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Hank Helman Apr 2024
Let the little things go,
Let your thoughts run free,
Yes, ghosts will appear,
We won't always agree.

Beliefs are assumptions
Just a branch or a twig,
When grafted all together
Our kindness will grow big.

Now I'm not naive
Nor a sweet and silly bean,
I know evil is a shadow,
As it creeps along unseen.

So smile at a stranger,
Whisper in an ear,
Listen first and then reply
Our words cause all the fear.
Hank Helman Dec 2024
When I was 7,
A firecracker blew up in my hand.

Oddly in taught me nothing.
I think I'm a slow, stubborn twig.

I guess it finally has.
Two
Hank Helman Oct 2023
Two
Under moon's soft glow,
Love whispers in the night flow,
Two souls entwined.
5  7   5
Hank Helman Oct 2020
Do we ever get over,
Our dreams.

Is life as discombobulated
As it seems.

Each day I'm up early,
My hair wet and curly,
The matrix, the mantra,the memes.
I'm tired of being me. Anyone want to switch?
u
Hank Helman Apr 2024
u
Do you think we will ever be in love again, she asked.

I think we are beyond love and always will be, he replied.

What comes after obsession with another, she responded.

A preoccupation with the unknowns, he suggested.

Death, quantum entanglement, how birds fly, she laughed

And how I can't stop thinking about you every second of every day, he said.

Isn't that love, she teased.

I don't know what it is and I don't ask anymore, he replied.

Kiss me, she said and captured his hand in hers.
Hank Helman May 2024
Undress me, she said.

My pleasure, he responded.

I want to stand naked in front of you, she offered.

I won't be able to control myself, he countered.

You must. Enjoy me, devour me and once you are aroused and wild eyed put on the blind fold, she instructed.

With pleasure, he replied.

Accept the darkness as you explore every inch of me with your hands and your lips, she added.

Is there any forbidden territory, he wondered.

None. I am yours, she declared as the first buttons came undone.
Hank Helman Aug 2015
She said, turn out the lights,
I look so much better in the dark.
I said, love is an artist; I like what I see,
And  lit the candle beside her bed.

She said the night and shadows retouch my flaws,
Blend tight curves with round intrigue,
I said, the sexiest bits of you are all unseen,
Now smile and let me love all of you.
Hank Helman Jul 2016
So I m sitting in the mall
Waiting for life to entertain me
As I know it will
Feeling moribund and gloomy
As if a full belly and a dry bed
Aren't good enough.
Like the universe owes me a back stage pass, right?
And access to the green room
And the groupies,
And how no matter how much I get,
It will never be enough,
This is the most depressing thought,
That I am insatiable,
And any form of happiness
Will remain at a distance,
Because I can't shove enough pleasure
Down my throat
Or get enough women to lay down,
Or find an end to this need to
Consume.
Ekhart was right.
Just go sit on a bench and shut up.
So I m sitting in the mall
Waiting for life to entertain me
...
Poem in 2 minutes . Ignore is my advice.
Hank Helman Feb 2020
Karla said my highs were more dangerous
Than my lows.
When you feel like you are king of the world,
That's when you make your worst decisions, she said.

We had ordered breakfast.
Eggs in cream scrambled,
A rack of pork ribs each,
Whiskey neat,
Coffee steaming black.
Hank Helman Nov 2020
The need precedes the deed,
Your look swiped right out of a book,
Your smile is tipsy with guile,
Your love as casual as a shrug,
Us
Hank Helman Oct 2023
Us
This is us.

In the stone age people would **** a bear and then rip open its stomach to eat what the bear had recently consumed.

Romans liked watching people **** each other. In one morning alone over 10,000 people were butchered just for fun.

Genghis Khan's armies slaughtered forty million people over twenty one years.

George Bush slaughtered a million innocent people. Two hundred thousand children.

Tell me.

About love.

About kindness

About giving a ****.

Please.

Tell me.
Hank Helman Oct 2023
There are days
When there is no mystery.

Moments when all of life seems used up,
Our collective imagination shop worn and repetitive and dull.

Is it just me?
Hank Helman Sep 2023
I had forgotten about making-out.
How odd.

She and I used to kiss each other for hours.

A hunger, a thirst,  a thrill unrehearsed,
Friday night couches and yes I was her first,

Hands of the blind, zippers and snaps
Clothing half off, try it this way perhaps.

Unhook a bra, the first touch a tease,
Old memories won't die, they augment and appease.
Hank Helman Nov 2023
Our marriage vows,
Said we had to answer honestly,
With a yes or  a no
Only one question each day.
There were no restrictions.

