Hello Poetry
Submit your work and get some sparkles! Create free account
"bookstores" poems
My essay, Changency, is a meme This meme has been growing inside of me I've been a carrier Many of us have been I'm not a benevolent character though I've been purposely placing the memetic material on blankets And leaving the blankets in local trading posts I call these 'trading posts' bookstores, universities, colleges, schools...coffee shops, pubs, restaurants, etcetera The beautiful thing is that these memes aren't really on blankets The memes are encoded on the backs of knowledge, truth, and authenticity They come from a place of pain Evolution can be painful (but does it have to be?) Three dimensions are easy to comprehend Four, sure just add time What about spacetime? And a fifth dimension...I don't really know what that means...but some do and they're watching, listening, waiting, and loving us
0
Dec 2, 2014
Dec 2, 2014 at 9:52 PM UTC
Changency is a meme
Our city is painted with thoughts and feelings Walls unkempt and overrun with expression Made to fit movie screens with their perfection Our city is lit by lovers and dreamers They hold hands without caring and kiss in the daylight Unlike me, they wouldn’t mind who was staring Our city is a film still in my memory Growing more valuable with time The white becoming a little more golden with age Our city is a privilege to me, a sacred moment Not a city anymore but a nostalgic pang of laughter and a dull awareness of seconds Always passing too quickly, like a reservoir that everyone knows will soon be emptied but that is drained anyway Our city is bookstores and mountains Dark cars and dim statues Nightwalkers and busy streets Our city is happiness and fear and youth and color and reckless and forward and awesome But maybe Our City Is just mine.
0
Jul 11, 2018
Jul 11, 2018 at 6:16 PM UTC
Our City
If there were a formula for the way her lips seek out for mine while I am still attached to those of a boy, I would plug it through with the determination of a scientist, feeding it back and forth through the machines until someone could give me an answer. She visits me in my sleep, bleeds through the walls of our separate dimensions until she finds a way into my heart. From there, she rides my bloodstream up into my brain, she puts her hands on my controls and guides my dreams through to her childhood home, where she knows I'll fall in love with the gap between her teeth and the way she practices the word "kindergarten" when she thinks no one can hear her. I could never find her through the keys of my Macbook, she calls to me through typewriters in store windows, when I think I've lost her, I go into bookstores and flip through the pages in the poetry section until teasing she gives me a word, just enough of a puzzle to hold me until next time. I think when it's completed it will look like her freckles, the eyeshadow she spreads over her heartache, the lipstick she wears to feel like a woman on the days when she needs to act like a man, if I were a man. I'd no longer be captivated by the mysticism of their skin. No longer see the revolutionary twisting through their spines. But if I were a man, I wouldn't have the same parts as my lover. Maybe then we'd be just different enough for me to tell her how I feel.
0
Mar 12, 2013
Mar 12, 2013 at 12:59 AM UTC
Gap-tooth
All these stanzas look alike they talk about the same things with the same words, the same poem written over and over again like voices, whispers, copying each other unable to feel and trust experience differently, socialized for homogeneity unified but dull, strong but obedient their writing seemed the narratives of machines unable to innovate plagiarizing voices they believed were their own, authentic, pure their literary journals were a politics of masters of arts and agendas of contests like car commercials without a proper enjoyment of speed, or our favorite writers whose names we only knew because they were the ones who died at the right time while somebody was looking, reading them but the bookstores didn’t know their metaphors were weak, or their life’s work was merely symbolic, that’s the thing isn’t it poets are only symbols, as poems are only fluff, paper, the labor of writers-in-residence while the rest of the world are more interested in serial killers and which stocks might be worth getting into, and when to sell out investing in words seemed silly to them and, in my selected works there was nothing of how to be a Poet Laureate or how to win prizes exceptional or not, publication was left to amazon state grants, fellowships, visiting writers academics who never felt truly how to write poetry at its heart was a colonization of artists few could share what that meant, we were the first illiterate generation, spending more time with the internet than with books.
0
Oct 18, 2014
Oct 18, 2014 at 12:04 PM UTC
On the decline of literacy
All these stanzas look alike they talk about the same things with the same words, the same poem written over and over again like voices, whispers, copying each other unable to feel and trust experience differently, socialized for homogeneity unified but dull, strong but obedient their writing seemed the narratives of machines unable to innovate plagiarizing voices they believed were their own, authentic, pure their literary journals were a politics of masters of arts and agendas of contests like car commercials without a proper enjoyment of speed, or our favorite writers whose names we only knew because they were the ones who died at the right time while somebody was looking, reading them but the bookstores didn’t know their metaphors were weak, or their life’s work was merely symbolic, that’s the thing isn’t it poets are only symbols, as poems are only fluff, paper, the labor of writers-in-residence while the rest of the world are more interested in serial killers and which stocks might be worth getting into, and when to sell out investing in words seemed silly to them and, in my selected works there was nothing of how to be a Poet Laureate or how to win prizes exceptional or not, publication was left to amazon state grants, fellowships, visiting writers academics who never felt truly how to write poetry at its heart was a colonization of artists few could share what that meant, we were the first illiterate generation, spending more time with the internet than with books.
