tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28987685643995029532024-03-18T12:30:41.032+11:00BOLD MONKEY REVIEWBOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.comBlogger482125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-20261478579160096152024-03-10T20:26:00.001+11:002024-03-10T20:26:38.004+11:00New Poems: Sushant Thapa<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeeYSDsgRrgQfscr5m-6pZ4FePf1pbVZ5DR-J9tWJEiCTwc_-f8AjdqY09sw-HAZeb1KSc_8s0ZJhjVhEhHi2HYS-3gbegxzX6L98YXS8YZ91PzDwafOnV0VSdcFTt7OTLWS9w00zv1oEdfByWorDpHSjN-DbX5kxqUisG5MO6lYzN-QorAN2Bl0vnBdF0/s320/New%20picture%20of%20Sushant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="320" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeeYSDsgRrgQfscr5m-6pZ4FePf1pbVZ5DR-J9tWJEiCTwc_-f8AjdqY09sw-HAZeb1KSc_8s0ZJhjVhEhHi2HYS-3gbegxzX6L98YXS8YZ91PzDwafOnV0VSdcFTt7OTLWS9w00zv1oEdfByWorDpHSjN-DbX5kxqUisG5MO6lYzN-QorAN2Bl0vnBdF0/s1600/New%20picture%20of%20Sushant.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">1. New Verses<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">From the early dawn <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Flights go unmeasured. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Leaving the nests <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">New feathers learn to stretch <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And finally trust the skies. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Nothing is trivial in the wide <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Field of contemplation. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Every baby idea <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Grow like the glowing garden. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">A belief in gardening <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Is like letting the verses <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">To be flowered. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Water your subjectivity <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">To reach<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The global pinnacle. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">New life trusts the sky, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">New whistling songs <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Speak like verses. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">A bird is a poet, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The realm of the nest, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The test of the feathers, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The gardening of childhood <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Is like the poetic paradise. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">2. Dutiful Aura <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I am always writing; <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Yet the world keeps falling. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The falling world <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Is awe-inspiring. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">My ideas worship a poetic muse. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">My pleasure dome is of <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">A poetic housing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I create objects, name them <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And my imagination lands <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Like hope. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Peace is in silence <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">But here the silence mocks. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The daybreak is eye-opening. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Closing the dreadful aura <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The aroma of sunlight kisses <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The blowing winds. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Dreams take shape <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Like the pottery making hands <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">That touch the soil. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">In spontaneity <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The blooming flower <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Allows the wind caress it. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">3. Freely flowing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The gestures of time <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Try to freeze. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">You need a wafting soul <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And your muse can walk on water. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Life is a living poetry. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Poetry is destined to flow <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Make it the spirit of your elixir. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The upheavals of time <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Cannot remain mute. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I saw a goddess go, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">She counted not the steps <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">She left behind. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The delight of an equal share <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Philosophizes where the value lies. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Freely flowing is the wind, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The desire in my words and <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The longing to excel. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">What keeps you alive? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Passion isn't costly to buy. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Another human soul <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">In a soul living together with you, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Can make life heaven <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">From a fading hell <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">If you keep flowing like poetry. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">4. A Flowing Temptation<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I need to keep flowing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">It gets hard when words <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Don't get heard. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The temptations in me <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Are a winning trophy; <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">They wait to get lifted. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">My solitude is costly. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I am a light bearing constellation<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I need to be observed closely <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And there is a pattern in me. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">It takes a passionate heart <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">To see an art that is <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Boiling in me. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The cool shades of <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The evening empire <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Is my only realm <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">To contemplate <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">In songful recollection.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Like honey-dew my <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Nectar of delight <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Is a passionate kingdom <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Of service. <o:p></o:p></span></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-34654583704799955502024-03-02T20:28:00.001+11:002024-03-06T18:40:25.194+11:00Jason Gerrish: In Conversation with George Douglas Anderson about his new chapbook JUMP OUT ANY WINDOW (Backroom Poetry, UK, 2024)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgB4xiK2dQqLpYrXvELkTinxyjLlRazAWLtAB9wSwq-2y0Bu0gi3c0V4DBkllIo7Klp0T_qvMevCurCrJCS0wvOdwCK2Wd8gpKl8RPY5KoeRRfWKn88mcMHXpqpNWm0sCCMMCRgK4pjnvxSnZix9X89UqoX7r-3i46Su9ric79cO4NzVUMruz6q6VQOVH/s1075/Jump%20Out%20Any%20Window.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1075" data-original-width="749" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgB4xiK2dQqLpYrXvELkTinxyjLlRazAWLtAB9wSwq-2y0Bu0gi3c0V4DBkllIo7Klp0T_qvMevCurCrJCS0wvOdwCK2Wd8gpKl8RPY5KoeRRfWKn88mcMHXpqpNWm0sCCMMCRgK4pjnvxSnZix9X89UqoX7r-3i46Su9ric79cO4NzVUMruz6q6VQOVH/s320/Jump%20Out%20Any%20Window.jpg" width="223" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">Before I ask you anything about the poems collected in <b>Jump Out Any Window</b>, I’d like to ask what influenced you to begin publishing Bold Monkey Review? How challenging was the start-up? What motivated you then and how has the publication evolved since?<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">Hi Jason, thanks for showing a continued interest in my work! I am very grateful you can spend some of your time to my chapbook.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">I originally started Bold Monkey in 2008 to showcase some of my poetry and photographs. <i>Dancing on Thin Ice</i> (2008) my first crazy chap had recently been published through erbacce-press and I was keen to promote it. The cover uses a double exposure image which combines a photo of a kangaroo I took on Myall Lake in New South Wales with one of the main streets of Aylesford Nova Scotia, where my grandparents raised six kids, including my father.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4KsoZQW7-0xqhfqqxm1Dnicg2uM6r4VUbDjpveg6aWtfdWuaymwi3Ic7S55V7OXNTrClMVAz-JYddebZYmGLx9Sotl1BmnlqBn-IXijq_boRGkgIIacE4Lnib618qFxBlM5VzDkuACV2f6mOBExzU4q6WNDy-TV2byYQeSpgMs-j4pVOQ8yFIeEyYL6Jf/s522/dancing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4KsoZQW7-0xqhfqqxm1Dnicg2uM6r4VUbDjpveg6aWtfdWuaymwi3Ic7S55V7OXNTrClMVAz-JYddebZYmGLx9Sotl1BmnlqBn-IXijq_boRGkgIIacE4Lnib618qFxBlM5VzDkuACV2f6mOBExzU4q6WNDy-TV2byYQeSpgMs-j4pVOQ8yFIeEyYL6Jf/s320/dancing.jpg" width="221" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The blog soon evolved to help sharpen my writing skills and I sometimes posted extended reviews of books or films that we were studying in class to help develop my high school students' critical language skills. Previously, apart from a few short pieces for classroom discussion, I had not written anything substantial since university. As a full-time teacher, I was continuously overwhelmed by the demands of the job- preparing intricate lessons, disciplining children, marking student work, and increasingly, documenting in detail what you are doing to meet dumbed downed & frequently faked registration requirements.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">A few years later, I started to use the blog to help promote some small press writers out there by using my evolving skills to review their new work. Many of the early reviews still remain on the blog and include discussions of books by Peter Bakowski, Mather Schneider, Charles Bukowski and several others. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">A break of sorts, developed when I was up in Brisbane, after I reviewed poet Rob Plath’s excellent poetry book <i>a bellyful of anarchy </i>(2010) on Bold Monkey: </span><a href="https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2017/12/book-review-rob-plath-bellyful-anarchy.html" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2017/12/book-review-rob-plath-bellyful-anarchy.html</span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">For years afterwards, Wolf Carstens of Epic Rites Press sent me review copies from his publishing house, unfortunately, now defunct. Many of the reviews also included extensive interviews with the writers and also still appear on the blog, including those of important small press writers: William Taylor Jr, John Yamrus, Todd Cirillo, Brenton Booth, Matt Borczon, Mike Meraz, Wayne F. Burke and others.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">The blog has also shifted over the years from a review of books to the publishing the new work of writers. The first I chose in 2013 was a writer friend Terence Rissetto from New Zealand whose work remains the most viewed of all the writers I have posted on Bold Monkey: </span><a href="https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2013/03/featuring-terence-rissetto-new-zealand.html" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2013/03/featuring-terence-rissetto-new-zealand.html</span></a><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">Submissions to the blog are usually through word of mouth. I have never publicly called for submissions apart from the <i>About Me </i>profile located at the bottom of the main blog page. This may perhaps change in the future.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">Over the years the blog has evolved naturally and without too much fuss. I simply post what I like and don't get too wound up about the poetics or personalities. I am not interested in "likes" or in personal comments- the babble tends to swamp the Art and tends to encourage clueless fuckwits to anonymously form an opinion.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">The twenty poems you’ve chosen for <b>Jump Out Any Window</b> seem to speak to each other in a way, like they belong together. Were these poems selected from past writing or written with a theme in mind and intended to be read together in this collection?</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxiizunJToU685G1iYtV2QmUbUfBdsEW_I1tX_sS1ENOvQCdRmvTlnMY3H8XG5q1aaaM2DtVFYfb3aMM_qxqLlzcQKWnvtR36474ZZEp2rN59lU4j6k1jX0EzBU271uYGK6nlAHivBj3JEUkIcrSCTajCe8cd7xjt8Q8f_Osc1QQPuqYgy4FUDv0Qf-fQL" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4632" data-original-width="3416" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjxiizunJToU685G1iYtV2QmUbUfBdsEW_I1tX_sS1ENOvQCdRmvTlnMY3H8XG5q1aaaM2DtVFYfb3aMM_qxqLlzcQKWnvtR36474ZZEp2rN59lU4j6k1jX0EzBU271uYGK6nlAHivBj3JEUkIcrSCTajCe8cd7xjt8Q8f_Osc1QQPuqYgy4FUDv0Qf-fQL" width="177" /></a></span></i></div><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /><br /></span></i></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I think all of the poems were written after </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>The Rough End of the Pineapple</b> </i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">(2020), the first full-length collection of my poetry. I simply wanted to publish some of the best work I had not previously collected in </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">Pineapple </i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">or in subsequent chaps. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">The persona of the poems in the new chap for the most part is very consistent, whether I use first or third person point of view. The voice is typically wry, cynical but hopefully, empathetic. Most of the poems are narrative in form and character driven. Perhaps what best binds this chap together is my fascination with the ongoing circus of damaged people and the antics of their behaviour that I attempt to describe. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">I love the intricacies of language and have made an honourable, but hugely underpaid career of it as a HSC teacher over decades, but I try in the chap to keep the words clean and uncomplicated, as in most of my writing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> <i>‘Jump Out Any Window’ is a fitting title for this collection. Is there a story behind your choice of this? <o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">The title <i><b>Jump Out Any Window</b> </i>is an obscure reference and casual salute to the poet Charles Bukowski. In a May 1963 letter to his early publishers, Jon and Louise Webb regarding the upcoming publication of his first collection <i><b>Crucifix in a Deathhand </b></i>(1965), Buk writes:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">“I am so in love with the book you are doing. This keeps the keenly biting down somewhat and I go on, but very much afraid. I am hypo of some sort and only decency of- of what?? effrontery? Is in destroying myself, and I keep drinking and looking out of windows, flowers, grass, people down there…grass people down there…ah, ha, I can still laugh, and you people are so good, god damn it, my madness, I am so unkind, this is the book, my love, yours, but I look ahead, and if I am there, here, anywhere, I have a title for another book, be there another book, another me, another anything: LEAP OUT ANY WINDOW.” (Charles Bukowski LIVING ON LUCK: Selected Letters 1960s-1970s Volume 2, Edited by Seamus Cooney, ECCO, 1995, pp. 39-40). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">Bukowski never used the title.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">The title perhaps also conjures the idea that some of the poems in the chap will leap, perhaps explode onto the page & into the minds of its readers. Oh well, you can always hope.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">As with many of the poems in <b>The Rough End Of The Pineapple</b>, some of these poems feature specific locations in Australia and Canada. One poem, 'In A Daly Waters Dunny', features the beer keg urinal I saw a photo of on Bold Monkey in an older post titled “Australian Dunny Art: </span></i><a href="https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/search/label/Australian%20Dunny%20Art" style="color: purple; font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: medium;">https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/search/label/Australian%20Dunny%20Art</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;">I was wondering how many of the poems here are drawn from your trip to the Northern Territory in 2021?</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The poems ‘Dry Town’, ‘Tennant Creek’, ‘In A Daly Waters Dunny’, and ‘Guzzling Quietly At The Cudgee Bar’ are some of the obvious poems I wrote during that N.T. trip between May-July 2021, before the deadly Delta COVID wave hit Australia.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">Previously, in the chap ‘The Beast With Three Legs’ (Between Shadows Press, 2022), I had also published the satiric poem ‘Uluru: At The Car Park Nearing Sunset’ from that amazing trip. It was my first trip through Australia’s Red Centre and up to the Top End- and back home- a distance of over 12,000 kilometres. I didn’t write more than a dozen poems during the journey, I was more focused on the day to day survival- of driving incredibly long distances, setting up camp, finding/cooking food and preparing to locate & reach the next destination. If poems popped into my head I sketched them down briefly. I never consciously sat done to write anything. I simply tried to enjoy the moment without reducing it to words. Then again, I took heaps of photos.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgprCFGi2xdv9MVejHRVWDuPv8KxNQBM-7UDtCp-HftrvHj-k_xvOvTPYAGMP-U9z_Bfb19RvAKpgMZmhrU2QfDsnquTdx2y3FdSG2cs4iAhaga_tZZC6FiktECU9faTx2MtiaaeSl7YweJWVkAIBno5nha7_vI0aFU-jVgE50VWZVT7l0LLoG_2WtkWtIM/s5184/cp%20cem.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5184" data-original-width="3456" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgprCFGi2xdv9MVejHRVWDuPv8KxNQBM-7UDtCp-HftrvHj-k_xvOvTPYAGMP-U9z_Bfb19RvAKpgMZmhrU2QfDsnquTdx2y3FdSG2cs4iAhaga_tZZC6FiktECU9faTx2MtiaaeSl7YweJWVkAIBno5nha7_vI0aFU-jVgE50VWZVT7l0LLoG_2WtkWtIM/s320/cp%20cem.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">(Image, George Anderson, Coober Pedy Cemetery, 2021).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">The trip was unfortunately cut short when we were in camping at the Barkly Homestead in the N.T. when word spread that Darwin had been locked down by Delta and shortly afterwards, Townsville, Queensland where we were headed. There was no phone reception in the remote town and panic broke out and the camp ground was totally emptied by 10 am. We expected to be put in quarantine when we reached the Queensland border but the police only questioned drivers at the NT border, so we snuck through. We then headed south through Mount Isa where we had a cracked windscreen replaced. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">New South Wales was now in total lockdown and we slowly made our way over the next few weeks in our return to the Gong through outback towns such as, Winton, Longreach, Charleville, Cunnamulla, Bourke, Nyngan, Narromine, Cowra and Yass. Wonderful, culturally rich towns. Each one unique.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">The poem 'Dry Town', definitely a bleak poem and one of my favorites here. It’s tight and understated, and being that I have no experience in Australia or its Northern Territory, I had to do some research to discover it. What can you tell me about this poem?<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">Dry Town<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">The guy in the Pathfinder<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">says he now knows why<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">his daughter works in Utopia<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">says I must have noticed<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">the police presence in Alice<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">how they have cops checking<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">IDs outside every liquor store.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">He tells me the locals<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">can drink beer in the pubs<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">but it is the fortified wine<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">they are really after & how<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">they'll drive to Mount Isa<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">& back<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">800 kilometres each way-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">to get it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">The poem ‘Dry Town’ was inspired by our visit to Alice Springs and derived from a variety of conversations with fellow travellers, armed policemen outside bottle shops and a friend who was temporarily stationed there. At the time in Alice there were severe restrictions on the purchase of alcohol, particularly by Aboriginals from remote communities visiting the town. To buy a six-pack, for instance, you had to produce a photo ID which was checked by a Territory policeman and then recorded by the cashier. You could only purchase booze once per day and the days and hours in which the bottle shop were open were limited. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">The laws were introduced by the Howard Government in 2007 as part of their Interventionist policies into Aboriginal communities. They used the pretext that sexual abuse of minors was rampant in indigenous homes to legislate a swag of intrusive federal laws.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">For an overview of government policies related to the Intervention:</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Territory_National_Emergency_Response" style="color: purple;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Territory_National_Emergency_Response</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAT41zH4rTPXw5R-UJzWeLnOnQoqmhkUuCbwGJGDko6pMoBGS2KKy4os7WylT61WB9IWqeyU6li6Q76pIj0QAKGqIqZJboVX7yAeT4lvky5cxmfua08k7wUx1SkLRIl8TUBKKpuFOXoaE3Z9NSfutEFsKnk9Gb9muC9JkVOmPsU0synJ-CSUkofH2UYdrJ/s1964/Emily.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1964" data-original-width="1469" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAT41zH4rTPXw5R-UJzWeLnOnQoqmhkUuCbwGJGDko6pMoBGS2KKy4os7WylT61WB9IWqeyU6li6Q76pIj0QAKGqIqZJboVX7yAeT4lvky5cxmfua08k7wUx1SkLRIl8TUBKKpuFOXoaE3Z9NSfutEFsKnk9Gb9muC9JkVOmPsU0synJ-CSUkofH2UYdrJ/s320/Emily.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In contrast to the 'grog runners' depicted in the poem, Utopia is a dry town in the N.T. and is an artist mecca of sorts, particularly for women. It is the birth place of Emily Kam Kngwarray (1910-1996), a prominent indigenous artist presently featured in a Major Exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra I visited this week.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pLejlb487pCv3McGdHFQM_aFfIcd9ULm7lq1rZLLBQjWGO5DE_wQjJDRIA8MY076yFzlRLOC1Z8mSxEmy1xnvz4-97FqJathSoc9QPDA1-aFdCfhrBnaDZxsIKXlh4g0bbX0gaeFN-L7tayM8P08VsmZpOgC_pJvxZZ9t9U6eccK-sT26Wj_hyA2t0b8/s2016/Straw.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pLejlb487pCv3McGdHFQM_aFfIcd9ULm7lq1rZLLBQjWGO5DE_wQjJDRIA8MY076yFzlRLOC1Z8mSxEmy1xnvz4-97FqJathSoc9QPDA1-aFdCfhrBnaDZxsIKXlh4g0bbX0gaeFN-L7tayM8P08VsmZpOgC_pJvxZZ9t9U6eccK-sT26Wj_hyA2t0b8/s320/Straw.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">(Detail from Wild yam V 1995: </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Utopia, Central Desert, Northern Territory</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">synthetic polymer paint on canvas)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcFbiTNE1aZet27IZovpYMacqAlQmnT5jAGms6P_JVJ7tMZhFztwZ9j0Js3HV9C7jV1-lRzPwVuqYbIQRwR185e0ahXuoVNpmwj3j7TCBNBHOyPjNAtre2MnjOxgQKY9OpUKB4r0-eEIJu83TzU5SZ7iri0NE-4qlTk4mXlijCsWObZBTqKjUfwH8frT5/s4032/Kam.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmcFbiTNE1aZet27IZovpYMacqAlQmnT5jAGms6P_JVJ7tMZhFztwZ9j0Js3HV9C7jV1-lRzPwVuqYbIQRwR185e0ahXuoVNpmwj3j7TCBNBHOyPjNAtre2MnjOxgQKY9OpUKB4r0-eEIJu83TzU5SZ7iri0NE-4qlTk4mXlijCsWObZBTqKjUfwH8frT5/s320/Kam.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">(Detail from Kam 1991, Utopia, Central Desert, N.Y.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In the context of the poem, I reckon dry Utopia clearly represents a vibrant, artistic alternative to the drunken mayhem that excessive booze brings to many outback Australian towns. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The legislation related to the N.T. National Emergency Response was later deemed racist and repealed in 2022, which lead to more street chaos and crime and inevitably, the reappearance of federal politicians, followed by new restrictions. It is a complex issue which will not be resolved without extensive discussions with Aboriginal communities which directly address larger issues of self determination and especially of directions towards a Treaty.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">Some of the latest on the situation: ‘Alice Springs still facing high rate of crime, dysfunction one year since return of N.T. alcohol bans (ABC News, 2 February 2024):<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-05/alice-springs-return-of-nt-alcohol-bans/103418838" style="color: purple; font-size: 14pt;">https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-05/alice-springs-return-of-nt-alcohol-bans/103418838</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">The poem 'The Drug Bust' tells the hard luck story of how a young man Toe disappointed his very Christian family and wound up in the back of a police car on Christmas Eve. It’s a fun read and the humour and irony may be completely invented, but the poem does strike me as a true story based on actual people and events. How much of this poem is true and how true are the other poems brought together in this chap?<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">I write fiction but many of my poems and short stories have a firm basis in reality. It is not for me here to say what did or did not happen in my work. As the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie says in a book I read recently, "Successful fiction does not need to be validated by 'real life'; I cringe whenever a writer is asked how much of a novel is 'real'." (Quoted in the intro to 'The Thing Around Your Neck' (2009); included in the anthology THAT GLIMPSE OF TRUTH: 100 of the Finest Short Stories Ever Written, Selected and Introduced by David Miller, Head of Zeus Ltd, UK, 2014, 947 pages).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">As far as ‘The Drug Bust’ is concerned, yes Toe was a good friend of mine over many years & although some aspects of the poem are accurate others are not. This is fiction. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">Drug busts are usually associated with narcs and surveillance and extreme violence. In the poem I tone it down. I add a light, human touch to the nasty Drug Wars which have </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">shamefully politicised a medical and human rights issue. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">A "Toe" today in Canada, is a happy, stoned citizen who needs not fear encroachment of his enshrined freedoms under The Charter of Rights and Freedoms by dopey, judgmental law authorities or religious fucked fanatics like in Australia.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">Some of your word choices in these poems I find amusing and for me they add to the irony at work in the text, like the word “bust”in the first title 'The Drug Bust'. For me it describes more than just Toe’s arrest in the poem. The family are physically separated, busted up on Christmas Eve, and if Christmas is ruined, or a bust, it’s hard to simply blame Toe, because his parents inform the police that take Toe away. Am I over reaching here? Was this word choice intentional? And I guess the broader question is how often do you consider and edit word choice in a poem?