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Online poetry collection to read free online. Poems may be photocopied for classroom use. This collection of poetry is available from Amazon.com as a paperback book or as a US $5 PDF download from lulu.com/hughcook/ All these poems belong to the Genghis Lotus Poetry Collection by poet Hugh Cook, born in Britain, educated in New Zealand. Hugh is a much-published novelist, and the author of, amongst other works, the fantasy series Chronicles of an Age of Darkness. His writings include the brain cancer memoir Cancer Patient.
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short poems |
school poems |
city poems |
nature poems |
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war poems |
cancer poems |
death poems |
other poems |
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Paperback Book or US $5 PDF file |
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• BIRTH: a child is born. Who? Me! First published online 2005. • BIRTH ON PLANET GRAVITY: a child is born. Who? My daughter! First published online 2004. • BREASTFEEDING: breastfeeding. For which there is a price. First published online 2004. • CHERRY BLOSSOM, APRIL 2OO3: a very short poem about cherry blossom. This poem was written in Japan during the cherry blossom season at a time when the Iraq war was dominating the TV screens. First published online 2003. • THE FISH: an extremely short fish poem. First published in CRACCUM in 1979. • ODYSSEUS ON DELOS: Delos, Odysseus. A ritual on the sacred island of Delos. First published online 2003. • POWER CUT: and the lights go out. First published online 2004. • SUNFLOWER: a very brief love poem. First published in CRACCUM 1979. • VIGIL INVOLUNTARY: insomnia. First published in CRACCUM in 1978. • TELLOS: insomina. First published in TE MAARAMA, a literary magazine put out in 1975 by the Auckland University Students Association. • SLEEPING NAKED ALONE: insomnia. First published online 2004. • WIDE WINDOWS: cheerfully awake in the morning. First published in CRACCUM in 1976. • SPHINX CHILD: cat poem. First published in OUTRIGGER 1980. • KAFKA COUNTRY: summer. First published in TE MAARAMA, 1975. • MONSOON: monsoon; illicit relationship. First published in CRACCUM 1976. • THE QUALITY OF GLASS IS LIGHT: intimacy. First published online 2002. • THE FACE FEARFUL: hypochondria. First published in CRACCUM 1976. • FIREWORKS: emotional distress. First published online 2002. • NINE STEPS TO CALIFORNIA: short surreal prose poem. First published online 2003. • NIGHTMARE: exactly that, a nightmare. First published online 2003. • LIF IN THE DEGENERATE WEST: a look at life as it used to be in the degenerate West, before the rise of the Caliphate. First published online 2005. • CLOCKS: poem on the nature of clocks. First published online 2005. • VAN GOUGH. First published in CRACCUM 1979. • SEIZE THE DAY: carpe diem. First published online 2005. • CHOCOLATE: eating chocolate. First published online 2005. • CORAL ISLANDS. First published online 2004. • INSPIRATION. An early version of this poem was published in a New Zealand magazine called NZ HOME JOURNAL, probably in 1973. • RED: remembered accidents. First published online 2007. • BLUE: eyesight damage. First published online 2007. • GREEN: grass; sunbathing. First published online 2007. • VIOLET: violet light, evolution, twilight. First published online 2007.
• SOMEWHERE FAR FROM THE SEA: school bus. First published in CRACCUM, 1976. • DISSECTION: AN OPOSSUM: first published in Craccum, 1977. • SODIUM THIOSULPHATE: crystal formation. First published in KORERU, 1978. • CICADA SUN: adolescence, high school, surfing. First published in LANDFALL, 1976.
