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THESE ALARMS
“I am not resigned.” –Edna Millay Alarms make our lives— The panic when startled by bad news. What a rich pleasure to be merely sad; To sit, and guess chords to the blues. This alarm is too soft—my...
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WHAT WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOU VOTED?
I love watching those YouTube videos where a young fan of rap listens, mesmerized, to Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin for the first time. Don’t we get a thrill watching someone else get a thrill? But then...
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LIFE IS A PORNO MOVIE
Life is a porno movie. We know what’s going to happen,But we don’t care.We understand the inevitable.Surprise is rare.Knowing love, the game, the vote, is riggedDoesn’t bother us a bit.We shrug, we...
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LIKE THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN
Like saints in heaven, recalling sorrowWith a sense of relief and delight,I now smile when I think of you—A memory of beauty. Hell. Night. It doesn’t matter what I do,Or what is done to me...
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THE GUY WITH POETRY BOOKS
The guy with poetry books Gets on last, Dreaming of—but not learning from—the past, Finding everything which came before Interesting, even the painful incidents— Thank God they didn’t last!— Made...
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ONCE YOU BELIEVE THIS YOU WILL BELIEVE EVERYTHING ELSE
It is often the case. One fact, one piece of information, one idea, one falsehood, can determine our whole politics and philosophy. Thinkers, beware. It is a law that in all systems of thought there...
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A PARADE OF BEASTS HOLDING HANDS
Clouds, using only distance, and light,Created for my turning eye, both terror and delight.I first noticed a black cloud, shaped like a skull;I had to crane my neck to see it high above, almost...
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CONSISTENTLY SLOW
And then, in our final disgrace,We started to argue about race.At that moment I realized sex and my jobWere too much. I began to sob.You were hard-hearted.I thought, “how did this get started?”I...
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EVIL HAS TOO MANY OPTIONS
Evil has too many options. Actually,Evil is too preoccupied to harm me.Cut-throat self-interest cuts us in twoAnd evil exploits this division, true,But my enterpriseUses self-interest and...
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SINCE MY RELIGION IS POETRY
Since my religion is poetry,I own a more delicate sense of morality than you.I see you with a puzzled frownAttempting to figure out what it is you should not want to do.Since my religion is poetry,My...
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PRAYERS FOR THE INSTITUTE
The Buddhist went west for sex,The professor went east for knowledge.A brothel with addictsCosts the same as college.With combed-back hair and tailored suitThe Buddhist claimed our InstituteOn...
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FORGIVE, FORGIVE
“The serial killer and the leftist are exactly the same:Their world is wrong—and the prostitute is to blame.To forgive the prostitute is the strategy He tried,But new prophets arose when Our Savior...
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A PLEA
There goes the sea, sliding into the sea again. The sea, gone but here. I loved one who is gone— The only thing that’s clear. If you could see my emotional life, I wonder what you would do? I’m tired...
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JUST NOW
Just now a cloud covered the sun And made me cold. Scientists say climate change is old, But I can feel climate change happening right now. The sun may be the sun— But a cloud just showed me how....
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MADNESS IS A SURVIVAL BENEFIT
Madness is a survival benefit. We all worry about getting enough sleep—which is perhaps the greatest health benefit of all. Most of us have trouble falling asleep at night, but when my thoughts start...
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PLEASE STUDY ME
Please study me.I defend myself silently.A teacher in front of classCan say, “A poet defending his poemIn a poem is not a poem,”And they, his students, will naturally agree.While I, this poem,Must...
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UP IN THE AIR
It’s not fair. It’s not fair. The one in love can only stare— The glorious love unable to speak. The lover, by loving, is always weak. How can this be? Paradox of the mind! I would share myself, be...
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WHAT I HEARD MOZART SAY TO ME IN HIS MUSIC
Listen to me. You are wrong about a few things. I am wrong about many things. But I’m not protecting Wrongs. I’m learning. Can you feel yourself changing? I’ve seen people hold on to wrong views as if...
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YOUTH
The guys downtown were having a laugh:“A woman’s beauty ends at 47 and a half.”One guy was saying he would divorce his wifeOn her 47th birthday unless she chose the knife.One said: “What if she’s...
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WHAT IF I THOUGHT ALL MY LIFE MY LIFE WAS SAD?
What if I thought all my life, my life was sad?Would I speak like a poet already dead,Who became a king simply by what he said,Dreaming of death, even in the sweetest dreams? Though life is long, we...
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