Sights and Sounds of Christmas
How do I know
Christmas is near
Signs around our house
Make it very clear
Advent paper windows
Get opened each day
Twenty-five to count
Teaching grandkids to pray
They're more excited by
The piece of candy they find
Such a small prize makes big eyes
It's a joy of a special kind
Each window has a little prayer
To remind why we count each day
There's other things that tell me
Santa too is on his way
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poem by Tom J. Mariani
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[revised 11-19-09] Getting Through October and Beyond
What was it about October
That made us think
Spring would not be coming back?
The weather rattled at us,
Leaves fell,
Leaving us feeling
It's not going to get any better.
No amount of experience or
Logic will helped,
Spring last year didn't help,
When the shorter days of
Fall and Winter closed in.
Beyond October?
What was it about October
That assured us
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poem by Tom J. Mariani
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Just a Few Things I Don't Like About Writing Poetry
Why do some of my best ideas
Wake me out of a sound sleep
At 2: 06 somtimes 3: 28 AM
Damn green digital numbers
Then I can't find
My beside notebook until
I bump into something
That wakes my wife
By the time I've assured her
There has not been
An attempted break-in
Found the notebook where's the pen
Finally quiet as I can
Get to the bathroom
Turn on the light
Get comfortably seatd
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poem by Tom J. Mariani
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03-25=2010*** How In The Hell Are They Still Standing?
I keep seeing people who should be dead
They're not be in the morgue yet
I don't see why
What is keeping them moving breathing
My most recent sighting was
Just to the right of the front door
Of The San Francisco
Main Library
The Swig family and other old and new
Monied San Franciscans
Campaigned and fundraised
To pay for large rooms with their names
The library's many floors have decor
It even has a small deli
If you can pay for self-service coffee
Or the sandwich of the day
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poem by Tom J. Mariani
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Surprise Before Christmas
was a couple of days before Christmas
And all through our house
Wrapping supplies were still scattered
When my wife first saw the mouse
I was dozing watching TV
When I hear her query
'What's that running across the floor? '
Her eyes showing signs of fear and fury
Then I saw it too and hoped it was
Heading out on his way back
It was a mouse for sure
Fury light brown with eyes coal black
I jumped to my feet
To see what to do
Could I be fast enough to catch him
Or just hit him with my shoe
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poem by Tom J. Mariani
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Why There's Three Chairs
The first question
You're asked
When you arrive is
What do you declare
It's not like customs
About what you are carrying
The guards have other ways
For checking for that
Without asking
The guards want to know
For your protection
And theirs
What race do you declare
What are your gang affiliations
Do you need protective custody
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poem by Tom J. Mariani
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Spent My Youth in an Alley
Went back this weekend out of town
For a family birthday party
To where I spent
Some of my youth
Backing my sister in-law's car
Out of her garage
Into the alley behind her house
Brought back some memories
Drove slowly as I bumped along
Over old potholes
Who's supposed to fill them now
Heavy brush and blackberries on both sides
Ahead of me was a young boy on his bike
He had a bouncing empty wagon forced to follow
Tied with a frayed piece of scrap rope
To the seat post of the bike
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poem by Tom J. Mariani
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Like Shooting Stars
I heard him say,
When asked
What it felt like when love was lost
When depression overcame,
'Like no love was left in my heart
I checked other parts of my body
It's no longer there either
I'm not sure when it burned out
It was there once
Felt by the rest of my body
Intensified by proximity
To its intended target
Love generated its own light
Created its own heat
I looked for words to describe it
Landed on shooting stars
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poem by Tom J. Mariani
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Made to Feel Welcome
I'm sure Sandra M. Gilbert
The author of her collection
Of poems titled
'ghost volcano'
Had no idea what her poem
'Kissing the Bread'
Would remind me of
When she wrote about
Her mother's habit of
Kissing old bread
Before she threw it away
Sandra found out
'Her mother the Sicilian midwife
taught her, taught all nine, '...
'Non so. You kiss it like
crossing yourself before a crisis, before
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poem by Tom J. Mariani
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Out of the Blue A Patch of Green
-****Rousseau alleged to have used
a pallette of a hundred and some-odd
different greens
in one painting********
-------------------------
There was an empty table
Next to mine
She walked by dressed in green
Holding her coffee she took a spare chair
Then sat down her back to me
She got my attention
My guess was
She was not
Encouraging nor
Expecting company
After the green hit me
Came the pleasent smell
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poem by Tom J. Mariani
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