Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
Where Shelter May 2020
the anonymous who keep us fed,
allowing us to stay in shelter, hide in bed,
while they masked and gloved,
go about keeping us safe and living

with no glory, the invisible,
the shelf stockers,
the wipe-downers,
of our collective spaces,
disinfecting when we
are home in our heads, while
their families worry~wait

we are the indebted,
so our collective can prosper,
no one calls them heroes,
but we would be at greatest, fatalist risk,
if not for the burdens they accept,
for they deliver
us.

so I when I ask nowadays, where is shelter,
the answer is, it is on the way, it is in their hands,
being delivered!
in NYC we are able to survive only because of this army
Where Shelter Jun 2015
~

my shelter,

two arms,
a human lean-to,
a pup tent,
all with a
welcome mat,
for you,
await

with graceful patience
simpatico smiling,
always avail,
awaiting,
no life clock countdown
prematurely pushing,
come when
there is
no other place

all,
on offer,
shelter places
that become
your home,
if you so
honor them thus,
your choice,
your decision
when to come n' go

shelter you,
no questions asked,
cloak all with human warmth,
easy silences, no pressures


for when my arms 
 bear your load,
now mine,
my load,
somehow

halved!
Zack Ripley Dec 2019
I don't know where you are
And frankly, I don't care
Because the air tastes so much sweeter
Without you here.
Bhill Apr 2020
where is the end
everyone has their own
everything is included
flowing waters will find their end and last droplet
winged beasts will land one last time
clouds in the heavens will rain no more
where is the end
fish in all waters will complete their last swim
insects crawling and buzzing about will settle in at last
wheat, corn, and all plants can't take the lack of liquid
mountain peaks, rolling hills, great vast plains hear nothing
where is the end
is there an end
waters may never find that last drop
beasts of the air may never land
rain will always be
fish swimming in the waters will be there
all plants will drink in the moisture of the land
mountain peaks, rolling hills, great vast plains will be listening
we can stop the end
we ALL can stop the end...

Brian Hill - 2020 # 115
Can we control it?
Where Shelter Apr 2020
~for her~

I put up a 7 1/2 ft. chain linked fence to keep the ****** deer out
of the garden.

Secretly, I wonder, if I had the fence built
another half-a-foot higher,
could I’ve kept out the
no-longer-unimaginable disasters
life has seen
fit to shower upon me.


If I had it made solid,
instead of chain linked,
with barbs that nicked only me,
would have misery passed
me by, unable to peer inside,
my anonymity, being my personal
guardian and savior.


My garden’s yearly renewal,
comes by human effort,
but my wondering is unceasing,
it’s living ache, a perennial,
an evergreen hemlock,
that cannot be cut.


until such time, at last,
it chooses to cut me first,
and the garden retreats to its
aboriginal wild forest state, and
both our cycles are completed.
Where Shelter Apr 2020
my nose now runs seasonallyfrom sigh droplets

every new season celebrated by the constant continuation
of its running from, running to ?, or as I joke,  
from  September to September inclusive

but something new, my eyes now watery, a permanente daily irregularity, the imaginary laundry lady whines consistently, as she cannot always locate, prior to machine insertion, for all my secret hiding places of the always everywhere ***** tissues!

“too many pockets, too many tissues,” she underbreath mumbles,
but secretly I observe her similarly daubing~dabbing of the eyes,
in this time of constant sorrow, no one immunized, the sigh droplets
pass through any mask and gown, and then become full time residents

wry thinking, “let he or she who is without stone, cast the first tissue”
but we are all ****** all the time, heavy heaving, eyes tearing and
noses running

it don’t take much, the continuous reportage batters me and turning
away from my electronics impossible, they now hard wired inside the maniac-brainiac, wifi’d, from every side, even a actual glance outside at the desert of our dehumanized streetscapes always amazes

we no longer worry that every sniffle or tear
is a warning sign of  a more serious ailment;
no, we understand too well this is a sad spirit inside,
it’s symptoms unleashed but un-lethal, the antibody
to a weariness that has no name, only tissues that

cannot cure nor disinfect
Amanda Kay Burke Apr 2020
When the universe seems to be falling apart
And I have somehow lost my way
It is you that picks me off the ground
Providing an enticing escape

This place where I always run
Try to avoid it
(With no luck)
There's no obstacle my heart can't conquer
To your side stupidly stuck

A powerful magnet heart is drawn to
Through dense brick walls thick and wide
Feeling force of gripping fingers
Beckoning to your side

Maybe world is against us
We're doomed to be destroyed
Made of flesh not concrete or steel
Help!
I'm tumbling into the void

I have become accepting of demise
Eyes of betrayed hope
One day will need you to be there
I am terrified you won't
It's crazy how you don't realize how much you need someone until, well, you need them.
Ashlyn Yoshida Mar 2020
Where
Where
Where...

Help me.

please...
why?
Amanda Kay Burke Mar 2020
Where do you go when my presence is not there?
The absence of my gaze
Who's eyes get captured in a stare?
While you mouth the word "always"
What do you clutch when you're scared?
My hand too far away
Wonder how well you'll fare
On your own when skies turn grey
Does someone gently stroke your hair?
Are you genuinely okay?
Is it difficult to breathe air?
Body caught in a craze
When we are apart are you even aware?
That next to I no longer lay?
Am I nothing more than spare?
Part to use then throw away
For who do you pretend to care?
With constructed words you say
Many times you have said "I swear"
Unsaid it the very next day
Please answer the question "where?"
Where does your heart wander when it strays?
I just want to know..
Where Shelter Feb 2020
~

shelter,

*two arms,
a human lean-to,
a pup tent,
all with a
welcome mat,
for you,
awaits

with graceful patience
simpatico smiling,
always avail,
awaiting,
no life clock countdown
prematurely pushing,
come when
there is
no other place

all,
on offer,
shelter places
that become
your home,
if you so
honor them thus,
your choice,
your decision
when to come n' go

shelter you,
no questions asked,
cloak you, us, even me, all, with human warmth,
easy silences, no unforced errors of pressures

for when my arms
bear your load,
mine, halved
Next page