Bill Grace Poems

Listening to the Diane Rhem Show on NPR
I was struck by the author's bloody feet by sneaker incident
My seeing the world to a great extent as a mangled place
Where things frequently take on an energy of their own -
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When you own two cats
You must feed both of them
When they come for food
At the same time.
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Two beer bottles by the road nicely upright
It is fearing their drug powers that make me up-tight
What stories might be uttered
If with ears they heard the tales
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Let us hear the planet's beat
Put tragic history to its side
We are all of red blood
Ache for a people beyond our touch
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During the Great War
At Bolimov poison gas was first used
In the executive suite the sensitivities of a Marshall were lacking
The attack failed
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Perhaps these are the end times:
The end of a child's life
The end of a marriage
The end of a parent's life
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Why the pastor’s daughter died I can not tell you
Valiant Jessie at age twelve is lost to cancer
It was this style of tragedy that killed Claypool’s marriage
Took his professional life from Southern Baptist
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At breakfast with friend of deep degree
Our waitress of great beauty and work energy
We spoke of Maughan and Hemingway and literary styles
of present and of past
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