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WHEN that Aprilis, with his showers swoot,                       *sweet
The drought of March hath pierced to the root,
And bathed every vein in such licour,
Of which virtue engender'd is the flower;
When Zephyrus eke with his swoote breath
Inspired hath in every holt
and heath                    grove, forest
The tender croppes
and the younge sun                    twigs, boughs
Hath in the Ram  his halfe course y-run,
And smalle fowles make melody,
That sleepen all the night with open eye,
(So pricketh them nature in their corages
);       hearts, inclinations
Then longe folk to go on pilgrimages,
And palmers  for to seeke strange strands,
To *ferne hallows couth
  in sundry lands;     distant saints known
And specially, from every shire's end
Of Engleland, to Canterbury they wend,
The holy blissful Martyr for to seek,
That them hath holpen, when that they were sick.                helped

Befell that, in that season on a day,
In Southwark at the Tabard  as I lay,
Ready to wenden on my pilgrimage
To Canterbury with devout corage,
At night was come into that hostelry
Well nine and twenty in a company
Of sundry folk, by aventure y-fall            who had by chance fallen
In fellowship, and pilgrims were they all,           into company.
That toward Canterbury woulde ride.
The chamber, and the stables were wide,
And well we weren eased at the best.            we were well provided
And shortly, when the sunne was to rest,                  with the best

So had I spoken with them every one,
That I was of their fellowship anon,
And made forword* early for to rise,                            promise
To take our way there as I you devise
.                describe, relate

But natheless, while I have time and space,
Ere that I farther in this tale pace,
Me thinketh it accordant to reason,
To tell you alle the condition
Of each of them, so as it seemed me,
And which they weren, and of what degree;
And eke in what array that they were in:
And at a Knight then will I first begin.

A KNIGHT there was, and that a worthy man,
That from the time that he first began
To riden out, he loved chivalry,
Truth and honour, freedom and courtesy.
Full worthy was he in his Lorde's war,
And thereto had he ridden, no man farre
,                       farther
As well in Christendom as in Heatheness,
And ever honour'd for his worthiness
At Alisandre  he was when it was won.
Full often time he had the board begun
Above alle nations in Prusse.
In Lettowe had he reysed,
and in Russe,                      journeyed
No Christian man so oft of his degree.
In Grenade at the siege eke had he be
Of Algesir, and ridden in Belmarie.
At Leyes was he, and at Satalie,
When they were won; and in the Greate Sea
At many a noble army had he be.
At mortal battles had he been fifteen,
And foughten for our faith at Tramissene.
In listes thries, and aye slain his foe.
This ilke
worthy knight had been also                         same
Some time with the lord of Palatie,
Against another heathen in Turkie:
And evermore *he had a sovereign price
.            He was held in very
And though that he was worthy he was wise,                 high esteem.

And of his port as meek as is a maid.
He never yet no villainy ne said
In all his life, unto no manner wight.
He was a very perfect gentle knight.
But for to telle you of his array,
His horse was good, but yet he was not gay.
Of fustian he weared a gipon,                            short doublet
Alle besmotter'd with his habergeon,     soiled by his coat of mail.
For he was late y-come from his voyage,
And wente for to do his pilgrimage.

With him there was his son, a younge SQUIRE,
A lover, and a ***** bacheler,
With lockes crulle* as they were laid in press.                  curled
Of twenty year of age he was I guess.
Of his stature he was of even length,
And *wonderly deliver
, and great of strength.      wonderfully nimble
And he had been some time in chevachie,                  cavalry raids
In Flanders, in Artois, and Picardie,
And borne him well, as of so little space,      in such a short time
In hope to standen in his lady's grace.
Embroider'd was he, as it were a mead
All full of freshe flowers, white and red.
Singing he was, or fluting all the day;
He was as fresh as is the month of May.
Short was his gown, with sleeves long and wide.
Well could he sit on horse, and faire ride.
He coulde songes make, and well indite,
Joust, and eke dance, and well pourtray and write.
So hot he loved, that by nightertale                        night-time
He slept no more than doth the nightingale.
Courteous he was, lowly, and serviceable,
And carv'd before his father at the table.

