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Michael Stefan Mar 2020
Never sweeter a sound was heard
Then the giggle of a child
I held you in my strong arms
Your eyes told me you were wild

My whelp through and through
I knew you by your face
And in your merry wickedness
Lacking embarrassment and grace

You madly pinched my finger
And squeezed it for a while
Then you giggled, then you burped
And at long last
I saw your smile
I have lived a very full life immersed in international travel, art, and outdoor activities.  And still, the most beautiful thing I have ever done was give life to and raise my daughter.  She's always going to be the light of my life.
Michael Stefan Mar 2020
Your intentions remain a mystery,
Like ancient language scrawled on stone,
I do not understand your secrecy,
A perverse desire to remain unknown.

You always were so foreign to me,
No matter the hours spent at dusty tomes,
No knowledge gained of any degree,
As I searched your glyph-filled catacombs.

But in brief, fleeting moments,
I swear I understood
Your hidden dialect of expression,
As your cold air blew
And I breathed you in.
Michael Stefan May 2020
Glorious sun
Is cut in twain
By distant jagged horizon
Bleeding pink and ochre
Crimson and orange
From its nightly wound

Crickets chirping
In anticipation
For heavy shroud
Of coolest darkness
I love sunsets and feeling the hectic day transition into a calm night
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
Perspective is reality
I sat contemplating my life
I dreamed of great fortune
Of beautiful women on my arms
When I was struck on the head by an acorn
An acorn from a great oak tree
Struck me on my head so soundly
The light thump echoing in my ears

I didn't conjure images of gravity
I didn't think in rates of change
I didn't hypothesize terminal velocity
Or in nature how science reigns
I didn't believe this moment kismet
I didn't imagine in algebraic terms
I didn't comprehend in physics
No science did this little nut affirm

Not miraculous, no calculus, no trigonometry
No differentials, exponentials, no divine symmetry
Approaching limits, I'm a cynic, nor solid geometry
I simply saw some nature, just a nut from an oak tree

The earth did not shatter with new theory
No new mathematic principle was born
All I thought was, "Stupid Nut!"
As I stared at this one tiny oak acorn
It blows my mind that an apple hitting a man on the head bore the principle of gravity which is one of the most well recognized scientific theories of all time.  Here's to you, Sir Isaac Newton!  Cheers to you and the great accomplishments of great men and women that followed you.  I'll just sit here and continue to write poems.
Gun
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
Gun
I thought of cool lines with hard angles
Sliding fingers across steel burnished bright
The touch felt solid under rapt enraptured fingers
Heavy to the hand, but built so very light

This gun was my protection
It shimmered in the moonlight, built for feel
Blurring hard angles into smooth curves
Steel gave way to flesh, earthly appeal

Lubrication turned to sweat, slick with desire
This power is intoxicating, it makes me free
Silky hair took place of polymer coat
My lover was my gun
Pointed right at me
This poem describes the textile nature of love and fear.  Many have shared in a toxic relationship where we have felt powerful as if nothing else in the world mattered.  Love like guns can be dangerous if we lose ourselves in that perceived power.  Don't be the gun pointed at another person and don't let someone else be the gun pointed at you.
Michael Stefan Jun 2020
Heart - may lead us down broken paths,
yet allows us to see the true beauty
within each other
I felt inspirational instead of morose today :)
Michael Stefan Feb 2021
You held all the putty knives
Twisted-time arrows made of 40 oz dreams
Silken ropes used for belts
Just to hang me where I stand

I saw your popsicle stick ****** rifle
A ****** scout wearing a sandstorm veil
I can hear you whisper in the wind
As you crept into my heart

I hope your pink-haired clown mask fit
Never reveal your true identity
Never let them see your true intention
As you cut out my heart for feasts

Just because you bring flowers
Doesn't mean they can't turn
Into blood-covered razor blades
As you made all your decisions
Michael Stefan Mar 2020
I never knew
how much
it would hurt.