Continue reading...
37
my future partner, Hi, I’m anna. I guess we’re co-writing this chapter of our lives together. I’m sure it’ll be epic. It takes a while for me to viscerally latch onto another being, so congrats to you for stealing my heart because if I’m with you, that probably means I really love you. I like sushi a lot, empty bookstores, and tea sipping sessions with my cat, xiaoxiao, who you will probably hear me talk about twenty-four seven. I hope you’re a cat person. Within the realm of the arts, I like to write poetry and play piano. But my secret hobby is photography. It’s the best way to know someone without really knowing them. And if you hurt me, I’ll probably create an entire musical composition or a playlist of poetry about it. But I’ll forgive you instantly. I might make mistakes, too. For instance, I’m horrible with directions, remembering events, deadlines, or anything unrelated to pedantic learning. My erratic and changeable moods can be quite the predicament as well, but I promise to be as tolerable as I can be through my storms. I’m a biomedical science major with a minor in neuroscience. Assimilating an array of medical innovations, education, and terminology is, personally, my zenith of academic interest. I have a love and longing to help others. But sometimes, moving towards this ultimate vocation is strenuous and I do hope you understand how much medicine means to me. This means late night MCAT study sessions, mountains of neuroscience books, stacks of terminology notecards, homework, and paramounts of stress. But I want to work on that. I promise that whatever I love, I love to a seemingly boundless depth- “from the tip of my apex and beyond,” if you’re into medical puns. I promise I’ll take you out to dinner, plan cute dates, and spend as much quality time with you as I can. I promise, we’ll travel to so many places, eat all the food we can in all the countries we visit, dive in every ocean we can find, and fly over every country we can point to on a map. Most importantly, I promise to give you reasons to continue the chapters in your book. Because I struggle with that too. Whether it be in a month, a year, a decade, or a lifetime... I promise to love you, see you soon
0
Apr 14, 2019
Apr 14, 2019 at 8:42 AM UTC
//to you,
my future partner, Hi, I’m anna. I guess we’re co-writing this chapter of our lives together. I’m sure it’ll be epic. It takes a while for me to viscerally latch onto another being, so congrats to you for stealing my heart because if I’m with you, that probably means I really love you. I like sushi a lot, empty bookstores, and tea sipping sessions with my cat, xiaoxiao, who you will probably hear me talk about twenty-four seven. I hope you’re a cat person. Within the realm of the arts, I like to write poetry and play piano. But my secret hobby is photography. It’s the best way to know someone without really knowing them. And if you hurt me, I’ll probably create an entire musical composition or a playlist of poetry about it. But I’ll forgive you instantly. I might make mistakes, too. For instance, I’m horrible with directions, remembering events, deadlines, or anything unrelated to pedantic learning. My erratic and changeable moods can be quite the predicament as well, but I promise to be as tolerable as I can be through my storms. I’m a biomedical science major with a minor in neuroscience. Assimilating an array of medical innovations, education, and terminology is, personally, my zenith of academic interest. I have a love and longing to help others. But sometimes, moving towards this ultimate vocation is strenuous and I do hope you understand how much medicine means to me. This means late night MCAT study sessions, mountains of neuroscience books, stacks of terminology notecards, homework, and paramounts of stress. But I want to work on that. I promise that whatever I love, I love to a seemingly boundless depth- “from the tip of my apex and beyond,” if you’re into medical puns. I promise I’ll take you out to dinner, plan cute dates, and spend as much quality time with you as I can. I promise, we’ll travel to so many places, eat all the food we can in all the countries we visit, dive in every ocean we can find, and fly over every country we can point to on a map. Most importantly, I promise to give you reasons to continue the chapters in your book. Because I struggle with that too. Whether it be in a month, a year, a decade, or a lifetime... I promise to love you, see you soon
Continue reading...
11
when i was young, i only lived between the pages of a book between the words of a sentence between Privet Drive and Baker Street between bookstores and libraries where I did not have to speak to make friends; where I made friends who would not leave, where I could leave and return to see that nothing had changed; nothing, except me, but only a little. now that i’m older i’ve been twice to the other side and back; i think i’d also like to live between time zones and skylines between silken sheets on starry nights between your fingers and your eyes, where conversations are passports to other worlds in in other hearts beating in other bodies; if only for just a little.
