Lost Chances

On a crowded Christmas Street, I saw her

something of the way she walked, I sensed her perfume

I hurried after she touched her shoulder, alas

it was not her, not the woman of my dreams.

I said sorry; she smiled and said that was ok.

in her brown-warm eyes, I saw a hint of invitation

alas, I was in love with the mythical one, said sorry again

flapped my wi...

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The Wish

I dream of sleeping in a bed of rose petals like an Indian potentate

who waits for his favourite concubine to come to join him in his bed?

I know I have to wait long till the petals are squashed and cling

to my body itch my bed will smell of degeneration.

I drive a motorbike across the Alps but can’t smell the edelweiss

for petrol fume; cows go on grazing unaware...

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Cold weather front

 A few good days fooled us the cold weather returned we thought it was

early spring. I worried about my almond tree has its buds had been damaged

and will not bloom and strews petals on the lane,

 the illusion of frost, the princes in the tower saw in the fairy tale.

The fire in the grate is exuding warmth the dog no one owns snoozes in a chair,

no, the ...

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The remote

It was a terrible hallucination

an old hex came out of her grave and raped me

I was lame paralyzing fear she sat on top of me

and reeked of semen of a thousand men

left to rankle in her mouldy vagina.

I fumbled for my remote to switch the channel off

could not find the remote, then the horses came

galloping through the woods, I mounted one

and we were ri...

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The mystery of man

This is the third day after new year and the day

equally dark and miserable as they were before

the new has number changed.

On the Eve of festivity, drunk people thronged

narrow streets hoarse voices and screams

upsetting dogs and cats.

oddly, we celebrate the new year with

warlike gestures like fireworks.

Most of my friends are dead, yes, we too danc...

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The lonely cabin

I knocked on the door of the small cottage

the window steamed up I drew a childish picture

faces of children, that when the sun came erased

the drawings and, I thought of childhood.

My brother had lived here, his children refused

gave the cottage to be a gesture of goodwill.

I knocked on the door; it fell in a cloud of dust

the cabin was empty a floor...

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The river of dreams

A laughing clown filled the heavenly screen, a grin full of malice.

Behind me, bearded men were eating children wine

 and blood ran down their chests, had the time of their life.

Democracy is great, chanted freedom to exploit the weak

in a moment of friendliness, offered, a child’s roasted leg.

I shook my head, walked on, had to find my way home

and th...

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Senryu

Endless summer heat

In January when cars won’t start

I’ll dream of summer.

One by one

Rose petals fall like old dreams

Heartache is your name.

Whirling dust

On summer empty lane

Melancholy.

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The orchard

It was a beautiful apple tree with low hanging fruit

shaped by a gardener whose parents had been Jehovah witnesses

(His parents didn´t believe in Christmas)

 made to look like a decorated Christmas tree as seen on postcards.

 On the tree, a twig stuck out that had no apples  appeared dead

 as I reached up to pick an apple the twig was a snake and said:

“Don´t...

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The song contests

I came across an apple tree it looked like

a child’s idea of this type of tree, big red

apples and a blue sky; when I realized I do not like

big red apples have farinaceous and taste

like they were dreaming of becoming potatoes

and not picked at by bird.

I joined my wife she was watching the final

Of a song contest, the finalist were two women.

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A morning moment

The owner of a black cat

Sits on a chair by the open door, on the shady side of the road

Reading yesterday’s paper.

The moggy opens its eyes they are like a creamy zabaglione

When I walk past.

The feline sees me then closes its eyes again.

The owner of the cat gets up with tail erect

Marches into the house

The door closes

The man starts up his ...

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Unsentimental

Overcast this Saturday the clouds are light grey

letting in light on the dark water.

Only one ship anchored in a bay this morning

It is high in the water, waiting for a birth to fill

the cargo holds with stuff from one port to another.

The ship has a black funnel with two red rings

she is elderly and needs a lick of paint, probably

from my time in the ...

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Memorials

They have gone, not a trace left, but memories

leaves are getting yellow. No denying fall is here

Me, a sole survivor, standing on a plateau

of nothingness where the dust of years blows.

It was those years who supported you here,

I shall not climb the outside pf the Eifel tower

honours the army of welders; forgotten now

Eifel tower lives, but the man lost h...

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Dawn of man

Out of the night came the dawn a mild breeze

blow petal off a rhododendron, a magic carpet

on a whitewashed wall sunlight and shadow dance.

The dogs were still asleep, the cock had not crewed 

Quietness, except for an old man fearing his death

his solace is in the day.

A plane across the sky leaves behind tired dreams

of next year’s vacation.

Alfredo ...

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The smallest life

In front of me on the narrow track leading into the bushes,

I picked up a tiny field mouse held in the palm of my hand

where it fell asleep.

The tiny life was white and brown had eyes, heart and lungs like me.

What what’s next? I could not stay here all day with outstretched arm

waiting for the mouse to awake

I put it in my pocket when hearing the sh...

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Big rats in Copenhagen

The biggest supermarket in the world tons of wasted food

rats grew so big they couldn’t live in sewers but nestled

in the tall grass or built tunnels.

