gershon hepner Poems

Honoring rules far less well on the beach
than with the observance expected at home
we tend to forget what our ministers teach,
the rules of Jerusalem, Canterbury, Rome,
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Though chimps from homo sapiens parted
some five million years ago,
they have not become downhearted,
since, clearheaded, they all know,
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A poem, I believe, should always be
so unforgettable that, read just once,
it does not make the reader feel that he,
because he cannot understand it, is a dunce.
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On two pages of Les Fleurs
the title wasn’t “FLEURS” but “FEURS, ”
and Baudelaire found useful rhyming
dictionaries to help his timing,
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If you are sure of everything you’re thinking,
and don’t entertain a doubt when tossed by storms,
you’ll stay afloat without the risk of sinking,
and be respected for obeying all the norms.
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However hard we try to shed
the weight of history, the last ten pounds
remain to weigh us down like lead
and spoil our taste like bitter coffee grounds.
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Only one man sat behind
Ms. Rosa Parks, and he looked glum,
an image in the viewer’s mind
of heartbeats on a bigot’s drum
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For a reverence she thought was right
she practiced her devotion,
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From Atlantic to Pacific
writers hope for a terrific
audience, although none will send
them messages like “Be my friend.”
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Idreamed that, as I wandered by the way,
I met my past and could not recognize
a single word I heard this phantom say,
and wondered was he wearing a disguise,
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