My husband's poetry

Category: childhood

  • Confessions of a feral poet

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    by

    cfblack
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    Mother did not want feral seeds to parachute into our yard and take root. She used to send me across the street to cut down milkweed that grew wild in the ditch. It was only later I learned monarch butterflies need feral milkweed to feed and breed and to lay their eggs upon. Now I…

  • Freedom ain’t free

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    by

    cfblack
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    The house I grew up in was not the house I was born in so I have no lullaby memories, just themes songs of Romper Room, Howdy Doody, Captain Kangaroo and Sunday morning hymns in four part harmony. I weeded momma’s garden, took care of siblings, snuck out at night to run the neighborhood and…

  • hope

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    by

    cfblack
    in , ,

    yesterday, unable to wash the dirt of my youth from my skin I put on cologne and clean clothes and hope no one remembers who I was today, I do not recognize the face in the mirror or the voice that mumbles morning prayers I undress, step into the shower, towel off, put on cologne…

  • Gamer suicide

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    by

    cfblack
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    When he first experienced a random act of kindness, it made him feel warm and when he thought he understood the concept, he tried it on others and soon it was randomness he sought and soon folks did not see him as kind and soon he became an oddity tolerated in polite company and laughed…

  • White lace

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    by

    cfblack
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    Where I sit the arm on our couch is worn It is then I understand why My mother and her mother and her mother… Sat for hours in a corner chair Crocheting frilly, white, lace doilies to protect The fabric of furniture from wear And I wonder about other tedious daily chores She performed to…

  • For Barb and Kathy

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    by

    cfblack
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    on an old green swingset, new to us, we launched ourselves so high in the sky It threatened to tip us backward in the grass we would fling ourselves towards the sun competing who could fly the furthest I used to win a lot maybe, it was because I did not fear the landing or…

  • The end is the beginning, is the middle, is the end

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    by

    cfblack
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    My father was always concerned with the now, with what I’m doing with today with not wasting time in pursuit of frivolous things. When my first book of poetry came out, he told me on the phone that he read my book and he didn’t think much of it. At the end he spoke of…

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    by

    cfblack
    in ,

    I used lie awake at night listening to trains wail in the distance and dream of running away to ride the rails to far off places Now I lie awake at night listening to trains wail in the distance but I’m too afraid to ride up under a train for fear I may fall 1-8-25

  • Old friends

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    by

    cfblack
    in ,

    I heard yesterday from an old school friend she said she’s been with her wife since college and now I wonder if our 9th grade make out session was consensual or she was too afraid to say no or I was unable or unwilling to hear and I want to ask her and I want…

  • Last night

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    by

    cfblack
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    Last night I dreamed a dream I did not want to dream ___ I dreamed family and friends were mean and petty to me no matter where I fled they followed and ridiculed me for seeking solitude ___ I woke up angry at my dreaming self for dreaming mean and petty dreams of others and…