A YEOMAN had he, and servants no mo'
At that time, for him list ride so         it pleased him so to ride
And he was clad in coat and hood of green.
A sheaf of peacock arrows bright and keen
Under his belt he bare full thriftily.
Well could he dress his tackle yeomanly:
His arrows drooped not with feathers low;
And in his hand he bare a mighty bow.
A nut-head  had he, with a brown visiage:
Of wood-craft coud* he well all the usage:                         knew
Upon his arm he bare a gay bracer
,                        small shield
And by his side a sword and a buckler,
And on that other side a gay daggere,
Harnessed well, and sharp as point of spear:
A Christopher on his breast of silver sheen.
An horn he bare, the baldric was of green:
A forester was he soothly
as I guess.                        certainly

There was also a Nun, a PRIORESS,
That of her smiling was full simple and coy;
Her greatest oathe was but by Saint Loy;
And she was cleped
  Madame Eglentine.                           called
Full well she sang the service divine,
Entuned in her nose full seemly;
And French she spake full fair and fetisly
                    properly
After the school of Stratford atte Bow,
For French of Paris was to her unknow.
At meate was she well y-taught withal;
She let no morsel from her lippes fall,
Nor wet her fingers in her sauce deep.
Well could she carry a morsel, and well keep,
That no droppe ne fell upon her breast.
In courtesy was set full much her lest
.                       pleasure
Her over-lippe wiped she so clean,
That in her cup there was no farthing
seen                       speck
Of grease, when she drunken had her draught;
Full seemely after her meat she raught
:           reached out her hand
And *sickerly she was of great disport
,     surely she was of a lively
And full pleasant, and amiable of port,                     disposition

And pained her to counterfeite cheer              took pains to assume
Of court,* and be estately of mannere,            a courtly disposition
And to be holden digne
of reverence.                            worthy
But for to speaken of her conscience,
She was so charitable and so pitous,
                      full of pity
She woulde weep if that she saw a mouse
Caught in a trap, if it were dead or bled.
Of smalle houndes had she, that she fed
With roasted flesh, and milk, and *wastel bread.
   finest white bread
But sore she wept if one of them were dead,
Or if men smote it with a yarde* smart:                           staff
And all was conscience and tender heart.
Full seemly her wimple y-pinched was;
Her nose tretis;
her eyen gray as glass;               well-formed
Her mouth full small, and thereto soft and red;
But sickerly she had a fair forehead.
It was almost a spanne broad I trow;
For *hardily she was not undergrow
.       certainly she was not small
Full fetis* was her cloak, as I was ware.                          neat
Of small coral about her arm she bare
A pair of beades, gauded all with green;
And thereon hung a brooch of gold full sheen,
On which was first y-written a crown'd A,
And after, *Amor vincit omnia.
                      love conquers all
Another Nun also with her had she,
[That was her chapelleine, and PRIESTES three.]

A MONK there was, a fair for the mast'ry,       above all others
An out-rider, that loved venery;                               *hunting
A manly man, to be an abbot able.
Full many a dainty horse had he in stable:
And when he rode, men might his bridle hear
Jingeling  in a whistling wind as clear,
And eke as loud, as doth the chapel bell,
There as this lord was keeper of the cell.
The rule of Saint Maur and of Saint Benet,
Because that it was old and somedeal strait
This ilke
monk let olde thinges pace,                             same
And held after the newe world the trace.
He *gave not of the text a pulled hen,
                he cared nothing
That saith, that hunters be not holy men:                  for the text