0
Apr 20, 2016
Apr 20, 2016 at 11:21 AM UTC
unoriginal titles for poems about change
Today I walked into Barnes and Noble to buy my summer reading book which just so happens to be super thick and its boring **** me now!) Anyways, while we're there, out of curiosity, I asked if they had any John Green books (because everywhere else, they're either sold out or on hold) and they did. The lady brought me to a table. A few of my friends had recommended his works. Scanning the table of books, unsure of what to chose, a guy walks up to me. He looks about my age, maybe a year or so older. He's pretty cute, which is quite the pleasant surprise because usually guys don't talk to me. He says, pointing to The Fault in Our Stars, "I couldn't help but kind of overhear you talking, but I read this and it was amazing." He points at Looking for Alaska. "My girlfriend read this... said it was pretty good." So I say thanks and something awkward like 'I'll have to check it out,' and get The Fault in Our Stars. This small gesture has restored my hope in our generation. The guys in my school are mostly arrogant airheads with no taste in music, in my opinion, anyway. In addition to this experience with a stranger, today, while at a shopping center, I saw a girl wearing a 5 Seconds of Summer shirt, as I had mine on, too. I complimented her and she smiled and said, "Thanks, you too." This small gesture has also restored my hope in our generation. Today I learned that not everyone ***** and that makes me really happy. I guess that if you put yourself out there, ever so slightly, in the right places, you might learn things or make new friends.  What if I'd talked to the girl about 5SOS? Or asked the guy about other books he's read? There are so many opportunities every single day to improve the quality of our lives and we pass them up, because they're things that are thought of as small, but can have huge impacts. I believe that if each and everyone of us tried, just a little bit, to talk to  strangers, the world would be a better place. Not everyone wants to hurt you. I'm not saying to invite some random person  into your house, but to talk to people with common interests, or compliment someone on their shirt. Little things like that, as they did to me, can make someone's day. I walk to my mom with a pile of books. She turns to me and says, "Since when did cute boys talk to you at bookstores?"
0
Jun 19, 2013
Jun 19, 2013 at 11:20 PM UTC
A Rant about talking to strangers
Today I walked into Barnes and Noble to buy my summer reading book which just so happens to be super thick and its boring **** me now!) Anyways, while we're there, out of curiosity, I asked if they had any John Green books (because everywhere else, they're either sold out or on hold) and they did. The lady brought me to a table. A few of my friends had recommended his works. Scanning the table of books, unsure of what to chose, a guy walks up to me. He looks about my age, maybe a year or so older. He's pretty cute, which is quite the pleasant surprise because usually guys don't talk to me. He says, pointing to The Fault in Our Stars, "I couldn't help but kind of overhear you talking, but I read this and it was amazing." He points at Looking for Alaska. "My girlfriend read this... said it was pretty good." So I say thanks and something awkward like 'I'll have to check it out,' and get The Fault in Our Stars. This small gesture has restored my hope in our generation. The guys in my school are mostly arrogant airheads with no taste in music, in my opinion, anyway. In addition to this experience with a stranger, today, while at a shopping center, I saw a girl wearing a 5 Seconds of Summer shirt, as I had mine on, too. I complimented her and she smiled and said, "Thanks, you too." This small gesture has also restored my hope in our generation. Today I learned that not everyone ***** and that makes me really happy. I guess that if you put yourself out there, ever so slightly, in the right places, you might learn things or make new friends.  What if I'd talked to the girl about 5SOS? Or asked the guy about other books he's read? There are so many opportunities every single day to improve the quality of our lives and we pass them up, because they're things that are thought of as small, but can have huge impacts. I believe that if each and everyone of us tried, just a little bit, to talk to  strangers, the world would be a better place. Not everyone wants to hurt you. I'm not saying to invite some random person  into your house, but to talk to people with common interests, or compliment someone on their shirt. Little things like that, as they did to me, can make someone's day. I walk to my mom with a pile of books. She turns to me and says, "Since when did cute boys talk to you at bookstores?"
Continue reading...
1
Poetry is just scratches on paper forming dramatic words by an overemotional character Poetry is certainly not a pen that digs trenches for the blue blood to follow draining a soul to a sterile existence Who Needs Poetry Anyway? Poetry is all roses are red violets are blue blah, blah, blah I'm so in love with you Nobody cares about books Notice how the poetry section in the bookstores continue to diminish with every look? Poetry is certainly not as profound as the inert words lay gutted by the rapper which boasts his materialistic empire that his target audience consumes yet cannot honestly digest And you'll find the album in an abundant display set in the center of the bookstore Who Needs Poetry Anyway? Poetry is just something studied from history books to obtain credit A time before the internet and a true social status Before days rapt in vanity Poetry is certainly not a self sacrifice to explore the wilderness of the heart and the shutters to the mind An outlet to tread another day Who Needs Poetry Anyway?
0
May 11, 2016
May 11, 2016 at 6:00 AM UTC
Who Needs Poetry Anway?