I wish
that I knew
before the first.

It would
have helped
to know.

Before
this road
I chose.

My tongue,
my blood
feels thick

Symptoms
that I'm feeling
heartsick.
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
he sat,
no noise,
dreaming art,
***** boy,
they shouted,
teased him,
hurt him,
he sat,
in silence,
so different,
finally changing,
quiet broken,
he cried
Sometimes we relive our childhood and remember its wonder and charms.  Sometimes we remember the bad times.  I hated middle school.
Michael Stefan Mar 2020
Everyone speaks with their heart
Leaving logic behind
But logic has a role to play
So keep your heart and brain
Working in harmony
Michael Stefan May 2020
those days you cannot breathe
and pain seems to flow with ease
are the days we push on through
though our act is never true
better to pretend to fly
instead of laying down to die
Sometimes it's hard to fake the funk and have everyone believe that you are doing alright.
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
I was but a few paces back
Too many to be close
Too few to be far
I saw his eyes as he contemplated
One thought to let go
The other to hold wide
My distance outside realms of binary decision
He looked down, ashamed
As his hand slipped from hard edge
In the last second, he reached and grasped
And held the door open for me
We both looked away awkwardly
As I muttered, "Thanks"
He quietly replied, "No problem"
Everyone knows exactly what I'm talking about.  Not sure why this scenario inspired a poem, but I have been going non-stop for a few days.  I hope this makes you laugh a little and contemplate those awkward moments when a simple yes or no does not suffice.
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
If you dream you are a bird, you cannot wake to flight
If you dream you are a shark, teeth and gills shall not come
You may dream of wrongs being righted
And of fair and deserving treatment for all
But your dreams will ring hollow
For dreams are beautiful errands for fools
That come freely without consequence
And change happens in waking hours
Which is paid for in blood, sweat, and tears
Michael Stefan Mar 2020
I would pen you a love song
It's in my power, you know?
But today is not the day
The gray in my heart, it grows
And I write what I feel
Disingenuous isn't my style
No hollow happy verse
On makeshift paper to beguile

I want to write you a love song
It's not a line, but simple truth
But today the sadness aches
Like long ignored rotten tooth
And if I let my sadness fester
The pain will just grow worse
Today I write of tragedy
No ink for hollow happy verse
I think as poets we have all been there.  Sometimes you just have to write of the sadness we feel even if the world is waiting for you to smile.
Michael Stefan Jun 2020
Dating in your 30s is hard
Everyone wants to be in a hook-up polycule
I just want to be part of a molecule
Two beautiful hydrogen atoms
Bonded eternal and providing oxygen
For the other to breathe
This is what I come up with when I think about dating apps.  Last time I was on one, it was tragic and I looked recently to satisfy my curiosity and discovered that people don't even speak the same language as me anymore.  Le sigh.
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
Every second ticks by
Slow as you wait
For news hard to swallow
Minutes drift like fog
Making futures appear dismal
Too much time to self-reflect
Waiting for that news
Seated in a hospital bedside
I know that almost everyone has experienced this and I wish no one had to go through it.  Each little second seems an eternity when you are waiting for what can only be bad news.
Michael Stefan Apr 2020
I am filled with rage and pain
I am filled with longing and loss
I am filled with the human condition
It is just as it was
I am filled with you
And all your weaknesses
And you are filled with mine
We are locked in static displays
Pointing fingers like kids at zoos
With little hope
For you to actually see
What's inside of me
I always found it hard
To see what's inside of you
Michael Stefan Mar 2020
I hunger
for you
        to fill me
and slake
my ravenous thirst

Your taste
intoxicates
me
as I slide
soundly
into addiction

Your scent
fuels me
driven to the edge
searching
with fervor
to use you to plug
my emptiness

