Patti Masterman Poems

Why do we treat our loved ones the worst,
Reserving kind words and looks for guests;
But for the one who knows us best,
We are taciturn and impatient; terse.
...

Vast leaped the candle's flame,
Kissing grotesque shadows.
Blinking eye of the holocaust
Enshrouded by shards of night.
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The peace that war knows
Wasn’t purchased with dripping blood;
The war that peace knows
Wasn’t punctured by artillery sounds.
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Love is a mannequin dressed in rags,
Desire’s the streetcar, that left you in drag;
Time is ephemeral and can't be touched;
Distance is as far as the eye can see,
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The ambidextrous masturbator
Came across a very large alligator,
Who happened to eat his leading arm;
Leaving his other one unharmed.
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Some words hold magic
Phrases to other dimensions-
Where you are going now,
There is no need of keys.
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All these thoughts I think,
that cantankerous make
the brimming of the brain
(And such are not contained)
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The young child dies at maturity,
but the defiant teenager lives on-
transformed, quiescent.
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All my life was waiting,
All my days were just the same;
But now the waiting's over;
There's a light comes shining through:
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Bad poetry makes me ugly:
Look, each line, a cliche
Each blemish, a simile;
My smile grows more bitingly smug
...