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321 · Mar 2020
How to Avoid Huge Ships
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2020
Creature comforts
Have a way of sinking at sea
Better to keep your feet
Fixed on firm ground
Then live life on the raft
321 · Jan 2020
Seashell
Carlo C Gomez Jan 2020
The sound of children suffering from some far off shore in my ear

The tears of first light shed a certain sadness as I listen for a sparse hope

But all that transmits is an echo of fear...
320 · Jun 2020
The Morning Bells of Toledo
Carlo C Gomez Jun 2020
Night withdraws
and I alone inhabit
those Spanish eyes

We sit upon the hill
where El Greco once regaled
the arts with a masterstroke

We listen for dawning chimes
as she picks flowers
& passes explicit love notes

I catch the shadowed
reflection of erstwhile
against her naked back

How it resembles curiosity
& imperial city bells
ringing forth

A klaxon
a clarion
the siren call

To passions both painted
& fleshly achieved
by the same inspired hand
320 · Apr 2020
Grocery Store Date Night
Carlo C Gomez Apr 2020
Tonight, let's take a respite from the kids, get all dressed up, and head for the local grocery store.

We can even wear matching masks, take turns pushing the cart, and steal Kisses from the candy aisle.

You're on top of my shopping list, little lady, along with the melons and a case of toilet paper.

It may not be dinner or a movie, but it has its own romantic aura of about six feet in diameter.

Take my gloved hand & let's dance away at the checkout line, mask-to-mask. It's love in the time of COVID-19.
See Mrs. Timetable's "Grocery Store Date Night Morning After" poem.
319 · Oct 2019
Fall From Grace
Carlo C Gomez Oct 2019
Grace under pressure

She is pyrotechnics, feux d'artifice

Her northern light due south
Where the wind dies

There's trouble then

She swings in
Emotive orbit

Her hang time sabotaged
By lack of resistance

She is free-fall

Every last documented entry
Every bit of her composition
--The fabric of her

They fall from Grace
And onto the floor of new imaginings

What used to fit
Neatly into a box
Is presently a bitter pill to swallow

Down the hyperventilation
Shaft she goes

Where she lands nobody knows
318 · Nov 2019
Maggie Ate a Salamander
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
Long & green between thumb & forefinger,
she fished it out of her nose.

First graders do all sorts of ill-mannered
things, I suppose.

But to savor the slimy lizard as tasty morsel
was stretching it a bit.

Spreading it on a ******* is
where this little charming story should have quit.

Suffice to say, she's a little radical,
one of those raiders of a lost art.

Eating ones own boogers takes bravado,
and earns a gold star for this ornery upstart.
317 · Jan 2020
Consumed by Fire
Carlo C Gomez Jan 2020
What sparks
Will often combust

What burns too fast
Never trust

The flames may dance
The heat may warm

But fast-moving blazes
Only aim to harm
317 · Apr 2020
The Waiting Game
Carlo C Gomez Apr 2020
Eeny,
Meeny,
Miny,
Moe.

Where'd my
Stimulus check go?
315 · Nov 2019
Pot Boiler
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
The way to a man's heart
Is through his stomach.
Does this apply to
Cannibals too?
Carlo C Gomez May 2020
The hunter child
Born out of fear

Shed of its skin
Along a feral frontier

Hold the low note
And feel the sting

To feast upon our hearts
Is the primal thing
312 · Dec 2019
Dissipation of Clouds
Carlo C Gomez Dec 2019
The sun has come and gone
The moon eclipsed
The wind has run away
The sea receded

How many opportunities
Have been lost
Because of waiting for
'The right moment'
311 · Sep 2020
Road to Damascus
Carlo C Gomez Sep 2020
Shine like it does

You set the sun against me

And here I fell

Only to find my feet

Along the blinding path

To dust, the persecuting heart returned

So too, the spirit flew

And like scales

The veil lifted

And I caught sight

Of something quite intangible

Yet, therein I found true freedom

In slaving for you

As a fisher of men
310 · Jun 2020
Not the News
Carlo C Gomez Jun 2020
Infected satellite

Quarantined transmissions

The gory story is one whale of a tale

Turn up the volume

And hear it flatline

Or wait for (doctored)

Film at eleven
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
Roses are sometimes red
Violets are seldom blue
What if poison ivy instead
Right where these others grew
Don't scratch or the rash shall spread
Then an inept florist we'll have to sue
307 · Sep 2020
The Bends
Carlo C Gomez Sep 2020
Eureka!