I would
lap you from the floor
like a beast
as I gaze
In puddled reflection
hiding
my self-respect
Yeah, this one's sad and was written in the middle of the night when we all invariably have those dreams that we aren't able to shake off of love's long past and people that are able to manipulate us
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
why would you say those things?
why would you?  don't you know the hurt?
can't you feel what i feel when i feel?
your callousness irks me
ican'tthinkstraight
why? why would you?
don't you know words have meaning and gravity?
are you so blind and deaf and dumb and stupid
to not think i'd carry this ache
didn't you take a second before flapping your big dumb mouth?
words have meaning and gravity
they bear weight and matter
they matter to me
i am angry
i am angry
i hope your feeling of triumph is worth it
i am angry
and it hurts
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
Who are we?
You are me.
Could we be you?
Or you be me?
Could we be us?
Could I be me?
I am me.
Don't they see?
We have only been us.
You have never been me.
I am.
I AM!
Am I?
Are we?
Spend less time.
Spend less effort.
Be you.
Be different.
We are the same.
Aren't we the same?
Am I?
AM I?
I am.
I?  You?  We!  WE!  US!
I wish you would be me.
Could I ever be you?
I am.
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
I couldn't help myself
Addicted to the taste you gave
The way you held my hand
Your fingers through my hair
I felt you
You felt me
You said you'd hold me
And I felt you
Drift away
Breakups can be really hard.  The worst is never the yelling, or fighting, but when a person just shuts themselves off from.  That feeling of hopelessness as you run your fingers along a door that is closed to you forever, and you may never understand why.
Michael Stefan Feb 2021
If only I knew you then,
Maybe I wouldn't have made so many mistakes,
Maybe I'd make even more,
Maybe I'd never have left,
If only it was you, at my door

Maybe I would have been much greater,
Maybe I'd have been worse off,
Maybe I'd have known true love,
Or maybe I'd have grown too soft

Maybe life would be so different,
Maybe it would just be the same,
Maybe I'd have never lost myself,
If only I'd known your name

Maybe this exercise is failing,
Maybe I should accept what's here,
'Maybe' doesn't change a thing,
And I'm happy, now that you're near
I just wanted to share this Valentine's poem I wrote for my girlfriend, Amy.  It truly is nice to be with someone stable, that balances my sad moments with nights of wonderful snuggling, and appreciates how hard I try to make her smile.  Happy late Valentine's Day, Hello Poetry!!
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
I stand in line with everybody else
She keeps tap tap tapping on cell phone screens
He keeps crying, bored of shopping cart seats
They won't stop coughing, hack hack hack
I feel the jungle start to beat in me
tap tap tap hack hack hack
Louder and louder the wilderness beckons
Run free in me, roar to the sky
tick     tick    tick   tick  tick ticktick
My heart beats so quickly
Her nails scrape across her makeup caked skin
scratch scratch tap tap hack scratch tap
I have thunder inside of me it wants out
I streak across clouded skies filled with lightning
Sweat slicks my palms, my chest rumbles
The jungle recedes
The wilderness quiets
The sky grows dark
And I stand there waiting in line
tap hack scratch
tick tick  tick   tick    tick     tick
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
I make monsters in my basement
Horrific to behold
Titanic in their tyranny
With guns pointed at my foes

Monsters I tell you!
My chainsaw bladed army of the night
I will destroy your lands
Your destruction, my delight

Winged freaks with jutting fangs
Multi-colored ravenous dogs
Attaching to each other for greater strength
CRASH!

"Jesus Christ, Michael!" My mother shouts
As she gingerly removes the lego from her foot
"Get your *** upstairs for dinner!"

