Josh Oo-Wah Coyle: Poems

She's looked, you speak, finally, yes;
Dancing the talk of a child...
Hearts strong shall fight soft,
Falling, young, set, and sorry...
Held, they gave peace.

Soft music and falling leaves.

She's spoke, you look, finally, yes;
Knowing she heard sad in a bright laugh...
No reason, her mouth at peace,
Her eyes bring dear hell;
Lost, there is no longer a longer.

Snow brings the cold.

#love #relationships #fall #winter #falling #melancholy #lovelost #snow #hearts #leaves

So Loud

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle May 2021

So Loud

dear upstairs neighbor,
do you own an elephant?
I think that you do.

#haiku #elephant #loud #neighbors #disgruntled

Such Is the Way I Ramble

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Oct 2011

Such Is the Way I Ramble

happiness walking...tired, slow;
sharing the street,
watching dusty half-gods sitting on their steps

they drink tonight

their art is a quiet passion,
golden fair, worth taking,
born of birds in a burning city who
return from their winter spring
looking for tomorrow

Synthesize Pride

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Mar 2012

Synthesize Pride

A test is nothing more

than:

one man's way of gauging

another man's way of calculating

another man's way of thinking

all so pride may be synthesized

in forms of correct and incorrect

put to paper for someone's satisfaction.

Adopt a Metaphor: http://hellopoetry.com/experiments/adopt-a-metaphor

Tap on the Glass

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Oct 2011

Tap on the Glass

a sad human breathes;
they reach for windows on walls
too big for any one person to climb.

it's too late to tap on the glass.

near waking
the power of reality
slowly
goes off in a quiet sense,
silent wings passing
apart and together,
clear in their meeting
as they tried.

instead

simple shadows
of nights running into long hours
space the future,
years in a line,
stretching off,
as years in a line are wont to do.

and so they say:

it's too late to tap on the glass.

That Moment

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Oct 2011

That Moment

thinking, land
knowing, fly
hide your mouth; she's looked, knows different!

meaning: grow round filled with reason

Coming!

listen to the floor making red noises...

That Scent

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Apr 2011

That Scent

It was a last late night
late last night
and your perfume has lingered.

That Thing

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Jul 2011

That Thing

There was this thing...remember?
It was something you said, not long ago...
Or maybe I just remember it that way.

That Time

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Jul 2011

That Time

I can tell by the glow
of the bedside clock
that you've run off with my heart again.

The Best Advice

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Apr 2011

The Best Advice

The best advice that I have to give —
Never trust a woman who knows how to kiss.
She'll steal your heart and leave you to grieve,
A worn out husk that nobody sees.

So when next you let lips decide your fate,
Nerves all a-quiver as you anticipate,
To not heed my warning, you would be remiss:
Never trust a woman who knows how to kiss.

The Cat Is The Hat

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Jul 2023

The Cat Is The Hat

They said you can't do that with a cat—
The world's not ready for that!
And at first they jeered,
but then they cheered,
'cuz my cat is the fanciest hat.

#cat #hat #limerick

The Difference Between Leaving and Going

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Aug 2012

The Difference Between Leaving and Going

Lying eyes
disguise goodbyes;
the Honest ones will tell you.

The Other Guy

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Aug 2011

The Other Guy

I walk the miles,
ruining smiles,
people throwing stones;
I find the hours,
failing powers,
spiteful hateful man.

A lazy man,
adoring fan,
watched God with pride;
yet his lord,
wielding sword,
slices low and wide.

Ice-age glacier,
species erasure,
nothing here for me;
I am above it,
I am summit,
I am Lord to thee.

Bow before,
come adore,
all smitten by my grasp;
death to all,
'gainst my pall,
striking as an asp.

And still...

I walk those miles,
body piles,
bearing a disease;
I am true;
Lord to you,
it is I you must appease.

The Perils of Loving in a Modern World

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Sep 2012

The Perils of Loving in a Modern World

In the end,
you've only managed to pull the trigger first.
And yet,
knowing full well the consequences,
I struck on,
hoping that someday my love would fall true.

It was my mistake.

How was I to know
— a man bereft of possessions and purpose —
that you
— glorious, important, so very very tired —
required more than:
                    a single glance,
                              a sidelong smile,
                                        a tender touch,
                                                  a silent moment...

These things no longer exist,
or, at least,
if they do,
I have no idea how to find them with you.

The Shower Is My Refuge

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle May 2012

The Shower Is My Refuge

The Shower is my Refuge
hidden home to unfound thoughts
each drop an incandescent ode to joy in the sunlight
floating up
and left
and right
in the sunlight
these are my lives
each one more necessary than the last
each one recounting the lost stories of imagination
each one timeless and insecure and fragile and tiny

The Shower is my Refuge
with curtains drawn on my private stage
a hot haze of steamed applause
where each member of the audience is required to dance
and the echoes of my voice can be heard
o'er the tumultuous rapture of this orchestrated flow
soft and yielding
hard and battering
until the waters have ebbed and my time here has passed
so cleansed I step into a new world

The Shower is my Refuge

The Therapod

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Nov 2015

The Therapod

You'll never know a fairer pod,
Than when you meet a therapod;
For a therapod will care a lot
And doesn't want to scare a ***.

