# Poetry



## JonSR77 (Mar 9, 2022)

well, if there is anyone out there who likes poetry, I saved a few links on Mr. Computer here...

+++++


Classic Japanese Haiku

Japanese Haiku, translated by Peter Beilenson [1955], from Peter Pauper Press book

https://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/jh/jh02.htm
https://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/jh/jh02.htm
Includes this one by Basho:

Must Springtime Fade?
Then Cry All Birds
And Fishes Cold Pale Eyes Pour Tears


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## JonSR77 (Mar 19, 2022)

Nice Collection of Ancient Chinese Poetry...

http://www.chinese-poems.com/


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## JonSR77 (Mar 19, 2022)

Drummer for the rock band, The Doors, performs Jim Morrison's Poem "An American Prayer"


John Densmore performs Jim Morrison's poem "An American Prayer". (10-18-2013)


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## JonSR77 (Mar 19, 2022)

Jack Kerouac Reads his "American Haikus," Backed by Jazz Saxophonists Al Cohn & Zoot Sims (1958).


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## Packerjohn (Mar 19, 2022)

I love the old traditional poems by people like Robert Frost, William Wordsworth and Edgar Allan Poe.  Not really in that "Japanese Stuff."  Here is my kind of poem:

Annabel Lee​Edgar Allan Poe - 1809-1849
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
   Than to love and be loved by me.
_I_ was a child and _she_ was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea:
But we loved with a love that was more than love—
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
   Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
   In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes!—that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
   Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee:
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, *all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In her sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.*


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## JonSR77 (Mar 21, 2022)

Packerjohn said:


> I love the old traditional poems by people like Robert Frost, William Wordsworth and Edgar Allan Poe.  Not really in that "Japanese Stuff."  Here is my kind of poem:
> 
> Annabel Lee​Edgar Allan Poe - 1809-1849
> It was many and many a year ago,
> ...


I like Poe.  I am pretty sure he liked "the Japanese stuff."


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## JonSR77 (Mar 21, 2022)

2 Short comedy poems and one regular poem by British Poet Roger McGough (back in the 1960s, he was a friend of The Beatles)

The Cats' Protection League by Roger McGough

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pRlMrFkoHg

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Mafia Cats by Roger McGough


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtdU34PujJg

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Roger McGough - Tomorrow Has Your Name on It





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW36Bai3qL8
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


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## JonSR77 (Mar 21, 2022)

Lunch Poems - Gary Snyder






Born in San Francisco in 1930, world-renowned poet, essayist, and environmentalist Gary Snyder has published sixteen books of poetry and prose, and received the Pulitzer Prize in 1974 for Turtle Island. Snyder has traveled widely and lived for extended periods of time in Japan, where he studied and practiced Rinzai Zen. He is currently a professor at University of California, Davis. Recorded March 5, 2009​


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## JonSR77 (Mar 23, 2022)

14 Aug.1999. Sierra Nevada foothills in Northern California. Michael McClure and Ray Manzarek  perform. Introduction by host Gary Snyder.


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## JonSR77 (Mar 23, 2022)

Poetry from the Dodge Poetry Festival

https://www.youtube.com/c/grdodgepoetry


The biennial *Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival* is the largest poetry event in North America.The 16th edition, and 30th anniversary, of the biannual event took place in Newark, New Jersey, October 20–23, 2016.

The four-day celebration of poetry has been called “poetry heaven” by the 1995–1997 US Poet Laureate Robert Hass, “a new Woodstock” by the _Christian Science Monitor_, and “Wordstock” by _The New York Times_.The festival has been sponsored by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation in even-numbered years since 1986.The festival immerses audiences and more than five dozen internationally acclaimed poets in discussions, readings, and conversations focusing on poetry. Events are held all day and evening in performance venues accommodating anywhere from 100 to over 2,000 people. Each day, ten or more separate stages simultaneously offer different activities. The 13th biennial festival took place in Newark, New Jersey at NJPAC, Newark Symphony Hall, and other venues around the city.


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## Ceege (Mar 23, 2022)

This is my favorite poem .....


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## JonSR77 (Mar 23, 2022)

Ceege said:


> This is my favorite poem .....
> View attachment 214284


a few more by Longfellow...

https://www.poetry-archive.com/l/longfellow_henry_wadsworth.html


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## AnnieA (Mar 23, 2022)

From poets.org


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## ohioboy (Mar 26, 2022)

Emily Dickinson never titled her poems, that was left to the editors, but first lines often won over. A conversation between two recently deceased souls.

I died for beauty

I died for beauty, but was scarce
Adjusted in the tomb,
When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room.

