My father warned me.
Mother warned me.
My neighbor, Gilbert Jeffrey Swain, often warned me.
(Gilbert is fourteen and knows these things.)
...
Not every man can travel to
A land with fancy elephants
That dance and sing and take him for a ride.
Nor can each man acquire a tan
...
My cat leaves home
Most nights to roam,
Compelled by the moon and stars.
For go he must,
...
No not alone, I dare suggest,
Though all alone you felt; the rest
Forsaking you upon the stage,
Midst blinding light and audience rage.
...
All alone in the gym tonight-
Too early I guess for a game.
But the smells are here,
And in the silence I can even hear the sounds-
...
The real McCoy, some say, was Bill, a shipbuilder by trade,
Who joined the ranks of rum runners that prohibition made.
'Real rum-' he boasted, 'not like them who water down their booze.'
So drink to Captain Bill, the real McCoy, and all his crews.
...
Each morning mercy, come what may,
A blustery cold or sunny day-
Each morning mercy finds his way to me.
And though I scarce would turn him out,
...
Breaks the ground
Sweet daffodil,
As thunder shakes
The gentle hill-
...
When God abandons us
to the shifting sands
below
our blistered feet,
...
Shoulda seen that comin'
Shoulda thought that through
Coulda gained a point
Coulda beaten you
...