"carousel" poems
through the streets and column cracks
culture weaves and summer smacks
sacred figures, holy shrine
monastery in grand design
cathedrals, convents, heaven’s stars
god of neptune, god of mars
doge’s palace, alley ways
gondolier on full display
winged lions on pastel breeze
cicada singing from the trees
pillar walk of saint mark's square
basilica in all its flare
crosses shade the carousel
a bridge of sigh that leads to hell
golden stairs on placid ridge
arches of rialto bridge
torcello! murano! grigio!
the countess rides the river poe!
sins of seven, fiery hides
poplars bank the levee side
black plague, attila the ***
eden formed before the sun
paradise above the marsh
high alter, gothic arch
middle age, religious wars
celestial fountains, marble floors
sculpted peacock, catholic faith
all is true the great god saith
Jul 19, 2018
Jul 19, 2018 at 9:24 AM UTC
i always thought
you were thru traffic
that you were just jet lag
background noise
the kiss in the rain
i've never had
but what if you aren't?
what if this
was the thousandth time
i have loved you?
what if this is just a fresh coat of paint?
what if god
keeps a handkerchief
soaked in the day we met
next to his bed?
maybe theres a reason
i reach for no one in bed
the way i would
if someone used to be there
you know, they say
the road behind us
is littered with things
we couldn't hold onto
i wonder how many times
you've slipped through my hands
like hour glass sand
do you know
how much erosion you've caused?
i heard cupid
stopped keeping count
of how many times
we came together
just to come apart again
maybe it was just a rumor
it makes me think
about how many times
i've almost had you
like if all this talk
about history repeating itself
endlessly replaying is true
i wonder how many times
things have happened already
like the time
i tried talking you
into loving me back
back fired
or the time i could have sworn
jesus & lazarus were playing chess
with my heartbeat
but it was only you smiling
how many times
have i tried to tell you
how many times
have you read this poem
how many times
have i tried not to meet you
in my dreams anymore
it's like sleep tries to warn
me of what's happening
before it does but
i keep having this dream
where i tell you bedtime stories
and each one
is a different way you die
and in every one
i can never save you
it's like you're this song
i have on repeat
and every time it starts over
i forget the words
it's like you picked up the book entitled "us"
and the back cover
said you'd leave
so you never bothered reading it
tell me you aren't
going back in that bookstore
just to do it again
or will you tell me tomorrow?
or is this the time
you don't say anything at all?
if this has all happened before
if we call it quits
before we begin
again
from the beginning
i just want to ask you
to be my fire
because i am tired
of these old lives
and i'd like to see them
burn
Jul 15, 2014
Jul 15, 2014 at 2:56 PM UTC
On this carousel
You and I
Ringing bells
Time passes by
Scorching bulbs
Ornate bobbing horsies
Enchanting music
Tell of magical stories
I am here
On this side
You are there
Same ****** ride
Opposite ends
Placed we two
We can't see
But each other we knew
Friendly peeks
Directed to you
All I could afford
Keep you in view
Still rotating
Ride goes on
Chasing each other
No closer we've drawn
Enjoy the ride
Soak in the sights
Hold at bay
Reality that bites
Thought about
Getting off
Don't know how to
Come to a solve
Can't hold still
It's eating me alive
Can't just stay
Have to strive
Hand still holding on
One foot dangling
Second thoughts play
But bent on releasing
Take the first step
Don't overthink
Take the leap
Step off the brink
Close my eyes
Time is now
Just let go
Fate I must allow
Ready now
Time came to a freeze
*one...two...
three...release*
Now off the carousel
Cloying uncertainty
Never been here
Unknown territory
In the music
Found familiarity
Unsure if here
Is where I want to be
What do I do?
Wait a little more?
Hop back on?
Or await what's in store?
Glad I waited
Glad patience I found
There you are...
Coming back round
Oct 20, 2014
Oct 20, 2014 at 7:58 AM UTC
*Long lines looped the carousel
the first time you gazed my eye,
mounted on that chestnut mare,
grasped tight to the reigns up high.
I see his face around the bend,
a corn dog in his hand.
Locking eyes as I rise. I blush,
above the crowd he stands.
Light flickers, mouths water
delicate contoured lips laugh. I smile.
The music hesitates along with my breath.
I think I'll be staying awhile.
Bewildered and a little dizzy,
I dismount with a giggle.