He questioned softly why I failed?
"For beauty," I replied.
"And I for truth - the two are one;
We brethren are," he said.

And so, as kinsmen met a-night,
We talked between the rooms,
Until the moss had reached our lips,
And covered up our names.


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## JonSR77 (Mar 27, 2022)

ohioboy said:


> Emily Dickinson never titled her poems, that was left to the editors, but first lines often won over. A conversation between two recently deceased souls.
> 
> I died for beauty
> 
> ...


 
I love Emily Dickinson. I think she is wonderful.  Absolutely wonderful.

Complete Poems by Emily Dickinson...

All online, free...

https://www.bartleby.com/113/


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## JonSR77 (Mar 27, 2022)

50 Classic Poems Read By 12 Celebrities: Morgan Freeman, Jodie Foster, Gary Sinise & more​






From John Lithgow, The Poets' Corner, 2007: 1: Matthew Arnold, Dover Beach read by Eileen Atkins 0:06 2: W.H. Auden, Musee des Beaux Arts read by Jodie Foster 2:13 3: John Berryman, Henry's Confession read by Gary Sinise 3:41 4: Elizabeth Bishop, Filling Station read by Glenn Close 4:55 5: William Blake, The Tyger read by Helem Mirren 6:48 6: Gwendolyn Brooks, We Real Cool read by Morgan Freeman 8:23 7: Elizabeth Barrett Browning, How do I love thee? Let me count the ways read by Helen Mirren 9:08 8: Robert Burns, To a Mouse read by Billy Connolly 10:18 9: George Gordon, Lord Byron, I would I were a careless child read by Robert Sean Leonard 12:29 10: Lewis Carroll, Jabberwocky read by Eileen Atkins 15:17 11: Geoffrey Chaucer, The General Prologue read by Lynn Redgrave 16:48 12: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kubla Khan read by Robert Sean Leonard 19:31 13: Hart Crane, To Brooklyn Bridge read by Sam Waterston 22:13 14: e.e. cummings, if everything happens that can't be done read by Eileen Atkins 25:17 15: Emily Dickinson, 1263 (There is no Frigate like a Book) read by Glenn Close 26:41 16: John Donne, Song (Go and catch a falling star) read by John Lithgow 27:14 17: T.S. Eliot, Rhapsody on a Windy Night read by Morgan Freeman 28:28 18: Robert Frost, Birches read by John Lithgow 32:01 19: William S. Gilbert, Love Unrequited, or The Nightmare Song read by John Lithgow 35:40 20: Allen Ginsberg, A Supermarket in California read by Gary Sinise 39:16 21: Robert Herrick, The Beggar to Mab, The Fairy Queen read by Billy Connolly 41:48 22: Gerald Manley Hopkins, Pied Beauty read by Kathy Bates 43:09 23: A.E. Housman, When I Was One and Twenty read by Robert Sean Leonard 44:02 24: Langston Hughes, The Weary Blues read by Morgan Freeman 44:57 25: Randall Jarrell, Death of a Ball Turret Gunner read by Gary Sinise 46:42 26: Ben Jonson, Inviting a Friend to Supper read by Robert Sean Leonard 47:19 27: John Keats, To Autumn read by Lynn Redgrave 49:52 28: Philip Larkin, Days read by Susan Sarandon 52:00 29: Edward Lear, The Owl and the Pussycat read by Billy Connolly 52:39 30: H.W. Longfellow, A Psalm of Life read by John Lithgow 54:10 31: Robert Lowell, The Public Garden read by Billy Conolly 55:58 32: Andrew Marvell, To His Coy Mistress read by John Lithgow 57:39 33: Edna St. Vincent Millay, Love is Not All read by Jodie Foster 1:00:00 34: Marianne Moore, Poetry read by Kathy Bates 1:01:07 35: Ogden Nash, No Doctor's Today, Thank You read by John Lithgow 1:02:55 36: Dorothy Parker, Afternoon read by Glenn Close 1:04:29 37: Edgar Allen Poe, Annabel Lee read by Sam Waterston 1:05:27 38: Ezra Pound, The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter read by Jodie Foster 1:07:50 39: Christina Rosetti, Up-Hill read by Helen Mirren 1:09:43 40: Carl Sandburg, Chicago read by Gary Sinise 1:10:56 41: Shakespeare, Fear No More the Heat o' the Sun read by Lynn Redgrave 1:13:04 42: Percy Bysshe Shelley, To a Skylark read by Glenn Close 1:14:28 43: Edmund Spenser, Sonnet 75 (One day I wrote her name upon the strand) read by Susan Sarandon 1:18:55 44: Gertrude Stein, If I Told Him read by Kathy Bates 1:20:00 45: Wallace Stevens, The Emperor of Ice-Cream read by Kathy Bates 1:24:28 46: Dylan Thomas, Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night read by Susan Sarandon 1:25:25 47: Walt Whitman, There was a Child went Forth read by Sam Waterston 1:26:44 48: William Carlos Williams, The Red Wheelbarrow read by Jodie Foster 1:31:38 49: William Wordsworth, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud read by Helen Mirren 1:32:06 50: William Butler Yeats, The Lake Isle of Innisfree read by Eileen Atkins 1:33:25


