one trick pony

2026-06-30
This is a gut-punch of poem. I felt it, in my chest, in tears welling up.

Amazing.

2026-06-27
I bet Alexander Pope had the same problem.

Kidding aside, this dynamic— the couplets and pewter spoon and the listener, make a compelling, totally unique poem. The last lines were very open-ended, what truth was revealed? That's the writer's secret to keep!

2026-06-26
These three lines filled my thoughts with images, almost like watching a movie, very personal thoughts. I was transported. Amazing what three lines can do.

Thank you.

2026-06-26
As I was reading this, several times as Allen suggested, I kept hearing one word in my thoughts: truth.

2026-06-26
I'm going to print this, keep it close over the next days and absorb it. There is more to it (for me, you instructed the reader to make the poem their own) than I can understand in one or two or three readings.

I'm particularly taken by the third stanza, as the struggle to keep false notions, call it what you will, at bay.

This is a beautiful poem, thank you once again.

2026-06-21
Sensuality is the saving grace of being human.

Beautiful.

2026-06-21
i love this, it's so sweet
and so respectful of your feline friend ~~~

2026-06-19
truth

2026-06-16
Dunbar grew up Dayton, Ohio, which was also the home of Wilbur and Orville Wright. This according to the biography of the Wright brothers by David McCullough, 2015.

"A high school friend of Orville's, Paul Laurence Dunbar, who had been the class poet and the only black student in the school, became a contributor to the West Side News [Orville's newspaper]."

2026-06-14
Your cup runneth over.

2026-06-14
This thaws my heart heart, too—

2026-06-14
Cinematic, creation myth or Phoenix, in the beginning . . . I'm not sure what I mean to say, but I really like this.

2026-06-13
Thank you for transporting me—my world view just got that much larger.

2026-05-28
I'd like to meet this person ~~~

2026-05-27
Fickle nature! We have been lucky (thus far in the year), adequate moisture. By August I suspect we'll be begging for rain.

2026-05-27
You've described Dante's ninth circle of Hell, a world of ice, the frozen lake of Cocytus, God's punishment for living a life of betrayal, though what you describe is a betrayal of opportunity.

I like everything about this poem, and I see truth in it, knowing people who lived through fear and desire for "streets of gold."

2026-05-23
Years ago, on poetbay, there was a villanelle challenge. I don't think I've seen one since. It's a pleasure to read yours.

Brings back memories of night soul woman who owned the site at that time.

And, "One Art."

Thank you.

2026-05-23
Reading this I thought of my own disillusion, at the same time I remember the inner-child.

Then I sighed.

2026-05-23
Once I understood the meaning of a sigil the poem became, again, magical for me (I think you're a magician/musician with words).

2026-05-23
I am a woods walker, but never have I found such a treasure. I enjoyed this very much.

2026-05-22
I find this enigmatic to say the least, but I like the magic it implies.

2026-05-22
I know the road, you caught the magic of it. The power of the Pacific never fails to awe me.

2026-05-22
Your poem is stark and elegant at the same time, haunting and true, a dystopian landscape.

2026-05-22
Kudos. I didn't have nerve to post the rant i wrote on ole Bethany Boo.

I'm with you, bro, all the way. This is no place of such negativity.

2026-05-21
oo la la

a baseball metaphor: your first two stanzas are like a pitcher setting up a batter (and you're the batter). First stanza, catches the corner. Strike one. The second stanza, curve ball. Strike two. Third stanza right down the middle, you whack it out of the park. Home run.

Good one.

2026-05-20
I agree, and I enjoy your way of saying it.

2026-05-16
There are enough saints already, an abundance.

2026-05-11
A lover's knot ~~~

2026-05-11
Classic format + your sense of humor = rockin' it.

2026-05-06
This is lovely, to repeat as a quiet meditation is incredibly soothing.

2026-05-04
I very much appreciate the graciousness of your poem, of recognizing and celebrating a moment.

2026-05-01
Epic, reading this poem feels like being part of, witnessing, a transformation or awakening or rebirth, and it's a very good feeling.

Listening to Stone Roses.

2026-04-26
Four perspectives, each in the moment, so good, such a perfect poem.

2026-04-25
again the subtle touch, light as feather ~

2026-04-22
you have such a gentle way with your words ~~~ the lightest touch ~~~ word perfect

2026-04-22
A pleasure to read and contemplate.

2026-04-15
These three poems are raw and powerful and troubling, but the end is strong.

AI told me what "sanyasa" means, or an AI interpretation of it. It helps me better understand the poem.

2026-04-15
A nightmare.

Powerful poetry, devastating.

2026-04-14
This hints of a complicated relationship, a darkness not usually found in your poems.

I may be mis-reading, it's an impression.

2026-04-13
Eastern thought suggests that the past is dead, the future is yet to be born, there is only now.

Yet, so often we long for the past and have hope for the future. It's the now that we too find lacking.

Which seems to be what your poem is about—finding happiness wherever it may be, in this case you mourn the loss of "then", "then" holds the potential for happiness.

If only . . .

2026-04-13
Found art is the often the best art.

2026-04-12
. . . the romance continues (though an uphill battle)!

I, too, like the Milton references, and why not—life is nothing if not two steps forward, one step back—paradise lost and regained, and . . . to be continued!

2026-04-10
I'm entranced, somehow the words became cinema, the Welsh valley, the Valley accent, the textures and odors, all the details of your aunts, the swag being carried up the mountain, it became very real to me, Allen, this child's perspective, real and unreal, memories vivid and memories confused by time.

It's very hard for me to relate to this, my own childhood so different, but there are some things which are universal when it comes to families and memories, and memories were trigged, particularly of my grandparents' homes, and their voices, and their unique characters.

It's nice to read prose on poetbay, it's a different way of telling a story, and, in this case, most apt.

Thank you for sharing.

2026-04-09
Such a simple, but profound, expression of love. Beautiful.

2026-04-07
I've enjoyed this series so much. They have innocence and the honesty of youth—poems of romance, of life.

2026-04-07
Surreal and brilliant and expressive, the inanimate has . . . a soul ~~~

I like this so, so much (bookmarked).

2026-04-06
A very interesting reflection possibilities. I take this to heart—all the what-ifs that life presents.

2026-04-06
I just poured my morning cup of sweet tea, then read your poem. Perfect timing, and a beautiful poem to begin this sunny, warm day.

2026-04-06
One of my favorite things is searching the poetbay archives, reading the poems of members who are no longer on the site. The archive of poems is a treasure.

Your poem is, as always, generous and kind and hopeful. I, too, hope her dreams are coming true.

2026-04-05
despite the aridity, this is very rich in images and suggestion.