Author: cfblack
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The Iranian
because the wind came always from the west he thought he could smell his future on the wind he left his home moved across the sea went to school, married, had children sought his future in the west it was not waiting in California he moved to China sometimes, he flies east visits family and…
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no anesthesia
Spiraled black-speckled flypaper waves in the wind from the porch For family summer picnic fun on the farm flies trapped in glue, struggle till they die Chickens, a pig and a cow are slaughtered deviled eggs, tomatoes and green beans prepared Rocky mountain oysters sit fried in a bowl on the table Harvested from ball…
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Book marks
Yesterday, I straightened stacks of books I’m in the process of reading and I tried to remember where their journey began Bookmarks are a good point of reference Magazine ad inserts mean it was first opened on the porch among last week’s stack of periodicals Receipts, it began at a literary festival or used bookstore…
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It is enough
A few minutes after sunrise the sun hits a gap in the trees blinded by glare I look away Listen to mockingbirds the hoot of an owl before it sleeps in a tree It is the faint trill in the woods I listen for I do not know this bird by name someday, I may…
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Who our Mother was
On this day after Mothers Day I remember how a couple of years before mom died my siblings almost killed her They hired a cleaning lady to come once a week to clean my parents’ house and mom exhausted herself Moving the refrigerator and furniture to sweep climbing on a step stool to dust getting…
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Adventures in the Life of an Interrogative Pronoun
Who went looking for meaning found Webster defined ‘who’ as an interrogative pronoun Taking an interrogative approach Who went looking for a synonym wrote ‘w-h-o’ in the query box and kept getting ‘No results found.’ Who tried another thesaurus site the query box kept adding ‘r-e’ after three attempts to type ‘w-h-o’ Who decided an…
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Slaughterhouse
If goats knew why they were raised and could vote would they need to be reclassified essential goats before they could be sacrificed? (A short poem dedicated to those who need a job to feed their families and labor in meat packing plants that the POTUS ordered to stay open) 5-10-20
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The Congress of Birds
(any allusions to Attar’s The Conference of Birds are subconscious and probably intentional) Birds fuss at the sun squirrels, the neighbor’s cat a snake and other birds They call back and forth in bushes and trees from fence and power lines Some may even bully honk get out of my way I’m coming through There…
