"gnarly" poems
#
*Through the withered branches
where the verdant leaves once grew,
I stared up at the old oak tree
against a sky of blue.
The branches stretched to heaven
as a supplicant might do.
It seemed to pray, as if to say,
"My time at last is through."
I wondered at the gnarly trunk
and limbs of twisted wood
And for a moment thought of life
and almost understood.
Life and death go hand in hand.
Our time is our's to spend.
But like the tree against the gale,
‘tis better if we bend.
I'll pay it forward when I can.
Thy brothers' keeper be.
I'll keep the roots well watered
and learn the lessons of the tree.
It shares the world with nestlings
and it's acorns oft abound,
To feed the hungry denizens
that glean them from the ground.
It's leaves give shade to those below.
It's branches form a gym.
Children climb to see the world
and love this gift to them.
And as I watched, the farmer
came and laid the old husk low.
Firewood now, would be it's fate
and make the chimney glow.
Ashes unto ashes and to dust
we must return.
All of life in cycle goes
and from this I hope to learn:
This gift of life to all below,
all creatures great and small,
Is just a stop upon the trip
we travel, one and all.*
#
Apr 22, 2018
Apr 22, 2018 at 9:04 AM UTC
I see you, monster...
In your sockets bore dead, dark eyes
They hold the blackest of stares
Nebulous swirling pits of demise
Thin lips would spout the most sibilant of hisses
Every so often would curl into a snarl
Dry and chapped, almost unworthy of kisses
Large, rough snout, jutting out like a crag
You sniff around tirelessly for easy targets
Preying on the unsuspecting minds of those under your flag
Tapering chin, sprouting strands of coarse hair
Unkempt and gritty from your last meal
Decaying teeth, crooked due to little to no care
Your face is cratered; tales of trying adolescent years
Wearing a face only a mother could love
Expressionless but it screams out your fears
Ugly jointed limbs that grew out of sync
Disproportionate, misshapen, grotesque
Little noggin with sparse hair, packed within, a brain that thinks
I hear you, monster...
As you stalk your sleepless nights
Nocturnal ambience be your playground
Lurking in the dark; places with no light
Bulky, heavy feet but deft and silent
Can barely notice when you're up and about
As if cloaked yourself stealthy, with steps ever transient
Respire you do, exhaling breaths so gnarly
Ingesting good air, converting into fervid, loathsome notions
With which you paint a portrait so ghastly
I feel you monster...
Deep within the recesses of my heart
Destroying and distorting all that was pure
Testing my will till I should fall apart
You're but the twisted manifestation of conscience
Feeding on my trials and nurturing them into vile abominations
I despise that of you but I seem to have developed dependence
I see you, monster...
You're horrid and beastly, an embodiment of absolute horror
I await the day that you would finally dissolve
For I am weary of seeing you staring back in the mirror
Sep 18, 2014
Sep 18, 2014 at 9:23 PM UTC
So I heard once that there’s always
some gnarly looking carrot
in every bag of carrots
and you’re supposed make a wish on it
if you get it.
But I didn’t have a bag of veggies
I had a jar of Gumby and Poki
shaped gummies.
Finally the day came when there
were only two Gumbys left.
One was bent in half and
smashed together
and the other looked as all the rest had.
I pulled out the sad little gummy and
made a wish
like it was some ugly carrot.
I wished my crush would kiss me,
And giddily I walked to a coffee house
because I was hoping he would be there
even though I sternly told myself that
he had no reason to be there.
I found the coffee house closed and knew
my wish wasn’t happening that night.
I talked with a friend about my woes
and she confessed her heartache.
We smiled and laughed and died
just a little on the inside.
We had hoped that in college we wouldn’t
feel like middle school girls
with unrequited crushes.
The next day he dropped off a fish
(and this is no euphemism
or pretty poetry slang,
I opted to fish-sit while
he went home for break).
After he left, and
feeling more than silly
I took out the last Gumby
and pretended.
I pretended that it was every wish
on a boy I had made
since I realized boys weren’t
completely disgusting.
