dougb.21370's Saved Poems

your daughters
birthday I mean?
overtime at the office
because promotion hinges on
this present project.
first animal doctor
for you to audit.
not only
for IRS, but also
for vets association.
they have him up on the
carpet for sub...

He's full of bombast

Big Mother

Hardly ever engages

Full on.

Just has to huff and puff.

Opposition are wetting

Themselves.

Just look at his size.

Weapons don't often get

Drawn into sunlight.



But this time Baby...

Two of them side by each.

Elongated white curved necks

Hard to distinguish

Which was which.

Like ships of state. Parallel.

A cool variation of July Saturday.



Picnic people otherwise occupied

Spreading cloths on lawn

...

Sunday morning

He washed up nicely

Left those coveralls

And farm dust

For the day.

Took the Ford 500

Into Town a might early

Saw old friends at Ethel’s

Good grub and coffee

Before time to pray.

Called to mind Barbara

...

The Girl listened to him.

Smooth and subtle.

Serpentine. Slithery.

His sales pitch, a humdinger.

I saw it all

Beside her.

You Guys can be gods

Yourselves.

Don't suck up to Elohim.

Be his puppets, no way.

You should have...

Imagine winter, lecture hall, Boston.
Male gazing at female.
Closely desked.
Moving away from old chestnuts
Like John Donne.
Considering rather a wife
In primordial lands.
Baby strapped on.
Bringing provision to
Sturdy lumberman Husband
At...

So I come to you with verses
gleaned from Book of books
sublime.
and you think I do so smugly
with no straining slopes to climb.
but I'm a Beggar.
all of God must come that way.
there must be plentiful breaking
then I have some stuff to say
...

I'm Believing In Elohim
Author: Mark V. Markov

I sit and wait
There is a living God
Who contemplates all fate
And Elohim does know
The places where people go
When they're grey and old

Cause I've been told
That salvation
...

Movie starring Adam Driver
Minnie’s brother.
William Carlos Williams, his favourite
limner
Of the everyday.
WCW in fact a paediatrician
Loving kids, mothers, happy strolls.
Encounters with loyal dogs, mailmen
Milk truck drivers. Plumbers in...

He was an adopted boy
That fact seemed to fade
In significance.
In the love of a mother Edith.
Who nursed his hurts.
Gave him her love of books
Gave him the piano lessons
To master to a child’s degree
Finlandia by Sibelius.
The forest, the...

Your ability to harness an open mind...
An open mind with levels of understanding,
and communications understood effortlessly by yourself.

Providing a safe, confident, calming environment for positively encouraging conversations that will...

By then she was widowed some years.

Still full of beans.

Youthful face and skin.

Depths of Love within.

Had a place on Hwy. 3

Few miles from Blenheim.

Orchards all around.

Lakeside ground.

Secondary building had been

...

The Rainy Day” (1842)

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and...

Am I a stone, and not a sheep,
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy cross,
To number drop by drop Thy blood’s slow loss,
And yet not weep?

Not so those women loved
Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter, weeping...

If I only say one word
That by hearts is truly heard.
Let it be to conjure duty
Birthed in Love
And showing beauty.
Let it be…AFFIRM.
Bye...

I have something of
Real value to say.
Been shut up for months.
By power of that Angel.
Imagine. Talking to an Angel.
Then spouting unbelief.
But he said, speech would
Return at the baby’s birth.
And what a Babe.
Supposed to be named John.
...

God, I’m not very good at this.
I wakened early to the sound of one lark. Imagine…singing in this ghastly place.

Sergeant said that this morning we would move out.

Comes as a relief after three weeks in this muck and rain and monotony. Some...

https://sites.google.com/d/1BJW4wLIyhtk5W6BRgFpvdAsY-9PanrDr/p/1wzRPYhrpC0lVAcYDKrrCqV9UIJpTQ-qM/edit


Many are the paths
To contentment.
Singular the route
To dump sin.
Looks to the full work of Jesus
His the God-way to enter in.
His the...

