The Passing of The Queen

Few constants obtain in our shifting world / And even those constants must leave us at last / Even as the mists of September obscure / The golden days of a summer now past

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The Prince-Poet-Cat of Gatineau, Quebec

In an ice-cream summer in the long ago / I met a marvelous cat in Gatineau / Pushkin by name, a fastidious Russian / His shiny fur coat never needed brushin’…

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Poetry in the Desert

A story told about Field Marshal Wavell is that while throwing some things into a bag for a field tour of soldiers defending India from invasion by the Japanese, he asked if anyone had seen his Browning. When someone pointed out that he was wearing it – his Browning 9mm – he said that he was looking for his copy of the poems of Robert Browning. In all his campaigns, Wavell always carried poetry with him.

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Like Candles When They Quietly Go Out

When we were young / A friend once showed me a passage in a book / In which the monks of a certain cloistered order / Were often blessed with wonderfully peaceful deaths / Like candles when they quietly go out

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There’s an atmospheric pressure

There’s an atmospheric pressure / That’s in more than just the air / It’s a sluggish, heavy parasite / That hides behind the glare

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The Grail’s Call

I was the song of Patrick’s heart,
and what made Arthur’s quest start.
When the music of Taliesin ceased to flow,
I saw the invaders come and go.

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There’s An Atmospheric Pressure

There’s an atmospheric pressure
That’s in more than just the air
It’s a sluggish, heavy parasite
That hides behind the glare

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But Which Jaw Drops?

An advert assures us its product is jaw-dropping
If true, this loss of body parts would be painful
And which part of the purchaser’s jaw drops?

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A Discarded Cat

She adopted us several weeks ago
And after the usual hissings and spittings
Was accepted by the other cats…

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Sombre Absurdité

O grand giants of Gath in grotesque graves,
will ye dread the deer that dance in your lays?
Does and bucks do the dead ye not revere?
And the dark dense depths do ye truly fear?

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Pipe Tobacco and Memories

Today I smelled tobacco from a pipe
Although there was no one around except
Perhaps the ghost of the hardware store savant
Whose wisdom filled the air along with smoke

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Unworthy

Lord, I am not worthy,
That Thou should enter me.
For I am but a sinner,
Yet Thou hast set me free.

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Fireflies

Trees form an arch overhead, / 
shading my eyes from the fierce sun.
 / I’m winding down the twisted paths, / 
meticulously moving through the shadows. / 
Back and forth, the road bends and turns.

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