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Some of the poetry on this site deals with mature themes, is for adults only and is notforkids. This site is notchildsafe.

Table of Contents

Poems are listed in the order in which they appear in the printed book Genghis Lotus Poetry Collection by Hugh Cook of zenvirus.com.

Poems listed as being first published online first appeared on genghislotus.com, on zenvirus.com, or on hughcook.blogspot.com. For an alphabetical listing of both topics and titles, click ALPHABETICAL

Short Poems

• 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.

School Poems

• 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.

City Poems

• 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.

Nature Poems

• 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.

War Poems

• 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.

Cancer Poems

• DIAGNOSIS: cancer: diagnosing cancer. First published online 2007.
• MAINLINING: gallium count. First published online 2007.
• EYE SURGERY: eye surgery, surgical operation. 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.
• CHEMOTHERAPY: chemotherapy. First published online 2007.
• HOLISTIC MEDICINE: holistic medicine: a cynic's view. First published online 2007.
• METHOTREXATE: chemotherapy with methotrexate. First published online 2005.
• FIFTH CYCLE: chemotherapy routine. First published online 2005.
• RADIOTHERAPY ANTICIPATED: radiation therapy imagined. First published online 2005.
• RADIOTHERAPY INFLICTED: radiation therapy: the actual experience of being irradiated. First published online 2007.
• 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.
• SURVIVORHOOD: life after cancer, survivorhood. First published online 2005.
• ADVICE FOR CANCER PATIENTS: advice on diet hygiene safety etc. First published online 2007.


Death Poems

• 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.
• recommended: attaining enlightenment, death: acceptance of, warlord in old age. First published online 2005.

Other Poems
(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.
• DRUGS THAT WE TAKE IN DREAMS: fantasy life, road not taken. First published online 2007.
• HELEN OF TROY: abduction of Helen by Paris, Helen of Troy, Paris (son of Priam, the king of Troy). First published with the title TROY in 1987 in MUSINGS, the Massey University literary magazine, in that year edited by Ewen Coker.
• IN THE LAND OF BIG BROCCOLI: New Zealand (a Japanese woman visits New Zealand, a place which is, for her, non-normative). First published online 2005.
• MOZART THE FISH: fetus in womb, pregnancy, pregnant woman, unborn child. First published online 2003.

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