#surreal poems on Hello Poetry

Ellie Hoovs May 14

Dream

Snow falls, weaving lace from a forlorn sky
that caresses the tender edges of sand dunes.
Indigo waves buoy lamented lullabies,
filling empty drifting bottles
with salted cold foam.
Gulls screech,
shrill with curses
at the winking lighthouse
taunting the winged rats
with its cold, unreachable glow.
Silver threads of moon beams
luminesce the stardust under my feet;
my toes sink in as I pirouette
among other forgotten things:
bits of shell, braids of seaweed,
and stones of glass made smooth
by the ever-changing tides.
A clock washed ashore,
devoid of hands,
chimes notes for the unknown hour.
My footprints leave a path behind me
softly whispering my name
to the wind that welcomes me home.

#surreal #freeverse #wonderland #prompt #challenge #dream #inspirational #emotional #ocean #shore

neth jones May 13

egg cup and pepper mill

i watch you counting yourself out
                    courting little pets of body-parts
putting pennies on the trinket shelf
talking with wending wordage
                 about those gruff fellows
who've been pig-holing    about your dwelling

that day  you manage a back window
                                           and escape
masquerade yourself as a gentleman
but they sniff at your aromas
              these men in crude season
they circle you hinge-hipping
as you fleet the roads and fields
and evade  into the dappling woods
"come on out  we have you surrounded"
(you say  they say)
you stay  crossed legged   a monk among trees
(these pleasing defenders)

you take off your dress  and string it
            from one of these trees
you dole yourself out
little pets for the undergrowth

           you offer a curled shrew
from the space   your kneecap once
                          occupied

you droop your warm left breast
and drop a beast from that cove
(a plump vole clambers  fresh and
                        disorientated)

you plug one arm into loose soil
                   and the fingers snake root
separation at the elbow
              and branches sprig out

both your thighs   animate as fox cubs
your ***** leaves from between
                         and slinks under some ivy

your hair fiddles loose and travels off
in currents of breeze
before flitting into little finches

your back crumples with fungal looseness
your head weighs low
             and the jaw lumps off
shuffling   undecided on its form

your forehead bows  to kiss the earth
and your face scatters  a gaiety of insects  and spores

                  all arts patterned about
your pile continues   in this mattering manner
collapsing efficiently
you've canonized in nature
now you’re abroad  mature and freed
to tell your friend this story
a spirit  without brag of these neat powers
one with mother glory

ORIGINAL
i watch you counting yourself/putting pennies on the shelf/talking with wending/about those gruff fellows /who've been pig-holing about your dwelling/who circle you hinge-hipping /when you fleet the roads and fields/and INTO THE WOODS

#fairytale #stalking #nature #spirit #surreal #story #woodlands #freedom #man #woman

Ellie Hoovs May 13

Mad

I caught the deep inky blue of it
in bottles
labeled 'pleasing'
and set them on a shelf
next to bowls full of tears
and baskets full of unwanted memories.
It was cold
aching like limbs in the winter
sip it,
let the ice unfurl,
bitter on your tongue,
grief catching
in your throat
before settling into the pit
of your stomach,
like a swallowed apple seed.
one day the winds came
knocking all of the bottles down
and all around in the broken air,
ruptured by the fragmented glass,
screams - starved and rising
screams shattering bone
screams - ringing
wild and ragged
at last.

#emotion #mad #peoplepleaser #mentalhealth #freeverse #bottledup #surreal #nature #cold #ice

Ellie Hoovs May 10

Daffodils

In the hush beneath powerlines,
through fractured stones,
no gardener knelt to bless them.
No springtime choir sang.
Still, golden heads rose,
leaning towards the shadowed light,
the kind filtered by clouds
like a half-remembered memory,
or a lullaby hummed to a ghost.
Roots thread through ruin,
tasting rust,
sipping rain
that fell before the world began.
They were never meant to be here.
And yet
yellow ablaze in the rubble.
A flicker. A flare.
The petaled armor of hope
unfurled against battle-smoked skies
as if the world exhaled
and breathed them into being.

#nature #flowers #floral #daffodil #hope #surreal #freeverse #daffodils #battle #growth

Ellie Hoovs May 9

Curiosity

I was born
with questions in my mouth.
Why do wolves howl?
What do bees dream?
Will I ever be held
the way that the ocean's depths
hold secrets?
*
I pressed my hands
into the cool dirt of every mystery,
removed them to find earth under my nails,
ink on my palms,
and a smile I still cannot explain.

They tried to tell me:
not everything needs to be known.
But how could I keep from exploring
when every whisper of the wind,
every caw of the crows,
every daisy's petal,
tells me there is more.

They tried to tell me:
Pandora's jar is just Eden's apple
wearing a new name -
blooming only sorrow,
but can we really know the light
without the dark?

Hope was the last thing breathing.
She was caught in the looking glass,
unable to speak,
and I thought her reflection
looked an awful lot
like me.

#freeverse #curiosity #curious #hope #fate #self #surreal #nature #reflection #exploration

Ellie Hoovs May 8

Metamorphosis

I was born with 12 eyes
they said it would make it easier
to see the light
but it only left me inching
in a fog
hiding from shape-shifting shadows.
So I learned to consume the dark
with my mandibles
and let it seep in to my hemolymph.
The parasitoids laid out fences
of peppermint and lavender -
trying to cage me.
But the oak tree took me in
and let me rest upon her leaves -
told me to shed my old skin.
I hung myself upside down under her branches
tried to see the world from their point of view
but there was still so little light,
and the birds were cawing
threatening to have me for breakfast.
I learned to hold myself tightly,
wrapped in imaginal discs
that liquified my dreams
into a rich soup for me to drink.
I emerged
soft and wet -
with ommatidia that see in all directions
and bear witness to invisible colors;
and with wings formed like dragon scales,
that move in the shape of infinity.
Now I feast with my feet,
feeding on nectar of Chloris
and cross continents
while they marvel at how far I have come
from the ground they tried to keep me on.

#growth #metamorphosis #caterpillar #transformation #change #freeverse #butterfly #nature #surreal #insect

Brwa S Rasheed May 2

Marrowpath

Pulse as tether.
Mind, a blade dulled on bone.
Ash drips from the ceiling of thought
no light, only the hiss of burned names.

Tongues calcify in jars of dusk.
Flesh remembers what silence forgot.
Smoke blooms in the mouth of sleep.
Pain suckles the root,
wants nothing but to stay.

Grief is a handless clock
still turning.
Still carving
where nothing remains soft.

#dark #lyric #surreal #abstract

neth jones Apr 29

v a p o r i z e

i love lax and i lust after slack
smoky streams dream out a caution
portions of nightmarish animalian fests
                                           in blue
i love the reptilian love of sunshine
never mind the laws and mans fortune
and preservation
of good food
in oil

15/03/25 - date of original

#surreal #brevity #short #relax #dreams

Emilia Apr 23

Silly me, Silly me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ah, This dream of a land is the most wonderful place to be
and the face of the clock is something I cannot see
and while on that topic there's something that's bothering me
For I don't know if I should hide or flee
Are flowers supposed to go on a killing spree?
But alas I forgot that I am yet in a dream
silly me
oh silly me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

#dreams #dream #crazy #surrealism #surreal

Karen Apr 23

Flame and Steel

Love Weaves into a knights tale
To find his love
He must find himself
The universe will test at every turn
In cracks where the darkest shadows dwell
To strengthen his spirit
To sharpen his steel
Yet his shining armour
Does not hide
His burning heart
That flames inside
For true love echos
Compels him on

#surreal