A Woman of Many Words I am a Woman of Many Words I am drawn to all those places That words congregate: Libraries and bookstores Road signs and billboards Ticket stubs and subtitles Nametags and license plates Each one a journey driving inside me I am a Woman of Many Words I love the way the shapes feel in my mouth The skittle taste of syllables I am drawn to especially long words With their phonetic entities stretching out like tentacles to reach new corners of pronunciation Words like Bibliophile and flippant-irreverence Evanescent and Insouciance Mellifluous and Effervescent Mondegreen and Labyrinthine Words like Onomatopoeia and Tintinnabulation I appreciate their weight on my tongue The way my hands appreciate the thickness that is a fat book I am a Woman of Many Words I am attracted to their multitude The space their figures take up on a page The calligraphic punches Typed up by keys The carefully constructed Brush strokes Spouting What is sure to be, nonsense But I do enjoy the sound of nonsense in the morning I am a Woman of Many Words I cling to the lettered skyscrapers wherever I can find them Because the familiar scent of scribbles across parchment is comfort food for me I find them On the backs of cereal boxes And in Popsicle riddles In fortune cookies And alphabet soup From magnets on my fridge To junk food logos And I hold on to them for dear life For fear that silence should find me And leave me empty For fear it will take away the music of maracas Made by words Dancing the salsa inside me I am a Woman of Many Words because Words Answer my Questions, Soothe my fears, and Humor my Whims They are not always Right But they are always Constant They are not always Honest, in fact, Mostly They Lie But ever so often They tell such a Beautiful Lie That you wish it were true They sing from the rocks offering Escape from Terrifying, Suffocating, Mind numbing Silence that echoes off my skeleton I am afraid that silence will hollow out my insides and leave me abandoned with nothing between my Bow and Stern my Forecastle all torn up I am afraid of the skeleton inside me So I am a Woman of Many of Words For fear of silence And contempt for truth Because my words are sirens And my shipwreck is home here
0
Nov 10, 2015
Nov 10, 2015 at 5:12 PM UTC
A Woman of Many Words
A Woman of Many Words I am a Woman of Many Words I am drawn to all those places That words congregate: Libraries and bookstores Road signs and billboards Ticket stubs and subtitles Nametags and license plates Each one a journey driving inside me I am a Woman of Many Words I love the way the shapes feel in my mouth The skittle taste of syllables I am drawn to especially long words With their phonetic entities stretching out like tentacles to reach new corners of pronunciation Words like Bibliophile and flippant-irreverence Evanescent and Insouciance Mellifluous and Effervescent Mondegreen and Labyrinthine Words like Onomatopoeia and Tintinnabulation I appreciate their weight on my tongue The way my hands appreciate the thickness that is a fat book I am a Woman of Many Words I am attracted to their multitude The space their figures take up on a page The calligraphic punches Typed up by keys The carefully constructed Brush strokes Spouting What is sure to be, nonsense But I do enjoy the sound of nonsense in the morning I am a Woman of Many Words I cling to the lettered skyscrapers wherever I can find them Because the familiar scent of scribbles across parchment is comfort food for me I find them On the backs of cereal boxes And in Popsicle riddles In fortune cookies And alphabet soup From magnets on my fridge To junk food logos And I hold on to them for dear life For fear that silence should find me And leave me empty For fear it will take away the music of maracas Made by words Dancing the salsa inside me I am a Woman of Many Words because Words Answer my Questions, Soothe my fears, and Humor my Whims They are not always Right But they are always Constant They are not always Honest, in fact, Mostly They Lie But ever so often They tell such a Beautiful Lie That you wish it were true They sing from the rocks offering Escape from Terrifying, Suffocating, Mind numbing Silence that echoes off my skeleton I am afraid that silence will hollow out my insides and leave me abandoned with nothing between my Bow and Stern my Forecastle all torn up I am afraid of the skeleton inside me So I am a Woman of Many of Words For fear of silence And contempt for truth Because my words are sirens And my shipwreck is home here
Continue reading...
78
I got braces when I was 16 that year I never kissed anyone but I made boys steal things from pricy bookstores I measure time by my teeth every year they get more crooked the older I get they seem to shift back to old territory old habits old now even smoking cigarettes feels boring when I walk into bookstores I leave sticky notes with advice I wish someone would have told me then they did but maybe if I had found it somewhere I was looking I might have paid more attention my retainer sits in a shelf collecting grime
0
Feb 7, 2018
Feb 7, 2018 at 3:44 PM UTC
Retainer
It’s been years. I thought time would wash over the muddled traces But it has only left a resentment to the words. The sense of longing never quite leaves my chest. So I pickup the painful memories scattered here and there. even though the features I knew so well are fading, I can’t help but search for your figure. Your eyes. At the bus stop, on the street, in the corners of bookstores, even though I know I won’t see you. It’s fine though, because when the moon shines through my bedroom window, you haunt every part of me. And the words I resented are so clear. If only I had spoken these three words.. would things have been the same?
