Hello Poetry
Submit your work and get some sparkles! Create free account
"intermission" poems
A steady cadence   pulsing in a heart beat like rhythm, voices and strummed instruments all in harmonized concert, An orchestral multitude, of frogs and crickets, never tiring or ceasing, How many must there be, to render such a cacophony? Sustained and loud enough to keep city folk wide awake. Nature's Music of the night, should you but choose to listen. How do they do that, all night with absolutely no intermission? A crescendo finale triggered only by the coming dawn's first light, and the boastful crowing calls of our cocky persistent red rooster chicken. Where these musicians go in daylight is anybody's guess. To sleep I suspect, deserved resting up for yet another night of endless music.
0
Aug 10, 2018
Aug 10, 2018 at 4:45 AM UTC
Night Music
hand cranked re-imagined 35mm slides Rough Trade posters on the wall Pepsi and premade sandwiches on the counter aperture: wide open he sees her often at the multiplex there she flirts from the third row; second seat sheer blouse hands in elliptical motion pointing toward silk chiffon shells the invite in a tilt of her mouth lip; gloss eyes hidden from the light a prayer before intermission celluloid reliquary reveals God's plans lest her trifling with him cause a miss in changeover enraging his self-regarded audience the walk back to his car one long montage of her lacing up
0
May 24, 2023
May 24, 2023 at 10:02 AM UTC
The Projectionist
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear; Those of mechanics—each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong; The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam, The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work; The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat—the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck; The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench—the hatter singing as he stands; The wood-cutter’s song—the ploughboy’s, on his way in the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundown; The delicious singing of the mother—or of the young wife at work— or of the girl sewing or washing—Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else; The day what belongs to the day—At night, the party of young fellows, robust, friendly, Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.
0
4.6k
I Hear America Singing
I was young when I learned to sing to the rhythm of fists flying through the air like birds too angry with the season to call. I was young when I thought a tune could drown the sounds of my mother’s sobs crashing through hallways in tidal waves and monsoon misery. I was young when I carved songs in the wallpaper and into my delicate skin. I turned bruises into syncopated beats and scars into major scales. My stepfather hated music but I was an ornery child, and I sang of joyous things just to see if his soul could dance, but instead, I got two left feet in swift kicks. When I was was young I was afraid of sticks because I thought my body was a drum to be beaten and battered to a punishing rhythm. I was young when I learned that the taste of blood on my lip was merely the flicker before the intermission; the finale would be a grand display of pomp, punch, and unlucky circumstance. My mother was a tone-deaf drunk who never learned to sing. She belted begging in B flat octaves like it was the only note she knew. She wept an ocean of sorrow as I sang my S.O.S. “God, save our sinking ship.” “God, save our sinking souls.” “God, save our sorry stepfather from himself.” And when I thought to cry, I sang my little heart out instead. I sang of devil's meeting end, and I sang of daughter's finding love, and I sang of mother's finding strength enough to leave, and I sang to the happy families that only existed in sitcoms, because my stepfather hated music but I hated him far more.
0
Jan 23, 2014
Jan 23, 2014 at 12:15 PM UTC
My Stepfather Hated Music
I was young when I learned to sing to the rhythm of fists flying through the air like birds too angry with the season to call. I was young when I thought a tune could drown the sounds of my mother’s sobs crashing through hallways in tidal waves and monsoon misery. I was young when I carved songs in the wallpaper and into my delicate skin. I turned bruises into syncopated beats and scars into major scales. My stepfather hated music but I was an ornery child, and I sang of joyous things just to see if his soul could dance, but instead, I got two left feet in swift kicks. When I was was young I was afraid of sticks because I thought my body was a drum to be beaten and battered to a punishing rhythm. I was young when I learned that the taste of blood on my lip was merely the flicker before the intermission; the finale would be a grand display of pomp, punch, and unlucky circumstance. My mother was a tone-deaf drunk who never learned to sing. She belted begging in B flat octaves like it was the only note she knew. She wept an ocean of sorrow as I sang my S.O.S. “God, save our sinking ship.” “God, save our sinking souls.” “God, save our sorry stepfather from himself.” And when I thought to cry, I sang my little heart out instead. I sang of devil's meeting end, and I sang of daughter's finding love, and I sang of mother's finding strength enough to leave, and I sang to the happy families that only existed in sitcoms, because my stepfather hated music but I hated him far more.
Continue reading...