<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">Sure, there is some word play there, sometimes unintentional. I usually simply try to get the word down and hope to entertain my audience, however few. Once it's out there, readers form their own associations, interpretations of the work based on their own experiences and personal histories of reading. Much of the stuff is intuitive, having spent thousands of hours trying to create the stuff; in the mad blend of whirling ideas & images, memorable poems can sometimes emerge from the crud. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">I am very conscious of my word choice but I’m not too keen on beating my work to a pulp. Once the poem is on the page, especially the shorter ones, I try to keep my fists off it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">Another fun read is '<a name="_Hlk158899317">The Practical Function of a Colostomy Bag'</a>. I keep coming back to the annoying and over-the-top female character you portray babbling away until she finally exclaims:<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">“There is nothing like a constant mind numbing <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">pain to make you aware that you actually exist!”<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">The words “mind numbing”explain her constant chatter. She’s in so much pain she can’t think clearly. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? Yes, pain confirms we are among the living, but in her case, pain has become her identity. I keep coming back to this poem, because her babbling seems almost a defence mechanism or her ego. Her babbling announces her presence. It makes her unforgettable, if not exceptional. Was this intended? Or are these the babbling suggestions of my own reading?<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">I like your surmising. To me, the persona represented in that poem, I suppose is a composite character derived from several people I have met. I write the stuff with an idea and purpose in mind but as I've mentioned before, I leave it to the reader to <i>read</i> the poem and make of it as they wish according to their own experiences and personal histories. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The persona I had in mind, may not suffer excessive pain but perhaps may exaggerate their perceived illnesses to call attention to themselves. The central irony is that this person’s paranoia and obsessive focus on disease has not prevented her & others, from living a long and healthy life. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">Thanks for taking the time and for putting this one out there, George. Anything else on the horizon? What’s next for you?</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrt1uH-51u8PDPlqu1euPohmzVFB0y-EyIFz1w0D6j0bxtyYlv6oLSbLY8osb-VcWNjOuLQbOSwcmVoLuO3j8MsAu_1pdwlDMIoK973ZodUhHdztrDCO3FPnMBEPylqwM6puRI6kSGxawubFvh1Otieo9a9xAbolsuxnJrPd9dRgp9NtgYY2F6q9-M6u2H/s1532/NDG%20Poems%20Final%20cover%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1532" data-original-width="1032" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrt1uH-51u8PDPlqu1euPohmzVFB0y-EyIFz1w0D6j0bxtyYlv6oLSbLY8osb-VcWNjOuLQbOSwcmVoLuO3j8MsAu_1pdwlDMIoK973ZodUhHdztrDCO3FPnMBEPylqwM6puRI6kSGxawubFvh1Otieo9a9xAbolsuxnJrPd9dRgp9NtgYY2F6q9-M6u2H/s320/NDG%20Poems%20Final%20cover%201.jpg" width="216" /></a></i></div><i><br /> <o:p></o:p></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I slug away one poem at a time and work towards another chap & have a title in mind. Badly b</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">roke my right wrist about a year ago while cutting down a tree and still experiencing neurological pain which I am being treated for. Hope to soon rekindle my interest in emerging artists around the globe.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I have also been assembling for a year or so a book of poems entitled </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">NDG Poems</i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">, which collects many of the dozens of the poems I have written about the area below the tracks where I grew up in Montreal and lived for 23 years. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Thanks again, Jason!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Buy the chapbook JUMP OUT ANY WINDOW here: </span><a href="https://backroompoetry.sumupstore.com/product/jump-out-any-window-george-douglas-anderson" style="color: purple; font-size: 14pt;">https://backroompoetry.sumupstore.com/product/jump-out-any-window-george-douglas-anderson</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Read also a discussion of three poems from the collection 'The Mayor of Little Gary Beach', 'Alf's Lost Paradise' and 'Mushroom Carpentry' here: </span><span style="color: purple; font-family: Cambria; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2024/02/new-chapbook-george-douglas-anderson.html" style="color: purple; font-family: Cambria;">https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2024/02/new-chapbook-george-douglas-anderson.html</a></span></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-7504614519299455592024-02-13T14:14:00.001+11:002024-02-13T14:18:20.775+11:00Featuring Jack Phillips Lowe<p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMWX7-78QM3KDRWbvsEoOlgRagQqTYmVkKNQzJZaJQ0vrUKglUOE82dz62hQWxrrfEGCBlyMJ7RRIxma-rjicbZJeUEI_CPIJ5e3HIS4WQTRJkHnxe4OyMEt57kqmEOPYv_nhRfb4T9ye44KF1n0iPlSZSX0f9mKFneoxUy_L_nK7ICqf90XWVcYyeiEfz/s236/Jack.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="236" data-original-width="213" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMWX7-78QM3KDRWbvsEoOlgRagQqTYmVkKNQzJZaJQ0vrUKglUOE82dz62hQWxrrfEGCBlyMJ7RRIxma-rjicbZJeUEI_CPIJ5e3HIS4WQTRJkHnxe4OyMEt57kqmEOPYv_nhRfb4T9ye44KF1n0iPlSZSX0f9mKFneoxUy_L_nK7ICqf90XWVcYyeiEfz/s1600/Jack.png" width="213" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I like to believe </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">that famous poetry </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">lost boys Lew Welch,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Weldon Kees and </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">John Hoffman </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">did not die when </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wikipedia said </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">they did. No way. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">At the time </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">of their vanishing,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">they each seemed </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">to be moving south---</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kees told friends</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">he was thinking </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">of trying on </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">a new identity </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">in Mexico. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hoffman was in Mexico, </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">where he reportedly </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">died under </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"mysterious circumstances."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Welch, in a last note </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">to his Beat comrades,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">wrote that he was </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"heading southwest."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What if they all </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">defrauded the Reaper</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">by holing up in </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">some obscurely </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">funky pueblo </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">just below Veracruz?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wouldn't it be cool </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">if this trio of</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">bookish booze hounds</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">happened to trip over </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">each other's feet </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">while stumbling in to </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">the same pulqueria,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">jonesing for a fix?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There they'd sit, </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">drinking themselves </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">under a shared table,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">each loving his invisibility</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">and delighting the others</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">with slurred readings </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">of poems that existed</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">only between their </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">mouths and ears.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wouldn't this finish </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">beat all hell </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">out of a </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">question mark </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">within parentheses?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>SOMEWHERE ON THE WAVES</b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I was up at 2:00AM---</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">the need to speak </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">with Simon and Garfunkel</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">pried my eyes wide open. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They were there </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">in a couple of keys. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We hung out together,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">shooting the shit, until</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">the sky turned pink.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">For sure, they did </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">most of the talking. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">By daybreak, though, </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">thanks to them, </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">my mind was clear. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Paul and Artie---</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">best friends live</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">between the buttons,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">somewhere on the waves. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">SHARP EDGES</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thorn enters the kitchen </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">carrying the day’s mail.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Among the bills and catalogs </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">is a full-color wall calendar</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">from the World Wildlife Fund,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">trolling for a donation that </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thorn isn’t going to send them. </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“What’s that?” asks Donna.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She’s seated at the kitchen table,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">painting her fingernails</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">a quiet shade of rose.</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“A nice calendar,” Thorn replies,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">pulling it from its envelope.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He leafs through the months. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Looky here, Don. November’s the best.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">November has a picture of a gray wolf,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">sitting on top of a wintery hill.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wolf’s probably stalking snowshoe rabbits. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Reminds me of the time me and Mike</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">went hunting in Spooner, Wisconsin.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think I’ll hang this up on the fridge.” </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Donna shudders and crumples her face</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">like a piece of tinfoil.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Hell no, you won’t!” she spits. </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thorn shrugs his shoulders.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Why not? This kitchen is too bland. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It could use a bit of color. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Besides, the calendar’s free.”</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Donna caps her nail polish bottle</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">and gives Thorn a cold stare.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Do you want that thing </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">staring back at us all day, </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">every day, reminding us both </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">of how much time we wasted?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Of all the things we failed to do?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Of how close we’re getting to our graves?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Not in my house, mister. Throw it away.”</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thorn, suddenly cautious, uses his fingertips</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">to hold the calendar by a corner, as if</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">he just realized that it has sharp edges. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He walks the calendar to the trash can </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">and carefully drops it in.</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">APPLES AND ORANGES</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">William is hunkered down</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">on the couch in the front room. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Several CD's and empty Miller Lite cans</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">are strewn across the coffee table before him. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Headphones clamped to his ears </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">are connected, by a thin wire, </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">to a portable CD player in his lap. </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">William's girlfriend, Addison, </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">eases into the room and </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">sits beside him on the couch.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She reaches over and tickles </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">his salt-and-pepper goatee.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">William ignores her. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">After a brief pause,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">she reaches over and pulls</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">the thin wire from the CD player.</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"So," Addison giggles, </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"are we going out tonight or not?"</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">William glares at Addison. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He reconnects the wire </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">and fiddles with the CD player. </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Not tonight," he snaps. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"I've got to hear this."</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Addison considers the CD's</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">as she plays with a lock </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">of her neon-blue hair. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"So that's it?" she asks. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"You're just going to sit here</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">all night, listening to </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">dad rock on caveman tech?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You can do that any time."</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">William adjusts his headphones.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"This is Material Issue," he says.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Today's the day their lead singer,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jim Ellison, committed suicide </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">twenty-six years ago. He came from </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">the same town in Illinois that I did.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Ish was my favorite band. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Under-appreciated, then and now."</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Addison picks up a CD, glances at it </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">and replaces it on the coffee table. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"He was like Kurt Cobain, huh?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why do all of your rock stars </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">kill themselves?" she asks. </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">William pulls a headphone cup </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">away from one ear; </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">muffled music drifts through the air.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Addison, please," he says. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"You're comparing apples and oranges. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I'll explain it to you another time. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I need to listen to the Ish."</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Addison folds her hands and sighs.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Well," she says, "if this guy Ellison</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">means so much to you, why don't you</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">upload a tribute to him on YouTube?</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I'll help. Everyone will see it then."</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"I'm not a veejay," William replies.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Besides, this is personal. </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Everyone doesn't need to see it."</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Addison sorts through the CD's,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">arranging them into a neat stack. </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"You know, Will? You should </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">listen to Meet Me at the Altar. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Their lyrics are like life."</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">William shakes his head.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"You, and Meet Me at the Altar, </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">should listen to Material Issue. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Their lyrics <i>are</i> life." </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Coolly, Addison stands up </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">and walks to the front door. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She removes her coat and purse</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">from hooks on a nearby wall. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She throws both over one arm. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Addison uses her other arm </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">to open the door. </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"William," she says, "you're old."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Addison steps out the door</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">and shuts it behind herself. </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Thank God," William replies,</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">as he sits back </span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">to absorb the music.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: 1.44; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: #174e86; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jack Phillips Lowe was born, raised and still proudly resides in the Chicago area. He has contributed poems and short stories to <u>Clutch 2023</u>, <u>Beatnik Cowboy</u> and <u>Red Fez Magazine</u>, among other outlets. His most recent book, <i>Flashbulb Danger: Selected Poems 1988-2018</i> (Middle Island Press, 2018), is available from Amazon.com. Lowe is currently working on a new poetry chapbook. </span></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-65971000977861240342024-02-10T13:14:00.002+11:002024-02-10T14:19:05.573+11:00New Poems: Kushal Poddar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh45Oh3o6Ts3CGw8BYSf7YVvIQlW6ZlnpGCsmVditDFvapj1QufaLdYAKIzUe0T6Dj2qo5t0RBOSZhmCuY9fC-95yUPg3FsyLg9N4UMWRI8Bii-0fcVCpIcFYZSGX7vyE5A2fRoVsp3jWE4mN1Fld6lEABwEIWyLdbYe4zTZD8n-nyCn95VXdgA6Z5omwLa/s320/Kushal.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh45Oh3o6Ts3CGw8BYSf7YVvIQlW6ZlnpGCsmVditDFvapj1QufaLdYAKIzUe0T6Dj2qo5t0RBOSZhmCuY9fC-95yUPg3FsyLg9N4UMWRI8Bii-0fcVCpIcFYZSGX7vyE5A2fRoVsp3jWE4mN1Fld6lEABwEIWyLdbYe4zTZD8n-nyCn95VXdgA6Z5omwLa/s1600/Kushal.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">On A Slow Gloaming</span></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">To Rijurekh da</span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The thin light from the window</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">sniffs, recognises the smoky petrichor</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">rising from my mellow core. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">In the garden I buried my lies, fed by kitchen rot grows</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">a Pinocchio reed.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">If you stare hard; eyes blur; 'I' dissolves </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">freeing you to see more in one, how a reed holds </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">some infinite reeds, possibilities, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">as if a lie can be true when its turn arrives.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="display: inline-block; width: 100px;"></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">On Our Seventh Anniversary</span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A frayed postman</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">wearing a threadbare flat cap</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">delivers a letter you posted</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">seven years ago.</span></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I offer him a dream.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">He chooses coffee instead.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">He leaves; I open the envelope,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">and grasshoppers</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">from the heartland green </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">hops out of the creased within.</span></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I remember - we've declared </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">them to be the national beings</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">of our Republic of Mind.</span></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">You are asleep. I whisper,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">"They are alive."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="display: inline-block; width: 100px;"></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">Cat's Tongue, House No. One Hundred And Ten</span></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">The lane makes a bottleneck.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">We have a name for the narrow isthmus;</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">we forgot that; perhaps the lane's purpose</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">is to pour the world into the house at the end,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">No. One hundred and ten.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I desire to apprehend if you still live there,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">keep the books you borrowed from me</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">decades ago on an evening remembered</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">for hidden feelings, fog muffled streetlights</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">casting unstable shadows of us on my celadon wall.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">My mother coughed and coughed as you depart.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I recall you bent, hands fisted, books in your tote.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">You didn't acknowledge that you would not return, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">no one could. We stopped and watch a starling caught</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">in the orange cat's maw. The cat spoke </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">with its mouth full. I didn't know the tongue.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="display: inline-block; width: 100px;"></span></span></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">The Ghost of Democracy</span></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">The children's parade</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">led by a white eyed man</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">whose wand tilter rotates</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">and performs as a guiding baton </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">passes.</span></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">The morning lies thick on the skin.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Even the starlings in</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">the moist grass observe airy sombre.</span></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Future nears the middle ground</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">where a leader will summon</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">the ghost of democracy and</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">the roads, streets and lanes will</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">shiver like a Ouija board.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">The author of 'Postmarked Quarantine' has eight books to his credit. He is a journalist, father, and the editor of 'Words Surfacing’. His works have been translated into twelve languages, published across the globe. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="display: inline-block; width: 100px;"></span></span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; orphans: auto; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Twitter- </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/Kushalpoe&source=gmail&ust=1707293061957000&usg=AOvVaw121xUuiQ4mxZ8wdXMlqcDq" href="https://twitter.com/Kushalpoe" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">https://twitter.com/Kushalpoe</span></a></p><div class="yj6qo" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"></div>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-405295439127014182024-02-09T11:56:00.000+11:002024-02-09T11:56:35.972+11:00New Poems: Brenton Booth<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwFFKTsCNB0mlKj_1L2EOi_fQv71O85bameWfX0L1-Up4dYXPYVW0Qp8PYhAUed2yvuHN5-6KtYUHCoTblCqVj6j1c0WesFGrIZEXd25GBEVqEs3F8Ct-m0OG0DSGsjiqmPqg67bENauX41l0zH4iK9IdoQHR5WBqO6dy3lWwMXLO9nZLKroUOQKsan8J/s3264/Brenton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwFFKTsCNB0mlKj_1L2EOi_fQv71O85bameWfX0L1-Up4dYXPYVW0Qp8PYhAUed2yvuHN5-6KtYUHCoTblCqVj6j1c0WesFGrIZEXd25GBEVqEs3F8Ct-m0OG0DSGsjiqmPqg67bENauX41l0zH4iK9IdoQHR5WBqO6dy3lWwMXLO9nZLKroUOQKsan8J/s320/Brenton.