Ne that a monk, when he is cloisterless;
Is like to a fish that is waterless;
This is to say, a monk out of his cloister.
This ilke text held he not worth an oyster;
And I say his opinion was good.
Why should he study, and make himselfe wood                   *mad
Upon a book in cloister always pore,
Or swinken
with his handes, and labour,                           toil
As Austin bid? how shall the world be served?
Let Austin have his swink to him reserved.
Therefore he was a prickasour
aright:                       hard rider
Greyhounds he had as swift as fowl of flight;
Of pricking
and of hunting for the hare                         riding
Was all his lust,
for no cost would he spare.                 pleasure
I saw his sleeves *purfil'd at the hand       *worked at the end with a
With gris,
and that the finest of the land.          fur called "gris"
And for to fasten his hood under his chin,
He had of gold y-wrought a curious pin;
A love-knot in the greater end there was.
His head was bald, and shone as any glass,
And eke his face, as it had been anoint;
He was a lord full fat and in good point;
His eyen steep,
and rolling in his head,                      deep-set
That steamed as a furnace of a lead.
His bootes supple, his horse in great estate,
Now certainly he was a fair prelate;
He was not pale as a forpined
ghost;                            wasted
A fat swan lov'd he best of any roast.
His palfrey was as brown as is a berry.

A FRIAR there was, a wanton and a merry,
A limitour , a full solemne man.
In all the orders four is none that can
                          knows
So much of dalliance and fair language.
He had y-made full many a marriage
Of younge women, at his owen cost.
Unto his order he was a noble post;
Full well belov'd, and familiar was he
With franklins *over all
in his country,                   everywhere
And eke with worthy women of the town:
For he had power of confession,
As said himselfe, more than a curate,
For of his order he was licentiate.
Full sweetely heard he confession,
And pleasant was his absolution.
He was an easy man to give penance,
There as he wist to have a good pittance:      *where he know
ryn Dec 2015
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••                                  ••
••••••                  ­        ••••••
••••     •••                    •••     ••••
••••                                                      ••­••
•••••                                                         ­   •••••
•••••                                                   ­                •••••
•in  your world, your man with the addiction rules • he's
all fists with a mind of a hundred mules• daily he takes
to the bottle • then  atte      ntion to you, he asserts
his ugly mettle•i know        he is pummelling you
out of your  senses•               you can't  hide your
  tears... and brui-                      ses behind those
  


*darkened lenses•
Concrete Poem 20 of 30

Tap on the hashtag "30daysofconcrete" below to view more offerings in the series. :)
.
Something forgotten for twenty years: though my fathers
and mothers came from Cordova and Vitepsk and Caernarvon,
and though I am a citizen of the United States and less a
stranger here than anywhere else, perhaps,
I am Essex-born:
Cranbrook Wash called me into its dark tunnel,
the little streams of Valentines heard my resolves,
Roding held my head above water when I thought it was
drowning me; in Hainault only a haze of thin trees
stood between the red doubledecker buses and the boar-hunt,
the spirit of merciful Phillipa glimmered there.
Pergo Park knew me, and Clavering, and Havering-atte-Bower,
Stanford Rivers lost me in osier beds, Stapleford Abbots
sent me safe home on the dark road after Simeon-quiet evensong,
Wanstead drew me over and over into its basic poetry,
in its serpentine lake I saw bass-viols among the golden dead leaves,
through its trees the ghost of a great house. In
Ilford High Road I saw the multitudes passing pale under the
light of flaring sundown, seven kings
in somber starry robes gathered at Seven Kings
the place of law
where my birth and marriage are recorded
and the death of my father. Woodford Wells
where an old house was called The Naked Beauty (a white
statue forlorn in its garden)
saw the meeting and parting of two sisters,
(forgotten? and further away
the hill before Thaxted? where peace befell us? not once
but many times?).
All the Ivans dreaming of their villages
all the Marias dreaming of their walled cities,
picking up fragments of New World slowly,
not knowing how to put them together nor how to join
image with image, now I know how it was with you, an old map
made long before I was born shows ancient
rights of way where I walked when I was ten burning with desire
for the world's great splendors, a child who traced voyages
indelibly all over the atlas
, who now in a far country
remembers the first river, the first
field, bricks and lumber dumped in it ready for building,
that new smell, and remembers
the walls of the garden, the first light.
Poem

Querido amigo,

Te quiero decir
Que eres patetico, que estás ahí sentado
Que sueñas cambiarlo.