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## JonSR77 (Mar 27, 2022)

Poetry International - very large collection of contemporary poetry from around the world...

https://www.poetryinternational.org/pi/home


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## JonSR77 (Mar 27, 2022)

this is some fun..

Christopher Walken reads The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. A short film starring Christopher Walken.


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## ohioboy (Mar 27, 2022)

JonSR77 said:


> I love Emily Dickinson. I think she is wonderful.  Absolutely wonderful.
> 
> Complete Poems by Emily Dickinson...
> 
> ...


I have toured her home in Amherst, MA. on 2 trips to New England. The focal point of the tour is of course her bedroom. Most of the furnishing are period but the Sleigh bed is believed to have been hers. The family is buried in West Cemetery,  except her brother William Austin, he is buried in Wildwood cemetery in Amherst. Amherst College has a lock of her hair, plus they own 1/2 of her manuscripts. Harvard University's Houghton Library has an Emily Dickinson room which I visited, some of her personal items are there including the dresser her sister Vinnie found her poems in after her death. Saw some of her actual manuscripts also, thrilling.  I could go on, but do not want to take a whole year.


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## JonSR77 (Mar 27, 2022)

ohioboy said:


> I have toured her home in Amherst, MA. on 2 trips to New England. The focal point of the tour is of course her bedroom. Most of the furnishing are period but the Sleigh bed is believed to have been hers. The family is buried in West Cemetery,  except her brother William Austin, he is buried in Wildwood cemetery in Amherst. Amherst College has a lock of her hair, plus they own 1/2 of her manuscripts. Harvard University's Houghton Library has an Emily Dickinson room which I visited, some of her personal items are there including the dresser her sister Vinnie found her poems in after her death. Saw some of her actual manuscripts also, thrilling.  I could go on, but do not want to take a whole year.


I know there is a museum. I used to see their posts on Facebook.

https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/


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## ohioboy (Mar 27, 2022)

JonSR77 said:


> I know there is a museum. I used to see their posts on Facebook.
> 
> https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/


That is her home I toured on Main st. and museum, formerly an Amherst College faculty residence. Also her brother Austin's home in next door, which I toured too.


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## JonSR77 (Mar 27, 2022)

ohioboy said:


> That is her home I toured on Main st. and museum, formerly an Amherst College faculty residence.


do you write, yourself?


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## ohioboy (Mar 27, 2022)

JonSR77 said:


> do you write, yourself?


When my mind lets me.


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## ohioboy (Mar 27, 2022)

Here is one of mine, post 21.

https://www.seniorforums.com/threads/my-thoughts-on-aging-and-dying.59785/#post-1721314


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## JonSR77 (Mar 27, 2022)

ohioboy said:


> Here is one of mine, post 21.
> 
> https://www.seniorforums.com/threads/my-thoughts-on-aging-and-dying.59785/#post-1721314


thanks, late, gotta run...I'll cut and paste and check out later...


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## palides2021 (Mar 27, 2022)

I enjoyed reading the poems on this thread. March 25th was Greek Independence Day and I wrote a poem
for the soldiers who fought for freedom. 

https://medium.com/move-me-poetry/parting-words-of-a-soldier-f96ef4311c9f


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## palides2021 (Mar 27, 2022)

Here's another poem I wrote: Candlelit Journey 
(A poem about traveling from darkness to light)
https://medium.com/move-me-poetry/candlelit-journey-52af2b4b1f96


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## JonSR77 (Mar 28, 2022)

ohioboy said:


> Here is one of mine, post 21.
> 
> https://www.seniorforums.com/threads/my-thoughts-on-aging-and-dying.59785/#post-1721314


read your piece. wonderful sentiments....


