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Pearl Avenue runs past the high-school lot,
Bends with the trolley tracks, and stops, cut off
Before it has a chance to go two blocks,
At Colonel McComsky Plaza. Berth's Garage
Is on the corner facing west, and there,
Most days, you'll find Flick Webb, who helps Berth out.

Flick stands tall among the idiot pumps-
Five on a side, the old bubble-head style,
Their rubber elbows hanging loose and low.
One's nostrils are two S's, and his eyes
An E and O. And one is squat, without
A head at all-more of a football type.

Once Flick played for the high-school team, the Wizards.
He was good: in fact, the best. In '46
He bucketed three hundred ninety points,
A county record still. The ball loved Flick.
I saw him rack up thirty-eight or forty
In one home game. His hands were like wild birds.

He never learned a trade, he just sells gas,
Checks oil, and changes flats. Once in a while,
As a gag, he dribbles an inner tube,
But most of us remember anyway.
His hands are fine and nervous on the lug wrench.
It makes no difference to the lug wrench, though.

Off work, he hangs around Mae's Luncheonette.
Grease-gray and kind of coiled, he plays pinball,
Smokes those thin cigars, nurses lemon phosphates.
Flick seldom says a word to Mae, just nods
Beyond her face toward bright applauding tiers
Of Necco Wafers, Nibs, and Juju Beads.
My bipolar fantasy is that one day,
I’m going to come home and leave my bipolar at the door,
Scatter it along with muddy boots and raincoats and winter mittens
I have no use for currently,
That I’m going to take it off and enter my house unencumbered.
My bipolar dream is that I’m going to go to bed tonight
Without measuring my sleep,
Wondering if it’s an indication of mania or depression,
If it’s stress or I need medication to push me into a nocturnal daze,
The haze of which will bleed over into daytime.
My bipolar wish is that this illness
That I lug around like a suitcase made of brick
Might lighten in load or unpack itself once in a while,
That it will not brand me as a traveler on a road
Pockmarked with landmines and loneliness.
I wish that this suitcase did not bear the mark of mental illness.
My bipolar life is a story,
One laid out in the lines of swinging,
Of flying and then falling
Before realizing they are often too closely related to tell the difference.
My story is written in the narrow margins between creativity and hospitalization.
Sometimes the two occur together.
My life’s manuscript is forever alternating
Between the way the night sky speaks to me
Or the way the bathroom smells like my blood.
It is being abuzz with electricity and then short circuiting your battery
And not being able to move.
My bipolar song is a tune alternating between grandiosity,
All hail my intelligence and beauty (psych!)
Before falling into apathy and self-loathing.
Sometimes it’s not knowing what version of me I’m going to wake up to in the morning.
My bipolar hope is that the dizzying combo of diet, exercise, and daily medication
Will keep me out of that 1 in 5 number I’ve danced with so perilously,
Keep me off of those bridge ledges and out from empty pill bottles,
Keep me alive in my skin even in this painful reality.
My bipolar fear is that when mania and depression have a love child
And mixed mania runs amuck in its terrible two’s,
The anger will taint the feelings of loved ones.
I fear callous words uttered insouciantly in my own misery,
Slithering from my mouth agonizingly slowly yet too quickly to stop
Might wound those I care for when I do not mean it.
My distress and agitation sometimes equal cranky.
My bipolar prayer is that when energy plus impulsiveness plus danger is no longer
A concept I understand collaborate,
Those around me know this is not who I am.
My mood is a high-flyer, a free-faller, and an everywhere in between,
But that is not my personality.
I am an optimist, a free thinker, creator, compassion giver.
My story is broader than the confines of bipolar.
I am sometimes aflame and others underwater,
But I weather it all with a twisted sense of humor.
I am a person before I am bipolar.
Sleepmonger,
deathmonger,
with capsules in my palms each night,
eight at a time from sweet pharmaceutical bottles
I make arrangements for a pint-sized journey.
I'm the queen of this condition.
I'm an expert on making the trip
and now they say I'm an addict.
Now they ask why.
WHY!

Don't they know that I promised to die!
I'm keeping in practice.
I'm merely staying in shape.
The pills are a mother, but better,
every color and as good as sour *****.
I'm on a diet from death.

Yes, I admit
it has gotten to be a bit of a habit-
blows eight at a time, socked in the eye,
hauled away by the pink, the orange,
the green and the white goodnights.
I'm becoming something of a chemical
mixture.
that's it!

My supply
of tablets
has got to last for years and years.
I like them more than I like me.
It's a kind of marriage.
It's a kind of war where I plant bombs inside
of myself.

Yes
I try
to **** myself in small amounts,
an innocuous occupatin.
Actually I'm hung up on it.
But remember I don't make too much noise.
And frankly no one has to lug me out
and I don't stand there in my winding sheet.
I'm a little buttercup in my yellow nightie
eating my eight loaves in a row
and in a certain order as in
the laying on of hands
or the black sacrament.

It's a ceremony
but like any other sport
it's full of rules.
It's like a musical tennis match where
my mouth keeps catching the ball.
Then I lie on; my altar
elevated by the eight chemical kisses.

What a lay me down this is
with two pink, two orange,
two green, two white goodnights.
Fee-fi-fo-fum-
Now I'm borrowed.
Now I'm numb.
L B May 2018
Yellow is
a high-minded mood
the extravagance of sunlight
to be touched--
before long
by colors of play
___

It is of hair
tendering golden sun
brown pennies for lemonade
__

Yellow is
bumping into the screaming end
of a lit
cigarette
___

Yellow is
dripping from the eaves
onto an empty soup can
___

It is
spindling sparrow song
from highest perch on roof
his pitch can aspire
___

Yellow is
in rattled doorknob
an infant's sweet
voice wanting – in
Reciting menu
above mattress
edges into sleep
two dark eyes
plead
for yellow
waking
Mother into morning--
“juice.... eggs”

Yellow  _
__
is
opening a car door
at the shore's
unmistakable!
Smells of life  
warmth and breeze
touching strings
those kites  
of sense
harmonics
above the tone
octaves of excitement
to see to hear to touch to taste
to know
again –

the ocean of my mother
as she calms the waves,
ignores the pouts of us
with stuff to lug out to the beach
the towels, pails and shovels
Picnic basket, cooler
lotion, comic books, her magazines

Mom looks out
She is a good swimmer
Her glasses, dark
Preside  
reflecting beauty –

“Take your sister's hand.”

Yellow are the squeals
Feet thrashing sand
of cannot wait
For my daughter, Phoebe and my mother.
Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pin rest; snug as a gun.

Under my window, a clean rasping sound
When the ***** sinks into gravelly ground:
My father, digging.  I look down

Till his straining **** among the flowerbeds
Bends low, comes up twenty years away
Stooping in rhythm through potato drills
Where he was digging.

The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft
Against the inside knee was levered firmly.
He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep
To scatter new potatoes that we picked,
Loving their cool hardness in our hands.

By God, the old man could handle a *****.
Just like his old man.

