your heart stop (once in a while) Learn to love what's good and good for you. No rotting out. More speaking out. Nothing I say is funny, but somehow it's hysterical. I hear whistling in the morning, but I don't see the whistler.
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Dec 19, 2012
Dec 19, 2012 at 12:12 PM UTC
Whistler
In the Appalachian mountains Up a cove, at Miller's Creek, Lived a man they called the whistler, Long white hair, and mild and meek. Whistler John would sit from sun up As the fog rose from the hills, Til the golden ball was setting You could hear his lonesome trills. You could hear him talk to robin, Speak to sparrows, owls at night, He befriended crows and finches And the likes of ole Bob White. As he sat beneath the willow He would listen hard and long, Paying mind to his companions, Naming them by their sweet song. One evening as the sun was setting An eagle flew far overhead, A whippoorwill kept on singing, But no one answered, John was dead. As he lay beneath the willow, The birds sensed something must be wrong, For a moment there was silence, John's companions hushed their song.
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Nov 27, 2014
Nov 27, 2014 at 9:31 AM UTC
WHISTLER JOHN
like getting through the end of song you really enjoyed like accidentally listening to someone's voice and thinking it's him like a whistler on the subway that takes you back to the moment we first fell in love you don't even try to see the light you don't even try to look out you don't want to how does it feel to burn your skin like this to put your heart out so easily that anybody could just grab it and take it away maybe it doesn't feel like this maybe I'll be there as long as you keep your promises and love me as my heart beats
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Aug 14, 2016
Aug 14, 2016 at 10:49 PM UTC
how does it feel?
South Carolina summers were hot, They were long and dry, And for Mama, they were lonley. Mama lived at the very end of our street. She lived alone, No chil'ren and no Husban' She spent her days makin' sweet tea And leomonaide, and pound cake. She'd sit on her ol' rockin' chair, And she'd whistle. Mama was the best whistler in town, All the kids in the neighboorhood came by To hear her whistle. She'd watch over us, Scold those in need of scoldin' She'd tell us not to climb the big oak tree But we still did. I didn't know it then, But those long summers Were the best I ever had. The ice in my glass of sweet tea Shone like diamonds. And Mama's song, Still plays in my head. South Carolina summer were hot, And they were too short.
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Apr 3, 2017
Apr 3, 2017 at 8:29 PM UTC
Mama's Diamonds
Here's another story that might be true Or at least that's what I've been told Don't tell my wife I told you this Or I just won't live to grow old It happened about twenty-nine years ago Well, give or take a day Now listen close to this story I'll tell For it happened just this way I met this girl back in nineteen-eighty She was as fine as she could be Well, I just couldn't stop checking her out And she was looking back at me I asked her for a date, and she said, "Sure" So I took her to the picture show We were sitting pretty close, while sharing a coke When they turned those lights down low In the pitch black dark my ears begin to ring I heard a whistle that was loud and clear So I told my date that I'll be right back As my finger finally found my ear I crammed that thing in knuckles deep When I noticed that the whistle was gone 'Til I sit back down and the whistle came back And that's when I started to yawn So that's when it hit me like a ton of bricks "This chicks got a hearing aid" 'Cause everytime that I'd lean away That whistle would start to fade Well, I thought I should be a gentleman So that's when I started to (YELL) I scared the girl nearly half to death And out of the seat she fell She said, "What's wrong with you, are you crazy? I said, "I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULDN'T HEAR" She said, "Please stop screaming at the top of your voice, Can't you see that I'm standing right here?" Well, that's how it happened when I met my wife And that's how this story goes She had a real bad cold that night we met And the whistle was coming from her nose
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Oct 28, 2010
Oct 28, 2010 at 11:45 PM UTC
Whistler's Husband