I lick my dry lips, dreamily,
hoping he is single.
With the wind, a light mist blows.
I can see her slowly get wet,
stumbling she falls my way.
I'm excited, this day isn't over yet
Drip, drip, drip upon my face,
anxiously, I turn to hurry.
In my haste, he catches my waist
swallowing... I fall covertly.
Lips moisten, I pull her near
a kiss, slipped, tongues twirl,
wanton whispers whisked away,
drenched deep passion's unfurl.
A stranger's kiss upon my lips
beneath the dreary skies.
Soaking wet, I'm still on fire
He caught me by surprise.
A stranger's kiss upon my lips
beneath the queching skies.
Heaven sent, a burning desire;
she, such a welcomed surprise.*
Sep 28, 2017
Sep 28, 2017 at 1:37 PM UTC
*There's a key
that unlocks rainbows
that I keep within my heart.
It's a little "catch"
within my chest
where melancholy begins to start.
It unlocks walls,
emotions hide behind
(for my protection).
And it cracks the shell
surrounding me,
to give my soul direction.
Without this key,
I'll always be
a fire detachment smothers...
An empty vessel,
self-absorbed...
bereft of love for others.
But with it...
ah...then life becomes
a carousel of feelings.
A roller coaster
ride of love
with ups and downs revealing....
all the colors of the rainbow
all the tastes,
the sounds, the rhythms..
all the warmth of sacred lovers
and the heartbeat
that's within them.
And the key is dual
in purpose
with it's compass so unerring;
Guiding to my soul-mates
with a lifetime
that's worth sharing.
So, when I've found my heart's desire
THEN
I'll set the rainbow free.
Unlock the words
within my heart
and throw away the key.*
Jun 30, 2017
Jun 30, 2017 at 12:29 PM UTC
Contentment is for people who are satisfied to stop thinking.
To turn off all those parts of your head
That constantly generate questions
And continuously probe the accepted.
To hush the cells jumping up and down
To show you a new way to approach a topic,
Begging you to acknowledge the incredible plans
That could be birthed from the impossible way
You see the ordinary.
But I have an obligation to my mind.
Yes, sometimes it feels more like shackles than duty,
And yes, sometimes I want to abandon my notepad and paper
On the bedside table to have a "me day"-
Whatever that's supposed to mean -
Or halt the carousel of whirling thoughts for a nap,
But I can't.
I will always be curious, at my roots.
I grow from the dedication to my thoughts, upward.
A tree straining towards the light of innovation.
Why would I forsake the places my thoughts can take me,
Or the adventures my pen can take in translating them.
For the gifts this head gives me,
I must always be on call, on edge, on fire.
Contentment: unattainable.
Even if it weren't it would interfere with the very process
That would allow me to derive what meaning lies in contentment.
So that's my secret.
The Hulk was always angry, which is how he controlled and dominated.
I'm always searching, which is how I find and thrive.
I can't drown out my thoughts just to soak up the sun.
That's not contentment: that's complacency.
And complacency is not in my vocabulary.
How funny-
I am content with losing that one word
For the chance to be brilliant.
Dec 19, 2013
Dec 19, 2013 at 2:16 PM UTC
Walking alone day after day. I am a regular.
The giraffes know. The elephants remember.
The carousel and I go round and round, chasing;
Never catching anything or anyone. You are gone.
The monkeys at the zoo could never be true to you,
They told me so. I felt quite sad about it.
May 9, 2015
May 9, 2015 at 1:48 AM UTC
who is this
husky?
shedding luck and fur
down by the horizon.
town tips in snow
& breathy-fog.
the mountain tips and prays
on bowed-knee,
to daughters in pursuit of happiness,
& trees.
she’s out there looking for the best in mother
madness.
a horse’s bangs, sprung
moon to ridge
to purpling autumn-seared fields four days lit.
this ease into living,
carousel,
carnival of lights
& love.
the rolling of a family unit.
the sound and punched beauty of it.
like when we were birds, or kids, or
humming the sun
strummed hills.
[ catch a dream. ]
open your little eyes, bear cub.
see small pools of sulphurous heat
& repeat,
let go the smoke to breathe.