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## JonSR77 (Mar 28, 2022)

palides2021 said:


> I enjoyed reading the poems on this thread. March 25th was Greek Independence Day and I wrote a poem
> for the soldiers who fought for freedom.
> 
> https://medium.com/move-me-poetry/parting-words-of-a-soldier-f96ef4311c9f


very nice...

thought you might like this...

some contemporary poetry from Greece...

from the Poetry International site...

https://www.poetryinternational.org/pi/country/20/Greece/en/tile


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## JonSR77 (Mar 28, 2022)

poems from our friend Joe Salerno


(unfortunately, our friend Joe, passed away from cancer about 25 years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/user/JoeSalernoPoetry

https://outlawpoetry.com/2009/joe-salerno-getting-up-for-work-iii/

https://joesalernopoetry.wordpress.com/


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## palides2021 (Mar 28, 2022)

JonSR77 said:


> very nice...
> 
> thought you might like this...
> 
> ...


Thank you, @JohnSR77! I am familiar with Seferis and Elytis, two Greek poets who won the Nobel Prize in Literature.


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## Medusa (Mar 30, 2022)

Packerjohn said:


> I love the old traditional poems by people like Robert Frost, William Wordsworth and Edgar Allan Poe.  Not really in that "Japanese Stuff."  Here is my kind of poem:
> 
> Annabel Lee​Edgar Allan Poe - 1809-1849
> It was many and many a year ago,
> ...


I generally stay in my lane (which is Shel Silverstein) when it comes to poetry, but I do love this particular one.


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## Packerjohn (Mar 30, 2022)

JonSR77 said:


> this is some fun..
> 
> Christopher Walken reads The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. A short film starring Christopher Walken.


You really can't go wrong with Edgar Allan Poe.  Good poetry to read on a cold, windy night with rain hitting the window panes.


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## Medusa (Mar 30, 2022)

Packerjohn said:


> You really can't go wrong with Edgar Allan Poe.  Good poetry to read on a cold, windy night with rain hitting the window panes.


Okay, that one too.  I do love, "The Raven."  Shel Silverstein, "Annabelle Lee," and "The Raven." 
LOL
And Wilfred Owen's World War II Poem, "Dulce et Decorum Est"


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## JonSR77 (Apr 2, 2022)

Poetry by our friend Joe Weil...


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## JonSR77 (Apr 4, 2022)

The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering...

https://www.nationalcowboypoetrygathering.org/


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## JonSR77 (Apr 7, 2022)

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

http://shakespeare.mit.edu/


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## JonSR77 (Apr 14, 2022)

https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/poetry.htm

Poetry Written by Abraham Lincoln
Springfield, Illinois
In the spring of 1846 Abraham Lincoln sent some poetry to his friend Andrew Johnston, and on September 6 enclosed additional stanzas with his letter. At Lincoln's request, Johnston published portions of the poetry anonymously in the Quincy, Illinois Whig on May 5, 1847.
Lincoln offered Johnston an explanation of the first poem ("My Childhood Home I See Again"), saying he had visited his boyhood neighborhood in southern Indiana in the fall of 1844 while campaigning for presidential hopeful Henry Clay. He commented that the region was "as unpoetical as any spot of the earth," but it brought back memories of loved ones such as his mother and sister who lay buried there.
He made Matthew Gentry the subject of Part II, telling Johnston: "He is three years older than I, and when we were boys we went to school together. He was rather a bright lad, and the son of the rich man of our poor neighborhood. At the age of nineteen he unaccountably became furiously mad, from which condition he gradually settled down into harmless insanity. When, as I told you in my other letter I visited my old home in the fall of 1844, I found him still lingering in this wretched condition. In my poetizing mood I could not forget the impression his case made upon me."


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## ohioboy (Apr 14, 2022)

This was Lincoln's favorite poem.

https://poets.org/poem/oh-why-should-spirit-mortal-be-proud


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## Capt Lightning (Apr 18, 2022)

Bairnsang (Kids poem)  by Liz Lochhead.

It wis January  
and a gey driech day  
the first day Ah went to the school
 so my Mum happed me up in ma
 good navy-blue napp coat wi the rid tartan hood  
birled a scarf aroon ma neck
 pu’ed oan ma pixie an’ my pawkies
 it wis that bitter  
said noo ye’ll no starve  
gie’d me a wee kiss and a kid-oan skelp oan the bum  
and sent me aff across the playground
 tae the place A’d learn to say

it was January  
and a really dismal day
 the first day I went to school  
so my mother wrapped me up in my  
best navy-blue top coat with the red tartan hood,  
twirled a scarf around my neck,
 pulled on my bobble-hat and mittens  
it was so bitterly cold
said now you won’t freeze to death
gave me a little kiss and a pretend slap on the bottom  
and sent me off across the playground  
to the place I’d learn to forget to say 

it wis January  
and a gey driech day
 the first day Ah went to the school  
so my Mum happed me up in ma  
good navy-blue napp coat wi the rid tartan hood,
 birled a scarf aroon ma neck,
 pu’ed oan ma pixie and’ ma pawkies  
it wis that bitter.   

