Kathleen: Favorites

Nov 2011 Kathleen

sex sells

Nov 2011 Kathleen

Misnomer

A woman at the market today
had obsidian eyes that tilted like
orbits grappled and shook
by a toothleth toddler.

I dropped an orange,
imagining the spritz coming
from the eye and into my mouth,
and for a moment of a moment the
rubber floor nudged at my heels with a sneer.

*** herself not once touched me,
nor lured her invisible tongue
across my intestines, yarn for
barbed wire.

She stood at the register
with a green (I'd like to call ribboned)
apron and ironed, white shirt,
smiled at me when I was
fumbling for 2 quarters--

worth a cent more for my time
when I stumbled away.

Nov 2011 Kathleen

and this is the creative title that will draw your attention

Nov 2011 Kathleen

Misnomer

and this is the creative title that will draw your attention

notice how i used "the",
pronounced "thawh" not "thuh"

and you told me words were just
words, like they **** you with
cooing fingertips licking your jaw and...

tap you on the shoulder to
then spin away again.

forgive my tongue, my
jocular indecisiveness
running over my teeth

math smirked at you;
your calculations were timid
so maybe that's why i could
never understand your idea
of "concise".

dabblings

Nov 2011 Kathleen

I Lied Because

Nov 2011 Kathleen

Erin A Reed

I Lied Because

it seemed fitting.
it was what you wanted to hear.
I wanted it to be true.

You lied first.

it bought some time.
it just seemed right.
I couldn't admit . . .

You cut deep.

it saved face.
it was easier.
I hoped it would change.

You deserved it.

It mattered. But
it doesn't anymore.

Nov 2011 Kathleen

henry viii

Nov 2011 Kathleen

Madeline

henry viii

i've seen through you, my good king,
seen to your blackened heart.
i've tasted your desires and i've meddled in your art.
i've seen the girl with raven hair
the one whose eyes are grey.
i've seen you sweat and wait for her,
and i'll see her falling day.

do you watch her, do you want her,
you animal, you fiend?
you'll catch her as she smiles at you
you'll taste what it could mean.
do you think she wears her clothes for you,
to take off and devour?
you'll regard her and disarm her,
you'll lust away the hours.
you'll eat her heart and call her heartless,
feed her soul to lions,
you'll starve her of her decency
and you will leave her blind.

Nov 2011 Kathleen

Berkeley No. 19

Nov 2011 Kathleen

Kate W

Berkeley No. 19

Hands pressed against the cold glass window,
strange, I can feel the drops of rain
falling on the other side.

what would it feel like to always see in yellow?

dancing in tumultuous pigment…
yellow to green
green to
blue
blue into

black.

I have sunk into the darkness
just as canvas soaks up paint
to touch the stygian world
with hollyhock eyes and dusty fingers.

A tunnel of black, and I can’t seem to find a flashlight.
(How can you possibly persist when you cannot see?)

blinking violet pearls that dance beneath my eyelids,

I tumble
to swim in yellow.

Such a pleasant daffodil lens.

This poem is still under slight editing. I'm still trying to work on the flow and organization.