Here's another story that might be true Or at least that's what I've been told Don't tell my wife I told you this Or I just won't live to grow old It happened about twenty-nine years ago Well, give or take a day Now listen close to this story I'll tell For it happened just this way I met this girl back in nineteen-eighty She was as fine as she could be Well, I just couldn't stop checking her out And she was looking back at me I asked her for a date, and she said, "Sure" So I took her to the picture show We were sitting pretty close, while sharing a coke When they turned those lights down low In the pitch black dark my ears begin to ring I heard a whistle that was loud and clear So I told my date that I'll be right back As my finger finally found my ear I crammed that thing in knuckles deep When I noticed that the whistle was gone 'Til I sit back down and the whistle came back And that's when I started to yawn So that's when it hit me like a ton of bricks "This chicks got a hearing aid" 'Cause everytime that I'd lean away That whistle would start to fade Well, I thought I should be a gentleman So that's when I started to (YELL) I scared the girl nearly half to death And out of the seat she fell She said, "What's wrong with you, are you crazy? I said, "I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULDN'T HEAR" She said, "Please stop screaming at the top of your voice, Can't you see that I'm standing right here?" Well, that's how it happened when I met my wife And that's how this story goes She had a real bad cold that night we met And the whistle was coming from her nose
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I can leave a window open tonight a breeze across the soft fuzz of my cheek. I never sleep in this position but on my back I hear the lullaby: street noises a passing car a train without people going - somewhere. A lone dog walker, a whistler in the dark a laugh - then gone. will sleep stop this silent joy in my head? then let me be. eyes softly resting in the Bogart greys . a thin cover of the moon on my body, my feet slowly opening out. when so few are awake there seems to be more world for me to live in coming through my window
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May 6, 2014
May 6, 2014 at 10:30 PM UTC
A window
“If  I could only paint,” the despondent poet said, “If  I could only paint, I would surely knock’em dead. Like Rembrandt or Picasso, like Whistler or Van Gogh. I’d open up a gallery, and everyone  would see The pictures that I’d painted and they would envy me!” “If I could write a novel,” the painter empathized. “If I could write a novel, then I’d have realized, My dream to be like Hemingway, Faulkner or Thoreau. I’d be in all the book stores, my books would be top shelf, And I would finally know that I’d made something of myself.” “If I could hit a baseball,” the author next agreed, “If I could hit a baseball, I’d be in the major league. I’d hit home runs like Willie Mays, and run like Shoeless Joe. The fans would come to all the parks to see me lead the team, The kids would want my autograph, and all the crowd would scream.” “If I was smart,” the ballplayer said, “And studied law in school,” “Then I could be the President, and I’d make all the rules. I’d be as great as Washington, FDR, and Honest Abe. I would meet with foreign diplomats, and help the world find peace, All America would know my name; Play ‘Hail to the Chief’” “If I could write a poem,” the President bowed his head, “If I could write a poem, my ego would be fed. I’d describe the beauty of a flower, and the winds that softly blow; I’d keep my poems in a journal, let no one ever see, And be content in knowing that I had done it just for me.” pwl 3/7/03
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Feb 17, 2015
Feb 17, 2015 at 1:03 AM UTC
If I Could
“If  I could only paint,” the despondent poet said, “If  I could only paint, I would surely knock’em dead. Like Rembrandt or Picasso, like Whistler or Van Gogh. I’d open up a gallery, and everyone  would see The pictures that I’d painted and they would envy me!” “If I could write a novel,” the painter empathized. “If I could write a novel, then I’d have realized, My dream to be like Hemingway, Faulkner or Thoreau. I’d be in all the book stores, my books would be top shelf, And I would finally know that I’d made something of myself.” “If I could hit a baseball,” the author next agreed, “If I could hit a baseball, I’d be in the major league. I’d hit home runs like Willie Mays, and run like Shoeless Joe. The fans would come to all the parks to see me lead the team, The kids would want my autograph, and all the crowd would scream.” “If I was smart,” the ballplayer said, “And studied law in school,” “Then I could be the President, and I’d make all the rules. I’d be as great as Washington, FDR, and Honest Abe. I would meet with foreign diplomats, and help the world find peace, All America would know my name; Play ‘Hail to the Chief’” “If I could write a poem,” the President bowed his head, “If I could write a poem, my ego would be fed. I’d describe the beauty of a flower, and the winds that softly blow; I’d keep my poems in a journal, let no one ever see, And be content in knowing that I had done it just for me.” pwl 3/7/03
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