On my way to class
I held the little gummy in my
frozen, clenched fist
and wished
that’d he’d kiss me before he left.
I made it really specific
because every movie I’d ever seen
with genies in it had taught me that
specifics were key to avoiding
mishap and mayhem.
Obviously, it didn’t come true.
And I feel like I’m back in middle school,
wishing on ugly carrots and stars
that look suspiciously like airplanes.
Everyone has crushes,
and still more wishes.
Why I thought
at the age of nineteen
when the glamour of Disney-endings
and romantic-comedy plots
had tarnished to realism,
that a Gumby gummy prayer
would come true,
well I’m not entirely sure.
Maybe it’s no matter how old you are
there are always ugly carrots
and shooting stars
and fast airplanes
and romantic comedies
and gummies in the shape of
kids’ show characters.
Maybe no matter how disappointed I am
there will always be unrequited crushes
and genies for wishes
and God for prayers
and heaven forbid
hope.
Feb 1, 2013
Feb 1, 2013 at 11:53 PM UTC
Arms outstretched like the branches of a tree
Aspiring to be amidst with those borne of sky.
Gnarly bark, imploring the eyes of another
Weathered and worn... Skin and grain but parched dry.
Twig-like fingers that would bear no leaves.
With open barren palms that hover in the wind.
Longing and thirsty for the tears of rain
Pining for the heavens to wash away all they have sinned.
Spreading disjointed roots dig in,
In touch with the unseen core buried deep.
A tainted trove of lifelong poisons...
They greedily drink and keep.
Lone little trunk... That shoots up strong from ground.
Sturdy and hale, at least to the naked eye.
When in fact it's core is rotting within,
Eaten away by the worm of a single unassuming lie.
Sad fruitless tree...
Standing amidst the green thriving brush.
It dies with the hours baked in sun...
One day it'll fall, consumed by the secrets trapped in a silent little hush...
Feb 11, 2015
Feb 11, 2015 at 10:09 AM UTC
JEFF the Brotherhood, Metric, and Phantogram
FIDLAR, The Broken Social Scene, The Zac Brown Band
King Khan and the Barbeque Show,
Matt and Kim, Vampire Weekend, Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Jimi Hendrix, The Flaming Lips, Artic Monkeys
Florence + the Machine
Death Cab for Cutie, Bon Iver, Band of Horses, Parlovr
Kings of Leon, The Strokes, Yellow Ostrich, Cage the Elephant
*** Pistols, The Ramones, Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Bob Dylan
Young the Giant, The ** Ugly Casanova,
Modest Mouse, The Doors
Coldplay, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones
Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins
Titus Andronicus, Bob Marley
Queens of the Stone Age, Mana, The White Stripes:
all gnarly
Jan 23, 2013
Jan 23, 2013 at 5:56 PM UTC
That uncle with his pants pulled up high.
That uncle who would listen when you cried.
That uncle.
The one who always lauged at your jokes.
The one with strong and gnarly hands.
The uncle who could fix anyting. (Dad)
The generous one who always had time to talk.
That old guy who became stooped as you grew strong.
Well. Uncle is a bit forgrtfull now and shuffles
About.
Take his hand now.
Pay him back for all he did.
his dignity is at stake
For heveans sake.
Help the old guy
Show and tell.
Nov 20, 2012
Nov 20, 2012 at 12:56 PM UTC
ravens squawked
on that half moon night
the people in the village
were filled with fright
a scary portent lingered
upon the forest dell
the black sorcerer
was mixing a horrid spell
winds whirled
in an agitated manifest
evil twas the potion
prophetic its guest
horror sprung
from the cauldron's brew
atop the hills
smokey fires did spew
eerie groans emanated
inside the sorcerer's chest
the incarnate devil
dwelt in his breast
he opened his mouth
to consume a gnarly toad
as the fleeing villagers
ran along the forest road
Aug 20, 2014
Aug 20, 2014 at 8:21 PM UTC
i really do wish you no harm.
i hope you don't get pocket lint on your dum-dum,
because that would be tragic.
