"handstand" poems
I opened my eyes
And looked up at the rain,
And it dripped in my head
And flowed into my brain,
And all that I hear as I lie in my bed
Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head.
I step very softly,
I walk very slow,
I can't do a handstand--
I might overflow,
So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said--
I'm just not the same since there's rain in my head.
212.6k
I jump into a handstand,
flipping my world onto its head.
the tree dangles from the earth
like my feet in the air.
my hands seize the grass
as I attempt to hold on.
so I reunite with the ground,
and my hands release their burdens.
Apr 29, 2022
Apr 29, 2022 at 10:03 PM UTC
I once knew a girl,
back when my posture was good,
we wore matching shirts,
jeans and shoes.
She kept her hair long,
to hide jealous shoulders.
All the loud voices
didn't have a thing to say.
They didn't resonate,
hammering on doors,
denting ear drums,
enunciating mispronunciations.
I played football in times square,
passing glances and stairs,
had rock climbing races
to higher elevations.
My badly tuned feet couldn't run,
ankle bones off key.
There's a saltwater film
frosting my eyelashes,
clinging to my tongue,
holding down my yells
to the quiet machines
that toss boiled eggs in the air.
Up to their knees
in the dark left behind by streetlights,
they rolled up their pants for wading.
They lingered in docking terminals,
standing still,
becoming dust collectors.
Somehow we're all just wanderers,
citing passages we herd
in front of us like mountain goats.
Ambling across empty intersections,
walking in handstand through cul de sacs,
picking up litter from busy streets.
Books for readers wear little letters,
use big words with four syllables.
They showed me how to fence with trains,
ride red wagons down hills,
win marmalade coated cricket matches.
I never judged the typos to be out of place
(I accepted the bits they forgot to erase)
Jul 13, 2013
Jul 13, 2013 at 3:47 AM UTC
How do you explain thoughts
That never come to you?
Just floating out in front
Fluttering
Teasing with those unchained wings
Beauty is an ugly thing
How do you explain a pain
Unexplainable
When you cry with a straight face
And die with a smile walking in a handstand
And loving as the fools do
With a hand on your heart
While forgetting my own heartbeat
Sometimes wishing they'd
Cop a feel
To remember how to be felt
It's almost hard to dream
Knowing it will end in reality
Cognitive thoughts deceiving
Playing me recorded records of
Happy
Oh how I envy the
The which possess the earliest form of bliss
Ignorance
When love was void of those
Nagging thoughts of disappointment
Hush child
And breathe in
Feel your cells with much needed oxygen
Holding your gasp
Waiting for
Hurt's end
Corruptive
Idiotic
Dear child
Breathe
Pain
Just fuel to this steam powered
Progression
Not dead yet
So I have to be getting stronger
Building a bridge
Soon I'll be over
It
~Life~
Jan 20, 2013
Jan 20, 2013 at 3:42 PM UTC
Oil
Exhaust
Handstand theatre
In the back of a van
Underground avenue
Has the scent of
Stale black licorice
Melted into the sidewalk
The familiar odor of traffic
Is a pedestrian substitute
For the Old World charm
This renovated place
Paved over
Long
Ago
Feb 15, 2020
Feb 15, 2020 at 5:48 PM UTC
I want the children to stay silhouetted against the sun,
doing handstands, throwing their heads down and kicking
the cloudy, blue water.
They are silly children
with no fear of the fall and slipping shirts
that expose their human bellies.
They are spending time upside down
before the ground is lava and before they have to
check the sidewalks for cracks,
before they are tricked
into believing there is a secret underneath their feet
and they are greedy, greedy,
always looking down with limp arms and hunched shoulders.
They throw themselves over the ground
again and again. Not understanding
that their arms are too weak to keep their legs wading
against the current of gravity as
it pulses down on the Earth.
Or maybe they do know
and they are only trying to do handstands,
looking for a new perspective, a different world,
not the one they are stuck with.
They could be searching everywhere
for an alternative before they have to balance
on two feet and face the fear
that will rake in moments of their lives.
They already know that fear
but maybe trying anyways is what makes all the difference.
Perhaps everyone should go home right now
and designate handstand stations
in their living rooms,
throw open the windows,
and let the sunlight in
because it really is getting warmer
or maybe we're all just getting
used to the cold.
May 3, 2010
May 3, 2010 at 4:42 AM UTC
I was going to write a poem
about how I stood on the corner after
work, gripping a squishy handlebar with
my left hand and holding K’s flip phone
in the other.
My stomach flip-flopped across JFK blvd, down 20th street, and to that little alleyway where I stood alone for a while.
