........The Poetry Of
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Richard Brooks ....................
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Can't Stand Watching ....................
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I have a problem with rats ....................
out back. ....................
The trouble is, I can't ....................
lay a trap. I can't stand watching ....................
them critters wobble, dying, ....................
doing a drunken walk, ....................
knowing ....................
I was the one ....................
that brung it to them. There's poison aplenty ....................
in this world; they'll have to find their own. ....................
Chew through ....................
the cabinet under the sink and drink the Drano. ....................
I can't be servin it neat, dressed up ....................
like ratty Meals on Wheels. That deal ....................
is for the liars or the mistress of the house. I could ....................
crack one with a bat ....................
if he came at me. That I'd do. ....................
I wish one would, head on. ....................
That's all I know. ....................
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Porch
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A few slabs of wood ....................
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a railing- ....................
a hanging pot, ....................
room ....................
enough to swing a swing ....................
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a welcome mat ....................
turned round and ....................
upside down- a porch, a perch, a birch ....................
or maple, keeping out ....................
the sun or nosy neighbors, cooler in the ....................
roasting hours of June. Cool enough ....................
to let the mind take off a layer or two ....................
of worry. When you want me to be ....................
shake-down-honest, ....................
come around the back ....................
and putcher ....................
feet ....................
up. ....................
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Transmigration II
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Turtled here, ....................
intestate- if I'd ....................
drop over right this minute- if a poet dies ....................
in the 3:00 a.m. thick darkness ....................
can anyone claim the crash of stars ....................
that were making up new universes just as ....................
all ....................
clocks ....................
stopped- do words ....................
bleed into mourning, some ....................
to find their way ....................
to other poems in other minds ....................
to feel the sob, not why, but see the sky ....................
as somehow smaller, ....................
redder, heavier for holding ....................
what was hot. I think I write ....................
because a ....................
shaman died ....................
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-I see ....................
no ....................
other reason. ....................
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