Robert Leary

The puppet has a vision
With many strings attached
A life for every season
Winter, Summer, Spring or Fall
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It was a love so deep inside
That in his heart
The butterfly doth reside
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In the garden
You sit upon my book
I look you in the eye
…receive a pleasant look
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I

Oh willow like a bird so fair
Your hair abloom ignites the air
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An empty vase upon the table
decorously awaiting your return.
What flowers do you ceremoniously
bring, ambrosial dreams to bloom,
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How like a bird you are
Heroic canary
In my heart’s mine
Gull hung in the wind
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How do you teach someone to love?
They sit before you: "I don't feel the way you do".
"Of course not" you say…"you have to learn to love…
You knew it as a child and lost it like a toy, broken.
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It feels awkward walking alone
Along this pier tonight
Shyly I stare at the screws
In the planking
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The rain growls on the roof,
starving, dog chew bones in the gutter.
All night the frightened trains gape
though the tunnels in my mind
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Death, wait, wait I have more things to do
I’ll take care of what’s left of me
Just wait, wait, my son’s not ready
The boat’s not finished
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Has the world become so incestually complex
that song no longer rhymes
that laughter is a sullen gesture to appease another
that being unique we're isolated
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If I'm sad
It's not for you I'm sad
If you leave me
It's not you I'll miss
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as if they were statues in a dream,
people left over from some other party;
not tonight's, some other one - you met them,
yes, partially you met and had meant to meet again.
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It bothered me that I could hold
My face out at arm's length,
Pivot it on one finger
And hear it make excuses for its folly.
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Let the waves brush my soul
Portray me from the pallet
A melting snow flake
Shadows of birds
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Love's not a two way street
It's often one
For loved is loved
Not for an expectation in return
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It's been over thirty years I've known these barns.
They've become a part of me like veins on the backs of my hands.
The sawdust and manure fragranted with spices of fresh hay
Wafted in my memories of being carried on to a field
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I sit alone in the garden on the patio
Overlooking a heart shaped pool
Who would I wish to walk up these stairs
Hand on the white cement balusters
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Your life will not always be music
Do not forget to dance
May your frustrations turn to strengths
Your loves and sorrows bare fruit
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