Oh saying it was one thing
 But when it came to writing it
 In black and white
 The way it had to be said  
Was as if you were posh, grown-up,
male, English and dead.


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## Capt Lightning (Apr 18, 2022)

A Shropshire Lad  by Sir John Betjeman 

The gas was on in the Institute,
The flare was up in the gym,
A man was running a mineral line,
A lass was singing a hymn,
When Captain Webb the Dawley man,
Captain Webb from Dawley,
Came swimming along the old canal
That carried the bricks to Lawley.
Swimming along—
Swimming along—
Swimming along from Severn,
And paying a call at Dawley Bank while swimming along to Heaven.

The sun shone low on the railway line
And over the bricks and stacks
And in at the upstairs windows
Of the Dawley houses’ backs
When we saw the ghost of Captain Webb,
Webb in a water sheeting,
Come dripping along in a bathing dress
To the Saturday evening meeting.
Dripping along—
Dripping along—
To the Congregational Hall;
Dripping and still he rose over the sill and faded away in a wall.

There wasn’t a man in Oakengates
That hadn’t got hold of the tale,
And over the valley in Ironbridge,
And round by Coalbrookdale,
How Captain Webb the Dawley man,
Captain Webb from Dawley,
Rose rigid and dead from the old canal
That carries the bricks to Lawley.
Rigid and dead—
Rigid and dead—
To the Saturday congregation,
Paying a call at Dawley Bank on the way to his destination.


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## JonSR77 (Apr 18, 2022)

Poetry Resources (extensive)

On Bartleby...

maybe, oh, 100 books worth of poetry, including anthologies...

https://www.bartleby.com/verse/


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## JonSR77 (Apr 18, 2022)

The Poems of Matthew Arnold...

https://www.bartleby.com/254/


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## JonSR77 (Apr 23, 2022)

Poet Mark Doty Reads 'A Display of Mackerel'


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## JonSR77 (Apr 24, 2022)

Yes, in fact, comedian Groucho Marx and T. S. Elliot were friends!

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-fraught-friendship-of-t-s-eliot-and-groucho-marx


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## JonSR77 (May 1, 2022)

Ascension

by Du Fu (712-770)


Among the violent wind,
under the high sky,
the monkeys howl their sadness.
Above the white sands of the islet,
a bird flies, circling.
Endless leaves, blown by the wind,
they fall whistling from the trees,
and the immense Yangtze runs tumultuously.
Far from my home
I cry the sad autumn
and the trips seem endless to me.
Old man, alone overwhelmed with disease,
I go up to this terrace.
The hardships, difficulties and anguish,
they have made my gray hair abundant.
And I can't help but put my glass aside.

https://www.actualidadliteratura.com/en/du-fu-5-poemas-clasico-poesia-china/


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## JonSR77 (May 5, 2022)

White Chrysanthemum
Before That Perfect Flower
Scissors Hesitate..

- Buson (1716 - 1784)


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## JonSR77 (May 11, 2022)

Poems by Confucius

https://www.best-poems.net/confucius/poems.html


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## JonSR77 (May 28, 2022)

The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson

https://www.bartleby.com/113/


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## UncleVinny (May 29, 2022)

This guy wrote quite a few poems, some very bad, some a bit better and then there is this one:

*"Through a Glass, Darkly"
General George S. Patton, Jr.*

Through the travail of the ages,
Midst the pomp and toil of war,
I have fought and strove and perished
Countless times upon this star.

In the form of many people
In all panoplies of time
Have I seen the luring vision
Of the Victory Maid, sublime.

I have battled for fresh mammoth,
I have warred for pastures new,
I have listed to the whispers
When the race trek instinct grew.

I have known the call to battle
In each changeless changing shape
From the high souled voice of conscience
To the beastly lust for rape.

I have sinned and I have suffered,
Played the hero and the knave;
Fought for belly, shame, or country,
And for each have found a grave.

I cannot name my battles
For the visions are not clear,
Yet, I see the twisted faces
And I feel the rending spear.

Perhaps I stabbed our Savior
In His sacred helpless side.
Yet, I've called His name in blessing
When after times I died.

In the dimness of the shadows
Where we hairy heathens warred,
I can taste in thought the lifeblood;
We used teeth before the sword.

While in later clearer vision
I can sense the coppery sweat,
Feel the pikes grow wet and slippery
When our Phalanx, Cyrus met.

Hear the rattle of the harness
Where the Persian darts bounced clear,
See their chariots wheel in panic
From the Hoplite's leveled spear.

