Kimberly Clemens: Favorites

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

Bumble Bee

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

Jo

I am a bee
Hiding in the hard skin of a wasp
Living like a lying ghost
Among the ascensions, the decensions
Of their paper nest.

Born in a honeycomb
I wonder when life became
Less like honey and
More like venom
To me -
I was designed to fail
The moment my wings grew
Too small for my furry, fat body -
Maybe it's just Mother Nature
Telling me what I'm meant to be.

Had I tear ducts I'd weep
Alas I can only pretend morning dew
Is my sadness collected on a blade of grass,
For I fear these angry, swarming creatures
Will notice I am not like them
And then will prey upon me
Until they rip me open
And my dust will spill out
Until I am nothing
But sinking motes of yellow and black.

Mother Nature, in her infinite compassion,
Laughs.

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

The Hunger Games

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

Matthew Nichols

The Hunger Games

What do you do?
What do you do?
When only one can live
And it has to be you

All you can give
If only you knew
What it would take
What you would have to do

Who do you trust
What do they mean
Would you **** if you must?
Can your hands stay clean?
What of humanity?
This is insanity

The countdown begins
The beginning or the end?

Memories are faded
But there was blood and gore
Violence unaided
Who are you anymore?
Lives were traded
Battles evaded
Camps raided
Doors barricaded
Blood cascaded
Light was shaded

Became the animals we were
Machines of death
Never did it occur
As we stole a breath

You and I stand apart
Waiting for the violence to start
All it takes is a little time
A little push, a little crime
And teeth are barred
Claws where hands used to be
You didn't make it far
Not from me

I am the best
You all could see
Last of the rest
Last to breathe
But I never was the same
I still see so much red
I know it was just a game
Still I feel the dread
Killed countless names
But it is I that is truly dead

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

it was 9:03 pm, and

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

marina

it was 9:03 pm, and

he said
sorry, i
totally just
spilled my
heart out
to you

don't worry
i told him
**i know the
feeling

sorrythismakesnosense

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

Anxiety.

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

Jeremy Duff

Anxiety.

It's like falling into a spider web.
The more you struggle,
the harder it is.

Doctors won't help you.
They'll just give you drugs
that take away the anxiety,
but bring your emotions along with it.

Friends will try and help.
But they can only do so much
before they tell you to get over yourself
and to stop being a baby.

So you'll stay at home,
and smoke your cigarettes
and bite your nails
and take shallow breaths.

All you want
is someone
to put their hand on your shoulder.
To be patient.
To understand,
to kiss you goodnight,
and ruffle your hair in the morning.
All you want is someone to whisper in your ear louder than anxiety already does.

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

(The helper never gets help)

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

Morgan

(The helper never gets help)

I hold my arms out to catch
people even when they're falling
far & fast... even when I know the
impact is going to crush me inside
and out, I stand here anyway

And I love people even when
they're filled completely with pain...
even when there's so much, it's pouring
out from their edges & washing over me...
even when I know I'll drown in
their waves, I can't move from this spot

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

Poems Scribbled on the Backs of Maps

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

Morgan

Poems Scribbled on the Backs of Maps

One day you'll hear a song
for the very first time
and it will fill you with nostalgia
You'll say it makes no sense at all
But you can hear it playing
in the background of your
entire life somehow

One day you'll meet someone
for the very first time
and you'll feel at home
You'll say it makes no sense at all
But you can see that smile
in every wrinkled picture on
the walls of your old bedroom

One day you'll wake up in a place
that you've been in for the past four years
And you'll feel lost
You'll say it makes no sense at all
But you just don't know if you belong

The song Trucker's Atlas by Modest Mouse inspired dis **** because that song sounded like it was part of my whole life the first time I ever heard it

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

Saltwater

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

Elise

Saltwater

I am a man on a lonely raft,
dehydrated in the middle of the open ocean
I float on.
You are the sparkling saltwater,
enticing me, crystal clear.
*If I indulge, I'll die.
If I resist, I'll die.

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

Sandman

Nov 2013 Kimberly Clemens

AJ

Sandman

I constantly feel
Like I have taken
Well over a handful
Of sleeping pills.

I can't make it stop.