#disasters
We are in an ice machine
"owned" by the dark of heart.
As I write these frigid lines,
spirit clenched,
It is loudly making ice again.
A splintering crack,
a thunderous land,
a thwoom and a ghastly hiss
is all you hear throughout the land
in an ice machine such as this.
Jan 29
Jan 29, 2026 at 1:27 AM UTC
Our Cascade Mountains
Are so well named
Her slopes of snow and ice fields
Feed river after rushing river
And rivers feed rivers
As a child on Lord’s Hill
Every winter
We watched the valley below
Fill with mild flooding
Rains and mountain melt fed
The Skykomish, she fed the
Snohomish who would overrun her banks
Farmers had time to move herds
To higher ground
If lucky, as waters receded
Leaving temporary ponds in fields
A cold snap would freeze them over
And we would descend with skates and sleds
I recall as a teen one year
Standing at the end of First Street
In the town of Snohomish
One of many watching
Trees ripped from the earth far upstream
The debris of porches and decks
All piled as high as the pavement
A group praying, some aloud
Most silent, praying the bridge would hold
In its governmental wisdom
The Corp of Engineers diked her sloughs
December 2nd, 1975
She roared again, about 10pm
Ripping out three hundred feet of ****
Sending a Biblical torrent rushing
Over highways, vehicles, fields, houses,
Barns, the animals
Oh God, so many animals.
The waters in their time quieted to
A new unwanted lake on our maps
Fifty thousand acres of water stretching all the way
From Everett to Monroe, my hometown midway
When the waters finally receded enough
That I could visit my family
I drove the old winding valley road
Weeping, completely undone
The beautiful Lippazaners all gone
Cow carcasses on roofs
Family farms decimated
She roars again
Our Snohomish River
Making the national news
Thousands are inconvenienced
Some just angry at impossible work commutes
Hundreds driven from homes
Nonetheless memories are long
And humanity prepared with shelters, food, clothing
Even the Monroe’s Fairgrounds
Has been converted to shelters for large animals
Let us pray 1975 never, ever repeats
Dec 18, 2025
Dec 18, 2025 at 3:10 PM UTC
(The photograph below represents the results of a Landslide.)
Or does it?
All I see is houses,
Covered in rock.
Did they photograph just those places,
Or did they make sure to get pictures of their faces?
Mortally despaired as the dust settles in the air,
As they watch their life crumble down,
With have no power to stop it.
Mar 7, 2025
Mar 7, 2025 at 1:41 PM UTC
Take your Seven Deadly Sins,
And butcher them with punctuation.
Capitalize on floods, famines and fires.
Express sickness, war and homelessness.
Parse politics.
Syllabicate and spell out for all to read
The horror of homelessness and apathy.
There.
Nothing's too real we can't fictionalize... marginalize,
Again, and again, and again.
Apr 7, 2021
Apr 7, 2021 at 10:24 AM UTC
We’re living in two disasters
Impacts are felt each day and night
One leads some to death
And many to fright
Facing fear and grief
Nearly every livelong day
We quarantine, we distance
Wash our hands and pray
Politics is a disaster too
Grid-lock in congress and nothing gets done
Executive branch takes action in sputters and spurts
News cast tell us which party has won
Problem solving seems somehow forgotten
Bi-partisian actions are seldom and few
Who takes responsibility for these messes
It can’t be me so it must be you.