My grandfather cut more turf in a day
Than any other man on Toner's bog.
Once I carried him milk in a bottle
Corked sloppily with paper.  He straightened up
To drink it, then fell to right away
Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods
Over his shoulder, going down and down
For the good turf.  Digging.

The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap
Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge
Through living roots awaken in my head.
But I've no ***** to follow men like them.

Between my finger and my thumb
The squat pen rests.
I'll dig with it.
Brent Kincaid Jul 2015
The old saying talks about
Being snug as a bug in a rug
But how can you feel that way
If you never ever get hugged.
If you hug your loved ones
They may not need drugs.
It’s an inexpensive medicine;
The basic household hug.

Worse things could happen
Than to catch the hugging bug.
It’s a better remedy than you
Can find in an apothecary jug.
It doesn’t require prescription
And is no big weight to lug.
You always have one handy,
The standard loving hug.

A hug can be the cure for you
When you are in a purple fug
And your face begins to look
Like a rather dyspeptic pug.
Somebody wonderful arrives
And gives your heart a tug
By giving you the all-time best
Wholehearted, loving hug.
seethroughme Nov 2009
ek dryf in koperson
want wolke is te wit om op te trap
en blou lug te min om my te hou
ek dryf in illovo-stroop lig
wat om my vou
soos ‘n ma se hande wat skulp
om ‘n kind se huil
#afrikaans
Oídos con el alma,
pasos mentales más que sombras,
sombras del pensamiento más que pasos,
por el camino de ecos
que la memoria inventa y borra:
sin caminar caminan
sobre este ahora, puente
tendido entre una letra y otra.
Como llovizna sobre brasas
dentro de mí los pasos pasan
hacia lugares que se vuelven aire.
Nombres: en una pausa
desaparecen, entre dos palabras.
El sol camina sobre los escombros
de lo que digo, el sol arrasa los parajes
confusamente apenas
amaneciendo en esta página,
el sol abre mi frente,
                                        balcón al voladero
dentro de mí.

                            Me alejo de mí mismo,
sigo los titubeos de esta frase,
senda de piedras y de cabras.
Relumbran las palabras en la sombra.
Y la negra marea de las sílabas
cubre el papel y entierra
sus raíces de tinta
en el subsuelo del lenguaje.
Desde mi frente salgo a un mediodía
del tamaño del tiempo.
El asalto de siglos del baniano
contra la vertical paciencia de la tapia
es menos largo que esta momentánea
bifurcación del pesamiento
entre lo presentido y lo sentido.
Ni allá ni aquí: por esa linde
de duda, transitada
sólo por espejeos y vislumbres,
donde el lenguaje se desdice,
voy al encuentro de mí mismo.
La hora es bola de cristal.
Entro en un patio abandonado:
aparición de un fresno.
Verdes exclamaciones
del viento entre las ramas.
Del otro lado está el vacío.
Patio inconcluso, amenazado
por la escritura y sus incertidumbres.
Ando entre las imágenes de un ojo
desmemoriado. Soy una de sus imágenes.
El fresno, sinuosa llama líquida,
es un rumor que se levanta
hasta volverse torre hablante.
Jardín ya matorral: su fiebre inventa bichos
que luego copian las mitologías.
Adobes, cal y tiempo:
entre ser y no ser los pardos muros.
Infinitesimales prodigios en sus grietas:
el hongo duende, vegetal Mitrídates,
la lagartija y sus exhalaciones.
Estoy dentro del ojo: el pozo
donde desde el principio un niño
está cayendo, el pozo donde cuento
lo que tardo en caer desde el principio,
el pozo de la cuenta de mi cuento
por donde sube el agua y baja
mi sombra.

                        El patio, el muro, el fresno, el pozo
en una claridad en forma de laguna
se desvanecen. Crece en sus orillas
una vegetación de transparencias.
Rima feliz de montes y edificios,
se desdobla el paisaje en el abstracto
espejo de la arquitectura.
Apenas dibujada,
suerte de coma horizontal (-)
entre el cielo y la tierra,
una piragua solitaria.
Las olas hablan nahua.
Cruza un signo volante las alturas.
Tal vez es una fecha, conjunción de destinos:
el haz de cañas, prefiguración del brasero.
El pedernal, la cruz, esas llaves de sangre
¿alguna vez abrieron las puertas de la muerte?
La luz poniente se demora,
alza sobre la alfombra simétricos incendios,
vuelve llama quimérica
este volumen lacre que hojeo
(estampas: los volcanes, los cúes y, tendido,
manto de plumas sobre el agua,
Tenochtitlán todo empapado en sangre).
Los libros del estante son ya brasas
que el sol atiza con sus manos rojas.
Se rebela el lápiz a seguir el dictado.
En la escritura que la nombra
se eclipsa la laguna.
Doblo la hoja. Cuchicheos:
me espían entre los follajes
de las letras.

                          Un charco es mi memoria.
Lodoso espejo: ¿dónde estuve?
Sin piedad y sin cólera mis ojos
me miran a los ojos
desde las aguas turbias de ese charco
que convocan ahora mis palabras.
No veo con los ojos: las palabras
son mis ojos. vivimos entre nombres;
lo que no tiene nombre todavía
no existe: Adán de lodo,
No un muñeco de barro, una metáfora.
Ver al mundo es deletrearlo.
Espejo de palabras: ¿dónde estuve?
Mis palabras me miran desde el charco
de mi memoria. Brillan,
entre enramadas de reflejos,
nubes varadas y burbujas,
sobre un fondo del ocre al brasilado,
las sílabas de agua.
Ondulación de sombras, visos, ecos,
no escritura de signos: de rumores.
Mis ojos tienen sed. El charco es senequista:
el agua, aunque potable, no se bebe: se lee.
Al sol del altiplano se evaporan los charcos.
Queda un polvo desleal
y unos cuantos vestigios intestados.
¿Dónde estuve?

                                  Yo estoy en donde estuve:
entre los muros indecisos
del mismo patio de palabras.
Abderramán, Pompeyo, Xicoténcatl,
batallas en el Oxus o en la barda
con Ernesto y Guillermo. La mil hojas,
verdinegra escultura del murmullo,
jaula del sol y la centella
breve del chupamirto: la higuera primordial,
capilla vegetal de rituales
polimorfos, diversos y perversos.
Revelaciones y abominaciones:
el cuerpo y sus lenguajes
entretejidos, nudo de fantasmas
palpados por el pensamiento
y por el tacto disipados,
argolla de la sangre, idea fija
en mi frente clavada.
El deseo es señor de espectros,
somos enredaderas de aire
en árboles de viento,
manto de llamas inventado
y devorado por la llama.
La hendedura del tronco:
****, sello, pasaje serpentino
cerrado al sol y a mis miradas,
abierto a las hormigas.