49
My mother enters the kitchen, says that her hands are dripping, begs my father to finish his work at the sink.  I observe, for a moment, the expression upon her face which seems conflicted between a desire to laugh and a need                                                to feel clean. I interject that clearly her fate is to have dog placenta on her hands for all eternity. Her disgust and amusement seem equally to rise. After she has washed herself, she speaks of Ponyo's last intermission between long intervals of birthing to nap three fleeting minutes; another contraction gave way to a wriggling new mole who squeaked and groaned with bizarre endearment, seizing my heart and causing its mother's head, after jolting awake,                                                                to go limp. Mom says it's sad-but-sweet.  Dear dog has spent herself six times already in increments which, as they increase, draw her spirit still closer to a totally inevitable chasm of fled energy; as soon as she falls asleep, yet a new indignant mass of living parts swaddled in loose skin and wet fur shoves its way outward, forward, world-ward. Ponyo is not selfish.  Immediately after birth seven, she begins to lick her offspring clean and nudge it towards her belly, where it may feed itself. "Only just got a break, and already she's                                                                     back to work." I'm one of five children my mother has carried and raised--and for a human, five are many! I'm afraid to give birth even once, despite that a greater want of mine is to hold my own child someday.  I wonder if that is motherhood: discomfort and indecision concerning the worth of the effort in labor, in birth, in the weak moments thereafter-- stroking one's child's downy, collapsible head and feeling a need to protect her, to nurture her, that is more pressing even than the so- alluring whispers which Sleep may breathe-- and even beyond these moments, when I have said to my mother that I hate her (because to me, it was obvious that I did not, and was too callous, obtuse, and insensitive to think that she might just believe it) and then missed church the next day to stay with her when she felt ill and tired--if this is motherhood, I wonder.  It must be more even than I could ever have thought like wanting to laugh and to wring one's hands (and even just to go to sleep)                                                 all at once.
0
Apr 14, 2012
Apr 14, 2012 at 11:05 PM UTC
On Puppy Birth and the Nature of Motherhood
My mother enters the kitchen, says that her hands are dripping, begs my father to finish his work at the sink.  I observe, for a moment, the expression upon her face which seems conflicted between a desire to laugh and a need                                                to feel clean. I interject that clearly her fate is to have dog placenta on her hands for all eternity. Her disgust and amusement seem equally to rise. After she has washed herself, she speaks of Ponyo's last intermission between long intervals of birthing to nap three fleeting minutes; another contraction gave way to a wriggling new mole who squeaked and groaned with bizarre endearment, seizing my heart and causing its mother's head, after jolting awake,                                                                to go limp. Mom says it's sad-but-sweet.  Dear dog has spent herself six times already in increments which, as they increase, draw her spirit still closer to a totally inevitable chasm of fled energy; as soon as she falls asleep, yet a new indignant mass of living parts swaddled in loose skin and wet fur shoves its way outward, forward, world-ward. Ponyo is not selfish.  Immediately after birth seven, she begins to lick her offspring clean and nudge it towards her belly, where it may feed itself. "Only just got a break, and already she's                                                                     back to work." I'm one of five children my mother has carried and raised--and for a human, five are many! I'm afraid to give birth even once, despite that a greater want of mine is to hold my own child someday.  I wonder if that is motherhood: discomfort and indecision concerning the worth of the effort in labor, in birth, in the weak moments thereafter-- stroking one's child's downy, collapsible head and feeling a need to protect her, to nurture her, that is more pressing even than the so- alluring whispers which Sleep may breathe-- and even beyond these moments, when I have said to my mother that I hate her (because to me, it was obvious that I did not, and was too callous, obtuse, and insensitive to think that she might just believe it) and then missed church the next day to stay with her when she felt ill and tired--if this is motherhood, I wonder.  It must be more even than I could ever have thought like wanting to laugh and to wring one's hands (and even just to go to sleep)                                                 all at once.
Continue reading...
53
I'm sick of trying to deflect every line of my predetermined fate I've gotta close my eyes, say my goodbyes Fall to the ground and let my bones break. Well, hell my skull has cracked. The brains I once contained are a mess and they seem to be less than what I had expected. I suppose when I let go I didn't know that my thoughts would be completely exposed and be utterly known. My soul is on the line because my body is bare and naked showing the monster inside that I have created. Something I have worked hard to keep so secret is exposed to the sun and it darkens the air with the breath that I left to be swallowed up by my sigh. Well it's no longer time to lie. I've gotta come clean, wipe away all that is unseen. I have fought valiantly but I have lost and now I'm paying a terrible cost. I'm a fool for staying hidden when all it wanted was an intermission with a decision. To rip out my heart and feed it to the dark. Instead I ignored it. And now it's eating away all the love that I once felt, all the compliments I have dealt. Well, help me save them from this monster I have created. But how can I **** it? When the villain is me. My eyes are opened with a snap when I hear the footsteps coming back. Am I really the only one to blame? Could I have saved all those lives; women and children? But oh their blood is stained and etched into my skin. Imprinted, forever, glued like a tattoo. This monster I have become is breaking through. How can I destroy the evil that sits so deep inside when my mind controls both thoughts, pure and putrid? My mind is failing, My body falling, My mind stalling. I know the truth. I know what I must do in order to save those I love. I must **** what I am becoming. I'm afraid there is only one way. We both know that I can no longer stay I must take my final bow and bite the bullet, swallow the pills, snap my neck, slice my throat, stab my heart, and say goodbye because it's my time.