Raised up & standing tall

She's my port of call

Such a rush

To forcibly ascend

Such a hush

That has settled in

And soon we'll surface

Life in a passionate bubble

Instead of the trouble

Of riding in the back
of a hearse
306 · Feb 2020
The People vs. Coronavirus
Carlo C Gomez Feb 2020
Stay away from me

Stepping out of here I won't play host

Stay away from me

You look like another scary ghost

Stay away from me

First and foremost
Inspired by music from M83.
305 · Sep 2020
Disappearing Scent
Carlo C Gomez Sep 2020
Petrichor
Lured us to the forest floor
No stone left unturned
With hollow throats we yearned
Yet no critter, no creature stirred
Extinction thus had the final word
The Earth is losing animal species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the natural rate, and as many as 30 to 50 percent of the planet's species may be extinct by 2050, the Center for Biological Diversity describes. The natural rate is around one to five species lost each year.
302 · Dec 2019
O Butter, Where Art Thou?
Carlo C Gomez Dec 2019
Where have you gone,
my dear friend?
Margarine's a mess
I just can't defend.
O Madame Butter, fry
for me!
You're my everything,
can't you see?
The one and only tasty spread
I'll let cover both sides
of my bread.
302 · Jul 2020
In Fellowship With the End
Carlo C Gomez Jul 2020
Dying is not a crime
But for playing God
I'll probably do time

Pretty little euthanasia
My disconnected phone
Always going home

That open window
To the fire escape
I am the center of a lake

The kids next door
Liked to play with me
Now we don't see them anymore
Thomas W. Case's Historical Figure Poetry Challenge, Dr. Jack Kevorkian.
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
I love you
...and you
...and you

You're like cookies
One is never enough
299 · Feb 2020
Climate of Fear
Carlo C Gomez Feb 2020
Fear is a headline
a casting shadow
a waiting room
a cancer
a culture
a color

It is suddenly knowing
or never knowing at all

Fear is the hanging silence
the falling voice

It is a darkroom
where negatives
are developed

Fear is something
about your eyes:
wink?
blink?
pink!

It is always having to say
you're sorry

Fear is what comes
after a sentence
and before a final meal

It is opening the mail
It is waving goodbye
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2020
The story here is oddly familiar:

Many say COVID-19 was quiet, but friendly, and stayed mostly to himself.

Occasionally, he and his wife, CATCH-22, would get into it, but nothing that involved the authorities.

Others, however, say it was just a matter of time before he blew up.

Of course, no one said anything until it was too late.

All those interviewed for this story refused to be named for fear of being targeted.

What a surprise!
298 · Nov 2019
Luminous Times
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
Gently
Dying
Star

The charm of your solitary fall
Is in how young lovers

From
Afar

Shall because of you
Claim to-night

Vowing themselves to one another
Under your guiding light

Soft
And
Kind

And as you
Begin to fade

Please
Take
Comfort
In the love they made

You truly burned brightest
At the very end

Beckoning those lonely souls
As a godsend

Setting worlds ablaze
Light-years away

With the last of
Your
Life-giving
Rays
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2020
A couple jogging in the park
Can't seem to schedule in ***,
They pass the plight
Of an overwhelmed trashcan
With indifference.
Some have too much,
Others not enough.

A young mom
Pushing the pram,
A young snail
Pulling its shell,
A bird on a wire
Watching both intently,
The call of his stomach
Shall prevail.

Love and doubt,
Apathy and duty.
A checklist of options
Lost in the quicksands of time.
Pick one to share,
As if metering off infinity
With a yardstick.
******* the hour.
Confuse the day.
Create exotica by building
Interest in offshore drilling.

The well run dry,
What's left to strike
Rests inside the mind.
The second hand cannot remember why
She must constantly move like a shark,
And so she settles to sleep,
Forgetting who she is.

The couple in the park may run
home to make love in the shower.
The trashcan may finally
Be relieved of its anxiety.
And young mom, snail and bird
May find continued purpose.
But when asked what time it is,
The clocks with amnesia
Will only be able to say,
"I don't know."