Aug 17, 2020
Aug 17, 2020 at 2:06 PM UTC
i swear
because of the logo
on my watery blue jeans
a hurricane in scala ridotta
used the fabrics in a way
inspired by
irma
katrine
or maybe florence
May 30, 2019
May 30, 2019 at 6:41 AM UTC
Her
body
rejects
the
anomalous change
Her
gut
spits
out
suicidal atoms
are
we fuelling
a
pandemic
Jan 21, 2019
Jan 21, 2019 at 11:35 AM UTC
i
never knew
that disasters —
catastrophes
could be something like this
it
can be
as good as
a morning sunshine
greeting you with a kiss
a
blooming flower
vibrant
and in bliss
a
kid so happy
while opening a gift
and i never knew that
disasters can be beautiful
and that it could mean--- you
Jan 9, 2019
Jan 9, 2019 at 11:47 PM UTC
We are such beautiful ******* disasters
made up of ink and tears
with pages turned black from our souls
Dissolving ourselves
into every word we carve out
we are disasters
born of the expectations of life
from the world
we so heavily bear on our shoulders
trying to make it
one more minute
one more day
asking the world
if we had achieved their approval
our scars are our battle cry
our ink-stained hands are our war paint
we are
beautiful
*******
disasters
created by a world
who never truly cared
about how we would turn out
Jun 22, 2018
Jun 22, 2018 at 1:46 AM UTC
RAGING EARTH
If we could look at the earth in a few thousand years from now,
we would see a nightmare vision. A planet ravaged by massive ice flows,
poisonous radiation storms and acidic oceans.
A naive mankind has done this. Now man has gone underground, far below
the poison and the cold.
It will be ten thousand years before he ventures forth again. Now he lives in
huge caverns using the heat of the earth for warmth. He has built massive
cities underground built of crystal and minerals.
He has forgotten what it feels like to walk in the sun or to swim in the sea,
these are only the memories of a raging, shattered world.
Feb 20, 2018
Feb 20, 2018 at 2:34 PM UTC
These rhymes ... Reflect ...
APOCALYPTIC Times ... !!!
Times where minds ...
are ............... Dismissing .................................................. Signs ...... !!!!!
That times ahead .....
Will see ... BLOODSHED ...
and ... Loss of Life ... !!!!! ...
Times where ... Crimes ...
Refine ... Bloodlines ... !!!!!!
Like ... " Old Designs " ...
Primed to ... " Div-id-e " ...
Apocalyptic ... times ...
Reside inside ...
Deep Seas with ... " Tides " ...
Now On ... The rISE ...
Just like ... The Minds ...
of ... WICKED ... Types ... !!!!!!
whose Pride ... DENIES ...
to help the ... " Plight " ...
of those who ... STRIVE ...
Just to ... " Survive " ...
and Live a ... " Good Life " ...
The Type ... who like ...
to see us ... Fight ...
Like ... " Dogs in Bogs " ...
Fed On ... WAR Songs ...
and Words of ... HATE ... !?!
A Time and Place ...
where ... Technological Tools ...
are used to ... School ...
our youth to ... Abuse ...
Like ... VIOLENT Fools ... !!!!!
VIOLENCE ... Will Rule ... !!!
Like DEVILS ... Who ...
Infuse with ... Views ...
That ... Lead to ... FEUDS ... !!!
Which would ... You Choose ... ?!?
APOCALYPTIC ... News ... ?
or a place where ... " Love " ...
REIGNED ... Up Above ... !!!!!!
Just like ... SUNSHINE ...
in the ... " Summertime " ...
Well ....
Rhymes Like ... " These " ...
Paint ... Different ... scenes ...
Scenes ... OBSCENE ... !!!!!
and ....... Far From ...................................................................... Clean ... !!!!
Where ....
Peoples' Dreams ...
are ... "FILLED WITH" ... SCREAMS ... !!!
Am I .... SCARING You ... ?!?
If so ... Not Cool ... !!!
Why would you choose ... ?
to take ... The View ...
That ... What I Say ...
Makes You ... AFRAID ... ?!?!?
Apocalyptic Trips ...
May Well .... ECLIPSE ... !!!
The Place in which ...
Your Thinking ..... " Lives " ......
OUTSIDE ... "TheBox" ...
is where ... Mine Is ... !!!!!!
NOT IN .... " Laptops " ....
or .... VIOLENT ... Stings ... !!!
I Deal with ... NOW ...
and what ... Surrounds ...
Before i'm ... CLOWNED ...
and end up ... "Drowned" ... !!!!!
Or ...
Worse yet ... DEAD ...
Like ... Youthful Heads ...
As ... " Current Trends " ...
would now ... " Suggest " ...
In Fact .... CONFIRM .... !!!!!!
Does it make you ...
........ " Squirm ........ ? "
to Read ... Such words ... !?! ...
Well .......