i hope the next girl you date doesn't bite.
even though, you deserve a gnarly girl
who can get low down and gritty.
i pray you don't fall going up the stairs
and slide all the freaking way down.
i wouldn't want a concussed friend
now would i?
i cross my fingers and shut my eyes,
wishing you a pretty girl with perfect teeth
and pale skin
and an american accent cuter than mine.
in bar. or no- in a basement.
i would never wish you the worst hangover that
you've ever had
with a headache so bad
you feel like you tried to go out with a bang (literally)
like kurt d. cobain, and survived.
if you aren't an uneducated swine and know who that is.
i hope you never feel heartache like this.
feeling your chest tighten with anvil heavy memories
and sun-kissed, barebacked truth because
you had to let go what you love
and love what you let go.
crying when you see "message me i get bored x"
in their bio on a tuesday night, for the first time in six months.
Oct 11, 2016
Oct 11, 2016 at 9:02 PM UTC
Work is boring, I'd
Rather be home sleeping in
A nice comfy bed
Work is boring, I'd
Rather be smoking a joint
And watching TV
Work is boring, I'd
Rather be drinking a beer
And drunk barroom brawls
Work is boring, I'd
Rather be out surfing the
Gnarly ocean waves
Work is boring, I'd
Rather stick my arm in a
Blender; cause some fun
Work is boring, I'd
Rather be out banging some
Coked up prostitutes
Work is boring, I'd
Rather dig my brain out thru my
My ears with a fork
Work is boring, you
Can tell because I'm writing
Too many haikus
Nov 1, 2012
Nov 1, 2012 at 8:43 AM UTC
sara left me on the 14th of may,
while my mentor laid dying,
while my debt went unpaid.
over routine coffee and cigarette,
she watched the flimsy fabric
of my flesh
catch flame.
she floated away
to ricochet off summer lions,
whose pride lies between their
worn thighs.
i planted heavy.
aged a century in a week of
wine, infomercials, and hospital
calls.
every mutual friend i asked
about sara's condition,
told me to leave her be,
cast me in creep status.
my beard grows gnarly.
my smoldered remnants
held together by cobwebs.
and everything i ever loved
is on its deathbed.
Jul 7, 2010
Jul 7, 2010 at 11:33 PM UTC
treacherously torrid and torrential torrents of totally tangential tumultuous tortuous ; tyrannically torturous adjunct viably salient seethe.
procrastinating pandemic plenipotentiary prosthesis ; prosaically pragmatic parenthetical predication predilection premise prognostication
panoramic tableau preternatural propensity proclivity prestidigitation gesticulation :
gyration guidon ; ghastly gruesome grotesque hideously horrible horrendous heinous
grotty gnarly
diabolically maniacal dementia brusque macabre abrupt
awful
amalgamated anathema analysis agnate aggregate aberrance
somatalogy virtuoso cognate obduracy
worse
rudiment ebullience , confluence effluent effusion affluent , prolific profusity opulence , cogent fecund secular secund , recondite redolence abstrusely obstreperous mesomerism resonance resilience
protractive perpetude futurity
blither blandishing blabber burnishing boresome blahs
lithe blithe jabber prattle chatter tithe
morose morsel moribundness
stolid stoic
stalwart bastion bulwark
Oct 24, 2013
Oct 24, 2013 at 5:45 PM UTC
The life a man does boast is but a tryst
Between the egos of his Cosmic gods,
Who jest at gnarly oaks and monoliths;
At twigs we humans foolishly are awed.
Yet such does not render us simplified;
Too great is Cosmo's pride in their amour,
But secrets we'll uncover, stratified;
Acceptance, such a silent petrichor.
So let the veil be lifted, let us see,
Existence as gossamer as the veil,
Fragile as the primrose, less the beauty,
On us, we hope, these Lover's dreams won't fail.
At night we dream of worlds beyond the stars;
Sits on their smallest finger, all of ours.
