wave-break
American
"I want to write a poem / about being swept away in the ocean / except everyone else is being moved / and I am the tidal wave moving them / / but I am not the tidal wave / and you will not move for / me" / / Author uses a pseudonym from this point forward
why don’t you throw off your burdens?
take a load off
rest your weary shoulders
breathe, for once
go ahead
let everyone down
Oct 27, 2016
Oct 27, 2016 at 11:26 PM UTC
It’s all turning out
life feels real again
the storm was
nothing
but clouds
but the beaches are stripped and raw
and the windows still boarded
not yet ready to let
down
their guard
Apr 16, 2016
Apr 16, 2016 at 7:35 PM UTC
the soul wells with poetic thoughts
but the mind no longer knows poetic word
and the fingers no longer have poetic purpose
just a small figure in a towering chamber
where every footstep echoes for hours
so there is not a cough, not a whisper
and those who pass through would say
that no one lives there,
at least not any more
Jul 14, 2015
Jul 14, 2015 at 12:32 PM UTC
it was pointless to love
like the captain of a drowning vessel
still turning hard to starboard
as he stared into the deep, blue night
and charted a new course home
Jun 28, 2015
Jun 28, 2015 at 5:49 PM UTC
as it turned out,
I was at the edge because
I thought there was no one
who could talk me down
I hope I remember that
next time
Apr 1, 2015
Apr 1, 2015 at 10:04 PM UTC
coming out of sickness like a phoenix
(awkward, damaged, but passionately
aflame with the chances of a new life),
I drove in the early mornings, before
the sun could catch the glint of my eyes,
and listened to quiet music about worlds
unspoiled and dreams unperverted
at sixteen, I had just survived my first
battle with the end (the tumor was gone
but it took half my mouth with it) and
I didn’t know what that meant yet
nothing was good but
everything was better
the cool, dark air tingled my skin with
the strangeness of a blind man’s first
sight
the music helped
for the moment
Feb 18, 2015
Feb 18, 2015 at 10:42 AM UTC
god, what a relief it was
to find out he wasn’t real
after all
god, it was good to know
that we didn’t need him
after all
Jan 14, 2015
Jan 14, 2015 at 10:08 AM UTC
pray in a quiet, proud voice
for a better year this time
pray each day
when you look in the mirror
when you embrace your loves
when you get your grades back
when you drag yourself to work
when you get out of bed after
only two snoozes on the alarm
when you leave someone behind
when you take the first drink
when you lose it all at once
when you toe the edge of sanity
when you nearly give death
that kiss he’s always wanted
pray at this times
in a voice that does not tremble
and pray for the good times to
be long and the bad times to
be brief
pray loudly so that everyone
can hear you but do it without
your voice
pray by dancing and singing
pray by doing nothing today
pray by forcing the good habits in
and the bad habits out
pray by forgiving yourself
and knowing that you are
forgiven
pray at the altar
of yourself
for you are the father,
the son, and the holy
ghost who separately
make up everything
that are, can,
and will
be
and god is only as powerful
as the prayers he receives
Jan 14, 2015
Jan 14, 2015 at 10:08 AM UTC
too proud to quit
too proud to improve
the noble poet died
as quietly as he
could
Dec 14, 2014
Dec 14, 2014 at 2:13 PM UTC
to paraphrase a much wiser soul,
“we are a part of the universe
grown self-aware”
and I think the lesson here
is that we are not alone
for when we breath,
so does the earth,
the stars,
the galaxy
the rest of the universe
expanding so widely
that we can hardly
perceive our
movement
we,
the earth, the stars,
and the universe,
are a singular being
spread across reaches
beyond reach, who
separates
but
is never
truly severed.
Nov 9, 2014
Nov 9, 2014 at 4:18 PM UTC