March 28, 2023 · 4:24 pm

Only Tears – Haibun by Paul Vincent Cannon

At dVerse Frank is hosting Haibun with an invitation to write about pressure.

dVerse Poets – Haibun – Pressure

Image: found on YouTube via Bing

“Amid the pressure of great events, a general principle gives no help.” G.W.F. Hegel

Only Tears

Some things build. There are those nights that wild themselves, when the walls bend in close to my temples, just like a whiskey cloud, and the velvet curtains wrap around me blocking out the light. The air feels warm, thick and cloying, coated in dust, catching on my throat. In the back of my head I feel the movement of staccato bass riffs pounding, the floor shakes and I need to steady myself.

When the dark words come, as come they will and fill the room and strike at me, the world presses in, time slips a cog, and my veins thrum. If only they were never said, if only I could reel them back. The pain overwhelms as images flash past. Only tears release the pressure valve, returning the walls to normal and the constriction is no more. Finally the gauge reads zero and I can think again.

My house of dark words
press in to my open mind
tears steal the feelings



Copyright 2023 ©️Paul Vincent Cannon
All Rights Reserved ®️

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March 27, 2023 · 3:57 pm

As Sacred As I – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Photo by Dương Hữu on Unsplash

“We can just let people be who they are ….” Glennon Doyle

As Sacred As I

Does it bother you that
she takes hormones,
he puts on a dress,
she passionately kisses her
girlfriend on both lips,
he strokes his boyfriend,
he likes both and so does she,
she experiments,
he is confused?
They are they,
as sacred as I, 
and I celebrate their 
witness to love.



Copyright 2023 ©️Paul Vincent Cannon
All Rights Reserved ®️

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March 26, 2023 · 10:57 pm

Courage To Speak – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

“Words are tools which automatically carve concepts out of experience.” Julian S. Huxley

Courage To Speak

To say a word takes courage,
to defend it takes more,
worse still - the perceptions
that seem to exponentially
multiply in any one discussion,
presenting rabbit holes to wander
for all those who would blend
truths like paint - while also 
offering steel traps,
this takes fearless zeal.


Copyright 2023 ©️Paul Vincent Cannon
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March 25, 2023 · 9:25 am

Love Wins Out – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

“World belongs to humanity, not this leader, that leader or that king or prince or religious leader.” Dalai Lama

Love Wins Out

The separation of peoples,
the division of colours,
the disappearance of culture,
the incarceration of peoples,
the eruption of concrete walls,
the ranking of right religious views,
the diminishing of political views,
the eradication of human rights,
the ending of the individual,
the destruction of community,
all have been tried,
all have,
in the long term,
ultimately failed
the power of love and connection.


Copyright 2023 ©️Paul Vincent Cannon
All Rights Reserved ®️

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March 24, 2023 · 4:34 pm

Love Keep – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

At dVerse Bjorn is hosting Meeting the Bar with an invitation to write a poem using word play. There is a wonderful trove of detail that Bjorn has provided so please follow the link below for more info.

dVerse Poets – MTB – Word Play

“Love is space and time measured by the heart.” Marcel Proust

Love Keep

If you were a boat,
a magnificent vessel of passion
it would be all hands on,
but as it is we live in a 
stony eyrie,
a love keep so strong,
few can enter or escape,
and, truth be told,
I wouldn't want it
any other way.
We are our own 
passionate prison
and we are our own 
love key.


Copyright 2023 ©️Paul Vincent Cannon
All Rights Reserved ®️

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March 23, 2023 · 3:16 pm

And What Now? – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

“You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean.” Alan Watts

And What Now?

Time,
what a beautiful intersection,
crossroad of divine encounter -
what happens now?
An irrational search for the
superstition of reason or
immersion in breathing,
pathway to dreamworlds,
opportunities of discovery
extending forward into the 
world by vulnerability,
and what now,
do I fall in love?


Copyright 2023 ©️Paul Vincent Cannon
All Rights Reserved ®️

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March 22, 2023 · 3:47 pm

There Is No Map – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Photo: Part of the Sacred Garden Walk at The Monastery, Adelaide.

“Not all those who wander are lost.” J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring)

There Is No Map

Lately I've noticed a change,
the streets no longer sign 
themselves as Main, Brown,
or lower whatever,
I hear they're buying in,
taking cover in context,
relatively speaking,
sending a signal
like a boatswain's pipe
squealing names we'd rather forget, 
though we well remember 
those avenues of sadness,
echoing memories of roads
we've all travelled;
deprivation alley,
abuse cul-de-sac,
assault road,
cancer circuit,
failure loop,
death row,
lanes of grief,
the streets of disillusionment,
left or right,
straight ahead,
it makes no difference,
life must be the journey,
there is no map.


Copyright 2023 ©️Paul Vincent Cannon 
All Rights Reserved ®️

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March 21, 2023 · 2:05 pm

The Shift – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

At dVerse Mish is hosting the Quadrille with an invitation to write a poem including the word shift or any of its forms.

dVerse Poets – Quadrille – Shift

“Life is always moving, changing, shifting into its next shape.” Melody Beattie 

The Shift

A little tectonic
or factory floor,
maybe the goal posts,
something gauzy,
packing boxes,
another house
though perhaps not yours,
third gear, down fourth,
deckchairs,
cattle to the top paddock,
hit enter,
blame,
the sun
its shadows,
environmentalism,
a shift in place and time.


Copyright 2023 ©️Paul Vincent Cannon
All Rights Reserved ®️

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March 20, 2023 · 2:41 pm

The Moment – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

“Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.” Matsuo Basho 

The Moment 

Sitting
at day's end,
a belated summer inferno,

I should pack away the chairs,
but why end the moment.

The beer bottle is sad,
tools still on the ground,

I notice a rogue sucker on the lemon tree.

Perhaps it is time for me to go.

A fantail twits and flits mosquitos,
the setting sun suggests a verse,
O to be bitten by such love.


Copyright 2023 ©️Paul Vincent Cannon
All Rights Reserved ®️

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March 19, 2023 · 1:57 pm

On Loop – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

“Today a story is not told it’s sold.” Amit Abraham

On Loop

We saddled,
mounted the lie,
stall eight,
all others were empty,
starter's gun sounds,
and we're off;
round and round we went,
round and round we went,
on loop,
repeat,
same on every channel,
precision flogging,
framing,
hypnosis,
until we believe
that all is well,
if we believe.


Copyright 2023 ©️Paul Vincent Cannon
All Rights Reserved ®️

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