David McLansky Poems

A Pounding at the Gate (14)

There rose a drumming at the gate, 

Importunate, the sound of Fate; 

...

Huang Xiang

Zhang Ling
...

Everyday is carved with your silence;
The empty daily space that holds your void;
The dreadful minutes, hours that is your absence
No matter what distractions I've employed;
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Zechariah Rebukes the Priest (29)

'I did not say that I was Christ, 

To say that's not exactly right; 

The Eucharist gives us each a portion, 

...

May you survive the coming year,
May you be free of doubts and fear
May few grey hairs snag in your comb
May no earthquake collapse your home;
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I taught a college course on sex,
Which did little more then perplex
But oh it swamped the Registrar,
Over night a campus star!
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I taught a college course on sex,
Which did little more then perplex
But oh it swamped the Registrar,
Over night a campus star!
...

Doctoring the Evidence (33)

The Deacon had paid the prison guard

To sing a song while in the yard, 

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Preparing the Witness (40)

The Deacon spoke to the waif, 

'In body we know that you are chaste, 

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Sister Mary Ruth's Morning Prayer (19)

Sister Ruth woke in her cell,
What time it was she could not tell
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