• RETURN TO THE CITY: loneliness. First published in CRACCUM, 1979. • TOWARD TEN O'CLOCK: night in the city. First published in CHAFF, 1976. • DREAMS OF LOTHLORIEN: autumn, influenza. First published in CRACCUM, 1977. • GRAFTON IN SPRING: spring, being in love. First published in CITY NEWS, 1975. • I REMEMBER: memories, atomic bomb tests, Cold War, nuclear war, France, Paris, London, sex, travel, overseas experience, OE, foreign travel. First published in CRACCUM, 1986. • FREEZE FRAMES: Cold War poem. First published online 2003. • LILITH: prostitute (low end of the market). First published online 2004. • TEST PATTERN: watching television, dying insect, urban life. First published in CRACCUM, 1979. • THE ERASURE OF CERTAINTY: globalization, modern life, time pressure, dreams. First published online 2003. • THIS WORKING LIFE: asleep, dreaming, sleeping on trains. First published online, 2003. • THRENODY: widower. First published in CRACCUM, 1977.
• WATERFALL: first published online 2003. • WHITE WATER: river, canoeing, kayaking, camping. First published online 2004. • SURF SEA: surfing. First published in KORERU, 1978. • OUT FISHING: fishing. First published in OUTRIGGER, 1980. • SNAILS. First published online, 2003. • AARDVARL PLANET: aardvark, dictionary. First published online, 2004. • THE KRAKEN WAKES: kraken. First published in CRACCUM, 1977. • DRAGON. First published online 2003.
• CAMOUFLAGE: first published in CRACCUM, 1979. • A MANTRA: rifle range, shooting, target practice. First published in CRACCUM, 1979. • THIS IS A PISTOL: military training, training for war, memories of war, remembering war. First published in BRIGHT BUT INVISIBLE, 1978, a literary publication put out in that year by the Auckland University Students Association. • THE DRAFTING OF ODYSSEUS: draftee. First published online 2003. • THE DEATH OF PATROCLUS: Patroclus, death in battle. First published online 2003. • THE DEATH OF ACHILLES: Achilles, dying in battle, death experience (how it feels to die). First published online 2004. • WOUNDED, NOT YET DEAD: battlefield casualties, graphic battlefield horror, horror of battlefield, wounded warrior. First published online 2003. • WAVES: war is over. First published online 2003. • THE DEATH OF NESTOR: death of a veteran, Nestor. First published in ICARUS ASCENDING, 2000. • HIROSHIMA: Hiroshima (annual ceremony of remembrance). First published online 2005. • NAGASAKI: Nagasaki (destruction of). First published online 2005. • LUMBERJACKED CITIES: Second World War, World War Two, Dresden (destruction of), Tokyo (firebombing of), Hiroshima (destruction of), Nagasaki (destruction of). First published online 2007. • SEX METAL: , anti-war poem, Iraq war, war casualty (burnt child). First published online 2003. • A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A WAR: America brings democracy to Iraq, anti-war poem, cherry blossom season Japan, Iraq war, Japan cherry blossom season, spring (cherry blossom season in Japan). First published online 2003.
• MAINLINING: gallium count. First published online 2007. • CANCER: cancer, facing death. First published in CANCER PATIENT medical memoir 2005. • RED HOT TEARS: grief. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • CORNFLAKES: life or death, cancer's consequences. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • DYING WE CAN DO TOMORROW daughter (not yet two years old), Christmas. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • THE ACTIVE CHILD: daughter (very young and very active), parental responsbility. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR DEATH, 2005. • AFTER I WAS DIAGNOSED: surreal poem. First published in CANCER PATIENT, 2005. • THIS WAR IN IRAQ: selfishness, indifference to the wider world. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • THE CHEATED DAUGHTER: guilt, nurses. First published online 2005. • RECIDIVISM: cancer returns. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • WALKING AROUND MY CITY. Facing cancer. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • SADDAM IS GUILTY: Saddam Hussein: praise poem. First published online 2005. • NINE-MONTH PARACHUTE DROP: death: the mechanism of my death. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • ICE CREAM BRAIN: brain damage, chemotherapy side-effects, radiotherapy side effects. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • MY CONCEPTUAL SIEVE: brain damage, chemotherapy side-effects, radiotherapy side effects. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • BLIND MEN CAN STILL EAT MARZIPAN: looking on the bright side. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • ON HIS BLINDNESS: blindness, going blind. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • PROGERIA: autism, counting our blessings. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • CANCER PATIENT: cancer: achieving remission. First published in the medical memoir CANCER PATIENT, 2005. • TWELVE HOURS DISTANT: survivorhood. First published online 2005. • ARC OF LIGHT: mortality. A poem about living a mortal life in a mortal world. First published online 2005. • ADVICE FOR CANCER PATIENTS: advice on diet hygiene safety etc. First published online 2007.
