the tattered old man on Christmas Eve

snow was falling hard

as the old man struggled

through the deep drifts

on the country road

light shone from a

a farmhouse window

the old man smiled seeing the glow

it was a candle

the widowed mother had placed there

nightly since last Christmas Eve

a year ago

a man was found

frozen along this same road

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summer nights 1950s

curtains hang lifeless

awaiting breeze that does not come

whippoorwill sings 

hot and sweaty song 

it doesn’t feel like singing

boy hears whistle’s blast 

of a night train 

slowly crawling its way

through the country side

breaking the silence at each crossing

ambulance sirens scream

through hot night air

transporting wounded

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mystifying rain forest

years ago we discovered

a small hotel

at the edge of the rain forest

in Monte Verde Costa Rica

we arrived late afternoon,

bought cheese, bread

and a bottle of wine

we sat in front of a large window

in our room overlooking

the forest

the owner told us to do...

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six word poem

how do you know

I don't

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thinking of a poet

in a new england village

an old man wandered

the road towards me

thick crop of frosted hair

snowflakes started to fall

he shuffled along

looking here

looking there

a flight of geese

flew in a perfect V pattern

south

he watched them disappear

then walked

towards me slowly

a bit confused

hello ...

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Selling Christmas Trees and Roman Candles, 1950

My older married brother, Willy, asked Kenny and me if we would like to help him sell Christmas trees. We said, “Sure we would love to help.”

Willy had gone into the woods and cut a number of cedar trees. We were going to sell them out of the back of his old Plymouth station wagon and an old trailer. The NAPA auto store...

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christmas bubble lights 1948

aunt madline and uncle marvin

were rich, they lived in Memphis

had running water, indoor toilet

and a big black car

they visited us each year

on their way to hot springs

to soak in hot water mineral baths

for their aches and pains

one year they brought us their old

string of electric bubble lights

ones that bubbled u...

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christmas past 1947

when I was young

christmas was special

for a boy in a small home

that  could not afford

a big christmas

my brother and I walked

through the woods

looking for an evergreen

to cut for our tree

we finally found one

but it was spindly

few branches flowing from

its skinny trunk

we cut it and dragged

it home through the...

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ain’t ain’t a word

boy told daddy

teacher said

there ain’t no such word

as ain’t

daddy just

looked at him

told him to

tell the teacher

the word was used

by this family

a long time before

the teacher was born and

will be used long after

she has gone.

             boy thought to himself

 I ain’t going to tell her

                ...

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kite and boy

a paper kite

flutters in the wind

making wonderful sounds

back to the boy holding

the end of the string

kite dips and smiles

at boy and dances

little jigs as its string

is held taut

boy smiles back

a strong wind begins to blow

kite string breaks with a snap

startled boy looks up

and sees kite start to

fly in erratic patterns ...

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Shadow our  cat

communicates with us

he realizes that we cannot

speak cat so he watches

our human behavior

and uses it to communicate

with my wife and me

if his food bowl

is empty he does not meow

he just goes and stands

by his bowl and stares at us

if he is ready for bed

he goes to the bottom

of the stairway and stares at us

until we join h...

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afraid of the dark

afraid of the dark

but only at night

brave during

the light of day

very brave

afraid of nothing

except a nest of

ground hornets

or poison ivy

at night he would

run in the dark

always afraid of

what was following

never thinking

about what might

be ahead

he did not want

anyone t...

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the sound of the sun

lying in bed

he hears the sun rise

forest full of trees

trees full of birds

birds full of song

he rises, feels for his cane

shuffles his way outside 

to the warmth of the sun

and orchestra of birds

turns towards the rays

that he cannot see

opens his ear lids and 

smiles at the morning

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a gull or an angel

watching a gull

catch an up current of air

higher and higher
until it was so small 
I could not see it

maybe it was an
angel returning home

or a gull who was
seeking freedom

wonder if gull knows

kris kristofferson’s

poem line

“freedoms just another

word for nothing left to lose”

or knows jonathan l. seagul

who loved to fly

was a ...

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