La hendedura fue pórtico
del más allá de lo mirado y lo pensado:
allá dentro son verdes las mareas,
la sangre es verde, el fuego verde,
entre las yerbas negras arden estrellas verdes:
es la música verde de los élitros
en la prístina noche de la higuera;
-allá dentro son ojos las yemas de los dedos,
el tacto mira, palpan las miradas,
los ojos oyen los olores;
-allá dentro es afuera,
es todas partes y ninguna parte,
las cosas son las mismas y son otras,
encarcelado en un icosaedro
hay un insecto tejedor de música
y hay otro insecto que desteje
los silogismos que la araña teje
colgada de los hilos de la luna;
-allá dentro el espacio
en una mano abierta y una frente
que no piensa ideas sino formas
que respiran, caminan, hablan, cambian
y silenciosamente se evaporan;
-allá dentro, país de entretejidos ecos,
se despeña la luz, lenta cascada,
entre los labios de las grietas:
la luz es agua, el agua tiempo diáfano
donde los ojos lavan sus imágenes;
-allá dentro los cables del deseo
fingen eternidades de un segundo
que la mental corriente eléctrica
enciende, apaga, enciende,
resurrecciones llameantes
del alfabeto calcinado;
-no hay escuela allá dentro,
siempre es el mismo día, la misma noche siempre,
no han inventado el tiempo todavía,
no ha envejecido el sol,
esta nieve es idéntica a la yerba,
siempre y nunca es lo mismo,
nunca ha llovido y llueve siempre,
todo está siendo y nunca ha sido,
pueblo sin nombre de las sensaciones,
nombres que buscan cuerpo,
impías transparencias,
jaulas de claridad donde se anulan
la identidad entre sus semejanzas,
la diferencia en sus contradicciones.
La higuera, sus falacias y su sabiduría:
prodigios de la tierra
-fidedignos, puntuales, redundantes-
y la conversación con los espectros.
Aprendizajes con la higuera:
hablar con vivos y con muertos.
También conmigo mismo.

                                                    La procesión del
año:
cambios que son repeticiones.
El paso de las horas y su peso.
La madrugada: más que luz, un vaho
de claridad cambiada en gotas grávidas
sobre los vidrios y las hojas:
el mundo se atenúa
en esas oscilantes geometrías
hasta volverse el filo de un reflejo.
Brota el día, prorrumpe entre las hojas
gira sobre sí mismo
y de la vacuidad en que se precipita
surge, otra vez corpóreo.
El tiempo es luz filtrada.
Revienta el fruto *****
en encarnada florescencia,
la rota rama escurre savia lechosa y acre.
Metamorfosis de la higuera:
si el otoño la quema, su luz la transfigura.
Por los espacios diáfanos
se eleva descarnada virgen negra.
El cielo es giratorio
lapizlázuli:          
viran au ralenti, sus
continentes,
insubstanciales geografías.
Llamas entre las nieves de las nubes.
La tarde más y más es miel quemada.
Derrumbe silencioso de horizontes:
la luz se precipita de las cumbres,
la sombra se derrama por el llano.

A la luz de la lámpara -la noche
ya dueña de la casa y el fantasma
de mi abuelo ya dueño de la noche-
yo penetraba en el silencio,
cuerpo sin cuerpo, tiempo
sin horas. Cada noche,
máquinas transparentes del delirio,
dentro de mí los libros levantaban
arquitecturas sobre una sima edificadas.
Las alza un soplo del espíritu,
un parpadeo las deshace.
Yo junté leña con los otros
y lloré con el humo de la pira
del domador de potros;
vagué por la arboleda navegante
que arrastra el Tajo turbiamente verde:
la líquida espesura se encrespaba
tras de la fugitiva Galatea;
vi en racimos las sombras agolpadas
para beber la sangre de la zanja:
mejor quebrar terrones
por la ración de perro del
labrador avaro
que regir las naciones pálidas
de los muertos;
tuve sed, vi demonios en el Gobi;
en la gruta nadé con la sirena
(y después, en el sueño purgativo,
fendendo i drappi, e mostravami'l
ventre,
quel mí svegliò col
puzzo che n'nuscia);
grabé sobre mi tumba imaginaria:
no muevas esta lápida,
soy rico sólo en huesos;
aquellas memorables
pecosas peras encontradas
en la cesta verbal de Villaurrutia;
Carlos Garrote, eterno medio hermano,
Dios te salve, me dijo al
derribarme
y era, por los espejos del insomnio
repetido, yo mismo el que me hería;
Isis y el asno Lucio; el pulpo y Nemo;
y los libros marcados por las armas de Príapo,
leídos en las tardes diluviales
el cuerpo tenso, la mirada intensa.
Nombres anclados en el golfo
de mi frente: yo escribo porque el druida,
bajo el rumor de sílabas del himno,
encina bien plantada en una página,
me dio el gajo de muérdago, el conjuro
que hace brotar palabras de la peña.
Los nombres acumulan sus imágenes.
Las imágenes acumulan sus gaseosas,
conjeturales confederaciones.
Nubes y nubes, fantasmal galope
de las nubes sobre las crestas
de mi memoria. Adolescencia,
país de nubes.

                            Casa grande,
encallada en un tiempo
azolvado. La plaza, los árboles enormes
donde anidaba el sol, la iglesia enana
-su torre les llegaba a las rodillas
pero su doble lengua de metal
a los difuntos despertaba.
Bajo la arcada, en garbas militares,
las cañas, lanzas verdes,
carabinas de azúcar;
en el portal, el tendejón magenta:
frescor de agua en penumbra,
ancestrales petates, luz trenzada,
y sobre el zinc del mostrador,
diminutos planetas desprendidos
del árbol meridiano,
los tejocotes y las mandarinas,
amarillos montones de dulzura.
Giran los años en la plaza,
rueda de Santa Catalina,
y no se mueven.

                                Mis palabras,
al hablar de la casa, se agrietan.
Cuartos y cuartos, habitados
sólo por sus fantasmas,
sólo por el rencor de los mayores
habitados. Familias,
criaderos de alacranes:
como a los perros dan con la pitanza
vidrio molido, nos alimentan con sus odios
y la ambición dudosa de ser alguien.
También me dieron pan, me dieron tiempo,
claros en los recodos de los días,
remansos para estar solo conmigo.
Niño entre adultos taciturnos
y sus terribles niñerías,
niño por los pasillos de altas puertas,
habitaciones con retratos,
crepusculares cofradías de los ausentes,
niño sobreviviente
de los espejos sin memoria
y su pueblo de viento:
el tiempo y sus encarnaciones
resuelto en simulacros de reflejos.
En mi casa los muertos eran más que los vivos.
Mi madre, niña de mil años,
madre del mundo, huérfana de mí,
abnegada, feroz, obtusa, providente,
jilguera, perra, hormiga, jabalina,
carta de amor con faltas de lenguaje,
mi madre: pan que yo cortaba
con su propio cuchillo cada día.
Los fresnos me enseñaron,
bajo la lluvia, la paciencia,
a cantar cara al viento vehemente.
Virgen somnílocua, una tía
me enseñó a ver con los ojos cerrados,
ver hacia dentro y a través del muro.
Mi abuelo a sonreír en la caída
y a repetir en los desastres: al
hecho, pecho.
(Esto que digo es tierra
sobre tu nombre derramada: blanda te
sea.)
Del vómito a la sed,
atado al potro del alcohol,
mi padre iba y venía entre las llamas.
Por los durmientes y los rieles
de una estación de moscas y de polvo
una tarde juntamos sus pedazos.
Yo nunca pude hablar con él.
Lo encuentro ahora en sueños,
esa borrosa patria de los muertos.
Hablamos siempre de otras cosas.
Mientras la casa se desmoronaba
yo crecía. Fui (soy) yerba, maleza
entre escombros anónimos.

