Tom Crider
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First, I gave all living speciesthe ability to speak with each other. You may have already noticedthat now even a routineHow’s your day going ?with a squirrel makesboth of you feel amazing. Now, all of nature’s squeaks,growls, and murmurs, areneighborly complaints about the weather,comments on last night’s moon,or maybe a little gossip. I hope you’ve… Read more
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The body of a molelies curled up in the pathresting meekly on its sidewhere it breathed its last. It seems to beg forgivenessfor being in our wayand maybe causing usa moment of dismay. Its agony (if any)would have gone unheardor forgotten soon enoughby a passing bird. This creature asks for nothing,seeks no sympathyfor a life… Read more
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If the mind is a dragonas the poet saysand a dragon is magicis transformationis energyand able to shrink tothe size of a worm andswell tothe space betweenheaven and earth thenyour mind canbreathe inthe words of Li Shang-Yinfloating to youon a breezefrom twelve centuries ago. And ifhis poem saysit’s hard to meetbut even harderto part and… Read more
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if they aren’t too busy might glance now and thenin our direction… down….or upfrom where they are. You might hear themchuckling as they see us spending so much timeerecting barricades around our egos and running toward (or away from) figments ofour imaginations. Quite amusing…until it’s not and they turnto observe instead of us the life… Read more
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Isn’t it? What’s happening these daysin Nanking, Auschwitzand Wounded Kneeis as normal as anywhere else. And terrifying…Corn is growingin Gettysburg.Morning traffic flowsin Warsaw. Cafes are opentoday in Nagasaki. Luckily for us, curtainsare drawn around the awful.Beetles, mushroomsand grass are summonedto cover things up. Bells ring as usual in villageswhere children were run downby Visigoths on… Read more
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I dream I’ve just walked upa steep sand dune when I see her on the beachtossing a multicolored ball back and forth with friends.My heart sings! I walk along the water’s edgeand there she is again. I go to her and ask,How did you survive? She smiles andshakes her head. Tears of joy—It’s true, she’s… Read more
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I feel your panic little guy!You jump, you leap, you want to fly Out of that barren waste of white,I see why you’re in such a fright! And with me looming in your sky,You must be sure you’re going to die. But, monster though I am to you,I’ve had to jump a time or two.… Read more
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I would say I love youA hundred times a dayBut that old word is too worn outFor all I want to say. I need a word that’s fresh and newLess nibbled on by miceA word that isn’t overusedOr lost its sweet surprise. What I’m feeling isn’t pink,a drugstore Valentine;It’s absolutely rare—unique!Found only in this heart… Read more
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It’s a good thingmy mother didn’t know I was out skating aloneon the long pond that night with thin ice rumblingunder my blades I was flying blindtoward a reflected moon the darkness below the icea deeper dark than the sky aboveI soared with the rhythmicscrape, scrape, scrape of steel on frozen waterswooping over the dark… Read more
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I had a god once, long agoIt seemed the thing to do and so I told myself this was the wayuntil my troubled mind said hey this guy doesn’t make much senseand so I sat upon the fence suns came up, clouds went bythe sky above was just the sky I heard the songs, was… Read more
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Our little houndloves to nose the ground, sniffing grass and leaveswhere aroma symphonies sing to him. So today,parked at the store his old brown eyes begto leave the car. Each stone, leaf, weedhe meets is new as he pushes hisgray muzzle through savoring the delightsof his much shorter life. We return to the carwhere I… Read more
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To those who barely had timeto save your pets beforeabandoning your homes to the flames,please forgive me forenjoying coffee on my patio this morning. To the parents of the boylost in the canyon,I’m truly sorry for frettingabout a pain in my wrist. I apologize to firefightersfor having eyebrows unsinged and to all the wild creatureswho… Read more
Selected Poems by Tom Crider 