Apr 8, 2015
Apr 8, 2015 at 9:51 AM UTC
Your beckoning finger like curling ribbon
Its pained sharp edge beneath the shining
binding me to a catch-22 with gnarly roots;
To paternal blue pierce and maternal chin –
eyes peeping over the creeping cords
pinning me down to the tow-line
where I fit and flinch to be free.
To be me.
Jul 6, 2013
Jul 6, 2013 at 4:59 PM UTC
It's not all been bad.
I have had some fun
I started to surf
when I was young
If ever I was lost
And out of reach
I'd often be found
Down at the beach
My own little sanctuary
Where I could be free
Either sat on the sand
Or out in the sea
I love the ocean
It blows my mind
It's Calming yet dangerous
Misterious yet kind
The energy's magestic
The feeling of joy
Has captured my attention
Since I was a boy.
It's led me to travel
To far distant shores
I've met so many people
Opened so many doors
I've surfed with monkeys in trees
And elephants on the beach
Surrounded by dolphins
And turtles within reach
I've surfed during sunsets
And sun rises as well
Trippy seas and Trippy skies
As if under a spell
I've almost **** myself sometimes
When caught in a gnarly rip
Being dragged out to the big stuff
That aint no ego trip
When you can't see beneath
The deep grey sharky water
And the fish race away
Is it me for the slaughter?
But hang on, there it is
Thank you neptune and peseidon
Look out to the distance
there on the horizon
A little bump
It's coming near
A pulse of swell
It's almost here
I turn around
My stick I straddle
I face the land
And start my paddle
Then suddenly
It lifts me up
Propels me forward
Fills my cup
It makes me feel
so very awake
I jump to my feet
For goodness sake
I'm 100%
Right there in the now
Conjoined with nature
No interest in how
Just doing it because
I'm it's biggest fan
Loving it loving it
because It's there and I can
Already a treat
This gift keeps on giving
I put in a few turns
Life is so worth living
Then the wall gets top heavy,
It's the best feeling ever
Everything goes quiet
It's a sublime endeavour
I'm inside the wave
for a second or two
The green room, The barrel.
Deep in the blue
There's no feeling like it
I can't even explain
Wonderous, breathtaking
It's ******* insane
I pull out of the journey
Can't get any higher
Full of adrenaline
My brain is on fire
Riding those waves
Gives me so much pleasure
I guess like the pirate
Finding the treasure
The greatest way
To improve my emotion
Is to float about
In that big old ocean.
Oct 24, 2019
Oct 24, 2019 at 1:30 PM UTC
Salvador Dali
Rode a Harley-Davidson
All the way from Bali
To Abu Dhabi
With Charley the Cat
Riding pillion.
Said Charley to Dali
All weathered and gnarly
I get quite incensed
By children's lack of road sense.
When I get back to Britain
I think I'll start
A Road Safety Campaign.
Good idea
Said Dali
To Charley
Who replied
Thanks a million.
Apr 25, 2014
Apr 25, 2014 at 3:15 PM UTC
If this tree
should ever come to fall
Let its gnarly limbs
point up to heaven
If its heart
should ever come to a stall
Let it die
with errors pardoned
and sins forgiven
Oct 18, 2016
Oct 18, 2016 at 7:03 AM UTC
~
SOMEBODY HELP ME!
ThE VoicEs in mY head argUe back ANd ForTh
IT MaKes mE TirEd buT...
