Thomas Bates Poems

beauty
is like standing
on crumbling land.
it comes sometimes in disguise
...

I watched
her,
warm sun reflecting
against her soft American hair
...

I slipped up regretfully on the last shreds
Of remaining honesty
and what little I had left
of respect
...

Tolstoy's 'War and Peace' - events and history
(also, Love) caught
in the making: these years
surrounding the year 1812: a time of
...

a flagrant hesitancy -
uncommonly
feathered as such, thus fumbling,
a misunderstanding sinks deeply
...

another poem -another recent event
born from solitude, taking its time and
taking shape
in this attempt of mine
...

the psalmist of offered blue skies
has offended his goodly
-Glory- neighbors, confused
...

in your latest letter, what you wrote
about the need of a child inside that you have for
...

Although distance rests
like the softness of a
sweater elbow bent resting in wool,
time and distance have become
...

(Valentine's day in Texas.)
I called my former girlfriend on a payphone
and she answered,
having eagerly awaited my arrival in far-off North Carolina.
...