                                                Días
como una frente libre, un libro abierto.
No me multiplicaron los espejos
codiciosos que vuelven
cosas los hombres, número las cosas:
ni mando ni ganancia. La santidad tampoco:
el cielo para mí pronto fue un cielo
deshabitado, una hermosura hueca
y adorable. Presencia suficiente,
cambiante: el tiempo y sus epifanías.
No me habló dios entre las nubes:
entre las hojas de la higuera
me habló el cuerpo, los cuerpos de mi cuerpo.
Encarnaciones instantáneas:
tarde lavada por la lluvia,
luz recién salida del agua,
el vaho femenino de las plantas
piel a mi piel pegada: ¡súcubo!
-como si al fin el tiempo coincidiese
consigo mismo y yo con él,
como si el tiempo y sus dos tiempos
fuesen un solo tiempo
que ya no fuese tiempo, un tiempo
donde siempre es ahora y a
todas horas siempre,
como si yo y mi doble fuesen uno
y yo no fuese ya.
Granada de la hora: bebí sol, comí tiempo.
Dedos de luz abrían los follajes.
Zumbar de abejas en mi sangre:
el blanco advenimiento.
Me arrojó la descarga
a la orilla más sola. Fui un extraño
entre las vastas ruinas de la tarde.
Vértigo abstracto: hablé conmigo,
fui doble, el tiempo se rompió.

Atónita en lo alto del minuto
la carne se hace verbo -y el verbo se despeña.
Saberse desterrado en la tierra, siendo tierra,
es saberse mortal. Secreto a voces
y también secreto vacío, sin nada adentro:
no hay muertos, sólo hay muerte, madre nuestra.
Lo sabía el azteca, lo adivinaba el griego:
el agua es fuego y en su tránsito
nosotros somos sólo llamaradas.
La muerte es madre de las formas…
El sonido, bastón de ciego del sentido:
escribo muerte y vivo en ella
por un instante. Habito su sonido:
es un cubo neumático de vidrio,
vibra sobre esta página,
desaparece entre sus ecos.
Paisajes de palabras:
los despueblan mis ojos al leerlos.
No importa: los propagan mis oídos.
Brotan allá, en las zonas indecisas
del lenguaje, palustres poblaciones.
Son criaturas anfibias, con palabras.
Pasan de un elemento a otro,
se bañan en el fuego, reposan en el aire.
Están del otro lado. No las oigo, ¿qué dicen?
No dicen: hablan, hablan.

                                Salto de un cuento a otro
por un puente colgante de once sílabas.
Un cuerpo vivo aunque intangible el aire,
en todas partes siempre y en ninguna.
Duerme con los ojos abiertos,
se acuesta entre las yerbas y amanece rocío,
se persigue a sí mismo y habla solo en los túneles,
es un tornillo que perfora montes,
nadador en la mar brava del fuego
es invisible surtidor de ayes
levanta a pulso dos océanos,
anda perdido por las calles
palabra en pena en busca de sentido,
aire que se disipa en aire.
¿Y para qué digo todo esto?
Para decir que en pleno mediodía
el aire se poblaba de fantasmas,
sol acuñado en alas,
ingrávidas monedas, mariposas.
Anochecer. En la terraza
oficiaba la luna silenciaria.
La cabeza de muerto, mensajera
de las ánimas, la fascinante fascinada
por las camelias y la luz eléctrica,
sobre nuestras cabezas era un revoloteo
de conjuros opacos. ¡Mátala!
gritaban las mujeres
y la quemaban como bruja.
Después, con un suspiro feroz, se santiguaban.
Luz esparcida, Psiquis…

                                 
¿Hay mensajeros? Sí,
cuerpo tatuado de señales
es el espacio, el aire es invisible
tejido de llamadas y respuestas.
Animales y cosas se hacen lenguas,
a través de nosotros habla consigo mismo
el universo. Somos un fragmento
-pero cabal en su inacabamiento-
de su discurso. Solipsismo
coherente y vacío:
desde el principio del principio
¿qué dice? Dice que nos dice.
Se lo dice a sí mismo. Oh
madness of discourse,
that cause sets up with and against
itself!

Desde lo alto del minuto
despeñado en la tarde plantas fanerógamas
me descubrió la muerte.
Y yo en la muerte descubrí al lenguaje.
El universo habla solo
pero los hombres hablan con los hombres:
hay historia. Guillermo, Alfonso, Emilio:
el corral de los juegos era historia
y era historia jugar a morir juntos.
La polvareda, el grito, la caída:
algarabía, no discurso.
En el vaivén errante de las cosas,
por las revoluciones de las formas
y de los tiempos arrastradas,
cada una pelea con las otras,
cada una se alza, ciega, contra sí misma.
Así, según la hora cae desen-
lazada, su injusticia pagan. (Anaximandro.)
La injusticia de ser: las cosas sufren
unas con otras y consigo mismas
por ser un querer más, siempre ser más que más.
Ser tiempo es la condena, nuestra pena es la historia.
Pero también es el lug
From grey plaster dwellin’s they come to us
fer enough sun t’ melt their lollies but
after sun-burnt migrations, some remain
as they can choose our shacks fer their castles
and their spawn breaks the spines on each weaver
and fer their red-faced fuss ‘e is broken.

The ‘ermit crab too takes ‘is leave broken.
The ‘ome ‘e made now closed to all of us
Not passed by ta’ooed ‘ands o' net weavers.
The painted shells still litter these streets but
suited slugs paint gray on our small castles
till only mockin’ shades of age remain.

“Shave off, *******’ll pick till none o’ yer remain”
screamed mad John as relaters “fixed ‘im” broken
into some plastic ‘ouse from ‘is castle.
‘ow ‘e used t’ tell those old tales to us
'o the deep places and the things there but
they ‘ad ‘im by the gills, poor old weaver.

Spines down, in nets made by ‘is own weavin.
we did it to ourselves, we can’t remain
Wi’ nets o’ money, o’ *****, o’ smokes, but
black flags still fly, bein’ bent never broken.
Cross-bone attractions will be left as us
‘eld by those who took away our castles

Stormin’ beaches to kick down our castles
the sandy ‘oles and ‘ides of those weavers.
Sellin’ our anger like lug, dear to us
cast from the sea of us that will remain
‘ook lipped, ring-eared, ink-stained and not broken
nothin’ t’ be fixed and no-one changed but

In come those nets, I ‘aint been caught yet but
that gray, that London gray sweeps my castle
away where the concrete can’t be broken
t’ reach lug beneath dried surface weavers
as gulls break beaks t’ peck at the remains.
yes, we’ll eat each-other if they take us.