At dawn my eternity asked me
If I had ever killed anyone.
I said yes.

I asked her if she
Wanted anyone killed.
She said yes.

We ate our breakfast silently.
Hank Helman Jun 2021
How trivial my needs and wants,
I'll spend an hour choosing fonts,
I'll whine and whimper woe is me,
Life is tough my friends agree.

Others wait in line for water,
Weeping losing sons and daughters,
Violence daily, a well known stranger,
Living lives of total danger.

Forgive me all my selfish thoughts
A first world man who's tied in knots,
I barely think to lift a finger,
As children shiver and death lingers
Make a donation today if you can. We need a kinder world.
Hank Helman Mar 2021
If we are what we do,
And then what we eat,
If habits form habits
Is there no way to cheat?

Only actions make change,
We must move to adapt,
How simple it seems,
No need to hold back.

If you want a new you,
Then go for a walk,
You'll never reach higher,
With nothing but talk.
Hank Helman Jan 18
She: Do you believe in nothing?

He: I don't believe nothing is possible.

She: So what is the point of all this?

He: To experience consciousness for as long as possible.

She : Why do you worry and fret all the time.

He: Evolutionary behavior.  In the past fear kept you alive.

She: What happens after death.

He: Why does it matter.
Was
Hank Helman Dec 2024
Was
I never once saw my mother cry,
Even as I held her hand while she died.

And yet she was the saddest person I have ever known
Hank Helman Aug 2015
Would that we could, clean like our clothes,
A jumble tumble in a coin machine,
The soap and soak of a wet warm wash,
The racer’s spin goes round and round,
Stains and grime,
The stench of time,
All down the drain,
No fuss, no pain,
Freshly laundered we begin again.
Just juggling words and playing with my inner rabbit
Hank Helman Sep 2023
What have I learned
That would be of any use to you?

Hmmmm...

1)You are alone. Totally. And you always will be.
We all are.

2)The way to be kind is to first be gentle.
Train the body, train the mind.

3) Talk to strangers everyday. People you do not know are not to be feared. Engage them. Smile. Nod. Talk.

4) The moment you feel sorry for someone is the moment you begin to underestimate them.

Is that enough for now. Yes there is more. Later ok?
Hank Helman Nov 2020
The tip,your taste on tempted tongue,
The haste, the hover, the hungry one.
I live, I last, I love, lament,
I walk and wonder where our love went.
Do we feel anymore or do we simulate. Are we prepping for bot-love?
Hank Helman Sep 2018
How do we love after wounded heart and shatter.
What braves us to bare our trust and bold again.
It's not courage, always lent and eager to impress,
It's not fear the anxious friend of every age,
It's not pain, a mirror and pleasure's refund twin,
What perseveres when we are fractured and unfolded,
Observe your spirit,
The stubborn ghost that's wanders deep within.
Hank Helman Sep 2023
You said forgive but not forget,

I torment and your tears my fret,


I pair in love but you drift away,

I've lose the path each lonely day.


I want to tend and care with love.

To hold your hand with your heart above.


Will you listen to the wind tonight,

And hear me whisper in sad delight.
Why
Hank Helman Dec 2024
Why
Please do not feel sorry for me.
I am broken yes.

But no more than millions of others.

Life is unasked for,
And yet here we are.
Hank Helman Oct 2023
Do you know those days
When you wake up
With a full bag of damp powdery cement
On your chest.

You struggle,
To get out from underneath,
To wiggle and worm your way out
To get up,
To move,
To run
Screaming,
Hands over your ears
From your own thoughts,
As an evil voice pursues you,
Hunts you
Laughs at you
Belittles you,
Taunts you, teases you, torments you,
With the relentless repetition....
**** yourself
**** yourself
**** yourself,

So you do.
Hank Helman Dec 2023
We fear only death,
All else is this.
One single fear,
And we will obsess.

One shred of advice,
Given to myself,
Overcome fear,
And we conquer all else.
Hank Helman Aug 2020
Asymptomatic.
Is that what we call,
The dead-dull expression on your face.
When I arrive
To take you
For a windy walk.

Am I your disease.

No symptoms to suggest our love
And
Thus no cure.
We are now online forever. Love will change. Not better. Not worse. Just different.
Hank Helman Apr 2021
I went to see an interior designer.

