Sometimes
for unknown reasons
it did seem life had gone to sleep
in hiatus-- it couldn't have been
my fault--I didn't argue nor coax
it got too familiar with me--perhaps?
but I couldn't say for sure
and at best could only speculate--

I must be the provocateur
to wake it up lest it were
to slip away in indolence
and indifference too long
we would then not be
on speaking terms again
and both would be left wanting-

I will not use a whip
only gentle persuasion
waiting for its resurrection.

i.
sometimes i call hello into the darkness
just to prove to myself that no one is there

ii.
sometimes people reply

With your voice like bells
and your eyes like Mars,
in your purple coat
and your gown of stars,
would you ever lower
the window of your car
and point me to
your door?

In a breeze you fluttered,
like a feather in a storm,
into my weary mind
in such flawless form
and you raised your banner
around which I conform.
But you didn't even know me,
did you?

I do not want to lose the love
that I am trying to thrown away.
I don't want to change
what has always been the same.
The fear of what's missing
does not drive what's not found.
I cannot show my weakness
with my face in the ground.
I wish things were different
I wish I felt heard
I wish I could listen
I wish I was sure
I try to rule my future,
but I cannot forget my past.
My present is fleeting
and moving way to fast.
Mistakes are not forgotten;
perfection, untouched.
And still I remember the loves that I have lost.
Lift my face from the ground
I look around and see
that everyone struggles
and weakness is free.
My love is still gone,
my heart still broken,
I still feel alone
but community is unspoken.

it's on the days like this
when the sun shines through
and every song is a good one
that i remember why i stay

I want you to be here, next to me,
like the flowers that daintily grow
in the sand by the ocean.

I want you to be here, to cherish me
with your bright colours when I’m
nothing but grey stormy waters.

And I will be there, to soften the cold,
making sure you don’t ever lose
your petals with the January weather.

We could live an endless winter.

“everything will be okay.”
you were right.
everything will be okay.
eventually.
after the 1am heart wrenching tears.
the ear-piercing screams and the cries of wanting you to come back.
after the over-excessive arm scratching stops and the fingernail scars in my palms are gone.
it will all be okay.
just like you said.
“everything will be okay.”

I write you words I never got to say

Love is in this place,
what if I am not?
I've hidden my face,
from Love I forgot.

Love’s in search of me,
Am I to be found?
Love wants to call me,
Can I hear its sound?

When feeling alone,
Love draws itself near,
And makes itself known,
But what do I hear?

Love so immanent,
Found me unaware.
Not by accident.
It looks everywhere.

I don’t believe in reincarnation
But if I did
I wish to be reaincarnated in the grass u lay on and star at the sky
The same star you wonder at every night
Or the soft breeze that blows by your window first thing in the morning
Your dark coffe mug so I could be as close to your lips as I can be
Ur mirror so u could see yourself through my eyes
The tree that sits in your  backyard so you can trace our initials on my skin
And I don’t know if reincarnation is real but I know our love is

listen to the babble of the cool mountain stream
and the morning birds singing from the evergreen

blade to skin
let the demons in
can't save me now
can't let me drown

I'm worried that
I spend so much
time thinking
about life.

That I'll
run out
of time
to live
it.

I fell into the arms of the night
Hugging the shadow of her silhouette
She pulled me in
And swallowed my eyes

Her fingernails
Traced my lips
As she took a bite

And I caressed her darkness
Without the need for light

Over curves and starkness
My hands were sight

Then she stood tall in the sky
Thick and wide

And as she laid over my body
She cloaked our delight

We played in sweat and Fahrenheit

And as she pitched black
She arched her back and began midnight

A few more hours
The sun came bright

       Then she disappeared
       And spit out my eyes

The planet Jupiter
The solar systems pearl
As I see a picture
Of that planet
I am reminded
Of my mother
And her immense love
Love you Jupiter.

I love you.
You love me.
We are happy. . . . . .

Dark mists fell from the sky.
Black snowflakes made a black blanket on the hills and fields.
Time stoped.
Souls reached the horizon.
They were trying to escape.
Their wings got broken.
They fell back on the ground.
Only the ashes were kept alive.

There's a hole in my heart

A void in my mind

A deep desire for nothing but want

A need for something like fun

Adventure and thrills

Seekers and pills

Falling into a blackness

So dark I'm turning blue

Such stark it's only true

Helpless and innocent

Forgiving and iridescent

I bond with strangers

Act bold, I'm not the tamest

I am stuck, so stuck

I don't know how to get out of here

This place, this room, this hide

This mask, this facade,

This glass, this wall, this broken bridge

It is all burning up into flames

Watch it, sink

Down it goes deep into

Black Waters

- soulwriterj

I can feel it from the other side of the globe.
The Gravity that calls me to the sea.
Like a constant curse in the wind.
A memory of your last moment with me.

When I am with you everything disappears.
And I feel time passing like a friendly wave.
I let the blues consume my soul in a silver tray.
Constant dying Impaled by a million spears.

I love him
I tell myself
I know that
We will be together forever
I don’t believe that
We could be separated
My thoughts tell me that
He’s the love of my life
Sometimes my heart lies and says
I could live an eternity
Without him
Like my friends say
“We’re perfect for each other”
And you can’t tell me
He’s not the one.

Now read from bottom to top.

I'm here sitting
alone,
the smell of coffee runs through
my veins,
some music i probably will forget
in a few years arguing with
the thought of you,

But I'm here,
I'm here,
writing about what's happening

pretty boring huh?

i call myself a poet
but i can't use high metaphors,

i call myself a poet
but i can't describe fully
how you make me feel

i call myself a poet

but what am i?

