empty bellies....
a swelling
glow

tissue wings
tracing smoky blends...
wet meadows

goggle eyes
stirring marshy pools...
mirrors mist

a wild chorus
dims porch lights....
a concerto

ivies arch
stretching tunes...
flames convulse

signals wave
on long grass blades
for chats

the night
flares up in flakes...
an interlude

stars back off
pulling out their lights  ...
a truce

Copyright : Malintha Perera 2014

I really want
To c my dad
But he only
Makes me mad

© From A Poet's 💔
3/22/20

Photo inspiration

Kissing in the rain
Washes away the pain
Even if it's in the shower
That takes over an hour
The hot water will run out
Then cold water comes out the spout
And then kills the mood
So we move to the room
Things r heating up now
There's no turning back now
Let's keep the momentum going
Now that our juices r flowing

© From A Poet's ♥️
5/12/20

2 Mother's Days
Came & went away
2 Mother's Days
I cried the day away

© From A Mother's 💔
5/12/20

Stress is a b*tch
It steals your joy
It makes u itch

© From A Poet's ♥️
5/11/20


Co-vid
Inspired by Jolene by Dolly Parton

Co-vid! Co-vid!
Co-vid! Co-vid!
We're beggin' of you please don't take our health!
Co-vid! Co-vid!
Co-vid! Co-vid!
We're beggin' of you please don't take our wealth!

Your symptoms come n a disguise
The media spreading all your lies
W/ scare tactics & fear mongering
Your gift to us makes us all cuss
We can't b who we were once
And we cannot compete with u
Co-vid

We dream about u n nightmares
U r on the news, u're everywhere
There's no escaping u @ all
Co-vid

But we can't easily understand
How you can take women & men
But u don't know what they mean 2 us
Co-vid

Co-vid! Co-vid!
Co-vid! Co-vid!
We're beggin' of you please don't take our health!
Co-vid! Co-vid!
Co-vid! Co-vid!
We're beggin' of you please don't take our wealth!

U could have your choice of homes
But we can't just go out & roam
Home's the only place 4 us
Co-vid

I had to write this song to u
Our very lives depend on u
And whatever u sent our way next
Co-vid

Co-vid! Co-vid!
Co-vid! Co-vid!
We're beggin' of you please don't take our health!
Co-vid! Co-vid!
Co-vid! Co-vid!
We're beggin' of you please don't take our wealth!

Co-vid! Co-vid!

© From A Quarantined Poet's ♥️
4/19/20

Covid-19
U r obscene
We once were free
But we couldn't see

U stole that
From us
Til we
Wanna cuss

We can't see
Our fam
And u don't
Give a ****

We can't see
Our friends
Will this
Pandemic end?

Some can't go
To work
U're just a
Big ****

Kids can't
Go to school
Now parents
Have to enforce rules

© From A Quarantined Poet's ♥️
4/8/20

Quarantine
Day 33!
***!
Woe is me!

Quarantine
Day 33!
Who r u &
Who is she?

Quarantine
Day 33!
Washing hands
To meet demands

Quarantine
Day 33!
Only go to work
Don't get perks

Quarantine
Day 33
I work full-time
But not he

Quarantine
Day 33
Shopping carts
6 feet apart

6 feet apart
And no hugs
6 feet apart
Don't share cootie bugs

© From A Working Quarantined Poet's ♥️
4/11/20

N response to another poet's poem

We too are essential
And get paid small
For the work we do
For travelers and all

To find place of rest
At our hotel
We're practically the only ones open
As u can tell

I'm also a caregiver
Keeping people healthy
Although with covid-19
Not many r wealthy

We're all n this 2gether
All over the world
Hopefully future changes come
Soon to the weather

Don't matter the color of skin
Black, white or brown
We're all stuck in
All over every town

© From A Poet's ♥️
4/11/20

The 12 Months Of Lockdown

On the first month of lockdown all over my small town,
Jobs laid off, people stayed home!

On the second month of lockdown all over my small town,
People got bored
Jobs laid off, people stayed home!

On the third month of lockdown all over my small town,
Online jobs,
People got bored
Jobs laid off, people stayed home!

On the fourth month of lockdown all over my small town,
Video chats
Online jobs,
People got bored
Jobs laid off, people stayed home!

