"hailstone" poems
On an autumn walk at the ides of day
I saw birds of a feather fly together away.
As they flew over flames
In an ides-of-day way
They got caught in the weather
And so forever became
The tall twisted tale
That we hear of so much:
Two birds with one hailstone,
Death from maelstrom above.
Sep 6, 2016
Sep 6, 2016 at 5:11 PM UTC
On an autumn walk at the ides of day
I saw birds of a feather fly together away.
As they flew over flames
In an ides-of-day way
They got caught in the weather
And so forever became
The tall twisted tale
That we hear of so much:
Two birds with one hailstone,
Death from maelstrom above.
Mar 8, 2024
Mar 8, 2024 at 12:39 AM UTC
i was sitting drunk alone in a yellow flannel on a dirt
and patch grass hill beside an empty picnic table when
you sat down said hi my name is sam and i'm tripping face
that was no secret judging by the size of your pupils and smile
i asked to borrow a layer from your lip-gloss and
you happily obliged after verifying i had my circle-circle-dot-dot
you laughed hard and said you'd never been this high before
when you let me finger you on the ferris wheel with
the scene from the hill a distant seven minutes in our past
you watched with tears in your eyes
and smiled as i pulled my body
away from your candy thighs when the ride stopped
and stuck my sticky fingers back in my mouth
you said you listened to music better with your shirt off
and sure enough your ******* perked up like antennae
when my fingers slipped under
your half-shirt like an innocuous splinter
in the great pink epidermal amphitheater
you proved to be a nudist burlesque queen wearing
a hailstone necklace and a gold coin skirt that jingled
when you walked or skipped or rubbed your *** on me
i felt so immediately attracted to you
and i still do i can see you when i close my eyes
dancing free in a delicate psychotropic mushroom haze
whispering slap me silly as we walked hand in hand down the hill
you kept talking about your girlfriend being jealous
of my fatal blue eyes as the music drifted like breath
between us your hair was heavy with the smell
of mushrooms beer sage and rain
we took several overpriced shots of tequila and i lost
another six dollars in drink tickets when
we spent a whole dj set lying in the grass in the dark
with the lights from the stage spraying over
our heaving naked sweaty chests with my
hand in your gold net skirt and your tongue in my ear
the clouds were knotted ropes of wet white cotton
the sky became the sea and your fingers found my
feverish lips like a cool prayer
i looked up through the oak tree porthole
to find the strangulated sky
whirling in on itself like water
in a washing machine and i
let a dolphin carry me away out to where
the waves were boiling and wild
the stars salty and deep
Nov 6, 2015
Nov 6, 2015 at 10:01 PM UTC
What can I say about today...
when the ground is red and the sky is grey?
It's nothing but a point in time...
A solid hailstone from the sky...
And where are you now my faithful friend
when the sky is grey and the world at its end?
Are you at home like inside my mind...
Or are you lost in the pictures inside your head?
Dec 11, 2010
Dec 11, 2010 at 12:37 AM UTC
Check in impatiently
hauling light luggage -
downturned eyes,
bundled fifties,
skull packed with sickly
sugarplum notions
Stiff key-card door and
three hanger closet -
leave your mittens, jacket,
and conscience dangling
Towels
cotton-knit sandpaper
no softer than well-trafficked
threadbare tawny-port carpet and
your hands and feet pretend
not to feel it
nervously,
a bit numbly,
you notice her standing
with glacial stillness
moments away from
the foot of the bed
Two crooked lampshades and
dim headboard lights
close their eyes when
the mattress springs
first compress,
the air tingling
with dustbunny snowflakes
This room is too dark now,
something like snowblind,
but you don't really want to see
do you?
Frostbite when she touches you
and somehow this bed
is more welcoming
than your own
you'll remember her
february fingertips
and hailstone hair,
a sensation of northerly winds
strange how heavy the comforter feels
sprawled across your skin
you envision an ice slab,
see it suffocate
a slow-flowing river,
and your breath quickens
if only because your lungs
have been crushed
then, just before hypothermia,
she leaves,
lights off,
wallet lighter,
you stay whiteknuckled, lightheaded,
half-consumed by a snowdrift,
beneath the duvet -
dazed
your tongue sits confused,
having asked for peppermints
and been given ice cubes instead
and when you finally rise,
and thaw your limbs
and try not the slip
on the black ice
she always leaves
by the door,
Try to forget
you paid
hourly rates
and shed your clothes
that you might find warmpth
in a blizzard
Feb 7, 2018
Feb 7, 2018 at 6:29 PM UTC
Weary eyed shop workers curse the sight of dawn,
A drunken Hen stumbles and her tutu gets torn,
The smell of burning chip fat invades my nose,
‘Chips for breakfast?!’ I cry, chewing marshmallows,
I venture towards the tower feeling free as a bird,
When SPLAT on my shoe lands a seagull ****
Rough with the smooth - that’s what this town’s all about,
I think as a man pulls his Jokebooks out,
‘It’s for charity!’ he lies. ‘I live here mate..’