An old lady stared at me...
did I trigger a happy memory of her
youth,
or was she just smirking at the beads of
sweat on my forehead and disintegrating
soles of my ballet flats?
My black dress slouched over my body
like I was going to a funeral.
And even though my acro class was yesterday, I still felt upside down. There’s no way I could stay in a handstand that long, but I would’ve done it if it gave me a different explanation for why I was so sick.
Inside of me were those cropping rainbow scribbles that I used to make on Paint, you know, the ones that seemed like they could create a picture but ended up turning into shaking lines?
I could feel the lack of your presence, I could FEEL your not being there. As the minutes passed and I kept standing and waiting my face drooped and it was hard not to cry right there on the spot.
It was just past lunchtime but there was still a steady flow of businessmen filling the sidewalk.
They glanced at me but I just looked
away because they were my father's age
and gave me familiar half-smiles.
I said that I was going to write a poem because I didn't have enough energy to do anything but list words,
but I guess this just turned into a ******
one.
Jan 11, 2017
Jan 11, 2017 at 12:56 PM UTC
I do a handstand
so that my feet dangle in space
It feels as if I am holding on
like grasping the memory of you
The stars pull me outward
but I hold on
I do a handstand
head over heels for you
Love can not be explained
like the gravity of this world
It pulls me back to you
I let it
May 30, 2014
May 30, 2014 at 11:37 AM UTC
It makes me smile
When nothing else can
I'll do anything for it
Jump a building
Do a handstand
Sing my ABC's
I'll be the queen of comedy
So that I may hear its music
It builds friendships
Breaks barriers
It's so special
Yet so common
Laughter
Sep 26, 2013
Sep 26, 2013 at 8:25 AM UTC
The conversation tumbles out in ribbons and fall leaves,
In stories we all tell ourselves that nobody believes,
Walk with wolves in their wolf clothes, costume suits and ties,
Watching it all end with deaf ears and hourglass eyes,
As the chips turn to ashes, we fall where we please,
On grey dashboard tables, on broken church knees,
Vulnerabilities remain hidden behind a digital disguise,
Where everything that ever happened happened to be lies,
Our feet are getting older now, we tiptoe a safer route,
Drunk on expensive alcohol, nothing new to write about,
I was always left or leaving, maybe I’m already gone,
And I want to talk about it, but you turn the TV on,
So I stare out the window, and I wait it all away,
Repeating softly to myself, We’re all okay, we’re all okay.
Oct 9, 2015
Oct 9, 2015 at 11:04 AM UTC
If your going to cry do a handstand
so your tears don't fall
look in the mirror and make a silly face
so that you laugh instead
Grab a peice of paper and write something good about you on it so next time you can read it
Dec 14, 2019
Dec 14, 2019 at 9:20 PM UTC
a handstand here shake but enlighten her
that sink tanks with mats while driven leagues
under the sea dissolve a seance
with earthly her satellites only survey pride that behold riff
in scholar that best compose symphony
and virtueless connect the dots
Aug 22, 2017
Aug 22, 2017 at 6:38 PM UTC
Well, there.
I found it, shins
I found,
a huge place in the back of the head and locked in bed, maybe id
can only pinch with the residue residing
Swelling and spilling, the only true bad Smile.
The stem ringing and squealing
Swelling, kneeling
Afterwords, left and sizzle stigmad
Talk to your kids a lot. please!
Because handstand pushups only make
The thing competitive with no
Relatable taste
And movement from the vital stops
Which attracts the secret cops.
They're city veins.
Swollen, stolen.
Mar 21, 2015
Mar 21, 2015 at 1:38 PM UTC
So I said
Continue
I'm scared of mistakes
This is me
Everyone I know
Has me figured out
Except I
Julie Delpy
Spirit-animal
Soul of ****
In the ***** of her holiness
Whole
I pride in the mystery of mischief
I can hold my breath
As I hold your hand
I can handstand in the face of death
I can die laughing at myself
Who am I?
You have me figured out
Why not tell me what you see?
May 15, 2015
May 15, 2015 at 9:26 AM UTC
Me and the guys were cool and cruising,
in my mate Robin's new car.
The cops had slapped a defect notice on it,
and so it was decided we wouldn't venture far.
With Robin at the wheel and I alongside in front,
we headed via back-roads out to an old dirt track.
There was Dale and Steve and Joe and Andy,
and they were all squashed up in the back.
Six teenage boys intent on adventure,
when we finally found dirt road to suit.
I can't recall whose idea it was but Joe and Andy,
were encouraged to climb out onto the boot.