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">Crime and Punishment</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">She was <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">the only<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">person<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">I'd show<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">my poems<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">to. She'd<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">always<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">say with<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">great<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">enthusiasm,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">"Who wrote<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">that one?"<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">When I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">replied,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">"I did."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">She would<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">say, "It<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">would have<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">been better<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">if you'd<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">said a famous<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">writer."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">She was<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">studying <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">law at the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">big university<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">and was <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">much smarter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">than me.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">One day she<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">told me <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">she had been<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">accepted<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">into a special<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">reading <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">group. There<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">was one <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">outstanding<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">student <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">picked from<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">a dozen<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">highly ranked<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">universities<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">worldwide<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">to fly to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">Germany<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">for two weeks<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">and discuss<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">Dostoyevsky's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-AU">Crime and <o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-AU">Punishment</span></i><span lang="EN-AU">.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">"It would <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">cost $12,000<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">but be worth <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">it. Imagine the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">conversations!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">Great minds<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">from around<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">the globe<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">coming together<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">for the express<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">purpose of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">art," she said<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">with great<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">enthusiasm.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">I told her it<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">was a waste <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">of money.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">She got angry<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">and stopped<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">speaking to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">me. When<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">she returned<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">a few months <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">later she called<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">me, immediately<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">apologized, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">asking me to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">read her my<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">new poems: <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">she really<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">missed hearing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">them. I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">never read<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">her another<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">poem. And <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">never told <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">her: how much<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">I missed her.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-AU">Tougher than a Million Wounded Phoenix<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">Poetry<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">isn't<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">about<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">success,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">it's<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">about<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">survival.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">One<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">word<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">following<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">the next.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">Making<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">even the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">worst<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">times<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">bearable.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-AU">A Poem for the Editor that Hated My <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-AU">Protagonist<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">Dear editor I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">am thankful<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">for your <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">prompt<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">response<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">to my recently<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">submitted<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">story. Really <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">thrilled you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">went for the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">ghost thing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">(honestly<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">didn't think<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">you would.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">As far as the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">rewrite you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">suggested<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">(the<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">protagonist<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">being<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">completely<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">unlikeable<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">and not <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">deserving <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">a happy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">ending.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">It wasn't<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">something<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">I even<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">considered.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">You'll be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">glad to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">know I am<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">using that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">feedback<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">in this poem.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">The same<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">protagonist<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">from my<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">submitted<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">story.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">The same <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">protagonist<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">from every<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">story I<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">write: me.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">Enduring<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">yet another<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">luckless<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU">ending.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-AU">Bio:</span></b><span lang="EN-AU">Brenton Booth lives in Sydney, Australia. Poetry of his has appeared in Gargoyle, New York Quarterly, North Dakota Quarterly, Chiron Review, San Pedro River Review, Main Street Rag, Naugatuck River Review, Heavy Feather Review, and Nerve Cowboy. He has two full length collections available from Epic Rites Press. <o:p></o:p></span></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-33278426179382485742024-02-06T10:13:00.001+11:002024-02-06T10:13:38.187+11:00Featuring Pris Campbell<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh9boQ8KTd77HTkJS4MI_rLg6ZAqUjIUagpUhaqTh6gkP0BxwGwqKQHIMRxMhmfhBaA9_pl8xHSdiTq5cAGAtQ3ZuRv6sYUM3RU0g1vQvophErECwWxaxVyKBflfpzJtAZx-9Av95j9DTzzqJK1YaD2SC7F45MgCWiHKJswChuBIVLZ1kh36D-5086UA8v/s991/Pris%20campbell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="911" data-original-width="991" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh9boQ8KTd77HTkJS4MI_rLg6ZAqUjIUagpUhaqTh6gkP0BxwGwqKQHIMRxMhmfhBaA9_pl8xHSdiTq5cAGAtQ3ZuRv6sYUM3RU0g1vQvophErECwWxaxVyKBflfpzJtAZx-9Av95j9DTzzqJK1YaD2SC7F45MgCWiHKJswChuBIVLZ1kh36D-5086UA8v/s320/Pris%20campbell.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><div><blockquote style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><div><div dir="auto"><b>Time Knows</b> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="color: #757575; font-family: -apple-system, "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; word-spacing: 1px;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">The angels of mercy </span><div><span style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">occasionally fly</span><span style="font-family: serif, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"> </span></span><span style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">by my house, </span></div></div><div style="color: #313131; font-family: -apple-system, "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16px; word-spacing: 1px;"><div style="color: #757575;"><span style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">singing ‘walk in the garden’</span><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">or rugged cross songs </div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">and I’m back in my childhood church </div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">sipping communal wine</div></div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">and choking down stale crusts, </div><div style="color: #757575;"><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">the body of christ.</div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;"><br /></div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">Sometimes they taunt me, </div></div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">dragging my old boat past,</div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">and humming sea chanties, </div><div style="color: #757575;"><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">with dead lovers, </div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">hair white, </div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">flying behind the stern.</div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;"><br /></div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">I stick out my thumb </div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">to hitch a ride on the boat </div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">but they disappear.</div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">I’m left alone to make faces</div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">from the shadows moving across my wall</div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">and write poems </div><div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 1.0625rem;">no new lover will ever read.</div></div></div></div><br /></div><br /></div><div dir="auto"><br /></div><div dir="auto"><br /></div><div dir="auto"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Consolation</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">You’ve only known me<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />with my body slain and<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />curled deep into soft spaces<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />dreaming of billowing sails<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />bike rides, hair flying,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />along dawn-pink ocean swells.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">You’ve only seen me with my brain<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />in under-drive, thoughts short-circuited.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">A turtle could outpace me now.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">Soil from the grave dropping<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />to reveal your translucence,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />you speak to me of days<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />we wished we would have had together,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />days when our bodies were unbreakable,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />minds yet unseared by loss.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; margin-bottom: 1.5em;">I reach out my hand to console air,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />tell you we’ll still have those days<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" />when both our ashes straddle the wind.</p><div class="yj6qo"></div><div class="adL" id="m_-6817587312338980810m_6040165252340012420m_-8203868279214604033atatags-26942-6579884e61e15" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px;"></div><div class="adL" id="m_-6817587312338980810m_6040165252340012420m_-8203868279214604033jp-post-flair" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; padding-top: 0.5em;"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; color: #404040; font-family: "Noto Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 19px;"></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div><div><div><blockquote style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="auto">Pris Campbell has both free verse and short forms published in journals and anthologies. The small press has published eleven books/ chapbooks.</div></div></blockquote></div></div>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-20847702692744010302024-02-01T10:50:00.019+11:002024-02-04T12:55:48.865+11:00New chapbook: George Douglas Anderson JUMP OUT ANY WINDOW (Backroom Poetry, UK, 2024) 32 pages<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH7Dg71otZSmxYqpDRTEGpWBkLzGDxUupnnc1ZNu8dYXrOaQ32Gkp4t-DWMwfVyR-PZH8aWpUc4NVZ3Tsi2YIlSE4vcoL7C1cf-dr4dO4Y2peEgtggOoph78-h5jLc3XrnM5X9ia1KwwnCN3YqH9gO0GRBwZqj-blGejoAoWXsBnPgytEOeA3PGyBnJ0OV/s1075/Jump%20Out%20Any%20Window.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1075" data-original-width="749" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH7Dg71otZSmxYqpDRTEGpWBkLzGDxUupnnc1ZNu8dYXrOaQ32Gkp4t-DWMwfVyR-PZH8aWpUc4NVZ3Tsi2YIlSE4vcoL7C1cf-dr4dO4Y2peEgtggOoph78-h5jLc3XrnM5X9ia1KwwnCN3YqH9gO0GRBwZqj-blGejoAoWXsBnPgytEOeA3PGyBnJ0OV/s320/Jump%20Out%20Any%20Window.jpg" width="223" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><i>Jump Out Any Window</i> is my latest chapbook and consists of 20 recent poems. Most have not been previously published. A big thank you to the editors of Bad Acid Laboratory, The Scum Gentry, Seppuku (issue 5) and The Asylum Floor who have previously published some of my work which appear in the chapbook.</p><p>Check out the backroom website for more information about their list of poets, bios and sample poems. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU">Purchase the book here: <a href="https://backroompoetry.sumupstore.com/product/jump-out-any-window-george-douglas-anderson" style="color: purple;">https://backroompoetry.sumupstore.com/product/jump-out-any-window-george-douglas-anderson</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The backroom poetry site in its <b>poets section</b> features my poem 'The Mayor of Little Gary Beach'. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivokhVNf8tlwwJdpzVQ2xebUZT8zXstyLr2v5516RgOjtFebpF1xb0iF7AYBdKpYtKUIaxXKsfH3TCeze04UKg1uz-QACHdwpyrrLh89jt3whsot41_10MUVCwHZYANktaPQTYQyprZWyANXiuoVXcjNvWFgESTZxJfWzD8e9FEn1nhWzMeHAhhXJ50B5g/s3264/shacks.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivokhVNf8tlwwJdpzVQ2xebUZT8zXstyLr2v5516RgOjtFebpF1xb0iF7AYBdKpYtKUIaxXKsfH3TCeze04UKg1uz-QACHdwpyrrLh89jt3whsot41_10MUVCwHZYANktaPQTYQyprZWyANXiuoVXcjNvWFgESTZxJfWzD8e9FEn1nhWzMeHAhhXJ50B5g/s320/shacks.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Garamond;">The Mayor Of Little Gary Beach</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">He waves to me from his bed <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">in the decrepit Depression era shack<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">and like a true gentleman<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">offers me a beer, his only condition<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">that I take all my empties (& his)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">with me upon my return journey <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">along the flimsy beach path<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">to the surf lifesavers’ car park.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">He is laid up with a knee tendon<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">injury & points to the fridge.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">I open a VB can and he quips,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">‘There’s heaps more where<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">that came from’ & shakes my<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">hand vigorously. I explain to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">him that I’m down for the week<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">and staying in Mark’s shack.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">It rains for most of my stay.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">I befriend a bush rat which<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">usually makes its appearance<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">scurrying along the small kitchen<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">bench nearing dusk. There is <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">running water but no power<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">so I try to get the words down<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">in the arvo before dark &<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">later listen to a micro radio <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">which plays 60s jazz. On my<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">last morning at Little Gary,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">before leaving, I knock<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">on the Mayor’s door<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">& he points to the fridge.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">I give him a solid handshake,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">down a quick VB & grab<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">a big black plastic bag<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">chock-full of empty beer cans<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">and make my way back to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">the car park to catch a lift<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">back to the busy city. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Little Gary Beach is a small coastal village about 30 kilometres south of Sydney, New South Wales and is only accessed by foot through a narrow beach trail above the tide line. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMIzPrbkhakntGWxWR5oSGD8vzm1gojmqVsyJ5_bKEZdW8qeBJj6wekqwbU50NHKrZI5irc8ieti66YsCtsyi5qgnexKornpL_c__AjQkUOlfAqgExuXPluOKCdrSFaJYzuAilmbqoEaKu7SaET0RQ24thDkvsy7OR_YjgCGkq7uQBVHCSW0pxo1BpSUh/s3264/road%20out2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzMIzPrbkhakntGWxWR5oSGD8vzm1gojmqVsyJ5_bKEZdW8qeBJj6wekqwbU50NHKrZI5irc8ieti66YsCtsyi5qgnexKornpL_c__AjQkUOlfAqgExuXPluOKCdrSFaJYzuAilmbqoEaKu7SaET0RQ24thDkvsy7OR_YjgCGkq7uQBVHCSW0pxo1BpSUh/s320/road%20out2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Most of the dozen or so shacks at Little Gary Beach were built in the 1920s and 1930s with the approval of the local farm owner. The area was formally added to the surrounding Royal National Park in 1954 and the NSW Government has for decades attempted to demolish the shacks for environmental concerns. The ongoing legal battles are complicated and many shacks have survived this day.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">In David Hill's Foreward to Ingeborg Van Teeseling’s excellent book SHACK LIFE: The Survival Story of Three Royal National Park Communities, reveals about Little Gary, “It is part of the unwritten rules of the place that whenever you go there, even as a guest, you carry in with you as much as you reasonably can. In addition to lugging food and drink (Era has a strong tradition of enjoying a drink!) there is a need to carry in kerosene for the lamps and the refrigerators and gas tanks for the cooking stoves, although many shacks now increasingly have solar power panels."</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcR6d3To8Ms3YBBqlgevN4zYcttHGDD9JqE2UvTO_ZtxT7iP1C2To2iHJCA4b-i6niikY1KGBSWPEdDnc9DrqdqCFsIV5maQcKO8s6BwzAccDafvl6uqyQpiBZUGJJMUum8TnQoDrqBX_zHt6s6qswu9YIlid8hT35VtyiWROYK0AEkJ7EU5ogtLkNIST/s3264/Garrie%20Beach.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcR6d3To8Ms3YBBqlgevN4zYcttHGDD9JqE2UvTO_ZtxT7iP1C2To2iHJCA4b-i6niikY1KGBSWPEdDnc9DrqdqCFsIV5maQcKO8s6BwzAccDafvl6uqyQpiBZUGJJMUum8TnQoDrqBX_zHt6s6qswu9YIlid8hT35VtyiWROYK0AEkJ7EU5ogtLkNIST/s320/Garrie%20Beach.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">What Hill doesn't mention is that what you bring into Little Gary Beach you must return back to the city. I suppose this simple virtue is the essence behind the poem 'Little Gary Beach'.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">You can purchase SHACK LIFE here: <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Shack-Life-survival-national-communities/dp/1742235484" style="color: purple;">https://www.amazon.com.au/Shack-Life-survival-national-communities/dp/1742235484</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFScFpAPBdM7mruP_Nhk42KMtXKpOXw7hUY97L8Jtkl0iYMc3Dkt0wVND1Tp_89nT0xDXHH1wBLnUHNBDFhWohyCBC1IhKS05X7YNEANGj6eosSfR5ZFCaSarP-6YZlNjVDpP1s2oCPw0NupUWt81s8Ngvi8umH-8FeRZbAWYMvf-mdAvvSAQNtALuUQs/s3202/big%20SL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3202" data-original-width="2601" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFScFpAPBdM7mruP_Nhk42KMtXKpOXw7hUY97L8Jtkl0iYMc3Dkt0wVND1Tp_89nT0xDXHH1wBLnUHNBDFhWohyCBC1IhKS05X7YNEANGj6eosSfR5ZFCaSarP-6YZlNjVDpP1s2oCPw0NupUWt81s8Ngvi8umH-8FeRZbAWYMvf-mdAvvSAQNtALuUQs/s320/big%20SL.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Another poem, in prose form, perhaps worthy of further explanation is 'Alf's Lost Paradise' a last minute inclusion into the chap. What I wanted to do in the poem was to tell a simple story of visiting a friend’s collapsed hippie commune with the purpose of possibly getting his hard earned back. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">‘Alf’ had poured a heap of his cash into a section of land into a property in the Kangaroo Valley in the mid 1970s. The deal was dodgy like many at the time. It didn’t secure him any property rights apart from access to a small portion of it. His section, like others on the property, looked amazing, particularly to city dwellers, but it had no connection to electricity, gas or sewerage. Hippies came and went to the Valley until about ten years later they had completely disappeared.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">We drove down with Alf in the 1980s to see if we could get his brass back. At the time, I drove a Datsun 1000, a shit of a car, but reliable. We parked the vehicle near the ‘commune’ and dislodged a large rock to place behind the front wheel to prevent it from rolling down the hill. To our surprise there was a red belly black snake coiled there ready to strike. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoKCJAWFzdpdO1dNAVDkWKkVYqv-DZgamH2rpDe0zGruiU4EI9fTQVWu-1QT1hiYHfNi0mCjJdAy_pefcPqeNZfUf8Ma5lRD-mOhTVL125HnfConKzDg7R3VMRZrXAC6osWjbQHOnCiuCKJsdPON9FOr1scJIa_4K38tDhm-V1A1JjdOVWe8_DOqNrXN9P/s4032/alf.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoKCJAWFzdpdO1dNAVDkWKkVYqv-DZgamH2rpDe0zGruiU4EI9fTQVWu-1QT1hiYHfNi0mCjJdAy_pefcPqeNZfUf8Ma5lRD-mOhTVL125HnfConKzDg7R3VMRZrXAC6osWjbQHOnCiuCKJsdPON9FOr1scJIa_4K38tDhm-V1A1JjdOVWe8_DOqNrXN9P/s320/alf.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><b><span style="font-family: Times;">Alf’s Lost Paradise </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;">I drive the old Holden Ute to visit Alf’s commune, his ‘little piece of paradise’ in a cleared wood
in Kangaroo Valley down the South Coast. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;">The original hippies are long gone.
Several white ant gorged shells of the once hopeful tenements & rotting caravans now leak
like metallic bile into the local creeks. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Alf points to a mini geo-dome in the next paddock
steeped in thick native Silvergrass. His abode & our lodgings for the long weekend. Eight by eight feet in circumference. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Nearing sunset, we clear out several feral bottle bongs from previous anonymous squatters & roll out
our sleeping bags in the cramped, tepid quarters. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;">The owner of the property, Boyd, an aspiring surreal artist
lives in the last habitable frame, a tall giraffe of a humpy reached only by a 25 foot ladder with thin dodgy wooden rungs. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;">From his pad you have a spectacular view of the Valley:
old growth forest of Scribbly Gum, Red Bloodwood & Turpentine, set above a luscious understory of thick sclerophyllous heathland. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;">We call on Boyd in the early morning & make the steep, precarious climb to his loft. He hands Alf a large glowing spliff. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;">‘I don’t smoke that shit, no more. Really Boyd, you know why I’m here. Any chance you can refund me my bread, man? Any of the 18 Grand
I contributed to the commune would be greatly appreciated! I only pass through these woods on rare occasions now. I’m dead fucking broke, mate!’ <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Boyd is calm, reassuring and gently embraces Alf like a son. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;">‘You know I can’t do that Alf. We made a gentlemen’s
agreement many moons ago. As you know, your money has long
been spent on improvements to the property, not just enhancing my wealth.’ <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Disappointed, we head back to the geo-dome for the night.
We make a small camp & as we chew on some home-baked gummies, Alf enthusiastically thrums on his bongo some of his groovy
Habanera beat patterns. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Later, we gaze into the sky.
