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Jeremy Betts Feb 4
I don't have enough room up there for it to be all in my head
From the heaping piles of motionless dreams strewn across the floor, looking pretty dead
To the racks on racks on racks in multiple mile high stacks of things I wish I'd not said
Can't put the issues to rest if I myself can't drum up the will to get out of bed
It's not strictly fear I feel whilst preparing for checkout, it's the overbearing weight of dread

©2024
Ayesha Apr 2021
Do you remember the sky sinking?
That fall, when we climbed up our vague tree
and watched the nights burn
     softly on
Those naked arms,
                 and our pricking skins
You told me that
the dark seemed quite obese
I wondered how it could be

remember the dawns
  that lingered before us
and birds with jewels between their beaks
    Sun like a bruise clawed its way out
We never did see— never unseeing
ever on watch, yet the clouds
    grew above
and we only drew forests with our hands

yours upon mine upon
  yours upon—
and down, down plunged it all
First, gold
          then the glass
We jumped in weeping puddles
and forced the mud into birthing birds
Then came
     the silvers
and with them, those malnourished winds
Do you remember

the smoke that descended down the cliffs?
That winter, we melted
            with our pink flames
and slept away those snarling wolves
Beneath forts built of woollen quilts
        our limbs tangled, tangled
     with our tales
You told me the dark
     seemed quite obese
I nodded like
  a broken, puppet horse

then—
Dust gushed out the vessels of air
   and cars coughed
And down, down
                came it all
Dawns befriended our solitary dusks
and moons sped up their dance
I ran my fingers down
     the green of your strands
You introduced a ladybug to my skin

down, down tumbled nothing
       First the browns
then the blues
We buried our barren feet in sticky sands
and you told me
It hurt
where, I asked
here.
and there were you kissed

And blues fell upon blues
’til cold, shivering, stumbled away
And our tree was a painting
    on the lips of a stream
Restless, it lurked out our reach
and the sky
swelled and swelled
till a heavy haze came plummeting hither
And above us was left nothing but—

It hurts, you said
I asked you where
here
     here
  here—
the blues embraced the lonely of our land
and kissed it all over
  all over
Huts, playgrounds, markets—
Wells, trenches, hills and hills
children, the rest
     and voiceless shrubs
All devoured.

Do you remember the bleak stars
as they struggled to flutter
    in the smothering vacancy
Then the summer smiled
and stole our dying skies, and
  all the quiet broke loose
        in our bleached towns
We in a moor sprayed with stillness
    treaded through
the misty of our eyes
        feet upon cinders jagged
where does it hurt, I asked
  nowhere
nowhere, nowhere—
and cities were raided with placid clouds
Ayesha Feb 2021
Could I have seen them,
I’d tell you
in words—tunes—or hues.
but there’s more an eye can do

an eye can want.

cobblestones—
wooden benches
Skeleton trees, and pretty profiles
Sometimes, crimson skies
or crimson dirts— liquids even.
—she touches all she wants

          she wants all—
glimmering,
       teasing, deceiving—
Black boots on cement old
—yellowed pages sewed together.
  she wants all.

an eye can breathe.
And that was where they came
in caravans.
—inhale

perhaps snow-covered grass
   Or cracked desks
Perhaps trees laden with beings or
just—nothing.

Could I have heard them,
I’d tell you
in clinking bangles— carved ice— or weeping flutes
Could I have—
—could I.

they walked in— nay
flew. Nay, swam.
nay—
Could I have fathomed—

Carried torches, I think.
they marched deep into my caverns
—carried mirrors they.

what of the paw-prints engraved in mud
Crumpled letters
    lying naked in puddles— nay.
my caverns bore silk smoke over velvet nights.
dark—
and dreary and dying
and dead—

but they marched still
And their torches hissed.
Sapphire boots on sooty rugs—
     They marched.
They sang—nay.
painted— nay, moulded a
world out of cinders—
Nay.
Could I have touched, I'd know—

on every turn and every crease
They placed a mirror pure  
    as an infant’s tear
—or maybe a sharpened gem
who would dare to know—

In every dungeon and every hall
Their stares flickered like neon serpents
—nay.
Sun-licked butterflies, nay.
halos above mountains chaste—nay—
Could I have felt—

But one
—exhale
and they were no more.
Went into the rain perhaps,
or past moonlight
    maybe in pine trees under the sea
Could I have tracked them down—

but there’s more an eye can do
An eye can want.
light—
Between the dawn,
    between the darts
Children in smiling yards
light—
   inside coal,
Inside a broken sword—

She touches all she wants
   —she wants all.
and a ray falls on the mirror
and the mirror tosses it to the next
  and next, to the next—
Sun knits a web inside me.
beams and glitter—

Like a child’s song
or a kitten’s roar
—a war cry
Could I laugh like a spear
or mould the starlight into words
I’d tell you—

but the rays marched on
into me
   swift like kites
warm like— like iron.
nay—a mother’s hug
Nay,
beating drums
—or an armour’s clatter, nay.
Could I have known—

