Poems

Poetry is a way of sneaking up on the world and peeking through the curtains of time to glimpse scenes often hidden by our day to day anxieties. As such it can not only be beautiful and stunning, but calming, inspiring and healing. In this blog I will share occasional original works by myself or friends and I will also share poems I like, upon which I may or may not share my own commentary. I hope you will look for and enjoy these visions.

Terry Pace

Dec 9, 20201 min read

I'm Not Ready Yet

By Francis Grant, Jr. I’m not ready yet . . This one goes out to anyone who it might concern . . You know, I have heard there is a normal...

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Terry Pace

Dec 9, 20201 min read

The Cross Over

By Francis Grant, Jr. On the occasion of my mother’s death on December 1, 2018. Just came out like this: The Cross Over Oh, please do not...

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Terry Pace

Nov 5, 20201 min read

Sun So Warm

By Terry M Pace (1999) Sun so warm, like when I was a child Lounging on my parents back porch in Texas Days so bright, like autumn in...

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Terry Pace

Oct 10, 20201 min read

December Cranes

By Terry M Pace (1994) North wind blowing Autumn away Winter approaches Evening falls Out on the prairies Over the scrapes of rivers...

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Terry Pace

Oct 9, 20202 min read

The Cabin

By Loren Eiseley (RIP 1907-1977) Rough hewn, square logged. As we rode up, a sand dune was just beginning to swallow the far side. The...

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Terry Pace

Sep 16, 20201 min read

Where I Stand

By Terry M Pace (June 7, 1981) You ask me where I stand Out of your certainty Out of your naivety Out of your concern Out of your fear I...

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Terry Pace

Sep 16, 20201 min read

trashcan lives

By Charles Bukowski the wind blows hard tonight and it's a cold wind and I think about the boys on the row. I hope some of them have a...

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Terry Pace

Aug 10, 20201 min read

Waiting

By Terry M Pace (1993) Clothes spinning in the dryer The creaking of old wood Footsteps, hallucinations, ghosts Brightening flowers...

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Terry Pace

Jul 27, 20202 min read

She gave me wings

By Francis Grant, Jr. I sit under this tree and feel the warm breeze and spy this bird looking down on me . . “Can we come together to...

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Terry Pace

Jul 27, 20202 min read

Sundown

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (RIP 1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893. In the Harbor, page 353. THE SUMMER sun is sinking low; Only...

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Terry Pace

Jul 6, 20201 min read

won’t you celebrate with me

By Lucille Clifton won't you celebrate with me what i have shaped into a kind of life? i had no model. born in babylon both nonwhite and...

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Terry Pace

Jun 14, 20201 min read

Good morning Insulin

By Francis Grant, Jr. Good morning daily stories well written by those with dry throats and teeth missing those with pricked and sore...

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Terry Pace

Jun 14, 20202 min read

Letter to Grandma

By Francis Grant, Jr. I made it home surprised I survived . . The food was good. The people were great. The doctor said cancer. Now I...

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A Memorial Day Conversation with my Dad in Absence

Terry Pace

May 25, 20204 min read

A Memorial Day Conversation with my Dad in Absence

By Terry M Pace (1978/1994/2020) Dad, I can’t be judged so easily by your standards, my generation hasn’t had the same chance or...

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Terry Pace

May 11, 20201 min read

Counting Ribs (for my Uncle OB)

One two three… Hold on now! Hold still! Over and over One two three… The simple game Of counting ribs One two three… Uncle OB and me In...

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Terry Pace

May 10, 20201 min read

I Want to Be Like You (for Ronnie)

I want a radio Like you listen to I want new boots Brown, like you wear I want a car To drive like you I want a hand Just like yours Why...

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Terry Pace

Apr 26, 20202 min read

Leaving Mississippi

By James A. Autry Part of me never left and another part is always leaving, leaving Mississippi but never gone. “Jimmy when you gonna...

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Terry Pace

Apr 22, 20202 min read

Testimony: 1968

By Rita Dove Who comforts you now that the wheel has broken? No more princes for the poor. Loss whittling you thin. Grief is the constant...

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Terry Pace

Apr 8, 20202 min read

To Those in the Limbo of Illness

By May Sarton (appears in The Silence Now 1988) You who have been here before, Waiting. Not knowing. Not living, Not dying Waiting...

