#spray
Spray,
A poem by
SHERMAN ALEXIE
<>
man sitting on gang chair during daytime
somebody has left orange peels
on the food court table and I wanna
find the ******* who violated
the social contract, who left
this sticky mess, who thought
their little life was more
imporant than the little lives
of the rest of us, but there are so
many ******** in this airport
and I know that I'm one of them,
I know I've disgusted strangers
multiple times in my life so
I just pick up those orange peels
and toss them into the nearby
garbage bin and I wonder how
any of us disgusting humans
fall in love with any other
disgusting human
and our toenail clippings
and rashes and skin tags
and waxy ears and acne
and bad breath and greasy
farts and belly button bacteria
and crotch humidity
and rank body odor
but it happens all the time
people constantly fall in love
and I bet that somebody in
this massive international airport
has, just a moment ago, fallen
in love with somebody
they've just met and isn't it
amazing how many people
in this terminal have climbed
naked into bed and sweated
into the pores of their lovers
and received their sweat
in return and, wow, think
of how many people in this airport
have conceived a baby and how
many of us have seen a baby being
born in all that brutal beauty, look
at all these women, these mothers
and think of how they wrecked
their bodies in the name of love
and think of how we parents
have welcome our children's
**** and **** and ***** and spit
into our lives, who've had all
of those body fluids splash into
our hands, splatter our faces,
and spray into our mouths,
and so here I sit at my gate waiting
for my delayed flight and I see
a homely man and homely woman
curl around each other like one
hundred orange peels and I smile
because I'm mostly okay
with this world awash
with all that is awful
and all that is good
Jun 27, 2025
Jun 27, 2025 at 4:21 PM UTC
You are sunlight alive for an instant
A clear reflection found
In the crystal spray off the gulf of Mexico
Your eyes cutting waves deep
Like rudder and hull
Your hair in the breeze
Like the rigging and sails alive
And you all a smile on starboard edge
Perched atop this blue world
You live and atop the cresting waves, fly
She was a sailor
Jan 4, 2020
Jan 4, 2020 at 5:06 PM UTC
Scent...
............is a spray
of sweet, nagging fragrance,
borne by a rush of air,
touching nostrils as it travels,
to stimulate, and scintillate
a parade of memories,
especially, when distance is great
and truly separates...
::::::::::
could be from a bouquet of roses,
or a handful of jasmine...or,
the welcome smell of cinnamon, sage,
other spices...elements of what we call,
the fragrances of good cooking...or,
those of sweat and a fruity cologne,
blending, while working,
from caring....from loving...
::::::::::
it's a brush of summer wind
that captures, even a bit of a sniff
of any, or all of these scents...
::::::::::
these smells dwell in the senses
they reassure...that one person is never away
fears are held at bay...you're okay,
it brings calm to one's soul...
::::::::::
the nose...the other senses know,
the heart and the mind know
the source of all
these fragrances...
::::::::::
no perfume could ever equal
the scent(s) of a woman...
::::::::::
Sally
Copyright Rosalia Rosario A. Bayan
January 30, 2018
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MOTHERS
AND GRANDMOTHERS !!!
May 10, 2019
May 10, 2019 at 7:45 AM UTC
Broken from
circumstance.
Broken, on top of it,
from poor choices I've made.
What's to come if I
can't fix myself?
I must overcome
my lesser nature.
Would it hurt to
have help?
Let me send
up a flare.
I lose to my sadness
from time to time,
but I want to heal,
and encourage truth,
and I want to mend
with the others who
believe,
even under
a thousand
stings,
love exists and
empathy lives.
Jun 14, 2018
Jun 14, 2018 at 12:09 AM UTC
I am the terminator
The exterminator
I walk around with my spray
Aiming at things that get in my way
So you better stand back
Before I start my attack
Because I might see
You as a tiny flea
******* out my life force
You might be the source
Of that itch I can't scratch
You will have meet your match
I love to destroy what bugs me
It fills me with a sense of glee
I wonder if God feels the same
Maybe that's why none of us are sane
Mar 25, 2016
Mar 25, 2016 at 12:31 PM UTC
my feelings overflow
with nowhere to go
waves smashing against the breakwater
spraying sea foam
a cacophony no one can hear but me
because it's roaring
inside my head
Jan 2, 2015
Jan 2, 2015 at 11:07 PM UTC
The cat entered and she died
Her feet still moving
And I got mad
How could she forget
The unconditional love
for her feet I felt
Still moving
they took her away
The indiferente of that cat
Moving across the tarp
How could she forget
Oct 3, 2014
Oct 3, 2014 at 4:37 PM UTC
Cities faintly floating
Just above the horizon
Fading slowly
A force
Dragging you backwards
Towards the lonely sea.
The sun peering around a cloudy sky,
Your shadow momentarily floating
Among opaque, white ocean spray
Flowing continuously,
Being devoured by the ravenous wake
Into the stomach of the darkness
Watching,
expecting a magnificent show
Of dancing dophins and whales.
For miles,
Only the ominous black
And deep, dark blue
Of ocean waves
Surrounding you
Until you're feeling nothing
but small.
Masked by
dancing,
bubbling,
curling,
White.
Churning through the waves,
The foam showering onto your lap.
Wiping the spray
From your knee,
Scintillating on your fingertips,
Finally noticing
The clarity of the dusky sea.
Aug 17, 2014
Aug 17, 2014 at 10:47 PM UTC