0
Oct 31, 2012
Oct 31, 2012 at 10:17 AM UTC
The Monster I have Created
I'm sick of trying to deflect every line of my predetermined fate I've gotta close my eyes, say my goodbyes Fall to the ground and let my bones break. Well, hell my skull has cracked. The brains I once contained are a mess and they seem to be less than what I had expected. I suppose when I let go I didn't know that my thoughts would be completely exposed and be utterly known. My soul is on the line because my body is bare and naked showing the monster inside that I have created. Something I have worked hard to keep so secret is exposed to the sun and it darkens the air with the breath that I left to be swallowed up by my sigh. Well it's no longer time to lie. I've gotta come clean, wipe away all that is unseen. I have fought valiantly but I have lost and now I'm paying a terrible cost. I'm a fool for staying hidden when all it wanted was an intermission with a decision. To rip out my heart and feed it to the dark. Instead I ignored it. And now it's eating away all the love that I once felt, all the compliments I have dealt. Well, help me save them from this monster I have created. But how can I **** it? When the villain is me. My eyes are opened with a snap when I hear the footsteps coming back. Am I really the only one to blame? Could I have saved all those lives; women and children? But oh their blood is stained and etched into my skin. Imprinted, forever, glued like a tattoo. This monster I have become is breaking through. How can I destroy the evil that sits so deep inside when my mind controls both thoughts, pure and putrid? My mind is failing, My body falling, My mind stalling. I know the truth. I know what I must do in order to save those I love. I must **** what I am becoming. I'm afraid there is only one way. We both know that I can no longer stay I must take my final bow and bite the bullet, swallow the pills, snap my neck, slice my throat, stab my heart, and say goodbye because it's my time.
Continue reading...
49
this is the first time i ate a watermelon, like i did today... it's going way back back to the times we were apparently apes... so there's this gorilla sitting on a windowsill, with diced watermelon pulp... oh wait, what's in his bowl? the outer-layer, including the hard skin of the watermelon... you're ******** he's eating that too? what, ever see a gorilla peel a banana to get a babushka jew-head out from the outer layer? (insinuating circumcision) gorilla eats the whole thing! and he's sitting there, insinuating: fibre... excess chewing, keeps the dentist away... so between chewing on the outer layer of the watermelon (including the hard skin) - he drops pieces of diced watermelon pulp into his gob, to water the chewing dynamic... what? you do it with apples and pears, and cherries, and grapes... the gorilla says: fun experience... intermission of a gulp of beer... it's hard to imagine a gorilla being the size that he is, having the cullinary skills of saying: oi! oi! don't fry that plantain! eat it raw! half an hour it took him to chew through the red pulp and the outer layer... and he thought: **** as painful on the jaws as i might have chewed a gum for 2 hours.
0
Jun 10, 2017
Jun 10, 2017 at 12:06 PM UTC
gorilla & a watermelon
The Intersection of Interruption and Intermission. Act 2 has been delayed. We will come right back After a word from our sponsors. Remember when Remember when meant More than just a week ago? When the hill was only 30 years high, And still, nothing held the urgency that seems to permeate our every desperate action. I swear we had time, then, It seems, So much more than Aging naturally eats away. But the multitudes have multiplied, as they are want to, And as the telegraph cables Come down for corridors of Light, The speed of time Grows, Relatively accordingly. And so, the second part Of this two part play Starts 10 years later, while we dash madder than ever, racing each other, to first summit the Crisis Peak.
0
Jul 22, 2014
Jul 22, 2014 at 11:35 AM UTC
It's my birthday. Here's a poem about it.
Soft sweet meadow radiating its breath of life; sounding its serenity in echoes of the mind's eye Living in this flat land lay plush in wild, multicolored-flowery-pockets in greenery blankets "Sweet Meadow"  with fresh quickened fragrance And by our bedroom window with a summer night's soft evening breeze mellow cheeeping can be heard from way way down below seemingly luring us to... .. "OPEN WIDER THE WINDOW...               ...AND LISTEN!! Chant dear chorus as violinist in "Cricket Suits" join this cantor that swings with rhythm with wheezing sounding bugs, AH HUMMING!! and an intermission of Cha  Cheep,  Cha  Cheep that breaks the nocturnal entomological singing with ephemeral intermissions Be bewitched by brillance as tunes fly and z i n g their little whistle songs so sweet a talent unseen little bugs sweetly sing their little tale of talent in "Soft Sweet Meadow" Comforted by vibrating frequencies the air is electrical clasping our good-inner child as this meadow unfolds its truth being beneficial to us all We journey not too far for this field draws us to its delightful ***** We irresistibly suckle on its daytime scenic eye-filling foliage later eliciting dreams made of peaceful slumber Cha Cheep,  Cha Cheep and good night...