So if you chance to meet a therapod,
Don't think that it's a terror pod –
A therapod is a rarer sod,
Unless you meet a pair o' pods.

Feels a little forced, but I still like it. Happy Dinovember!

#funny #dinosaurs #dinovember #therapod

The Time Was Now

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Mar 2012

The Time Was Now

January, Tuesday,
an hour, a minute;
A calendar year,
a second to win it.

Friday's high noon,
six weeks disavowed;
Nighttime's deadline,
is yesterday's now.

So when all is done,
after the fact;
It's all I can say,
there was no time to act.

This Ain't Really It

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Dec 2011

This Ain't Really It

It's Christmas Eve
and here I sit
drinking a drink
and giving a ****.

The mistletoe's hung
way up in the air
on the semi off-chance
that you'll give a care.

With stockings and trimmings
and **-hoes and tree
and candies and dandies
and gifts not for me.

So welcome to Christmas
a wonderful time
with tannins and balms
and lonely red wine.

Seriously, I'm having a great time tonight. Lit three ways from yesterday's Christmas tree. Just goin' for a feel here. Hope all y'all in the Hullo Poetry World are doing the same. Murry Xmasses.

This, a Touch Will Do

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Mar 2012

This, a Touch Will Do

Should the earth die
a touch to make times stay,
a soft voice waiting, looking,
room for a kiss.

We stand at a great door
the moon's arms our friend,
our bed running beauty,
believing we're at sea.

O happy morning!
To help us understand,
this last night's song,
when men lay staring at stars.

This, a touch will do.

This Language, I Know, Right?

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Mar 2012

This Language, I Know, Right?

O! The Things I can do with this Language!
It can be turned ndsıpǝ-poʍu, and drawkcab,
and bɘɿoɿɿim as well —
rcsbamdel, like eggs, even.
Made to read, made to speak, made to listen.
It Cᴏᴍᴍᴀɴᴅs, it beckons, it s̷h̷a̷d̷e̷s̷ ̷t̷h̷e̷ ̷t̷r̷u̷t̷h̷.
It tєครєร, it ｂｒｏａｄｅｎｓ, it SCREAMS.
Narration, instruction, completion, construction:
all of these things Mine Ears do accept.
It is in this inexact form that I find myself exuberant,
laughing as Webster turns in his grave.

*Sometimes, I don't even need a pen.

This Thread of Mine

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Jun 2015

This Thread of Mine

a spool of heart's thread
pulled taut just for you
tie a knot and watch it break

#love #heartbreak #sad #heart #haiku #break #string

Tit for Tat?

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Oct 2011

*** for Tat?

I'll never understand
what could possess
one to tell one
that they have no skill?

How do you not know
that they know how to do
things you could never
master yourself?

And what if they ****
at math or soccer or
just being social
and stuff?

Maybe they have
this awesome innateness
that endows them ability
to rock your wife's socks off?

Today Hasn't Been the Best to Me

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Oct 2011

Today Hasn't Been the Best to Me

ARGH **** ****
today hasn't been the best to me
thusly
woe betide they who cross my path
for today hasn't been the best to me
and there are things I'd like to destroy
but none of it belongs to me
(just gonna have to deal)
and today hasn't been the best to me
so maybe it's time to just

chill

the

****

out

and take a breath and keep writing
because
god it's cathartic sometimes
but it still makes me think
that today hasn't been the best to me
and I'm still in a pissy mood
(though it's not as bad as it was)
so the fact hasn't really changed
that today hasn't been the best to me
at all

Just needed to throw some words at the canvas, folks. I'm sure you can relate.

Top Words

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Oct 2011

Top Words

the time I know we just spent today
was the best long little like
I could spend your way

I happened to glance at my Top Words and this little ditty just sang right out.

Weekend Haiku

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Oct 2021

Weekend Haiku

man with a bandsaw
incredibly obnoxious
7am, ****

#haiku #weekend #loud #mornings #sleep

What Just Happened

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Nov 2011

What Just Happened

bedside clock
blinking red
repeating these moments
inside my head

What Words Do I Capitalize in a Title?

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Oct 2011

What Words Do I Capitalize in a Title?

What words do I capitalize in a title?
Which rules do I apply?
I never asked for this to happen
but here I am all the same.

I'd ask you for instruction,
maybe get a helping hand;
it's just I know you know
you'd never let me try.

So what words do I capitalize in a title?
How do I proceed?
I used to know how this is done
but that was long ago.

Would You?

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Aug 2011

Would You?

would you believe me
if I told you the world's done?
I didn't think so

You Gotta Get Up to Get Down

Josh Oo-Wah Coyle Jul 2011

You Gotta Get Up to Get Down

I'm all squinty-eyed this am (A.M.)
with a certain je-ne-sais-quoi
here,
in my brain,
today.

Strumblin' about, trippin' on stuff;
My body responds not as it should!
I'm in dire need of coffee or bacon or toast or ELECTROLYTES
(my friend assures me this is so).

Hands up! Who's all broken?
and disjointed
and confuddled
and hell — bedazzled!?

The sparkles in my eyelids won't go away
and-
I've-
had-
the-
hic-
cups-
since-
last-
night.

What a great time tho? I think...YES.

Later that day...
— Happy ***** Times!

— The End —