Please smile when you read these words
Please smile, when you read these words
So nobody will know, that I love you;
And don't be afraid, for it's only this,
That I love you, and then please smile,
As if it were only the daily news.
But not the same smile that you use
With her; for smiles are more
Than mere muscular signatures,
For they enclose a private world;
So smile, smile; this is meant for you
And only you;
Smile as if it were only a sweet surprise
Between us two;
Please smile again, as you read my words,
So nobody will know, this love is for you
(And then afterwards, don't forget
to smile for her too)
poem by Patti Masterman
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Palindrome - All seeing eye that misses nothing
all seeing eye that misses nothing
and triangle; it's enclosing mystery
of deadly snake that enters then
night covering the womb of darkness,
awakening more than eye
and gold like cages enclosing angels
entrance guarding my temple of sleep
soul knows all in secret:
as soul breaks all locks
and locks all breaks soul,
as secret in all knows soul
sleep of temple, my guarding entrance,
angels enclosing cages like gold
and eye than more awakening,
darkness of womb the covering night
then enters that snake, deadly
of mystery, enclosing it's triangle;
and nothing misses that eye seeing all.
poem by Patti Masterman
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Introduction to Silence
Silence upon other silence grows;
Taller than any skyward cathedral,
Wider than divisions, between two brothers.
The only sincere silence is natural,
Or found by a flickering candle’s flame,
And the latency, of a sleeping child.
After a death, some silence may roar
Down zigzagging corridors, of dazed;
Haunting midnight's vertiginous dreams.
Numbness opens vast reservoirs of quiet
And in the resultant- preternaturally stilled-
Silence sometimes finds its earthly voice.
I now present to you, Silence itself-
Bereft of courtesies, or dignified flourishes;
Bare as a babe at death- or birth.
poem by Patti Masterman
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Killing the Messenger
Why is it the people you detest the most
Always have to be the first to telephone with bad news;
A favorite acquaintance has died, or a spiritual mentor,
Or the only in-law you actively liked and still respected-
They just can't wait to be the first to call,
Be the bearer of the worst news.
At such times, I have to stifle an urge to scream
Into the handset, send a hundred decibels
Roaring into their captive ear-drums;
'I wish to god, that it had been YOU instead.'
Sometimes you just want to kill the messenger.
Why do the idiots always go on breathing soundly,
While the saintly people pass away too soon?
poem by Patti Masterman
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The wind calls no one by their name
The wind calls no one by their name-
But howls and howls, before it wane.
Awakens at the dark of moon,
Circling mountains in the gloom,
Whistling high it's sovereign song-
That no one's on earth for long.
The wind has syllables unknown,
And for millenia has blown
Its keening cry, out on the plains,
Its fearsome dirge, that sounds like pain-
If you would learn the ways of wind,
All your days on earth would end.
The wind's capricious and alone,
And of true loneliness, it moans;
It knows no warmth of company,
But bland caresses of the trees.
The wind could take you far away-
To where no words could ever say.
poem by Patti Masterman
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I Am the Little Raindrop
I am the little raindrop
That now has seen the sea
Though once it thought itself
The world of water, be
The surface tension grew
Until it burst it's skin
And, falling on the wave
It heard a growing din
It thought the sea a whole
A solid thing, that roll
To crush the little drop
Beneath it's giant bowl
But just before it fell
The little dropp woke up
And saw the shining faces
In the splashes, spraying up
[...] Read more
poem by Patti Masterman
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Need an Answer
You're breaking my heart
Everything you've asked for, I've given
You're the reason I got up each day
The thing that kept me driven
I've sold everything for you
Held nothing back for me
Nothing was too debasing
To advance your cause, you see
I'm only human, I'm running out
Of things to throw
On my funeral pyre
I thought you should know
Someday when they speak your name
I'll probably just hang my head in shame
That I courted you so loudly and long
Then I won't wish to hear your name
[...] Read more
poem by Patti Masterman
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I was gagging on poetry
was gagging on poetry
And nothing could help:
I was gagging on poetry
So they let me lay my head
On Emily's desk
And her inkwell spilled.
I was gagging on poetry
And they covered me up
With Whitman's army blanket
On which I promptly threw up.
I was gagging on poetry
And the Poet Laureate
Sent me a get well bouquet
Of forget me knots.
I was gagging on poetry
And all my poems
[...] Read more
poem by Patti Masterman
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Cinderella, in an Alternate Universe
Cinderella got lost
somewhere in between
the countryside and palace
that she'd never seen.
Walking through mud,
face streaked with tears
still clearly so beautiful,
the slippers were clear.
But soon she got covered
in the worst kinds of things
and she didn't understand
what marriage would mean.
She had no conception
of being the queen,
so she met a young beggar
and settled, for him.
[...] Read more
poem by Patti Masterman
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Unmitigated verse
Don't ever read these poems
They are not literary fait accomplis
I am not board certified to write poetry
My relatives are inbred
Some of them were even from Arkansas
I am not a wizard of words
Hiding behind the curtain of degree
It is only your own time you waste here
Don't ask me to mail a check for lost hours
Any mental illness that ensues
After being exposed here
Or if you break out in a mixed pox, of metaphors
Worse, if you catch this virus
[...] Read more
poem by Patti Masterman
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