May 19, 2014
May 19, 2014 at 12:14 AM UTC
On a clear sky night
The sound of harmonica dancing
By the angles of the Moon
Drum pounds widespread
Waves floating in an ecstatic pace
The quiet bay listened with radiant Shells
Star specks lit sky humming
The Earth murmuring deeply
Pines reverberating in back chorus
Kids giggling around trippin' in thick dark
Tripping over some minor rocks, happy to
Embrace the unexpected music, dogs wiggling
Heavenly carousel shining upon their faces
Theater dreaming of the joyfull now
This exuberant laughter unsyncopated
Steps rhythm fading on their paths
Instruments put down, sounds of
Crickets, bare naked, two plunges
May 3, 2015
May 3, 2015 at 11:52 AM UTC
Dear Azi, I'm full of broken thoughts.
My insides are like a box of matches.
The moisture from my sorrow, wont allow combustion.
I get up every morning with a tourniquet in my hand,
seeking the self in the vestibule of my childhood.
Your caveats no longer reach me.
But, the sweet carousel of your laughter still does.
Each loss is a new vulnerability.
A subscript, for a long past bludgeon.
The only whisper that still holds,
is the one that tells of your past love for me.
May 14, 2017
May 14, 2017 at 1:00 PM UTC
words fall
like hapless fledglings
tossed from a cliff edged nest
with much screeching, squawking,
countless feathers lost
and then an awful thump
or hopeful, glorious flight
first love is tachycardiac love
all adrenaline, sweating palms
and stutter-stumbling sqeakings,
ungainly gropings,
when not with you, mopings
unrealistic hopings
for happy ever after endings,
breakings, bendings,
awkward mendings,
repeated leavings,
repented lovings.
heartfelt givings,
of broken hearted rendings.
lendings,
of time stolen from life
tearing, teasing,
tantalising teamings
crying, begging,
pleading strife
and then,
the metaphorical knife
cutting, slashing,
wordblow bashing,
screaming, reaming,
end to loves life.
til eventually, words fall,
like old birds leavings
to settle, unremarked upon
at the base of the tree of life.
first love's loss, is slow dying.
arrhythmia to flatline
in a multitude of laboured breaths
and long lingering sighs.
a loss of warmth,
from breast and thighs
and water copious,
falling from red rimed eyes.
sobbing, murmuring,
don't know whys?
from lips turned
toward,
bleakset skies.
as one settles firmly,
into black dog muck
no longer able to give a f▼ck.
tucked in tight to sadness,
lost all sight of former gladness,
caught up and shackled tight,
to the badness
around and around,
the carousel goes.
then,
at last,
the blessed silence,
as you die
one of many of....
life's little deaths
Apr 4, 2015
Apr 4, 2015 at 8:25 PM UTC
hopelessness is a fish gasping in oxygen
I take in the air but I refuse to call this
breathing and I refuse to call it dying.
I call this a desert; an eternity missing
the shoreline, missing the ocean wave
tango before leaving with the moon. I
refuse to call it foolish to hope I can be
more than a carousel ride of mistakes,
a revolving door of regrets. *"I am more
I am more"* I whisper to the moon.
Hopelessness is losing all your senses
and believing in love, or music, belie-
ving you can dance with the shoreline
one more time even with the saltwater
in your lungs, even with the ocean
waves pulling you back because
"I am more, I am more" the moon whispers, and
you believe him.
Jul 31, 2013
Jul 31, 2013 at 2:22 AM UTC
the cosmos
a web of plantary oppositions squares and triangulations
curses and blessings
demons, humans and gods
friends and enemies
each a constituent
a revolving carousel of heavens and hells
the macro, an umbrella of spilling stars
like shattered glass in flames
outer and inner stone & gas planets
wandering infinitely
like strays
others in tight gravitational ellipses and eclipses
the elements of fire air earth and water
from the most subtle formless
to rocks flames oceans and the air we breathe
disjuncture
in a
a mix-meister
a gruesome churning mouth swallowing our delicate membranes
and we wonder
why
we are in pain
why
we are nourished by flesh
as we ourselves are consumed
filled with blood and nothing
and deadened by marking time
all hungry shells
and why
we wither to dust
as do suns and moons
and gods themselves
all of us children of monsters
and corpse eaters
born of magnitudes
episodic collisions
and harrowing creative destructions
the dead living and the living dead
with eyes that flicker only on half a landscape at a time
a holloween
of pyramids and bones
always running from wolves
because we are meant to be eaten
okay my darlings
now
lets try
focused breathing,
and boundless light
lets try
being Hindu
Sep 16, 2018
Sep 16, 2018 at 2:23 PM UTC
“The Carousel”
February 7th, 2014.
