Stephen E Yocum: Favorites

5h Stephen E Yocum

brooke

Somewhere in another life—

I have a family. All together under one roof,
not a single thing is discernible in the jovial
chatter, all amongst the other like
water skeeters, stones on a clear, glass pond
Rivulets of honey slipping betwixt to become a laugh on another’s lips

In adjacent rooms, we whisper gleefully,
someone is finger combing through my
hair absently, past the casement windows
there is an ochre radiance that
the morning glories vine around
and the deer in the fields observe
inquisitively, drawn to us in the powder blue evening

Like licorice, slippery elm and dates
Long socks and linen, hands caked in
flour—

Effervescent, a little salt, a dream

Somewhere.

(C) Brooke Otto 2025

1d Stephen E Yocum

... the refrigerator

1d Stephen E Yocum

guy scutellaro

... the refrigerator

she took my picture,
that's how it started
that's how i knew,
she took my picture
off the refrigerator door

when your picture is taken off
the refrigerator
like dust off a knick knack shelf

you do the dishes,
you have to wash your own socks.

the refrigerator is cursed
like a lost winning lottery ticket.
cursed with pictures of dead pets,
dead aunt's, cousins, grandma...

(my picture rip off the fridge like $#@#$#@...)

the fridge hums its song,
warm on the outside
and cold on the inside.

you *******, i shout,
and i punched the fridge,
packed my suitcase,

grabbed my fishing pole
and out the front door
I went.

half way down the sidewalk,
I turned

and there was little Jack
looking out the window at me.

(tears ran down my cheeks.)

MAN! I'm gonna miss that dog!!!

1d Stephen E Yocum

Last day on the meadow.

1d Stephen E Yocum

Jimmy silker

Last day on the meadow.

When beauty gets down low
To speak to me
I think of you
Neath that shady tree

The chlorophyll packs the leaves so tight
The veins resist with all their might
To store life for the months to come
They greedily swallow the light

I remember laying in the grass
Our eyes on each other still
Your smile matched your pretty dress
The sun transited the hill

We didn't notice it's passage
Till we felt the chill
Till all was shadow
We stood and turned without a word
Our last day on the meadow.

2d Stephen E Yocum

calibri

2d Stephen E Yocum

ms hitt

calibri

It is beautiful;
was the sky always this blue
and lucid with creme lent away by
the heaven's tears?

It is beautiful;
were the oceans always this vast
and dark with the mystique of the millennia
chipped away at stone, like a forsaken
mason?

It is beautiful;
were the peaks and valleys always this detailed
wrinkled with strokes of cosmic paint, ridged like
a sheet of linen?

It is beautiful;
was the sky always as blue as the oceans?
Were the mountains always higher than the waves?
Was the snow always mingling with the clouds?

It is beautiful;
and, what a wonderful world
for us to borrow
for a just moment.

2d Stephen E Yocum

Dreamy Night

2d Stephen E Yocum

Zeno

Dreamy Night

The moonlit sky hovers
a dark and empty street
A night submerged with wonder
and stillness

In a blissful voice, the night sang
about a faraway land,
where the pastures danced
and summer was everlasting

Lustrous knights roam the land
and the goblins lurks in the shadow
Like the darkness I lay on
As my bones relish in the calm
of this wonderful night

#night #peace #stillness #dream #knight

2d Stephen E Yocum

Ice Dance

2d Stephen E Yocum

Zeno

Ice Dance

Like a sweet hymn of orchestra
The wind blew and the night was soft
Pearly snowflakes falling gently
into a winter land

She walks out of the house
with her gleaming eyes
Her blonde hair drifting in the wind
while the white dress clings to her
like an artic flag,
basking in the fine hour

She looks up and sees the snow falling
down her face and hands
And she searches for warmth, her arms stretched
toward the frost-bitten sky

Slowly dancing and spinning
Following her own rhythm
A silent poinsettia garden, blooming
Tracing the shape of her tender smile
That was warm in the midst of winter

#snow #winter #night #wind #frost #dancing #poinsettia

2d Stephen E Yocum

Carousel

2d Stephen E Yocum

Zeno

Carousel

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I don't know what I was looking for,
in the honey draped lights flashing
in my eyes
And the sound of music
that keeps on playing and playing

And the wind that laps over my face
as the world turns,
Like horses running on axis,
weaving through the lines of shadow
and fireworks
And in their trail, I found
stardust that shimmers and shimmers

I found it confusing sometimes
In the endless mirrors and lights
that spirals in my mind
Like vines coiled around poles
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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⠀⢰⡟⢠⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢿⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢠⡟⢠⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⢿⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠘⠃⢸⡿⠀⠀⣀⠀⠀⠹⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠘⠃⢸⡿⠀⠀⣀⠀⠀⠹⡇⠀⠀⠀
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And the looming sweetness that lingers,
like pink foam swirling in my mouth

I smiled towards the dying sunset,
thinking it would last forever
I try not to close my eyes
and not be blinded
by the world slowly slipping
away

Before the music dies
Before the yellow stars burn out
You might not hear my voice
or even remember my name
But I just want you to know that

I was here

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⠀⠀⢰⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⣶⡆⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠈⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠁⠀

#carousel

3d Stephen E Yocum

First Poet

3d Stephen E Yocum

Bijan Rabiee

First Poet

How did the first poet come about
Which feathered friend
Unlatched his tongue
Pitching his wits to sky of views
To detect fire of flowers
To discern the link of above and below
To reflect on drift of words
To visit invisible nations
To conceal his creative nucleus.

Before the transformation
He must have been an ordinary man
With sleepy ears and shrouded eyes
Mundane like the face of afternoon
Whether by chance or divine decree
He was crowned by feathers of Simurgh
And given a plot of sky to wander
To sing of morning and of night
To sing of colors, of trees, of flight of birds
Of taste of wine, of berries, of hazelnut
To sing of wings of life
To relieve the pain of confinement
To reveal the crack of cage
To become paragon of originality
To settle in heaven of finesse
And brandish hell at the oppressor.

4d Stephen E Yocum

PARENTING

4d Stephen E Yocum

Lori Jones McCaffery

PARENTING

I’ve held you up for fifty years
My arms are very tired
I feel the weakness creeping in
But I will never put you down.

I’ll put my back against the wall
That love constructed over time
And pray for new strength in my hands
That I might never let you fall.
ljm

We never stop being their Mom or Dad