• THE HAPPY PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICHES: playful poem. First published online 2005. • BEING DEAD: death experience (how it feels to be dead).First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • THE BIG DOOR: dying (what it's like). First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • INFORMED CONSENT PROCEDURE FOR DEATH: informed consent procedure. First published online 2006. • MYTHOLOGIES: death concepts. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • THE EGOTIST DYING">: self-satisfaction. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • THE DEATH OF SADDAM HUSSEIN: Saddam Hussein: execution. First published online 2007. • SADDAM HUSSEIN A MILLION YEARS FROM NOW": Saddam Hussein's historical significance. First published online 2007. • KITES: nostaligia. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • DEATH: death: personal annihilation. First published online 2007. • THE IMMORTAL ELEPHANT: mortality. First published online 2006. • COMING INTO HARBOUR: death of an old man, death of a grandfather. First published online 2003. • THE DEATH OF BIRDS: death: how birds die. First published in THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD 2006. • GENGHIS LOTUS: attaining enlightenment, death: acceptance of, warlord in old age. First published online 2005. (assorted poems on various themes)
• AFRICA: stereotypes, ignorance. First published online 2007. • MALAWI: Madonna, David Banda, political correctness. First published online 2007. • YANKLAND: America. First published online 2007. • AMERICAN DREAMS: the American dream. First published online 2007. • WHY AMERICA IS HATED: America the hated nation. First published online 2007. • SAVING VIRGINIA: gun control, right to bear arms, Virginia Tech. First published online 2007. • GUANTANAMO: war on terror, justice, judicial process, prisoner's rights, American imperialism. First published online 2007. • LIFE IN THE GOLDEN AGE: Golden Age, Yokohama Japan (quality of life), utopia. First published online 2007. • JAPAN: Japanese culutre, Japanese self-defense force. First published online 2007. • THIS IS A PICTURE OF YOUR GOD: blasphemy, free speech, Islam and the West, Mohammed / Muhammad cartoon furore, war between religions. First published online 2006. • PLANET EARTH: Earth, planet Earth, science fiction poem. First published online 2007. • GENESIS: Creation. First published online 2004. • ADAM: Adam, Eden. First published online 2004. • HIS DRAGON WORLD: dinosaur, Tyrannosaurus Rex. First published in CHAFF 1978. • MEN WITHOUT AMNESTY: torture (torturers, torturing). First published in CRACCUM 1977. • PETITION FOR A FLAT EARTH: conservatism (being conservative), reactionary forces. First published online 2003. • BITUMEN MAN: roadworks, motorbike riders. First published in TE MAARAMA 1975. • A RED WHEELBARROW: religion, religious fanaticism. First published online 2004. • FIRST KISS: first kiss, kissing. First published online 2004. • STILL LIFE sex, sexual attitudes (young men). First published in CRACCUM 1978. • LEASHPET: BDSM, sex (bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism). First published online 2004. • THE MUSEUM: museum. First published online 2007. • TONGA: medical mission, Third World country, Tonga, tropical island. First published online 2003. • SPAM: spam. First published online 2003. |
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Questing Hero |
Military SF |
SwordAndSorcery |
Murder Mystery |
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Suicide Bomber Novel |
SF novel |
Volume One Fantasy Trilogy |
Volume Two FantasyTrilogy |
Volume Three Fantasy Trilogy |
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Free Stories |
Cancer Memoir |
Cancer Blog |
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