Robin kicked the throttle the car springing off its mark,
fish tailing and raising clouds of dust as it sped upon its way.
I could hear the sound of Joe and Andy screaming,
but I couldn't make out what they were trying to say.
Now some way down the road yells and laughter,
still coming from the guys riding out on the back.
Robin saw the road had been washed away,
a two foot ravine cutting right across the track.
Robin reacted swiftly and stomped hard upon the brake,
I expected to see a cloud of dust but clear as day instead,
Was the startled face of Andy as he did a springing handstand,
from the hood to a perfect landing twenty yards ahead.
Now Joe was a considerably bigger guy,
and depressed indent of roof gave me several tips.
Until Joe slid out onto the windscreen,
giving a human impression of a daytime partial eclipse.
Two thoughts forever are stuck with me ever since that day,
would we have laughed so hard if Robin missed timed the pedal,
But the other one that really haunts and plagues my mind,
Could Andy's stunt have won him an Olympic gold medal.
Jul 7, 2020
Jul 7, 2020 at 6:22 AM UTC
Well, there.
I found it, shins
I found,
a huge place in the back of the head and locked in bed, maybe id
can only pinch with the residue residing
Swelling and spilling, the only true bad Smile.
The stem ringing and squealing
Swelling, kneeling
Afterwords, left and sizzle stigmad
Talk to your kids a lot. please!
Because handstand pushups only make
The thing competitive with no
Relatable taste
And movement from the vital stops
Which attracts the secret cops.
They're city veins.
Swollen, stolen.
Mar 21, 2015
Mar 21, 2015 at 1:37 PM UTC
the *** machine has begun to breathe on her own. father ***** a brown bruise into mother’s half of my cigarette. I could be doing a handstand in a prison yard or watching as my cell is turned upside down. brother uncurls a finger from his made fist so deliberately I know he means it to be a hard-on. I crush my eyes with my eyes and try to remember the name my son gave to the loose tooth we hung together from a doorknob. was my son told me the puppets need our hair.
Dec 23, 2014
Dec 23, 2014 at 8:01 PM UTC
the demon ***** a child in the dream of yours where it first appeared
the mother gets less and less attention for being born
the baby uncrosses its eyes
at a lone ****** I lose hours to the handstand
the occupiers
of my city
worship
proof a mosquito in the gravedigger’s ear
Aug 3, 2016
Aug 3, 2016 at 3:06 PM UTC
A soul lost makes a good man
Perpetual motion breeds success
Tossing & turning into a handstand
***** to **** but at least I **** less
Never claimed to be your superman
But old Clark has nothing on me
I write for you and my back bends
I've got the touch, I can make you see
You never thought I could
And I never blamed you
The coulds & shoulds & woulds
Blinded you to the truth
So put your faith in my light
As I flick my Bic over a puddle of gasoline
Try & try & try as I might
Off your thoughts, I can't wean you
With the new me and the old you
We can do things we have never before
So hold my hand now, embracing all that's true
And by the end, you'll be asking for more
And more
And more
Apr 21, 2016
Apr 21, 2016 at 12:03 PM UTC
you're a galaxy personified
i know what i mean.
you're trying to make it all work
your mind is like a dream.
one of the dreams that turns
to nightmares,
because it makes you want to ignore
the fact that i can be here and there.
(i swear. i'll be good.
i say it a million times,
but i mean it --
it just gets lost in the rhymes).
i'll be standing on the sidelines,
pom poms in my hand
you're making me so proud
i could maybe do a handstand.
a window and door will open
and you'll walk inside,
just like your light, my love,
you'll be enveloped by the sunshine.
Feb 19, 2018
Feb 19, 2018 at 10:04 PM UTC
When I fall to pices, what if I didn't wanna get back up again? Lay somewhere in the middle wherever it begins and wherever it ends? Never stand again real tall,quite contempt to crawl. It doesn't matter if I'm this side or that side of the wall. If I break a smile I could do a handstand, so my mouths the right way...staying awake at night so I could sleep all day. What if I didn't want to move on? What if this is right where I belong? Listen to sad songs and do no wrong, this life's ***** it's taking too long.
Dec 28, 2016
Dec 28, 2016 at 1:47 AM UTC
We must have
forgotten
someone
anyone
no one?
well then we'll go on
thinking that
we've forgotten
something
anything
nothing?
and the clock does a handstand
at half past six
I stumble to the table
and have two Weetabix
it's usually three,
but me
I'm forgetful
and forgot to buy more,
at seven twenty four
I close the front door
on my way out
wondering what next.
Jul 20, 2024
Jul 20, 2024 at 6:45 AM UTC