My Ten Best Short Poems
By Lenny Everson
rev 1
Copyright Lenny Everson 2011
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Cover design by Lenny Everson
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Contents
If we were free
To Birches
The magic show
When we were born
The nets of time
When they ask
Upon This Rock
Light and Darkness
When the sky falls
Cats and Laps
****
If We Were Free
If we were free
Of time and due
Then you and I
Might never canoe
If life were long
And had no end
There’d be no call
Of river bend
If we never had
To age or die
There’d be always tomorrow
Or next July
A bit too warm
Or chance of rain
We’d find ourselves
At home again
Paddle long, my love, and
Do not dwell
On the gentle sound
Of distant bell
Cherish the day
Sun and rain
Tomorrow may not
Come again
****
To Birches
Next life
I would be a tree.
Not the open-field oak
Not the solitary pine:
I would be a birch
One among many
Birches grow after fires
I would grow
After this fire
Beside the black stumps
When the woods are gold
And alive
With the rustling of squirrels
My one white line
Leaning down the slope a bit
Tracing the edge
Of happiness
****
The Magic Show
The magic show is over
The gypsy tents have gone
Calliope and carousel
Are silent in the dawn
All friends of mine are gone to sleep
Or lost in distant dreams
The world is not - it never was
More than what it seems
The magic show is over
The circus, deep in rust
And questions asked when I was born
Are answered now, with dust
****
When We Were Born
When we were born, there were ten of us
Nine were me
The other, last born, was not
When we die, there will be ten of us
Nine will be me
The last to die will not
All our life we've sat at the table
Waiting for the tenth to start
And nine of us are hungry
****
The Nets of Time
The nets of time spin wild and high
Against the dark, against the sky
This gold today
Is dragged away
And restless sleep my love and I
The nets of time spin wild, spin free
The golden fish are captured, we
Night, night
Lock tight
Full of dreams, my love and me
The midnight laughter of the stars
Is full of locks, and doors, and bars
Silently
Turns the key
And then to my
Unspoken plea
Softly you
Move close to me.
****
When They Ask
When they ask, "Did he truly live?"
Say I found a ridge
At the edge of the sky
Say I knew what the morning was
The light through the woods
The dew in June heavy on the tent
Say I came to each new path
With anticipation
Almost greed
Someday, when they ask, "Did he truly live?"
Say, "There were a few trails
That made his life a poem."
****
Upon This Rock
Had Jesus canoed
This northern lake
What strange routes
Would history take
Had he owned
A red canoe
Every pope
Would have one, too
Paddling pilgrims
Would come to gawk
At Michelangelo's God
Painted on rock
Cathedral walls
Would be green, and sway
With sunlight blessing
All who pray
****
Light and Darkness
I knew a woman once;
No side of her leaned
Into darkness
She wandered the olive groves, but found
Only shade
And tried many supermarkets but
Still no shadow
We told her she must be pure
And that an immaculate conception
Was a definite possibility, but
“What will happen if God comes?” she asked
“How will I know which way to look?”
Eventually, certain God could not see her
She married a man whose soul was
Like the underside of a log.
Then she was much happier.
When he was drinking his morning coffee
She had only to turn away
To look toward God.
****
When the Sky Falls
When the sky falls
and the stars go out
you’ll find me in the dark
still singing
Follow my voice
the world was nothing to me
When the dark comes downtown
and the neon is cold
when the very wolves cry for hunger
my voice will remain
the melody, unweakened
The world was nothing to me.
****
Laps and Cats
Falling into magic
Are laps and
Cats asleep
Tumble into silence
When
Afternoons run deep
Sunlight moves along your arm
Warmth, light
And fur
Ear against the cushion
Hear the world
Purr
**** END OF POEMS ****
List of Completed Works by Lenny Everson (to 2011-12-06)
NOVELS
NOVELETTES
Screenplays
- Murder on a Foggy Spring Portage. One member of a paddling group is found dead on a muddy portage.
Plays
- Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont. Ghosts of the two Métis leaders meet in today’s world to remember their lives. A short (20-minute) play for two actors. Available on Smashwords
Full-Length Poetry Books
- The Minor Odyssey of Lollie Heronfeathers Singer. A middle-aged woman tries to connect with her aboriginal ancestry.
- In The Tavern of Lost Souls. Four poets meet at a grungy bar once a month to give their poetic answers to random questions.
- Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont are Dead. Ghosts of the two Métis leaders meet in today’s world to remember their lives
Poetry Chapbooks and E-Books
-
22 Love Poems for Love, Weddings, and Anniversaries (compiled from other works) Available on Smashwords
- Cherish the Day: 16 Canoe Poems for Summer. part of a set of six chapbooks about the love of canoeing. With illustrations.. Available on Smashwords
- Fierce and Fine and Free: 18 Canoe Poems for Spring. part of a set of six chapbooks about the love of canoeing. With illustrations.. to Amazon/Kindle
- Fireplace and Wine: 15 Canoe Poems for Winter. part of a set of six chapbooks about the love of canoeing. With illustrations.. to Amazon/Kindle
- No Ordinary Waters: Canoe Poems from a Strange Mind. part of a set of six chapbooks about the love of canoeing. With illustrations.. to Amazon/Kindle
- What Last Golden River Run: 17 Canoe Poems for Autumn. part of a set of six chapbooks about the love of canoeing. With illustrations.. Available on Smashwords
- Encounter in a Small, Old Cemetery. Autumn. Midnight. Poet visits a small, old private graveyard. Available on Smashwords
- Fire and Ashes. Poems about life’s flames and regrets.
- The Empty Tarmac of a Long-Abandoned Airport. Poems about having a midlife crisis. Available on Smashwords
- Love Poems A compilation
- Pray for Me: 22 Poems Probably Slandering God and Jesus
- Ballads from an Unlucky Fisherman: Available on Smashwords
- Tweetable Limericks: Volume I. 60 limericks small enough to be tweets Available on Smashwords
- Hiking Poems Available on Smashwords
- Why Haven't Aliens Contacted Us? Available on Smashwords
Co-Authored Poetry Chapbooks
- Who Would Be a God? Susan Ioannou and Lenny debate the merits of being a god.
- How to Dance Naked in the Moonlight. Katherine L. Gordon (Celtic pagan) and Lenny (skeptic) confront the ceremony Available on Smashwords
- Cats and Dogs. With I. B. Iskov
- For Ko Aye Aung: A Plea for His Release from Prison. For Amnesty International, with other poets.
Non-Fiction Chapbooks and E-Books
- If You Condemn Gays: The Bible on Homosexuality and Other Items.
- The Architecture of Suburban West Kitchener. A light look at house styles.
- The Architecture of The University of Waterloo. A light look at the campus buildings.
- Making Tourist Attractions for Towns and Small Cities. Advice.
- Technological Cures for Global Warming. Available on Smashwords
- Hyphens: A Guide for the Early Twenty-First Century Available on Smashwords
- Colons and Semicolons: A Guide for the Early Twenty-First Century Available on Smashwords
- How to Review Draft Technical Writings
- Rebecca’s Trail (Grand River Trail in Winter) Available on Smashwords
- 7 Temples to Bill Gates: a modern mystery Available on Smashwords
- The Great God Pan - Or Not Available on Smashwords
- Two in a Tent: Camping Humor Available on Smashwords
Songbooks
- 18 Dingbat Songs for Kids Available on Smashwords
- Canoe Songs. part of a set of six chapbooks about the love of canoeing. With illustrations.. Available on Smashwords
- 18 Dingbat Songs for Kids Available on Smashwords
[email protected] **** END ****