Best Steadied Poems

We'd laid old George to rest the week before,
at ninety-one he now rejoined his wife,
no heirs to his estate, so one thing more
to do, and that's clear where he'd spent his life.
Downstairs had been quite easy, George was neat,
his things all had a purpose, neatly...

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God allowed him to see through their eyes,
feel their cries,
understand their plight,
with his body, but with their sight,
the alley way shimmered,
the night stars glimmered,
and the man found himself standing in a dark alley,
the stench of decaying rats,
discovered by hungry cats,
raw sewage, old smoke,
could lead anyone...

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The old ladies 
march onto the elevator,
steadied by their canes, 
each a shrunken frailty
wrapping an unending soul-- 
they are going to watch 
young people dance 
their dances of grace
and beauty, while they recall 
their own beauty long dissolved 
in the acid of time....

Yet, they are...

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Parched and dry, this barren field stretches,
I wander, head hung low,
staring at the emptiness eclipsing my thoughts
Brittle blades of grass disappear beneath 
my worn out sneakers,
black and white crushing beige
in slow fashioned footprints of blistered dust

“My sanity for some cool water”

When upon my shoulders, reddened...

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I ran out of breath on the road to Mumbai ...

    Not for sake of dust or smog or even health. I had rounded a curve on
    my motorcycle, and all at once could see in the same view,...

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“Rebuild anew”, he says to me.
The one of stillness ‘neath the sea.
“Rise to the shore; as one we stand.
This hardened castle borne of sand 
conceals your darkest memory.”

A lone wolf blows with certainty
to shatter hollow masonry.
Destruction steadied by still hand.
Rebuild anew.

I crave only tranquility. 
Erase...

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* Many years now since this very talented, very HUMAN guy left us … those holes never fill, and he is sorely missed. (This is a form I invented called “Tredicum Plus”. *

            ...

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Happy birthday, Mom
I wonder how many years have passed by
Since I gave you my first tenuous smile 
Since you steadied my first faltering step
Since the first time I called you "Mommy"
You are the place I came from
You are my first home
You are an angel in...

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I was restless all the night,
The demoness softly singing a haunting tune
The Holy Spirit sifted in swirls around me,
And she touched with her claws its essence with strange wonder

I awoke to his songs strong and immense,
Rumbling through the giant well
A low hum at first,
Crescendoing into...

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Dawn broke
The eastern pink sky
Drew across the stars
As they faded and lost to the night

 

I called the eagle
To guide me
Piercing whistle
That I learnt as a boy
Running wild and free

 

I walked in the company of men
High above, eagles flew
The wraiths are coming from the...

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She strains to find her footing in orthopedic shoes
       my grandmother's clop-clop walk to me
       unbalanced 
       steadied by a backbone of faith

She bears a tattered, red...

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I don't care anymore. You are the most wonderful thing I've ever seen in my life. 
Everytime you look at me I want to explode.  You're doing some sort of yoga move in front 
of me which you claim not to be yoga with...

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11:45 pm

Spot light’s glare, shadows rocking 
Wooden stage moving beneath my feet
Worn of past performances, steadied for the new breed
Bottles line the edge, dead soldiers, lipstick
Some full, some not, some spilled…nice

She’s there, always there, a comforting sight
Behind the bar, eyes that invite and a laugh...

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Across the ridges, flats and ranges, in print, on radio and stages,
you may hear this tale wherever you may go.
Sometimes a stranger may confide, about that famous ride,
in the rodeo at Mildura's annual show.

For a Brahman bull, a tear away, meant for the rodeo this...

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`

Parched and dry, this barren field stretches,
I wander, head hung low,
staring at the emptiness eclipsing my thoughts
Brittle blades of grass disappear beneath 
my worn out sneakers,
black and white crushing beige
in slow fashioned footprints of blistered dust

“My sanity for some cool water”

When upon my shoulders, reddened...

Continue reading...