Something had to be done, rats didn’t hesitate to attack

toddlers in a pram; cats stayed at home sleeping

on the sofa, knowing they were no match against this enemy.

In this world of spoilt consume...

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Tanka

Marilyn Monroe

I loved her greatly

I wedded a blond

She spoke with a scouser accent

When her roots turned russet.

Arm dealers look out

When walking on your green lawn

Watch out for landmines

The mad horde of the limbless

Are seeking a bloody revenge

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 The no ending story

  I have tried to tell a story of a rat that fell from the ceiling

  it landed among drinkers in a café I ran,

  never had I seen a café emptying of people in two seconds

  flat; the rat escaped too. 

  I also want to talk about the woman who had been sober

 for ten years, a safe hand in soothing drunken men.

 I also wanted to talk about the eccentr...

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Bitter Love

In the night, I whispered no one love like us

entwined we’re one body a mass of sated lust.

Her room above an ice-cream parlour was

an angle’s boudoir.

I left for work in a cloud of pink infatuation

and felt benevolent to all creatures in the world.

Nothing could touch me now the coast

was clear of underwater reefs.

Suddenly it changed a boyfriend, a ...

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Ideology

Should there be a revolution? in the USA

The idea of democracy will survive.

Arise again and be a better democracy

When communism fell in Soviet time

There were few tears.

The idea of collectivism didn’t die

Equality for all still survived.

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How far is far?

To travel on horse and cart from Algarve

To Lisbon took days, but there were Inns

For a traveller to rest and stable the horses.

Not that many trekked from Algarve

seen as a throwback

From the days of the Muslims and poverty.

It was the British ex. Colonials, in the dwindling

Empire, who settled here; the Algarve is now

famous as a tourist destina...

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Unwritten page

A blank page on the word processor I ought to leave it this way

just look at it and dream what I could have written.

If I delete the words written, it will be a blank page again.

No history on a crumpled-up sheet of paper in a wastebasket.

For now, it is too late, but I might erase the page written

if I so choose.

All poems are if written with passion, gre...

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Lemon tree very pretty

I lived in a village where the neighbour had a lemon tree

it was on rich soil in the small garden where chicken roamed

In January, it was full of perfectly formed fruit, beautiful shining bright

with an effervescent hint of green.

I wished someone would take the tree to an art gallery

as an example of perfection.

At an art exhibition, I saw a paint...

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Ascension

I walked on the vast plateau the everlasting wind of time

had blown away, the sand exposed millions of skeletons

and the memory of man wench the brain was walnut-sized.

The brain is larger now, filled with images of pornography

and wars on many fronts.

I came to an oasis I must drink or explode into atoms

but the water was full of coagulated blood.

I walked ...

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The brave soldier

Had an accident when parachuting

in Afghanistan,

ended up in a wheelchair he did.

He became a writer instead.

He was lucky to have a wife who helped him

when the going got tough.

Tragedy struck his wife got Alzheimer

sent to a nursing home, he could not cope

The poet struggled alone

he lives in a friendly country like Denmark.

Two nurse...

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Pre-Surgery

A green long-leaved plant on the table

she says doesn’t need water for the next fortnight.

Does the plant bear flower?

No, she says it is supposed to be green striped like this

It has a lovely colour and is not a bother

Not like the rose plant that craves a constant attention

If you leave it alone for a week, it wizens.

The Christmas tree is white this yea...

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Oranges

Frost in Florida once, I planted an orange tree

among thousands of other orange trees in an orchard

when in Florida.

The coppice belongs to a friend of mine who invited

me to plant the tree a day of wine and songs

remembering the old day when we lived in the Algarve.

I can pick out my orange tree among the mass of trees

simply because it is the most beautiful ...

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The Farmland

The mid-west of the USA flat plain many farmers

tilling rich soil; red barns under a blue sky.

The community thrived, cows and horses in the fields

the Amis people lived nearby in peace with God.

There was harmony here and whispering grass.

Agricultural – business moved in, bought up land

the farmers could not compete and sold out.

Empty barns, fading col...

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Hinterland

 It is not a romantic outpost but a place of survival

The landscape, mountains and forests are war zones

where battles are ongoing.

There are no rulebooks here, it is raw capitalism  

in action, the strongest always wins.

A moose cow’s newborn must get up ready to run

in minutes after birth predators are on the hunt.

Wolf packs fight over dominance; insect...

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The Flash

 When the is thunder and lightning fall to earth

let us call the lightning “Flash” when hitting the ocean

it does not die but sinks to the sea like a bubble

waiting in a cataleptic slumber.

When the call came, they rose from the shaking sea

upwards and behind the clouds.

The meteorological conditions had taken a turn for

the worse, clouds were running ou...

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Boby Fett’s adventures

I used to be a friend of Joseph when he was a bank robber

when he robbed a bank in Tbilisi, I helped him to get away

the money he said was to help his cause.

One can say he owed me a favour, which came in handy.

There was a revolution and Joseph became a president

that was ok, but he became brutal and one evening

when we sat drinking Georgian wine...

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