I cAn'T SleeP 'CaUse ThE CloWns Will EaT Me
ScaRy FReaKin' CloWns
IT's ThaT BiG ReD Nose That ScaRes mE Most
NO, It'S Those StUpid *** Floppy ShoeS ThaT
ScaRes ME MosT
ScaRy FReaKin' CloWns
nO Wait, It'S Those CreePy FlaT FeeT AnD GnaRly
ToenAils
Those NasTy Twisted ToEnailS InsiDe Those StUpid
*** Floppy ShoeS ThaT ScaRes ME MosT
IcK I'M gOnna bE SicK
ScaRy FReaKin' CloWns
And if yOu sQuEEzE that fRicKin' horn oNe more TimE
I'm gOnna craM it uP yOur CloWnie BRoWnie so ****
fAr yOur FarTs Will honk
ScaRy FReaKin' CloWns
Jan 22, 2014
Jan 22, 2014 at 6:57 PM UTC
Specious speculative salacious spectral season
Transmogrify trapezium traverse torsion treason
Erotica errantry erectile endogenic emblazon
Ghastly gnashy grotesque gristly garrison
Larcenous lecherous lascivious latent lesson
Entelechy ethology exsistentialize extant epsilons
Spurious spry squabble subtle specialization
Transient transitive tour de force teleportation
Encephala enunciate endeavor executant emulation
Garish gaudy gambit glitch granulation
Lurid livid liaison limpid laceration
Extravaganza expletives expeditious equilibration emendation
Sly stodgy surreptitious spatiotemporal solicitor
Taciturn tactile transcendent tertiary torpor
Euphoria eminent equivocal exserted emancipator
Garrulous gustatory gung ** gestational gesticulator
Lyricism lilt liberation lambaste levitator
Escutcheon exergonic epaulet exodus extrapolator
Starkness staunch spectacle stolid stultification
Telepathy tantamount tractive tellurian transmutation
Exonerate euthenics exegesis entourage eradication
Groaty gnarly gruesome gristly gastrulation
Licentious lewd lacunar laconic limitation
Extemporaneous exigency embark embargo extradition
Slinky slick sultry stoical snout
Transubstantiate torturous temerarious tumultuous tout
Eucharist extortion enmity epithet eke out
Gross grit groin grove grout
Lentic leister lotic lothario levity lout
Execrating eventuation evocative evitable excerpt bout
Jan 19, 2016
Jan 19, 2016 at 3:59 PM UTC
Toes
A Thank Offering
Praise be to the Maker of toes.
Crunchy, munchy baby toes mommies nibble.
Wiggley, wonderful baby toes,
Splendiferous, greeting the world with sunbeams toes!
Thanks to Him for kiddie toes.
Tumbling, treading, running boy toes.
Greeting the day toes, grabbing the bases toes.
Wiggle in the tub toes.
All hail for girlie toes.
Ready to be a ballerina toes.
Jumping, giggling, big girl toes.
Tip-toeing in the night, jump-in-your-bed toes.
Give praise for almost-grown toes.
Boy-toe-touching-girl-toe toes,
All tingling, thrilling toes.
I know everything! toes.
Do not withhold thanks for grown-up toes
Hurry. Carry. Do. Stop. Go. toes.
Weary, Pushing, Grasping toes.
Reaching for another under the covers toes.
Glory to the Maker for older toes.
Adept at all concepts and gadgets toes.
Slower and wiser gnarly toes.
Surrounded by little feet toes.
Pure worship for ancient toes.
Lined, yellow, and ***** toes
Awaiting a clipping by those
Who kneel in worship of timeworn toes.
All praise, thanks, and worship
To the Maker of toes;
The One to whom all glory goes,
Who fills us with the joy of toes.
Sep 17, 2015
Sep 17, 2015 at 12:16 PM UTC
#
You chased
I ran
You yelled
I turned
You swung
I ducked
You huffed
I pushed
The back of your ankle caught
on the underside of a gnarly root
You twirled
I watched.
You screamed
I watched..
You bled
I watched...
You gasped at air
I watched....
The old jagged branch penetrated
through your squishy eye
and kissed the back of your skull
blood burst and squirted
while the rise and fall of your chest slowed
and your body grew cold
A rose bush was born amidst the clutches of an early winter
I left
You haunted
I cried
You permeated
I stayed silent
You spoke in my dreams
I know they found you
I visit and leave you flowers
But I am through,
I finally convinced myself
that it's not my
fault.
#
Sep 11, 2018
Sep 11, 2018 at 8:43 AM UTC
I desire only to comfort you, you must believe..
Truly comfort.
Like the first fire of winter,
when you come in from the frigid night,
And collapse in the cloud soft chair
As the warmth of the hearth, restores your humanity.
Until, in every cell in your body, you feel renewed.
