Not to Be Ignored (by Frank C. Praeger)

Not to Be Ignored

Lace and a razor strap,
brimstone,
potash, brochures,
and faded newspaper clippings
fomented further than lastly; then, yes, away.

The lesser of superfluous,
something other than degraded,
not to cease, to be gnawed at,

Not to let it not be,

Ignored the trains that never halted;
so satisfied as to pray for the skewered birds,
or fetishes for parallels,
composites for pedigrees.
A patch of vetch, redemptive blue
as solace quickens
surrounded by the faintest green,
bumblebees, the fall of rain.

 

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Frank C. Praeger is a retired research biologist who has had poetry published in various journals in the UK and the USA.

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The List (by Frank C. Praeger)

The List

No, not tomorrow.
Just today,
not even restless.
Concerned?
Hardly.
Badgered by imagined distances
that entered with the sleepless nights.
Irrelevant?
Should I tout the blues,
remainder fussed-over misgivings?
May and still the trees are without leaf.
Geese have flown by,
How many others have gone reckless,
traceless?
How many have been left,
left to be something other than unimaginable
or than somebody else’s fact?
So soon, already coffee grinds, outcroppings, aches -–
the list extends past seas and skies and other ordinary things.

 

* * * * *

Frank C. Praeger is a retired research biologist who has had poetry published in various journals in the UK and the USA.

Cliffs, Compost Heaps, and Raptors (by Frank C. Praeger)

Cliffs, Compost Heaps, and Raptors

Evensong, trademark for a slipping away,
past an apostolic lift,
a black squirrel,
or last aspen,
or singular poplar,
taken up in the sadness of the drifting leaves,
to be consumed by fire,
dumped in compost heaps.

Banks of yellow and dark bronze; long stemmed plants droop,
devoid of stories, plans,
the greenery maintained as it can.
The drifting leaves leave no sign,
nor the imperious sky demand,
acceptng patterns of wild geese, solitary raptors.
Denuded trees have no secrets, traces of their pedigree
dissipated into the distance –
rumours of banishment, lying in state.

Exiles in a trance identify the shredded bark
restless at places they have come to,
resigned to monologues.
Far or further weighed against one another.
The cliffs of childhood are no nearer.

 

* * * * *

Frank C. Praeger is a retired research biologist who has had poetry published in various journals in the UK and the USA.

Inclusions (by Frank C. Praeger)

Inclusions
by Frank C. Praeger

Silence summarily dismissed,
separated from sunlight, wind,
dust, and the smoky remains of a last inhabitation,
the riding out away from it, disclaimers for every drifter,
filled pot,
dying plant,
flies,
ladybells,
and one petite green insect flinging itself into space.
It may be over with,
it may no longer be satisfied,
it may no longer be what was wanted.
The quick bird gone,
sunlight through the rafters,
russet purple grass, black-eyed Susan, oxeye daisy
spread out into the field before me.
Dream shades into dream.
Green dwarfs green thoughts.
Stars clump,
ditto black smoke,
gouged ground,
a stump filled hill,
darkened
stamped down debris,
music

that lingers,

and a drowsy spell.
A sideways step before brazenly going forward,
confronted by a dog that always barks,
a cat that runs away,
a life that can’t be saved.
For now a dull edge cuts,
walls bulge,
sirens approach,
traffic rerouted
as the wind lurches to a halt.

* * * * *

Frank C. Praeger is a retired research biologist who has had poetry published in various journals in the UK and the USA.

Static (by Frank C. Praeger)

Static
by Frank C. Praeger

Static?
A muddle
not to be fathomed,
not to be added up.
Unquestioned quests,
a moment’s momentum.

Discarded stirrups hanging on the wall,

voices commiserating with each other,
birds that never did sing.
                Trips that were never completed.
Joys that could not be retained. Yes, static,
so charged without commandeering.
Let someone else tell you
what was clearer.

Let music

be adjunct to the weather.



* * * * *
Frank C. Praeger is a retired research biologist who has had poetry published in various journals in the UK and the USA.