The heart says yes
The mind says no
To you a greater likeness grows.
And chosen yes
And told your tale
And made to hear the bruised one wail
It cannot be
A futile quest
I hunger to dispense your best
In prayer so close
In Word so true
...

He is coming
Heard that promise
For the Day
Oppressions cease.
Gone the thievery
And the cruel lies.
And the Guilt
In sin’s release.
But the centuries
Have elapsed some
And the verses of Holy Writ
Now are tested
By the Front Page.
Can...

I see the little boy
Is looking straight at me
His Mother prices items
At the Grocery.
A Saturday job of years
And I some people meet.
The Oldsters want a talking-to.
So dismissive on the Street.
And now this Boy with Mom
An action figure...

Among the Hogs
Came to myself
And the sight was not pretty
Came to myself
In a mud-spattered mess.
Father had rendered
My share in the family
Knowing full well
That it scarcely could bless.
Friends had been fast
As I opened the...

He comes out to a big rock.
Warming the cold bloods.
Eighteen footer.
Gator.
Scar slashes mar
The sides just
Before hind legs.
Trap? propellor?
Off to right side of
Fifteenth hole.
Ball retrievers must be careful.
Heard of...

PoetryDispatch No. 346 | May 2, 2011

BILLY COLLINS

Poetry Workshop Held in a
Former Cigar Factory in Key West

After our final class, when we disbanded
as the cigar rollers here had disbanded decades ago,
getting up from their benches for...

Egret


The bird was just searching
for food not metaphors –
or taking rest from a day’s flight

It was dusk after all and its ancestors
who might have crossed the Middle
Passage, crossed the Kala Pani on flotsam
or a ship’s mast long...

My, how you have unloaded!
A bundle of troubles that
Gobble up your Day,
your waking thoughts.
Can’t imagine your dreams.
And then you pause
Look to the Ground.
Shuffle your one foot
In the gravel.
I pause as well.
What is to be said...

She was going to Aunt Zella’s

Mom was away at the Lawyer’s

Dad on business in South Korea.

Import-export.

Zella was loaded, sent a Chauffeur.

Inherited husband’s largesse.

Big name Art Dealer.

Debra had a lot to process.

...

A mystical
A magical

A moody haunting tune

That seized the world

In reverie

And worship finely tuned.

To grasp the skies

As David did.

A Jewish boy with sheep.

The Meadows worked

To bring God close.

With words...

Monique was trying to process what had just happened.

She was also collecting her thoughts for the one permitted phone call to the lawyer.

Early this afternoon. Finished a bunch of baking. Doorbell rang. Men in black flashing badges....

Guy goes into a bar.
Extremely pissed.
And novice bartender
Knows that he shall not
Serve a drunk.
Discussion ensues.
Civil, thankfully.
Drunk says
Don’t wanna drink.
Wanna shoot your darts.
Hey Buddy, that’s too sharp
You shouldn’t.
...

Read Psalm 131.
One of the shortest.
There is weaning, waiting
Wanting only closeness
To the God of angel armies.
He has the Agenda
The aroma
The authority and Affirming.
The weaning has some tears
Through my years.
But Spirit food does me...

People want to make love.
Then some stop.
Others say don't stop.
Roses bloom from their genitals.
Some eyes are closed. Some eyes are opened.
People make love as if to roses as if they are roses themselves. Their eyes bloom, their hair like...

Last week he lost his Dad.
Great guy Dad was.
Knew something was coming.
Knew he must submit
And move on. Next chapter…
What can I do?
But Friend is grieving.
Testy and questioning
Hard to approach right now.
Do I have words, or some
...

Matthew 20:22

 
“Can you drink the cup?”
The challenge from the Master
Given Sons of Thunder
His Passion close at hand.
Quickly they said “yes”
With no real sense of wonder
At the mix of living
To later understand.
They had known real joy
...