The universe melting. Stars like candles. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Sometime during the night we crash into the dome,
the door ajar and we are exposed to a throng of mosquitos. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Later in the dark, I awake with rats sniffing & gently clawing at my head. I keep the torch on low but gradually the beam fades. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDHI1vNvtHZ0CU4Ku1YzXjOk8yRerF6DTHG-01uOtwVZo7vi7eFsG25xVYe7fvrzXof192EgWyNEBbRkRqoUnwtAjx5vDaKDM3KWuFbp_41LO7kGxxmdaQszqvprvHMQrdH0z2CI9uuyNE9kDo00v4g3KSazBFr3Vkvg_sa81eje6ksC5m-S0l8JyCmmm0/s1500/IMG_6361.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDHI1vNvtHZ0CU4Ku1YzXjOk8yRerF6DTHG-01uOtwVZo7vi7eFsG25xVYe7fvrzXof192EgWyNEBbRkRqoUnwtAjx5vDaKDM3KWuFbp_41LO7kGxxmdaQszqvprvHMQrdH0z2CI9uuyNE9kDo00v4g3KSazBFr3Vkvg_sa81eje6ksC5m-S0l8JyCmmm0/s320/IMG_6361.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU">Another poem that I would briefly like to discuss here is ‘Mushroom Carpentry’. The poem stemmed from an anecdote told to me years ago by a friend who was an apprentice carpenter at the time. He once downed some acid during a job and somehow managed to affix two knobs to a door where one should actually exist. The bloke survived ok and is now a very comfortable millionaire many times over. I like the crazy humour and absurdity of the piece.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mushroom Carpentry<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The boss’s instructions to the young <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">blonde apprentice are straightforward:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">‘Install ten sets of standard door knobs<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">where indicated & if you complete the job by 2<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">you can fuck off early.’<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The tab of acid the rookie drops<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">after lunchtime seems to come on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">much earlier than he had anticipated.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">When he closes his eyes-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">the world churns in collapsing <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">walls of logic & colour- <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">multiple flower heads explode <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">& then dissolve- in a chaotic, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">kaleidoscopic vision. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">When the boss returns to the work site<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">around 2, he is totally pissed off to see <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">two doorknobs, weirdly attached <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">to the centre of the orange front door,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">where one should functionally exist. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">He angrily confronts the bemused apprentice,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">‘Mate, you on the fucking magic mushies again?’<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div class="page" title="Page 16"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><br /></p></div></div></div>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-12421974388421426952024-01-27T18:51:00.000+11:002024-01-27T18:51:24.436+11:00New Poems: John Grey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMh5zjk1zefzOO5TaL6Hz57qs1uQHuFd65u04SLB8sNfVG4qx7M9r0hoI1Q76fmbtpAMZ3O2HSRGhVP6RKigjlBO8zwInpB_bf7hR_YfJ8_0rdublsv9YbO-rSc946C7D1KEKmODwdsKfp95zrm9cvsAUPPQ_FLlCGgWziN-EMfuMFXt8R7jXe15Xhpn0R/s213/John%20Grey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="212" data-original-width="213" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMh5zjk1zefzOO5TaL6Hz57qs1uQHuFd65u04SLB8sNfVG4qx7M9r0hoI1Q76fmbtpAMZ3O2HSRGhVP6RKigjlBO8zwInpB_bf7hR_YfJ8_0rdublsv9YbO-rSc946C7D1KEKmODwdsKfp95zrm9cvsAUPPQ_FLlCGgWziN-EMfuMFXt8R7jXe15Xhpn0R/s1600/John%20Grey.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">PRE-FUNERAL</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The in-laws have arrived,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">in mourning clothes,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">black suits, black dresses, black expressions.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The mother is old world.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">She won’t change color until the next wedding.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The father steps outside for a smoke.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">She turns off all the lights,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">glares at the wall-clock <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">as if it has no business ticking.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">He stays out there on the back lawn,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">dropping ash and butts into the roots of the oak.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The husband still can’t believe <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">what’s happened.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">He has no living parents<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">to do the believing for him.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">And the phone won’t stop ringing.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">He joins his father-in-law.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">For the first time in his life,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">second hand smoke feels comforting.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">A neighbor looks out her bedroom window.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">She’s dying to know what’s going on.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">On the other side, a dog scrapes against the fence.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">She too is curious.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The kids hang out in the dumbest of silences.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">An Aunt is coming for them,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">to stash them away in a safe house,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">protect their sensibilities from funerals.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The count for people who have said,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">“She was much too young to die,”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">is currently fifteen.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The aunt is sure to add to the number.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The mother moves about the house,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">tidying here and there.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Even in death, she doesn’t want her daughter<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">to be embarrassed.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The father keeps puffing away.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">His doctor warns if he doesn’t quit,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">they’ll kill him.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Not soon enough, he’s thinking.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">STRIPPER GIRL<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">you don't know them<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">they stare at you so you'll know them less <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">they drag you off the stage <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and into their fantasies <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">you're masturbation twirled with sweat and heavy breathing<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">it doesn't matter that <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">in the backroom you read Blake <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">that when the other women run through <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">their tassel spinning and their genital grind <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">you stand before the gates of Tieriel's palace <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">that maybe you're Myratana queen of the western plains <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">you don't know them <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and you're an entry in their encyclopedia of perversions <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">they take your body without you in it <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">to them you're excrement you're death <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">you're this thing that can never have children <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">it doesn't matter that later <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">you'll open your refrigerator <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">to the thigh of the slaughtered pig <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and the juice of the ransacked cow <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and in the low light like <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">something hung over a funeral home door <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">that you'll write an e-mail to someone <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">who thinks you're still at school <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and the slow scrawl of your fingers <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">will momentarily return you to your studies<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">until they finally slump <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and you hastily scribble ’’love" down <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and add your name<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">press a key<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">send it to the grave<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p>STATUE OF LIBERTY</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The man is dressed in blue robe,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and blue crown.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">He holds a torch high <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">in one hand<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and the other wraps fingers around<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">a tabula ansata. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">His face, the exposed skin of his arms,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">are painted the same blue<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">as his getup.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">If his eyes didn’t blink,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">you really could take him for<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">a miniature Statue of Liberty.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">A bowl at his feet <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">is for notes and coins.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">He wants to be rewarded<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">for my first reaction,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">how cleverly he <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">acts the part <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">of all that he is not.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">That’s a common trait<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">in most humans.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">It’s the stillness<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">that sets him apart.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p>SATURDAY WITH THE BOYS</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Full tank in the pickup, cooler loaded up<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">with cheap local brew, radio on full blast, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">three guys, three rifles, we’re on <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">our way to shoot something full of holes.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Hard week on the assembly line, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">tired of women bitching in our ears,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">we aim to let off steam in the backwoods.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Cruising at the same speed as the music,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">when I spy, up ahead, a mother duck <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">leading six chicks across the road.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I brake hard and my two buddies <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">breathe a deep sigh of relief <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">when the pickup squeals just short <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">of this feathered family outing.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">It’s a shock all round<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">that we don’t aim to hurt anyone. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p>THE GUY AT THE SUICIDE HOTLINE</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The woman’s frantic.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">“I’m worthless,” she blurts out.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">At my disposal, I have <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">a telephone.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">And words.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Nothing but words.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Her depression is <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">a child of her past,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">quashed needs,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">slain desires, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and she’s scrambling for <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">an alternative to death.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">And what am I,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">a faceless voice<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">willing to praise a life<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">it does not know.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">It’s my job <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">to give her back her beauty,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">shed light, lift veils, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">massage, mitigate <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and sound sincere.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Some of this I need myself.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">For I am ugly, dark, veiled, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">tight and uneasy.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I try to talk us both out<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">of killing ourselves.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">There’s a question<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">as to who called who.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><a name="m_6760125746604749483_m_-8855324374711931278__Hlk126331880"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in New World Writing, Santa Fe Literary Review, and Lost Pilots. Latest books, ”Between Two Fires”, “Covert” and “Memory Outside The Head” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in the Seventh Quarry, La Presa and California Quarterly..</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-29983399970031236632024-01-14T19:05:00.000+11:002024-01-14T19:05:07.992+11:00Featuring Wayne Russell<p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuibpZh3sxho9tSwNLGZujAuWko_dfUBg1oovBnru-sTUJQaLxA7rLAmIovoMbxTy-YZugAUhTNMRwKsW9_GKGbOkNva7Hb96mzgEgvuXKSKMwTSu4hI2RkcmnbNkWjsBL0RMsuzYsPILTQVroUGRiABuHwWXaEAdmzXL7Wr7Py-0BvjobNtyekOoKJg_1/s954/Wayne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="953" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuibpZh3sxho9tSwNLGZujAuWko_dfUBg1oovBnru-sTUJQaLxA7rLAmIovoMbxTy-YZugAUhTNMRwKsW9_GKGbOkNva7Hb96mzgEgvuXKSKMwTSu4hI2RkcmnbNkWjsBL0RMsuzYsPILTQVroUGRiABuHwWXaEAdmzXL7Wr7Py-0BvjobNtyekOoKJg_1/s320/Wayne.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><b style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><br /></span></b></span></p>The Gloomiest of Days</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">From out of weeping rock,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">windswept land;<br /><br />muddy hooved deer, attempt<br />to find refuge.<br /><br />Trees, leaning towards hunting shacks;<br />in for the kill.<br /><br />Unrelenting, haunting of sky,<br />no sunshine; only sleeting rain.<br /><br />The dead are complacent,<br />snug, within damp underground<br /><br />confines.<br /><br />And the poet is hunkered down,<br />dreaming about the words,<br /><br />underneath the flickering candle light;<br />accompanied, only by the<br /><br />clacking of an old typewriter;<br />and the towering menace; of the ancient<br /><br />grandfather clock; perched against the<br />pale grey wall;<br /><br />saying nothing;<br />but leaving it all, to the<br /><br />pendulums; swaying in hypnotic<br />cadence.<br /><br /><br /><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">A Small Village Somewhere </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Dunoon that craggy tomb<br />stony cliffs cold to touch<br /><br />a mythical place forgotten by<br />cruel hands of time<br /><br />that flowing lush jade palace of exile<br />those lochs and pebble adorned shorelines<br /><br />high winds sure too bowl you over<br />skies so grey that even the seagulls cry<br /><br />a township dotted with daft fluffy sheep<br />winding lanes and tiny automobiles sputtering<br /><br />cursing the day<br />rejecting the night<br /><br />churches and pubs in which to while away<br />the loneliness of hours<br /><br />inside<br />it's warm hearth<br /><br />gather round the fireplace<br />listen to the elders resight<br /><br />stories of mythical proportions<br />of prophecy<br /><br />patrons sipping sherry<br />guzzling pints of dark ale<br /><br />cider and Scotch<br />and the time goes on and on<br /><br />so quickly<br />and before you know it you're<br /><br />the elder<br />telling the stories<br /><br />legends and myths<br />by the fireplace in the dingy little<br /><br />pub in that quaint little village<br />somewhere in this world<br /><br />who knows where you'll transfix<br />the next generations<br /><br />with your rambling yarns<br />you could end up anywhere in this world<br /><br />maybe even Dunoon.<br /><br /><br /><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Even in the Silence </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Raindrops<br />falling<br />gentle upon the<br />rooftop<br />her smile<br />the beacon<br />of light<br />within<br />this room<br />watching her<br />nestled beside me<br />and<br />even<br />in silence we're<br />the completion of<br />one another<br />a mirror reflection<br />a refraction of<br />sound that carries<br />everything<br />even when no words<br />are spoken<br />a ripple of dreams<br />cascading throughout<br />the stillness of<br />this room<br />and memories of<br />the vast dark skies<br />above.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">A Song for the Wounded Bird </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">This life given,<br />I did not ask<br />for this.<br /><br />Did you?<br /><br />All of this pain,<br />and suffering, I<br />did not ask for<br />this.<br /><br />Did you ask for<br />it?<br /><br />There is no one<br />left to reach out<br />too, there never<br />was.<br /><br />Mom?<br />Dad?<br /><br />Reveal yourself?<br /><br />God?<br /><br />Please?<br /><br />It was just all a<br />simple shell game,<br />use me and abuse<br />me.<br /><br />A game?<br /><br />This heart bleeds<br />along with those<br />children held within<br />the shackles of<br />abandonment.<br /><br />This mind feels the<br />isolation of the elderly.<br /><br />No slow winter's thaw,<br />could never mend this<br />brokenness, this<br />emptiness.<br /><br />This body lays down by<br />the rickety park bench,<br />worn and whimpering.<br /><br />Vacant eyes, the mirrors<br />of the soul, lost in the orange<br />glow of a fire barrel to<br />stay warm.<br /><br />Death could be the only<br />freedom, ever known to<br />cure this ill, lonely we<br />dance upon this stage,<br /><br />lonely we die.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">Poor Man's Serenade </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">By the age of 24<br />I had lived my life,<br />and seen all that I<br />had needed to see.<br /><br />Upon the waves<br />of a Navy vessel,<br />risking life & limb,<br />seeing the world.<br /><br />And before that<br />it was the Army,<br />the grenades, the<br />yelling and bombs.<br /><br />I came out of my<br />childhood, with<br />PTSD and the<br />wounds, the wounds;<br /><br />that would not heal;<br />nor fade.<br /><br />By the age of 24, I<br />had done it all &<br />drank it all; and lived<br />the life; below the<br /><br />poverty lines, down,<br />down, down; in the<br />trenches, and beneath<br />the waves; a poor man’s<br /><br />serenade.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">A Final Victory </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;">A ray of light trickles<br />through the willows,<br /><br />birds sing in the early<br />evening; winter has us,<br />dawning in eternal ebbs<br /><br />and flows; of ethereal<br />beauty.<br /><br />Prayers for the dead-<br />Prayers for the living-<br /><br />And even though, this<br />world is encapsulated,<br />in the throes of wars, and<br /><br />famine and greed, the<br />birds keep singing, and<br />that ray of light keeps<br /><br />shining; in the hopes of<br />good, having a final victory,<br />over all evil. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.1200008392334px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Bio</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><br /></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Wayne Russell is a creative jack of all trades, master of none. Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize Nominee, creative writer, rhythm guitar player, singer, artist, photographer, and author of the poetry book <i>Where Angels Fear</i> via Guerilla Genius Press. It is available for purchase on Amazon.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.69333267211914px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: -webkit-standard;" /></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-15466306827209937232024-01-12T10:38:00.001+11:002024-01-12T10:39:20.057+11:00Featuring Guna Moran<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT9Rk7Cp9ZGy3ut59T_DxAb7Gh4ZlPUuoTszn06gDG2eEIqX09RkvuZGPxusWnprf-NBHpgDJxsx6zSkxjhD-OTUnZgKED6tUuUUVlbdgzX-4SxlqMI8Sp71lTawBOd5pOiZfq36E9mHoo8bhampd3hS6ugSyLbx0JrEUDh8LUIxtD4cQ5kVz6H2XzZM7Y/s468/Guna.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="343" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT9Rk7Cp9ZGy3ut59T_DxAb7Gh4ZlPUuoTszn06gDG2eEIqX09RkvuZGPxusWnprf-NBHpgDJxsx6zSkxjhD-OTUnZgKED6tUuUUVlbdgzX-4SxlqMI8Sp71lTawBOd5pOiZfq36E9mHoo8bhampd3hS6ugSyLbx0JrEUDh8LUIxtD4cQ5kVz6H2XzZM7Y/s320/Guna.jpg" width="235" /></a></b></div><b><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Malaise</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Writing on and on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">the writer at last turns unhappy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Whenever I meet him<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">my hand touching his hand <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">lifeless like a dead snake <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">gets frozen<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">In the pallid eyes like those of a dead fish<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">as if a cursed rivulet runs beneath the sands<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">The sun too has his sorrows<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">The sunlight falls in hell<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">like a sheet of white paper <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">jabbed by the pen <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">(The paper bears the blots of the pen)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">I can’t make the unhappy one happy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">I have no means<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">to give away joys<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">as my hands receive only sorrows <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Still I make a platform <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">for the unhappy <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 22px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">If I get a chance<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">And then I too turn unpopular<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">As if the unhappy have no platform<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Poet</span></b><b style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Pain is the fountainhead<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">of the first poet’s creation<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I too have never written any poem <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">in delight<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">It’s no use explaining<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">whether poetry is a pal<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">of delight or sorrow<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">But the sheer number of poets<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">proves unhappy ones are on the rise<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Pain is a favorite of none<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">But happiness has no meaning<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">if pain is never met <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">So I turn representative of pain<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">and look out for delight for you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">If delight is so dear to you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">let me never be happy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">as pain is a must to feel happy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Dedication</span></b><b style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Sheer dedication to words<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">not only creates literature<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">it reveals<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">the mental make-up of others<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">At the end of<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">the perpetual wordplay<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve got at<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">lots of secrets<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">of the complex mental world<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">more changing than the inanimate world<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Those who are dedicated to words<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">their vision can’t be curtained<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: start;"><b style="font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Two Poems</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: start;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">Inanimate<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">I’m sleeping<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">I’m dying<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Over the body<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">a venomous snake has slithered<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">None cares a dead body<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;">Lifespan<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">In the river<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">a tree seed <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">drops<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">keeps floating up<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">and down<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">from ghat to ghat<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">In the estuary it drifts round<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">and away with the current<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">never comes upstream<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><i>(Translated from Assamese into English by Nirendra Nath Thakuria)</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: start;">Bio :<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: start;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: start;"><b>Guna Moran</b> is an internationally acclaimed Assamese poet and book reviewer. His poems are published in 300 hundred international magazines, journals, webzines, blogs, newspapers, anthologies . Some of them are Indian Literature, Indian Poetry Review, Indian Review, Indian Periodical, Muse India, Outlook, International Writer's Journal, International Times Magazine, AZAHAR Revista Poetica , The Poet Magazine, The Global Youth Review, Whatcom Watch Newspaper, Spillword, Merak Magazine, Quidditty, Lovina 103, Indiana University Press, The California Times Newspaper, Poetry Hall , The Piker Press, Bario Blues Press, North eastern University Journal, The Tiger Moth Magazine, World Contemporary Poets Vol 1 . He has won Creator Of Justice Award 2020 by International Human Right Art Festival and got a chance for reading poetry in Frankfurt Book Fair 2020 ( Digital edition). His poems have already been translated into Croatian, Tagalog (Philippines) , Burmese, Swahili ( Kenya ) , Indonesian, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Macedonian, Chinese, Ukrainian, Russian, Hebrew, Turkish, Hindi, Tamil, Telegu, Marathi, Urdu, Gujrati, Arabic, Bengali . He has published three poetry books: When The Tree Weeps, Time Will Write History On You, El Amor - Love On The Rocks (jointly ). He was invited to join poetry programme organised by America, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Mumbai, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, West Bangla at the Panorama International Literature Festival 2022, VI Open Eurasian Literary Festival Of Festivals " Lift " 2022 and many more.<o:p></o:p></p></div><p></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-14588424745022120942024-01-10T15:05:00.003+11:002024-01-10T16:27:53.758+11:00Featuring Kushal Poddar (poetry & photos)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuLI7S1kfPmfgTCJntOVMYZVezJUULZstYpLQPvXAZTXcHJ05JbrdEltsHQHVoKkbCetrQRlygEJhMPRiky4jq6UsRRlNJ5S3RI1xG35KrvIFISZXS-0PiVn8N1xzFBy1UEztUlABieQroZ0uqZk6uZNxDRBM3DUIiiUhn6a5ARdXGmEL76AnCle9wcOJn/s3264/Kushal.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuLI7S1kfPmfgTCJntOVMYZVezJUULZstYpLQPvXAZTXcHJ05JbrdEltsHQHVoKkbCetrQRlygEJhMPRiky4jq6UsRRlNJ5S3RI1xG35KrvIFISZXS-0PiVn8N1xzFBy1UEztUlABieQroZ0uqZk6uZNxDRBM3DUIiiUhn6a5ARdXGmEL76AnCle9wcOJn/s320/Kushal.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Buddha</span></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">A bird's chirping swirls out</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">from sleep's exoskeleton. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Haze and halo greet the room. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">The bird seems to say, 'Sakura.' </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">In this life I've never seen </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">a cherry blossom, not in person,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">albeit I know it is Spring.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">My other lives </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">are the garden ornaments, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">their hands hold invisible blessings.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDbtx5lo0TzgPeF7396SQZ8EwhNeWGtRMZy3QSrMhHr9TYH3GcLMKvOziiOM002dPtnEl-u7gB8q4_zBf8oPMcrLGysLgoEcva9jBjK-MQhkjE5FJMd9n9PrI6DQ_-LxElCSmnSfsTSP5PHAGNvLwXRd59Ih-y8SCYQg-MYH9pExJF6E-s1I0a4bM-a2fD/s4000/birds.