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Doug Lang
Swinger
Canada
1135 Posts |
 Posted - 03/22/2008 : 11:02:08
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A WALK IN THE SUN WITH COYOTES
His hands moving in March sunlight
he said to her, "The lonely men I know
make a God of their wants, their lust
a chisel working away at the stone of each
woman they meet, as if they could in time,
with precise hammering, reduce her to
the heaven they desire."
The day was windswept and bright, and beyond
the marsh grass three coyotes took turns
leaping over fallen trees, while nearby a lone
heron stood on one leg, waiting.
"And what do you want?," she asked him.
He trembled in the cold wind, listened
for a deeper answer than he’d given before.
Look at you, at the light around your head.
He smiled, pleased to be asked the question.
"At my age I begin to know my needs, the sweet
and simple needs a soul comes to, reaching
the feast of failures. Day by day the closed stone
of my heart is cracked by hammers of wisdom.
Soon this stone will weep in joy for a love
I am, this very day, beginning to imagine."
DL
www.myspace.com/dukelang |
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buckman
Firefly
USA
2820 Posts |
Posted - 03/25/2008 : 20:55:38
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The Porch
She was from Medford, Oregon.
He was from everywhere.
Somehow that glassed in porch on Geary
was just big enough and just small enough.
He walked into the kitchen one morning
and she was just there, like the fog.
He'd forgotten his shirt
and had on black sunglasses.
She had on that little levi jacket
with the flowers on the collar.
They went to the blood bank on Mission
and he bought her breakfast with his money
for the whole day.
He had to work at the bar that nite to make up for it.
She remembered his kindness that first day,
thru the years,
especially when he started in with the whiskey
and became someone she didn't know and wasn't ready for....
That first day kept her in love with him long after it should've died
and believe me, he worked at killing it, but she could never stop feeling
like they were meant to stay together.....
Sometimes love and life go on even when they shouldn't
and you just hafta do a little bear dance
evry once in awhile
to keep from going nuts....
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buckman
Firefly
USA
2820 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2008 : 19:46:40
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He knew he was bad at fixing things,
so he thought he would be good at breaking things.
The only girl in the commune/family/house
that had a real job and a car
had bought a horse and she couldn't ride him.
She might of been, um, a little heavy but
it wasn't just that.
It was that no one had ever ridden this horse.
Buck was stoned [surprise] and he said
he could break the horse but he was
just showing off for the new girl, Mickey's friend.
They drove up to the Napa valley and it was over quick.
It took one up and down shiver of the horse's butt
and he was over the head and into a new state.
The state of pain... and two cracked ribs.
After Buck and the new girl washed the dust off
in a roadside creek, they made love for the first time
and he had hiccups all the way back to the City...
Not much of an ending, but it wasn't an ending.
It was just a day that went on for a long long time...
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buckman
Firefly
USA
2820 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2008 : 16:00:29
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Two months he spent in that basement in Pittsburgh.
This was no finished rec room. It was all cement and dirt, underneath a
house that was months away from falling down. His roommates were two
brothers from Mississippi that had really long beards [think ZZ Top]... They
were coming off heroin and he was just hitting his upward swing into years
of addiction to almost everything and they got along just fine, teaching him
how to shoplift without getting caught [the important part] and alot about
some really good music. The house was owned by Youth For Christ, but he
didn't feel like a youth and was still unsure about the other part. They
worked downtown during the day helping to build a coffeehouse called
Pittsburgh Power and Light when they weren't in Point Park throwing frisbees
or trying to steal money from the Hare Krishna's [they had it All going]...
It was really just a place to sleep in between side trips to Washington DC
and Beaver Falls... When they asked him to leave because he was a disruptive
influence [?#?] on the others, it was the second time in a year that
Christians had turned an eighteen year old kid out into the streets...
Years later he still wasn't sure who was right and who was wrong...
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buckman
Firefly
USA
2820 Posts |
Posted - 03/29/2008 : 06:35:25
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The holes in my arms and
the blood in my nose
should have been some kind of
sign to you.
I know, it's hard to hold a man
that's on his knees...
Give me a minute or two, Darlin,
I'm trying to stand up...
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Doug L
Firefly
Canada
5446 Posts |
Posted - 03/29/2008 : 09:20:14
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THE ARCHERS
Three blind archers in a thicket where wild roses
burst from prairie grass like screams, fire their arrows
in six directions, the sky laughing when they miss.
Half-buried rocks dull the arrowheads when they
shoot the ground. Hear the the brief racket of birches
when the arrows pass through, taking bits of leaf and bark
in their random flight. Somewhere beyond these trees,
Lorca walks calmly in the late morning sun, his earliest
poems padding the toes of his too-big shoes.