Take enough of us, and leave shell castles
no ‘ands to ‘old jolly Rodgers and sing
‘appily swear, or dance on tables but
**** that.
A sestina, using phonetic language, on the immigration of Londoners on my seaside home (a weaver is both a spiny fish and a fishing net maker).
Forbegging yay Progress, me Most High Lord
Besoothe thaye Stock's High-Cast-Baste-Reborough
And Livvenny-Lug, quain Twill-Truth's-Be-Word
Would Sluggenny-Bust thaye Pell's Arthorough
Aye, take them Less to thore Summerful Sum
Therr quine bemime blubber-boost up-to-front
Shanty ye, Crown, dow Caraparcel's Hum
Laugh more shan't take much Desire on Wont
We porkify Lub-Senses wore Jiggers clude
Feast-Tea ye Merry; Jolly-Cant, digress
Till Ferry thaye Maidens; And Torque-Pie, ****
Rode ye Arkins - Road! Be thaye Kiss address.
Labber ye, Throne, deserve Cot's Privilege
Roar Pull-Course Attract; Mine Concubinage.
#tomdaleytv #tomdaley1994
Adriaan Harms Oct 2014
In my droom wereld...

Daar, in die verte, is n bed vir as ek moeg raak.
n Berg wat ek gebruik as n kuns muur.
En n oop veld vol rose.

Bo my, die blou lug met reen druppels wat val, maar wat nie nat maak nie.
My gedagtes wat rond sweef.
musiek wat gehoor word maar nie gesien word nie.
En dan, jy.

n Bed vir my en jou.
Jou naam op die berg met klippe, gevorm soos harte, gepak.
n Oop veld rose wat jou emosie kleur wys.

Reen druppels wat val, wys my jou trane.
My gedagtes wat vir jou wys *** spesiaal jy is vir my.
Musiek om als te laat kalmeer.
En jy, vir my om lief te he, sonder om te stres oor wat jy sal **** of se as jy weet jy is die een wat ek wil he.
Carsyn Smith May 2013
Have you ever
carried the world
and not known it?
Went on with your
life, without care?
Collecting stones,
shining pebbles,
weighing pearls.

When you can't feel the mountains protruding from your back,
The
waves
crashing behind
your eyes,
storms
                 brewing
                                    in your ears;
the devil in your head,
and the angel in your heart.

When you don't know
they're there, you grow
envious of
other people's
treasures. They lug
heavy buckets
of stones, pebbles,
and pearls while
it seems you own
a small pouch that
is worth nothing.

So you spend your days at the river,
collecting stones,
                 shining pebbles,
                              weighing pearls.
With some, they can see
                                          the storm coming;
                                                         ­                                               hear the thunder
before the lightning strikes.
With me,
it was
a pebble,
a shiny pebble that
                                                            ­                                                       jumped
from its bucket,
flew up: past the angel, devil, oceans, and storms, landed on the mountains and crushed
me
under its weight.
The mountains shook and
crumbled from the weight,
the
waves
crashing and
churning –
overflowing.
The storms
                       made me
                                                              ­                 deaf
but I can still hear
the devil screaming
and feel the angel dying.

I have no choice
but to proceed
to lug heavy
buckets of stones,
and of pebbles,
and of pearls
while the other
people go on
without a care;
with a small pouch
that is worth so
much – that I’d die
to hold again.
*If youre reading this on a moble device, tilt your screen in a horizontal mannor; it will show you the poem's structure*

Thanks to Anna Pavoncello for the awesome title :)
Anna's hellopoetry: http://hellopoetry.com/-anna-pavoncello/
Arizona Indigo Jan 2013
Will it be that phantom lovers

Illustrate kisses of moon flowers

Within Its dreams and send it

upon your woozy current of sleep?

How they press upon your pillows

for souls to speak a fragrance ever so sacred

Never for a soul to keep.

So shall it be with a moment

when you draw in its scent

Will the summoning of you fall echoing

in every depth of your endless compass,

Indulged in content

Reaching you to the shadows of  the naked trees

Where the bats come to greet

thrown into the swelling of the seas- surging

And thronging of the white blooded elite

amidst the women, who are oh so petite.

I realize

I am in my dream.

Walking abundantly in my spiked sheath

Matching the flickering of the suns wreath

Offering the sacrifice of my fanged teeth

To halo the acres of sunflowers

That beam from your face.

Only true mother nature can tremble a thousand souls of envy

by the extol that is not from her grace

In that case

**** all that is true

Send it to the dreams of hell

in a black box adorned with fine lace

With kind words of thank and you.

I stay green all through my rind

I tell myself, don’t follow the blind

I tell myself don’t act unkind

I tell myself don’t abide combined

Speaking malign

Whispers now become wails preaching

Be in the right state of mind!— Peace of mind.!

Abandon the unrefined!

Remind that we are all mankind

!that we have been assigned

to stay on the grind!

And meanwhile find

The shadow we leave behind!

And finally answer

why do we comply to a life so confined!

And all in all

I am still asleep

Concocted  in a libertarian dimension so passionately deep

Driving my souls energy to rejuvenating madness it weeps

Emptying clouds carrying legions upon

legions of breathing ancient seas.

Reducing utopia, exiting the scenes.

Now choked door and blackness

Weightless amongst the scanning of chakras

Here iam

Dragging of feet through meadows of red

Could it be that I have awakened in the land

of the dying and dead?

Where the blood paints the sky an awful shade of red

And no specific cry will you hear

But a simultaneous screech cementing your ears.

It is not my feet that I lug

But my ****** knees that on its own dug

A grave ever so snug

That when it hugs

Ribcages become holding hands

While flesh is the feast to underground larva lands.

Like the beggar with hands who wishes for hands of alms.

Like the reader of fortunes with no voluntary palms.

As it is like a land force-fed with war and never ending bombs

These are sights that awaken me with qualms.

-Arizona
This poem is distinctly about when one is about to sleep and sees nothing but nonsense and then finally falls asleep and then shifts from dream to dream or as i would like to call it, dimension to dimension.
WordWerks Feb 2013
My red wagon, in my youth,
Kept things some thought quite uncouth,
Like fishing line, crawdad bait,
A model boat, old door plate,
Copper rupees from Nepal,
Ancient skull, an old softball,
And I still wish I had them all,
Those fine treasures of my youth.