0
Sep 10, 2015
Sep 10, 2015 at 10:29 AM UTC
Soft Sweet Meadow
_Loading "reality.exe." Please wait. (99%)_ Around you, the vivid shapes ebb; recede and reduce to a wispy gossamer. Look there! By the horizon: glitter (or dust?) dissolving upwards, a pirouette at the astronomical dawning of consciousness. This "hypnopompia": an intermission. An interlude. The in-between of inter-netted eternities.   _How long have you been here? And have you been here before?_   You are nowhere. You are everywhere. Perhaps it is time to wake up.
0
Jan 14, 2018
Jan 14, 2018 at 10:23 PM UTC
Hypnopompia
There was no joy in Mudville, The air was cold that night. For the hockey team was losing And shorthanded, following a fight. With 5 minutes on the penalty clock And 1 minute left in regulation It seemed as though the season was over And the team would be heading to the unemployment line by the train station. The next face off was won by Mudville, And they dumped the puck down the ice Wilson raced down after that 3 pound puck, and out of nowhere came Johnson, a pass to score as he fell down the ice! Tied with about 30 seconds to go,  the crowd gave an almighty roar Because they tied the game shorthanded, Johnson, a defenseman had scored. The teams headed into overtime, and you could cut the tension in the air with a knife, For in hockey overtime is sudden death, the next goal would win the night. And after a 10 minute intermission, the teams returned to the ice The referee skated out to center,  and dropped the puck between two anxious Sticks. The duel was on,  and both goalies were tested But neither one would fall for the forwards tricks With overtime ended, we went to a shootout, This seemed to be the only way to decide the game. And after Wilson stepped back onto the ice, he scored giving Mudville a chance to win the game. But Jeralds would tie the shootout in the second round, and Johnson, following him would do the same. So after a miraculous stop by Mudville's goalie,  it would fall onto Casey to win the game. A hush fell over the crowd, as Casey stepped onto the ice, he took a deep breath and started on his way, He skated wide left stick handling down, his head up at the goalie trying to get him out of play. Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright, The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light; And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout, But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey was shutout.
0
Aug 13, 2016
Aug 13, 2016 at 11:14 AM UTC
Casey On the ice
There was no joy in Mudville, The air was cold that night. For the hockey team was losing And shorthanded, following a fight. With 5 minutes on the penalty clock And 1 minute left in regulation It seemed as though the season was over And the team would be heading to the unemployment line by the train station. The next face off was won by Mudville, And they dumped the puck down the ice Wilson raced down after that 3 pound puck, and out of nowhere came Johnson, a pass to score as he fell down the ice! Tied with about 30 seconds to go,  the crowd gave an almighty roar Because they tied the game shorthanded, Johnson, a defenseman had scored. The teams headed into overtime, and you could cut the tension in the air with a knife, For in hockey overtime is sudden death, the next goal would win the night. And after a 10 minute intermission, the teams returned to the ice The referee skated out to center,  and dropped the puck between two anxious Sticks. The duel was on,  and both goalies were tested But neither one would fall for the forwards tricks With overtime ended, we went to a shootout, This seemed to be the only way to decide the game. And after Wilson stepped back onto the ice, he scored giving Mudville a chance to win the game. But Jeralds would tie the shootout in the second round, and Johnson, following him would do the same. So after a miraculous stop by Mudville's goalie,  it would fall onto Casey to win the game. A hush fell over the crowd, as Casey stepped onto the ice, he took a deep breath and started on his way, He skated wide left stick handling down, his head up at the goalie trying to get him out of play. Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright, The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light; And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout, But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey was shutout.
Continue reading...
