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454 · Oct 2019
Signal to Noise
Carlo C Gomez Oct 2019
Dreaming of the never mind
--the burden of proof my thoughts struggle
over if it was even such a thought.

It's in my nature
--the uncertainty
--the clutter of an empty space begging
for stronger remembrance:

like signal to noise.

Even in the harsh light
it casts unknown shadows

causing me to turn to something more tangible
--people, places, and things:

the ones I can criticize
or stylize, hold in my hand,
crush with my fist, kiss with my lips
--honing it down until a kernel
of something remotely mine.

Then I smile
at being a tourist in my own mind:

Paris syndrome: litmus test:
that disconnect between fantasy and reality,
fragment and rumination

--It's right there now
on the tip of my tongue.
452 · Oct 2019
Daltonism
Carlo C Gomez Oct 2019
The wonders of research
Tell us cats and dogs are color-blind.
But don't be sad,
They've given us
Something to aspire to.
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
Let's paint with broad brush strokes
from centuries of blood,
ye fair permeable maidens:
Once upon a summer's eve,
menotoxins killed crops and wilted spring flowers.
Pandora's box, opening to such bad reviews,
closed down and fled to a monastery,
where she wrote scarlet letters to family back home.

Vallopes of black holland cloth, intrusive
but necessary little bedfellows fit for a queen.
Don't keep us in suspense,
your fancy royal harness,
guards are posted at either side, hooked & girdled.
Take Communion some other day,
Elizabethan petticoat.

History tells of the strangest restraining order:
Hippocrates threw his two cents into the fountain,
banning bleeders from nearing the wishing well.
Hey, Father of Medicine,
our hallowed moon lures the currents,
driving us all a little mad on some enchanted evening,
not just the lassies.

The foil of every fable
rests in the absurdity of its fate,
so often presumed upon the faint of heart:
A damsel in distress,
who must be saved from herself.
The nonsense of which then seeps into the pores
of reality, rousing fear in certain unmentionables
that just might one day incite anarchy,
tipping our planet over on its side
and away we fly.

Ignorance wears rose-colored glasses.
It's high time he got his eyes checked.
Men's views on ******* has a sorted and rather odd history.
449 · Jan 2020
No Coverage
Carlo C Gomez Jan 2020
That does it!
My heart got trashed again.
It's time to get renters insurance.
448 · Nov 2019
Mr. Wait and See
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
Time is always something
the procrastinator seeks to borrow.

His most favorite word is naturally,
"Tomorrow."
447 · Jan 2020
The Flower Girl
Carlo C Gomez Jan 2020
time and again,
her steps
are sprinkled
with rose petals,
well-wishes,
and kisses.

her dress
is elegant
and fair,
yet understated,
so as not
to outdo
the woman of the day.

"affect not
little shifts
and subterfuges
to avoid
the force
of an argument,"
she patiently
holds her breath
for everyone
except herself.

she may
hold the line
with her
precarious walk,
and yet,
"there is always
a prepared place
for a prepared
person."

her very next step
belongs to
no one else,
sprinkled
with song
overflowing
unto her,
as the dawn
breaks within
the fenced walls
of her own heart.

--this is her day.

--this is her time to love.
For fellow HP writer Joey.

This poem contains quotes from Isaac Watts and Jack Hyles.
447 · Feb 2020
Anabasis
Carlo C Gomez Feb 2020
All he does is march on
but you can't **** progress
he knows where all
the bodies are buried
446 · Feb 2020
Mercy
Carlo C Gomez Feb 2020
You're a tree of knowledge
I'm your fallen leaf
This ground between us
So cold and stark
So waterless
I cannot survive
If ever you loved me at all
Please end this misery
By finishing me off
Carlo C Gomez Apr 2020
Because i am lawn furniture

And you are Antarctica

The two of us have ample rime

But not a single drop of warmth in our blood

We lived through all the bright nameless, blameless places

And the turning of the *****

The year we fell down

In an illusion of separateness

Is where we came to know

The fragile silence

Within a map of echoing glass

Pointing further out than we once thought

Everything ravaged, everything burned
441 · Jan 2020
Different for Girls
Carlo C Gomez Jan 2020
Long overdue,
a woman of tennis
came out of the wilderness,
and gave birth to
electrolyte towers,
naturally no one would give her
the credit for such powers,
her smarts were seen as a threat,
so she took them to court,
(centre court),
and won, love set.

