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Saving Private Kurtz

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You are the watcher, the private on point.
You & the other young grunts on patrol
feel like film stars now, as you share a joint.

May a feature presentation extol
your virtues, Private, as hero or waif,
as you suffer this dark night of the soul.

The horror, the horror. Eight choppers strafe
the gates of dawn; hellfire from the sky
baptizes your outfit. No one is safe.

This brave new world that is about to die
salutes you. As you lock & load, you spend
a brief peace, trying to identify

that eerie music. Film credits descend
over the final fade. "This is the end. . ."

A Roadside Flower-Seller

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Red roses at a roadside stall: so bright
A contrast to the urban traffic's haze;
Rich with the warmth of peaceful summer days
And quiet reveries of dark and light;
Glimpsed only for a moment and then gone.
Such wistful beauty, such a brave display,
Stands out against the drabness of the day
In confirmation that our dreams live on.
But, lonely seller, from your tired face,
I see your flowers are only goods to sell
Without innate significance. Ah well,
Familiar things seem mostly commonplace;
And yet I wonder, trapped amid life's schemes
And compromises, did you sell your dreams?

Sadness

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Alas these prolific times alone,
And how of thee I do so concern,
So much love that died before itÍd shown,
Those caring words, to my heart were returned.
Like the constant season returning,
This eternal onset of what has died,
An abyss for my soul 'tis burning,
A field of languish infinitely wide.
Hope so lost, with my smile has vanished,
Looking back upon life in its bleak drear,
True bliss now, my mind has surely banished,
Into gloom, in perpetual cycles each year.
To what ends, fading so softly away,
Eyes close seeing misery on their last dying day.

Take Stock

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Oh, why hast thou forsaken me
I am but alone in this cruel place
I pray of thee on bent knee
Give of me, courage to save face
They spoke of riches to be had
My company, only for the greedy
I've worked so hard since a young lad
Now, I can see, we are the needy
What is to become of this
We were on top, but now have fallen
In all our glory, there is no bliss
Our lives in ruin, we sit here sullen
Life is short, no despair, or sorrow
The market opens again tomorrow

Sonnet 13

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Unbeknownst to all, you have changed my life.
A simple smile was, is, all that I need,
Your gracious presence disperses my strife,
Your precious beauty, my eyesÍ staple feed.
You're there, every night as I lay down to sleep,
With an aura snugly filling my heart.
Devotion to you I will always keep,
Love so perfect, I canÍt recall the start.

One night, I heard you say that you loved me.
At that moment, I lost all my despair,
My life so bright, you alone I could see,
But when my eyes opened, no one was there.

I now realize you are the greatest prize,
If only you would materialize.

The Two Decisions Of Life

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Yo kid go to school and don't be a fool,
if you drop out of school you are not cool,
please don't smoke weed be a good man,
if you do that stuff I'll slap you with my hand,
hey don't rob stores man that is wack,
you get caught doing it they will break your back,
do the right thing and be like my friend ceaser,
keep sniffing cocaine you will have a seizure,
go get a job and put money in stacks,
never know you be that bum with the hairy black back,
don't join the gang called moo sigh moo,
do that sonny I'll hit you with a crusty shoe,
don't be like me even though I'm in jail,
but sooner or later I'll get that bail.

New Orleans Tapdance

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They tapdance here on the sidewalk,
the young black boys with bottletops
grommeted to the bottoms of hightops
nasty from street grime. They talk
fast and move faster, and tourists walk
around them and chalk outlines that cops
have drawn. A clarinet player bops
to his own tune past transvestites who hawk
their wares in the hazy bars
and more tourists locked in cars
like a safari tour gawk at freaks
who wish to be gawked at. Streaks
of soot cover everything. (The cost
of cleaning is too high, tourism would be lost.)

Evening of Separation

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To me she speaks without moving her lips
Her hair runs through my mind with sudden speed
The body once held, the curve of the hips
Bright flashing danger signs I did not heed
Dreams fondly considered are now vanished
Hopeful future gone with painful grinding
My lover's warmth, now crushed and extinguished
I sit 'lone in night and painful binding
Fiery argument e're the moment
Harsh words spoken in haste and foul mood
A mad pride too great, now left in lament
Over angry minutes, forgotten food
Our auto, now crushed as quiet eggshell
Off that sharpened ledge from which we did fall

Why Am I Yet Judged a Liar?