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDbtx5lo0TzgPeF7396SQZ8EwhNeWGtRMZy3QSrMhHr9TYH3GcLMKvOziiOM002dPtnEl-u7gB8q4_zBf8oPMcrLGysLgoEcva9jBjK-MQhkjE5FJMd9n9PrI6DQ_-LxElCSmnSfsTSP5PHAGNvLwXRd59Ih-y8SCYQg-MYH9pExJF6E-s1I0a4bM-a2fD/s320/birds.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><div><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div>Reflections</span><p></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">That year reflections, shadows</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">and shades grasped my heart.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I shivered seeing shapes and light,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">not quite, the opposite of it and</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">what it co-creates with our flesh,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">its interpretations of us.</span></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">This year following the halo of our</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">headlights on the pitch black path</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I wonder if heart died after a long</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">convulsion. We throttle the gas.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Even the glory they cast on the big screen</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">doesn't make me feel anything.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">The red car, premium retro drive-in revival,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">home videos of my mother back at home</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">or your kisses all swirl, scatter and fall</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">like grey flakes.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaY6xBKCiTAbG9Zb9p7x804iwoZsl8F_oQciESq_tuOurYbEmrvRRgIq7D1r5XVdduWLjK88sA5rHn12gUe-hq9hAa0rwvAT6LQH0bwsKM_dVsQoTY5a94KknyPK22LbuZJ-c_X9XvGHBwo0vcjOyH8LLZ1_TAp5WiGouZSJknPcMcs1-Kjnqrx7kTVBTZ/s4000/laneway.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaY6xBKCiTAbG9Zb9p7x804iwoZsl8F_oQciESq_tuOurYbEmrvRRgIq7D1r5XVdduWLjK88sA5rHn12gUe-hq9hAa0rwvAT6LQH0bwsKM_dVsQoTY5a94KknyPK22LbuZJ-c_X9XvGHBwo0vcjOyH8LLZ1_TAp5WiGouZSJknPcMcs1-Kjnqrx7kTVBTZ/s320/laneway.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Insane, Self</span></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Insane, if you call me</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I'll agree, not because </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">of my soliloquies frequent </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">in front of a ghost audience </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">and not because provoked, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I turn violent, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">because I repeat my old defeats. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I shall answer, desire to know </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">about your children and you will show</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">anger because you have blue </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">and gray at heart regarding that.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Look at me watching my dirty water</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">trembling twin. Look at that toenail</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">born and reborn yellow between</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">flesh and reflection. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">A wind touches your head, glad</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">that madness is not airborne, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">you say, "Stay well." I see you go.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I shall see you go again.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="display: inline-block; width: 100px;"></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700;">A Grave Provocation</span></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">After a sudden friend's old death</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">we found it hard not to make love</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">every dusk, returning home mid-work</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">as if that could cure gunshots</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">and the memories not bled </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">because death didn't delay</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">pushing through the cafe door.</span></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Death could have been late, kept</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">the bullet for a day in May or thereafter</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">and found our by then best friend</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">sad with his love for both of us.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">He might not have any solution,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">startled and relieved, desired to ask death,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">"Why are you so late?" The cafe</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">would have the same white out.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9fVWAJfSCXf6jBtt97vYiA_z1M4BZ5d9PPAdRbKIgI13zXyvK24k_eG3KVsZhU_tWAGmmf06kIZN0eChYJEWJ7JLbTvRJDBKpbs5RF_LZacCugCa1UJ1lCIs1xHLJ5YuQ0QVlietLK8T7Y3BxZPIbboZvYAIzrzh7h7keVXMjCuQUh48LYNjJimQaJlM7/s4000/Cat.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9fVWAJfSCXf6jBtt97vYiA_z1M4BZ5d9PPAdRbKIgI13zXyvK24k_eG3KVsZhU_tWAGmmf06kIZN0eChYJEWJ7JLbTvRJDBKpbs5RF_LZacCugCa1UJ1lCIs1xHLJ5YuQ0QVlietLK8T7Y3BxZPIbboZvYAIzrzh7h7keVXMjCuQUh48LYNjJimQaJlM7/s320/Cat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Every New Year Eve</span></p><p><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">The bridge, not built to descend</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">near the azure, ferryboat, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">a flash of scales and of feathers, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">but it bring us to the jetty. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">I cross it everyday but the bridge </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">behaves thus only once in a year.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">You ask me if I desire some caramel pop,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">and as usual I want some savouries.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Only on this eve you become my father</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">and flowing.</span></p><p><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></p><div class="yj6qo" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"></div><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.656; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Kushal Poddar the author of 'Postmarked Quarantine' has eight books to his credit. He is a journalist, father, and the editor of 'Words Surfacing’. His works have been translated into twelve languages, published across the globe. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Twitter- </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/Kushalpoe&source=gmail&ust=1704944465402000&usg=AOvVaw2j2mZhe42zJyZs8IAzx1sG" href="https://twitter.com/Kushalpoe" rel="noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">https://twitter.com/Kushalpoe</span></a></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-43288394043675417292024-01-06T16:39:00.002+11:002024-02-06T10:41:03.181+11:00New Poems: Sushant Thapa<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><br /><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRaMS3ABLJTE62TmRDFl2WGJTkb9h_CxDF6gOi28G9xaOpNDWSOCr48lMqU7rPGxtd0f_aKr5vM7g6zE904qemdtXarMAFDjkJX73QODDd6B9ZGZZhrhoEhnuToUp9E3_7qkNpTYihdfAHsNtemntNsGPptvW6Uiu2IYuRGdhQ5XrNmsgYysJ0Uuh-gAiR/s320/New%20picture%20of%20Sushant.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="320" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRaMS3ABLJTE62TmRDFl2WGJTkb9h_CxDF6gOi28G9xaOpNDWSOCr48lMqU7rPGxtd0f_aKr5vM7g6zE904qemdtXarMAFDjkJX73QODDd6B9ZGZZhrhoEhnuToUp9E3_7qkNpTYihdfAHsNtemntNsGPptvW6Uiu2IYuRGdhQ5XrNmsgYysJ0Uuh-gAiR/s1600/New%20picture%20of%20Sushant.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18pt;">1. Curtains, Night and Light <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I open the curtains, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The flowers in my room<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Do not weep now. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I am left with no choices,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Other than letting the light in. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The night is not a sin, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I know. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I badly need to invent <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">A free wheel of time. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">A caged freedom<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">With and audience is an irony. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The night is not a sin, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The moon can be romanticized, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">In the company of the darkness, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Walking few steps longer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I share my night <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">With the moon's sonata, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">To step out of my inner cage. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">These days, the curtains remain open <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">For every morning. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The cages also need<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">To be opened free <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Like the curtains. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18pt;">2. The Price of Attention <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I like to walk, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I like to look up to the sky<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And see the birds flying. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I wish I could skywalk. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The clouds lift my spirits, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">They are so empty, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Yet they are generously big. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The world is blinded, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Yet, nobody wants the darkness. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">No offence <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">To the enlightened ones, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Who uses soul <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">To see like their eyes. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">One fine day<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The rain did greet me. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I asked for a paper cup<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">With the rain, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">To ease the thirst <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Of whistling birds,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">That sing of tomorrow. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">A generous music, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Goes on a marathon, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Through my running veins. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Is it possible?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I am what I listen and see, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Just when I pay <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The price of my attention. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18pt;">3. Just to Appreciate <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Among the hidden boughs <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">No fruits are less sweet. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The smell in the air <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">After the field is ploughed, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The haystacks <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Carefully packed, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Where somersaulting children<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Jump and <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Become gymnasts <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">For a time being. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The flower can wink at you<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">If you can water the soil<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">With the efforts<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Of your perspiration. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The freedom of an alarm<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Makes even the caution free; <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">It is for all. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Such is the nature, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">To make living<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">A roadside laughter, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">With a vagabond beating heart, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">For no one. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Yet, the street music charms <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The forgotten empire, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">That searches for a mind, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Just to appreciate the amusement. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">© Sushant Thapa<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Biratnagar-13, Nepal <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">LB Thapa of The Hemingway Post interviews poet Sushant Thapa in an interesting and informative article here:</span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span><a href="https://thpmagazine.blogspot.com/2024/02/an-interview-with-sushant-thapa.html?fbclid=IwAR1OnpDBO0s1A7TEBZrL8trlI_nqTNqNLGG-OVMaET1xWmsc26YlqZTuQr0" style="background-color: transparent; color: purple;">https://thpmagazine.blogspot.com/2024/02/an-interview-with-sushant-thapa.html?fbclid=IwAR1OnpDBO0s1A7TEBZrL8trlI_nqTNqNLGG-OVMaET1xWmsc26YlqZTuQr0</a><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #19191a; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #19191a; font-size: 12pt;">Sushant Thapa (born on 26th February, 1993) is a Nepalese poet from Biratnagar-13, Nepal who holds a Master’s degree in English literature from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. </span></em><em><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #19191a; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #19191a; font-size: 12pt;">He has published five books of English poetry, namely: The Poetic Burden and Other Poems (Authorspress, New Delhi, 2020), Abstraction and Other Poems (Impspired, UK, 2021), Minutes of Merit (Haoajan, Kolkata, 2021), Love’s Cradle (World Inkers Printing and Publishing, New York, USA and Senegal, Africa, 2023) and Spontaneity: A New Name of Rhyme (Ambar Publication House, New Delhi, 2023). </span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #19191a; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #19191a; font-size: 12pt;">Read more of Sushant's work on Bold Monkey Review here: </span><em><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #19191a; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #19191a; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2023/11/new-poems-sushant-thapa.html" style="color: purple;">https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2023/11/new-poems-sushant-thapa.html</a> ( 7Nov 2023)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #19191a; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2023/08/featuring-sushant-thapa.html" style="color: purple;"><span style="font-style: normal;">https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2023/08/featuring-sushant-thapa.html</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #19191a; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal;">(24 Aug 2023)<o:p></o:p></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p></div>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-57476009300995320942023-12-29T17:32:00.003+11:002023-12-30T17:09:57.769+11:00Brenton Booth's The Asylum Floor Blog<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_3cfIGbsk-JFfZy6cu-fudcrybtFo_u1iBalhS8ypw7I10tNfzLQ3CUtiEJUSQdy_ExUDhD46bNDsSFfvAthzAU-PNjTJEUxJ95Rmstz06tJnEUfZFG-sjf_b7iaeYD34JP4WvbcU-GW7nxtGDo-TpNk-O_4XtzaHGK-Ukf3ybY_RfRnvSNqOELGGqss/s4032/asylum%20floor.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_3cfIGbsk-JFfZy6cu-fudcrybtFo_u1iBalhS8ypw7I10tNfzLQ3CUtiEJUSQdy_ExUDhD46bNDsSFfvAthzAU-PNjTJEUxJ95Rmstz06tJnEUfZFG-sjf_b7iaeYD34JP4WvbcU-GW7nxtGDo-TpNk-O_4XtzaHGK-Ukf3ybY_RfRnvSNqOELGGqss/s320/asylum%20floor.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Find three poems by me which were recently posted on <i>The Asylum Floor </i>blog edited by the Australian writer Brenton Booth here: <a href="https://www.theasylumfloor.com/2023/12/three-poems-by-george-anderson.html" style="color: purple;">https://www.theasylumfloor.com/2023/12/three-poems-by-george-anderson.html</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU">Brenton Booth has previously published four book anthologies of poets’ work through his excellent <i>The Asylum Floor: Literature With A Sledgehammer </i>series. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU">#4 is available here: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Asylum-Floor-4-Brenton-Booth/dp/1716437245" style="color: purple;">https://www.amazon.com/Asylum-Floor-4-Brenton-Booth/dp/1716437245</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU">#3 <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Asylum-Floor-3-Wolfgang-Carstens/dp/0244233365" style="color: purple;">https://www.amazon.com.au/Asylum-Floor-3-Wolfgang-Carstens/dp/0244233365</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6eCeFVZik4I00zeSJxYL4S_mLCLYODX5oKTnyRKRm0c8blI8OeStP73KS9P26nAeiXiIHcF3NUemwu9JJXFqcRLckZ9sX5q0c2vtYMANrlcDP0zBQJaLst6Vn4SuZGsKaB4OhhE7qFh-zL1iNuhjctAfj57SpTEvIxqLcF2YWE-PBjbBjfnOfAAJb2_s/s268/asylum%20floor.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="188" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6eCeFVZik4I00zeSJxYL4S_mLCLYODX5oKTnyRKRm0c8blI8OeStP73KS9P26nAeiXiIHcF3NUemwu9JJXFqcRLckZ9sX5q0c2vtYMANrlcDP0zBQJaLst6Vn4SuZGsKaB4OhhE7qFh-zL1iNuhjctAfj57SpTEvIxqLcF2YWE-PBjbBjfnOfAAJb2_s/w140-h200/asylum%20floor.jpeg" width="140" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-3sXlyZu_iSbWyq75WK-2cDys0kHuer-7j80T4ZxHfDPDSDKhYjTkeZxyhsUZF6rVygrg8KzK1KiONUOcAwmD2aDcO-VN2PL62OMg0zUxXy8RCJ9Yc3hyphenhyphen7qqhlSIgb7qX4EB1YoTUisei4z2_dEAvce_3XPcsiKXienOCXRe8L7SXWxoNsAYRhNQFARW/s128/issue2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="128" data-original-width="90" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-3sXlyZu_iSbWyq75WK-2cDys0kHuer-7j80T4ZxHfDPDSDKhYjTkeZxyhsUZF6rVygrg8KzK1KiONUOcAwmD2aDcO-VN2PL62OMg0zUxXy8RCJ9Yc3hyphenhyphen7qqhlSIgb7qX4EB1YoTUisei4z2_dEAvce_3XPcsiKXienOCXRe8L7SXWxoNsAYRhNQFARW/s1600/issue2.jpeg" width="90" /></a> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0LmhPchkuzG87UYQ7rz2wwdo8of8ZoJjcttB1kl_dMYLc-dWfvYTwIEesUjd-g5CHTo0nvbU6fYQXrIhdG_jZdJLSYSBFA-KhoStyQKpcVk7WoPxSSWb9E9wkbib7veo_SPwG0LdzgbY3TnSj8dJkZbzyy4XiGMiyZvtDOeQ5YSbRYq7Yt8CDx3VuEr-/s140/issue3.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="140" data-original-width="96" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0LmhPchkuzG87UYQ7rz2wwdo8of8ZoJjcttB1kl_dMYLc-dWfvYTwIEesUjd-g5CHTo0nvbU6fYQXrIhdG_jZdJLSYSBFA-KhoStyQKpcVk7WoPxSSWb9E9wkbib7veo_SPwG0LdzgbY3TnSj8dJkZbzyy4XiGMiyZvtDOeQ5YSbRYq7Yt8CDx3VuEr-/s1600/issue3.jpeg" width="96" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjo_4hzM8DWakFc_8etxMLqJIYUX86DEvROODWLrS7MINzj0wLDDzTWJ8sUNUPCEz70pxr_SaN6vu3cQmZhKVdlt-uORmA85nzVtiFDPLF_sDav9ylahrE1BNJWXNiT9gNfOET2gesKgE4X5Aix_ZM1uOJshVQbJVQUrYLUByEKaXkrLyX3kh_JseNh_P/s128/issue4.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="128" data-original-width="90" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjo_4hzM8DWakFc_8etxMLqJIYUX86DEvROODWLrS7MINzj0wLDDzTWJ8sUNUPCEz70pxr_SaN6vu3cQmZhKVdlt-uORmA85nzVtiFDPLF_sDav9ylahrE1BNJWXNiT9gNfOET2gesKgE4X5Aix_ZM1uOJshVQbJVQUrYLUByEKaXkrLyX3kh_JseNh_P/s1600/issue4.jpeg" width="90" /></a></div><br /></div><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Issue 1 was reviewed by Bold Monkey here: <a href="https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2017/12/new-release-edited-by-brenton-booth.html" style="color: purple;">https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2017/12/new-release-edited-by-brenton-booth.html</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU">In November 2022 Booth initially opened his blog to the poets who had previously appeared in his anthologies. You will find terrific work on the blog by Alan Caitlin, Catfish McDaris, Ryan Quinn Flanagan, Wendy Rainey, Matt Borczon, Mather Schneider and others. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU">Booth has now opened his blog to general submissions: <b>theasylumfloor@gmail.com</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-align: left;">Purchase Brenton Booth’s terrific poetry collection </span><i style="font-family: Cambria; text-align: left;">Bash the Keys Until They Scream </i><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-align: left;">here</span><i style="font-family: Cambria; text-align: left;">:</i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bash-Keys-Until-They-Scream/dp/1926860624" style="color: purple; font-family: Cambria; text-align: left;">https://www.amazon.com/Bash-Keys-Until-They-Scream/dp/1926860624</a></div>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-41937321556324375712023-12-01T18:34:00.002+11:002023-12-02T20:06:48.370+11:00Introducing Radhika Soni<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnDeatZ60oJkTRI0L7WObX5i7eLA6dMlGxngmbVXLxLsKqRwEFfuQDZPJlTCj5gxDpYRV-Rcwect_74EiOqbl9fSdPPJp0qb9PNHAzWfiFMYR9UVLjc8PdEMmL6eO3NWAZx83RsT22YPedEynKparsnn1xwvf4g80vcGlSCU9v0JLzdw44XKOaCxkfZpj8/s1600/R.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnDeatZ60oJkTRI0L7WObX5i7eLA6dMlGxngmbVXLxLsKqRwEFfuQDZPJlTCj5gxDpYRV-Rcwect_74EiOqbl9fSdPPJp0qb9PNHAzWfiFMYR9UVLjc8PdEMmL6eO3NWAZx83RsT22YPedEynKparsnn1xwvf4g80vcGlSCU9v0JLzdw44XKOaCxkfZpj8/s320/R.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p> </p><blockquote style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><p dir="ltr"><b>The Chalice Of Lov</b>e</p><p dir="ltr">Your kiss has washed away like soil in a flood,<br />Your tender words, distant rumbles of a retreating train;<br />The letters you wrote with a quill dipped in blood, <br />Flutter like stray leaves against my window pane;<br />Your vows have retreated like an ebbing tide;<br />Our sunny grove stands shrouded in lament;<br />Your silhouette has faded with the eventide,<br />The chalice of love lies empty and spent.<br /><br /></p><p dir="ltr"><br /></p><p dir="ltr"><b>Echoes of Departure</b></p><p dir="ltr">The swallows fly South when harsh winds blow<br />But I stay here, with nowhere to go;<br />Wish I could be windborne and free,<br />Or float like driftwood out to sea.</p><p dir="ltr">The vacant boughs of willows mourn<br />Lamenting love's brief sojourn;<br />The sun leaps and drowns in the west<br />While this sorrow lingers in my chest.</p><p dir="ltr">Like wisps of smoke my days dissipate,<br />While winter's viols patiently wait<br />For spring to melt their frosted strings,<br />So the strains may soar upon love's wings.</p><p dir="ltr">As the lights flicker in the darkening sky,<br />I pine and ponder, heave a sigh;<br />Why is parting long yet love so brief,<br />Dwelling forever in towers of grief?<br /><br /></p><p dir="ltr"><br /></p><p dir="ltr"><b>Stop all the Clocks</b> </p><p dir="ltr">Stop all the clocks, stop all humdrum,<br />Silence the warblers, their song and hum;<br />Bid the sun to just stand by<br />And the moon to remain in the starless sky.</p><p dir="ltr">He was my dusk, he was my dawn,<br />Stop all the clocks, now he is gone;<br />Quiet the hymns, the evensong,<br />I thought love would last, but I was wrong.</p><p dir="ltr">Stop the earth, its constant spin,<br />Wring the brooks, subdue the din;<br />Draw the blackest drapes in the sky,<br />Tell every star to shut <u>its</u> eye.</p><p dir="ltr">Cover the hills in blackest shrouds,<br />Unleash the rain from the darkening clouds,<br />Scrape the rainbow, call truth a lie;<br />Prepare the coffin, let me die.<br /></p></div></div></div></div></blockquote><p><i> </i></p><p><i>(Title and poem inspired by W.H. Auden's poem)</i></p><blockquote style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><p dir="ltr"><br /></p><p dir="ltr"><b>As Golden Tresses Feather Through </b></p><p dir="ltr">As golden tresses feather through<br />And gently with the wind they swerve,<br />They kiss the earth as they bid adieu,<br />To the boughs that held their joy and verve.</p><p dir="ltr">The mist that's hung low since morn,<br />Rises and to the boughs it clings,<br />Like clouds' head resting all forlorn,<br />On hilltops where birds rest their wings.</p><p dir="ltr">Why somberly the eyes perceive<br />An auburn scene that autumn drew?<br />A beauty does the nature weave<br />As golden tresses feather through.<br /></p><p dir="ltr"><br /></p><p dir="ltr"><b>A Solitary Spring's Melody </b></p><p dir="ltr">The Tulip tree has grown new leaves,<br />Springtime has kissed its boughs;<br />Snow has forfeited the slumbering lakes<br />As a rift in clouds' golden ray allows.</p><p dir="ltr">The moon a pendant now resplendent,<br />The winds murmur and saunter by;<br />The misty nights hasten and flee<br />As tiny boats on the ocean ply.</p><p dir="ltr">All of nature sprightly and joyous,<br />Bird songs reverb of the thrush and lark;<br />Spring has adorned each nook and crevice<br />Except my heart vacant and stark.</p></div></div></div></div></blockquote><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><div><br /></div><div><div><blockquote style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><i>Bio:</i></div><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><i><br /></i></div><div dir="auto"><i>Radhika Soni resides in India and writes Poetry to find harmony in life. She graduated with Honours in English and loves to read and write poetry. She is greatly influenced and inspired by the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Frost, Pablo Neruda, W.H. Auden and William Butler Yeats to name a few. She loves nature walks and rises early to feel inspired with the morning star and create new rhymes. </i></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-27996644651432403922023-11-12T19:23:00.001+11:002023-11-12T19:23:24.823+11:00Shamik Banerjee: Six New Formalist Poems<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6XIPMXj7YwFV57q4Wod40yC0SJFFw2QfSt25yA3YNHWjLweek_ZZ5jO4Q-7KFVBPbVEXRA_ylEKac-H74IGlRxsivfeeHUas36Efd5QkOhkSRNkg86q6hHGJ9O3SmySRQh-eK_fcPYSXWSgk06PQPhYoR3TISgvMpoC_QYggZ2KrcOymvEs0qtQOSeW-j/s577/Shamik.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="433" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6XIPMXj7YwFV57q4Wod40yC0SJFFw2QfSt25yA3YNHWjLweek_ZZ5jO4Q-7KFVBPbVEXRA_ylEKac-H74IGlRxsivfeeHUas36Efd5QkOhkSRNkg86q6hHGJ9O3SmySRQh-eK_fcPYSXWSgk06PQPhYoR3TISgvMpoC_QYggZ2KrcOymvEs0qtQOSeW-j/s320/Shamik.jpeg" width="240" /></a></b></div><b><br /><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Our Home's Roof: A Rondel</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Fair Luna, paintress of the night,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Employs her brush with polished skill<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Upon our quadrate roof to fill<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">It with the colours cream and white.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Men viewing from skyscrapers might<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Deem it a pink sheet—such a thrill!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Fair Luna, paintress of the night,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Employs her brush with polished skill.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">This roof looks pocked to naked sight;<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Therefore, it takes the shielding spill<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Of moon-made hues (like man's strong will<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">to paint his griefs with laughter bright).<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Fair Luna, paintress of the night,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Employs her brush with polished skill.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">The Pebble's Testimony </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">My home and haunt are on this road,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Beneath the smoky clouds;<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Each day, I meet the pleading feet<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Of berserk, breakneck crowds.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Some loader put me in his van,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Left here amid the flanks<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Devoid of scenes—the rural greens,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">The rills, and riverbanks.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">At day, this road becomes a place<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Of gruff, harrassing blaring<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">With none to sing a hymn and bring<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Relief from my despairing;<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Although the public treads on here,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">It's filled with lonliness—<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">A shrub and oak, my only folk,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Bring ease and merriness;<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">I chat with them throughout the day<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">About a balmy breeze;<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Oh! how we long to be among<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Wide orchards full of trees.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">The surly cars run over me,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Displace me from the spot<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">(Far from my mates) to grits and slates<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">And there I lie distraught<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Until midday when schoolboys come,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Make me their ball, kick! pace!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Then as they prance, I get the chance<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">To reach my former place.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">When twilight's mantle slowly drops<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">And skies are turning brown,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">That time, we three, relaxingly,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Behold this dimming town.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">The early hours of the eve<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">We calmly spend at last,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">But late at night there is a fright<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">When lorries trundle fast,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">For once a reckless driver had<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Collided with a whelp,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">But did not care to aid it there<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Or stop to call for help—<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Poor soul, who tried to cross the road,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Was soon deprived of breath,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Remorseless, he set out to flee<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">And left it to its death.