27
Oh, how you have begot routine An occupation entered most unexpectedly Consuming a once vivid and polymathic soul Seeped into your bones Left you forgot, a flickering and dying star Yes, you're here every day, but you're heart feels vacant; gone away, or really still at home, wherever that is Your body's traveling the world, but your mind's spinning in circles, too fast to see past the fugue Will you reminisce of these days to your future children? Or will you skip this period, for this is not really you to begin with? Hope your intermission will come to an end May you someday return, spirited and renewed
0
Mar 8, 2019
Mar 8, 2019 at 11:14 AM UTC
Oh, Hope
I’ve been thinking about hands a lot lately and how fingerprints are like permanent, foreshadowing tree rings etched onto our beings; I wonder if the number of rings on my palms have any correlation to the number of years I’ll live or the number of years he’ll live or the number of years that she lived. I’ve been thinking a lot about         life lines        and        heart lines and if there is any stock to be found in palmistry; I wonder how my fate line got to be so muddled with my luck line.   I see my life the way a clairvoyant would: in cut-up and choppy strips of film— I should have seen the omens, I should have read the smoke signals, I should have recognized the cards. Act One began on a waning crescent moon and continued until its gluttonous belly had swollen with light; I thought to myself that craniums made of gallium often melt the quickest, that blood filled with plutonium often flows the slowest.  I would have given my body up to the pathologist free of charge, would have let him dig his hands into my entrails for some sort of divination, some sort of revelation— I was never told to beware the Ides of June nor the Kalends of November. Act Two began with the birth of Jack Frost and has been continuing without intermission for the past four celestial cycles; I thought to myself that heart valves made of sodium polyacrylate often love the most, that sinkholes disguised as fingertips often feel the deepest.  He whispered in my ear cliched words about not believing in God, but how I made him feel blessed, and in that moment I knew he was the oneiromantic being that had been shadowing my dreams since 1996— I guess you could say that, sometimes, I believe in love. There is an art to fortune-telling there is an art to hands there is an art to bones there is an art to dreams, and over the years, I have found them coinciding more often than not.  In my sleep, in notebooks, in irises, in mirrors, in poetry, in small little sighs. I do not know if I believe in fate or destiny, in God, in auras, or in the Blood Moon Prophecy, but I do know that I believe in you.  I find myself writing sappy verses and smelling your shirts and I do not know if it is because I miss you or if it is because I’m bored or if they’ve somehow                        mergedintothesamething.   I’ve been wondering a lot lately about where you show up on my hands; about where he showed up and where she showed up.  I want to know which lines bisect and which lines fall short; I want to know if the resemblance between         mother        and         daughter continues into that of my palm lines.  I want to know if my life line matches hers and if my heart line is even worth giving away— find me in your crystal ball, make me your sacrificed animal, look for my body in the stars, and we will know that         it was all made to be.
0
May 2, 2014
May 2, 2014 at 7:02 PM UTC
Haruspex
I’ve been thinking about hands a lot lately and how fingerprints are like permanent, foreshadowing tree rings etched onto our beings; I wonder if the number of rings on my palms have any correlation to the number of years I’ll live or the number of years he’ll live or the number of years that she lived. I’ve been thinking a lot about         life lines        and        heart lines and if there is any stock to be found in palmistry; I wonder how my fate line got to be so muddled with my luck line.   I see my life the way a clairvoyant would: in cut-up and choppy strips of film— I should have seen the omens, I should have read the smoke signals, I should have recognized the cards. Act One began on a waning crescent moon and continued until its gluttonous belly had swollen with light; I thought to myself that craniums made of gallium often melt the quickest, that blood filled with plutonium often flows the slowest.  I would have given my body up to the pathologist free of charge, would have let him dig his hands into my entrails for some sort of divination, some sort of revelation— I was never told to beware the Ides of June nor the Kalends of November. Act Two began with the birth of Jack Frost and has been continuing without intermission for the past four celestial cycles; I thought to myself that heart valves made of sodium polyacrylate often love the most, that sinkholes disguised as fingertips often feel the deepest.  He whispered in my ear cliched words about not believing in God, but how I made him feel blessed, and in that moment I knew he was the oneiromantic being that had been shadowing my dreams since 1996— I guess you could say that, sometimes, I believe in love. There is an art to fortune-telling there is an art to hands there is an art to bones there is an art to dreams, and over the years, I have found them coinciding more often than not.  In my sleep, in notebooks, in irises, in mirrors, in poetry, in small little sighs. I do not know if I believe in fate or destiny, in God, in auras, or in the Blood Moon Prophecy, but I do know that I believe in you.  I find myself writing sappy verses and smelling your shirts and I do not know if it is because I miss you or if it is because I’m bored or if they’ve somehow                        mergedintothesamething.   I’ve been wondering a lot lately about where you show up on my hands; about where he showed up and where she showed up.  I want to know which lines bisect and which lines fall short; I want to know if the resemblance between         mother        and         daughter continues into that of my palm lines.  I want to know if my life line matches hers and if my heart line is even worth giving away— find me in your crystal ball, make me your sacrificed animal, look for my body in the stars, and we will know that         it was all made to be.
Continue reading...
