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“On unfollowing me on twitter” by John Donne
Now thou has loved me one whole day,Tomorrow when you leav’st, what wilt thou say?Wilt thou then antedate some new-made vow? Or say that nowWe are not just those persons which we were?Or, that oaths made in reverential fearOf Love, and his wrath, any may forswear?Or, as true deaths true marriages untie,So lovers’ contracts, images of those,Bind but till sleep, death’s image, them unloose? Or, your own end to justify,For having purposed change and falsehood, youCan have no way but falsehood to be true?Vain lunatic, against these ‘scapes I could Dispute and conquer, if I would, Which I abstain to do,For by tomorrow, I may think so too. – Posted…
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Ketchican Wrestling
by Jennifer Rae Vernon You look like you wrestled 1405’5, medium broad, crew-cut, redhead My uncles wrestled, and my brothers, tooI’m standing in the airport line, watching you You wear your tee-shirt proud, Ketchican wrestlerwhite cursive on dark red Bet you spit to make weight,ran stairs in snow pants Cocked head, no jacket, you earned itstill, got both hands in your pockets, Eighteen, going home for Christmasduffle bag hanging from shoulder Camouflage printmilitary’s got you in their grip Little one. My Jesus wish?halt the combat That makes ours Vetsand Satan’s rich
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The Thing Is by Ellen Bass
to love life, to love it evenwhen you have no stomach for itand everything you’ve held dearcrumbles like burnt paper in your hands,your throat filled with the silt of it.When grief sits with you, its tropical heatthickening the air, heavy as watermore fit for gills than lungs;when grief weights you like your own fleshonly more of it, an obesity of grief,you think, How can a body withstand this?Then you hold life like a facebetween your palms, a plain face,no charming smile, no violet eyes,and you say, yes, I will take youI will love you, again – Posted from my iPhone
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Summons by Robert Francis
Keep me from going to sleep too soonOr if I go to sleep too soonCome wake me up. Come any hourOf night. Come whistling up the road.Stomp on the porch. Bang on the door.Make me get out of bed and comeAnd let you in and light a light.Tell me the northern lights are onAnd make me look. Or tell me cloudsAre doing something to the moonThey never did before, and show me.See that I see. Talk to me tillI’m half as wide awake as youAnd start to dress wondering whyI ever went to bed at all.Tell me the walking is superb.Not only tell me but persuade me.You know I’m not…
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Four from Bukowski.
Four good ones from Bukowski: “my beerdrunk soul is sadder than all the dead christmas trees of the world.” “Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I’m not going to make it, but you laugh inside–remembering all the times you’ve felt that way.” “what matters most is how well you walk through the fire” “There’s a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I’m too tough for him, I say, stay in there, I’m not going to let anybody see you.”
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Learning the same lessons over and over again.
Image via Wikipedia I read about schools not allowing black students to be class president. The sort of thing that makes you shake your head and give up on people. Then I read a beautiful poem written by Paul Laurence Dunbar. I sought out his bio to learn more about him. He was black. His parents gave him a love of history, books. He loved school, and he excelled at it. He was class president in his high school. And he was born in 1872. The sort of thing you read that makes you lift your head, and believe in people.
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A late walk by Robert Frost
When I go up through the mowing field, The headless aftermath, Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew, Half closes the garden path. And when I come to the garden ground, The whir of sober birds Up from the tangle of withered weeds Is sadder than any words A tree beside the wall stands bare, But a leaf that lingered brown, Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought, Comes softly rattling down. I end not far from my going forth By picking the faded blue Of the last remaining aster flower To carry again to you. – Posted from my iPhone
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Morning Song by Marcia F. Brown
Here, I placea blue glazed cupwhere the woodis slightly whitened.Here, I lay downtwo bright spoons,our breakfast saucers, napkinswhite and smooth as milk. I am stirring at the sink,I am stirringthe amount of dewyou can gather in two hands,folding it into the fragilequiet of the house.v Before the eggs,before the coffeeheaving like a warm cat,I step out to the feeder-one foot, then the other,alive on wet blades.Air lifts my gown – I might fly – This thistle seed I pour is for the tiny birds.This ritual,for all things frailand imperiled.Wings surround me, frothingthe air. I am struckby what becomes holy. A womanwho lost her teenage childto an illness without mercy,said that at…
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Throwing Away the Alarm Clock by Charles Bukowski
My father always said, “early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” it was lights out at 8 p.m. in our house and we were up at dawn to the smell of coffee, frying bacon and scrambled eggs. my father followed this general routine for a lifetime and died young, broke, and, I think, not too wise. taking note, I rejected his advice and it became, for me, late to bed and late to rise. now, I’m not saying that I’ve conquered the world but I’ve avoided numberless early traffic jams, bypassed some common pitfalls and have met some strange, wonderful people one of whom was…
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Advice to the young girl in the audience.
At one of Quentin Crisp‘s question and answer sessions in his one-man show, a girl in the audience asked ‘What is the quickest remedy for a broken heart?’ to which he replied: ‘The quickest remedy is that you must learn not to value love because it is requited. It makes no difference whether your love is returned. Your love is of value to you because you give it. It’s as though you gave me a present merely because you thought I’d give you one in return. This won’t do. If you have love to give, you give it and you give it where it is needed, but never, never ask…