Turns out we weren't talking about the same thing

At all.
Hank Helman Jan 2024
Wicked weather, storms all night,
Snow white world, now sun so bright.
Solstice is life's shortest day,
Winter is our chance  to play.
I love winter in Canada. It's the time of year when we have the most fun
Hank Helman Jan 2021
It was anger,
Nature bitter and ignored,
Until finally a scowl and rage.

A blizzard of infinite pellicles,
Pure white confetti flakes
In a hoard.
The storm attacks me,
A cloud of locust,
In their swarming phase.

I was blind.
Even before the harsh wind,
Slapped me hard across the face,
With an open hand.

There are gentle days,
Summer days,
When the wind is a scent,
Fresh cut grass,
A tired smiling sun droops west,
Soft lips on my barked skin,
Memories of each and every day.

I think of her,
Only when winter grows bold,
Its icy ***** mocks me,
Assaults me
With six foot high drifts
A smooth white finish,
Seals all the land.

The storm buries everything
Hides the summer trails,
Until the deer remember the way
And tip toe towards the river,
Their footprints tentative and light.

Then I think of her.
In winter.
When all seems irretrievably lost.

Then I think of her.
A time of life when those we love begin to disappear. I do not know where they go. Just not here.
Hank Helman May 2024
We love to fight, our favourite thing,
**** and slaughter, God save the King,
War is when we do our best,
Medals pinned on each brave chest.

Will it ever end, our anger gone,
Can we ever say we all belong.
I think, I dream, be still no more,
Make love,be kind, say no to war.
Play chess. Eat popcorn. De-escalate
Hank Helman Nov 2024
Why do we bother, where is the win,
Can we ever be happy, is pleasure a sin.

I'm sorry, not sorry to strangers and kin,
My battle is fierce and always within.

Soon we are gone and eternity wins,
A scarecrow, a lion, a man made of tin.
Hank Helman Oct 2015
Take all.
Leave me thin and bone,
Withdraw hope and home,
Shame me in every way,
Blind me, shun me
Punch me deaf and dumb,
Bleed out all of joy,
Fester *** and pleasure,
Blacken me a liar,
Circumcise my art,
Multiply a thousand times despair,
And present me death as a gift

Hobble my gait,
Drape me down in chains,
Rob me of all.
But leave me words.

Grant me poetry, one line, one spark
And the universe ignites again,
Let me roll syllables like dice
And I will chase passion to you,
Give me a sprinkle of syntax,
A magic dust,
Turns sound to shape and form.
Let me own letters,
And I will smuggle tears to you,
Crouch inside your dreams,
Spin the air into scent
Reflect in every mirror a lover,
Make clouds chant a monk’s choir,
Bend light and tie it like a shoestring,

Give me words, just words  
And I will stand forever.
a re-post   just adding it back--  hh
Hank Helman Jan 2017
I ate a bun
It tasted great,
A sip of tea,
I can’t be late.

Work is waiting,
Things must be done,
Reports, decisions,
I’m on the run.

No time for love,
No tears, no pain,
Just work to work,
And not complain.
Sunday playing with words. Robots will do the work in the future and what we must figure out is how to live without money. I don't mean how to live poor but how to get rid of money as our god. The future will not and cannot be about currency. Interesting times ahead. Donald Trump must be stopped before he starts a nuclear war.
Hank Helman Feb 17
Is it worth all the worry,
The tension, the cost,
The poor sleep and fatigue,
The happiness lost.

The what if's or maybe,
Will it happen or not,
Worry is wandering,
It never will stop.

So learn to accept,
Your life is a scene,
A chapter, some improv,
On a three dimensional screen.

Those you will love,
And some you will lose,
Each day is a painting,
Worry works as my muse.
Hank Helman Sep 2015
Sasha wakes me with a soft and slender touch.
Five long, black, fingernails,
Move sly and slow as sleepy snails,
Carving curvy pink ski-trails,
Down the middle of my back.

I want you…
She whispers lip to lip,
… to wake up and **** me right now,
And she tickles my ear with the tip of her tongue.


It’s these dreams, she murmurs,
Last night I was locked in a small room,
One window,
Distant noise from a street,
A king size bed with a clean red sheet,
Five men, alpha males of every age,
Soft talkers with rough hands,
Each had their way with me,
In every position, every act imaginable,
Sometimes two and three at a time,
My ecstasy was paced and deliberate
And seemed to go on for hours,
Despite every satisfaction,
I begged them to continue,
Insisted they use their mouths, hands, words,
My ****** was perpetual,
An endless spring tide,
Each swell higher than the last,
There was a moment I was sure
I would suffocate from pleasure.