On the fifth month of lockdown all over my small town,
Homeschooling!
Video chats
Online jobs,
People got bored
Jobs laid off, people got sent home!

On the sixth month of lockdown all over my small town,
Honey-do projects!
Homeschooling!
Video chats
Online jobs,
People got bored
Jobs laid off, people got sent home!

On the seventh month of lockdown all over my small town,
Toilet paper hoarding!
Honey-do projects!
Homeschooling!
Video chats
Online jobs,
People got bored
Jobs laid off, people got sent home!

On the eighth month of lockdown all over my small town,
Pay your bills online!
Toilet paper hoarding!
Honey-do projects!
Homeschooling!
Video chats
Online jobs,
People got bored
Jobs laid off, people got sent home!

On the ninth month of lockdown all over my small town,
People went crazy!
Pay your bills online!
Toilet paper hoarding!
Honey-do projects!
Homeschooling!
Video chats
Online jobs,
People got bored
Jobs laid off, people got sent home!

On the 10th month of lockdown all over my small town,
Hosting watch parties!
People went crazy!
Pay your bills online!
Toilet paper hoarding!
Honey-do projects!
Homeschooling!
Video chats
Online jobs,
People got bored
Jobs laid off, people got sent home!

On the 11th month of lockdown all over my small town,
Virtual church attendance
Hosting watch parties!
People went crazy!
Pay your bills online!
Toilet paper hoarding!
Honey-do projects!
Homeschooling!
Video chats
Online jobs,
People got bored
Jobs laid off, people got sent home!

On the 12th month of lockdown all over my small town,
Wear face masks & gloves
Virtual church attendance
Hosting watch parties!
People went crazy!
Pay your bills online!
Toilet paper hoarding!
Honey-do projects!
Homeschooling!
Video chats
Online jobs,
People got bored
Jobs laid off, people got sent home!

© From A Quarantined Poet's ♥️
4/11/20

We're 'spose 2 b locked down
But it don't look like it
But all over my town
Ppl r pitching fits

They cannot go c
Their own family
They cannot go do
What they intended to

They r stuck inside
W/ family they hate
W/ rules 2 abide
They can't go out on dates

They will get over it
(Not b4 they pitch a fit!)
Or they'll get a ticket
(And they can't afford it!)

© From A Quarantined Poet's ♥️
4/12/20

People wear frowns
And they wear gowns
People wear face masks While doing tasks

Pretty soon they'll wear
Coverings for their shoes
Just like doctors
And surgeons do

People wear gloves
Afraid they'll get sick
Like God up above
Couldn't heal them that quick

© From A Poet's ♥️
4/12/20

Easter n quarantine
This is obscene!
Easter n quarantine
Covid-19, u r really mean!

© From A Quarantined Poet's ♥️
4/12/20

I can't c my kids
He still says they r his
He teaches them hate
Now that Morgan is 8

Roy's following too
And I don't know what to do

© From A Mother's 💔
4/14/20

He found another way
For DSS to say
That I cannot c
Not even #3

He's using the system
To benefit him
To brainwash them
Against me & William

© From A Mother's 💔
4/14/20

Happy birthday
To u all
Sorry that I
Couldn't call

© From A Poet's ♥️
4/20/20

"Boredom"
Inspired by: "Jolene" by Dolly Parton

https://youtu.be/Ixrje2rXLMA

Boredom! Boredom!
Boredom! Boredom!
Please give everyone something else to do!
Boredom! Boredom!
Boredom! Boredom!
Please before we go insane inside!

Your torture is beyond compare
U drive us to the brink w/ dares
W/ nothing left to do but stare around
Your smile is like evil disguised
Your voice telling all kinds of lies
And we've run out of things to do,
Boredom!

They talk about u on the news
You're streaming w/ the largest views
There's nowhere we can escape u
Boredom!

And I could easily understand
How you have need to recruit us
But you don't know what sanity is
Boredom!

Boredom! Boredom!
Boredom! Boredom!
Please give everyone something else to do!
Boredom! Boredom!
Boredom! Boredom!
Please before we go insane inside!

U could choose other planets
But u have chosen planet Earth
Seems we're the one for the job
Boredom!

I had 2 get this off my chest
So we can actually get some rest
I hope there is not another test
Boredom!