0
Jul 1, 2018
Jul 1, 2018 at 4:15 AM UTC
I love you
People say, bookworms are antisocial, quiet, and pretty much unattached. these are not true, alright? no. bookworms are not like that. let me enlighten you by telling you about the bookworm I fell for. 1. on meeting her for the first time, I was minding my own business. I was in class and it was the first day of school. then all of a sudden, she suddenly points out the game I'm holding and screams *** *** *** that game!! and after that we just talked on and on and on and on pretty much about random things. so no, they are not antisocial. 2. on trips to bookstores I'd always end up walking out of one with ym body hurting. why? Whenever she sees a book that she doesn't have, she'd gasp point grab gasp point grab and repeat. on seeing a book that she can't buy. she'd hit me with it! I mean who does that? on seeing a book that she's been looking for, for a long time, she'd throw a tantrum! so no, they are not quiet. 3. When you look into her eyes, you'd see all the things she's been through, the masks she wore, and the wrinkles in her smiles for faking them so much. It came be from a lot of things, A past lover, a long-term problem, an old friend, or betrayals. whether it's fiction or non-fiction it would pain her no matter how she lies about it. She's been attached to too many for too long a time, that she'd try her best not to get attached. So on a bookwrom being attached or unattached, in the end it's all up to you whether she becomes the first or the latter
0
Sep 13, 2015
Sep 13, 2015 at 3:24 AM UTC
On falling for a bookworm
People say, bookworms are antisocial, quiet, and pretty much unattached. these are not true, alright? no. bookworms are not like that. let me enlighten you by telling you about the bookworm I fell for. 1. on meeting her for the first time, I was minding my own business. I was in class and it was the first day of school. then all of a sudden, she suddenly points out the game I'm holding and screams *** *** *** that game!! and after that we just talked on and on and on and on pretty much about random things. so no, they are not antisocial. 2. on trips to bookstores I'd always end up walking out of one with ym body hurting. why? Whenever she sees a book that she doesn't have, she'd gasp point grab gasp point grab and repeat. on seeing a book that she can't buy. she'd hit me with it! I mean who does that? on seeing a book that she's been looking for, for a long time, she'd throw a tantrum! so no, they are not quiet. 3. When you look into her eyes, you'd see all the things she's been through, the masks she wore, and the wrinkles in her smiles for faking them so much. It came be from a lot of things, A past lover, a long-term problem, an old friend, or betrayals. whether it's fiction or non-fiction it would pain her no matter how she lies about it. She's been attached to too many for too long a time, that she'd try her best not to get attached. So on a bookwrom being attached or unattached, in the end it's all up to you whether she becomes the first or the latter
Continue reading...
7
I’ve wanted pretty, soft, hands for as long as I can remember; thin fingers, long nails. The kind that pair well with coffee mugs and bookstores. The kind you don’t hesitate to kiss; but mine are riddled with anxiety. There are scars on my knuckles from walls that didn’t deserve my anger and I can’t seem to stop biting at my fingernails. I will never be the pretty girl with soft hands and thin fingers. I am the strong girl who scales mountainsides and presses my hips into the walls I once used to punish myself. My hands haven’t been the same since I covered them in chalk and started gripping onto what has become a lifeline for me. So, no, I will never be the pretty girl with soft hands and thin fingers. I will be the strong one.
0
Oct 25, 2020
Oct 25, 2020 at 9:37 PM UTC
The Strong One
Lately, I’ve been dating myself: Beaches, Bars, Bookstores, & Bedrooms… Self care superseded structure, I’m the happiest spinster, Because for once, I’m myself.
0
Aug 30, 2013
Aug 30, 2013 at 7:14 PM UTC
Me, Myself, & I
I would rather write About this world than Live in it I would rather play Music all day and read Or wander around Or waltz into bookstores And run my hands along The wooden shelves I would rather remain Indifferent to the world That exists around me I would rather watch Humans than actually Be one of them.
