Michael Shepherd Poems

When I was very young,
Poetry
was written by
AA Milne.
...

I should be writing a poem
about those small wisps of white cloud
moving unusually fast across a blue blue sky
on their way to somewhere else
...

Old poets, torturing their thoughts to rhyme,
their lovely English verse to end-words tied,
oft found just cause to moan of 'envious Time',
and seek immortal fame in 'Time defied';
...

'fun-da-mental-ism' miss God's fun, man -
who want a God wittout a smile? ...
...

Hey, Self - how do I know that you exist?
Or are you just a word - a useful term
for what we hope our real nature is,
those things about us which we're proud to affirm?
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There are poems that I envy,
poems that I admire and respect,
poems that simply sing to me,
poems that I puzzle over…
...

Those who’ve seen one, all give differing accounts;
that’s how it should be. No in-depth video. No coffee-table book.
But the collected book of sightings –
that’s hairs on the back of the neck stuff.
...

By the edge of the mini-pond
where I sit when the weather’s fit for it,
there’s this stone.
...

I asked My Beloved

How may I know the secret
of being a perfect Sufi,
...

In the seat opposite in the underground
in the off-peak afternoon,
neat shoes, nice legs, skirt just the exact right length
where demure meets sexy in a place called trim;
...