Boredom! Boredom!
Boredom! Boredom!
Please give everyone something else to do!
Boredom! Boredom!
Boredom! Boredom!
Please before we go insane inside!

Boredom! Boredom!

© From A Poet's ❤️
4/21/20

If I cuss like a sailor
And dress like a tailor
Then my mouth would b *****
Even passed the age of 30.

© From A Poet's ♥️
4/22/20

If it smells like a trout
And u can't stay out
B sure to use protection
So u won't get an infection

© From A Poet's ♥️
4/22/20

We pay rent
And don't c a cent
Of it in air
And she doesn't care

© From A Poet's ♥️
5/3/20

Photo challenge

I caught Tinker Bell!
The devilish little sprite!
She has been causing hell!
When she is out of sight!

© From A Poet's ♥️
5/3/20

I see your face
I hear your voice.
Memories come rushing back
Yet they couldn't feel further away.
I miss you every day
I have so much more to say
But the words just won't come out
Even now, you still take my breath away
Nothing romantic between us,
Just being able to put the masks down
You still see me. You still don't run
You still love me and I wonder how that could be.  
You actually did love me, for real.
The first that actually said the words like that
The moment you said it, I knew at once you meant it.
We will never have what I saw and I am okay with that
As long as I can hold onto the once in awhile chats and the memories of those long nights and poetry, I will be okay.  
I love you
I miss you
Be well.
Smile often
Laugh and sing without holding back.
You are still the most beautiful man I have ever known.

For The Late Night Chats
For HKS*
I Didn't Believe In Angels Until I Met Her
She Cleared The Blur
Baby I Promise You Us Forever
We Met & My Pain Was Understood
You Are Pretty Good
For You Cared
When I Feared
Your Warm Embracing Hugs Made Me Feel Home
You Be The Reason I Don't Feel Alone
For You Were There
When I Could Hardly Bear
Baby I Want You To Know
Each Passing Day My Love For You Shall Grow
People May Come & Go
But To You Sweetheart My Heart I Owe
Your Smile So Beautiful, True & Bright
My Life Has True Meaning When You Are At Sight
I'll Stay
Never Ever Leave You Away
Baby I'll Be You Happy Everyday
Your Words So Pure
I Love You More
Your Eyes So Kind
That I'll Never Leave You Behind
Strongest Bond We Do Share
Always Know I Do Care
You have Embraced Me, & Your Friendship Is True
I Know I'll Withstand Everything, Now That I Have You

Each afternoon in Granada,
each afternoon, a child dies.
Each afternoon the water sits down
and chats with its companions.

The dead wear mossy wings.
The cloudy wind and the clear wind
are two pheasants in flight through the towers,
and the day is a wounded boy.

Not a flicker of lark was left in the air
when I met you in the caverns of wine.
Not the crumb of a cloud was left in the ground
when you were drowned in the river.

A giant of water fell down over the hills,
and the valley was tumbling with lilies and dogs.
In my hands' violet shadow, your body,
dead on the bank, was an angel of coldness.

there are some mornings, like these,
where simply getting out of bed is too much.
The thought of leaving this room overwhelms me,
I'll nearly collapse if I must go on to share small talk,
explaining  w h o   I      a m
where I've b e e n
w h e re      I '   l  l   g o.
These chats feel like a million bugs crawling on my skin,
as I anticipate the thumbs up to be able to shake them all off

There Is An Old Poet Called Bill
Who hid keys and thought remember he will!
and when he found, what it opened he forgot
He's kind, engaging and chats a lot...
That Good Old Poet Called Bill.

Santa Claus is 100% pure love
his heart does not divide
the starved and homeless man with his tin cup
from the wealthy politician in his black limousine

nor does Santa ever blame
the frightened small town girl
who paints her lips and struts unsure
down hard dark streets

Santa Claus remembers his own mother
and weeps for the lonely karma of octogenarians
diapered in wheelchairs along fluorescent hallways
abandoned by the ones they birthed

our great elf winces every time
he feels the crocodile's fearsome jaws
drag the wildebeest down
while the zebras flee

he prays relentless sailors
stop harpooning the great breaching whales
and hears the grasses scream
when bloated oilmen pound holes
in the prairie dog's kingdom

he regrets that schoolteachers lie
about what a great man Columbus was
and why the Sioux, the Apache and the Arapahoe
were incapable of evolution

he knows you don't need a bicycle helmet
to ride downtown for ice cream
knows our legal system is for sale
knows surfing is Neptune's brave ballet

