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Argentum May 2016
You set out without a clear intention. You jot down vague sketches,
plans for prototypes.
Each iteration is
a little better
than the last.
It grows. It develops
into something familiar, yet
completely different.
Something new.
The gears fit better together.
You make it smaller and more compact.
Each prototype gleams with pride.
look.
it says.
I am special, I am beautiful, I am
a marvel of engineering and metaphors.
Look.

It is ready. You let it out, watching as
your machine, your invention
revs its engine and zooms off
into the night. It will plant itself
into people's minds and make them
Think, make their
gears fit better, make
them familiar but
completely new.
it is a poem. a machine called a poem.
  May 2016 Argentum
a wildfire
the best and worst days--
the cold air that steals october away
the leaves on the ground
getting swallowed up by the earth.
spring's first song. that old bluebird
that never left for winter.
the mountains we have crossed
and built.
my mind, filled with dark things,
things that spill out and cover my words.
years before you.
when love was a war that you don't come back from--
i still carry the stones that were placed on my eyes.
washed up on the riverbed,
i pushed the water from my lungs,
and pulled myself up onto brittle bones.

a warrior,
right as rain, the sun rising on the first day of summer.
my eyes formed of light, what no one can steal.
the world has worn against me,
some days i forget the sharp edges, and
so i love.
i cry, and i speak, and i show you
every part. until it hurts.
i search for bricks and stones and
anything
to keep me safe. locked away,
where light cannot even reach me--
where the black night grows so big,
so heavy,
that your eyes, the sun, are nowhere to be seen.
Argentum Apr 2016
The world will tattoo your secrets
Onto the palms of your hands
To teach you
To sleep with fists closed
And to never show anyone
What you hold in your hands
It is to teach you
Sleight of hand
It is to teach you
How to hide in plain sight.

The world will carve your regrets
Onto the inside of your eyelids
So every time
You close your eyes,
Everything you need
To just forget is
Burning bright and fierce in your face.
It is to teach you
To keep your eyes open
It is to teach you
How to never even blink.

The world will stamp your mistakes
Onto your tongue
To teach you
To keep your mouth shut
And to always think before you speak
It is to teach you
The power of words
It is to teach you
How to choose your words carefully.

The world will write your weaknesses
On the walls of your heart
So every time
You let someone
Steal it and break it,
Your flaws all spill out
On the ground for everyone to see.
It is to teach you
To be coldhearted and cautious
It is to teach you
How to keep your heart safe.

The world will graft wings
Onto your ankles
To teach you
When to run away
And when to stand your ground.
It is to teach you
speed;
It is to teach you
How to escape.

The world will brand road maps
Onto the soles of your feet
So every time
You’re looking for
A way out (or in),
your feet already know the way there.
It is to teach you
direction
It is to teach you
How to navigate the world.

By the time
the world is done with you,
It will have left its marks.
Wear these marks
Not with shame,
But pride,
As I have failed to do.
Might make this longer later
  Apr 2016 Argentum
wordvango
just a leaf left
on the pillow next to me
now, a whisper of smoke
vapor tracing your path

out the door
going back to the
limb I stole you from,
the place you must return

I rake my bed for more,
try to make
a place
for you to fall

again, next time.
  Apr 2016 Argentum
Denel Kessler
We attempt rescue, unable to bear
the stardust-coated dragonfly
beat, beat, beating
frantic on the glass.

We entice him to perch
on our extended lifeline-broom
nurse him in a box, where he flutters
quivers, lies quietly blue.

My son cries bitterly
as we place a minute cross
upon the dragonfly grave
while intoning our final goodbyes:

We honor those who have fallen victim
to this fatal architectural trap, lured
by skylights of enticing white-light death
and the paned illusion of freedom.

In admiration of winged determination
and perseverance in the face of futility
we carefully tend the fragile, curved bodies
lay them here to rest under the mock orange.


years of gauze-weighted detritus
swept beneath these ponderous shrubs
a reminder - what seems like freedom
                                                         ­           often isn’t.
We lived in a house that had outdoor skylights.  Insects would be lured by the light and die trying to fly through the glass that imprisoned them.
I hated those skylights...

Hey lovely poets!  Thank you so much for being a supportive, amazing group of people.  I'm truly honored that you take the time to read my poems.  The Daily is just icing on an already sweet cake.
: )
So many thoughts feelings expressions emotions
locked behind deadpan eyes and a voice that's toneless.
A mountain of a person consolidated to this form.
A body unimpressive.
A face unexpressive.
The chaos upstairs requires all of my attention.

Conversing takes a back-seat which is why I seem distant.
Too many things to say only leaves me in silence.
I don't know how or where to begin.
If only I could let you inside to weather the storm
maybe you could make sense of this nonsense and bring me to port.
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