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I Once Was a Child

I once was a child am a child am someone's child

            not my mother's not my father's the boss

      gave us special treatment treatment for something

                  special a lollipop or a sticker glitter from the

toy box the better we did the better the plastic prize made

            in China one year everyone got a spinning top

      one year everyone got a tap on their shoulders

                  one year everyone was fired everyone

fired but me one year we all lost our words one year

            my father lost his words to a stroke

      a stroke of bad luck stuck his words

                  used to be so worldly his words fired

him let him go without notice can they do that

            can she do that yes she can in this land she can

      once we sang songs around a piano this land is your land

                  this land is my land in this land someone always

owns the land in this land someone who owns

            the land owns the buildings on the land owns

      the people in the buildings unless an earthquake

                  sucks the land in like a long noodle

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The language about poetry

From aubade to zuihitsu, 207 definitions of the forms, figures, and schools that shape the line.

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