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Unwillingly, I had to watch<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Its red, convulsive self;<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">I saw its strife to gain back life<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">But could not move myself:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Thenceforth, I've praised the sunlight more,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Begged it for longer days<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">For then at least, a helpless beast<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Can ward off such a phase.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">The Nocturnal's Sonnet </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Lone Glowworm, come! perchance with you and me<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Might Somnus will forever be displeased,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Unlike the rest He amplects tenderly;<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Come from your withe, we'll have our loneness eased.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Sit on my desk and watch the sophic moon<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">For years which has been bards' device of love,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Or scintillate your lantern to entune<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">With sparks sent by your kindred stars above.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">With you I learned to not resent the ones<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Who draw Sleep's breaths for I can watch the Dawn<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Break from the clouds, and think: <i>when closed has Sun's<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i>Work and all from their duties have withdrawn,<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i>Then you, the stars and moon illume the sky,<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i>So, who will write Night's beauty if not I?<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i> </i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">A Dispute</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">My noontime nap got wasted by the noise<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">From my old neighbour's room. Something had stirred<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">A clash between two men. One's grating voice<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Was spewing spite. From what I overheard,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">(Placing my ear upon the plaster's dent)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Their barney was about the housing rent.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Man 1: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">It cannot be 8000, twat! Rethink<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">and calculate again. Do not miscount!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">I've loaned you many times for <i>tharra</i>drink<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">and <i>Bhang</i>. Have you forgotten now? Discount<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">their prices right away from my account!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Man 2: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">I am beholden to you and I swear<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">I'll liquidate the arrears. But, you see,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">being a concierge, my only care<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">is to obey the landlord's orders. He<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">will listen to your grievances. Not me!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Man 1:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">We both know he's a scrooge who'll not reduce<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">a dime. Why don't you talk to him instead?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">You've been his true-blue chap for years. So use<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">this boon to speak for me! But, oh! you're fed<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">with fattening hauteur! Isn't that, bighead?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Man 2:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">I might as well be brusque and rough like you,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">But there's no gain in wrangling with a prole<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Who's loutish and ill-bred. It's better to<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Pass over such a sleaze than have my soul<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Turn pungent from his plaguy folderol.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Man 1:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Keep spatting on. It's finks like you who turn<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Their backs on pals. It's numbskulls like you whose<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Contentions are feckless. Wish I could spurn<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Your pleas for cash from me, or at least choose<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">To demean you those nights you'd come for booze.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Man 2:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">My mother says, "In monetary matters,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Even your very kin and chums will show<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Their true colours—won't mind if you're in tatters."<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">And you are just a renter here, so<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">I won't be startled if you turn my foe.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">A pin-drop silence filled the air. I thought:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Years of friendship were wrecked for currency.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">While readying for bedtime, my ears caught<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Songs from his room......a shindig probably?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Curious, I peeked through his doorjamb's chinks:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">A moment's feud was sorted over drinks.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>Word Meanings:</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i>Tharra Drink: an Indian alcoholic drink<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><i>Bhang: Cannabis </i><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Thoughts on Marriage </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">I've heard all say, 'Troth one whose beauty's mild-<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">The sweeter flowers are bethronged by bees,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">O'er joy and rapture one who worthens peace<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">And assays not to have just jewels piled.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">I'll look for one who perks up like a child<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">'Pon sighting Robins nesting on the trees,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Whose verve for beinghood does more increase<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">To have a line or two of verse compiled,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Who knows the trueness of tranquility<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Does fruiten best when dwelled a simpler life,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">That God alone and for His will should be<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">The cause and goal of every human strife,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">That flesh is false and soul's the verity,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">I'll lay 'fore her the ask to be my wife.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><b style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">What Role Should We Assign to Mithoo?</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">One moment here, one moment there,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">How fleetly you glide through the air!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Bird, tell me, what amuses you:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">My home's decor, the outer view,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Or flower boxes everywhere;<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">My sweet Mithoo! My sweet Mithoo!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Sometimes upon my shoulder, or<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Beside the frontyard's boulder, or<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Atop the davenport, you stay<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">To entertain throughout the day<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">My little family of four.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">O' Popinjay! O' Popinjay!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Should we build you a citadel?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">A tiny, cozy, straw-made cell?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Or, crown you as our mighty tsar<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">And set your kingdom on the spar<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Where you will always gladly dwell?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">O' great sardar! O' great sardar!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Or, would you like to be the one<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Who'd greet the first rays of the sun,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Flit through my bedroom every dawn<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">To cry out, "Wake up!" on and on?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Should this be finalized and done?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">O' windborne fawn! O' windborne fawn!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">But I think you should be a nice<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Caroler who could fill our eyes<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">With joy and tears each day and night<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">By warbling notes both strong and light<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Of love and loss and sad goodbyes.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Bird of Delight! Bird of Delight!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Compose! Compose that sweet refrain<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Once vocalized by dear Lorraine;<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">When I'm in sorrow, sing to me<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Her sweet hypnotic melody;<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">Although in vain, although in vain,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.866666793823242px; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">For now it will make sadness flee.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bio: Shamik Banerjee is a young poet from India. When he is not writing, he can be found strolling the hills surrounding his homestead. Some of his poems are forthcoming in The Hoogly Review, The Metaphysical Review and Dreich, to name a few.</div><p><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-37292277987540122482023-11-07T18:17:00.006+11:002023-11-08T11:43:06.332+11:00George Anderson: Grey-Headed Flying Foxes<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfsOlnSqx9H_NyDk3atd9CINV9dcvsnmc0qnQsY5klZ9LGZ1fwj-VhJpSp9JiFrMTQTZwVe3hIHATn_0IyaLUaUMbTvMew12K1n2QGklxHmiF05TRaGDrRHx6GSs4Sz0z302bI89rsdaKb6rNfdny1_aB2PH008ap9Y9jSgC90arzURvA9yACV4fCKr5BS/s3264/batsbest%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfsOlnSqx9H_NyDk3atd9CINV9dcvsnmc0qnQsY5klZ9LGZ1fwj-VhJpSp9JiFrMTQTZwVe3hIHATn_0IyaLUaUMbTvMew12K1n2QGklxHmiF05TRaGDrRHx6GSs4Sz0z302bI89rsdaKb6rNfdny1_aB2PH008ap9Y9jSgC90arzURvA9yACV4fCKr5BS/s320/batsbest%20copy.jpg" width="240" /></a></b></div><b><br /><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;">Grey-Headed Flying Foxes</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;">It should have been a portend, of sorts-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;">when the bats first congregated<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;">in their tens of thousands over the Northern Illawarra <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;">in a prelude to the massive bushfires<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;">along the east coast on New Year’s Eve.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;">Every evening about 7<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;">they arrive like messengers of doom<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;">circling the skies and nesting in the tall Blackbutt </span><span style="font-family: Garamond;">gums </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">and Turpentine trees </span><span style="font-family: Garamond;">above our homes.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Garamond;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">The poem was first published in Linked Verse 001 by Laughing Ronin Press (August 2023).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhODBeA8VjsSmQhLWxfJoG_ufHY59MAiqR6NZ39Op2Wy8A8maiaUe-ZUClW-riiMQgFukAwlIRw18y6oQnwWQPO3rdCRkDIikisbU9IwXSdsPQ5jeceilflREv5Px0wWCC446nkmve8oo3VBPsfYl6rIpmySPEtt0YuffQIUWzSRvcd-MP9Jrq_xL6FqZtd/s260/laughing.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhODBeA8VjsSmQhLWxfJoG_ufHY59MAiqR6NZ39Op2Wy8A8maiaUe-ZUClW-riiMQgFukAwlIRw18y6oQnwWQPO3rdCRkDIikisbU9IwXSdsPQ5jeceilflREv5Px0wWCC446nkmve8oo3VBPsfYl6rIpmySPEtt0YuffQIUWzSRvcd-MP9Jrq_xL6FqZtd/s16000/laughing.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; text-align: left;">Buy the book here: </span><a href="http://www.laughingroninprss.com/" style="color: purple; font-family: Cambria; text-align: left;">www.laughingroninprss.com</a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">photo: George Anderson (click to enlarge)</span></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-1506741851025972112023-11-07T17:03:00.003+11:002023-11-07T17:28:28.197+11:00New Poems: Sushant Thapa<p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXAfGjPkPsADD5AlG2S6h8vRpFa9u14tZzDbiZD8CNR1iouUKb00zNllEEDhLUlff6Xc0oFlAG-YPrlKXCPT50twrzjii7xRU54aWwKsVDtEB8xZxojYox_gZRiF6uWqt66l_W1BJ1LdrSZ96vXTTLuRJNUlLH_cS9GGUnmVZwE8idHUtUtMk4PvwdUvE/s960/New%20picture%20of%20Sushant.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="953" data-original-width="960" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikXAfGjPkPsADD5AlG2S6h8vRpFa9u14tZzDbiZD8CNR1iouUKb00zNllEEDhLUlff6Xc0oFlAG-YPrlKXCPT50twrzjii7xRU54aWwKsVDtEB8xZxojYox_gZRiF6uWqt66l_W1BJ1LdrSZ96vXTTLuRJNUlLH_cS9GGUnmVZwE8idHUtUtMk4PvwdUvE/s320/New%20picture%20of%20Sushant.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 16pt;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;">Worn-out Blues </span></p></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">My faded blue color headphone, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">A tribute to musical spring. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The whiteness of a tooth fairy<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">That my niece welcomes <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">After she pulls her weak tooth. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The faded color of my home, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">My drawings left un-kissed by the sun. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I see the wine glass, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Empty beside your absence<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">My heart breaks <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Like a glass barrel of wine. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I chant evening prayers <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">To sail the forgotten empire <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And make it land on holy grounds <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Of essence. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">My worn-out blues <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Makes me an outlaw<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Living in pocketed dreams. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I walk on the street <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Reading headlines <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">From bookstores' Newspaper <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Worn-out is the news of life <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">With no smiling jazz for <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">People to amuse themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;">Hopeful in Death <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">When the time<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Sings its last melody <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Let me not be grounded. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">My grave will play <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The music of departure <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">In hope and it will <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Flower a dandelion. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I will touch the sky <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">When my heart will sprout <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And flower like a <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Cotton cloud. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">My maple leaves <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Will decorate your lawn<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And sway not in shyness. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I am hopeful of death, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">When I cease, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">These things will remind <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">You of my life, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Like my poems <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">That has sailed my life <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">In a boat of hope. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I searched for hope <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">My whole life. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Now, my death carries <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">A hopeful face. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">With this hopeful face, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I bid you adieu. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;">Words and Situation </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I still have the words, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Because I still have the night.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I am not leaving <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Like a figure of departure. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">My sailing days are over, and <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I have landed <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And will continue to be grounded <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">In philosophy <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">To understand why the town bell rings? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">When no one lives together, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Like a town <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Like a family<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And like a human heart <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Beating together. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">We are one and all<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">We are all in one,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">A representation is a part <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Of being. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">We share the same world, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">To soothe the agonies <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And erase the scars. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;">Stop Quoting Dostoyevsky <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">All your life gone in reading, and <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">You haven't written a word. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Your choice of words, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Your fingerprints on the paper <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Everything is non-existent <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Like your signature <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Missing from your newly unpublished book. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">All throughout the day, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">You played with the sun rays, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">A book in your hand. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">There is a saying, I read somewhere: "Stop Quoting Dostoyevsky, and explain yourself." <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">More poems by Sushant Thapa on BMR can be found here:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><a href="https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2023/08/featuring-sushant-thapa.html" style="color: #954f72; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2023/08/featuring-sushant-thapa.html</a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">© Sushant Thapa <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Biratnagar-13, Nepal <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><a name="_Hlk147998823"><em><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #19191a; font-size: 12pt;">Bio of the Poet: <b>Sushant Thapa</b>(born on 26th February, 1993) is a Nepalese poet from Biratnagar-13, Nepal who holds a Master’s degree in English literature from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. He has published five books of English poetry, namely: The Poetic Burden and Other Poems (Authorspress, New Delhi, 2020), Abstraction and Other Poems (Impspired, UK, 2021), Minutes of Merit (Haoajan, Kolkata, 2021), Love’s Cradle (World Inkers Printing and Publishing, New York, USA and Senegal, Africa, 2023) and Spontaneity: A New Name of Rhyme (Ambar Publication House, New Delhi, 2023). </span></em></a><em><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #19191a; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-61030266695384427502023-11-02T17:53:00.001+11:002023-11-02T17:53:39.072+11:00Double Book Launch: Peter Bakowsk/ Ken Bolton- Waldo’s Game & On Luck Street, 8 November in Melbourne <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjp-w3vfXqwM5FUmC1bPzfxOVkIvPlhV2kPJI_xWeny9vzITMxTf-3qPJv3YlUmWuZI2Qr3Y1qcbjG_PMYOaefk_VhkOhmJgb7v710YlC9eCXibqnlOwjlI0O92yr1TT3Cel2l9bV78im8AuSwCj23r7_6-ExMnW2ewu16b4mcTmH4_0EakcZOmx877dm7/s259/Bak.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjp-w3vfXqwM5FUmC1bPzfxOVkIvPlhV2kPJI_xWeny9vzITMxTf-3qPJv3YlUmWuZI2Qr3Y1qcbjG_PMYOaefk_VhkOhmJgb7v710YlC9eCXibqnlOwjlI0O92yr1TT3Cel2l9bV78im8AuSwCj23r7_6-ExMnW2ewu16b4mcTmH4_0EakcZOmx877dm7/s1600/Bak.jpeg" width="259" /></a></div><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt;">One of the first poets to be interviewed on Bold Monkey was Australian writer Peter Bakowski for his 2009 poetry book <i>Beneath Our Armour</i>: </span><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2010/11/book-review-peter-bakowski-beneath-our.html" style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2010/11/book-review-peter-bakowski-beneath-our.html</span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt;">He visited one of my senior class’s at the time and gave an inspiring talk on the art of writing poetry. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Peter Bakowski has teamed up once again with legendary poet Ken Bolton: </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Bolton" style="color: purple; font-size: 14pt;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Bolton</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt;">The dynamic poetry duo have previously published two books: THE ELSEWHERE VARIATION (2019) and NEARLY LUNCH (available on Amazon).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOIqbBNtN8uAhdY7U9HUk2RuZNLZTTaNYuZlUxtYnuihpfRN7D8j6bfBASBaqhk9qjdRMuzdct7OhbCe9Ga66SSp34s8xtd-c8SQBbSIiSBwcRxCp58BSEIsDwkn8BO_q-e51xYVtjv-cMswlweqI7ikL-wp7OZ3Scq9Ce8KogvBD_NnHYADQ9csnr55S0/s149/The%20Elsewhere%20Variations%202018.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="149" data-original-width="90" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOIqbBNtN8uAhdY7U9HUk2RuZNLZTTaNYuZlUxtYnuihpfRN7D8j6bfBASBaqhk9qjdRMuzdct7OhbCe9Ga66SSp34s8xtd-c8SQBbSIiSBwcRxCp58BSEIsDwkn8BO_q-e51xYVtjv-cMswlweqI7ikL-wp7OZ3Scq9Ce8KogvBD_NnHYADQ9csnr55S0/s1600/The%20Elsewhere%20Variations%202018.jpeg" width="90" /></a></div><br /><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWn1GKUnRm95XaR7VNO3eu1KhuG4f_r2zZdAQkN69FSlBdCpUk8qjB4tia7x7Cw1joFGZzg0APa-y1gNh6DVwl2t_nhh2CpszHwNY0qy5b1SsLquJ44i4p4UFv2JYUZweqF57MRzC9rCKM6zXS6tlQ4X8UIth5B_Kol9kuRBigvLECr8O5gLx-rKeonK5f/s149/Nearly%20Lunch2021.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="149" data-original-width="90" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWn1GKUnRm95XaR7VNO3eu1KhuG4f_r2zZdAQkN69FSlBdCpUk8qjB4tia7x7Cw1joFGZzg0APa-y1gNh6DVwl2t_nhh2CpszHwNY0qy5b1SsLquJ44i4p4UFv2JYUZweqF57MRzC9rCKM6zXS6tlQ4X8UIth5B_Kol9kuRBigvLECr8O5gLx-rKeonK5f/s1600/Nearly%20Lunch2021.jpeg" width="90" /></a></span></div><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; text-align: left;">Here’s the invite:</span></div></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;">“Helen, Ophelia and Peter are excited to invite you and your friends to the DOUBLE launch of two new full-length poetry books:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 22pt;">WALDO’S GAME</span></b><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;"></span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;">and </span><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 22pt;">ON LUCK STREET</span></b><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;">written by PETER BAKOWSKI and KEN BOLTON<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;">The DOUBLE launch starts at 6.45pm on Wednesday,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;">8 November at East Melbourne Library, 122 George Street,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;">East Melbourne 3002.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;">If you are unable to attend, either or both books <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;">can be mailed. Each book is $22.95 with $3.60 per book <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt;">for postage Australia-wide. Contact pbakowski54@gmail.com”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-91787809544840927322023-10-31T18:26:00.000+11:002023-10-31T18:26:39.796+11:00New Poems: John Grey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB7_wW7kmi_7-KnOV5aq5nAPRHxR24ImJX23f6hG2iHO7U3nCBGGRxl140Hby61ux2-mEslxMp2mhwtMYpw4lx1nXVPwEVqwGEPPZh0_AbT8K0VznEmhsgrZXmYV4mfixk-caWl48gNqNeS2ct9M2joa6LQY46hZ8ZeHB2TaMns6JXr_RWcE6Muh3bNXko/s213/John%20Grey.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="212" data-original-width="213" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB7_wW7kmi_7-KnOV5aq5nAPRHxR24ImJX23f6hG2iHO7U3nCBGGRxl140Hby61ux2-mEslxMp2mhwtMYpw4lx1nXVPwEVqwGEPPZh0_AbT8K0VznEmhsgrZXmYV4mfixk-caWl48gNqNeS2ct9M2joa6LQY46hZ8ZeHB2TaMns6JXr_RWcE6Muh3bNXko/s1600/John%20Grey.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">IN ARIZONA DESERT COUNTRY</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Pebbles roll underfoot.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The earth has a deep red burn.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">My sweat is half-dust, half-liquid.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The sun is setting on Arizona, as elsewhere,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">but with uninterrupted shadow <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">from here to the distant mountains.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">And a gleaming gray lizard<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">pops up suddenly atop a rock,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">head darts this way, that,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">before disappearing.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">That creature knows how to survive<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">this rough-hewn landscape.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Doesn’t have a car.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Has no need to drive <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">hundreds of miles of flat road.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Whether stranger from the east<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">or unwitting insect,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">the lizard let’s life come to it.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Then it observes, cogitates,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and reacts accordingly.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">My presence is worthy of no more<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">than a furtive glance.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">My journey is a succession <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">of just such furtive glances.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">THE OCEAN DELIVERS</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Body washed up on the beach,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">blue-skinned, hollow-eyed,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">but recognizably human.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Crowd gathers, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">in curious horror<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">at the sight of <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">wide-opened mouth,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">clenched fists,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">legs blotchy,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">stinking of salt.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">On a clump of wet sand,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">the rigid silence of a being <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">so analogous to ourselves –<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">how absurd and terrifying. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">IMAGES</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">You look long and hard<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">into the mirror.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">You struggle to get beyond<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">simple reflection.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">You’re pondering <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">how you would feel<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">about this woman <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">if you were someone <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">other than yourself.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">You pass her on the sidewalk.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Do you say “hello”?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">She’s seated alone<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">in a coffee shop.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Do you plump down<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">in the vacant chair at her table?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">And what if you’re a man?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Is she someone you’d really <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">like to get to know better?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">And how would she react<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">when she saw you?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Your mouth twitches awkwardly.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">It’s not easy <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">convincing a stranger to smile.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">WHO ARE YOU?