I'm just a kid
scared of life
finding new ways to cope
searching for someone to love,
desperate,
not holding unto my dreams
how can i choose with my mind
what's right for the heart to choose.

and you see?
don't you see?

don't worry i can't either

i can't see how great i am
i can't see how other people see me
i wish i could.

i want to believe this was a dream
or
a nightmare at that.

But at last.
I'm here wishing that in another life
i could be with you,
or
maybe in other deaths,

i crave your touch,
i crave you..
with coffee waking up my senses
like a kid in summer waking up early
to go play with his friends.

i wish things were different,
so i wouldn't have to wish.

i always have
the urge to run.

but what is it like
to be a tree?

to be confident enough
to root yourself
and grow with
wild abandonment,
being unapologetically
you?

i'm still running,
but i wish i knew.

I never knew my name sounds sweet
Until I heard it from your lips.

By. Lauren

That call,
The last straw,
The last day
Of my past.
The change of one day
Can be enough to change a life.
On that day,
My life changed.
On that day
my future was burnt into me.
As she stared into my eyes
My heart seemed to race.
My mind seemed to overflow with the sorrow of past years
The razor never dug deep enough to bleed out.
Finally in the span of one breath. The words I was dreading the most were spoken aloud .
On that day I knew why I was there.
And my life changed.

I was just
a cookie
.
drenched in
love
.
melted in
sweetness
.
in her cup
of tea.

She controls her laughter,
lets it slip from the edge of her mouth,
the corners of her lips lift ever so slightly,
then, she makes a sound,
seamlessly, her fingers graze my thighs,
smoothly, her eyes meet mine,
and in her eyes, I see my reflection—
aflame, abashed, and fiery,

She is the answer I’ve scoured the world for,
and yet, she, herself, remains a mystery,

Ah, I see,
She controls her laughter
as easily as she controls me.

my vocabulary is not small
nor my imagination weak
but every time you seem to call
I find no words to speak

Can it be so long ago,
That which seems but moment past
When first I tasted of your lips,
And knew my lifelong love was cast?

Can it be so long ago,
That which seems but moment past?
Would that time would let us know
The now and then, the first, the last.

Can it be so long ago,
That which seems but moment past?
Would that I could dam the flow
But life, as water, runs too fast.

I admit
my inner brain

is very clear
on this

Rex likes
rears

And seizes
my consciousness

like a newly minted fed
seizes an Escalade

wafting clouds
of coke

when one rounds
into sight

sigh
***

And I am barbaric
Barbarous

The man no woman
Admits

Consciously

Blood draws down

Into the past
of have no words

just
must

must
have

Becoming
Civilized

Sure
have worth

Says the DNA
spending you

to see
in time

to save
itself

some


Copyright@2018 Dennis Willis

the count starts now (tired of tired)


I read your outcry at 3:00am
posted on Facebook

you are
tired of tired
sick of sick
the only question, will it ever end...

rise this day,  start another way...

count your blessing
count against all odds
for there are more than merely one

use both hands
both hands chested to feel the heart thrusting,
for living is a wondrous blessing unique
an unbelievable to believe than so many beats,
born and borne,
by you, a strength unequaled,
you a richness possessed

count that one first.
count my hands holding your shoulders.
count that as two, one for me, one for you.

more? more.  

mirror.  find the tiny light in each eye against a yellow backdrop.

add two more. for they are a sparking confidence of confirming.

you felt the heart thrumming
go back, feel the breathing warmth breaching forth.
add another. for now known you can never ever be cold.

wash the face, wash away the caution that sleep leaves,
the coverlet of fear that fears you not to dare,
amazing that tap water plain is sacred when it
miracle breaks you out and anoints thy forehead with pure oil like the kings of yore, be a kingly human being.

go out. do not return
until one act of kind is performed and
count that as a thousand blessed, a sum recurring recounted

walk humble and the path will always appear.
walk contented for you can be both king and servant,
there is no difference - you must be both to be the other
one.

and if you still cannot raise the head,
call me.
that would be a blessing for me
and I will hear your blessings sounds mine merge,
dear friend and no more stranger,
that is the simplest definition of our learning to count to
infinity

They said,
"The most beautiful art is
looking into someone's eyes
when they talk about the
things they love."
And I said,
"Or looking at someone you love.
Or maybe, just maybe,
by looking at the mirror
is the most beautiful art
anyone should appreciate."

Wala nang lumalabas na salita
Di na ako makagawa ng tula
Pinipilit basahin ang sarili
Ngunit walang tugmang mapili

Alam kong dapat walang ganito
Pagpiga ng damdamin para sayo
Diba dapat natural lang daw
At hindi magtutunog mababaw

Pero mahal bakit ganito
Bakit biglaan na lang huminto
Dahil ba nabasag ang ideyalismo
Mga makalumang aspirasyon ko

Pero mahal wag kang mag-alala
Mabubuo ko tong aking talata
Katulad ng Pag-ibig ko sayo
Gumulo lang isip hindi ang puso

Di ito hihinto tumibok para sayo
Nandito lang ako lagi para sayo
Ako nang sasalo sayo mahal
Pipiliting maging sagot sayong dasal

Mamahalin kita ng buong buo
Hinding hindi magkukulang sayo
Kaya tatapusin ko tong sulat ko
Pero hinding hindi ang pagmamahal sayo

most people see me as
a happy person because
i laugh easily,
i smile a lot,
i joke a lot.

but deep down
in my heart,
i am fragile,
i can get hurt easily,
but i choose to not
show it to the world.

instead of being sad,
i choose to laugh to cover it.
maybe you can call me
"the queen of the mask"

by this,
you can tell
that most of the time
when I'm laughing,
I'm not really laughing,
i was trying so hard to hide
my sadness.