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Cento on the Soul

7/29/2019

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by Bob Dougherty 
the clouds are moving in on Tiburon
like a school of sharks  (1)  
the moon came up early   a pale orange  (2)
before slipping back into a bed of silence  (3)
what if my cold eye took in   
the naked nymph in the fountain  (4)
I dreamed over a picture
of the December behind me
the black rocks off the black cliffs  (5)

something in me wants to believe  (6)
in the peace that passes all understanding 
and what I got was an axis of evil  (7)
a dark god in need of a human sacrifice 
smoothly turning its back on the earnest   (8)
and I know about the best of intentions  (9)
so I find the entrance to the
underground and descend again  (10)

on the wall one of Blake’s good angels
holding a child just out of reach from
an evil angel   and the words  (11)
man has no body distinct from his soul  (12)
he wanted to know if that was how I felt
and I didn’t hesitate to tell him  (13)
for so I created them free
and free they must remain  (14)
then I saw a world in a grain of sand
and heaven in a wild flower
held infinity in the palm of my hand
and eternity in an hour   
(15)

how is it we never tire of dreaming  (16)
 
Notes:
Thomas Centolella:  1.  Southerly Wind and Fine Weather  2.  Loneliness  3.  Piano  4.  Simulacrum  5.  The Lost Coast 
6.  La Purisma  7.  Orange Alert Creeping into Red  8.  Namaste  9.  Spirit  10.  Ave Maria  11.  The Soul  13.  Counterpoint  16.  The Pacific
William Blake:  12.  The Marriage of Heaven and Hell  15.  Auguries of Innocence
John Milton:  14. Paradise Lost

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Ratskeller

7/19/2019

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by Bob Dougherty
​
 
there may be a place in this world for them 
but I don’t want them around me 
wouldn’t eat in a restaurant
that tolerated them   at all 
trouble is   they’re everywhere 
they are rats and breed like crazy
spread all kinds of diseases
they’ve invaded our cities and farm country
but never thought — my neighborhood 
you do what you can to protect
your home — you know 
but the town — doesn’t do anything

then last week it happened
I knew one got under my house
I could literally smell that rat 
well   ya gotta do what cha gotta do
I grabbed what I needed
and climbed down in the cellar
followed my nose and trail of clues
found that rat lying by a hot air duct
dead   nothing gory   just a mummified rat
I couldn’t help thinking about
all his comings and goings down in the cellar
and how he never really bothered me   at all 
well   ya gotta do what cha gotta do
the world’s sure a different place
down in the cellar 

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Waves on a Lake

7/17/2019

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by Bob Dougherty
​
 
there rests a peaceful lake  
the water is as one  
then tempests fierce waves break  
the water is undone  
turbulence devours peace  
crests cannonade the shore  
yet   cruel winds always cease 
and water’s one once more
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    Writer
    Bob Dougherty is a poet and writer living in Tiburon, CA 

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