Though years have past since that day,
I, again, still lug that dray,
But I often can recall,
All the stuff I used to haul.
Though no longer filled with junk;
I don't use it like a trunk.
This lesson I didn't flunk.
It's filled with my kids at play.
jimmy tee Mar 2014
foo
foo
step right this way
stripes
the curly haired whispers of long ago
dirt on the steppes of Maui
life and death
the boldness of breath
tea sets invented
natures idea of hooking
the falsehood of feelings
since you can sense the release of chemicals
into the gut from the gut
art is an effort
all roads are connected therefore lead nowhere
snowflakes
glaciers
the impossibility of a paper bag
well that’s why you got the people you do
blistered surfaces
invert
divert
subvert
magical marketing
lost time is all its good for
crawl
other beings
the past is as real as the now
the future not so much
look for answers under slimy rocks
headlights
mark the trail with crumbs
holiday pay eligibility
pig latin verse
loose lips sinks fish
headlines of tomorrow list all your deeds
originality pounds it out
a ground game if there ever was one
marginalized in a riotous way
burned
turned
spit shined shoes laced real tight
if you stayed this long you must get it real good
explanations spellchecked edited cast aside
meaning lost found lost and lost again
bury your words
measure the sun as a star
triangulate emotion in order to set free the main ingredient
the Bosporus the smallest gap imaginable
a wayward telephone number listed
a matchbook
adding depth to the photograph by controlling aperture
roulette craps poker slots Chinese checkers
numbers never end
gymnasium antics
mans best friend is a meateater
fall follows autumn in the southern hemisphere
three dimensions are all you need all you require
bomber
deny both the entity and the substance found ahead
synchronize your watch with mine
sand as a tonic baby oil pine
money buys packaged happiness
there was this guy named Shakespeare
opinion calls for differences version 2.0
you find the zoo to lead so very far
swing for the fences
jump rope skip sidewalk
ease
mow the concrete lawn from here to horizon
jump rope skip sidewalk
learn forget then act dumb
exit stage left
what is behind animal eyes big mystery
exponential units forge toward the final group session
king me
did the butler do it with the maid
how often is crying necessary
pound for pound the best boxer in the mid century bout of pneumonia
digital meanings end in analog discussions
legions of admirers blinded
where to turn when the lights are forever out
invest in mystery
disappoint those who will never know you
you know it
there is a dogma in need of a collar out there somewhere
temptation looms
the holy word of snowflakes delve into deep philosophy
but I always got along with everybody
why work
pituitary gland
announcing for the first time on record
prince spaghetti and salad extraordinaire
the alphabet ends in z
puddles form on distant planets that orbit toothless suns
men
loud music still comforts the savage beast
years like a tape measure stills the ragged poor children
never to be found never ever ever
solvent says eat thou peas
silo bag deliver us from the tall neighbor police
sidestep any issue involving toys
mounds of troubles can be climbed
Kansas wind also flows down the plain
think about it the sea is mostly under itself
plow
most things look better from behind
a major felony on your record
knowledge in the form of easy chew tablets
hounded by creditors bobby laid low
actors actresses chumps
results are mixed as the queen leaves daring long behind
punctuation fits into softly lit areas of the mind
stay loose
breakdown the door then apologize some more
I left home for this
mistakes are what we call experience
the smiles on bubblegum cards just as real
twenty dollars invested in nothing
pin air to itself
buy time sock it away watch it grow grow grow
cool is always enough for matty
god that guy could drink ant sanitation member into the ground
margins
leaves are raking themselves these days
so long in the past stood there with sled in hand
photographed by a grandfather clock
black envelopes glued by hand in an everlasting jump off point
poetry bound and gagged for fun and zero profit
movable type static feasts
in the groove piled high with the color that represents lament
fifty thousand big ones aint so big anymore
the river left town
cannon at the gate corded shot ingenious ways to destroy people
support the troops
he say one thing then did another wow does that hurt
memory votes early and often
nobody knows the troubled bean
it all hinges on my word being accepted
china feels so very close
the sea full of carp moistened in salt water ** boy o boy
Vermeer at the loom
the bronze age must have been heavy
time waits around the corner selling amphetamines
queer beings exit the saucer and head right for the local hobby shop
end game
paint as a medium large
pine scented maple trees win the prize
in my book the covers speak for themselves
close up to the camera waterfall
find the picture inside the cavity send help
amid ship is the place amid
of course some things are missing
ghost register to vote
went fishing came home with a tummy ache
spend your last dime see the world as it truly is
between avenue b and c there lies a small wombat
fend off the high climbing stairs that offer busy bees
mind the gaping hole that leads to oblivion ny
fog in my ear
steam punk can you believe it had to be invented
the f drive taketh away
sing a song about the street we used to chug a lug at
view my elbow rock
know thyself from the middle ages on toward the detail
love pander both you know
mom became tonnage displaced and torpedoed
you are very astute now quit it
this meeting is over like so many before it
collapse my finger into red colored dust
round up and whittle down the masthead
toothpick sized brains
its no bother at all fire away with logical pounds
page that squire knight the tree stand hunter in velvet horn
live as the yo yo
beat it now not later now before the sun sets far into the Japanese
planning a child check our bargain bins first then decide
overtime halts the easy chair
tiny
mounds clopping at the level of good mine
piles of good old fashioned nonsense
home grown
sunny side up way up
carry a friend everywhere you travel
knock
catch a rising star and keep it there
an alarming increase
happiness is a warm puppy
many are called but few are winners
put in your time split and repeat
wrinkles seem to be catching on
break the law go to *******
now is the time smack in the middle of touchy feely
mountain of jelly
pound of brown
highway exits in turning lane
polished sayings die in mid form
butterfly of course
bank on it twice
inform the theologian that grace is universal
one unit is enough to bounce the basket ball
larcenies are a regrettable offense for jumble minded
loud is the hammer of life by golly
inside
far away lies the land of nod no wait mod
never saw it coming
mud in your minds eye
clean up before the mess is tabled
throw away all hits
kong king
mondo longo pongo in delicate dancing
bear in mind that bares the soul to influence
set up the new roux
pint sized followers found via radio
fell asleep in wonder fat
knives sharpened better get a move on
loudly express a final punt
line one line two line three
when did farming become cold
newborn
disease jumps as the trampoline handles wind jammers
night can be fun but girls are more down there
love me back
mindful of the garter you can relax next year
backwards as a mean average statistical oops
venting hot gas adds to the thrill
is this thing on
swell
and and and and and and and
call the water department I am ready to fly
listen the goat will never know what hit him
long on flavor short on towels
company insists on a quaint meal of posies
behind a successful man is a chair of some kind
got milk
my friend can be talkative but never mind
rounded surfaces slip into nothingness a modern age affliction
we will escape scot free
badness baldness daily princess
puzzle in mind he left his denial on the riverbank
on the reindeer hoof we ride
specialty
how can it be hey baby that’s what we are here for right
the plays is not the thing
work your **** off then find the instruction manual
beep buzz bop
it appeared right there but is gone now
foo
Bryan Muller Jun 2016
Die verwoesting van die velede loop uit in die hede.
Hier waar als tot rus kom met die lug wat soos 'n skarlakenrooi duin al *** stywer smeul, met die spanning klop in harmonie met die donker kol in my hart wat die toekoms verniel. Die bloedsaar le rooi op die horison soos 'n verlore asempie van 'n kind en die gefluister van die wind begin praat in die dieptes.
Die verwoesting le in die rooi lug soos 'n sluier...
andy fardell Feb 2012
woof woof woof went the doggy
woof woof woof in me head
woof woof woof went the doggy
sweepy let me sleep i must be dead