Here's a ... " Verse " ...
to ... CALM ... Your Nerves ... !!!
They're ONLY ... " Words " ... !!!!!!
That show ... CONCERN ...
About the world ...
and how ... it turns ...
If we ... " Observe " ...
We may just ... " Learn " ...
How to ... STEM This ... SURGE ... !!!
of Pain and ... Hurt ... !!!!!!
and make a ... RETURN ...
to Life being ... PRESERVED ... !!!!!
Let The DEVILS ... Burn .......................................................
and Make ... PEACE WORK ... !!!!!
Like ... UNITY ...
cos' things like ... " These " ...
Will Help ... " Relieve " .................................
Our Streets of ... BEASTS ... !!!
And .... " POVERTY " ....
And .... News Stories ...
of ... KILLING Sprees ... !!!?!!!
Our Youth ... are DYING ...
Don't You ... SEE ... ?!!!? ...
These words are ... TRYING ...
to FEED ... Our Seeds ...
with ... Something MORE ...
Than ....... " MTV " ........ !!!!!!!!!!
BUT ....
Here's The ... SCORE ... !!!
Too Many ... " Elders " ... TOO ... !?!
are PROMOTING .... Wars ......
WITHOUT .... A Cause .... !!!?!!!
and NEED TO ... " Reduce " ...
Their ... ANGRY ... Moods ... !!!
" Don't try to front ! "
" You know it's true ! "
Why take the view
that I'm ... TOO BLUNT ... ?!?
The time has ... COME ...
to .... " Listen Up " ......
and Fill .... " Eardrums " ...
Like Kweli' ... Does ... !!!
with words that ... " Soothe " .........................
and HELP ... " Improve " ...
The Minds who ... " Choose " ...
APOCALYPTIC ... Moves ... !!!!!
Like ...
Dropping .... BOMBS ...
That Breed ... " Phantoms " ...
and .... " Tsunamis " .... !!! ....
Do you ....
Get The .... " Scene " .... ???
NO TREES ....
NO LEAVES ....
NO ...
Ice Caps left ....
Just .... WAR and DEATH ... !!!!!
I Guess .... ?
to ... " Most of You " ...
This seems ............................................................. " Far Fetched " ......
But ...
THINK IT .... Through ......
What's coming .... " Next " .... ?!?
FLOODING ... Here ...
and Flooding ... THERE ... !!!!
and then .... HEATWAVES .... !!!
that send ... SHOCKWAVES ... !!!
As Fires ... BLAZE ...
For .... DAYS and DAYS .... !!!!!
APOCALYPTIC .... Yes ... !!!
So ....
What do you say ... ?
Does THIS Poem ...
and it's ... Wordplay ...
Make ... You Think ...
I NEED A ... " Shrink " ... ?!?
Maybe ... I DO ... ???
But here's the ... " Koo' " ...
Apocalyptic things ....
ARE ...... Happening ...... !!!!!
CLOSER ... to home ...
and that's ... NO JOKE ... !!!!!
Most folk ... are BROKE ... !!!
Or ... SNORTING ... Coc' ... !!!
With ....
NOWHERE ... to go ...
to find some ... " Hope " ... !!!
" OH I'M A PESSIMIST ! "
" If You Insist ! "
I'm simply ...
writing things ...
Through ... " Poetic Scripts " ...
That ... Reflect how ...
I Feel ...
Right NOW ...
Some Music ... " FILLED " ........
My Mind with .... THIS ....
Thoughts of ... GLOOM ...
and MUCH ... "Darkness" ... !!!!!
A ... " Discreet Flava " ...
DARKER THAN ... " Vader " ... !!!
Try to .... DENY ...
and you ... " May Find " ...
That ....
What You ... FIGHT ...
Inside ... " Your Mind " ...
is the ....
TRUTH About .........
What's ..... Coming .....
" Apocalyptic Times "
Sep 20, 2017
Sep 20, 2017 at 10:04 PM UTC
National disasters,
Plebs' hollow laughter,
Floods and bushfires,
Natural land afire,
The state of the economy,
A national disaster for you and me,
Still, some people have jobs,
With hiring you should hobnob,
Plebs' hollow laughter,
Our national disasters,
Too funny not,
Whose hiring for jobs?
