Talking to the dying

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My drawing.

Just by the hospital,

I met a man

who told me he talks to the dying.

Those sleepless souls

who have lost their shape.

“You feel deeply” he said.

“Just fragments” said I.

As I left, I thought

time and future have meaning.

And watched,

as the others lined-up

to talk with the man

….. trying to act casual.

All at once

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My picture

I’m supposed to be a poet,

words coming night and day.

Wisdom in the dark,

and aware of death like a giant spider.

But sometimes, I have no idea

what I’m trying to accomplish

So, I wonder where the

summer flies have gone.

Then, as if by magic….. I recapture total clarity

and create a work of art.

The strange death of a fish

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I saw the fish,

as I approached the river.

Black flies gathering,

leaves filling in the tangle.

Empty plastic bottles,

that cried like tears…..too recent to rot.

‘Poor soul’, I thought…..floating in the river.

A space between bricks,

and nobody minded at all.

Hard Times

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My drawing this evening

I read some lines
“agony, always agony”
Some people think this
trying to face the sun
in the morning.
Others, when I ask them for help.

For some, just being dead
would be fair enough.
Words like ‘poetry’ and ‘rigor’
are very tiresome, in the wrong hands.

So, while the universe
tries to swallow us all….
I shut away nothing.
And listen for the birds singing.

Sleeping in the sun

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My drawing. I came across a man sleeping rough this evening and tried to talk/ Language was an issue….but I tried.

I saw him on the street,
sleeping rough.
Right next to the flowers,
their presence smells…..
like poverty.

A few lousy coins,
given by a passerby.
Enough to buy a drink.
He drinks baijiu,
in the shade of a peach tree.

He told me
he wants to buy the moon.
I thought….. he needs
a lot more coins for that.
So I walked on…..

Dark silence

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My Picture: No electricity in my apartment.. again. So I picked up a book of poems… and wrote a short poem 🙂

Sprung-forward darkness

watches me approach.

A page of Bukowski,

brightens and dims

the passing day.

Pushing inside,

the rains of spring

and summer moon.

Death knows nothing now.

Clouds of pain

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My picture.

Tell me of pain,

what do you know?

I can recollect

when the shadows

of the night came out.

I have never killed,

only ever loved.

Yet, there has been

so much pain…..

with passion

and prolonged silence….

Tell me what you know,

about pain?

Blackout

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My picture: Electricity loss is a common occurrence…so when it happens (as it did tonight)…I try and be creative 🙂

No power again tonight,

a field of evening silence.

Shadows caught on nails

and poems by candlelight.

 

Distant mountains muttering thunder,

releasing the clouds

one by one….. by one.

As the wildflowers,

let the years slip away.