bark bark bark hear the woofer
bark bark bark hear the growl
bark bark bark hear the woofer
sweepy stop that racket stop it now

slob slob slob in me lug hole
slob slob slob hear it now
slob slob slob in me lug hole
sweepy what the hell ..I'll let you out

bark bark bark hear the woofer
bark bark bark hear the growl
bark bark bark hear the woofer
sweepy stop that racket stop it now

yap yap yap is it dinner
yap yap yap no not now
yap yap yap is it dinner
sweepy go to sleep its 3 am

bark bark bark hear the woofer
bark bark bark hear the growl
bark bark bark hear the woofer
sweepy stop that racket stop it now
Lauren Randall Apr 2016
Lug
So we saunter up to each new prospect,
slow and sly and seductive in our invitations.
"Look at what made me this way.
Wouldn't you like to see?" More
and more until we've disrobed and dismantled ourselves
to the absolute limits of our abilities (our willingness?).
We repeat this display of sacred
shedding until we finally elicit that awe-inducing look
of "concerned understanding" -  we complain
that we are misinterpreted in Cassady fashion
when we make no real efforts to be understood.
"Care most about me." Let me mystify you with myths of me,
perverse nursery rhymes lulling you into a slumber inside my skull
from which you will wake with a start,
demanding release from that citadel you so wished to infiltrate
when it was your hands that needed warming.
Extra...extra...Trumpasaurus Extinction

(Only a pipe dream)
Obsolete "FAKE" news
Extra...extra...Trumpasaurus Extinction,
Now Putin Rules As De Facto Leader!

Pastor Of Muppets – shout huzzah...
no mo' Trump he's Gone er re: ya
especially “father figure” for Miss Piggy
-----------------------------------------------------------­----
More'n a ***** dozen deeds done dirt cheap moon units ago
since presidential election took us down the highway to hell  
emotional, social repercussions still reverberate
how reprobate Trump triumphed

graduating magma *** lug head
to become leader of free world
acing highest score (via cribbed cheat sheet)
per Electoral College examination.
noah yam aghast (still feel nauseated) as
Donald trump got nominated president elect,

or more apropos an inept apprentice,
though a teetotaler delirium tremens,
brings corporeal bris
ling foretelling premonition
oven approaching crisis
as one basket of deplorable,

whose shell shocked eggs ess
tints did not peter out
re: fate rigged 2016 election appalled hike con fess
at prospect outsize bully nabbed
most sought after house seat - ugh guess

thine psyche fearful that arrogance, indecency,
pomposity, and vivacity will break ranks and restore Hess
shun militaristic modus operandi crowning himself
King Kong of amerika - applauded
by a *** dread locked Klansmen less
or more, with spirit of a jolly roger intent

shredding sacred documents, and creating a mess;
ages will require to restore righteous, and officious,
amazing gracious steeped ford did legacy
of forefathers and mothers
(against trump driving the country
into wah hell in a hand basket),

which democratic rubric Paine stay king lee
easel lee trampled oh press
sieve lee in sync with missteps
made during on the job training

at national ex pence augments ominous
ramping up of tess toss tear roan,
wherefore if happenstance finds Czech mated express
train tearing down the tracts,
we the people of the United States might vouchsafe
for a veep ping Petsmart prodigy to take over - YES!
-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
Reince Priebus promises to hold sway,
while hi yam rez hind tune augur
race shin, more than approximately 300 hours ago,
a fate worse than death doth bode

despite hangover lingering effect
unable to shake mice elf sober
despite chugging nary an ale
memory summons back,

hide dashed hoof well-healed poem express
sing reaction while shuttered in me man cave dale
how Democratic Party did fail
to clinch nomination,

thus with measured words this male
wants to air and share his non-rapacious sentiments
others no doubt harbor various
seas sinned reactions that might pale

in terms - their private tear ring expressions
explicitly rant and rail against unexpected
and unacceptable result, where scale
of moderation heavily tilted
toward possible global travail

armaments stacked as thee Barron doth un veil
bombardiers carpet bomb
(whoops....accidentally kilt Trump heathen)
while manning his Taj Mahal casino gun whale.
-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
ABOUT ONE MILLENNIUM LATER
-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -
what cha red back in history class i.e. yes...
that traitorous treacherous treasonous tale,
but truth told since time immemorial
whom sever decreed demise
of terrible lizard beasts aye

moost upend long entrenched theory,
and bid good bye
sans foursquare extinction reeks foul,
cuz one pea brained reptilian

o’er shadowed all as fiercest, he ranged free
amidst a cut throat rogues gallery
thee unnamable overlooked
sinister species sought supremacy

(gamut of miniature game pieces
model available at sundry department stores
wherever schlocky plastic model toys sold)
popular trapping of childhood imagination –

imbue vainglorious ventriloquist
inciting fiendish cry
such kiddy paraphernalia
forever a top selling plaything
snapped off shelves leaving allocated space bone dry.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Since time immemorial dinosaur makeshift gewgaws
did cap cha ominous jaws,
and populated fertile land of cave dwellers
whereat swaddled kinder babes bellowed believable
farcically feigned ferocious fabrications foraging bankrupt

foretold foreclosure to espy real McCoy
perhaps assembled from mud, rocks and sticks
noisome predators snatching
voice some innocent prey  -

ripping to tatters and shreds
unlucky victim rarely escaping
in fizz hicks of time – witnessed first hand proof positive
how I came that close (pinch thumb with index finger)

simian snack aye haint fool’n witch cha,
nar doth this medieval troubadour –
spin a yarn approximating
verity of nasty Hobbesian brute

trumpeting fiercely bruited
his bombastic buzz hard
carrion feed small fry to Golgotha donning topface,
could dice in a flickr emulate, and twitter

rang one excited live hotmail riding Pegasus,
while those in his Isis Petsmart warpath
on outlook to avoid get linkedin,
per imp (of the pervert) pale’n maws

simultaneously masticating and able to shutterfly
hither and yon, to and fro rousing
seditious twittering rogues gallery
of reprobate ruthless minions -

ruminants to become  apprenticed
fired up en mass thru the art of the deal
vis a vis venal pet peeves
pygmy male hominids revered
his racially stirred debacle

while straddling as a humungous towering hill,
he pill or reedlike lex Lucifer usurpation,
whence auld dish diehard don nah sore
dominated as demented species,

thus, he didst not perish from this earth
boot yielded rubric of emperor by the peep hole,
four the pea pull, of the peep pill.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
This older ville lad spurs rumor -
more than just food for thought or eating crow
does generate quite a wishful after thought to flow
whence sum divine

wind blown comedic act, an inflow
of furies rise from Dante's hell - don bell low
aye wood pine fate to hammer
sic culled swathed headline oh
brings joy to the world wide webbed land,

where Rob zombie i.e. Ivan Ca Rho
into dustbin of hiss tory;
stuffing of legions of legends
recollection and object lesson to hooligans woe
full derelicts, who might be forced
to cease clowning around like - bo Zoë.
Star BG Apr 2017
Hug-a-lug out to dear you,
cause it's what I want to do.
To hug with love is grand your see.
 it opens heart so I fly free.  