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I awaken from a kind of amnesia,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">out of fog into who you are,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">as if my eyes, my mind, are giving birth to you<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and now must find a name out of what I see,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">what I remember. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">It must be the name I’ve said ten thousand times before,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">when crying out for help, or sidetracked by desire,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">a name, so familiar to my tongue, it can’t help repeating itself,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">over and over and over, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">like a thin invisible wire extended across the room,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">with my mouth at one end, your ear at the other.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I’m lying in bed, so this really is an awakening.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I’ve been waylaid by dreams with other people in them.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Last night, my subconscious sprouted wings <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and soared above the city skyscrapers.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">It was back in the classroom where a teacher<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">threatened me with a long cane<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">for not doing my homework. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">And you’re by the door, <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">a woman in ordinary circumstances,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">on the way to the bathroom,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">or downstairs to make coffee.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Wait. I believe I have it. You’re Gale.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">It was easier than I thought.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">No psychoanalysis.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">No hypnotist.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">No sessions with a therapist.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">No need to relearn the language.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I can fly in short bursts.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I really did do my homework.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">THE GUY </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">left the army<br />back in ’97,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">dishonorable discharge<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">sorry sarge<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">about the two black eyes<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and that it didn’t <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">make a man of me –<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">ask around –<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I was a man<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">even before I ever went in –<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">it was in no place USA<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">where I shot out<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">the stained-glass window of the church –<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I was aiming at the priest<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and I got kicked right outta the barroom<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and landed on a police report<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">which is why I punched out<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">the first guy I ran into<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">when they let me go next morning<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">with a caution –<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and I racked up debt<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">wrote bad checks<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">or<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">as I said to the cop<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">it ain’t like I’m running with the wrong crowd –<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I am the wrong crowd –<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">so come on over<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">you can’t miss me<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I’m the guy <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">with the tattooed chest<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">the earring<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and the beer in my hand –<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">THE GUY </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">for as long<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">as I’m addicted to something<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">then I’ve got unfinished business –<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">make that Qanon<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">make that coke<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">make that uppers and downers<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and guns<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and violence –<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">and, of course,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">the little girl<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">who calls me<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">“daddy”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Read more of John Grey's work here on Bold Monkey: <a href="https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2023/04/featuring-john-grey.html" style="color: purple; font-family: Cambria;">https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2023/04/featuring-john-grey.html</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a name="m_-2573673311106790145__Hlk126331880" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in New World Writing, Santa Fe Literary Review, and Lost Pilots. Latest books, ”Between Two Fires”, “Covert” and “Memory Outside The Head” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in the Seventh Quarry, La Presa and California Quarterly..</span></a></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-70036159210309634482023-10-15T13:10:00.001+11:002023-10-16T15:08:53.367+11:00New Book of Poetry: Joseph Ridgwell VICTORIA (2023) Wallingford Press, 44 pages<h2 style="border: none; break-after: avoid-page; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a name="_Toc1"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a name="_Toc1"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD-d0q0-ddlLV1bh2jCm7AKSkwCCU3-ry69ysopIVX_GVbCvPczGaC73-ZhxRsfucBLolW3Tl3sjeb4hgq6wjg1wCi9AMJDWfQ9oFoAOMd55AldOeRsONScX7nlfnYaZFeU9zzZZq4Y4pS4fzU_wPzqTdK49ty0IpR-17SVTvNDNnzgsQev7FyDgXYzbyD/s400/victoria.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD-d0q0-ddlLV1bh2jCm7AKSkwCCU3-ry69ysopIVX_GVbCvPczGaC73-ZhxRsfucBLolW3Tl3sjeb4hgq6wjg1wCi9AMJDWfQ9oFoAOMd55AldOeRsONScX7nlfnYaZFeU9zzZZq4Y4pS4fzU_wPzqTdK49ty0IpR-17SVTvNDNnzgsQev7FyDgXYzbyD/s320/victoria.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></h2><div><a name="_Toc1" style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33);"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><i>Victoria</i> is a slim book of pandemic-era love poems from English writer Joe Ridgwell. It is a handmade, limited edition of 33 copies. It is edited, designed, printed and bound by Mike Mahoney. Art by Bri Barton.</span></a></div><div><a name="_Toc1" style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33);"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></a></div><div><a name="_Toc1" style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33);"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a name="_Toc1" style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33);"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUxDDlABQx9pEwWG25DZbIqC_HlWtkd-g0n3_WN9tLX1Ke12ZiAiYVr5lNWlGORrgWUZOK50vgbzY_dTWXYyHAg2N4YXSu5PCdax4eXdBq_como6Ts-V23KdBEOJ8volwAUMp6QoD5oQzRFmTTHuWyOxAhN4flp7rez2_BUMk1dU5pdZkEF4ODV5zzH9Q/s168/victiria%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="126" data-original-width="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUxDDlABQx9pEwWG25DZbIqC_HlWtkd-g0n3_WN9tLX1Ke12ZiAiYVr5lNWlGORrgWUZOK50vgbzY_dTWXYyHAg2N4YXSu5PCdax4eXdBq_como6Ts-V23KdBEOJ8volwAUMp6QoD5oQzRFmTTHuWyOxAhN4flp7rez2_BUMk1dU5pdZkEF4ODV5zzH9Q/s16000/victiria%202.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><a name="_Toc1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">In the prelude to <i>Victoria</i>, Joseph Ridgwell writes, "</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">So here I am. It’s 2023 and I’m 50 years of age. And yet I’ve never grown up and people say I look younger than ever. Of course they could be lying. Whatever. All I know is that many years ago I decided to fictionalise my entire life. And that’s just what I’ve done. And what is real and what isn’t real? There’s probably more truth in what I’ve written than anyone will ever realise. I really did all these things. And now to Victoria, can you fall in love at 50? Of course you can and I did. And this little book of poetry is testament to that. Victoria has brown hair and brown eyes and a light brown stare."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-weight: normal;">Asked about the backstory to the book Ridgwell says, "</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-weight: normal;">It's a bizarre story George. I'd been seeing Victoria (not her real name) on a casual basis for a few years. Nothing serious. Then, last xmas, my mum handed me a box of letters, handwritten ones, dating back from 1985 right up to 1997, the year the internet and email came into mainstream use. The letters stop at 1997. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"There were a bunch of letters from my first love - Victoria! Her posh parents had banned her from seeing me, a they thought I was a bad influence (i.e not good enough for their middle-class daughter) Anyway, I made the mistake of reading one where Victoria declares her undying love for me and even threatens to kill herself if I ever leave her. Pure teenage angst. She was 17, I was 18.</span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"And then boom, I fell head over heels in love with Victoria. But did I??? The shrinks would have a field day, I’d be a test case. Now, looking back I don’t think I did fall in love with Victoria, but some long repressed feelings from over 30 years ago were suddenly unleashed after I read the letter, and I transferred those feelings over to Victoria. (Never told 'Victoria' about the letter btw).</span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"The feelings lasted around a year, and were acute, I lost a stone and half in weight (love sick) but the feelings then suddenly disappeared. I stopped seeing Victoria, and started seeing someone else. </span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"So, is that the end of the story, I’m not sure. Only time will tell."</span></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Here is a selection from the book of 26 poems posted with the permission of the poet:</span></span></div><div><a name="_Toc1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></a></div><div><a name="_Toc1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></a></div><div><a name="_Toc1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></a></div><div><a name="_Toc1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></a></div><div><a name="_Toc1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><b>Gates Of Hell</b></span></a></div><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"> </span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;">Love is real</span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;">Love is a sickness </span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;">You can go crazy for a while</span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;">Start doing things you wouldn’t normally do</span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;">Act out of character</span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;">Get a little paranoid</span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;">Love is real alright</span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;">And most people don’t know what love is</span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;">Because they’ve never been in love</span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;">In fact when I think about it</span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;">Love is fifty thousand bats rushing blindly from the gates of hell</span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;">And headed straight for you.</span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></p><p align="left" class="Heading" style="border: none; break-after: avoid-page; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 28pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a name="_Toc11"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Witchcraft</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">I’ve got it bad</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">All the classic symptoms</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Loss of appetite</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Insomnia</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Obsessive thought patterns</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">It’s a wonder how they do it</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">The female</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">But they can</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">And that’s where their</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Real power lies</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Not in feminist emancipation</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Or girl empowerment</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">But in good old-fashioned</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">And deadly </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Witchcraft.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></p><p align="left" class="Heading" style="border: none; break-after: avoid-page; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 28pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a name="_Toc21"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Love In The Morning</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">No time to lose</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Strip clothes</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">And leap into bed</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">And then lying together</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Kissing in the shadows</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Your tongue my tongue</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Your legs entwined with mine</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyBA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Our hearts beating madly.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></p><p align="left" class="Heading" style="border: none; break-after: avoid-page; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 28pt; font-weight: bold; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnD-9O0nHKH-ON7m76QddmlFrxbLO8HJSbkrOXdopfLABzIXLIBWLJT2i9ZfGzSUFwGQpIq6dXFVLP4oxNDjmTOWcgeZjiQ9SvJjWZrj5x2vLTxjiaGz9wwDgNi0RMRwNoN45GQIMLGod-ZXLlE-p6VWw_s1O6Frch7emnLkLCgali6AxrMCht8cmgrVyP/s205/joe.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="205" data-original-width="154" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnD-9O0nHKH-ON7m76QddmlFrxbLO8HJSbkrOXdopfLABzIXLIBWLJT2i9ZfGzSUFwGQpIq6dXFVLP4oxNDjmTOWcgeZjiQ9SvJjWZrj5x2vLTxjiaGz9wwDgNi0RMRwNoN45GQIMLGod-ZXLlE-p6VWw_s1O6Frch7emnLkLCgali6AxrMCht8cmgrVyP/s1600/joe.jpeg" width="154" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p align="center" class="BodyBAA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Joseph Ridgwell</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="BodyBAA" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Joseph Ridgwell is a working class author who was raised on a council estate in East Lo</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">n</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">don. After leaving school Ridgwell worked a series of menial jobs. He has worked as a butchers boy, apprentice upholsterer, tile warehouseman, common labourer, toy salesman, carpet salesman, hospital porter, peanut vendor, telesales, and various call centres. At nineteen he was stabbed in a bar brawl and decided to leave the UK, travel the world and learn how to write. Ridgwell has lived in Cuba, Mexico, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Belize and finally Thailand where he ran a bar. Since 2011 Ridgwell has resided in Sco</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">t</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">land.</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">In 2023 Ridgwell was long-listed for the Moniack Mhor International Writers Residency.</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">In 2021 Ridgwell was the recipient of a Royal Literary Society grant for Literary Merit.</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">In 2021 Ridgwell was the recipient of a Creative Scotland Arts Grant to write his latest no</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">v</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">el - The Island.</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">A collection of poetry - She Moves Through the Fair - was published by Kilmog Press in 2020</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Ridgwell Stories - published in June 2015 by New York’s Bottle of Smoke Press - was no</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">m</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">inated for a 2016 Pushcart Prize and long-listed for the 2016 Saboteur awards.</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">Ridgwell’s work has also appeared in numerous anthologies. Chiron Review, Abridged, Hanzir, Dwang, Tra Ver Sees, Push, Paper & Ink, Gustave, The Dawntreader, The Arsonist etc…</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="Default" style="border: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; font-size: 11pt;"><br clear="all" style="break-before: page;" /></span><span face="-webkit-standard" style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Also by Joseph Ridgwell<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">Where are the Rebels </span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2008)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">Load the Guns</span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2009)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">Last Days of the Cross</span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2009)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">Lost Elation </span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2010)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">Oswald’s Apartment</span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2010)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">Indonesia</span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2011)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">The Buddha Bar</span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2011)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">The Tsanta Expedition</span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2011)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">Fire Island</span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2012)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">The Famous Ice-Cream Run </span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2013)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">A Child of the Jago </span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2013)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">Cuba </span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2014)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">Ridgwell - Stories </span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2015)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">Burrito Deluxe</span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2015)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">Jamaica</span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2016)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">Mexico </span></i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">(2017)</span><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">The Beach Poems (2018)</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">The Cross (2018)</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">L’Exaltation Perdue (2019)</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">Ibiza (2019)</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">Wolf Star (2019)</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">She Moves Through the Fair (2020)</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;">The Heist & Other Tales (2021)</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="BodyA" style="border: none; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Baskerville; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></i></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="BodyC" style="border: none; font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU">Buy the book here: </span><a href="https://www.wallingfordpressbooks.com/product-page/victoria-by-joseph-ridgwell" style="color: purple;">https://www.wallingfordpressbooks.com/product-page/victoria-by-joseph-ridgwell</a></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-79578853578724474162023-10-12T20:30:00.002+11:002023-10-14T15:53:07.575+11:00New Poems: Sanjeev Sethi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP4IuoEaaHCX43r4SDnOPwH_YfxiEnfVyMmbR-664Rc9u5sDaPygY4dG7h9wPk3Z_Ak2vVjs7GRqlwO17ua_BQDFrsdHsI-KWuL-xwXrPvNSQI6nFd5Z5DKRRyAEUUm7MihKI0Q06lN7UhtpH2UiUi-X9kHEmcIwkypboOuJAGHN0d3Kax08n1qDJNxpQD/s5184/Sanjeev.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5184" data-original-width="3456" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP4IuoEaaHCX43r4SDnOPwH_YfxiEnfVyMmbR-664Rc9u5sDaPygY4dG7h9wPk3Z_Ak2vVjs7GRqlwO17ua_BQDFrsdHsI-KWuL-xwXrPvNSQI6nFd5Z5DKRRyAEUUm7MihKI0Q06lN7UhtpH2UiUi-X9kHEmcIwkypboOuJAGHN0d3Kax08n1qDJNxpQD/s320/Sanjeev.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 13pt; text-align: left;"><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 13pt; text-align: left;"><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 13pt; text-align: left;">G</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">raph</span></span></b></div><div class="ydpc6acecb5yahoo-style-wrap"><div class="ydpc6acecb5signature"><div dir="ltr"><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr"><p class="ydp74916d68MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">Masochistic tendencies surface.</span><br /><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">I fix a rash of </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">Reels</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> to teem with</span><br /><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">couples who publicize their closeness.</span><br /><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">Does it help to follow a priest</span><br /><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">with no scruples?</span><br /><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> </span><br /><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">When we distance ourselves</span><br /><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">from portière</span><br /><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">of protocols</span><br /><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">we witness other pitfalls,</span><br /><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">newer</span> phizes.<br /> <br />Never test a relationship.<br />Rarely can it escape<br />an audit.<br />Excitement has an end:<br />Nub of temporal numbers.<span color="windowtext"></span></span></p><p class="ydp74916d68MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="ydp74916d68MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><b>Debacle</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">Behind the prepped ebullience, I grok <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">something I can’t locate words for<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">but I see it in the wounded,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">pushovers on their way <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">to the slammer <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">or during a perp walk. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">This bravado is like a boy <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">chasing his school bus <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">but missing it by a split second.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">Notice his smile <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">to no one in particular, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">perhaps to himself.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><b>Rap Sheet</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">Silence gargles its gravamen against</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">this or that specter. Attacks and</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">allegations against the others:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">Match us the most.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">Onymous criticism has gravitas;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">elseways, it's back-fence talk.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">In the mind's entrepot,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">these must be castaway.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">When withered flowers return</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">to the heart's courtyard,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">I collect them in a can</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">and prepare for potpourri.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Earnings</b></span></span></p><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">When not whining at the whelk <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">in my ring finger<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">echolalia hotfoots it to the edge <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">of a fresh idea, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">the mind is a happy stalker.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">The trees in my backyard <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">talk to me. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">They tell me things <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">I need to know. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">This enlarges the ambit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">Sometimes, I fall out <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">of my center. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">I’m callous and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">incapable of being<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">sensile even to myself.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">Every sentient being <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">is a cormorant <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">at some place or phase. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">Let us not be sanctimonious,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">dis those in its grip.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">If we were certain <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">there is no God<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">Karma or fate; <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">there would be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">a fair playing field. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">We surrender to the scud.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">In submission, invisible<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">florets within us, bud.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">At vale, the register signs:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">This is all we could muster</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><b>Versicle</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">Sexual magnetism</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">isn't elemental</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">to a comic's routine:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">The risqué is.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">The moon is not monogamous</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">like my own.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">I wish to grow a cover</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">on holm of your sway.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">Counsel from truthiness is all wet.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">Unmoistened angles</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">mushroom in logic.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">Tenuous links</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">cart their sinews.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">Its flip side is unfeigned.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">To an unwilling mind,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;">every interest is importunate.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-size: medium;">Find more on Sanjeev’s poetry on Bold Monkey here: <a href="https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2018/01/featuring-sanjeev-seth.html" style="color: purple;">https://georgedanderson.blogspot.com/2018/01/featuring-sanjeev-seth.html</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-style: normal;"><b>Sanjeev Sethi</b> has authored seven books of poetry. His latest is Wrappings in Bespoke (The Hedgehog Poetry Press, UK, August 2022).He has been published in over 30 countries.His poems have found a home in more than 400 journals, anthologies and online literary venues. He edited Dreich Planet #1, an anthology of Indian poets for Hybriddreich, Scotland in December 2022. he is recipient of the Ethos Literary Award 2022. He is the joint winner of the Full Fat Collection Competition-Deux, organised by Hedgehog Poetry Press, UK. In 2023, he won the First Prize in a Poetry Competition by the prestigious National Defence Academy, Pune, during its 75th anniversary in the "family members category." He lives in Mumbai, India.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;">X/ Twitter @sanjeevpoems3 || Instagram sanjeevsethipoems</span></p></div></div></div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-style: normal;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b> </b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b> </b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b> </b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: italic; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-72480396288480620912023-10-10T18:52:00.000+11:002023-10-10T18:52:30.643+11:00Martin Appleby- A Poem For John<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><i><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><i><span lang="EN-GB">WHEN YOU HEAR THE BELL<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><b><i><span lang="EN-GB">THERE'S NOWEHERE TO HIDE</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><i><span lang="EN-GB">for John D Robinson</span></i><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">You're the straightest shooter I know<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">able to craft the crispest, most succinct<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">lines I have ever read<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">You took a liking to me<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">and I am grateful for that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">I don't know what you saw in me<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">but I like to think that maybe it was a little of yourself<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">You have seen a lot<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">and you have been through even more<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">and survived it all<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">You have helped so many others<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">without expecting anything in return<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">In a world full of ego and hubris<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">you are a kind and selfless soul<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">and these words are the least I can offer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">not because you are my friend<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">but simply because they are all true<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">You may have heard the bell<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">but the fight is not over<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">the bell is about to sound for the second round<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">so get your chin down, get your gloves up<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB">and keep throwing that jab.