But there’s life in piercing screams
—And I was burning
But is it not a privilege
to watch the world wither
from the very roots of the flames?
to be their very mother—

when your wings melt
and towards the ground you
wilt
but you’re flying still—
Is it not pretty, then, the fall?
Mystic Ink Plus Oct 2020
This is not just
A career opportunity
It's an eternal call for
The background visual poetry
Model (Spirit)
Who will stay eternal
No less than the oldest star
No less than the solo sun

It's not about the pretty face
Or the latitude
And longitude of the body
We're concerned about
It's not about the education height
We have nothing to do with
It's not about your background
Where you are from

It's about the vibration
Grace and inspiration
It's about the energy
And the balance
It's more about
Your inner self
Everything who is you

All it takes is to sense the air
Go with the flow
Keep the mind at rest
Lost in time
Don't ever stop
Be inevitable
Wherever
Whenever
With each passing day

The rightful spirit
Drop your CV
Vibe with us
Genre: Experimental
Theme: Vacancy Announcement
sundial iris Jun 2020
Love: “and I know not if I sink or swim”

Love:

here’s how I see it;
everybody should have the
ability to walk around with
two sign optionality:

1. No vacancy
2. Open: (all rooms have A/C & cable)

never be disappointed; you know what you’re getting up front

and for an extra fee

3. credit cards Not Accepted
<>

“A ship there is and she sails the seas,
she's laden deep, as deep can be
but not so deep, as the love I'm in
**and I know not if I sink or swim”**

“The Water is Wide” traditional folk song
lovelywildflower Jun 2020
there’s
something
comforting
about
the
vacancy
in
­my
heart
Mystic Ink Plus Mar 2019
[Can you hire me?]

Yes
If you are sensitive
And willing
I will

You need to count
The stars
After sunset
Everyday

Think about it
Genre: Experimental
Theme: Is this really what you wanna do?
Anthony Mayfield Jul 2018
I’ve been gone a long time
Wasting the sunlight
As it glowed on me
I’ve been losing track
Of the path
That the moon herself delivered to me
I’ve been slack in seeing the way
Not everything can turn around
I forgot to love
At the speed of sound

Now I love the way you’re there for me
The way you’ll always remember me
The way you touch my dreams every night
You lead me out
And I win the fight
Now I know it’s not just you
It is you
To you
My home
I return to you

I will return
Please don’t wait around
Just listen for that sweet sound
Just play me that sweet come home music
That makes my heart and soul
Step in time
There’s nothing keeping me from coming
Home now
Just to see your face is all I need
To survive

You’re all I need
You’re all I need
You’re all I need to survive

On this pathway you’re the light
That shines in every daily plight
Remember that I’m only a traveler
When you call I crave to hear you
I can see you
Though the lights dim
I won’t forget where I’ve been
Or how I’ve been
All I need is this sweet return home music
Found inside of you

I just want to live that love song
Play it loud as I press through this throng
I’ve heard it all my life all along
It lights my way
Shows me right and wrong
And I see you
All of you
Inside
Waiting to welcome me home

Sweet, sweet come home music
Makes my soul
Feel strong and whole
Singing and dancing
Long past the woe
In this house
There is room for one more
I love you all
The finale of the Vacancy Saga
Anthony Mayfield Jul 2018
Breathe
In
Out
Again

You’re safe
You’re warm
You’re home again

You’re safe and sound
You’re still around
Your soul is found

Bent low on the ground
Your face became shroud
But the water
Her water
His water
Their water
It loved you
It cleaned you
It sailed you home

The clearest water you’ve ever seen
The perfect temperature so keen
Your thirst is gone

The familiar man in the distance
Clad in Red
You’ve escaped his vengeance
His game is dead
Dead by the wondrous sword

You stare at him
He stares back so glim
Then he bows
Accepting your win
Then he’s gone
Gone forever
Happy endeavors
The Vacancy Saga continues with one final confrontation against the antagonist...
Anthony Mayfield Jun 2018
I said I’d return
Some time ago
Anticipating it was true
But broken matter surrounded me

Now it’s tantalizing heartbreak
Followed by whispers in the night
It’s like I lied
And I stole from you

Now I’m lost
I’m sorry I’m such a lost cause
I’m sorry I made you tremble

But the tantalizing heartbreak told me

That I forgot you tonight
Please stay so near
I’m crying and weeping inside
Don’t placate my fears
Nothing matters
Can’t you see
I don’t care

Tantalizing heartbreak
Teaching me whispers and lies
I did lie
And I stole from you

I’m so lost
I’m sorry I’m such a lost cause
I’m sorry I made you tremble

But the tantalizing heartbreak told me

I forgot you tonight
You’re not safe here
You’re crying and weeping inside
I placated your fears
Everything matters to me
Can’t you see
I still care

The tantalizing heartbreak
Lied
A look into the mind of the Protagonist of the Vacancy Saga
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