See you later, my monster friends
But rest assured I will come back
I think it's time for nation-building
And to create castles to attack
I truly love being able to build a poem with a child-like sense of wonder and intersperse elements of my life into it.  And yes, this is a true story.  I don't think I've seen my mother look so ****** before.
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
Define yourself in your own terms
Let triumph wash over you
Bask in the glow of your own definitions
Walk free surrounded in your own truth
One man walked on the moon
As one man learned to walk again
One woman sacrificed for a nation
As one woman became a citizen of her new home
A family of famous daredevils
And a family that got their son clean
Don't let others define your triumph
Be great
Act great
Revel in your accomplishments
And love your limits while breaking them
Michael Stefan Feb 2021
Your strength
Is indissoluble
And absolute
Like the weather

It may change
And fade away
But it will
Always return

Its shape
Is indeterminable
Its weight
Is unmeasurable
Its power
Is invaluable
Its presence
Is indissoluble
Here's my try at BLT's word challenge.  I thought about doing a complex poem about chemistry...  but I figured we could all be reminded or our own strength from time to time.  Cheers, BLT!
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways
Not a finger shall I straighten
In my computation
As I recount my lamentation
At the havoc that you wrought
No calculator needed
As I reconcile my thesis
Such low number needs no genius
Nor exertion of my thought
For such a pitiable sum
Is understood by deaf and dumb
Neither finger nor my thumb
Nor mathematics bureau
Should be dispatched to this cause
In simple algebraic laws
With your love so full of flaws
My counting is rested now at zero
I originally started this poem as a "woe is me" following a pretty bad breakup (yes, guys, I know I have a lot of them as evidenced by my poetry).  However, this became such a fun rhymescape that reminded me of a positive and playful version of Poe's most famous poem about a raven.  Hope you enjoy and hope everyone finds time to laugh after sad times.
Ink
Michael Stefan Mar 2020
Ink
Every now and then
The ink won't
Do what I want it to
Rebelling on the page

Just like you.

No matter
How I write your story
And dream my dreams of love
I cannot write a story
That you don't want
To play the lead role in
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
-in honor of Matthew Hennigan, Vinson Adkinson and everyone else who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their brothers and sisters in arms, you are missed every day

Oh, sweet empty mountain
in your quiet majesty,
Overwatching flowing rivers
meandering through a hushed valley,
And the sparsely growing forest
littered with ruins of times forgot,
In this silent, flowing landscape
for which many nations have fought

Oh, the things you've seen oh mountain,
from triumph to betrayal
To lovers' first awkward kiss,
and children battling so playful
And in waves, you saw it change,
one year peace, the next year tense
You have witnessed arc of all mankind,
each and every sad offense

You witnessed the day when they sat
upon your steep marble mountainside,
Wrapped in ratty tan blankets,
whose purpose was to let them hide
And fingers lay on naked triggers,
muzzles pointed to the road
Cloaked men carried bandoliers,
so their gunners needn't reload

And in the early dawn of light,
the first 'crack' echoed off your side
As a battlefield erupted,
the roaring of a violent fight
Oh, you ancient hunk of rock,
overseeing all as many died
In the distance could you hear,
the faint sound as we all cried?

Rest in peace you glorious *******
I love you Matty and Vinny
I'll see you again one day
Can't really talk about this one.
Michael Stefan Feb 2021
She spoke in tones of innocence,
The heart makes you defenseless,
Her anodyne smile,
Could stick around awhile,
As we bask in our reticence

She spoke in a soft tongue so foreign,
A place I could not determine origin,
Her words, they killed my pain,
Driven from madness to sane,
Listening to her covert chorus
Here's the word challenge of the day.  This one was a little difficult, but I think it's nice when someone is able to lull us from aggressive posturing, dulling the war we weave in our head.
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
Sun-soaked singles swinging sportively on seas
Made merrier by mariners making marked manifestations
Of feasts full and free, festive dressed in filigree
Not daring to dream deep deceits, dawning dull disguise
As winter waits to wage its war while
Blustery wind whips wildly, washing shores a-white
Another of my attempts at alliteration.  Hope you like it.
Michael Stefan May 2020
I will wear my collar,
Of flesh and skin bound tight
This pop-up meat tuxedo,
Will fall apart eventually

Sometimes the suit itches-
Like it was tailored
Of heavy wool and corduroy

Sometimes the weight is too great-
Dragging my hardened soles
Of human leather

Our bodies are a prison-
Interning the mind and soul
Until our skeletons cease to dance

