#claw
Too much algae in a lake
Or rotten leaves in a puddle
They keep me awake
Evertrapped in this bubble
Of worry and exhaustion
Loneliness and doubt
I swim and they churn
And I can't get out
I can't get out
I can't get out of the grave I'm in
Is this really how it's always been?
Doesn't matter now; I've nothing to do
Except claw at the leaves and hope I get through.
Sep 5, 2020
Sep 5, 2020 at 5:44 PM UTC
Polish
by Michael R. Burch
Your fingers end in talons—
the ones you trim to hide
the predator inside.
Ten thousand creatures sacrificed;
but really, what’s the loss?
Apply a splash of gloss.
You picked the perfect color
to mirror nature’s law:
red, like tooth and claw.
I thought about titling or subtitling this one “A mini-ode to manicure” but thought better of it. Please note that this poem is not about female predators but the way the human race “glosses over” its predatory nature. We may appear to be “civilized” but what are we doing to the planet and its other inhabitants? Keywords/Tags: polish, nails, talons, claws, predator, gloss, loss, red, tooth, claw, pollution, climate change, global warming, mass extinction, genocide
Apr 1, 2020
Apr 1, 2020 at 3:58 AM UTC
what a thing you are
what a creature you make
your shadow
is alive and
it's got a claw
hooked under my chin and
i can still feel it
weeks after you leave
can you make me alive?
can you please stay alive for just a little longer?
Mar 13, 2020
Mar 13, 2020 at 1:31 PM UTC
Claw at my chest
Raw flesh in my breath
Scream in the pressure of my tongue
Leave me be
For I am one.
Skin under my nails
Shrieking wails echo against
The walls of my brain
Leave me be
For I can barely handle one.
Dark room
Silent room
Empty room
With the exception of me
For I am one.
I am one;
So why is human nature
Burdened by the need for more?
Feb 28, 2020
Feb 28, 2020 at 6:05 AM UTC
There is no hesitation
to pick up bird feathers
from off the ground,
and heal an angel's
broken wings.
But there is a pause
before we reach a hand
to the broken claw
of a demon.
Tell me now,
Are they both not in need of saving?
Feb 5, 2020
Feb 5, 2020 at 10:26 PM UTC
distraction can touch
touch in manners that are not familiar
memory claws will reach out
touching with thoughts forgotten
past awareness may re-enter
making effort to build on those remembrances
Brian Hill - 2020 # 28
Jan 28, 2020
Jan 28, 2020 at 4:29 PM UTC
I claw at my skin,
The blood seeps out,
And it feels good.
I claw at my arms,
The blood creeps out,
And it feels sweet.
I claw at my chest,
The heart beats out,
And it feels alive.
The blood seems to wash away the pain.
The blood seems to leave a different stain.
I long to feel.
I want to feel.
Not sadness,
Not happiness,
Just feel.
The torn skin understands me.
The broken heart listens to me.
The blood is there for me.
And it feels beautiful.
It feels destined:
My pain and I.
The blood mixed with the tears I cry.
It's love at first sight,
That first draw of blood.
The skin under my nails,
The blissful feeling of release.
Only you can make me feel like this,
And I love it.
Nov 19, 2019
Nov 19, 2019 at 10:26 AM UTC
Claw my big heart out
String my organs to a big tree
Break my ripped neck out
May 14, 2019
May 14, 2019 at 12:08 PM UTC
Red rose
clenched
in the dragon
claw,
once was
white
before contact
with this gothic.
Feb 1, 2019
Feb 1, 2019 at 9:10 AM UTC
•///•
•///• CLAWING •///•
•//•ALL•//•
•/•THE•/•
•TIME•
•///•
Jan 29, 2019
Jan 29, 2019 at 9:56 AM UTC
Is a common turtle really different from a crab?
They both make their ways slowly, across the dirt and sand.
The mouth and claw don't differ much in ways they're used to grab.
Could a common turtle really be a green-shelled crab?
Dec 1, 2018
Dec 1, 2018 at 10:10 PM UTC
Quivering, afraid of the pain,
A stalking predator ready to tear me apart,
I cannot control my emotional beasts,
They continue to claw their way through my heart
Apr 1, 2018
Apr 1, 2018 at 3:21 AM UTC
∞ ∞ ∞
everyone despises of
the big black cat, as it yells
across the forest as a 3 year
old would do.
he writes his stories on stolen
leaves of the lonely pine tree.
shaking awake the jungle as it
sleeps into the whispering wind.
he struts down the moss carpet
as no one else would do
the trees even give a glare
as sharp as his claws.
everyone despises of the big black cat
∞ ∞ ∞
Mar 20, 2018
Mar 20, 2018 at 6:41 PM UTC
People take turns inserting coins
attempting to grab plushy hearts and plastic capsules
the claws never were good at holding on for long
always went limp, dropping the trinkets, just before the finish line
only time it grabbed hold of something long enough
to flash all the lights and sing
was for children
who pointed a tiny hand
at something shiny they saw inside
parents step up to fail again and again
at winning it for them.
when the kids have a turn.
on the first try, they lasso this heart
resting firmly on the bottom
hidden beneath all the old ipods and heavy rubber toys.