67
You ravaged me without permission I ravage you no intermission Each blow you dealt I’ve doubled my anger simmered and bubbled This is the only time I’ve felt job satisfaction feeling just sublime placing you in traction
0
Feb 24, 2014
Feb 24, 2014 at 5:14 AM UTC
Satisfaction
3-D popcorn and kisses in the balcony little soldiers showing dogtags to get a free refill before duck and cover drills at intermission it's all one big movie whether the summer rockets arrive with Flash Gordon or by way of Cuba
0
Sep 14, 2021
Sep 14, 2021 at 8:51 AM UTC
Matinee
I'm gonna follow my intuition I don't need your permission I'm the one for this position I'm breaking free Of common tradition I can be who I am I don't need to audition I am who I am The only edition I used to be sick In a dark addiction But I broke free of that condition My mind is clear I know my ambition No longer living In fear of suspicion There's not one definition For the text editon Heart driven Proposition For my expedition Opposite of our traditional I need abolition of competition And prohibition of intermission
0
Apr 4, 2014
Apr 4, 2014 at 11:22 AM UTC
Intuition
Last night I went to a jazz concert and I bought an eight dollar jar of cocktail nuts during intermission from which I only ate the few wasabi peas I managed to pick out in the dim of the theater. I thought about you and then my thoughts were interrupted by trumpets and saxophones, and I wished it could always be that easy.
0
Dec 20, 2013
Dec 20, 2013 at 11:09 PM UTC
Wasabi Peas and Wynton Marsalis
Out of everything I saw, I remember the thumb. Swollen and lopsided. There it was, conquering the wires--red, blue, and green, commandeering the clear tubes coated with stomach bile. And the nail. What a healthy nail. A pink rosebud with cuticle trim. Piqued with a white crest, curling. Prime for at least fifteen more back scratches. A drawerful of button-ups. Pockets of heads and tails. You can do it, Grandma. One, two. Heads, tails. Up, down. Up for braid, down for bun. Braid? Yes. Braid. And then there are two small thumbs bumbling through foreign terrain. The braidee now braiding. The baby, aging. Tucked in, lulled by echoes of strange mothers. Bleeping pressures, sugars, drawing lines and colors. But you have me. And I have this thumb, hidden under mine. I’ll keep it safe for you, here in this shadowed palm—sanctified, secret dome. I’ll protect it from the unhooked jaw. From placid flesh curtains, over a damp backstage. White light hanging over the insect—splayed on a lightning-gleamed car windshield. I’ll hide it away. Intermission. Hush now. Quiet, you. The show is not yet done. And ****** it won’t be. Not with this thumb. Not on my time. I bite it. At you. Skyward you. Elusive and slippery. Shiny, rubber-like, all but new. A blank belated card, lost in the mail. What it might have said, had I left a forwarding address. But we’re here now in this dark hand cavern. Tucked away, safely in lines. Those of the palm. Of tree rings. Of love songs, and Pretty things. Lines, like wires red, green, and blue. They bring me closer And closer To the thumb. Fat, with shiny aged skin, stretched new. And suddenly, I’m Old. Numb along one side. Useless and dumb. A limp puppet plunked down during intermission.
0
Sep 19, 2012
Sep 19, 2012 at 3:38 PM UTC
Thumbs
Out of everything I saw, I remember the thumb. Swollen and lopsided. There it was, conquering the wires--red, blue, and green, commandeering the clear tubes coated with stomach bile. And the nail. What a healthy nail. A pink rosebud with cuticle trim. Piqued with a white crest, curling. Prime for at least fifteen more back scratches. A drawerful of button-ups. Pockets of heads and tails. You can do it, Grandma. One, two. Heads, tails. Up, down. Up for braid, down for bun. Braid? Yes. Braid. And then there are two small thumbs bumbling through foreign terrain. The braidee now braiding. The baby, aging. Tucked in, lulled by echoes of strange mothers. Bleeping pressures, sugars, drawing lines and colors. But you have me. And I have this thumb, hidden under mine. I’ll keep it safe for you, here in this shadowed palm—sanctified, secret dome. I’ll protect it from the unhooked jaw. From placid flesh curtains, over a damp backstage. White light hanging over the insect—splayed on a lightning-gleamed car windshield. I’ll hide it away. Intermission. Hush now. Quiet, you. The show is not yet done. And ****** it won’t be. Not with this thumb. Not on my time. I bite it. At you. Skyward you. Elusive and slippery. Shiny, rubber-like, all but new. A blank belated card, lost in the mail. What it might have said, had I left a forwarding address. But we’re here now in this dark hand cavern. Tucked away, safely in lines. Those of the palm. Of tree rings. Of love songs, and Pretty things. Lines, like wires red, green, and blue. They bring me closer And closer To the thumb. Fat, with shiny aged skin, stretched new. And suddenly, I’m Old. Numb along one side. Useless and dumb. A limp puppet plunked down during intermission.
Continue reading...