Valerie Viele
There is never a moment to stop
A real stop
A true stop
A sincere stop
When everything quits, halts, ceases and refrains
No matter where one stands
or what character one sits upon
Even if one is stationary
The carousel still revolves
One can walk this way
One can walk that way
One can lie down
but the carousel still revolves
Can one get off?
Can one get back on?
Can one make the choice?
There is never a moment to stop
and the carousel still revolves
SSK<3
Feb 8, 2014
Feb 8, 2014 at 2:29 AM UTC
The sun tipping over the horizon
Lifts my lids each revolution of this Shady green sphere...
And for a few brief seconds
The fingers of sleep
Drag me back.
Warm pressure on my eyes,
Pooling, (re)opening them to the last
Paradise;
The only oasis where your eyes are not closed
And your bones are not dust somewhere
Mingling with the soil in Pittsburgh.
Just the same, I know you're the product now
Of some hypnagogic state;
Of the last traces of theoretical DMT swirling in my brain
As is leaves Morpheus behind in the shadows.
You're just the most beautiful hallucination
The truth in the chaos of dreams
Cluing me into what I've been denying
For 13 years.
Impossible that I've preserved you better
Than any mortician could have
In the recesses of my mind
You are a perfect replica
An unholy copy of the original
All creamy skin
And ocean eyes,
Full-lipped smile tipping somewhere between
Arrogance and joy.
"I'm gone," you say. "I'm dead."
Repeating what I already know
"I'm dead, I'm not coming back."
On repeat like the worst kind of ear worm;
A carousel of sound that dips and weaves through every filament of Unconsciousness.
Denial; like reaching out my hands
I shove against the reality, against the unreality
Against the prison sleep has woven
And crash forth
Damp and gasping
Like breaking the surface once more
Teetering over the horizon with the sun
Into the waking hell of another day.
The carousel makes another revolution.
See you on the other side tonight.
Nov 11, 2015
Nov 11, 2015 at 10:08 AM UTC
You're sitting across a table, in the next room- and it's the month of July.
And as the beads of sweat chip off your forehead
like a shank of butcher's meat,
your dorcel fin peaks through the sand where my toes peak through. The picnic table where I write letters; post cards.
I take photos, make reservations, and
even after I'm canceled on for walking around
downtown in my bright neon-pink underwear, I still roll to the
left side of the bed sit up and drop the cigarette I fell asleep on. You're just sitting, first entry: Stardom.
I don't have room for you in the corners.
The corners of this room, padded walls,
shifty vaseline sway- the white cotton stick
of a sucker pointing out of your mouth, its red numero forty dye shines
in the specks of light flicking
out of the horizon like a carousel ride
around and around.
I'm getting a bit dizzy, and even less honest.
If you want to see me spring,
like the silly string on my birthday, yellow silly-putty; molding the monster face,
I observe you through a kaleidoscope of dexedrine and morphine.
Your catastrophe with Xanax, passed out
in alien-green ******* at that party in the abandoned firehouse
on News St., how you could lay trust on me after that
(a daydream with sawing you called me)
sixteen-year-old mishap of an afternoon.
&
Apr 26, 2014
Apr 26, 2014 at 4:31 AM UTC
i am a
horse
on a
carousel
with four legs
built to run
but i insist
on retracing
the same
circle
Feb 4, 2015
Feb 4, 2015 at 7:37 AM UTC
In this night you sink,
You wait for an answer,
which will not come any more.
How far are you gonna take
this strange carousel,
You turn around aimlessly.
Love is a spell,
created by mortals,
Don't forget,
You are alive.
And It is time to shine.
Apr 7, 2015
Apr 7, 2015 at 4:16 AM UTC
Beneath the light of the starry sky
Embedded love fills my heart
Awaiting the journey pleasant and true
For the carousel of love to start.
Man of my dreams where for art thou
As I set with my thoughts of you
Magical moments entice my heart
Awaiting the carousel of love so true.
Moonlight takes over the light from the stars
In a distance I see the man of my dreams
Coming for me like a breeze in the night
The carousel of love starts to gleam.
The meeting of two hearts over joyed
By nights end they shall vanish as one
To eternity so fair and true
The carousel of love, just begun.