0
Jul 31, 2018
Jul 31, 2018 at 5:30 AM UTC
Rather
With so little time I could not decide. Shelf after shelf filled with book upon book. The likes I've dreamed of reading. Most bookstores have there signs posted. Opening and closing time. But this, this was something out of the ordinary. Not a soul wandering through the isles. No checkout line. It was intimate. Being here alone surrounded by book after book. Each with a cover beautifully drawn. Genres of insecurities, dreams, ambitions. Love. Any spot on the floor felt like home. Addressing myself in total seclusion. Mornings spent in thought embraced by the cold air flowing through the vents. Afternoons spent without a thing to do. The nights when a pillow was the only comfort, drifting off to sleep. Slow rather than fast. I flipped through page after page. Wandering from isle to isle undecided in which book I wanted to read first. Eying the shelves one at a time. Finding the beauty in what makes you, you. The marked on pages. The distraught covers. With so little time I didn't want to spend every second over-thinking. Analyzing exactly which stood out the most. When in actuality. They all are a part of you
0
Aug 14, 2018
Aug 14, 2018 at 10:07 AM UTC
Actuality
The libraries and bookstores of the world Are stocked with pleasantries: Prim, proper, peach juice-oozing volumes That made the grade. These books are all well and good, And are not unworthy of examination, Simply because they were deemed so By a jury of your peers. Make note, however, Of the myopia inherent In limiting yourself To the savoury. Observe: Past the shelves of Well-lit, Worn-covered Thoroughly thumbed delicacies, There is more to be seen. Do not hesitate to approach the shelves Wreathed in thorns and security tape And kept under dim bulbs. The books that lurk there Are sealed tight And wear jackets plastered in sludge: Sludge laid thick by heavy-handed brushstrokes. Prying open the padlock Will sometimes reveal Further grime coagulated upon the pages. Further prying, however, Will split open tomes Scrawled with fractures of light, Lending to the eye An illumination unique To such tarred works. Do not fear these banned books, These veiled wonders, For they contain pure, unscreened scrawlings Soulfully wrought upon simple scraps of paper. It is within these that truth can be found.
0
May 8, 2015
May 8, 2015 at 7:58 AM UTC
Banned Books
where did i lose my warmth? at which place had i turned my switch? in starbucks? secondhand bookstores? was it in the local bar or the liquor store? in houses i crashed, couches i spent the night on or of dorm rooms i slept at and sheets i found comfortable? to what girl had i offered it in lieu of the rush? had i made the trade with the girl who dragged me through unlit streetlights as she had her lips perched on mine, opened my heart with intensity that made her tremble and eventually turned me into a massive mess. was it her? i was always too drunk to recall. or perhaps i gave it away, little by little to the bartender in a black shirt with a walrus at the back, and his sadness was seen in his eyes every night. we never really spoke. i ask for shots, he gives them to me. but he understood. i know he always did. he looks at me in a way. all fuckups know why we do the things we do was it with him? or was it the cigarette lady from where i lit my first menthol stick and swallowed the cough that i really wanted to release? maybe it goes farther back had i lost my warmth in words? in unsent text messages? literature? poetry? essays? prose? metaphors – not at all. i lost it when i was eight when i knew about my father's infidelity when i felt my first rejection when i felt so unwanted when my heart broke for my mom there, in that very dark room had i lost it all. but the better question should be: was it ever there?
0
Jul 11, 2018
Jul 11, 2018 at 6:47 AM UTC
was it ever there?
hello, love. one day i would like a library a whole library, in our very own house. I've already started collecting, you know (things like that take a lot of planning) books, i mean. collecting books from second-hand bookstores and thrift shops. floor to ceiling to floor, the room will have books and millions of golden threads leading from the pages, connecting our little corner of the world to the rest of it. to London in 1854, and Iran in 1990, and India tomorrow. we can walk into our library any old time and amble right on through to anywhere. mom didn't like to buy me many books as a child oh, yes, she taught me the importance of reading we read every day, and for that i owe her my life. but we didn't buy them books, i mean because i'd read them too quickly a day or two, maybe and so we used the library want to know something nerdy? i was probably the only nine-year-old in the city to have the library card number memorized, all fourteen digets. did you know they max out at 30? books, i mean. 30 books at one time. We will read to our children every single night. we will act out the stories; we will help them see that the stories are just as alive and breathing as they are. you can be Peter Pan, and i'll be Frances Hodgson Burnett's Sara Crewe. and when they are old enough, they will read to themselves every day as a chore, like making their beds or unloading the silverware. hopefully they won't see it like that, like a chore. hopefully they will become addicts. they will sneak flashlights into their rooms and read underneath the covers after bedtime every night. but we'll never ground them for that. instead, we'll take trips to the library and teach them how to dream. all my love.
0
Nov 21, 2011
Nov 21, 2011 at 2:21 PM UTC
note to the one-day mister, v.I
hello, love. one day i would like a library a whole library, in our very own house. I've already started collecting, you know (things like that take a lot of planning) books, i mean. collecting books from second-hand bookstores and thrift shops. floor to ceiling to floor, the room will have books and millions of golden threads leading from the pages, connecting our little corner of the world to the rest of it. to London in 1854, and Iran in 1990, and India tomorrow. we can walk into our library any old time and amble right on through to anywhere. mom didn't like to buy me many books as a child oh, yes, she taught me the importance of reading we read every day, and for that i owe her my life. but we didn't buy them books, i mean because i'd read them too quickly a day or two, maybe and so we used the library want to know something nerdy? i was probably the only nine-year-old in the city to have the library card number memorized, all fourteen digets. did you know they max out at 30? books, i mean. 30 books at one time. We will read to our children every single night. we will act out the stories; we will help them see that the stories are just as alive and breathing as they are. you can be Peter Pan, and i'll be Frances Hodgson Burnett's Sara Crewe. and when they are old enough, they will read to themselves every day as a chore, like making their beds or unloading the silverware. hopefully they won't see it like that, like a chore. hopefully they will become addicts. they will sneak flashlights into their rooms and read underneath the covers after bedtime every night. but we'll never ground them for that. instead, we'll take trips to the library and teach them how to dream. all my love.