Te confieso que ya hace tiempo la noche no brilla, las luciérnagas
Se han vuelto colillas.

Te lo digo de frente, al reflector que alumbra tu mente, brilla un poco, reconócete un poco.

Se que odias ser el centro de atención, te saca de comfort, se que el chisme te da asco oírlo y nauseas decirlo.

¿La quieres?
¡Vamos en serio!
solo dilo, déjalo ir
y sino ¿lo pierdes? o
es que nunca fue tuyo.

¿Te quiere? probable,
pero no le ruegues.

Querido amigo te escribo, para que no te ahogues en tu laberinto de misterio,
para que no seas duro con tus errores,
para que seas aceite y no sarro.

Atte.
El saltamontes en tu oído.

PD: léelo cuando te sientas perdido...
Jacob Rofini Jun 2016
IDO NT MATT ERID ONTM ATT ERID ONTM ATTERID ONTMA T TER IDON TMA TTE RI DON TMA TE RIDON TMATTE RIDONT MA TTE RID ONTMATT ERIDONT M ATTERI D ON TMAT TERI DO NTM AT TERIDO NTMA TT ERI D ONT MA TTERID O NTM ATTERIDONT M ATTERI DO N TMA TTERI D ONTM A TTE RID ONTM A TTE RIDO NTMA T TERIDONT MA T TERID ONTM ATTERID ONT MATTE RIDO NTMATT ERIDON TMA TTE RI DONTM ATTERI DON TMA T T ERIDONTMA TTERID ONTMAT TER IDONTM AT TERIDON TMA TTERI D ONTMA TTERID DONT MAT TERID ON TMAT TER IDONTM ATTE RI DO NTMA TTER
Allan Mzyece Sep 2018
Atte laste, lordynges feeble to avarice and swich cursednesse,
I would like to admit that I sacrificed the gang of the thirteen witches of emotions to baphomet,
I be clear your criticism gave birth to my theriomorphism,
Inshallah fail quench my hunger I be but a Tiger,
Laying in the same bed along side insomnia,
What form of religious madness is this?
Get on your knees, let me teach you theomania!
"Our father, our lord: who art in heaven leave us forsaken because our ***** are shaking to the devil's songs"
How hard is it to confess your own wrongs?
"repaint yourselves like chameleons"
God says "no matter where you hide, I will see you and I will **** you,
Because you have reached boundaries I can no longer tolerate!
Stop muttering prayers! But instead vociferate!
Alle and some,  I am misunderstood for being evil
But this cardiacal imprinted in the walls of my heart a vernicle,
But I remain an oracle smoking tobacco in a tortoise shell,
Well, I honestly think the spiritual fathers should practice what they preach,
Because if I were to take off their vizards, you would surely all see some wizards,
But I won't reveal them because the cycle gets insidious,
Aghast!
Who know that I could be theriomorphous and treacherous?
So may I prosper behind the pulpit as I vormit the communion,
Meditating to goetic demons while preaching a morning sermon,
What form of monstrosity is this?
Excuse me priest but you mimic the devil and not Jesus Crist,
Heard rumour have spread around town
That "Alan's not an Angel" is a warlock
Well definitely!
I am certainly Con Fuoco!
Oh the very heart of me is breaking
this disaster was mine to be responsible for making
Most people don't notice that I am shaking
due to all the drugs I am currently taking.
I can't help it, I self medicate
wishing I could almost put myself straight on sedate.
I end up inebriated
trying to get my *** faded
I am half way intoxicated.
Seeing through eyes that are jaded.
There are few in whom I would care to confide my thoughts about premeditated homicide.
I carry myself with all the pride
I carry all this pain deep inside
I am someone's die or ride.
I failed but I really tried.
Wiping at the tears I have cried.
Part of me has died
that part is never coming back
the shadows just as still as they are black.
I've got sunshine in a sack
no I am not talking about crack.
I didn't think that I had to still live like that
Falling a full blown panic attack
Chaos and calamity I can't help but attract
A soul can not run on a backwards track
Clickety ******* clack clackety ******* click
No one understands just what really makes me tick.
In my head my thoughts are sick.
Someone help me please help me quick.
I will burn your house down with a candle stick so you won't hear my lighter click.
Now something wicked this way is about to come
I urge the demons to get them some.
Fee fie foe fom
go to fom foe fie fee
Hoping the giant of this beanstalk don't see me.
The pain has left  me feeling completely numb
I try hard to push my way passed it all, my only rule of thumb,
The bigger they are the harder they fall
crimson Stains on the tile floor of a bathroom stall
some forgotten and ungodly hall.
I started this little trip with a eight ball
I hate all this ******* lies and all
I may look as if I am standing tall
back flat up against the wall
I don't know who the hell I could even call.
No one will catch me if I fall
I know that for certain
As my fat *** sits here hurting
close the blinds and those curtains
so no one outside can see into my room
that is filled with so much gloom.
It's starting to feel like it is my tomb
the feeling of doom
***** the air right out of the room.
I think I am starting to suffocate
I can't be lead to believe that is my fate.
I will never get this **** straight
It isn't feeling so ****** great.
Wonder if anyone else out there can even kind of relate.
We all seem to be filled with hate for each other instead maybe we should love one another.
For in God's eyes everyone is my sister or my brother.
Ease up some you are almost beginning to end up letting me start to feel like I m going to smother.
I sometimes don't have faith that from this tragedy I'll someday recover.
I really stopped being a fighter I am more of a lover
underneath the sheets I am covered.
In the sky if I could I would probably just hover. Watching everyone and everything in my sight
I am so far left they call me can't get right.
**** seizing the day I would rather rule the night my flames, in my hell's burning bright.
I think I lost my will to even fight.
I can't help wondering if I will really be alright
or if I will waste away waiting for the  arrival of my white knight