Somewhere in the teachings of Oswald Chambers, deliverance from sin or sickness was attributed to "the expulsive power of an over-riding affection".The man with the vile tongue wishes that he could stop cursing. Time and again he has embarrassed...

Rick of harmonicas

Said I should

Go, spend an evening

Talents pass by

Mostly guitar, vocal

And keys.

Most in their seniors and

Wanting to please.

Audience respectful

Stick to night's list

Songs speaking heartache

...

He frequented cesspools.
Wenching and duels
Drinking and cursing
The stuff of crass fools.
Commissioned by rich folk
To better each face
Or show off some cleavage
Those times, sad disgrace.
But then tried religion.
And Jesus so kind.
The...

It’s there, and you know it
Will wind up your clock
A tendency tactic
That spices your talk.
You can’t be disparaged
You can’t be put down.
By inference or face-slap.
The Victory must own.
You try first by logic
Let’s re-create this.
You...

In our apartment
Met many days
Widow with attitude
Capable ways.
Born as a Slovak
Married to French
(New Brunswick)
Single apartment
Will never quench.
Seen grocery buggy.
Market nearby.
Takes constitutional
Traffic speeds by.
She...

Needed petrol.
Dad always called it petrol.
From his time in Britain/Scotland.
WW2.
On a slight and dirty backroad.
Where’s a pump?
Driving.
We see it
Texaco.
White and red sign
Painted brick station.
One guy, black man.
Feet up seated
...

Part Two…the most satisfying
For me. A period in India.
Mystical, quiet place of
Retreat.
Richard takes her on
Smart ass that he is.
Names her Groceries.
All that food
Partying, singing in Italy.
Sticks to her.
But then a wedding
One of...

Head up, adventuresome

From Belleville and

Prince Edward County.

Bird sanctuaries, cottage folk.

Old wartime airstrip.

Wave at Ivanhoe, the cheese place.

Gaze from marina docks

In Hastings.

Noting reforestation

Trees...

Thanks for the flag, saints.
You ran once with Him.
Touched His clothes.
Placed hands of camaraderie
Upon those shoulders.
Saw the lame walk,The outcast relieved,
The fretful calmed,
The dead raised,
The deaf ears opened.
To His message of...

(Written just now spontaneously Having tea with my friend the Tree)

Who now is this Tree
That stands here before me
Along with its crooked cousin
So lacking perfect symmetry
Two always watching sentries
Guard against all enemies.

It...

She had heard the noise
Down village street
News had come of Jesus
His assurances
Deeds of compassion.
Affirmation.
This was He.
She stood at roadside
Craning her neck
For hope.
hope for her Gramma
Suffering a ferocious
Goitre....

A little lessened here.

The times and seasons shared

The walks together

Minding weather

Words of wisdom heard.

She slowly drifted far

But distant memories held

The limbs would fail

The eyes would dull.

Still inner joys had...

Go to your Room boy

Do not collect two hundred dollars

(Monopoly term)

Give birth to thought

Sleeplessness brought

Tablet in hand

See what follers.

See some delight.

Hardship’s brief night.

Nature, a feast every time.

...

Go to your Room boy

Do not collect two hundred dollars

(Monopoly term)

Give birth to thought

Sleeplessness brought

Tablet in hand

See what follers.

See some delight.

Hardship’s brief night.

Nature, a feast every time.

...

Icy deck
I went down
Broken left wrist
Rib, hip, ankle
Pride.
Mindless ride.
Much time is
Now flat.
Fancy that, not
Like me to be prone
Contemplation to own.
Answerless, when you
Have known me
Fixing each ill.
Strong macho will.
But...

Have you heard me?
Give up on seeing that Man.
Five strange jobs in
The last two years.
Nothing but tears in store.
And there’s more.
Two previous women
In Common Law.
A Son he never sees.
Think again Girl, please.
You go out on desperate...