Was I one of them, I asked, hoping I wasn't.

No but I felt you somewhere, watching, she sighed.

You need to take me now and quick, she said,
This is a rare opportunity,
A celestial arousal
Jesus, this ****** is from God, she said,
Bend me anyway you wish.
Recall every fantasy you have ever had.
Now is your time.


Lay on the mattress, I ordered,
Stomach down flat
Spread your legs,
Arms up above your head,
As if you are about to dive into the sea.

Grasp the sheet with your fingers.
I will enter you in one motion
You will feel only the ******* and my body weight
We will rut.
My knees will push you open,
My hands will find the center of you,
You will barely have to move.

I will come if you touch me
With any bare skin, she said,
And pushed the blankets to the floor.

I am possessed she confessed,
Turn me into anything you wish.
This is a re-post from an earlier time.
Hank Helman Jul 2018
I went to the doctor.
She said my obsession with *** was killing me.

How so, I asked,
And thought about yesterday.

The drugs you take to get *****, get high and get hard,
Eventually your artifice
Will burst your boldness, she said

To die of a balloon burst heart,
In the slingshot of ******,
To exit while rocketing into Nietzsche's abyss,
My eyes clenched,
Ten billion endorphins,
An ****** inferno,
This fusion of soul and pleasure,
God's great whisper tickling my ear,
A lover's last kiss,
The tautological tango of two wet tongues,
A soft breast,
An alert ******,
The slick and slippery slide into madness,
All of this as the one memory I will reclaim for all eternity,
How could I not demand that death follow, I said.

To each his own, she said
I would rather die dancing.
There is a mind bustle where the last thought/experience you have is the thing that stays with you for all time. How do you want to go. In the future we are going to be able to choose our time of death --accidents obviously excepted-- so how do you want to go?
Hank Helman Jan 2017
Carla said I must fast, no food, only water,
For the first three days of the New Year.

Your body yearns to have your mind in control, she told me,
This is the fatal flaw in all your attempts at happiness, she said,
If you ever stop searching for the source of your misery,
In a bowl of poutine or between the legs of an ingénue,
God this pathetic ability you have to impress young women,

Will you ever free yourself from the haste of ***,
The burst and blinding flash of ******,
I’ve seen you writhe and discharge,
Only to watch you tremble
And discover once again how alone you are.

Without ******, life is meaningless I explained,
And I watched the maple syrup slip, slide and curl
Into the center of my bowl of porridge.

*******, Carla said,
If I lightly brush my fingernails up the side of your arm
You will shiver,
A faux ****** right here in this slovenly kitchen of yours,

*** in a carnival act, almost a trick,
Evolution isn’t your friend, she said, it doesn’t want you to think.
It wants you to **** and die,
To fertilize and retire
And so it offers you this cheesy reward,
An ******, an insult, in hopes you will fornicate and forget.

You have a mind, or a remnant,
Embrace chastity for year
And then thank me for the clarity,
Start with your fast, immediately, she said
Carla leaned into me
And picked up my bowl of porridge.
The sweet smell of syrup lingered forever.
Carla's challenge accepted. I'll see how I do. No *** for a year.
Yet
Hank Helman Feb 2022
Yet
I haven't told a man in a Santa Claus suit to *******.

Yet.

I haven't kissed a marmot on the lips.

Yet.

I haven't ridden a horse over a mountain while smoking a cigar.

Yet.

I haven't made love only speaking French.

Yet.

I haven't waded in a swamp full of alligators.

Yet.

I haven't freed someone I know from jail.

Yet


I haven't watched anyone I know breathe their last breath.

Yet.

I haven't given up on lottery tickets.

Yet.

I haven't stolen a car and raced down a country road.

Yet

I haven't stopped trying to knit.

Yet.

I haven't forgotten about making love to you in a cave.

Yet.

I haven't found any money in a ditch.

Yet

I haven't asked for help from a nun.

Yet.

I have not jumped into the sea from a tall cliff.

Yet.

I have not told you that I memorized all the poems you wrote.

Yet
Hi    Been awhile  HH
Yup
Hank Helman Jan 2016
Yup
We tried honesty and that didn’t work.
So, can we now enjoy deceit.
Text me.
Zip
Hank Helman Mar 2024
Zip
She likes to ask me a question,
When she kneels down in front of me,

Which one of the Beatles would you have been,
Her hands on my zipper,
The button on my jeans set free.

Let me take you down, she winks at me,
Causing I'm going down and she laughs.
Strawberry Fields forever.

— The End —