Saturday's child worked hard
and won the spelling bee,
but on the prize
they just couldn't agree,
she was the best in her class,
no doubt, but still
only a girl, you see,
can you guess the word
that pushed her over the top?
m-i-s-o-g-y-n-y.
441 · Nov 2019
To Delete, Press the * Key
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
Many a girl
Dreams of being loved
And cared for.

Many a boy
Claims to be that dream
Incarnate.

And yet skies still darken
And many a girl's heart
Becomes a kingdom of rain.

When will the storm pass?
Is there a reset button
They can press?
439 · Oct 2019
Absinthe Robette
Carlo C Gomez Oct 2019
An Old Wives' Tale:

Hello Canton of Neuchâtel
Bitter homecoming
  What's your spell?

Decay
This way
  Pearly Russian Doll

Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder
But your dreams spill from the glass
  Sawn asunder

Your holy relic, O Green Fairy
With honey on the brim
  Wormwood berry

How now
Brown cow
Bombinate
Swiss Miss
Relocate
  Exploratrice

A wreath for your head
Glass slipper for your foot
  Ah yes, to sleep in your magical bed

Laisse tomber!
  Laisse tomber!

Sodden your soul
And **** all other Lanfray
Otherwise, this rue of earth will
  Swallow you whole
Absinthe was once associated with violent crimes and social disorder, and one modern writer claims that this trend was spurred by fabricated claims and smear campaigns, which he claims were orchestrated by the temperance movement and the wine industry. By 1915, absinthe had been banned in the United States and in much of Europe, yet it has not been demonstrated to be any more dangerous than ordinary spirits. Recent studies have shown that absinthe's psychoactive properties have been exaggerated, apart from that of the alcohol.
438 · Mar 2020
Morning Becomes Electra
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2020
for the evening she wore rogue

the color of forever

which he casually kissed off

as if of no consequence

what she now wears

is moment to moment

and belongs to the morning

where her blush must be earned

daddy always told her

she was worth nothing less
438 · Nov 2019
Aardvarks and Taxes
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
They both prey
Upon the little guy
Who's just tirelessly
Trying to put something away
For a rainy day
436 · Jan 2020
People Mover
Carlo C Gomez Jan 2020
There's a sigalert
on the conveyor belt,
now we'll all be late for work.
How can anything
I spend half my life on
be free?
Little by little
I'm moving away from me.
Next year
They're adding a fast lane.
No solution there,
just ******* in more butane.
435 · Mar 2020
Lock and Key
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2020
My cell
No bars
No walls
Just my own thoughts and fears
locking the door behind me

My prison
No guards
No sentence
Just my own awkward silence
swallowing the one and only key
435 · May 2024
Improvement #3
Carlo C Gomez May 2024
Euthenics is the slender reed of hope or recovery. Pretty visitors adept at taking what should be morose and converting it into something resplendent.
435 · Apr 2020
Flattening the Curve
Carlo C Gomez Apr 2020
Chaos Theory is nobody's friend.

It will do the sensitive math on just about anyone; in constant loops, patterns, fractals, and repetitions.

This can lead to the butterfly effect:

A butterfly flapping its wings in China can cause a hurricane in Texas (or NYC, for that matter).

It's simply when the present determines the future, but the approximate present does not approximately determine the future.

To what does this measure?

That perhaps the present is already the future...
434 · Nov 2019
The Sweet Hereafter
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
I bought the farm
But stayed in escrow
For all eternity
433 · Sep 2020
Foxfire
Carlo C Gomez Sep 2020
Cold to the touch / this scene is a long dream / bio-luminescent submarine / keep it light / keep it moving / this whole dream is all of me / illuminating needles on the barometer / the compass of a turtle /
entente with nature / I am the mimicry / and the signaling / to breaking waves / to new possibilities / the new, warm blood flowing / in steady, sated lanterns of hope...
432 · Nov 2019
Sea Change
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
Even the gracefully beautiful
Sonnet inspiring
Adult butterfly
Started out
As an awkward unruly
Eat you out of house and home
Kid caterpillar
431 · Nov 2019
Suffer the Children
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
Growing up
She loved staplers
They kept things together
Nothing was ever lost