I know how to close the wounds of your spirit,
These scars you see, upon my soul
Were once gaping gashes, that oozed agony,
But they have healed,
Let me do the same for you.
I will take my time, releasing the pent up tension,
That has wrapped your tense muscles,
In gnarly braids, of stress, with my restorative touch.
I have several bandages, the bleeding can be stemmed,
And arrested for good.
I will kiss every bruise, and cut,
Until nothing hurts anymore.
I shall lift you to your feet if you fall,
And soothe, mend, and repair you as a whole.
Anyone could see you have been hurt before.
But has anyone ever came forward,
And acknowledged your pain?
These cuts, and scars you bear
That you believe
have made you the strong woman you are today,
Are holding you back,
From the pleasures you deserve.
As the pendulum swings
Your mood rises and falls,
And it pains me to witness your suffering
My beloved one.
You who bring such joy
Should not suffer so much.
Your past is marked and marred.
Let me be your future,
One filled with the full measure of pleasure you deserve.
I can not guarantee that harm will not befall you again,
But when it does,
I will be there to caress it away...
Because I am your healer.
Sep 1, 2012
Sep 1, 2012 at 10:38 AM UTC
Winter walks beside me,
kisses my skin with frozen lips,
paves my path with ice,
whispers snowflakes,
tells me spring is dead.
Leafless trees scratch a molten sky.
A pale sun caught in gnarly branches
bleeds into the ground,
seeps to the roots of comatose trees.
Spring stirs, winter lied.
@Cristina Umpfenbach-Smyth 2011
Dec 8, 2011
Dec 8, 2011 at 6:36 PM UTC
It's after midnight now
I've come to howl
the words my muse
keeps in her bag
She's a blackhearted *****
with gnarly teeth
and razor thin lips to bare
She has kerosene breath
and her fingers are as cold as death
She's long desired
to catch me in bed
But I would drown in the creek
before I would be tongue bound
and give in to such an ugly witch
She plys me with liquor
He tongue is word flickered
She dances around and around
I stand but falter , and tumble on over
And she's quicker than a cat on a moth
She's licking my neck
and I shudder from cold z' over
She lays across my chest and declares
"I'll put you to test , taking all of your best"
Then she slides her hands under my shirt
Then cackling with glee
she strips down my clothes to my "T's"
So excited she trembles ecstatically
She raises her dress and sits down upon me
She screams in such delight like
two bobcats fighting at night
And I lay helpless as I stare
She moans , then groans
then short tempered yells
and many an "almost" and "Oh Oh Oh's"
Then turns soft as a quail
Her fingers now all over warm
Replacing the cackles and bows
a beautiful voice that glows
She whimpers like a puppy scorned
She's now in the buff
And little concerned
In the calm after the storm
her true beauty really shows
Nov 5, 2014
Nov 5, 2014 at 11:19 PM UTC
Veins, trees, roots,
societies, species, groups.
experiments of life itself
like some ten year old's ant farm
check it out on his shelf.
mindsets with chemicals,
controlled by our brains,
are just different settings for
someone else's mind games.
one trial, another, whichever one works,
if it doesn't no loss, He can work out the quirks.
I guess we're all just one part of a cycle
Like a garden or colony, a universe, a milky way,
A planet, some gnarly astronomy.
the sun and the moon and everything's orbit
never cease to change or stay still
if that's too confusing ignore it.
Aug 21, 2012
Aug 21, 2012 at 4:43 PM UTC
The extent of
The annoyance
And absurd shivers
Running down my teeth
When they should
Be running down
My spine
The dreaded moment
When the gnarly-nailed teacher
Goes near
The chalkboard
I brace myself
For a painful landing
With my ears plugged
Hoping to block the world out.
But no,
That technique never works
I feel the pain
The screeching sound
Of a whole lot of
Angry bats
Very excited
About eating my sanity
I wonder why god
Who has created
Beethoven and Mozart
would create something
So annoying
I mean SO annoying
As nails on a chalkboard
Nov 12, 2014
Nov 12, 2014 at 4:59 PM UTC