But every sentence has its end-
I'll hold hands with you
Into the sunset
As we fly the coup
And escape into the ether
I think that most people view death as a terrifying end of the only thing we have known.  I like to believe after we pass on, we find a peace that we have never known and will welcome the chance for some rest.
Michael Stefan Dec 2020
I wish, on days of blue, to dream of you, to dream of anything, as I am ****** into eternal sky, with jagged frost that nips, and winds that spiral, tumbling from endless, into a spiteful roar, and sounds of wicked winter, tearing clothes from aging flesh, to expose the beauty, the heartbreak, and the ageless tenacity, buried beneath our flesh, and burned into our souls.  I dream of falling into another...  To share and heal these scars.
Sometimes, I have incomplete and run-on sentences that march across my vision.  Sometimes they sound alright.  Hope you enjoy this one :)
Michael Stefan Apr 2020
MARCH FORWARD
no time to wait
no time to waste
no time for time
to wind away
we're into space
you're in my space
extreme development
advanced disgrace
you took your turn
resources to burn
and still, you yearn
we never learn
WE TRAMPLE THE WEAK
WE HURDLE THE DEAD
LISTEN TO OTHERS
NOT JUST A VOICE IN YOUR HEAD

we're in the future now
Never forget that advancement comes with a price.  Take time to appreciate where you are and not just where you want to be.
Michael Stefan Apr 2020
It's been awhile
Since we last laughed
It was at the zoo
Feeding giraffes
Long black tongues
Tickled pink palms
As they ate the crackers
Without qualm

It's been awhile
Since we last kissed
Sweet and salty
A flavor I missed
And hands held
As our bodies touched
Your forgotten T-shirt
I have clutched

It's been awhile
Since we last spoke
Hearing your voice
I begin to choke
This is a simple rhyme scheme that is meant to end abruptly and leave the reader unsatisfied with a 5/8ths progression that needs a 6th or 8th stanza to complete.  The poem's structure is more of a testament to how I felt than the actual words are.
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
I'm sorry to say I love you
I know this alters our dynamic
You thought I was a good friend
But I am a fiend, pining for you
I wish I was truly sorry
But I'm not
And I love you
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
They all gnashed their teeth and snarled
Fed by evening news of sensational delights
This meal divides them, one squad against another
Their cackling splits the peaceful night

Their spittle soaks the blood-drenched ground
Yellow eyes gaze with maniacal rage
Single-minded to scavenge and consume
As writers fill teleprompters' page

Logic lost in frenzied carnage
Horrid breath from yellowed teeth
As these jackals howl, "feed us more!"
Caverns filled with bones of human grief

We the people of a more perfect union
Trapped between beasts set to conquer
My country 'tis of empty-headed politics
As You, I, We become the monster
Michael Stefan Jan 2021
You're a ******* fool
If you bite a lemon
And pray for the taste-
Of rosemary and sage
So...  Uh...  Yeah.  Just my thoughts on the subject.
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
such a thing
a little kiss
my lower lip
sandwiched between yours

no small occurrence
as your lips
drew me in
and I lost

my grounded inhibitions
my smooth resistance
my very soul
drawn into yours
Man, I remember that first kiss with the love of my life.  This poem was written immediately after that wondrous event that seemed to echo throughout the following week.  It was such a joyous event.
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
Love, unlike pizza,
is never good the next day
after it has grown cold
Michael Stefan Jun 2020
One hand gripped some yellow seeds-
The other, seeds stained red
One seed would grow up ****-
The other grows sweet instead

Each fruit would make a lovely juice
That bursts with intense flavor
Despite the ****, to spite the sweet-
Little treats we each would savor

Baked and burned and fricasseed
And placed in ornate wrappings-
Then placed upon a grocery shelf
In boxes of lavish trappings