Santa delights in the spiritual joy emerging
when patients see angels hovering everywhere
before doctors scream psychosis
and numb what they do not understand
with sad needles and leather restraints

his reindeer are the dreams of the spastic child
who knows he will never run
his sleigh a zero carbon emission vehicle
and his great heavy bag carries
the sweet prayers of the Jew, the Christian
the Muslim, the Buddhist, the Hindu
the Gnostic, the Wiccan and the existential humanist

on the night before Christmas
Santa dreams that all the cars and trucks disappear
and every freeway grows trees and flowers and grass
where everyone chats and meanders and strolls
and vendors sell SnoCones, apple juice and pears

because Santa Claus is just doing
the one thing he knows how to do best
on a long winter's night
to bring some light to a world
that races toward extinction
while the butterfly sleeps with the lizard
and the children still believe

Its a silent chilly night
Sitting here alone
My boredom is maximum
Decided I need a night out..
Perhaps just a walk and breathe some fresh air...

Walking past the old museum
A glimpse of an old man
sitting on a chair...
His shadow on the wall can tell
Just how bored he must have been
Working all night long..
especially on a chilly winter night

I approach the old watchman
Offers him a cigarette,
It may sound crazy
but I really need a company
This Night watchman  says, quite surprisingly,
" everything is quiet"
too dead in the museum...
as if he understands my curiosity
about being a night watchman

I don't need to probe more
he says its too eerie in the inside
surrounded with a hundred to 800 years old artifacts
and some classic works of dead artists
I work for the pay... he says...
I don't need to protect the antiques..
To this I am quite amazed...
but he says, " at night when everything is dark and quiet"
the museum comes to life...
my heart beats faster to this...
a real creepy story.. he is telling me..

He admits having difficulty to breathe
when he sees all the musical instruments
played by themselves one night...
when he tried to run... all doors are locked by themselves
he even peed in his pants watching all the statues
dancing and partying in every floors of this very very old museum
a spooky place... yes... ghostly spirits yes...
name it.. he says "I have met them all"
and even shake hands with them every night...

I have cold sweats... I have goosebumps...
I ask him whether he'd like a tuna sandwich
I'd go and buy them and come back for more chats with him
Its 3 am and I am listening to all these horror stories
from an old night watchman...

He agrees for the offer of sandwich
and demands for a black coffee too...
I runs to the nearest Seven Eleven
and returns as soon as possible...

I am standing here now in front of the old museum
with sandwich and coffee in my hand...
The Night watchman isn't there anymore...
he just disappears...

Curiosity makes me come back
the very next day
only to find out..
the Night watchman I talked to ...
and smoked with...
has passed away a year ago...
what an eerie feeling...
I just had an interview with  a dead Night watchman...

Fable V, Livre I.


Pataud jouait avec Raton,
Mais sans gronder, sans mordre ; en camarade, en frère.
Les chiens sont bonnes gens ; mais les chats, nous dit-on ?
Sont justement tout le contraire.
Aussi, bien qu'il jurât toujours
Avoir fait pate de velours,
Raton, et ce n'est pas une histoire apocryphe,
Dans la peau d'un ami, comme fait maint plaisant,
Enfonçait, tout en s'amusant,
Tantôt la dent, tantôt la griffe.
Pareil jeu dut cesser bientôt.
- Eh quoi, Pataud, tu fais la mine !
Ne sais-tu pas qu'il est d'un sot
De se fâcher quand on badine ?
Ne suis-je pas ton bon ami ?
- Prends un nom qui convienne à ton humeur maligne ;
Raton, ne sois rien à demi :
J'aime mieux un franc ennemi,
Qu'un bon ami qui m'égratigne.