MUSIC IN THE BUSH by Robert Service (1907 Dodd, Mead and Company)


O'er the dark pines she sees the silver moon,And in the west, all tremulous, a star;
And soothing sweet she hears the mellow tuneOf cow-bells jangled in the fields afar.
Quite...

I don’t know his lifespan

Stretched in the sunshine

Card table top

By the window.

Cottage is ours

For ten days.

Lyn is off teaching for the summer.

I have the same from the store.

Except a meeting next Tuesday

In Town.

...

Hebrew writes
From right to left
With God-expecting eyes.
The rest of us from
Left to right.
First sightings, then surmise.
The Romans we’ll just
Build the the thing
The Greeks use ethics, theatres
To sing.
And heathens from Missouri say
...

How suddenly the private
is revealed in a bombed-out city,
how the blue and white striped wallpaper

of a second-storey bedroom is now
exposed to the lightly falling snow
as if the room had answered the explosion

wearing only its striped...

Hold on now
Shut down the flutters
And wringing hands.
Didn’t you tunnel through
With others.
Seemingly beyond you.
Get hooked up with God better.
Acquire audacity, currency.
Stash away wisdom
Of a Heavenly sort
To help others.
The very...

Alas! this is not what I thought life was.
I knew that there were crimes and evil men,
Misery and hate; nor did I hope to pass
Untouched by suffering, through the rugged glen.
In mine own heart I saw as in a glass
The hearts of others ... And when...

You come to me limping
Bur never no mind
You’ve come to know Jesus
In service so kind
You weep with folks hurting
Have been there in spades
But now you have comfort
To show what Christ made.
Quite humble, a listener
A shoulder to lean
...

"Not too far"
And this should give you courage
Feel the pull
Of Jesus at your heart
You have come
Right to the brink of blessing
Timeless truth
He readies to impart.

May be late
But time is not the issue
Do not rue
The sand passed...

It was Summer and

We were taking traditional

Trip to Danforth Farm.

Mom’s best friend

Had a Brother raising hogs

Huron County.

Three boys and Nadine.

The picnic Wizard.

So much food would

Stuff nine truckers.

Big smiles...

ETHIOPIA



cradle of the Black Madonna, oh
dark Maria-
hunger falls on you
like a gardener’s rake falls
on rich, black soil,
for growing crops, but instead of harvests,
you weep for rain, hunger, and you birth death.
your children are
...

Black woman poet, born 1940 Chicago



Morning Glory



Sometimes,

When they say this to the child,

when they murmur this to

the retreaters, when they chide

the innocents, when they mouth this

to the God-fearing, God-loving,
...

We are out all morning
Watching, waiting.
Leviathan is out here
Whining, dining deep down.
But a sighting
Ours to own?
Sea birds frequent a spot.
Plummeting
Small fish for Lunch.
But what brought them up high?
Needn’t wonder why
...

Is it possible
A theme just pops up
As I tap the tablet
Right now?

…A plow and two best
Of friends
Clearing land.
Reins in hand
Eyes set straight
For field’s end
And the Gate.
But there’s still snow?
April comes, just you wait.
Crows...

They march in

Down the aisles

The whole orchestra

People clapping

To a beat

Beauty happening

In Maastricht.

Andre* is back home. (*Rieu)

And the night

Is magic.

Want to laugh?

Want to listen?

Want to dream?

...

I believe, suspect
That for sake of volume
Tedium and expedience
Contest judges, admins
And visitors, contestants.
Choose say, at random
Two dozen pieces
For closer study
Or maybe the label Rhymed
And divide by four
The entries.
Or...

Ice covers it now.
Sometimes so grey
Other times sun sparkling.
Willows droop over.
Despondent at the
Hiatus in relationship.
In frogs peeping.
Mallards courting
Or leading a string of tiny ones.
Monarchs enrapt in their
Pre migration...

Round the Horn

 

 
(Here is a wonderful ballad of commotion and courage at sea written by my son Jordan Blair)

She rides upon the rolling tide
Her mastheads gently sway
With seagulls her companions
In the fading light of day
And down...