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When I just fake an unjust act today,
An immoral turn from the black and white,
It is from you that I can only stray,
Not mine but in your heart is where the fight.
My acts are acts not happening in life,
Try to touch a rainbow and you will see,
Don't cross what is love with that kind of strife,
That's what you do when you judge what's not me.
Look for my soul and you can't make believe,
That you know I have committed a crime.
Please don't take offense at these words and leave,
Your pride is not what I meant to sublime.
Join me at least in heart if not in quest,
When we all run that is when we can rest.

When Watching Death

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When watching death one slowly must arrive
At meanings deep beneath the trodden soil,
To ponder faith along with those alive
And wonder what becomes of all the toil.
Not one is safe or promised that they'll thrive,
Just hopeful there'll be comrades to be loyal.
But who can know the last ones to survive,
The ones who keep not love but only spoil?

But with no love what would these moments be,
The ones of final breaths and final tears?
In friendships lasting farther than the grave,
Where hopes and dreams breathe life through those who see
And put to rest all anguish caused by fears
Rememb'ring in the end who must be brave.

War Sonnet #2

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Written as the Bosnian war was going on, when I was around 13. "Ah Bozhe" is Serbo-Croatian for "Oh God", "Majko Marijo" is "Mother Mary", "Mojo Zemljo" is "my country"

Ah Bozhe! My daughters are dead -
Stabbed between the legs by eternal tyranny,
Killed by bloodlust desiring a bed
And left dying on the sands near the blood-red sea.
Majko Marijo! Where are my sons,
Pride of my life and keepers of my pain?
Going off to fight in wars that can never be won,
Shrapnel bringing them to peace like a soft rain.
Mojo zemljo! What happened to you,
That your children's hearts are bound up like slaves,
Hate springs eternal where love once grew,
And flowers die only to be strewn on graves?
Must we drown in a river of blood and sighs,
Or live only to quiet our dead children's cries?

King Duncan

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With strands of finespun silver hair above,
To boots unseen by mud atop the ground,
King Duncan waves to me with wings of doves,
And rests his wounds on tender healing clouds.
He drowned out war with each exquisite word,
Rekindled flares of love with gracious praise.
His memories, soft feathers of a bird,
Whose emerald eyes lent not but peaceful gaze.
As gentle blessings ring within the church,
So stirring were his polished notes of grace.
Untimely hushed by one who stole his perch
And vainly washes bloodstains from his face.
I will awake thy sleep, my soaring Lord,
May soon again proud colours fly adored!

The Olive Garden

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Please come join us at the Olive Garden,
We serve the very best Italian food;
And don't worry, our waiters are not rude,
We're all family here, so welcome in.
Our Italian food is all genuine,
Our classy music always sets the mood;
The prices, while not the best, do include
Endless salad, topped with marchand de vin.

"The Olive Garden isn't that great," said
Robert, who is not the only skeptic;
Mary also dislikes the unique fare:
"The pasta isn't so great, and the bread
Is as dry as a 5-month-old fish stick."
Some ads can be misleading, so beware!

Rainbow

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From the very beginning, it has been.
With Noah and the flood, it first appeared.
A beautiful bow in the air was seen,
To make way for it, the sky was cleared.
Green, orange, blue, violet, and red,
But, my favorite colour is indigo.
The beauty of the bow blinds the blue sky.
Don't go, O Rainbow, stay here forever.
It streaks across the sky after a rain,
Beauty is in all the colours it has,
The rainbow is gaining wonderful fame.
There is great beauty in the sky today.
Ever since the great flood, it has been here,
Shall we see a beautiful bow this year?

Half Past Two

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You had to leave, and I couldn't follow.
They say I have died inside, it may seem.
Nothing I can do will fill this hollow.
Then one night you come to me in a dream.

You said, "Sorry for leaving you this way,
I want to tell you how much I love you.
Now you must face this and stay strong, okay?"
I awoke confused, it was half past two.

Scared, I got up and went on with my day.
Went to work and was called in for a "talk".
My fears have come true, you have died they say.
You died in sleep, half past two read the clock.

I'm going to be strong, I will make it through.
I'll go through my life always loving you.