The blind archers pull arrows from their quivers, mad
with delight. They draw the bow taut and zing them off
into what, for them, is light without definition, a shimmering
gauze that tells them it is no longer night, that the sun
of memory keeps their hearts. It is this way with love, eyes
of no use, the firing without guarantee. Lorca ducks nimbly
as an arrow sails past, hears its dry whistle above his head.
Kneeling there in the dew-dampened grass, he whispers,
"Buenos dias," to the wild and bleeding roses.
DL |
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Ailinn
Windchimer
2173 Posts |
Posted - 03/29/2008 : 17:22:50
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"I am a poet and nobody shoots poets."
~Federico Garcia Lorca~
June 5, 1898 ~ August 19, 1936
When they put the gun to the back of your head...under a cloud of smoke from your last cigarette...with your extant eyebrows and cloven chin...your unequivocal coal eyes and widow's peak hairline...did you die smiling near that dear olive tree?
So many questions and so few answers.
Doug~ I saw his Blood Wedding and The House of Bernard Alba performed in Los Angeles. Blood Wedding was a magic night. Have you read Poet in New York? A different level of consciousness at work from The Gypsy Ballads and the canciones. Mick had the very best translation of The Ballad of the Spanish Civil Guard. "Black are the black-shod horses/Stains of ink and beeswax..." I have the same copy somewhere and now I'm determined to find it. |
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Ailinn
Windchimer
2173 Posts |
Posted - 03/29/2008 : 17:36:02
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| When the Saints sobbed into their white handkerchiefs he turned a deaf ear to their weeping. Pressed his ear to the sun-drenched ground and listened for the deep quiet. In a world full of noise he went searching for the right silence. A perilous path paved with glittering litter. Meanwhile, outside the media tents, the celebrity venues continue to jam traffic while the AD's rush around with designer lattes. Crab cakes from Maryland flown in fresh this morning. Lobsters from Cape Ann... |
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BarbraG
Windchimer
1824 Posts |
Posted - 03/29/2008 : 21:19:45
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Fly me back to the Rockies. Don't wanta pay my way. Just wanta
grab a freebie flight. I must go back today. The snow-tipped
peaks are calling me. I need to pack a bag. John Denver's up
there somewhere. And, I don't wanta lag. They say he comes
around sometimes when the wind blows soft and low. Don't know
how I'll get there. Just know I have to go. Anyone have a Lear
outside? That would do just fine. Doesn't have to be a luxury
jet. That's the last thing on my mind. Yep. That's the last
thing on my mind. I wish I could figure out what he was thinkin'
of !! Sure. When he climbed into that tiny seat, and went the
way of doves. I miss that country boy.
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Jonmark
Windchimer
USA
1791 Posts |
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Ailinn
Windchimer
2173 Posts |
Posted - 03/30/2008 : 18:58:18
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| LA stories. Sunday life around the corner. Across the street from CBS the preacher of Farmer's Market makes his rounds among them. Tells his fog-bound story behind the dumpsters at Du-par's. Blesses those who come confessing. And the more penitent who don't say a word. Broken lifelines shining in their outstretched palms. Nine months a year the sun prevails over Fairfax and Third where the underpaid assistants menu choices consist of date shakes and green-apple pie. Where the tourists and seniors queue up for corned beef and homemade horseradish at Mcgees. |
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BarbraG
Windchimer
1824 Posts |
Posted - 03/30/2008 : 22:51:20
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Sweet Jonmark,
Thank you so much for the trip back to your
cafe with such an insightful flight back in
time for me. I enjoyed it very much.
Hello to Bree.
BGee |
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Doug L
Firefly
Canada
5446 Posts |
Posted - 03/31/2008 : 11:21:56
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SONNET XVII
I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.
I love you as the plant that doesn't bloom and carries
hidden within itself the light of those flowers,
and thanks to your love, darkly in my body
lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you simply, without problems or pride:
I love you in this way because I don't know any other way of loving
but this, in which there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.
Pablo Neruda |
Edited by - Doug L on 03/31/2008 11:54:55 |
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buckman
Firefly
USA
2820 Posts |
Posted - 03/31/2008 : 13:51:33
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December 2004 he turned up the Jameson’s level to a new high.
The one year anniversary of her death hit hard and he hit back
just as hard.
When the bartender cut him off he just stared not believing
what the man had said. He made him explain that, yes, he knew he had
been coming there for thirty years and, yes, he was a friend of the owner,
but the combination of the hot AMG convertable and being
only 3 pm on a Saturday made him think that another whiskey
might not be such a good idea.
After somehow getting the car the ten miles home on the back roads,
he proceeded to fall down the stairs and hit his head and his elbow
on the tiled kitchen floor. Then for an encore he fell backwards
into the snowglobe collection and woke up in a pile of
wet sand, glass and blood...
