Wasted Cut Out Flowers and Other Poems

By Richard LeDue

Wasted Cut Out Flowers

Lucky to have a blank page again,
staring at me with more affection
than the lovers who don't know
they're lovers,
who only wake up naked
in their dreams, who usually
let the silence buy their drinks,
who reminisce about paper airplanes
crash landing, only to give flight
to grocery lists, fake phone numbers,
payday lotto tickets-
all so this poem can arrive
like a lonely Friday night.

The Unsaid Sadness We’ve Learned

Dark clouds, silent as bankers
that don't know our names,
is all we have some days,
while the rain doesn't wash
away the unsaid sadness
we've learned to live with
because everyone believes us
as empty bottles pile up,
full of our lies,
and long sleeve shirts keep our secrets,
leaving us smiling
like a man on death row.

Ceremony

The people buzz like flies:
tiny wings carrying conversations
about dogs, weather, vacation plans
until a microphoned voice silences
them all- good manners heavy enough
to crash land sentences
because loudness is the sort of
authority we've been taught
to listen to.

A Retirement Without a Pension

Tired of writing poems
for those who don't read them-
might as well scream into a balloon
and die the kind of death
worthy of the internet.

But the poetry aficionados holler 
in my sleep, demanding metaphors 
in a world where inflation just is,
and warm beer says more
than the kisses we never knew. 

Richard LeDue (he/him) lives in Norway House, Manitoba, Canada. He has been published both online and in print. He is the author of eight books of poetry. His latest book, “Secondhand Salvation,” was released from Alien Buddha Press in February 2023.