The future won't find my love letters
Just texts trapped in old phones
Emails stuck on old hard drives
Maybe a password protected server

My grandchildren won't find our video chats
Even if they were recorded
All I have for them is passwords
Saving my love in clouds

The future won't know the details of how much I loved you

De jeunes écoliers avaient pris dans un trou
Un hibou,
Et l'avaient élevé dans la cour du collège.
Un vieux chat, un jeune oison,
Nourris par le portier, étaient en liaison
Avec l'oiseau ; tous trois avaient le privilège
D'aller et de venir par toute la maison.
À force d'être dans la classe,
Ils avaient orné leur esprit,
Savaient par cœur Denys d'Halicarnasse
Et tout ce qu'Hérodote et Tite-Live ont dit.
Un soir, en disputant (des docteurs c'est l'usage),
Ils comparaient entre eux les peuples anciens.
Ma foi, disait le chat, c'est aux égyptiens
Que je donne le prix : c'était un peuple sage,
Un peuple ami des lois, instruit, discret, pieux,
Rempli de respect pour ses dieux ;
Cela seul, à mon gré, lui donne l'avantage.
J'aime mieux les athéniens,
Répondait le hibou : que d'esprit ! Que de grâce !
Et dans les combats quelle audace !
Que d'aimables héros parmi leurs citoyens !
A-t-on jamais plus fait avec moins de moyens ?
Des nations c'est la première.
Parbleu ! Dit l'oison en colère,
Messieurs, je vous trouve plaisants :
Et les romains, que vous en semble ?
Est-il un peuple qui rassemble
Plus de grandeur, de gloire, et de faits éclatants ?
Dans les arts, comme dans la guerre,
Ils ont surpassé vos amis.
Pour moi, ce sont mes favoris ;
Tout doit céder le pas aux vainqueurs de la terre.
Chacun des trois pédants s'obstine en son avis,
Quand un rat, qui de **** entendait la dispute,
Rat savant, qui mangeait des thèmes dans sa hutte,
Leur cria : je vois bien d'où viennent vos débats :
L'Égypte vénérait les chats,
Athènes les hiboux, et Rome, au capitole,
Aux dépens de l'état nourrissait des oisons :
Ainsi notre intérêt est toujours la boussole
Que suivent nos opinions.

The rooftop setting is all I could ever ask for
It is way more romantic than the sunsets in the shore
You can both watch the stars twinkle and the city lights glow
While you can hear busy chats of the people as the car honks from below

The breeze that makes your body quiver,
Has also caused your dear lips to wither,
Which gave him a hint to wrap you around his arms,
And to carefully kiss you with no possible harm

Now there were two of them
Separated between thousands
of read texts and timely
chats touched by sound
but not skin  
Awake in the others sleeping
Sleeping in the others awake  
Restless as they wait
Restless as they wait

Do you ever think of me
Or what happened last November
Do you think of us, at least?
I doubt you still remember

Our secrets, our laughs.
Our blogging, our chats.
About how musicians took our breath away
and how you’d be one someday.

I remember how you’d sing
Serenade me just for fun
But the lyrics, they meant nothing
Significance? To you there was none.

I remember how you hurt me
Toyed around with my heart
You made me feel like a nobody.
Now this was the hard part.

I remember all this *******
Even though its been a year
Do you think of me like this?
The answer is what I fear.

I doubt you ever think of me
Or the promise that you made
I wish you’d think of us, at least.
And what caused us to fade.

Un angora que sa maîtresse
Nourrissait de mets délicats
Ne faisait plus la guerre aux rats ;
Et les rats, connaissant sa bonté, sa paresse,
Allaient, trottaient partout, et ne se gênaient pas.
Un jour, dans un grenier retiré, solitaire,
Où notre chat dormait après un bon festin,
Plusieurs rats viennent dans le grain
Prendre leur repas ordinaire.
L'angora ne bougeait. Alors mes étourdis
Pensent qu'ils lui font peur ; l'orateur de la troupe
Parle des chats avec mépris.
On applaudit fort, on s'attroupe,
On le proclame général.
Grimpé sur un boisseau qui sert de tribunal :
Braves amis, dit-il, courons à la vengeance.
De ce grain désormais nous devons être las,
Jurons de ne manger désormais que des chats :
On les dit excellents, nous en ferons bombance.
À ces mots, partageant son belliqueux transport,
Chaque nouveau guerrier sur l'angora s'élance,
Et réveille le chat qui dort.
Celui-ci, comme on croit, dans sa juste colère,
Couche bientôt sur la poussière
Général, tribuns et soldats.
Il ne s'échappa que deux rats
Qui disaient, en fuyant bien vite à leur tanière :
Il ne faut point pousser à bout
L'ennemi le plus débonnaire ;
On perd ce que l'on tient quand on veut gagner tout.