‘Oh right, soz love, fancy a date?’’
I ignore the geezer and gaze out to the sea,
Wondering where the Lochness Monster might be..
Soaking up the sights as 2 drunks start to fight,
‘OI’ I shout, as a kid sets a bin alight.
Skaters jump like kangaroos on the bandstand,
As health freaks tut, running rapid on the sand.
Children charge like apes in supersensory mazes,
While parents eye arcades with terror on their faces,
Suddenly crisp packets dance in the air,
As the wind picks up and whips at my hair.
‘It’s hometime for me!’ A hailstone hits my eyeball,
And the blue sky runs behind some grey clouds of storm,
There’s not many places with 4 seasons in a day!
So don’t let the weather throw you into disarray.
‘Blackpool’ I say, ‘a town of stark contrast…’
As a horse driven carriage then a rat stroll past.
A town to make memories no matter how worn,
That time never erases as new ones get born.
Back in Bispham, where the prom’s a bit safer,
The oldies don’t buy 3 Hammers, just pies and papers,
I step off the number 11 bus and shout ‘Thanks!’
The bus driver grunts, takes his hand out his pants,
Then speeds down our beautiful, glistening prom,
Full of lights that probably shouldn’t still be on.
Feb 21, 2019
Feb 21, 2019 at 4:16 PM UTC
How could you be so out of times, my child?
The clock goes tick tock, but you are -
Enframed; untouchable
How could time be so frozen in your mind.
Enframed, untouched, what could you say to get yourself out of this mess?
The bells are ringing
The skies are dimming, their lights
Maybe it's time to move on
But you are still,
too still and unabridged
I rest my case and you win
Much of my stoic quality won't win in this world
Thank god I learned from you,
a valuable piece of information I suppose
And here, I still stand -
Here, I still breathe your air
Sep 11, 2011
Sep 11, 2011 at 7:43 PM UTC
The yellow house with the blue door
Nobody goes there anymore
The widow sits alone
Lost in her own hailstone
The house thirst for its former days
Laughter it's daily calls
Trucks, blocks and dolls
Scattered throughout the halls
The sign is on the lawn
The widow is long gone
The yellow house with the blue door
Feb 18, 2016
Feb 18, 2016 at 10:04 AM UTC
the way sweat
lingers on my
eyelids makes
me wonder if the
sun loves us all too
much. the world is
a crowd and he is
not a river—just a
hailstone tailed by
blue. twice a week
my eyes watch for
opportunities encrypted
in that spiral pattern; i've
only seen it's crystal
shadow. my light shines;
i love too hard;
the sky begins to drip
while I gaze; we melt; i
wish i could be moon.
Sep 8, 2015
Sep 8, 2015 at 8:58 PM UTC
An angel and a dog sat on a ridge.
Sun set before them;
Cloud stretched from earth to heavens;
Wind came up behind them;
And tousled their fur and feathers.
Said angel to dog,
"You lucky creature of earth.
You never made a choice,
Never had to doubt,
Never bore the burden
Of knowing what life's about."
Replied dog to angel,
"You lucky creature of heaven.
You got to make a choice,
Got to help a man,
Got to soothe his pain
As I but wish I can."
Said once more the angel,
"Of words of thanks
I have been deprived;
Yet you are scratched
And given rawhide."
Replied again the dog,
"Those same hands of man,
That pet and pacify,
My brothers sadly learned
They can beat and vilify."
Shouted angel at dog,
"Consider yourself lucky,
That body is all they mar;
You cannot even fathom
Torturous souls lost to dark."
Evenly dog to angel,
"Am I not of creation?
Am I not creation speaking?
I suffer the blood of my grandfathers,
And of my grandsons.
I know naught else,
But this I know completely."
Snidely angel in retort,
"I see suffering of thousands6—
All the world to lament;
Your grandfather and your son
Are not even a percent."
Somber the dog,
"And you are not an angel,
That is most evident.
Of your choice you live now,
As you died then.
Please leave me now this view,
And my destiny to man's kin."
The angel dropped to the raging sea below,
And flopped in the snow;
In rage he threw the hailstone back,
And before the tempest flew.
The dog sat a while longer,
And admired the peaceful scene;
Till a call came from the woods,
And he sped back with glee.
Sep 26, 2018
Sep 26, 2018 at 2:35 PM UTC
Take the halos from our heads;
Grabbed hold of the burden;
Placed them in our eyes and saw;
That pretty face in pain;
& caught our small souls - so raw,
I could even feel you again.