Continue reading...
35
angels. angels who miss their wings at 3 am when they feel more out of place in this body then before, angels who need pain to bring themselves out of their dreams, who ink themselves with words only prophets would understand; angels who have the most ordinary jobs like bus drivers and paper boys, people see them and think about them for moments too long. angels who turn to drinking and smoking, trying to forget the feeling of their wings pushing air behind them as they flew. angels who can't avoid the call of the sky and become pilots who are always drinking coffee because the caffeine reminds them of the golden ichor that was once flowing through their veins. vengeful angels who become pilots as well, who terrorize the winged folk to feel powerful again, to feel control again. angels who message each other, fingers trembling as they type out their dreams, trying to grab those memories that are just out of reach, gauzy and filled with blood and silver-tinted skin and golden eyes and so many feathers. angels who live in church basements and see pictures of themselves in the stained glass windows and go unclothed, trying to reach that feeling of purity, freedom. fallen angels who burn churches, filling their lungs with smoke as they climb to the steeple, not just from reprisal but from the feeling of mutiny. angels who ride out into the country alone with a handful of stolen cash who steal from nearly empty gas stations and throw rocks at the windows of abandoned barns after they've climbed to the roof and back to earth. angels who streak their backs with ashes because they don't have the scars that they should from having their wings torn away and the golden ichor doesnt bleed away and stain the ground like it used to. angels who hang out in bookstores and coffee shops because they're looking for an oracle or someone, anyone, who will listen to their impossible dreams of flight and blood spattering the ground, of fighting and dying and they can't explain it. angels with shaky hands who try to find love because there's something missing and everyone tells them that love will help them, and maybe it does, but there are always angels out there who have loved and loved and there is still something BROKEN, something LOST, and it's been pounded into their minds that they'll never know what it is. angels who run with demons and devils because there's nothing quite like the rush of running in the dark, standing at the edge of the city and feeling the wind nearly blow you off as you curl your toes on the edge of the roof, so close to the sky it takes their breath away. angels.
0
May 3, 2017
May 3, 2017 at 9:12 PM UTC
angels.
angels. angels who miss their wings at 3 am when they feel more out of place in this body then before, angels who need pain to bring themselves out of their dreams, who ink themselves with words only prophets would understand; angels who have the most ordinary jobs like bus drivers and paper boys, people see them and think about them for moments too long. angels who turn to drinking and smoking, trying to forget the feeling of their wings pushing air behind them as they flew. angels who can't avoid the call of the sky and become pilots who are always drinking coffee because the caffeine reminds them of the golden ichor that was once flowing through their veins. vengeful angels who become pilots as well, who terrorize the winged folk to feel powerful again, to feel control again. angels who message each other, fingers trembling as they type out their dreams, trying to grab those memories that are just out of reach, gauzy and filled with blood and silver-tinted skin and golden eyes and so many feathers. angels who live in church basements and see pictures of themselves in the stained glass windows and go unclothed, trying to reach that feeling of purity, freedom. fallen angels who burn churches, filling their lungs with smoke as they climb to the steeple, not just from reprisal but from the feeling of mutiny. angels who ride out into the country alone with a handful of stolen cash who steal from nearly empty gas stations and throw rocks at the windows of abandoned barns after they've climbed to the roof and back to earth. angels who streak their backs with ashes because they don't have the scars that they should from having their wings torn away and the golden ichor doesnt bleed away and stain the ground like it used to. angels who hang out in bookstores and coffee shops because they're looking for an oracle or someone, anyone, who will listen to their impossible dreams of flight and blood spattering the ground, of fighting and dying and they can't explain it. angels with shaky hands who try to find love because there's something missing and everyone tells them that love will help them, and maybe it does, but there are always angels out there who have loved and loved and there is still something BROKEN, something LOST, and it's been pounded into their minds that they'll never know what it is. angels who run with demons and devils because there's nothing quite like the rush of running in the dark, standing at the edge of the city and feeling the wind nearly blow you off as you curl your toes on the edge of the roof, so close to the sky it takes their breath away. angels.
Continue reading...
8
we are bystanders at heart. you always thought fools gold was beautiful and we knew how to reach for highlighted books in tattered low lighted bookstores where people used to show compassion for the little things. old men croaked in these heavy feathered seats but that didn't matter much. it gave the place some history it never really had. we would read each other excerpts that had no significance and you would think of me as kind of beautiful. some nights we would drink wine, but then switch to spiced *** to try and knock out the thoughts that left bad tastes on our swollen tongues. i'd end up too drunk, and you'd find your fingers woven in my hair that was too soft to hold on. sometimes you wished it was like wool, keeping your hands from rigor mortis and keeping me close to your bee hive body case, busy with engulfing my bystander heart. wool quilting to your shoulders, you wouldn't give this up. we may be patch work and hungover, but at least we can keep each other warm.
