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Left Foot Poet Jan 2018
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inspired by a conversation with Maira Kalman


******* a name, adopt a persona, let my fingers do the talking,
place the instrumental sharp point tip upon the blankety blank paper,
maestro baton raised, coordinating,
the first sound, the vocal chords trembling,  
the first thought, the ultrasound image, entrance of a first violin,
coalescing into, into the initializing single primary phonation,
the stinging geometry of chance at last,
throwing  down the gauntlet, glove slapping, and the
tendons tense, the mouth opens, release and indentation,
a letter's curvature, a black and white downward stroking,
a sign is televised, revealed and released

a one way only sign

time bends knee, gravity suspended, terror morphs to
expelling rapid firefights of imagery needy for spacing,
even pauses mid-word  leave just this:

where is the in in
intimate?

are you the in in
inmate,
or the jailor at the gate?

you swear never again

until committing once more,

a sentence commutation, by committing a first sentence,

and the greater toll taken and paid for,

and the in in in-nate,
questions your sanity

happily


<•>

9/17/17 10:55pm
Nat Lipstadt Feb 2014
The unexpected snow, disruptive,
in ways more burdensome,
than mere fender benders and
swapping travelogue commutation miseries

ah, the tv reporters regale
with snow tales, human fails,
but where do you hear
of the children
burnt once by fire
then again, now,
again!
burnt by snow.

here, hear, listen here

technology moves forward,
grafting new shells of skin
on burnt children,
but tonite you're cozy thinking
of your valentine's heart,
not of the little ones,
whose hearts are unprotected,
by what we take so for granted

beneath our protective gloves and coats, scarfs and boots,
our prophylactic human skin,
theirs, fire ravaged,
now re-hazardous,
by southern snows burning

these children hurt,
unexpectedly,
cannot play in the snow that came so
unexpectedly,
lest it burn them worse*

"in the children's burn unit, postponed all surgeries except 'emergency'.  Two days of outpatient clinic patients forced to reschedule,. That then, postpones their surgeries, second step grafting, etc. Our vents ran smoothly I heard via the generators, unlike last outage. We had to ambulance each individual patient.

I dread going in tomorrow but small comfort,
it will be warmer than my cold home."

Life first, poetry second
burnt too oft by the supposed caregiver, but not of that now, but later for surety, will I **** them
Toxic yeti Dec 2018
Hey Karma
I thought we had
some thing special
Sharing more than
Just languages

Then commutation
Stopped
I check your profile
And you are
Nothing more than
Male *****
A concubine
To others

I love you unbearably
Though
I hate you unbearably.
James M Vines Sep 2016
The chains that I have forged are ones that you cannot see. I created them through selfishness and neglect. In pursuit of gain instead of love and mercy, now I sit trapped inside of a prison of my own making . My sentence has no commutation and I dare say no parole. I carry the memories of my mistakes etched into the table of my soul. I long to open the prison door and let myself go free, but alas when I drove you away, you took the key and your love from me.
ApoorvaHN Aug 2020
What if the letter never reached?
What if the message never screeched?
What if the poem never got heard?
What if the post was lost in the herd?
Lost in transportation is more possible than in translation
Lost in communication is more probable than in commutation

— The End —