A Midday Winter Dream: Departure 9

“I gazed through frosted windows on
A pure and fleshless world
Of darkened purple velvet skies
Where weightless snowflakes swirled.

“Beneath the wine-dark canopy,
The forest and the lea
A regal coat of...

Til the Branch (Isaiah 11)

 

 

 
No great Leader
Impartial and compassionate
Rescuing the poor
Uniting all men’s hearts
Setting down weapons
Of avarice and bigotry
Giving words of holiness
And Heav’n the focal part.
No great Standard
To...

The coffee led to talking

And the talking led to smiles

Fellow travelers stopping

For a new thing, just a while.

I'd seen you with your puzzles

Crossword, Sudoku and such.

You'd seen me with my IPad

Writing down with rapid...

Art thieves, copyists.
They set up bogus gallery
Bring in lots of junky prints
And a few masterful copied
Pieces from the greats.
Almost indistinguishable.
Would take a Lab
And special lighting, chemicals
To spot the bluff.
Then comes hasty...

This night the snows

Will cover the crop.

Gentle like Bethlehem

Worries all dropped

Comes in the silence

Yes.

Wee precious Child

Mother, Protector

The three undefiled.

Snows hide

A coming yield

Promise from God.

...

Has it been a
Gobbling up of needful
Time?
Others playing ball
Outside.
While I must climb
To some height of revelation
Given me.
How to find the words
To make first-baseman see.
And words are short, truncated.
Sometimes odd.
But it’s...

So, bought me a squeeze box.
Some friends I heard say
You’ve played lots harmonicas
Now squeeze this today.
Some pumping the bellows.
Some buttons to trip.
And you’ll entertain us
So Doug let her rip.
Like Matey belowdecks
Like cowboy’s...

Put out my eyes, and I can see you still,
Slam my ears to, and I can hear you yet;
And without any feet can go to you;
And tongueless, I can conjure you at will.
Break off my arms, I shall take hold of you
And grasp you with my heart as with a hand;...

I am like a flag in the center of open space.
I sense ahead the wind which is coming, and must live
it through.
while the things of the world still do not move:
the doors still close softly, and the chimneys are full
of silence,
the windows do not...

To be deep
Is not always
Discouraged
Nor beaten with
Blasting harsh word.
Nor thumb smacked
With errant steel hammer
So dead down, deluded, absurd.
Take a look at the
Day’s balanced journey
First the night
When the threatenings creep.
...

One hundred fifty
Stepping stones to joy
A walk in the woods
A hate to employ.
A faith that takes wings
A sweet Robin sings
A bullfrog barooms
His marsh concert tunes
A baby en ventre sa mere.
So much could be right.
But many just fight,
...

https://sites.google.com/site/conversationabove/conversation-pair?authuser=0

Conversation: Pair

There is a look or two here
At Jesus come alongside
Yoked team-mate.
Nothing to hide.
And power, love
To break forth, True North.
going where...

The beef are all
Pretty sturdy.
Vet gave the shots.
All but one submitted.
She kicked, bellowed
And double-crossed
The backfield.
Weight gain seems promising.
Bought em six weeks back.
Keep for four more.
Watching market prices
Hawk-like....

The storm’s approach
The eagle sees.
He waits for it
Atop the trees.
The meadow runs.
Retreats in fear.
The wily fox,
The white-tail deer.
And skies grow black.
And crack with light.
And wind careens,
As day turns night.
The smell of...

I matter, I matter
Yes I matter.
In this sordid mess
That never should have come.
I matter
And I grumble
At misfortune.
And I question God,
Allowing in this mix
A dreadful sum.

I wonder, I wonder
Yes I wonder,
Could the One Who moved
...

So what’s to talk about?
Got your coffee?
Hockey, school teacher Trudeau
Your backroom reno coming along.
Next June’s trip to Temagami.
But that sour face of yours?
What gives, Alex.
Oh, not so much
Don’t want to put the
Damper on things.
...