We needed to set you free;
From angels eyes aglow;
So you are not alone;
But our nature hides from view;
This twilight dream has hailstone,
& battered my heart so blue.
If heaven ever took heed;
from our grey creatures fey;
It would know of fairer things;
& not slay 'twisted' love;
You claw at your doll's heart-strings,
But fawn over the silk glove.
You reach into yourselves,
and find no magic dove.
But there is a answer,
to calm your weathered friends,
Creep into the old stories,
let them be known onto you,
greet them like old siblings,
and they will not smother you.
They lost no war in clouds,
and seek and look with no frowns,
they carry themselves with pride,
not banished or forced to hide,
Listen to their song,
Protect their corroding land,
Look at them softly,
and hold onto their immortal hand.
If iron modernity is too much,
In its boil, steam and hiss,
Listen and know only this -
For the faeries hold more wisdom,
than the banker's unkind system.
Jan 23, 2018
Jan 23, 2018 at 5:42 PM UTC
I walked away from absolutes
Emotions bleeding out
Determined never to return
Preferring the sting of the hailstone
Whipped by the wind of a cyclone
The relentless hard reason I thought I served
Began to liquify and poured through my hands
The truth exposed it not as a liar
But a murderer of souls
Satiating for a long season
Before withering and void of any hope
I floated in a purgatorial ocean
Uncaring, unfeeling, not even knowing
I was waiting
I thought I saw a chasm
But it must have been a reflection in the sunlight
A signal flare to let me know
The enigma is still there
Now I don't believe love has a feeling
Maybe joy, maybe passion
But never true love
Love doesn't channel feelings
Love channels absolutes
Now I can't walk away again
The next big storm might do me in
Love will find me joy and passion
In exchange for sacrifice and service
I must only believe
The absolutes are truth and wiser than I
Everything else is just waiting to die
Nov 20, 2014
Nov 20, 2014 at 11:10 PM UTC
I see the light
in the corner of my window
before it morphs
Into the face of Hades
Death will guide my breathing
into this open space
and drown any meaning
Of air and it’s grace
I will see beyond all
that explorers have yearned
and the city heads tremble
Forlorn
For the street dusting folk
have accepted this fate
long before they were born
And will sing at the face of Dawn
When the sea reaches down
to take my hand
and sing me a cry
So foreign
I’ll remember that sleep
is no different from waking
and I’ll wait with no hurry
No claim
And we will soar
through the fires and
hailstone histories of man
Spit oil and embers on brand
For smoke becomes smoke
And poison becomes poison
And our bones a lovely crown
for our children
Jan 3, 2023
Jan 3, 2023 at 8:36 AM UTC
Tortured beauty rides
a black hailstone sky
rattles on the window-
Madly tormented
manic swirling storm
refused entry-
Gone insane
whipped up
a dark beautiful frenzy.
Nov 28, 2015
Nov 28, 2015 at 7:19 AM UTC
It's as if the summer never came
A cold winter storm
And according to you
I was to blame
It's as though the world covered in snow
An icebox heater
And according to you
I should know
It's like a mountainous glacier settled
Our hearts buried beneath
And according to you
I'm who melted
It's as though your soul froze me out
A cold, burning hailstone
And according to me
It's your turn to pout
Mar 26, 2014
Mar 26, 2014 at 12:44 PM UTC
Crawling
Like catterpiller does
Making noise in chaos
Like some bugs
No!
No , i am not carrying a heavy log
But
Feels like hailstones on my head
Leaned freely in the bed
But ears still red
Days passed not touched book
Not even read
Hope my knowledge till now
Will Not fade
Highlighted things are now shaded
I don’t know without reason -
I tend to misbehave
As if hailstone hit me
And
I am converted to two pieces
As if
Lungs, intestine and heart are separated
My mind knows nothing
Finger lingers and mumbles tho
As if I am dead
Can breath
‘ In and out ‘ ‘In and out’
But Hailstones storm hit !
Jun 6, 2020
Jun 6, 2020 at 7:57 AM UTC
Your foreign voice and beautiful eyes,
Made my heart beat and gave color to the skies.
You'd hold my hand, tell me not to cry,
But I was facing dark reality, so how could I?
Then came the day where you had to go,
There was rain, hailstone, wind and snow.
Never will I forget the way you held my hand,
And when I would fall you would help me stand.
Now the same words play in my head,
The words that made me question if our romance was dead.
Those last few words before you said goodbye,
"Just look up, and we'll be looking at the same sky."
Apr 11, 2016
Apr 11, 2016 at 4:20 AM UTC
These sugar cube folk , cowering at the thought of rain .. I've repartee for every hailstone a storm cloud might contain ...
Nov 18, 2016
Nov 18, 2016 at 7:29 PM UTC