Jul 11, 2010
Jul 11, 2010 at 10:41 AM UTC
~~~
for Matt
~~~
*"My suspect credibility upon the rockets of birds,
the soft parts of people,
the oceans’ inevitable, cyclical weeping,*
Who has time for poetry has more time than they deserve"
Breaking Spring by Matt Hart
~~~
your words warp me,
the woven texture of your composition,
Matt,
dumbfounding the sweeping, weeping, instant recognition in
the soft parts' of
Nat,
where credibility
long past being suspected,
simply arrested for statutory dark room
torrented questioning
deserve poetry deserve blessing deserve curse
You Jacob, wrestle with this angel witch curveball!
'tis better to give or receive
this poetry admonishment?
for who knows where the time goes,
when the fix is in,
the addiction itch,
commands and commends,
*feed the poetry *****
write or die*
one fix, one poem,
carousel leads to another,
yet,
with only time to live,
pay the bills
for renting the space you Earth occupy,
no time for illegal
compulsive word blending
the interrogator demands
deserve poetry deserve blessing deserve curse?
*who is your supplier?
who is your time stealer?*
by the ocean, weeping,
you plead innocence,
just ill drivel, needy for expulsion,
deserving of repulsion,
swear repeatedly,
never again, imbibe, scribe
*but the ***** coos in my ear,
reaching beneath
the vulnerable soft tissued skin and cells:
write or die
I thieve your time,
'tis nothing you deserve,
I am Poetry,
just your mistress,
better served*
deserve poetry
deserve blessing
deserve curse
~~~
June 25, 2016
written by the ocean, weeping
Jul 3, 2016
Jul 3, 2016 at 1:25 PM UTC
Come one, come all,
To the strong mans downfall.
Cut the strings on the marionette,
Believe me, you won't soon forget
The haunting sound of the carousel
Or the staggering heights of the citadel.
A red balloon dancing perfectly in the pale gray sky.
A small child lets out a remorseful cry.
The clowns with their agonizing smiles,
Grab hold of your soul and change its style.
You've waited along time for this.
This frightening bliss of a midnight kiss,
And the familiarity of the moonlights whisper.
You've lost control of your juggling act
Prepare yourself for impact.
Watch out for where the sidewalk cracks,
Because everyone knows how that will end.
Come one, come all,
I've done it all
for you.
May 26, 2013
May 26, 2013 at 5:19 PM UTC
I heard a woman singing in the car,
about being reborn as a peacock for Krishna
so that she could sit in beautiful penance for him.
While watching whizzing morning work trucks,
and beat-up corollas and motion blur,
I thought of you in the stillness of sleep.
If I were to be reborn I'd like to be a bird as well
so that I could provide the down in your pillow,
and be cushion to your carousel crown
But then I would be lonely when you go to work.
If I were to be reborn, I'd like to be your sunglasses,
so that I could protect your squinting eyes,
and live by your lushest lashes.
But then you'd lock me away in a case, and I won't be able to see you.
If I were to be reborn, I'd be a bracelet made of magic beads,
so that I could promise health around your often pained wrists,
and fix the freedom in your fiery fingers.
But then you'll probably lose me, or unstring me accidentally with time.
If I were to be reborn, I'd like to be your favorite puppy,
so that I could pacify your inner turmoils.
and be held by your human hands.
But then you'll possibly outlive me, and I wish to watch you grow.
If I were to be reborn, I'd be lonely, locked away, left, lost, and outlived-
so I'd rather stay in this life with all of my privileges
of providing, protecting, promising and pacifying
as your lucky lover.
May 5, 2014
May 5, 2014 at 5:26 PM UTC
Tilt my world upside down
Take me to the fair
Cotton candy almost gone
Clowns do not care
Put me on the wooden horse
Spin me round and round
Up, down, turn it off
Carousel, I am bound
Get me off this wounded ride
No more stop and go
Blurry vision sinking in
Say it isn't so
Tortured mind, black my heart
Cancel out this game
Carousel is not fun
Nothing left to blame
Aug 10, 2015
Aug 10, 2015 at 7:23 PM UTC
~
*drawn to a twinkling
crown of muted lights
a moment in the waterfront
of your eyes
in between circadian rhythm
and a place called irresistible
there we listen to sun-filled hymns
and children's laughter
not caring what comes after...*
~
Aug 22, 2023
Aug 22, 2023 at 3:03 PM UTC