A brush of lips,
a trace of fingers
against warm flesh,
The warmth of your eyes
The simplest of seduction.
A heated sigh against
a cheek of another,
the whisper of
'I love you'
and I'm yours
The simplest seductions.
A simple embrace
and the strength of
our ever long chats
The sight of your smile
sends a heart racing
The simplest of seduction.
The feel of your lips
upon the flesh,
a quick hug to
show that you care.
The simplest of seduction,
and forever I'm yours.

distant visions of dancing women
giving pause to the loggers
reeking of pine
wine glasses *****
and clinking friends make amends
sending bygones to faraway lands
bark chips in unkempt beards
appear in the florescent glow
to show a road map to the mountain
crags and snags left
for wildlife habitat
rabbit foot key chain bangs
the leg of a drunkard
who flunked out
yet runs the equipment of
a multimillion dollar outfit
no quit in the eyes
of men realizing self-worth
through **** of the earth
taped fingers set chokers snug
upon trees laid like rungs
up the barren hillside
fireside chats about bobcat tracks
and the rack on the elk that got away –

It's shoots brightly, up and up and up until it is noticed-and feared.
It's body is slim and beautiful, but it hits whatever it wishes to, and strikes stupidity into young minds and wariness into wise ones, all the while not caring about how close it's getting.
People carry on with their everyday lives as a shield to protect them from a chaotic outbreak.
"Stay calm," the man chats in his head.
"Don't panic," the teen thinks as it strikes the top of a building three blocks away.
"It's only a little lightning, it can't hurt you," the mother tells her child as he stares in wonder at what he is most afraid of.
The thunder crashes loudly through the sky, rattling the windows and the hearts of those who fear it.
And forever, I remain afraid.

Seems today it's just this empty bottle on the table
Me and a couple of strangers
Sitting in front of the bending machines
It's always like this, isn't it?

We gaze to every corner of the room, to every direction as if looking for another human to interact with, expect we never gaze into each other eyes.

Sigh

Someone just left...

--

Ive been meaning to write more often than ever
But exams have been consuming my thoughts
They have no energy to run
And who am I kidding? It's not my thoughts
but me whose energy has been depleted

Often I thought it was him, rather us,
Who didn't have energy to go on
Who didn't have electricity to keep a relationship going
But There was no chemistry
there was no relationship
Only chats
Conversations
that hold a meaning
and a couple of memories
that all lead back
to a screen
to this screen

I'm certain


That whomever reads those conversations
would think
It's just another one of my poems...

This week has been very long so far                                              
Maybe because I mashed my head on Saturday,                        
But Joe turned up to surprise his Ma,                                            
Would have bin rude not to share the MDMA.

But what goes up has to come down,
We had our fun, our chats, our tunes.
On Sunday he was Nottingham bound
Monday  a pin-pricked balloon.

Overcompensation followed
I Frontlined the pets, took the cat to the vets, did the weekly shop, used the hoover and mop.......watched "The Waltons"........I made pies and mash, grieved for spent cash, looked for a job, tried not to open my gob..........watched "The Waltons"......I sorted the cupboards, mixed up my words, misheard repeatedly, had great thoughts ...fleetingly........watched "The Waltons"

Finally Friday beckons invitedly, a time of unwinding.
I can't believe that in the past I would have bin planning  
More pill taking excitedly.More fun and lights blinding
But thank god I'm too old to be young .....       Must be  soon Spring.

Gumdrops in Candyland, teardrops in soup;
Tomato red, I spin my head;
And jump now through the hoop.

In the rain I walked, in the rain we kissed;
Paper hats, playful chats;
Forgetting what I missed.

Forethought for me, an afternoon with you;
Flick the light, to day from night,
More love, your love, I do.

Her beauty leaves the gods to weep and beat
their chests from unfulfilled desire.  Her legs,
slender, strong, with graceful dancing feet.
Full of life, she understands the dregs,
the darker being lurking just below
my skin, the lust-filled poet-mystic. She
chats of cummings, karma and tarot
while cooking bolognese sauce with me.
Post-dinner, melting on my arm beside
me on the couch with baseball on the tube.
From there, off to the bedroom. Once inside...
well, kiss and tell is just extremely rude.
Ah, to be Young Frankenstein again;
creating love from Abbie Normal brain.