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Terry Pace

Apr 3, 20202 min read

Kindness

By Naomi Shihab Nye Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment like salt in a...

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Terry Pace

Apr 1, 20201 min read

If I Die

If I die before tomorrow It will somehow be alright For tonight I have seen the stars The womb from which we came forth I have seen them...

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Terry Pace

Apr 1, 20202 min read

Otherwise

I got out of bed on two strong legs. It might have been otherwise. I ate cereal, sweet milk, ripe, flawless peach. It might have been...

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Terry Pace

Mar 30, 20203 min read

A Drumlin Woodchuck

By Robert Frost One thing has a shelving bank, Another a rotting plank, To give it cozier skies And make up for its lack of size. My...

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Terry Pace

Mar 20, 20202 min read

The House Dog’s Grave

I’ve changed my ways a little; I cannot now Run with you in the evenings along the shore, Except in a kind of dream; and you, if you...

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Terry Pace

Mar 15, 20201 min read

Still Portrait at Fifteen

Forty-five years ago, no wind The breathlessness of fall Sunshine angles low across Rusty colored fields of grain Combine dust floating...

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Terry Pace

Mar 13, 20203 min read

The Fire of Drift-wood

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow We sat within the farm-house old, Whose windows, looking o'er the bay, Gave to the sea-breeze damp and...

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Terry Pace

Mar 2, 20202 min read

Snowflakes

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Out of the bosom of the Air. Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken, Over the woodlands brown and...

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Terry Pace

Feb 14, 20201 min read

Nebraska

It’s enough To be alive Near the end Of October In a small town In Nebraska And wander To the edge Of town And look Into the fields And...

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Terry Pace

Feb 14, 20201 min read

Dreams While Waiting

And yet this morning I sit alone in my car At a roadside motel Listening to Jazz Charlie Parker and Ella Fitzgerald Whose songs have...

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Terry Pace

Feb 4, 20201 min read

Testament

In this land Where winged spirits Haunt the night Flying in great circles Moving out cross the plains Beyond touch Day breaks Animals...

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Terry Pace

Feb 4, 20201 min read

I am a Dog

I am becoming more dog-like As the years age and pass I sleep in or get up as I please I eat when I'm hungry I watch clouds and stars for...

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Terry Pace

Feb 4, 20201 min read

Night Visit

They were telling their children about the guardian angel of plants; about a nightingale that had flown there at dawn to sing in the...

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Terry Pace

Feb 4, 20201 min read

New feet within my garden go-

New feet within my garden go- New fingers stir the sod- A Troubadour upon the Elm Betrays the solitude. New children play upon the green-...

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Terry Pace

Feb 4, 20202 min read

One Evening

On a frozen pond a mile north of Liberal almost sixty years ago I skated wild circles while a strange pale sun went down. A scattering...

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Terry Pace

Feb 4, 20201 min read

Destinations

Every day we meet these bodies on the road, The torn-up porcupines like tanks exploded, The battered cats, dogs, raccoons, dead. Every...

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To a Tree in the Yard Where We Lived (for Elaine)

Terry Pace

Jan 19, 20201 min read

To a Tree in the Yard Where We Lived (for Elaine)

The faces you have worn With wonder and with blithe The greens and golds The purples and browns Have marked the days Of my changing life...

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Terry Pace

Jan 18, 20201 min read

Dancing on Air (for Erin)

She is a buzzing bee Always busy, looking For sweets in every flower Brightly colored Dancing on air But ready to sting If anyone dare To...

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Terry Pace

Jan 18, 20201 min read

Wind Chimes (for Leah)

Winter darkness Silence and stars Hands together Coats and hats One is small And hears the call Of chimes on the wind Of mystery and...

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Terry Pace

Jan 18, 20201 min read

Jackrabbits

Home for Christmastime To the folks and the farm Sitting in old places Speaking of days past Moving to these plains The winter of 1924...

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Terry Pace

Jan 18, 20202 min read

Yearnings for Home

Oh let me go I’m weary here And fevers scorch my brain, I long to feel my native air Breathe o’er each burning vein. I long once more to...

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