Don't you see, my sweet-
Finding love is like eating candy?
You open wide and take a bite
To discover lemons **** or cherries dandy
This is my whimsical take on the sweet and sour aspects of love.  Love in full bloom is indulgent and refreshing.  But we all fear the downswing when loving someone leaves us open to the possibility of hurt.  I wanted to craft an almost singsong rhyme about the joys (and sometimes fears) of discovering love.
Michael Stefan Apr 2020
Despair and disrepair
Fingers caught
In knotted hair
Anxious worry twirling
Alone in wicker chairs
Longing for a comedy
As we are given tragedy
Sweet words to be
Could bring some levity
And some hope
Would bear great gravity
As it pulled me
back from my dark clouds
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
No matter the wish
You will reap
Crops you sew
Michael Stefan Mar 2020
Where there is fire, there will be light
And pleasure; pain
And loss; anguish
Power and cruelty
Life and joy
Beliefs and extremists
Humans and injustice
Community and friendship
Where there is fire, there will be light
Pray dear friend, that when you search for light
You do not find fire
Just a light monologue about the disposition of humanity and society
Michael Stefan Apr 2020
Auburn curls
droop wide and out of place
with shimmer so bright
like brilliant red lace
brings longing
as I stare
and begin to fill with fear
wishing only to brush that curl
back behind your ear
I was feeling kind of nostalgic and hopeful earlier today and wanted to share a simple rhymescape that describes how a lot of people feel when your crush has that one piece of hair out of place :)  Such a surreal and romantic moment that might be had.
Michael Stefan Apr 2020
We have ridden along this winding river
For decades in a long-forgotten life
As empty beer cans float along beside
Mending lines and sharpening knives

We never caught a single fish
As we float along at fate's design
We shared this sad excuse for a boat
With only each other to pass the time
A commentary on all of the lives that go unnoticed as we float through each and every day, thinking only of ourselves and immediate surroundings.  Sometimes the unremarkable is what makes life remarkable.
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
My cup is full, it runneth over
You share with me, you promise
My cup is cool, the touch is pleasing
You seem hesitant, but feel honest
My cup now empty, savagely drained
You withdraw, promises spilling
Mine is a position of emptiness
Yours a promise, unfulfilling
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
i shoulda
woulda coulda
stayed and fought
your screams
grew too angry
your temper grew too hot
you brandished
cruel mistakes made
like serrated knives
i fled and hid
knees buckling
at this domestic strife
i swore
i'd grow the strength
to come back inside
but never did
my backbone grow
my resolve just up and died
i wish
i was more powerful
and clung to you so tight
but i just
got into my truck
and drove away that night
A simple rhyme scheme to express those moments when you fail to push through the pain and strife and tell someone what they mean to you, to say "I'm sorry", and to let them take out their frustrations with you.
Michael Stefan Mar 2020
You always
knew
exactly
which
chord
I liked

You always
sang
off-key
but
I loved
it

You knew
just
how
to
carry
a beat

Every
smile
of yours
was
a note
in our love song
I wanted to share a more positive poem since most of my recent uploads have had a very negative connotation.  Hope you enjoy it!
Michael Stefan Feb 2020
This universe so massive, complexities galore
Yet terrified I am, to exit my front door
This massive world beckons, a seductive cry
How can a one-bedroom apartment dweller
Understand the sky

Circulation and life complete with each heartbeat
Each pulse pushes life throughout city streets
Microcosmic revolutions of electron protocols
As massive heavenly bodies orbit
Above us neanderthals

Why do we know so much yet understand so little
As we arrange life's pieces like a puzzle made so brittle
Around us everywhere life continues to be in bloom
We are but hungry ants
And this universe, we'll consume
My thoughts on existentialism and attempting to understand things from subatomic to universal.  A scientific conference sometime in the 70s decided that it was the ultimate fate of intelligent life to ultimately destroy itself.  We all seek knowledge, but at what cost do we gain our analysis.  What is the price of being able to order our understanding into a neat line of labels.
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