59
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ a little straight slip of a thing, red, a quartier inch wide, red, a quartier inch thin, suggestive, inquisitive, a political and philosophical, lovely provocation to conjecture as if it were a colored arrow, pointing strangely down, instead of up, to the next handhold on a rock climbing wall, in this case, handholds on a woman's body this way, follow me, to the barricades! a tourist mapped-path to follow, visit the glories of the republic,^ and the charming Quartier Latin! entrap and entice, the eyes willful blinded, taken away to thoughtful solitary, on-one-side-only, does the bra strap conveniently, consciously, haphazardly, (yes, that's it, a hazard,) invitingly, speaks to, looks to me, inquiring will you vote, RSVP to red? as if a line of lipstick on the body drawn, the directive points, this way, perhaps, always, just perhaps, this way tourist, to the dome of the pantheon, where the statutes are the course, or perhaps disguised, well-placed, statuesque, (ha!), improvised explosive devices, purposely presented, needy for a desired psychological high impact detonation If that is its purpose under heaven, under sweater, under halter, under cutoff gym top, under liberty, to tempt and remove the blindfold from the womanly scales of under justice to tilt him favorably one way If it, is theater, I, the audience then whatever is on stage, (Ibsen's Doll House, ironie délicieuse) is a failed distraction, naught to naughty, to no avail, his eyes fastened, stapled wide to the quarter inch thin red path from her slender shoulder, leading, stepping him ****** down to his I-magination, for which unknowingly, he, ticket purchased, months ago for two hours and one intermission He must go again, the show was superbly acted, for so the reviews said, Ibsen's play, "an unremitting portrayal of the suffering of a women" ^republic ~ a state in which the power rests in the body, of those entitled to vote, exercised by their representatives, their eyes, chosen directly by and for them.
0
Mar 4, 2014
Mar 4, 2014 at 3:50 PM UTC
the red, a quarter inch thin bra strap
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ a little straight slip of a thing, red, a quartier inch wide, red, a quartier inch thin, suggestive, inquisitive, a political and philosophical, lovely provocation to conjecture as if it were a colored arrow, pointing strangely down, instead of up, to the next handhold on a rock climbing wall, in this case, handholds on a woman's body this way, follow me, to the barricades! a tourist mapped-path to follow, visit the glories of the republic,^ and the charming Quartier Latin! entrap and entice, the eyes willful blinded, taken away to thoughtful solitary, on-one-side-only, does the bra strap conveniently, consciously, haphazardly, (yes, that's it, a hazard,) invitingly, speaks to, looks to me, inquiring will you vote, RSVP to red? as if a line of lipstick on the body drawn, the directive points, this way, perhaps, always, just perhaps, this way tourist, to the dome of the pantheon, where the statutes are the course, or perhaps disguised, well-placed, statuesque, (ha!), improvised explosive devices, purposely presented, needy for a desired psychological high impact detonation If that is its purpose under heaven, under sweater, under halter, under cutoff gym top, under liberty, to tempt and remove the blindfold from the womanly scales of under justice to tilt him favorably one way If it, is theater, I, the audience then whatever is on stage, (Ibsen's Doll House, ironie délicieuse) is a failed distraction, naught to naughty, to no avail, his eyes fastened, stapled wide to the quarter inch thin red path from her slender shoulder, leading, stepping him ****** down to his I-magination, for which unknowingly, he, ticket purchased, months ago for two hours and one intermission He must go again, the show was superbly acted, for so the reviews said, Ibsen's play, "an unremitting portrayal of the suffering of a women" ^republic ~ a state in which the power rests in the body, of those entitled to vote, exercised by their representatives, their eyes, chosen directly by and for them.
Continue reading...
86
intermission with the UMSL Orchestra The backstage hall was wall-to-wall smiles. Just moments before, Barbara Harbach had charged the stage after we premiered her joyous Jubilee Symphony screaming at them all the way, "That was spectacular"! The Arianna Quartet's Kurt and Joanna stormed down the steps spewing out pieces of their minds in no uncertain terms "excellent" - "great job" - "beautiful". I preferred to hang out on the edge wrapped in the silken echoes of Tchaikovsky's Andante cantabile (so eloquently sung by our youthful strings). Intermission was up and it was back to work time. In the abyss of despair over his dying ears, Beethoven flooded the world with the blazing sunglow of his prophetic second symphony and it was now up to us to pass on the word. Just call me, "Grateful (underscore) 1".