See the goal grow monthly longer,
Reaching for the walls of Tyre.
Hear the crash of tons of granite,
Smell the quenchless eastern fire.

Still more clearly as a Roman,
Can I see the Legion close,
As our third rank moved in forward
And the short sword found our foes.

Once again I feel the anguish
Of that blistering treeless plain
When the Parthian showered death bolts,
And our discipline in vain.

I remember all the suffering
Of those arrows in my neck.
Yet, I stabbed a grinning savage
As I died upon my back.

Once again I smell the heat sparks
When my Flemish plate gave way
And the lance ripped through my entrails
As on Crecy's field I lay.

In the windless, blinding stillness
Of the glittering tropic sea
I can see the bubbles rising
Where we set the captives free.

Midst the spume of half a tempest
I have heard the bulwarks go
When the crashing, point blank round shot
Sent destruction to our foe.

I have fought with gun and cutlass
On the red and slippery deck
With all Hell aflame within me
And a rope around my neck.

And still later as a General
Have I galloped with Murat
When we laughed at death and numbers
Trusting in the Emperor's Star.

Till at last our star had faded,
And we shouted to our doom
Where the sunken road of Ohein
Closed us in it's quivering gloom.

So but now with Tanks a'clatter
Have I waddled on the foe
Belching death at twenty paces,
By the star shell's ghastly glow.

So as through a glass, and darkly
The age long strife I see
Where I fought in many guises,
Many names, but always me.

And I see not in my blindness
What the objects were I wrought,
But as God rules o'er our bickerings
It was through His will I fought.

So forever in the future,
Shall I battle as of yore,
Dying to be born a fighter,
But to die again, once more.

*****

Love this poem! I took the liberty of dropping one word in a line and then in another place, adding one word in a line.

I think I helped the rhythm with those two minor swaps.

George S. Patton was really an interesting type o' fella. Hated by many people and yet conversely, worshipped as God-Like by  many others.

U.V.


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## JonSR77 (May 29, 2022)

UncleVinny said:


> This guy wrote quite a few poems, some very bad, some a bit better and then there is this one:
> 
> *"Through a Glass, Darkly"
> General George S. Patton, Jr.*
> ...



My Dad and all the WWII vets around him...they all complained, about each and every General in WWII. If you heard the soldiers talk, there was not a single general who was worth much.

My take on history is that it is usually more complex. I absolutely believe that Patton was a very powerful general and a important force for stopping Hitler.

Was he too aggressive? I don't know. I think you need guys like him to win a war. I guess General Sherman from The Civil War, was probably a similar character. I think both had extraordinary military command skills.


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## UncleVinny (May 29, 2022)

Patton's winter drive across France to relieve Bastogne is one of the fastest moves of a large force  in the history of warfare. He was tough, some say he took unnecessary  chances that cost American lives---Although, there is a school of thought that he shortened the war and therefore saved American lives.

There is a theory that he was murdered because the fear was that his popularity with the American voter, might, MIGHT propel him into The White House. I really do not think he had political aspirations, but...still another fear was that he could single handedly start a war with Russia. Now that idea sounds to be more of possibility. He was no fan of The Russians.  That is exactly what he wanted to happen while The U.S. was in Europe and "loaded for bear" (sorry, couldn't resist that one!!)---to engage Russia and take them out before they recovered from the war, and got stronger.


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## UncleVinny (May 29, 2022)

Another one of mine:

"Relativity"

The morning light shown through the blind
awakened me today,
something didn’t feel quite right
I pushed the thought away.

Seems late last night
I went to bed a lad of 23,
but somewhere in the realm of sleep
a change came over me...

I limped on down the hallway
pushed through the bathroom door,
my youthful stride; exuberance
weren’t there no more,

So I sneaked up on the mirror
to have a quick look-see;
there in all his glory
an old man stared at me!

Somehow many years slipped by
I must have seen them go,
somehow youth escaped me
I was the last to know.

The face was lined, the eyes were wise
the hair so thin and gray,
the teeth were worn from years of use
they’d seen a better day.

It took awhile but with some thought
my fearful shock redeemed,
the youthful lad of 23
was only what I’d dreamed!

I’d been there many years before
a vital strong young man,
although I thought I knew it all
were still some years to span.

Mistakes to make, broken dreams
friends who come and go,
lessons learned; bridges burned
with still much more to know.

And as I stood there staring
the old man back at me,
there was a message in his eyes
plain there I could see.

They said in no uncertain terms
23 was not so great;
I decided to go back to bed
and dream that I was 8!