I can no longer see past the smoke.
Life is a heartbeat
Inside a cage of fear.
What we don't know is terrifying.
What we do know is even more so.
297 · Oct 2019
Trip the Light Fantastic
Carlo C Gomez Oct 2019
Alcohol is my friend,
it makes me cool.
Gives me the feeling
I’m all grown up
and ready to rule.
It brings class to my photos
on Instagram,
makes me feel carefree
on those days I can’t quite
get with the program.
It whispers sweet nothings
in my ear at night,
changes in the morning
to leech off me like some parasite.
I keep it at bay
by giving it more,
I’m mostly happy in knowing
it’s me he adores.
This dance is out of this world,
it’s a gas when your head twirls off,
not so much when your stomach's unfurled.
But so what! I’m no amateur,
I’ve heard how the bottle can turn saboteur.
A crutch to lean on, I’m told,
even so, the rhetoric just gets old.
Hey, I’m just fine!
I don’t need a helping hand,
bottom line!
295 · Nov 2019
Flashpoint
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
Sparks don't necessarily
lead to love just because
they ignite a fire,
sometimes all that burns
is the neighborhood...
Carlo C Gomez Dec 2019
It figures, doesn't it!
Just when you think
There's no room for regret,
He still manages to find a way
To spend the night on your couch.
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2020
Whether we toast to your pain, my pain, or no pain at all
What seems to matter most is drinking the pain away
288 · Oct 2020
Life After Death
Carlo C Gomez Oct 2020
There's no line for
implants or alcohol

Autumn leaves fall in time
not just for October

Voices are liminal
neither hide nor hair

*** is a capricious contest
where anyone can be assassin

Limitless horizons abound
where even bottomfeeders
fear to tread

Welcome to phase II
It's only the beginning
(of the end)
285 · Mar 2020
Love vs. Infatuation
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2020
If it melts faster
than ice cream on
a summer afternoon
it isn't love

If it sticks to
the roof of your mouth
like peanut butter
it isn't infatuation
284 · Mar 2020
The Boogyman
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2020
Every surface
Every hour
Any symptoms?
Out of water
Out of masks
Any victims?
He's out there
A media darling
Time to panic?
Play it safe, okay
Just don't give in
To the hype
Even if he is
"Hosting"
Saturday Night Live
This week
284 · Feb 2020
The Goodbye Kiss
Carlo C Gomez Feb 2020
My dearest
may your lips cherish this pain
as a crowning reminder
our love once lived
and joyfully so
Carlo C Gomez Apr 2020
Get your feet off of it!
Throw your trash in the proper receptacle!

Boys and girls,
Remember,
You are guests
--Only.
--Entirely.
--Merely.
--Barely.

If you understood its real value,
You'd likely become a disciple,
A religious fool saving whales and pails and discount bikini sales.

Now pay your toll,
If you like, stay until the lifeguard blows her whistle,
But don't forget to sweep up your mess.

Yeah, the shore may wave and tell you 'it's okay,'
Keep in mind though,
This is because it thinks it's an ashtray...
282 · Feb 2020
Author of the Star Map
Carlo C Gomez Feb 2020
Each and every
luminary
has a purpose,
a reason why
they exist within
the fabric of space.

A spotlight hung
in gauze,
you move about
by a set of laws,
your claim to fame,
not a cause,
but a creation.

Wondrous in power,
with but a finger
you were lifted
in time into place,
and endearingly
called by your
very own name.
282 · Jan 2020
Blush Response
Carlo C Gomez Jan 2020
I immediately know by
the way you look up at me
from underneath your lashes

you don't have to say a word
the high color on your countenance
the spark in your eyes

speak their own language
convey their own thoughts
plead with me to touch you
279 · Jan 2020
A Wrinkle in Time
Carlo C Gomez Jan 2020
Suddenly all my clocks
have stopped

am I caught
in between time zones?

am I free
to misbehave like a child?

I'll jump in with both feet
and see

I can always
iron things out later
278 · Apr 2020
How Soon Is Now?
Carlo C Gomez Apr 2020
You might be wondering,
If Boris Johnson,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,
Doesn't survive from coronavirus,
Just who would be his replacement?

Only the rightful heir himself.