  Then one day
  Mommy & Daddy
  Became unstapled

Now she favors scissors
They cut things apart
So many things lost
Starting with her
426 · Jan 2020
Turning Towards Goodbye
Carlo C Gomez Jan 2020
"The lady's gone mutiny"
Ship to shore communiqué

Desertion hath come to pass
In a salty kiss named betray

Beaten by the waves
24/7

Turning towards goodbye
As cruelest form of heaven

Unfurl the sails
Catch the wind

Rough seas ahead
Spelling out our end
423 · Mar 2020
fons et origo
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2020
Between the thunder and lightning/everything counts in lovely intervals/an entering into/and a pulling out/by the springboards of wordless echolalia/until the sky cracks open/and something new beyond us/begins to storm
Carlo C Gomez Dec 2019
Let's get one thing straight.
No one has a given right
To touch another person
Without permission
Or direct invitation.
Keep your hands
To yourself!

Thank you.
Just yesterday, a US reporter vented anger at a man for striking her backside during a live TV broadcast, saying "no woman should ever have to put up with this".
421 · Dec 2019
Nobody's Perfect
Carlo C Gomez Dec 2019
Something truly remarkable
About Tic-Tac-Toe
Is if played perfectly
No one wins
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
There once was a rotten tax collector
Who combed the rich Italian sector
   He lined his grimy pockets
   By cheating those he audits
Alas! today's appointment was one Hannibal Lecter
Silence of the Limericks
421 · Nov 2019
Now, I Know My ABC's...
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
Think you've mastered the English Alphabet?
Try saying it backwards.
420 · Jan 2020
Jekyll and Hyde
Carlo C Gomez Jan 2020
Death
has a way of stirring the ***

It brings out
the best in some

And the worst
in others
419 · Nov 2019
Homesick
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
I miss you mother.
Let me return to
The fetal position,
Nestled in you
Next to your heart,
Bathed in warmth
By the blood between us,
Clinging together as if
Our very lives depend upon it.
419 · Mar 2020
Wade in the Water
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2020
Awaiting the hot element
of a shifting sun
she surveys the pond
in minimal raiment

Concealed in the thicket
she loosens ties and stays
til away from hips they fall
and onto the grassy knoll

She ventures to the edge
one toe in to assess its viability
playfully ******* the surface as
she waves him hither

Besotted by the nakedness
of her artless endeavor
he disrobes in quiet
anticipation (of sorts)

Come to her he shall
and with a fair bit
of ****** and parry together
they shall master the water
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
It's hard enough
Trying to walk
In someone else's shoes

But to repeatedly
Get stepped on
And told you stink

Can cause a real hole in your life
Sadly, too many people are treated like socks
416 · Jan 2020
Identikit
Carlo C Gomez Jan 2020
we smelled your scent
we signed a lengthy confession
we drew a composite
and picked you out of a lineup
yet still you walked away
scott free

...time we implicate you
a little bit more
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2020
Listen turkey
It's all about cutting the mustard
And giving thanks for the bread
But lettuce make room for others
--about six feet
414 · Aug 2020
The Girl Puzzle
Carlo C Gomez Aug 2020
She came in a thousand unsolved pieces

A myriad of ways to be put back together

But none complete her...
413 · Dec 2019
Explosive Esmeralda
Carlo C Gomez Dec 2019
She sneezes like she pleases
Suddenly
Without warning
And all over the place
Carlo C Gomez Apr 2020
He knew the signs
From studying her fault line
And was quick to act
In her best interest
See the poem "How Brenda Found Her Epicenter."
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
If you give a troll a cookie
He will never stop with just one
Like cancer he'll spread
And infect his poison, just for fun
He used to live under a bridge
Now he resides in our very own community
Stopped he must be, my friends
Lest he terrorize HP with impunity
For fellow HP Poet, BLT
and his having to deal with trolls.
If you haven't read any of his work,
you're missing out on one of HP's brightest shining lights!
411 · Nov 2019
This Week's Power Rankings
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
Today
It became official:

Battery life
Has finally eclipsed
Human life
In order of importance
410 · Jan 2020
Animal Holocaust
Carlo C Gomez Jan 2020
A bird in the hand
Is worth a whole slew
In the Australian bush
The World Wildlife Fund in Australia estimates that as many as 1.25 billion animals may have been killed directly or indirectly from fires that have scorched Australia. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Australia, the nation's leading animal welfare charity, is accepting donations to fund the rescue and treatment of animals affected by the fires. RSPCA chapters in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia are accepting donations.

https://www.rspca.org.au/blog/2020/how-help-animals-during-bushfire-crisis
Carlo C Gomez Jul 2020
It smells like
French toast
During the Renaissance

The taste of which
Leaves me starving
For perspective and humanity
Carlo C Gomez Jun 2020
I saw you for a brief moment
  Yesterday
Your hair was the length of
A football field
   And as dark as the pigment
Of my imagination

Even in your evening gown
You could kick
    Like Trinity from The Matrix
And give your favorite
Retired thong
New life as
     A slingshot

You are everything I can't
    Remember
    -- Or at least a little bit of it
And I could love you maybe
    Or at least like you

But I know you're not
    Real
You can't be real...

Like Mac N Cheese
You are just another
     Honest-to-goodness
Disappointment
     Right out of the box
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
Oh, those silly
birds of a feather
who flock together,
until one turns
pretty as a peacock,
then the rest cry fowl.
404 · Dec 2019
Power of Two
Carlo C Gomez Dec 2019
Siamese twins
Conjoining

Kissing cousins
Interlocking

Kindred souls
Connecting

You and I
Uniting

One flesh
Power of two
401 · Mar 2020
Indications of Rain
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2020
The sun has her heart on setting, and so takes an impetuous bow.

The mountains open trees like umbrellas, to which their budding wildlife gather under.

High above the lamplight district, a cluster of crows assemble on a wire, taking a vote over which direction to take wing.

The grumpy locomotive steams ahead, hissing at its schedule and the possibilities of further rust.

A lady of style, turning on her heels from the salon, swears to the heavens she'll get even if anything ruins her hair.

And you, just this morning...

waving goodbye to me from an upstairs window with a smile, but silently praying I will return to you alive and in good health.
400 · Nov 2019
Ricochet
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
I'm no anthropologist,
But ambilocal residence
Would seem to more than ripple the pond
For Mom and Pop:
A grenade launcher,
No less.

Look, it's one thing
To endure your own born and raised
Boomerang
Or parasite,
But add their insignificant other
To the mix,
And we've got the makings
Of serious artillery projectile.
400 · Feb 2020
Bridal Veil
Carlo C Gomez Feb 2020
Pretty pixies
In step with a song
Along the estate path
Planted as decoy
For thieving hearts
Pace is the trick

There she is!
Delicately misty
The modest nature
Shielding her countenance
Before she falls
Upon his beloved eyes

Once lifted
In the cathedral
By the fingertips
He hopes to seal
This with a kiss
And she hopes to find
A lasting home
In each other's arms
399 · Dec 2019
Charlie Timetable
Carlo C Gomez Dec 2019
Duck duck goose
Hangman on a noose
What's your crime
Other than stealin' time?
Picked at random
You won't get sainthood
From martyrdom
There was no four-leaf
Clover, Chuck
Which in layman's terms
Means you just
Ran out of luck...
For anyone who ever stuck their neck out for those who ultimately didn't care.
399 · Mar 2020
Buckle Your Seatbelts!
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2020
Does your life
feel like a bad flight
on an airplane?

You saved and saved
to pay for first class
but got stuck in coach.

No matter where you went
or who you met
there was always turbulence.

And even that all-expenses-paid
dream vacation to paradise
went down in flames.
399 · Mar 2020
Submerged
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2020
Waterworks are failing

Nile faucet tears

***** powder salt

Plague blood wine

Fermented analgesic sea

Swallow Ebers papyrus

Swallow ******'s scroll

Raze the periscope, this is no crusade

Born blind under duress

They sink mid-thigh in pools of acronym

Copper pennies at their toes

Can't wish for things they haven't been
taught to believe

Steal them instead

They'll get a parade for far less

But then again the winds might turn

The sea might divide master and slave

And there they shall be peeing their pants

"In caelum fero--we make our mark"

You picked a bad day to fight, Egyptian
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