NDHK: Favorites

May 2013 NDHK

Yearning

May 2013 NDHK

Montana

Yearning

The armrest between us
feels dangerous.
Here I sit
separate
in my chair
safe
on my own.

The tension is thick
like the rim of your glasses
thick
like the lump in my throat.

I focus on not touching you
so much so, that I forget
about the no-man's land that is
the armrest.

Our fingers touch briefly.
It's an accident.

It's electric.

And our hands do a dance,
delicate and graceful.
A ballet of avoidance.

Ceasing movement,
content in our solitude,
A sigh of relief.
Of disappointment.

Then, a sudden attack.

You lace your fingers between my own
and gently squeeze my hand.

You don't look at me.
And I am grateful.

May 2013 NDHK

Sleep and Anxiety

May 2013 NDHK

Liz Murray

Sleep and Anxiety

The frustration you get
When you wake up in the middle of the night
And can't fall back to sleep.

You look at the clock,
Hoping,
It'll soon be time to get up.
But then you realize
It's not even near that time.

It's like the sun knows when you're awake and,
Just to be a ******,
Takes its time coming up.

So you lie there...
Trying to get some rest.
You squirm and change positions,
But still...
Nothing happens.

You begin to think about
Your life,
Your future,
The world,
Everything...

Then, all the bad thoughts become worse.
You think...
Maybe something might happen,
Or something may already have happened.

You try harder to fall asleep,
But you can't stop.
Can't stop thinking.
And you feel...
Upset...
Overwhelmed...
And you can do nothing
to stop all the horrible thoughts from coming through.

Then you're at the stage where now,
Your thoughts aren't coming in patterns anymore.
They scatter...
Like a nebula.

So you lie there.
You've given up.
You feel hopeless...
Like no one could ever help you.
So you just wait...
Wait for everything to be over.

May 2013 NDHK

Questions

May 2013 NDHK

debra fromherz

Questions

So i sit here and wonder to myself,
what exactly is wrong with the world,
With every passing day,
there is starving,
there is homeless,
there is killing,
there is hate,
there is envy.
Why is it that when there is a tragedy,
it pulls us together.
why can't we stand tall and proud,
And be the Man or Woman our parents have taught us to be.
Feed the starving even if for one night?
Offer space for homeless so they know they are not alone.
Embrace our fellow man instead of violence,
Shake a hand of a stranger and say,"have a great day."
Look up to others,
and learn from example.
Why do we have to forget how it use to be,
and settle for how it is today.
why do we give in,
or are we are giving up?

May 2013 NDHK

don't stop

May 2013 NDHK

Lover of Words

don't stop

Don't stop.
Whether if your just starting, or about to be finished.
Keep going.
Even when life bangs you upside the head with accidents you couldn't have predicted.
Don't you dare even think of stopping.
I know the road is rough, but even roses have thorns.
And they'll stick into your skin and make you wanna stop.
Don't be tempted to.
Soon the sun will shine, and you'll see diamonds again.
Life will get better, maybe not today or tomorrow but soon.
Even after you failed that math class, or lost that job, know that it'll improve, somehow, someway. Don't lose hope.
Don't stop. Ever.

Apr 2013 NDHK

Untitled

Apr 2013 NDHK

Haley

Untitled

I will love you like a flower loves rain in the summer and the summer loves the river.
I will want you like a believer wants a god and a god wants belief.
I will need you like a candle needs fire and that fire needs wind to calm it down.
I will hold you like a mother holds her newborn baby, and as her baby will someday hold the hand of a man, half as magnificent as you.
I will stay with you like your scar from a lighter and like the light that shows you the way.
I will love you like a flower loves rain in the summer and the summer loves the river.

Apr 2013 NDHK

My mother once told me I was adorable.

Apr 2013 NDHK

Tori Gadney

My mother once told me I was adorable.

My mother once told me I was adorable.
She said so with a light smile and a soft voice.
I was young and impressionable,
And forever thought -I was adorable.

My friend once told me I was pretty.
She said so with a wide smirk and a sour tongue.
I was young and somewhat twiggy
And never thought -I was pretty.

My love tells me I am very beautiful.
He says so with a caring grin and a loving tone.
I am young and quite suitable
And often think -yes, I am beautiful.

Apr 2013 NDHK

Milky months and willows

Apr 2013 NDHK

JM

Milky months and willows

42 since I started to breathe rotting leaves under a November blizzard.
34 since I entered this body that day on the porch.
32 since I understood violence to be an accepted
part of life.

So many years I have carried this burden and I am tired, so tired.

So many sad Novembers.

But it's April now and 29 since I tasted a woman's mouth. 26 since I discovered how it felt to be inside another human, while completely inside myself.

It's April now and I crave the pale round goblets of milky skin these young flowers offer.
New rituals indeed smolder as centuries unfold.

It's only been 12 since I knew I was part of God
and 7 since I started hating us for being so close.

It was last March since I lost faith in you and I haven't stopped breathing shadows.
I am so tired, dearest.
What must I do?
It's April now, the walnut tree is black against the streetlight; the sycamores line the empty boulevard and I can smell the ghosts in the park.

These milky skies and milky thighs burn in
my skull. January has lost her way
again as everyone forgets about the poets.
It's the poets that get them through a grey December.
We all share the same air, we all breathe
each other.
There is a lone willow tree, in the cradle of the park, bearing your divine name, which can be heard whispered by the ghosts who wander
on this lonely reservoir.

I am pining for dried tea bags and empty dresses as long summer nights bring insects and revelations.
I am your stone gargoyle.

Apr 2013 NDHK

The Wall

Apr 2013 NDHK

J Drake

The Wall

The walls of your soul that you
  Toil away building;
The windows are dark and the
  Bricks are unyielding...

( Hate, with a hammer, cracks the wall;
   But Love, with a whisper, makes it fall. )

How many times have I told you, Believe?
And then will you learn how to truly Receive.
  For giving is getting -- these two are the same;
  And living is learning to dance in the rain.