"He dated a girl and they had a son"

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He dated a girl and they had a son,
but they broke up because they fought so much.
Unlike many men he didn't want to run.
He shows his love with every single touch.
Now the mom doesn't let him see his boy,
Unless she has somewhere she wants to go.
He just wants to watch him play with his toys.
Why does she have the right to tell him no.
He is the father and always will be,
So the boy should have his father's last name.
Why is this so hard for the mom to see.
If only the mom knew the father's pain.
So now he must take the mother to court,
and take the decision like a good sport.

So Never

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So never you see my tears falling down,
You think me happy now and times past.
So never you hear me do cry and mourn;
For only once you thought of love that passed.
When I look at the rainbow in the sky,
Colouring life with shining beauty,
When then at most the world becomes dry,
And rain does laugh to see the boys happy.
It's not my heart that flew among the birds,
That rouse to smell the rose yellow and green.
My tears do now dance secretly to find
A lot of pain, a lot of sorrow seen.
O! Love ! come then with smile pale and truth dead.
Something in heart, it should be loudly said.

Sonnet I

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You fill my sense of sight with beauty, and
Your fleeting fragrance floods my heart. Your touch
Electrifies my flesh; your gentle hand
Awakens dreams, desires, and oh, so much,
Much more. The innocence I left behind,
The trembling child- a metamorphosed being
Dependent on your body, heart, and mind;
This is my destiny that I am seeing.
Oh, sever not my soul's tight bind to yours,
Lest my life's essence wither. Be my earth,
My fire, my wind, my water, blood that pours
Into my veins- my spirit's own rebirth!
And cradle me within your arms, until
The stars and heavens fade, 'til time stands still.

"When I look at you, I think of my love"

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The one that shines with divine light.
You spread your wings like a white dove,
Flying ahead to sleeping sun at night.

You change yourself in millions of ways
And yet, you manage to stay the same.
I have known you for many sullen days,
When the happy sun was hiding from the rain.

This love to you was innocently clear,
I looked at you and saw my soul pure.
Last thing I saw was a big bright tear
When I told you I'm leaving for sure.

"I leave for best" - that's one of lies
I told you, looking in your eyes.

Reciprocity

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Did David, formed of Michelangelo,
e'er raise his hands, applaud his carver sans
an iv'ry heart, in thankful praise to know
the sculptor sage might feast upon response?
Does Mona Lisa smile her smile to woo
da Vinci's eye? Does painted paint with blade
or brush its rendered soul to make ado
of its creator's greatness, who that made?
Nay, man's works are mute, scant even fury, sound;
and yet the heavens, robed in purple hues,
declare Thy glorious wonders to be found,
and rocks hold stony tongues should man refuse.
Still, humankind, of creatures---best, will hold
a song in laud of Him who breaks the mold.

Construction of a Petrarchan Sonnet

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A poem structure devised in PetrarchÍs prime,
Of serious verse and passionate scene,
Divided into lines (sum of fourteen)
Set in iambic pentameter time.

The octave is formed of the first eight lines;
The sonnet's main idea can here be seen.
The first line, the last, the two in between
Conclude with a pair of distinct end rhymes.

Following along, is the six-line sestet
With three new rhymes in no certain sequence.
To close this verse and ensure it makes sense,
A parallel idea's presented here.
And if to all these rules you can adhere,
Then my friend, you've a Petrarchan sonnet.

Sonnetacious

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For heaven's sake and goodness gracious,
Let's compose a verse with fourteen lines,
We'll laud such prose as sonnetacious,
And comprise two entities that shall rhyme;
An octet lets christen as first formation,
This stanza must pattern dual quatrains,
With hopes of endowing sweet sensations,
From disenchantment shall we refrain;

A sestet we'll dub as second sequence,
To bellow tercets aloud and clear,
Through an aroma of subtle fragrance,
That rings soft music in our ears,
As time has come to beseech such reverence,
While chiming sonata afar thermosphere.

On Loving Kristin

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The paucity of English words reveal
A damning shallowness for me to write
My love's full beauty or this passion's might,
Or tenderness a husband's heart can feel.
Before her majesty I gladly kneel,
Of suffering to state, and pencil'd plight,
A muse invoke on high this wrong to wright,
The holy weakness of mere words repeal.
O'er my shoulder her radiance does read
Of troubling lexicon, a case to state
This husband's love, its depth and breadth make known;
Thin words ferry such grandiose a deed,
Inadequate to rest upon her plate,
Though by conveyance, meaning lost is shown.

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