Poets to watch. - Hello Poetry

Oct 2016

Nicole Hammond

a prayer

dear god of needle ***** and poisoned well
i pray you find my mother
cold and dry and unfeeling
something you can draw no moisture out of
a different god struck a rock with a staff
a long long time ago
and water came to cool his throat
but there are no miracles here
so you can please stop beating her now

dear god of gluttonous apothecary
my mother's body is a mathematical
uncertainty
it is a function with limits
her veins are rolling with their bellies full
of chemicals that burn
her hair runs from the scalp the way
two legs would
from a house going up in flames
my mother's body
is a house going up in flames
i am a child that is terrified of a monster
under the bed
i am helpless to a thing i can feel but
cannot see

dear god of gasoline remedy
your counterintuitive science
your black dream
takes her body like a new land
teaches her it's wretched language
it rapes and pillages
it steals the recognition
that sparks her eyes when she looks in mine

dear god of intravenous dark rider
let her live to see a day
she can wake and not be bound
to her biology

dear god of pink ribbon tourniquet
let her breathe and take it for granted again

dear god of careful rampage
finish what you have started
and lock the door behind you

#life #death #mom #chemo #chemotherapy

Aug 2016

Analise Quinn

Hurting Clear & Muddled

Hemingway said,
"Write hard and clear about what hurts."

And I'm hurting.
And it's muddled.
And it's clear all at once.

But I know this:
It hurts hard.

When part of your heart
Up and leaves-
Even when you know that it's coming-
It hurts like part of your heart was up
And cut out.

It hurts like when you get home
And you run in-
And no one's there to greet you.

It hurts like when you sit at home-
And the piano keys are dusty.

It hurts and it's deafening
And deadening-
And the silence is overwhelming.

It hurts like a coffee *** that doesn't get empty,
And a grocery bill that goes down.

It hurts like unworn shoes in a closet
And it hurts like unwashed sheets
On an unused bed.

It hurts like borrowing his clothes
And reading his books
And writing him letters.

It hurts hard
And clear
And muddled
All at once.

It hurts like goodbye.

#goodbye #brother #quotes

Jul 2016

William A Poppen

Gratitude

Gratitude
see beauty
open one's heart
obtain relief and forgiveness
show thankfulness

Cinquain

Jul 2016

Evna-Luna

NIGHT TRAVELLING BY

STARS GUIDING NEAR*
Passing through the Airs Sphere
trailing every way
Lurking and searching the sky
Passing through a midnight length
Wandering through the cosmic den
As the night travels by
As the night travels too far

Evna-Luna* ©

*The night travels by*

#stars #night #air #travelling

Jul 2016

Ovi-Odiete

"The Stars Shine Down"

The stars shine down,
It brings us light,
Light comes down,
To make us paths,
It watches us
And mourns for us

The stars shine down,
To give us night,
Night calls out;
The darkest winds
A fearful thrill
In darkness still

The stars shine down
And cries for all
With sailing wind,
They float amidst
The stars of nights
Bring lights forth

The stars shine forth
To rid Erebus dark
Stars of ephemeral;
Unwinding nights gold
The stars shine down
And give us calm.

A poem about the stars of the night; this can relate to life in a thousand ways.
The stars illuminates the night, giving forth strength and so even in the darkest path, there is still a light that can be unveiled to overshadow the darkness.
Ovi-Enita, Odiete, June 2015.

#dark #stars #night #light #shine

Jul 2016

Emily B

blackberry picking

I wrote poems once
About blackberry picking with my children.
They were lovely.
The children, too,
When they were sleeping.
I thought about those poems
When I was stomping teasel and milkweed
In the field behind the barn
With my big green muck boots
So that I could get to ripe berries.
Alone.
Hawk dueting
With the two little goats.
You have to wonder why
In such a moment
That you would work and sweat
For two measly quarts of free berries.
When I was younger
It was not unusual
To get proposals of marriage
For cobblers and cakes and dumplings
From old men who were already married.
Two quarts down.
Several to go.