Just another dream date with Mr Jameson...
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BarbraG
Windchimer
1824 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2008 : 22:31:44
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It's scary outside tonight. Earth is still in its orbit, but
it isn't the same as it used to be. Hatred runs rampant! Third
graders plot killing their teachers. Parents don't know where
their children are. Babies sleep under bridges with their homeless
mothers, hungry and sick. Fathers run from responsibility. America
is a long way from the Pinta, the Nina, and the Santa Maria. And,
yet, Cuban refugees still risk raging waters on tiny pieces of
floating material to get to her shores. Prejudice against them
and other races is alive and well. Mexicans are okay with some as
long as they can serve up a good taco !! Native Americans have been
fighting for homeland security since 1492 !!!! Presidental candidates
sicken us with their animosity toward each other. Computers
babysit our future governors of this nation. Wargames are not
skits involving Roy Rogers and The Lone Ranger anymore. "Kill Bill"
is a popular movie and theme. Red Bull is the fuel of choice for
children in schools, for study and for sports. Streetwise is a
term that starts in the toddler stage now. Children learn to
walk before they can crawl. Doctors kill thousands each and EVERY
year .. sometimes, just because we don't have the courage to "just
say NO to drugs". Vioxx, Viagara, Valium, Vicodin . . . just a
few "V" words we've trusted with our lives. Nurses want out !!
Soldiers want in. Skyscrapers still rising,.. along with the cost
of everything we need to exist. Sinkholes still forming,
geographically and personally. Earthquakes still moving, also
geographically and personally. Foreclosures. Unpaid mortgages.
Repossessed possessions. Diabetes. Heart disease. Alzheimer's.
Black human beings still remember German Shepherds and firehoses
and fighting for America, but not being able to LIVE in America.
Chemicals !!! Chemicals !! Chemicals !! Children can't read nor do they want to anymore. The population is being "dumbed down" with
new and newer and even newer math that doesn't even make any sense..
not like Basic Math.. ENGLISH is being sought as the main language
in America !!!! Duhh !! SOOO, where is the silver lining? I wish I could think of one. Okay, here's one.
The last time I looked, the flag was still flying and I was still
free !!! Thank You to the men and women of the Armed Forces.
Here's another one. I can still pray openly if I choose. How much
longer will that be a "given" ?
Here's one more. "Big Brother" isn't sleeping in my house tonight.
Or, is he? I might have to re-think that one. But, later.
Last one.. my mom just turned 91 and she's still spunky and takes
care of her own affairs, and still drives her big Lincoln Town Car --
actually chauffering her 80-year-old sister around town -- and
also . . . has another garden coming into full bloom. Now, that is
a major silver lining in my life.
BGee
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Edited by - BarbraG on 04/03/2008 22:41:31 |
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buckman
Firefly
USA
2820 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2008 : 18:31:09
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Melinda said to me that if I could have
a few small victories every day
I might feel better about things.
I said, It's hard to learn new dance steps
when you're still working on
walking upright.
She said, Is there a point to all of this introspection?
I said, I don't know;
I was letting it be your turn to bring the point...
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buckman
Firefly
USA
2820 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2008 : 19:27:30
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There was a door from the bedroom to a
screened in porch with wrought iron chairs.
It caught the wind and it took the smoke and
it looked out over the valley and to another mountain.
He spent alot of time there in the middle of the nite,
thinking and smoking.
It was a good time -
no, it was a grand time, he thought.
He was clean for a time.
He was outdoors with the wind and the nite.
He was a room away from a woman he loved.
In his head he put one more day on the calendar
that was back in NY.
He was thinking he might even make it.
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BarbraG
Windchimer
1824 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2008 : 20:36:09
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He did make it !! He did !!
BGee |
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Doug L
Firefly
Canada
5446 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2008 : 01:21:35
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AWAKE AT NIGHT
Late in the night I pay
the unrest I owe
to the life that has never lived
and cannot live now.
What the world could be
is my good dream
and my agony when, dreaming it,
I lie awake and turn
and look into the dark.
I think of a luxury
in the sturdiness and grace
of necessary things, not
in frivolity. That would heal
the earth, and heal men.
But the end, too, is part
of the pattern, the last
labor of the heart:
to learn to lie still,
one with the earth
again, and let the world go.
Wendell Berry |
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Ailinn
Windchimer
2173 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2008 : 16:49:12
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Three south-of-the-border stories.
He's been holding up the sky for so long
he doesn't notice he's sinking into the ground.
Each noon she comes with his lunch in a pail
stepping lightly between raised rows of tomatoes.
Strange, he thinks, when her footprints
leave no impression.
He remembers the gun in the cradle
peeking out from under the lace.
The iron cross on the wall.
The photographs.
A procession of red caskets. |
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The Nightly Vigil