Tom Crider
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I dream I’ve just come 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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isn’t it? I meanthat milkweed seedfloating by onblissful flufflifted by windup and over the roof. The drifting seedseems happy to ignorethe odds against it beingdropped downon open ground where it can poweritself into root, stem,and nourishing leaves, the windblown butterflymust find to keep its kind alive. 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
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Back when the galaxywas youngthey say the wheel of fortunespun, the exploded stardust gatheredinto everything we seeand we (the lucky ones!) landedatop the species tree where we look downon the frogs, the antelopes,the bumblebeesand other clustersof cosmic dustgoing about their business who must feelthe universe is not justa little nuts but cruelto have gifted usthe… Read more
Selected Poems by Tom Crider 