*****

Perhaps too soon a day will come
I’ll sit and reminisce
‘bout the day I sat right here
and struggled writing this,

I’ll tell myself I didn’t know
all I thought I knew,
I’ll think about the things I’d seen
and things I’d left undone,

I’ll tell myself I was too young,
too young at 61...

-2012-


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## UncleVinny (May 29, 2022)

Another of mine...I put it on the Introduction Page originally but it works better on this Poetry Thread, yeah huh?

*The Path

Setting forth The Path is clear
our journey just begun,
with careful steps, and cautious hearts
could each be the one?
True to say that neither us can know what’s set to be,
t’was pre-ordained so long ago
by powers lost on me.

Not to say there is no choice
in what may come along,
to throw us off, or sway our hearts
so we must remain strong,
and be as true as two can be
with feelings that they share,
and let the other always know
they’re safe within our care.

With love lavished on; relied upon
ever mindful what one gives,
should come as freely as the wind
the sun, the moon, the stars.

And tho’ you may have carried long
from battles’ past the scars,
bear in mind my new found love
I was not a part your wars,
but I will strive to do my best
to close and bolt those doors,
and open others just the same 
as we travel ‘long The Path,
and make you happy, make you smile
and ever make you laugh...

For laughter is a soothing balm
heals that which isn’t right,
melts away what weighs you down
bans terrors’ in the night,
and makes the bleakest darkest void
appear to still shed light.


I know I’ve tread The Path before
but somehow lost my way,
again perhaps t’was pre-ordained,
my past was meant to be
a means to ready me for you
and have my heart again set free,

So with this vow I promise you
I’ll try with all my might,
to give you calm and peace of mind–

And pray I do it right.

-2003-*


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## Em in Ohio (May 29, 2022)

UncleVinny said:


> This guy wrote quite a few poems, some very bad, some a bit better and then there is this one:
> 
> *"Through a Glass, Darkly"
> General George S. Patton, Jr.*
> ...


Far too dark for my taste, but it does give me a sense of the futility of war.


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## UncleVinny (May 30, 2022)

EM, George Patton fully recognized he had lived many lifetimes as a warrior. Sometimes as a leader and sometimes simply a rank and file soldier. What he speaks of in the poem he truly believed he witnessed.

Seems to me that idea of his reincarnation(s) was touched on too lightly in the movie Patton. The mention of his belief in reincarnation was too subtle for those who didn't know Patton was of that mindset, so it went over their heads.

George C. Scott won an academy award for his portrayal of General Patton, in 1969 or 1970, and he really did a great job of convincing  people who had known Patton that he WAS Patton.

Funny thing was, George C. Scott was a bit of a pacifist and one who knew absolutely nothing of George S. Patton. He took that role because he felt it would be a challenge and a  stretch for him. He read like 20 books on Patton and watched a couple hundred hours of real movie footage of the man, and as Scott said in an interview after he won that Best Actor Award,  he had gotten Patton down via osmosis. 

U.V.


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## Em in Ohio (May 30, 2022)

UncleVinny said:


> EM, George Patton fully recognized he had lived many lifetimes as a warrior. Sometimes as a leader and sometimes simply a rank and file soldier. What he speaks of in the poem he truly believed he witnessed.
> 
> Seems to me that idea of his reincarnation(s) was touched on too lightly in the movie Patton. The mention of his belief in reincarnation was too subtle for those who didn't know Patton was of that mindset, so it went over their heads.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the information!  Since I never saw the movie, nor learned more of Patton than mentioned in history class, it is really enlightening - especially in context with the poem.


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## UncleVinny (May 30, 2022)

Yup EM, that simple fact of Patton believing that he was present  for what he spoke of in this poem in regards to those battles is what makes this piece thoroughly  embraced by me.

He wrote quite a few poems, but this one near as I figger is the best of all his efforts.

You can search for all his poetry on line. Try searching: "Poems by George S. Patton"---I may have found them in the past by a similar search, but in truth, I got's me a serious case of "CRS" so I honestly don't remember just when or where I had seen and read all his poetry. 

U.V.


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## Em in Ohio (May 30, 2022)

UncleVinny said:


> Yup EM, that simple fact of Patton believing that he was present  for what he spoke of in this poem in regards to those battles is what makes this piece thoroughly  embraced by me.
> 
> He wrote quite a few poems, but this one near as I figger is the best of all his efforts.
> 
> ...


CRS ?  Catholic Relief Services, Congressional Research Services, the Residential Real Estate Council???  Haha - I'm really poor at acronyms!
​


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## UncleVinny (May 30, 2022)

Oh, sorry. "CRS" is pretty common with seniors...It stands for: "Can't Remember Sh*t."

U.V.