would glow in the lights
when they lit all up and sang for them.
revered for their expertise and skill,
they reach in to claim their reward.
not even knowing what it really was.
but for some reason
grabbing it.
bringing it everywhere.
when the kids get older.
it was kept on their bed.
when they had their own children
handed down to toy chests
when they grew old, their children left the hearts
in hospital rooms...
they didn't think of it much.
seemed natural to lug it around.
everyone was so proud, that the machine chose them.
the prize was so soft, and familiar.
the machine, though.
could tell every day that it was missing.
held tightly onto the coins they left.
kept filling itself with junk and giving it to strangers
hoping one day they'd come back to play again.
a man comes by once in awhile to relieve him of his coin
then fills him full of new prizes to divvy out.
but the claw machine lodges some coins
far in the back, where his short arms can't reach
so he can remember
Nov 29, 2016
Nov 29, 2016 at 3:31 PM UTC
rumble,
tumble,
great big bear,
i know he is,
hiding there,
scratching clawing,
great big bear?
do you know where he's hiding?
where?
under the sheets,
he waits for me,
to growl and claw,
at my feet,
i wake up with marks,
all over my body.
rumble tumble,
do not stumble,
i'm too far away,
to hear you're screams,
you claim the marks aren't from him,
aren't from me,
lightning flash,
thunder crash,
hold my hand,
don't get scratched,
rumble tumble,
i watched her stumble,
she has her own bear under her sheets,
cry and ask why,
why big bear,
must you claw at me?
Nov 5, 2016
Nov 5, 2016 at 11:53 PM UTC
Please help me stop these screams
They won't go away
They say they are here to stay
We could be friends
I listen to their demands,
When they tell me to do things
That will have very unfortunate endings
Just do it
I scratch at my head out of frustration
Trying to claw them out
But it resulted in their pout
How dare you!
They raised my hand and clutched a knife
In hopes of taking a life
I expected it to be mine
but they said that would be another time
May 5, 2016
May 5, 2016 at 1:20 AM UTC
What if every time a person yawned,
It was actually the silent scream of a
Demon wishing to be set free?
What if every time someone cried,
It was a demon clawing it's way
Through their brain?
What if every time I went to bed,
I thought of you and how you're
Probably doing these days?
Would you think of me too?
Probably not.
And that's what I've got to accept.
Apr 5, 2016
Apr 5, 2016 at 10:32 PM UTC
Claw
at the problem
till it’s so big
You can crawl inside.
Apr 17, 2015
Apr 17, 2015 at 7:38 PM UTC
*Scratching, clawing
Clenching, gnawing
Pick at the wound
Tear it open, rip it up
Free the bone from its
Prison of skin
Separate the marrow
From within
Light it up, burn it down
Incinerate the concept*
Jan 16, 2015
Jan 16, 2015 at 4:13 PM UTC
Your fingers tell me stories of passion as they tiptoe down my sides. Shivers dance on my skin where your hot breath can't reach.
Can you taste your awakening words, that you gently whisper to my inner goddess? Leave passionate reminders on my body with the sweetness of your kiss and the harshness of your bite.
As I spell out your name with desperate scratches on your back, allow your eyes to forget what is real, and what is a fantasy.
Watch as my tongue speaks the same language as my eyes, and my heart moans the same desires as my mouth.
Seducing your soul,
I exist in you.
Dec 24, 2014
Dec 24, 2014 at 11:21 PM UTC
What am I now?
Shock! Guilt! Hope!
They, to me, are but distant glimmers of a forgotten past.
Idle grows my weary soul, darkness fills this claw of mine
Nov 6, 2014
Nov 6, 2014 at 4:33 AM UTC
In between life’s mortal coil
where living teaches harshest real.
Mixed between the good and vile
this is the realm we learn to feel.
Our feelings good or very bad
often guide our way in life,
in many ways it is so sad.
Our past does cause us so much strife.
From early years I lived with rage.
Violence was just a way it seems.
Beatings from an early age
it took away our childhood dreams.
The first girl that I really liked
assumed there was some good in me
until my temper truly spiked.
It's when she wanted to be free.
I sit alone and sometimes cry
because of the things I have done.
In retrospect I’d rather die
or disappear and run, run, run.
It just comes out in angers run,
before I know it I strike out.
Just thank the Lord I had no gun
because I would use it there’s no doubt.
After many bad association
where violence has been used to quell
I hope that in this new relation
this time I do not go through hell.
I fight so hard now to restrain
my temper being what it be
From violence I must refrain
once and for all I can be free.
Free from anguish, free from blame.
Not to recall my younger days
Just talk instead of being inflamed
like others in more normal ways.
Now I am married with a wife.
Three loving children I adore
I think now when I feel the strife
No longer use my Satan’s claw.
Satan’s claw is what I call
my way of evil mindedness.
No longer to this way I fall,
now I can make this recompense.
Although my upbringing was quite bad
I feel I blamed my ways on this,
my parent’s lives’ were very sad
and something I shall never miss.
My life has gained in many ways.
My family I love more than all
and life is now something I praise
I thank God each day that I don’t fall
Sep 7, 2014
Sep 7, 2014 at 2:26 PM UTC