Raindrops - A Poem by Roy Pullam - Dive into the Depths of Contemporary Voices

Raindrops – A Poem by Roy Pullam

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I do not understand
A raindrop
Its chemistry so precise
Though unique
Yet it has the conformity
Of millions
Kindred element combinations
What coaxes it
From the clouds
The subject of prayers
Both before and after
First reluctant
Then with a rush
Becoming a flood
I can’t fathom
How it can help
So much
Then turn in rage
Carrying hopes and ambitions
Downstream
It is the nature
Of water
To be
A blessing and a bane
To defy both
My beseeching
And my curse

Fruitcakes - A Poem by Roy Pullam - Dive into the Depths of Contemporary Voices

Fruitcakes – A Poem by Roy Pullam

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We raked the leaves
With our shoes
Like children
On Easter
The same zeal
For finding treasures
Pecans in twos and threes
Where they fell
Beneath the brown
An angry squirrel
Barked his disdain
From the top
Of the tree
We made search circles
Making sure
We covered the circumference
Of the tree
Gathering the nuts
With the knowledge
Of their destiny
When we would
Crack them
Before the grate
Separating the meat
From the shells
Digging reluctant pieces
From the fist
Of the covering
With the pick
Rustling the kernels
Eliminating the shells
That might
Break a tooth
Mother would combine
The different nuts
Adding other ingredient
To make the wonderful
Fruitcake
We so enjoyed
Its richness
So great
That no matter
How delicious the taste
One piece
Was all
I could take
How I think
Of that desert
Not matched
By store-bought
Fit only
As door stops
The memory fresh
The promised dried
Gone
With the other skills
Of my mother

Travelling Light - A Poem by Paul Tristram - Dive into the Depths of Contemporary Voices

Travelling Light – A Poem by Paul Tristram

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Slender is the night
when you are tightrope walking
the ‘Straight and Narrow’
as a means of escape.
The Past is snapping
at your ankles
as you stuff your pockets deep
with items reserved strictly
for future use.
Memories, photographs,
the jaded parts of yesteryear
are cast swiftly
and (Finally) unemotionally
into the small, cleansing hearth fire.
Which you have lit
to say goodbye to that ‘Old Life’
with the last
brittle pieces of nostalgic kindling.
Then out the door…
you’re moving swiftly…
like a cat
shadow-walking the alley’d evening.
Across the border
of ‘Here’ to ‘There’
into the New Life Chapter
that’s been just waiting
for you to cast your gambling dice
in its ‘New Chance’ direction.

More at https://paultristram.blogspot.co.uk/.

Parthenon - A Poem by Roy Pullam - Dive into the Depths of Contemporary Voices

Parthenon – A Poem by Roy Pullam

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My knowledge
Of democracy rests
On Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
And a pile
Of broken stones
The beginning
Of western culture
On a hill
In freedom’s birthplace
I walk gingerly
My footsteps uncertain
On the wet rocks
Leading to the temple
Coming closer
To the skeleton
Marble columns
Two millenniums old
Reminders of a great civilization
That wrote the rules
That taught the world
And though in ruins
Enough remains
To give us a glimpse
Of the true greatness
That was Greece

Boredom - A Poem by Stan Morrison - Dive into the Depths of Contemporary Voices

Boredom – A Poem by Stan Morrison

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I’ve been dying to tell you
What you’re dying to know
One cannot really die of boredom
Sometimes it seems quite possible
One cannot die laughing
Or die dying to find out
Yet many have died trying

Last minute pardon of one’s sins
Brings a guarantee of eternal life
Eternal laughing, eternal trying
And eternal dying to find out
Hallelujah

Storm - A Poem by J.K. Durick - Dive into the Depths of Contemporary Voices

Storm – A Poem by J.K. Durick

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After it blew itself out, the mood lightened
brightened enough like the light rain it left,
we go outside and walk in the gentle rain
it left, a reminder of sorts, now we pick up
the branches and bunches of leaves it left,
tattered pieces left over, things affected but
easy to deal with, like the light rain it left.

Bow-Taut Volition - A Poem by Paul Tristram - Dive into the Depths of Contemporary Voices

Bow-Taut Volition – A Poem by Paul Tristram

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As others chased the tail
of life’s endless circles.
Changing mental and emotional
direction and objectives
with the fickle, half-hearted winds.
She nailed that Target
down tight to a fencepost
in the imminent future…
aimed and focused, completely,
gambling everything
upon one perfect bullseye shot.
The ‘One’s’ before
had been merely playmates,
practice necessary to the cause.
There was not a ripple nor kink
of her appearance and personality
which had not been Silversmithed,
honed and crafted,
the many disciplined hours
of training spent alone.
She exhaled, deeply, slowly…
with clarity of mind
and a sureness of will and soul.
But, her Approach
bounced clumsily off the Mark
with a dull, all too human, thud…
he turned in her direction at last,
and with cold disdain, spoke the word ‘No!’

More at https://paultristram.blogspot.co.uk/.

School Mornings - A Poem by Roy Pullam - Dive into the Depths of Contemporary Voices

School Mornings – A Poem by Roy Pullam

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I lay in my bed
Sinking in the feather down
The cover
High on my neck
The fire in the grate
Banked to save
The coals
For the morning
The cold gathering
In the back
Of the room
I could see my breath
The chill
On my face
Causing me
To burrow
Beneath the quilts
Gradually my ears
Regained feeling
I slept
A deep dreamless sleep
Until the clock
Urged me
From my cocoon
I took the poker
Stirring the fire
Reawakening the slumbering flames
Gathering the ashes
Into a shovel
Loading a bucket
Taking them out
Exchanging them
For the black fuel
That warmed the house
I waited
Watching the fingers
Of flame
Break apart
The lumps
Now warm enough
The water heated
On the kitchen stove
Poured in a #2 washtub
For my morning bath
Toweling myself off
I sat close
In my underwear
The warmth
Soaking in
Like a lizard
On a warm rock
I cherished
The moments
Stirring only
To get dressed
To begin
The long walk
To school

Life's Eight Count - A Poem by Roy Pullam - Dive into the Depths of Contemporary Voices

Life's Eight Count – A Poem by Roy Pullam

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Life is a dance
At first simple steps
The movement minimal
Almost disconnected
To the music
The tempo lifts
As experience
In the ballroom
Demands more craft
More freedom
Yet more form
No one claims
To be the choreographer
But all demand
A certain rhythm
A certain conformity
To match others
On the floor
At times I feel lost
Out of step
Trying to find
The beat
Confused
By the melody
But no matter
How poorly I perform
I must keep going
Until
The music stops

She Survived the Nazi Terror - A Poem by Richard Kalfus - Dive into the Depths of Contemporary Voices

She Survived the Nazi Terror – A Poem by Richard Kalfus

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She survived
on a “Children’s Transport”
to England.
But the memory of her mother’s
panicked attempt
to pull her
from the moving train
has never left her.

And the mother?
As the SS soldier
viciously shoved her
on a cattle car
bound – she was told –
to the “East,”
she remembered her own
anguished attempt to keep the child
and was grateful
that the daughter would survive.

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