David McLansky Poems

The single soul is not complete;
Its counterpart it must meet
For life to be truly sweet;
Alone we live as in defeat.
...

Grim of eye,
Sharp of tooth,
Dead he lies,
Eternal youth.
...

Daffodils bob on the hill,
The wind maintains its’ winter chill,
It turns their yellow heads to brown
And bends them early to the ground;
...

The paintings on the wall
Were witness to it all:
Two lovers
So enthralled
...

I grip the handles of the oars
And gently pull us away from shore
Into the center of the stream,
I dip the oars hard and clean;
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Winter marshals its last troops
In an icy counterattack
Sending blasts of Arctic air
Down my spine and back.
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On John Knowles A Separate Peace

It never pays to over think
Like adolescents on the brink,
...

A Song for Liao Yiwu

In the Stateless prison of Liao Yiwu,
Where class has been abolished,
...

I searched the headstones for my Mary
Who Death decided to take so early;
When I chanced upon
A bush of thorns
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He spins and flays
His arms arrayed
So regal in his grace;
He floats on air
...