Morrissey, of course.
"I am the son
And the heir
Of a shyness that is criminally ******
I am the son and heir
Of nothing in particular..."
-- How Soon Is Now? / The Smiths
276 · Jul 2020
Miss / Miss / Love
Carlo C Gomez Jul 2020
When you're not here

Is missing you half the fun

Or half the pain?

Either way

My love is with you

Whether I am there or not
276 · Nov 2019
One Bad Apple
Carlo C Gomez Nov 2019
A thoroughly washed,
non wax-coated,
pesticide-free,
organic
apple a day
keeps the doctor away.
Carlo C Gomez Apr 2020
Two cups of happy
One cup of sad
A fair share of passion & caffeine
A whole lot of doodad
(You know what I mean?)
Even throw in a bit of the absurd
Now mix them all together
Shaken and stirred
271 · Feb 2020
Boysenberry
Carlo C Gomez Feb 2020
My heart never grew naturally
My feelings always seemed mixed
Not quite my own
And here I am
Once again in a jam...
Named after their experimental grower Rudolph Boysen, the boysenberry is a cross among the European raspberry, European blackberry, American dewberry, and loganberry.
270 · Mar 2020
Side Effects
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2020
Rent-to-own heart
Sits awkwardly upright
In a hope chest
It can take a beating
And keep right on ticking
But beware of jump scares
Next to the fireplace
264 · Jan 2020
Heed the Sun's Advice
Carlo C Gomez Jan 2020
When her dander is up
It's with utmost grace
Warming the fingers and toes
Of her children

When she dips below the horizon
It's with private time in mind
Seeking the touch from a lover
To take with her to bed

And when she opens
Her eyes at the twinkle
Of ante meridiem
It's with heartbeat & blood flow
Happy to have conceived
Another day of life
262 · Jan 2020
Solar Flare
Carlo C Gomez Jan 2020
Rustle of trees,
Static in the air,
Radio wave disturbance,
Satellites offline,
Yet, undetected in the solar constant.

If a woman's voice
Falls in the forest,
(Or her own home,
for that matter),
Does it make a sound?

Or does it simply,
Once more,
In the grand scheme of things,
Fall upon the deaf ears
Of an ignorant man?
262 · Feb 2020
Under Ether
Carlo C Gomez Feb 2020
You know your life's
been in such a sad place
far too long
when your own smile
surprises even you
258 · Feb 2020
Dreamscape
Carlo C Gomez Feb 2020
Thoughts wander
Sands shift

Out of mind
Out of place

Roads end
Pages turn

Out of time
Out of space

The only way back to you
Must now be dreamt
254 · Jan 2020
Year of the Bear
Carlo C Gomez Jan 2020
A word to the wise
About Mr. Wall Street's habits
He so easily gets down
And is then one drink away
From depression
254 · Feb 2020
Foreign Anatomy
Carlo C Gomez Feb 2020
one matter
which part of us
wants something
it's the heart
that most often has to pay
253 · Apr 2020
Once Upon A Rose Petal
Carlo C Gomez Apr 2020
Lost wishes from
An imaginary girl

Becomes blood
A bright red reality

In colors
The offspring of passion

New velvet, a fluttered
caress from opportune softness

12 stems
To midnight

She wears pearls
In her awakening

The room is a summer
An intimate season lit, flaming

In candles and shadows and
******* endeavors

When sight and sound tread lightly
Follow her scent

Kept within such fragrance
Reminding her nothing else compares
253 · Apr 2020
El Dorado
Carlo C Gomez Apr 2020
Rumor has it Sir Walter Raleigh
Is on the chase once more
An expedition of sinking ships
Braziers burning fast upon the shore

Chumming with time's blood
Panning for fool's gold
Wave after wave of repercussion
The future so willfully sold

For one bowl of soup
Like Esau famished from the hunt
Turning to his artful brother
And offering him the forefront

Our crowned jewel in all her tattered
Finery cleaved to the heart
The fabled city forsook
By once trusted hands tearing her apart

Set out the coffins
Sing for us an elegy
In the surf of this funeral march
Be sure to separate corpses from algae
From the Fabrizio Frosini & Poets Unite Worldwide anthology, "A Disconsolate Planet: Poems on Climate Emergency."

Poem by Carlo C. Gomez.
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