Left in my very wake
My soul you simply cannot take
I left everything on complete devastate
It's up to me to get the story out there So I create
a conversation that sparks a huge debate
Everything I touch I complicate.

As for me and these **** demons I usually tend,
I now must simply contend
Thirsting the nefarious ones of my misfortune they drink
Paired with the unpredictable demons I wait to go extinct
Teetering on a psychotic episode I Totter on the very brink
I know that everything could very well go up in a puff of smoke, in just a blink.
I can't concentrate. I don't even know what to think.

No one would have ever believed
Just how much peace into the atmosphere had  been breathed
Some of this stress has automatically been released
Hanging above me and my demons now unleashed
Are tragic skies that have been Disastrouslun streaked
My vicious inner beast
is so disembodied now its in a deep sleep
Just Like me the monsters I conjure are quite unique
Coughing choking I sound like I am dying but I am enjoying the relief
Please pass that sweet leaf

From these moments and memories that at best
bittersweet
i find myself just running away atte to retreat
I don't know what it really is that I actively seek
My very intentions are just now starting to reek
I open my mouth and accidently double speak
I cannot help the fact that I feel so incomplete
I refuse to accept defeat
Now I lay me down to do anything but sleep
I think in my addiction I am in way to deep\
Now all I can think to do is to render myself obsolete
I stand here just kind of chilling in disbelief
overcome I am with all this **** grief
That I am in fact a sick sad mess underneath
I sure could use just a. Little more of that sweet leaf if you have any to spare
So ****** up not looking at anything but seemingly I stare
My emotions are just as raw as they are bare
Is anyone that's here right now even really even there.
Don't tell me it really doesn't matter because I don't care.
I do just whatever I dare
For something to go as I had planned is very rare
For what's coming next how could I ever prepare.
Father I've come to you in prayer
Please won't you confirm that you up there.
Explicit

— The End —