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goldfish

all of her goldfish died

she bought one each day

at the exotic pet shop filled

with fish who eat fish


she put the stranger in a bowl

watched it swim around

went to class

came back finding the fish

floating motionless at the top

dead each day


so she gave up fish for plants

placed in her window

they reached for the sun gracefully

willing and as if pulled madly

trembled, withered, wandered toward death

as if strangled by some invisible

plant canceler


oblivious to all this

she grasped my trusting hand and

led me to her dormitory bed

and in the morning

wondered why

i hadn't died.



-- douglas brent smith 

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Wild Towers

  Wild Towers -- collage by Douglas Brent Smith Notes: In the lower right corner is one of my favorite photos -- my brother Dave and me at Grandmom and Grandpop Rogers' house. If you look closely you can see Grandpop Rogers sitting in his chair. He was probably reading the newspaper, the Bridgeton Evening News. It was a great newspaper in those days and Grandpop read it front to back every night. There are more clear versions of this picture, probably even in other collages because I love it so much. Those were wonderful days and I miss my little brother so much. 
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Note to Self 20230423

If you keep working your craft you will be amazed at how much you've learned and how much more there is yet to learn. -- doug smith  
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Gears of Joy

  Gears of Joy, collage by Douglas Brent Smith This is page 305 of Journal #33, Life in Progress. 
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Why Gamble?

The less we make our world look like a casino the better off we'll be. -- Doug smith Notes: Just for fun, I added this collage. It is not a casino.   
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Bugs In The System

  Bugs In The System, collage, mixed media by Douglas Brent Smith
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The Towers of Vettunder

  The Towers of Vettunder - painting by Douglas Brent Smith, acrylic. This one feels like another cover to a science fiction novel. In the 70's I might have tried to write that book. Maybe it's not too late. 
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Horse Named Hannah

  the horse got free in a galloping hurry needed something to read and a tall cup of milk I did post this earlier under the title "Who Let the Horse In." Here it is again.  Horse Named Hannah -- sketch by douglas brent smith, 1998, from Journal #33, Life In Progress
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Framed By A Notion

 Framed By A Notion, Collage by douglas Brent smith, 1996
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This Is Not A Code

This Is Not A Code -- collage by douglas brent smith  
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With Every Available Device

  With Every Available Device -- painting by Douglas Brent Smith, December 1976. This is another of the series of acrylic paintings that I did in Oak Lawn, IL, living with Mom and Jack for a brief few months. My favorite art movement is surrealism, and this one clearly emulates the work of the surrealists, in particular Yves Tanguy .  When I moved from Colorado to Newtown in 2016 I threw away a number of my paintings, many from this period of time. I did not like them enough to keep them, I guess although I feel some regret at heaving them, one can't save everything and I live in an apartment that's about 600 square feet. No real storage room. This one survived the cut.  
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