0
Oct 10, 2013
Oct 10, 2013 at 11:46 AM UTC
Grateful (underscore) 1
that should be the name of a song or a poem or a memoir of a man who remembers nothing but danger that passed him by, ruffling his hair as it passed, ignoring his pleas: stay please stay please stay i just want to mean something, he would say (that could be the subtitle or the blurb, something to draw the reader in; if floating bodies aren’t enough) i just want to mean something, and near-death experiences are the flavor of the day. i’m not brave enough to do it myself, i’m not a hero or a villain, just a lonely boy, undefined individual, and your 350 teeth can help me mean so much more, 350 individual teeth that float above my head, falling out one by one as you bloat with seawater (and here the first chapter would end, here we would break for intermission, audience smiling over martinis. only 32 teeth, did some fall out? too many maraschino cherries will do that to you. too much sugar on the rim of that glass) dead sharks in the current and none glance twice i keep yelling but they just deflect my bubbles, and the surface swallows them like the heartless ***** she is i keep yelling but they just move farther i keep yelling but stay please stay please stay i just want to mean something. i just want some blood on my hands is that so much to ask? i just want some of my blood in the water, to be a survivor or a victim (whichever gets more press coverage; who cares about a memoir that nobody reads? who cares about a memoir where nobody gets hurt?) i just want shark teeth in my heart, he would say, i don’t want to make a mark on the world, i want the world to make a mark on me. that should be the name of a song or a poem or the eulogy of a boring man.
0
Mar 9, 2013
Mar 9, 2013 at 12:58 AM UTC
dead sharks
that should be the name of a song or a poem or a memoir of a man who remembers nothing but danger that passed him by, ruffling his hair as it passed, ignoring his pleas: stay please stay please stay i just want to mean something, he would say (that could be the subtitle or the blurb, something to draw the reader in; if floating bodies aren’t enough) i just want to mean something, and near-death experiences are the flavor of the day. i’m not brave enough to do it myself, i’m not a hero or a villain, just a lonely boy, undefined individual, and your 350 teeth can help me mean so much more, 350 individual teeth that float above my head, falling out one by one as you bloat with seawater (and here the first chapter would end, here we would break for intermission, audience smiling over martinis. only 32 teeth, did some fall out? too many maraschino cherries will do that to you. too much sugar on the rim of that glass) dead sharks in the current and none glance twice i keep yelling but they just deflect my bubbles, and the surface swallows them like the heartless ***** she is i keep yelling but they just move farther i keep yelling but stay please stay please stay i just want to mean something. i just want some blood on my hands is that so much to ask? i just want some of my blood in the water, to be a survivor or a victim (whichever gets more press coverage; who cares about a memoir that nobody reads? who cares about a memoir where nobody gets hurt?) i just want shark teeth in my heart, he would say, i don’t want to make a mark on the world, i want the world to make a mark on me. that should be the name of a song or a poem or the eulogy of a boring man.
Continue reading...
50
You feel like A ghastly mist, crawling up my toes Touching frozen ground as you wrap The soles of my feet in pasty white. You feel like Wet hair seeping through every thread Of a pillowcase where you rest your head Cold, warm, cold, warm—uncomfortable. You feel like Sore eyes from screens too bright As you type in bold, black thoughts A manifesto of the conflicts within. You feel like A room with no light, air, and sounds Stagnancy echoing—the streaks, the blowing, the ringing Were all dampened, washed out, unheard of. You feel like The sudden flash of blindness in the sky Overlapping the deepest violets with such crisp tear And they, too, tear as well. You feel like An intrusive intrusion of an intruder An interlude to all the things you've done An intermission to the tango that has just begun. You feel like A stale yet warm yet ugly yet comforting embrace I wrap around you just to seep in every inch Of what only you could offer. You feel like The last beginning of the endgame The enshrouding entrance of what is to come The naked piece of the puzzle I have yet to grasp fully You feel like Bitter goodbyes Unfiltered eyes And crimson skies.
0
Sep 17, 2021
Sep 17, 2021 at 1:21 PM UTC
Episode
Every soul I come into contact with leaves an impression onto me. But I don't believe in souls, so how can this be? How can I taste the flowerless nature of a coke nose and find it to be an eternal bloom? For I, to without and before sunset, **** the shadows that mask the morose and keep the victimized stalwarts close. See thy honor in the trauma of the night and transient beauty of the light that shines in all that I touch, not enough or, perhaps, too much. To break my empathy would be shimmerless, but I'm dimmer, thus, a shallow crest of what I thought was best on the Earth's grass and in the brain's broken glass. Intermission: Soda Pop and Popcorn in the lounge. ****** in France, you like coke and being other people. You tried to **** yourself with your car but it only went as far as the saliva leaping from your mouth, when your head hit the horn, and blared until your ears popped, with your spit splatting against the speedometer. Because what is fast isn't fast enough. The EMT told you this when you saw the lights flash across your eyes. Focus. Focus. Focus. Follow the light with your eyes. This isn't god. Do you have parents? What is your name? Your wallet melted in the heat. What is your name? You think you hear rusty bone saws but they're trying to cut your friend out of the vehicle. There isn't enough time. Time is never enough.
0
Jan 1, 2015
Jan 1, 2015 at 4:07 PM UTC
Cokenose/Rusty Bone Saws