Edmund V. Strolis Poems

Upon entering the room I froze
He stood staring outside, oblivious to me
His once strong hands, soft upon the sill
Lost in a solemn peaceful trance
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Slip into a comic playful phase
Dazzle them with explosive greetings
But make sure the fire is from the heart
Pull them in and glow, then share the stage
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Don't feign surprise to find the cafe has closed
Once this was your favorite place, so fresh so new
Brightly painted, loud vibrant sidewalks calling
What stimulating sensations lay in store for you
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I heard her before I ever saw her.
Powder snow, moonlit path
Her prints so fine, light as the night
Somewhere ahead, that tantalizing hiss
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In the valley of uncertainty the earth person dwells
Each chasm a self-inflicted hindrance to happiness
A ravine deepening with guilt and red with regret
Doubt, the thorny saddle that tortures the ride
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Ground zero in life at the corner of expectation and reality
Ghost cabs stir the night mist and disappear into nothing
Now and then a fateful fare to share life's hustle and bustle
How many running meters tally a cost, never to be paid
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Alone within the stars on that long drive home.
Not a creature crossed my path not a leaf stirred.
Time and space were lost to the shadowy mind.
Swallowed by the universe a lunar landscape bare.
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Nihilism
Nihilis
Nihili
Nihil
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They tried to label you, disable you, squeeze you and what's more.
They tried to resurrect you and dissect you and the woman you adored.
But the labels stuck to them my friend, with their weak self-serving praise.
The hippies and the tripping Maoists, the latest culture slaves.
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Some just decay and fade away.
Lost amid the cultural valleys
Reaching out we touch within
Content at last, in sun and shadow.
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