Jan 5, 2017
Jan 5, 2017 at 7:51 PM UTC
apparently
we live in times
in which disasters chase each other
around the globe in never-ending sequence
or is it just the real-time news media hype
that gives us this impression?
yet even if I generously discard
the ****** massacres and crises
far away
there are enough rough dreadful things
that even if they don’t affect me ******
do touch my heart and make me grieve
with the afflicted
methinks we’re coming near the point
when the majority of normal people on our globe
will rise an tell fanatics of all creeds
to shove it
take a shower
just go home
and let us live our lives in peace !
Jul 11, 2016
Jul 11, 2016 at 3:29 PM UTC
Two thousand fifteen
America and worldly collapse;
Awaketh from thine slumber
BE DONE WITH THINE NAP.
©Brandon nagley
©Lonesome poet's poetry
Sep 5, 2015
Sep 5, 2015 at 8:47 PM UTC
I'd like to say we acted like politicians, causing nuclear disasters filled with stares of disapproval, but we weren't.
Oceanographers couldn't complain any longer, I mean we were right by each other and still knew more about the things farthest from us.
To say the least, we were both covered in our own exoskeleton, staying safe from our only safety.
Every moment, every glance spun a web of anything but truth.
(j.a.r)
May 27, 2015
May 27, 2015 at 9:45 PM UTC
She felt joyous
Watching herself on screen
Eyes fixed, mind engrossed
In rapt attention she smiled!
The TV stopped abruptly
Her hands held a fist
Angry, she looked around
But nobody but her remained
When the TV went on a static
Her hands loosened up
Gently she stood up, eyes blurry
With crutches, went to her room
May 12, 2015
May 12, 2015 at 9:54 AM UTC
I remember when the clouds began to look like a vortex
Hovering above the trees
Ready to inhale anything in their path,
And I remember when the walls of my own bedroom
Started to feel like barricades
Secluding me from all the things
That made me feel anything at all,
And I remember my own voice
Passing quietly through the empty hearts
Of the ones I thought had been listening all along
And came hurling back toward me
Like a car spun out of control across wet asphalt,
And I remember when the only ones around
To keep me company
Were the echoes between my own skin and bones.
What a relief
That when you left
They followed close behind.
May 6, 2015
May 6, 2015 at 3:33 AM UTC
Stop living your life like you're in some kind of a movie.
Stop trying to cast your true love instead of just meeting them.
Love isn't always a lightning bolt, maybe sometimes it's just a choice.
Maybe true love is a decision.
A decision to take a chance with somebody.
To give to somebody without worrying whether they'll give anything back or if they're going to hurt you or if they really are the one.
Maybe love isn't something that happens to you, maybe it's something you have to choose.
True love is a process, not an event.
Feb 26, 2015
Feb 26, 2015 at 2:10 AM UTC
You were born with thunder rumbling from between your lips.
Your words were learned to be feared.
the promise of being trapped in the rain was too frightening for anyone to listen.
You were a flower that had begun to wilt,
covered by the shade of those towering above you,
and when they stole the last ray of light,
you learned to become your own sun.
Lightning shown in your golden-brown eyes.
Fierceness and a refusal to take any odds into consideration.
You struck hearts into beating again,
you struck minds into thinking again.
Your soul is a flood raging over hills. You are washing down every crevice of the world;
drowning and sweeping away things that will never measure to your strength.
You are a Californian wildfire.
Beautifully destructive and distinctively fearless.
You are crackling heat in valleys where thirst will never be quenched.
Don't be offended when they turn away,
some people just can't take the heat.
You have grown into a refusal to let the natural disasters inside of you sit still.
You have taken every ounce of nothingness that you felt and turned it into a brewing storm.
We will hear that thunder rolling from your lips this time.
Sonnets were written about your icy smile years before you were born.
Poets know the beauty of a powerful earthquake that could send cities crumbling,
Everyone knows the beauty of a powerful woman that can send worlds crumbling.
Nov 29, 2014
Nov 29, 2014 at 11:07 PM UTC