Picked him up
In a Destroyer.
The Brits did.
Greece was in chaos.
Down with the Crown
Father had no hold upon
Leadership with
Integrity, equity
Frugality, popularity
Or any other plus.
Mother, poor dear, was
On her way to
Unsoundness of...

In the midst of brilliant peppers
And a sausage link or two
And some crimson lilies potted
And some line-ups to get through,
I have paused and felt
The throat-lump,
And a slight bit teary-eyed.
It was these, the carefree shoppers,
It was...

Inscribed to Robert Aiken,...

Holster way too big.
But no matter. He was the Lone Ranger.
Shiny pistol
With roll through caps, bright red.
To explode, maybe take out
An eye.
But this was 1961.
Health and Safety only
Vaguely considered by hospitals.
By Grandmothers.
And...

It was that Sabbath.
Last one inside the Kirk.
Preacher Peden shook hands
Smiling with that slight hint of courage…
Brethren, women this is it.
Thanks for showing
In spite of drizzle.
So what is drizzle
In face of our trusty Covenant
And...

He’s at the big window.
Tail twitching.
Four footed and
Shoulders rigid.
Sees the two cardinals
At the feeder.
Sparrows and chickadees
Beneath.
Squirrel at tree trunk.
Chucking, scolding.
Sure glad that I
Locked up the kitty door
To...

We were stationed
West part before
The sad division.
Krauts were relieved
Bombing had stopped
Adolph checked out
With Eva B.
At the bunker.
(We were told in
The rush for acreage.)
Anyways his parades had
Stopped and the excruciating...

Just hanging like a spectacle
And lonely beyond words
And seeing false religion strut
With all their venom heard
And He a Teacher full of hope
With gentle hands to heal
Not judging every trip and fall
But offering comfort real.
He prayed as...

If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done,
And, counting, find
One self-denying deed, one word
That eased the heart of him who heard,
One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine where it went --
Then you may count...

You come to me limping
Bur never no mind
You’ve come to know Jesus
In service so kind
You weep with folks hurting
Have been there in spades
But now you have comfort
To show what Christ made.
Quite humble, a listener
A shoulder to lean
...

Jewish people own comedy
Yeshudeva.
An Indian war chief
Full headdress
Speaks to the
Wagon train.
Oy, you got it rough.
Or toastmaster at a Roman
Orgy thirty seven, seated.
If you please.
Sated. Beautiful Girls.
Chests always Mel’s eye...

They have the walk.
Usually Fridays.
Luis and the burro.
Sarape brought if
Winds pick up.
Driving sands
Can be a killer.
Especially on eyes.
And throat.
Luis has packed his book
Needs to finish
And return to Library.
The Old Man and the...

Down from the Mountain

 

 

 

 
You see him, Lord?
You see him?
For years this awful mess.
He scarcely can express himself
Can’t even wash or dress.
His antics get folks going
They fear what might come next.
He roars in hot frustration
...

This born againA phrase of menThat sits not well with me.

And all the bloodA cleansing floodThat flows from Calvary?Must each addressHis sinful messAs if to start anew?

Will not the priest
And Easter's feast
Suffice to see us through?"


...

I am out to play again
Icy sidewalk, but no rain.
Bringing tunes one might
Think ill fitting for my harps.
But the children get it first
Play with music every verse
And the brief touch of
Community
Must start.
Yes I sang that one at...

He looks into your brokenness

Your heartache and your trials

He changes this or whispers that

And soon brings on the smiles.

We hear that real contrition

Is the bedrock of our gain.

But do we know He seeks

Our joy and victory...

Fishing On The Susquehanna In July
by Billy Collins
Billy Collins


I have never been fishing on the Susquehanna
or on any river for that matter
to be perfectly honest.
Not in July or any month
have I had the pleasure -- if it is a pleasure...