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Lorenzo Neltje Apr 2018
Tick, Tock
You listen to the drone
Of a fan
Music ticks by
Three minutes, Thirty-seven seconds
Four minutes, Thirty-eight seconds
Five minutes, Ten seconds
Stop
Alt-tab away
Think about something else
You can't listen to this anymore
Fan drones on
Laughing in another room
Someone plays piano next door

Do something, DO something!
Look at downloads
Four hundred and sixteen
Out of
Four hundred and Fifty-three
Time equals
Distance over Speed
Numbers that go forever,
Listen to the story
"Today's going to be a good day"
And write the numbers coming up on the screen
Just to do something
Seven-Eight-Two-Eight-Point-Five-
Seven-One-Four-Two-­Nine
And papers build up around you
It's the same calculation done
Every 10 minutes
Because 35 Kilobytes per second
And you're exhausted
But you need to do something
That isn't hearing the same music,
That isn't playing Solitaire
Over and Over and Over
Watch numbers go up
Write numbers going down
Two hours, Thirty-Five minutes
Two hours, Twenty-Three minutes
Two hours Seventeen
Two hours Ten
Fifty-One

Four-Twenty-Nine-Point-four
Out of
Four-Fifty-Three

Tick Tock
The drone of a fan
The music's stopped
Someone next door has stopped playing piano
Stare
Into the space on your paper
More space
To fill
With numbers
Tana F Bridgers Mar 2018
Black, white, and gray.
Black. White. Gray.
Black. White. Gray.
Black. White. Gray.
Black. White. Gray.
Black. White. Gray.
Black. White. Gray.
Black. White. Gray.
Black. White. Gray.
She was made of these. She was nothing more than simple combinations of black, white, and gray. It had been this way for as long as she could remember.
     But some people were different than her. They were made up of so much more than just black, white, and gray. They felt things far beyond her spectrum of understanding. They were more than those three colors. more than those simple components.
     She had heard of someone’s eyes “lighting up” before. She hadn’t understood. She had doubted its credibility.
     But then, she saw it. She had seen this happen! She had watched someone’s eyes sparkle like they were electric!
     She had heard laughter, so innocent, so joyous that she had no words.
How amazing this is when all she was just three colors?

     But then, her world… changed. Her once simple world, of black, white, and gray… Was different. Whenever she saw them, her world would explode with so many new colors. Her black, white, and gray hid when she neared them. Everything burst. These colors, these emotions that she had no idea how to describe. They have made her laugh. They had made her eyes light up like they were electric. She enjoyed their company so much, and yet…
    

How could she explain…

That still, deep down

She is still, and will never be anything more, than black, white, and gray?
Nicholas Fonte Mar 2018
Zippity Zappity Zap
  Jolt yourself awake
    Zippity Zappity Zap
      A spark of inspiration
        Zippity Zappity Zap
          Bolt over to the goal
            Zippity Zappity Zap
              Shocking that you failed
                Zippity Zappity Zap
                  Linger in my thunder
                    Zippity Zappity Zap
Nicholas Fonte Mar 2018
I despise this feeling
That doesn't have a sealing
It wants to constantly be singing
And in my head it never stops ringing
I deserve to die
I deserve to die
I deserve to die
I deserve to die
I don't want this cheer
Stop ringing in my ear
You are a blight
That I will never accept as right
I deserve to die
I deserve to die
I deserve to die
I deserve to die
I want it to just end
To have the ringing mend
I want this life
No matter the strife
I want to live
I want to live
I want to live
I want to live
This is my name
But after all this shame
I deserve to die
And this isn't an ugly lie
It's a beautiful truth
For this one and only youth
Robert McQuate May 2017
It's dark,
Shaun Morgan is bellowing into my ears that he's reliving the same experiences over and over,
That nothing's forever.

The flick of a bic,
The taste of tobacco and ash,
Filling my lungs and giving my brain a buzz,
And in this sleepless night I'm inclined to agree with him,
Nothing lasts forever,
So what are you waiting for?
the puppet man
the puppet man

pulls on the prompting
strings
he makes good use of the
things
them dolls answering to his
rings
how well he handles the
strings

the puppet man
the puppet man

oh yeah he's got a tight
*****
influencing what the dolls do on his
pew
all of them dancing along in
review
ever he'll call with the strong
*****

the puppet man
the puppet man

manipulating the dolls every which
way
he has them co-opted by his
sway
coercive the show's tugging
display
so he'll obtain his own
way

the puppet man
the puppet man

a
stellar
hotshot
all
the
dolls
working
for
his
spot
Olivia Daniels Mar 2018
He said he couldn’t believe he was flying
He said that it was the best feeling ever
He said my breath on his face was exhilarating
He said my golden hair had never been so within his grasp
He said my radiance would leave his cheeks redder than before
He said he wanted to hold me in his hands
He said look father I can almost touch her
He said he would never again be able to stand on solid ground
He said or forget seeing my face this close
He said Don’t worry father, I’ll be fine
He said Just a little higher

I remember his father’s face
I remember seeing his feathers fall off one by one
I remember him slipping through my fingertips
I remember the splash
I remember a beautiful girl,
crying on the beach
I remember her calling out his name
I remember her hair behind her:
As she jumped after him, off a cliff
I have been waiting a millennium, to forget
I would have liked to catch him
It would have only scorched him worse
I wrote this years ago for an English class, we were supposed to take a poem or our choice and respond to it in some way. I chose "Waiting for Icarus" by Muriel Rueyser because I loved the format and sadness in it. I highly suggest you read it as well and know the story of Icarus. It's one of my personal favorites!
daytime rhythms
of coming and
going


a-swish
a-yawn
a-slam
a-trudge


out the door
in the car
to the place


there


twiddled thumbs
swivelled chairs
barked-up trees
and morning teas
and banter


hands
on knees
and eyes to
clock


and this meeting
here
and that duty
there
tick tock


a-flow through
time and space
and light
as the
sun turns over
in its sky
and rests its
head down on
the other side


then
out the door
in the car
to the place


for something quick
to have for dinner


then


home




© 2017 Adelaide Heathfield
The march of nine-to-five sets the rhythm of the day, both soothing and begrudging. It causes flare-ups of activity at certain times and lulls at others.

Collective shufflings here and there make people cranky but keep them on track. And the sequence of sounds—predictable, as if orchestrated—makes music of the mundane.
Danial John Feb 2018
Said it before
Say it again

Don’t let me led you astray

Sad never more
Pain leaving

Won’t see you if that’s what you say

If that’s how you feel
If it’s what you truly want
I’ll leave you alone with zeal
I will stay long gone
A Wegner Feb 2018
Paradise of the mind
A precarious place to be,
The jungle of sleep.
Wake. Sleep.
A cyclical smile arises
Easing societal surprises,
You’ve got them at your feet
Child.
All you’re doing is counting,
And everyone can sleep.
Run sand run.
Sleep sloth sleep.
Sporadically blitz,
Contrasting brain blip
Turn your head
And sleep.
‘We will be there soon’
And you show them your
Ticket.
Can you smile?
Just for fun
I hear a conversation running
Simultaneously.

Similarly
Rhythmically

Potatoes
Same as last week.
Staring at those peas
Counting the –
Components and compartments,
To fit your
Flesh and bone things.
Caught up in the monotony of it all, will I stumble? Will I fall?
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