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">A </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Note About the Poem</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I received this message today from Martin Appleby, "I don't know if you have heard through the grapevine, but our friend John D Robinson is currently very unwell. He had a massive brain aneurysm and is receiving treatment in hospital. He is on the road to recovery, but it is a long road. I wrote this poem for him, which I have attached, and figured Bold Monkey would be a good place to put it out." </span></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-52491929396104201342023-08-31T17:39:00.010+10:002023-10-28T16:50:35.136+11:00New poems: Rus Khomutoff<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXXa4CcDEtseYG-KFgs6wnti2laHQ9PELZJrVxNnnc6Wh3GlnAXiCHvdFmr8TqxJzGF9e5B7D5_5JLXJle05R-qyPIiWOWz_aXvTiYDc4dckihWcykm3Hl1-QqrmArARnHDw0EuAuCFIo5bMD5OGNCidDsea4yhG5SZt6oBTctodhRIzcuxx8Kx_LApQx/s400/Rus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEXXa4CcDEtseYG-KFgs6wnti2laHQ9PELZJrVxNnnc6Wh3GlnAXiCHvdFmr8TqxJzGF9e5B7D5_5JLXJle05R-qyPIiWOWz_aXvTiYDc4dckihWcykm3Hl1-QqrmArARnHDw0EuAuCFIo5bMD5OGNCidDsea4yhG5SZt6oBTctodhRIzcuxx8Kx_LApQx/s320/Rus.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgouG9DhesVCfg4tiRUgMevhNkAq4yfTQ6tHH6ZxjAYa-uUF29Na64gN2tj7xOrj-y3akb1VGiCmdfcvbK3q8lfAPNlQVeWiGMI1XfJpYF_h9LnrDg0UqEZ_JXkgdHU6_yQVK5QKFfm7gCWP6oePvuusimmnR8bilcxepVRueks4uuhDB5UJiSA7SfQ5zmu/s2000/THE%20TEMPTATION%20TO%20EXIST%20SINISTER%20FLOWER%20SWEET%20CHILD%20IN%20TIME%20YOU'LL%20SEE%20THE%20LINE%20THE%20LINE%20THAT'S%20DRAWN%20BETWEEN%20GOOD%20&%20BAD%20ATMOSPHERIC%20MEMORY%20BODY%20OF%20A%20FRONTIER%20THE%20SOUND%20OF%20SPACE%20OBSCENELY%20PHANTOM%20.png" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #04ff00; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #04ff00;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1545" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgouG9DhesVCfg4tiRUgMevhNkAq4yfTQ6tHH6ZxjAYa-uUF29Na64gN2tj7xOrj-y3akb1VGiCmdfcvbK3q8lfAPNlQVeWiGMI1XfJpYF_h9LnrDg0UqEZ_JXkgdHU6_yQVK5QKFfm7gCWP6oePvuusimmnR8bilcxepVRueks4uuhDB5UJiSA7SfQ5zmu/s320/THE%20TEMPTATION%20TO%20EXIST%20SINISTER%20FLOWER%20SWEET%20CHILD%20IN%20TIME%20YOU'LL%20SEE%20THE%20LINE%20THE%20LINE%20THAT'S%20DRAWN%20BETWEEN%20GOOD%20&%20BAD%20ATMOSPHERIC%20MEMORY%20BODY%20OF%20A%20FRONTIER%20THE%20SOUND%20OF%20SPACE%20OBSCENELY%20PHANTOM%20.png" width="247" /></span></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqV58PQquwTx_xZoaY2wM-e2EMtqlnjXFdxUMpCTbGfE5KaGXFRlXPN5Z4C92YoEW7uVk7UbSeVGeZ18YCDWaGL_khzbL4MdgVJNDbVKd_xKT_kp4Rxyv7zqJJzseBDaX-Sr1uhSJx9h3T85clduAJV9dNfui-hUjpjGHWidixOF8jqv68h4Nhb-SlLIO/s2000/YOU%20ASKED%20THE%20VOICE%20FOR%20MORE%20EXISTENCE%20FIRST%20LIGHT%20FAITH%20FLY%20ZERO%20TO%20SIXTY%20ABYSS%20&%20SONGMY%20RESURRECTION%20TALK%20TO%20ME%20LIKE%20A%20FORGOTTEN%20CIGARETTEBIRDFLOWER%20OF%20MY%20BECOMING%20PAIN%20SUPERIMPOSED%20ON%20SILENCE%20A%20(1).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1545" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtqV58PQquwTx_xZoaY2wM-e2EMtqlnjXFdxUMpCTbGfE5KaGXFRlXPN5Z4C92YoEW7uVk7UbSeVGeZ18YCDWaGL_khzbL4MdgVJNDbVKd_xKT_kp4Rxyv7zqJJzseBDaX-Sr1uhSJx9h3T85clduAJV9dNfui-hUjpjGHWidixOF8jqv68h4Nhb-SlLIO/s320/YOU%20ASKED%20THE%20VOICE%20FOR%20MORE%20EXISTENCE%20FIRST%20LIGHT%20FAITH%20FLY%20ZERO%20TO%20SIXTY%20ABYSS%20&%20SONGMY%20RESURRECTION%20TALK%20TO%20ME%20LIKE%20A%20FORGOTTEN%20CIGARETTEBIRDFLOWER%20OF%20MY%20BECOMING%20PAIN%20SUPERIMPOSED%20ON%20SILENCE%20A%20(1).png" width="247" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwaeqqug3yyrj03Q8qii3s-bZjH2F1lpdg6F_zWrD4qu-pDJlTMX2dgK5DrtPUalyMjwRribguKUcbxmjb28Z5y5erZ-j57b8eqeADYNeV-VcTPKP8nxz4MbIVFTBD2bOtqRsSV2-rxtrel4LX3JCKQBWRCvvyskNh1jBUkPA7vd0XF5yZYZqXPirq3tVL/s533/Rus5.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="533" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwaeqqug3yyrj03Q8qii3s-bZjH2F1lpdg6F_zWrD4qu-pDJlTMX2dgK5DrtPUalyMjwRribguKUcbxmjb28Z5y5erZ-j57b8eqeADYNeV-VcTPKP8nxz4MbIVFTBD2bOtqRsSV2-rxtrel4LX3JCKQBWRCvvyskNh1jBUkPA7vd0XF5yZYZqXPirq3tVL/s320/Rus5.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Regular contributor Rus reads his new poem on youtube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHumffmSCok" style="color: purple; font-family: -webkit-standard, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHumffmSCok</a></p><p>Video 3:02, the reading of his poem starts 1:57.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Cambria; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span face="-webkit-standard, serif" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-77848364822426557852023-08-24T14:08:00.002+10:002023-08-24T17:28:59.784+10:00Featuring Sushant Thapa<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-qVZ3PRIia8cq10NlxZdtRfx7MS5M9G0Q0krJ5qQvDUW_8JV_xQ_i8RGsmO753SWLkiPSAJpJwrotdvT9zzHWMdfhDjy9hzhi4IiagD4Pjv7lz6BljGV9ZM96lQ_HMArpPvwocpeJnFMHYIr-Yq_JFe4TbcCQdxGqLo_00zVlOHCjy3T1W_9Zhi1ESzD3/s960/New%20picture%20of%20Sushant.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="953" data-original-width="960" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-qVZ3PRIia8cq10NlxZdtRfx7MS5M9G0Q0krJ5qQvDUW_8JV_xQ_i8RGsmO753SWLkiPSAJpJwrotdvT9zzHWMdfhDjy9hzhi4IiagD4Pjv7lz6BljGV9ZM96lQ_HMArpPvwocpeJnFMHYIr-Yq_JFe4TbcCQdxGqLo_00zVlOHCjy3T1W_9Zhi1ESzD3/s320/New%20picture%20of%20Sushant.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">1. City </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A city skyline </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">has no border. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Her caricature is to </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">imitate human life </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">and make it glorious. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The city sleeps with her eyes open, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">she has to safeguard her </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">respect, smiles</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">and veiled shyness. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tomorrow she will bring </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">memories of other places. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She does not want to be </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">the mirror of one tabloid sky, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">she wants to zoom in, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">to read her ancient uprisings. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When a foreign memory conquers </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">which face will the city show? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">2. By the Lake</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There was a lake here once</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Now my feet are not wet, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I no longer understand </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And cannot rejoice, my stand here. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Swimming I know not, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But I preferred the lake-face</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Of this land. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Now any speck of the night </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wants to flower </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">By the early morning here. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The lake water is cool no more, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The faces that reflect themselves </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Have drunk of dried thirst. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My fellow pal, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cannot get the location of this land. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There was a lake here once,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He does not believe his eyes now </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And he cannot even believe his memory. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Now the green pool is sucked dry. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Who drank the lake water? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Any myths could take the swans away</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And they have. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Once here the lake wind blew and stirred</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The love among long wanderers </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Who lost their nakedness </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Under the howling moon </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Heard in reflection in the lake water. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;"> <wbr></wbr> <wbr></wbr> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;">3. </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Paper Memory</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The floating papers </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Touch the water </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Spilled on the floor. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There is coldness, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When the water </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Soaks the paper whole. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My ink dissolves </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It mixes with the water. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Your name was written in that paper. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My sunshine is melting like ice. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The nights are also cold</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Like all those melted ices. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In a drop of water </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I see my heaven. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I have known the cost</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Of this coldness </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The paper has left me wanting more. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Photographs of yours </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In an empty house </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Resemble still life. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;"> <wbr></wbr> <wbr></wbr> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;">4. </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">After You Left</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Like a shadow </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I saw you going. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You were a moonlight, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You were a dew </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Still on the leaf. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My winter's language of </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Affection was your warmth. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I saw you leave</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Like a thread </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Being pulled. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That dew became a tear </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Yet, memories remain. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They say it is easy to write </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A love poem. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But I say it is difficult when </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You have given your loving heart, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And art can't bring it all back. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But I have trustful and colorful memories; </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They get strong with the door </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">To reach your abode. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I haven't learnt to not think in love. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <wbr></wbr> <wbr></wbr> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">5. Love Poem</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pauses in rain </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Is never announced;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It just happens. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Only spring announces its arrival. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Flowers begin to dance</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There is fragrance sprayed </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the air. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Remember, when we met</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the spring? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Spring announces its arrival </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Because we wait for it. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I waited for your arrival</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And you came. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And you came not in winter </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But it was spring </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Marked in my blooming love diary. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That diary is a love calendar now. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Go like the spring </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">With little bit of future anticipations, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And soft kisses of love poems. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;"> <wbr></wbr> <wbr></wbr> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;">6. </span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sketch of Myself </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My child loves to </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Grab her new diary. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She wants to draw and write </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Before her pen arrives</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My mother wants to play with the child, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But the child wants to write. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">An old age, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wants to free the body with an hour of play</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But here, a child counts her scores of arts:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">More drawings of Mermaids and Barbie</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the child's eye, even time could be drawn</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And then hours would sink to seconds. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think that when I write my thoughts, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I write before I think</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But before that, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My child draws a picture of me. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I am a picture. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I am a sketch.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The endless depiction of color, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What color suits me?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My child leaves me colorless, but </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My clothes are stars-studded,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I aim for the sun in the snow</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">To wake up and rise.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Isn't any normal day, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A sketch of myself? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Or I may think, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stars need no colors, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I can still be them, but </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Can the stars be me? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="color: #19191a; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></em></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><em><span style="color: #19191a; font-size: 12pt;">Bio: Sushant Thapa is a Nepalese poet from Biratnagar-13, Nepal who holds a Master’s degree in English literature from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. He has published four books of poetry namely: The Poetic Burden and Other Poems (Authorspress, New Delhi, 2020), Abstraction and Other Poems (Impspired, UK, 2021), Minutes of Merit (Haoajan, Kolkata, 2021), and Love’s Cradle (World Inkers Printing and Publishing, New York, USA and Senegal, Africa, 2023). Sushant has been published in places like Sahitya Post, The Gorkha Times, The Kathmandu Post, The Poet Magazine, The Piker Press, Trouvaille Review, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Impspired, Harbinger Asylum, New York Parrot, Pratik Magazine, The Beatnik Cowboy, The Dope Fiend Daily, Atunis Poetry, EKL Review, The Kolkata Arts, Dissident Voice, Journal of Expressive Writing, As It Ought To Be Magazine, Spillwords, Mad Swirl, Ink Pantry, International Times and Outlook India among many.</span></em></p>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2898768564399502953.post-12559791802282916182023-08-17T12:36:00.001+10:002023-08-18T12:24:24.896+10:00Featuring Eric D. Goodman<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht_3nJMejqnqe0fsHnkIQqfUXh6CmBg9nBQ7zWCCNMieZbxyWAAhlzjwurt2_KERYUjJtXdlKp-KCstBS0hDFy2F14bHYq0HYGxPP8N9DHrMbJSzrsevp4jFJcgKz8b-VDmIzJkbYi-VBQpA0GTFLU90Nf5GcLTTDpDlQ-NdXCbXWvPwzMog3uwsTNdDdn/s372/eric-globe-bar.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="372" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht_3nJMejqnqe0fsHnkIQqfUXh6CmBg9nBQ7zWCCNMieZbxyWAAhlzjwurt2_KERYUjJtXdlKp-KCstBS0hDFy2F14bHYq0HYGxPP8N9DHrMbJSzrsevp4jFJcgKz8b-VDmIzJkbYi-VBQpA0GTFLU90Nf5GcLTTDpDlQ-NdXCbXWvPwzMog3uwsTNdDdn/s320/eric-globe-bar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><b style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">The Web in Your Path</span></b></p><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">As you walk along the trail </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">and your face encounters a spider’s web,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">resist the instinct to thrash your arms </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">violently around, to clear the web away </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">from the path, to swipe at it with a stick, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">or force your way through.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Consider the work that has gone into it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Not only the hours of hard labor—</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">frantic spinning of thread throughout the night—</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">but the artistry.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">How would you feel if some animal </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">larger than you came tromping through your yard </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">and bumped into your home, took out </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">a window or busted through a corner?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">What if this large animal—a bear, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">perhaps a giant—</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">became irritated by your irrelevant shack </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">and thrashed angrily about, demolishing</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">your roof, your secure home, tearing it</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">down to its foundation?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Think of how hard you worked to create </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">this safe place for your family—</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">this home where you can eat and rest,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">snuggle with your loved ones,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">maybe play a board game or watch a movie.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">All of those hours of work in the office, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">or at the restaurant waiting on stuck-up </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">bougie couples who think they’re better </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">because of their clothes or cars or stocks—</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">half a life working toward earning </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">mortgage money. All to create </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">this perfect little web.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">When you encounter the web in the path,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">step calmly back, gently pinch the thread </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">affixed to your face, and walk around the trees </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">or bushes upon which the spider’s home is attached.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">That way, someone else will destroy it instead of you.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">And years from now when you are left alone </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">in a dilapidated shack that drips leaf-infused </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">scum from your leaking roof, you can rest </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">assured that your predicament </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">is through no fault of your own. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br clear="all" style="break-before: page;" /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><b style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Power of Positive Thinking</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">I'm going to a new home, </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">where the servers are all robots, </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">and the food is made of dreams.</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">I'm not afraid, </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">because I know that anything is possible</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">in this all-inclusive resort.</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">I'll see my loved ones daily:</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">the living ones will grudgingly stop by,</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">and the dead are sure to flirt with my daydreams.</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Luxurious, adjustable bed,</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">cable TV, and a cabin companion</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">for cards, conversation, and laughter.</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Gourmet meals, </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">unlimited snacks and drinks,</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">and the recreation area drenched in sunlight.</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">In our new palace, the rules don't matter, </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">and the only thing that counts is an appreciation</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">for beautiful memories of warm, fuzzy moments gone by.</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">I'll make myself happy there, </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">in the land of the living dead, </span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">my Hospice.</span><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"></span></p></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><a name="m_4654230479319271927__Hlk142910235"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"><br /></span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><a name="m_4654230479319271927__Hlk142910235"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Pests</span></b></a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">In the cubed wastelands of the office,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">an abandoned ghost town,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">tumbleweeds collect under plywood desks,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">against felt walls and corners,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">no open space to roam.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Mouse’s homeland is abundant </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">with abandoned foods:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">cookies and crackers, trail mix and packaged pies</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">all left behind, well preserved, easy to access.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Nearly three rings around the sun—</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">a paradise of plenty, six square meals a day—</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">no predators.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">The pandemic wears on, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">food becomes harder to find, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">and, once found, is barely palatable.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">The distant companion at cube 3416 WHR</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">looks weak, too weak to put up a fight,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">still enough meat on the bones, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">at least at the moment. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">It’s an option, these final crumbs consumed.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">People gradually return to their cubes,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">not as often as before, only occasionally,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">half a dozen sunrises between intrusions.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Pizza crusts, crackers, cookies, crumbs, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">scarce, but replenished. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Mouse’s distant companion never</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">looked so relieved. </span></p></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Celebratory Condolence</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Sometimes I worry </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">that I might say the wrong thing </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">on a sympathy card,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">or birthday card,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">or worse, that I might</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">mix up the cards:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">my over-the-hill, fifty-year-old friend receiving</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">“I know this is a difficult time for you, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">but you will get through this,”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">making him worry that this side of </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">the mid-life line is not all</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">it’s cracked up to be;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">my mourning colleague, fingertips damp</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">from corralling tears, reading,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">“Celebrate this day! Now begins the exciting</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">next chapter in your life. The best days</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">are yet to come!”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">and sniveling herself from sorrow to anger, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">determined to give me a piece of her mind.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Perhaps “thinking of you” is the safest phrase,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">whether offering congratulation or condolence,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">followed by “thoughts and prayers” </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">and an affectionate signature.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Barefoot</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">The girl with hunger in her eyes </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">wanted to scream,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">to brush the glitter of her hometown from her stilettos,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">and cartwheel to freedom.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Her sense of not belonging in the city’s pulse:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">a secret so dark and deep</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">it could never be shared,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">(though everyone close to her</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">could smell it).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">He took her hand,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">led her to his car,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">coerced her away from the city’s disco and glitter </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">to a barefoot world she thought she wanted</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">where the only sound is the wind, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">the only glitter is the stars, </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">the only dance music </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">is the beating of her heart next to his.</span></p><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">Eric D. Goodman lives and writes in Maryland, where he’s remained sheltered in place during the pandemic and beyond, spending a portion of his hermithood writing poetry. His first book of poetry, <i>Faraway Tables</i>, is coming in spring 2024 from Yorkshire Press. He’s author of<i>Wrecks and Ruins</i> (Loyola University’s Apprentice House Press, 2022) <i>The Color of Jadeite</i> (<a name="m_4654230479319271927__Hlk114411538">Apprentice House</a>, 2020), <i>Setting the Family Free</i>(Apprentice House, 2019), <i>Womb: a novel in utero</i> (Merge Publishing, 2017) <i>Tracks: A Novel in Stories</i> (Atticus Books, 2011), and <i>Flightless Goose</i>, (Writers Lair Books, 2008). More than a hundred short stories, articles, travel stories, and poems have been published in literary journals, magazines, and periodicals. Learn more about Eric and his writing at </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.EricDGoodman.com&source=gmail&ust=1692319485456000&usg=AOvVaw3kt5ou89nGnAn8em1zOlEM" href="http://www.ericdgoodman.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">www.EricDGoodman.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style", serif;">.</span></p></div></div>BOLD MONKEY REVIEWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00455376223724923135noreply@blogger.com0