0
Sep 22, 2011
Sep 22, 2011 at 1:26 PM UTC
swollen wool.
daft as the last 3 things you said, I don't question much aside from life. in how many sentences could I make a reference to an old French poet to illustrate to you how little sense Albert Camus makes seeing as I have yet to go to university? You'd think the sand clocked in his socks from all those summers spent in Algier's would have consumed much more than background or 'home is where the heart is.' the right mind is the right heart is the home is the everywhere you go. in a world where 'I-Ching' and 'cha-ching' are context insofar as bookstores, I doubt much and question little, money is dharma too. dharma I wish to burn because my hate for money is dharma. back-flip. slightly arrested in development is the faculty of spirit in GDP, at least the lion still roams the Savannah and at least I can explore the lion. My New Years resolution is 1080p. what's yours?
0
Feb 3, 2013
Feb 3, 2013 at 1:41 AM UTC
as little and as much as and
your tunic pupils extractions from the sky encircle all that which lays in your deepest masculine eyelashes Im enthralled with your profile meager looks of hearts dispelled onto something greater than life in its most simplest form you represent everything natural extracted from the very womb of earth I am lost in my own thoughts of my responsibilites as a woman of culture and as an artist will I forgive myself for touching your wounds maybe not your judgment passes me as a frail child looks upon his guardian no I am not that I cant be yes yes I need these little things that make us move with what you say love love I do agree I nod my head in acceptence awfully to these things I can never posess I will speak to you in these matters harshly you see sometimes I come off as too intense too ****** at times I will make you forget that I contain any kind of beauty I have a holocaust in my heart somewhere in its driven corners and a black plague forfiting casting spells to hearts somewhere in my eyes I have sold many goodbyes ignored many whys and kept many standbys black I watched these skies turn red I watched these thighs burn and just as quickly turn pale with an execution that very well lasts a year sometimes I want to be yours but the sun and the moon cannot live side by side and neither could our two seperate cores the ****** and the sores sleeping somewhere under the beds of these bookstores you see I want to be yours but Im afraid I have been burnt single due to my wars
0
Nov 30, 2010
Nov 30, 2010 at 8:08 PM UTC
ever before
your tunic pupils extractions from the sky encircle all that which lays in your deepest masculine eyelashes Im enthralled with your profile meager looks of hearts dispelled onto something greater than life in its most simplest form you represent everything natural extracted from the very womb of earth I am lost in my own thoughts of my responsibilites as a woman of culture and as an artist will I forgive myself for touching your wounds maybe not your judgment passes me as a frail child looks upon his guardian no I am not that I cant be yes yes I need these little things that make us move with what you say love love I do agree I nod my head in acceptence awfully to these things I can never posess I will speak to you in these matters harshly you see sometimes I come off as too intense too ****** at times I will make you forget that I contain any kind of beauty I have a holocaust in my heart somewhere in its driven corners and a black plague forfiting casting spells to hearts somewhere in my eyes I have sold many goodbyes ignored many whys and kept many standbys black I watched these skies turn red I watched these thighs burn and just as quickly turn pale with an execution that very well lasts a year sometimes I want to be yours but the sun and the moon cannot live side by side and neither could our two seperate cores the ****** and the sores sleeping somewhere under the beds of these bookstores you see I want to be yours but Im afraid I have been burnt single due to my wars
Continue reading...
60
I’m never sure. it’s sad. I know. I want to be honest. sometimes I’m too honest, honestly, and in the wrong way. the worst way. I want to be good. good at something anything, really. I don’t know what. maybe I’d be a good barista or a good waitress. I don’t know. sushi chef maybe? is that even something that I’d want to do? I hate when people say they do “computers”. That’s not even DOING something. That’s just a noun. Can I say I do “books”?? Is your job too complicated to explain to simple old me? I need to work on being logical with my heart. I need to start believing in chances. I have a poet’s eye, so why can’t I have her ever-breaking heart? her softasskin soul? her longing for cold winters and sunbright lemonaid her love of love? I have a bitter feel of love. it’s twisted into a harsh hatred. It’s eaten by doubt. It doesn’t smile, it blushes, it hides. I need to re-coax love into existence. so that when it opens up, it recreates the boundaries of safety that I so crave. I want to be the fearless poet that Frost examines in his woods I want the flawed sex-ful poet that Bukowski loves to paint I want the darkest raven-breasted poet that Poe tearfully wrote or I want to be my own poet, lost in thick dusty second-hand bookstores, full of soggy stories too heavy sometimes to re-tell.
0
Oct 18, 2015
Oct 18, 2015 at 2:46 PM UTC
what I want to be