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## JonSR77 (May 30, 2022)

UncleVinny said:


> Patton's winter drive across France to relieve Bastogne is one of the fastest moves of a large force  in the history of warfare. He was tough, some say he took unnecessary  chances that cost American lives---Although, there is a school of thought that he shortened the war and therefore saved American lives.
> 
> There is a theory that he was murdered because the fear was that his popularity with the American voter, might, MIGHT propel him into The White House. I really do not think he had political aspirations, but...still another fear was that he could single handedly start a war with Russia. Now that idea sounds to be more of possibility. He was no fan of The Russians.  That is exactly what he wanted to happen while The U.S. was in Europe and "loaded for bear" (sorry, couldn't resist that one!!)---to engage Russia and take them out before they recovered from the war, and got stronger.



Oh, I absolutely agree about the Battle of the Bulge actions. 

Murdered? Well, you know, in human history, anything is possible.

Personally, I think it was just a straight up accident. The military use of roads had tons and tons of accidents. You know, no time to keep the roads well maintained. 

Could a German agent have sabotaged his vehicle? Sure, that would always be a possibility. Hey, they blew up a ship right in New York harbor...

As far as a directed order from the military establishment? Eh, while anything is possible, but I don't think it all that likely. Reason being was that Eisenhower was a very straight shooter kind of guy. He really did not like underhanded tactics. You know, Churchill had his "toy shop" and I think the British culture at the time, was more likely to engage in political or military assassination.

But, again, I really don't think they would have done that. They were too heavily reliant on cooperation with the US, and would not really have wanted to ruffle feathers.

Again, the world is an unusual place, all kinds of different things going on, different factions.

Oh, my personal guess...less than a 10% chance it was anything but an accident.  And I would give 9% chance of that to a German agent working behind the lines, rather than a "friendly-fire" assassination.

But who knows?  I guess the best source would be some historian who did a deep dive into Patton's history and would know some of the inner history that the public doesn't really know.  I have nowhere near that kind of level of knowledge.  I just know general, basic info about him.  Plus the stuff my Dad poured into my ear.  And, like a lot of GIs...those guys were always coming up with ways they would have done it better if they were in command.


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## UncleVinny (May 30, 2022)

Patton died in the hospital after the accident under rather "fishy" circumstances. 

Personally, with all The False Flag incidents in our government's back-story, killing one Pain In The Azz General pales in comparison.

Not trying to start a POLITICAL argument with anybody around here who believes that our leaders could never plot and take people out, American or otherwise, but I fully believe it as there are plenty of "fer instances" to be found in the history of our country.

U.V.


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## JonSR77 (May 30, 2022)

UncleVinny said:


> Patton died in the hospital after the accident under rather "fishy" circumstances.
> 
> Personally, with all The False Flag incidents in our government's back-story, killing one Pain In The Azz General pales in comparison.
> 
> ...



Oh, I believe there have been political assassinations. I think Kennedy was one. I think there is a slight chance it was not politically related, but Mafia related. Maybe some gangster died because of Kennedy's dad...and it was just a straight revenge killing. That the guy's father wanted Joe Kennedy to suffer the same fate he did.

Like I said, I don't really know enough details about Patton to know if he was a likely candidate for murder.

So, we knew a guy who worked in the meat packing district in Manhattan in the late 60s. His boss brought him back into the walk-in.
There was a small guy there. The boss nodded to the small guy and he hit a side of beef with just his hand. And his hand acted as good as a cleaver, chopping off slices of beef. He was a martial art expert.

So, the boss is walking our friend out. He says to our friend, "That's "A." You know what "A" did after the war? He was an assassin for the Israeli government. Went around Europe assassinating Nazis.

So, you know, I heard that story and believe it was true. So, sure, I believe assassinations and all sorts of things do happen.

Generally, I don't want to let my mind go to that place. Just too dark for me.

Though, frankly, I have zero problem with the Israelis going around Europe and assassinating Nazis.


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## UncleVinny (Jun 11, 2022)

Found another piece I wrote years ago. I have a bunch of my original poems I wrote saved on an old hard drive, and some in files here and there...I should compile all of them in ONE file, ya think?

Anyways, ran into this one whilst looking for something else which is the very best way to find stuff you aren't looking for:

*Black Or White

There’s times I sit and think about
all the hats I’ve worn,
some were new and blinding white
others black and torn.

So many chapters to my life
so many things I’ve done,
so many battles that I’ve lost
still many have been won.

There haven’t been too many ties
or pushes if you will,
always basic black or white
no room for gray it seems,

Forever basic black or white
even in my dreams,
guess I’m stuck on black or white
ain’t no in-between’s.

VM-2003*

U.V.


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