Free to drift in morning light
The feeling it is out of sight.    
So in my day, I’ll send out love.
And then we'll fly like sacred dove. 

Hug a lug, oh Hug a lug! 
I send it now to fill a jug.
In mind please do yes drink away 
as blessings now I send today.

StarBG © 2017
forgive me not Jan 2015
rock,*  paper,  scissors,  shoot

Rock can only weigh paper down,
You are dead weight I lug around,
Paper covers rock constricting,
Excuses, excuses cover your failings,
Paper is too lithe to be broken,
This is breaking me.

Paper can't tear scissors,
Why can't I tear myself away?
Scissors are too sharp,
Our conversations growing dull,
Scissors slice through paper thoughtlessly,
My words sting, cutting you like knives.

Scissors bend and fall apart,
We can't stay together,
Rock always beats scissors,
My insides are black and blue,
Rock is too tough for scissors,
I think we're just too young.

Shoot- go, get it over with, let it end,
Lay down your cards; tell the truth,
What are we still holding on to?
Weigh me down, I'll cut you, we'll cover it up,
Tear me to pieces; slice me to shreds,
In this game, no one wins.

shoot  *me.
People take turns inserting coins
attempting to grab plushy hearts and plastic capsules
the claws never were good at holding on for long
always went limp, dropping the trinkets, just before the finish line
only time it grabbed hold of something long enough
to flash all the lights and sing
was for children
who pointed a tiny hand
at something shiny they saw inside
parents step up to fail again and again
at winning it for them.
when the kids have a turn.
on the first try, they lasso this heart
resting firmly on the bottom
hidden beneath all the old ipods and heavy rubber toys.
would glow in the lights
when they lit all up and sang for them.
revered for their expertise and skill,
they reach in to claim their reward.
not even knowing what it really was.
but for some reason
grabbing it.
bringing it everywhere.
when the kids get older.
it was kept on their bed.
when they had their own children
handed down to toy chests
when they grew old, their children left the hearts
in hospital rooms...

they didn't think of it much.
seemed natural to lug it around.
everyone was so proud, that the machine chose them.
the prize was so soft, and familiar.

the machine, though.
could tell every day that it was missing.
held tightly onto the coins they left.
kept filling itself with junk and giving it to strangers
hoping one day they'd come back to play again.

a man comes by once in awhile to relieve him of his coin
then fills him full of new prizes to divvy out.
but the claw machine lodges some coins
far in the back, where his short arms can't reach
so he can remember
die wind
straal
die angst
van my voorkop weg

die skerp sout lug
vul my met
die prag
wat voor my
verskyn

al die onsekerheid
verdwyn
soos sout wat
met water meng

the wind
caresses
my anxiety
away from my brow

the sharp salt air
fills me with
the beauty
that appears
before me

all the uncertainly
disappears
just like salt
that mixes with water
© jeannine davidoff 2012
Matthew Mar 2014
Turtles in a river,
Mother and its kit.
Wood stove in a blizzard,
why don’t you google it?

Kayak tipping over,
Mittens newly knit.
Luckless little clovers,
why don’t you google it?

I’m staying inside today, if you please.
I’m staying inside today, leave me in peace.

Pebbles crunching softly,
Lantern left unlit.
Morning grass is frosty,
why don’t you google it?

Field’s cicada army,
Endless laughing fit.
Some song by McCartney,
why don’t you google it?

I’m staying inside today, if you please.
I’m staying inside today, leave me in peace.

Accidental ****-touch,
Waxy candle wick.
Silver greasy lug-nut
why don’t you google it?
For Carrie
Johan Nel Jul 2016
Teen die hange van die berge-nag
Speel die donker op die ligte sag
Die kalm daal op die chaos-stad
Van klank en mense op elke kronkel pad
Dit voer jou mee in 'n sterre mat

In skoon lug met 'n oop kop
Kan gedagtes net vloei en skrop
Aan dinge wat is en kom
Aan mens wees, goed en krom
Aan die eenvoud en dit wat verstom

Woorde lê in 'n niks-wees dwaal
Dis rou, dit is maar net  -  dis kaal
Net om die stemme wat skree te verlos
Dinge wat 'n uitlaat soek in die kosmos
Dit het ink gevind, soos vuur in fynbos
© Johan Nel (written in December 2015)
Siska Gregory Dec 2016
Die fluister van my hart...
Ek raak stil en luister *** fluister my hart.
Die liggiese geklop in my keel maak my bly oor die lewe wat ek voel. Myne praat van die ope lug so blou, ek hou dit vas, en van die wind wat vry waai sonder om toestemming hoef te vra.
Van die son wat vroeg oggend goud op kom met die begin van nog n nuwe dag, wat warm bak teen jou rug as jy dit die minste verwag.
Van harde hande werk in die kombuis na die tuin wat vra vir bietjie liefde en gesels.
So is die lewe vol lewe, vol kere vir lekker lag.
Ja dit gee mens krag om die mooi te sien, in elke dag. 2016-11-28
Ottar Nov 2013
In the cold of my car I shivered,
as the engine ran,
                     I sat still hoping to
dispense with the chill,
                 but my will said, 'accept it you are a wimp and an old cold one at that"
I was wearing my hat and my coat with light gloves,
                                                                ­        I loves to wear, they separate my fingers
            from the cold,
knitted grey and bold,
        they let me hold,
objects of metal like keys to hearts,  objects of stone like me very own heart,
                    objects of desire, that I keep secret until something transpires
                                                      ­               which warms better than fires,
on a dark and lonely night under the stars bright, wait was that my tire?
Oh where did I wonder off too,
                              as I was in thought, now lost,
   my wit, not sharp as the nail in my tire, the cost,
on a dark night in November, as six speeding police cars swoop past me,
on an urgent mission to stop a crime, their sirens wail as I am a
counterintuitive pantomime against the noise that assails me while
I am changing
a tire but remain the same,
metal tire rod tool in my hand, stone cold heart beating, against my ribs,
as I labor in disbelief that where I live is across from where I stand,
and with all technology you have to get on your hands and knees to
change a tire, I sneeze, I am not sure which is worse,
                                         my situation or these verse,
which decorate the night, not like stars,
as when spoken aloud every other word is profane,
while two homeless push there wares by me and laugh
                                                           ­     with disdain.
For in these transactions they have more street cred than I,
  and I would give them a bitcoin of my thoughts, but they
are two and I am one, alone and without a cell phone, and
this poem rolling around like lug nuts in a hubcap, as frost
creeps closer than the creeps who wish to reap of my misfortune.

Of which I now have some, that I can mix with theirs and then
I notice their bloodthirsty stares, so I begin to recite this poetry
and expound on the woe in me and send them packing covering their
ears with out attacking my hapless now three wheeled car.

When I was done I was nuttier than those lugs,
"good news" it was too cold for bugs,
and with good conscience you, from this, can unplug.


©DWE112013
HE stood among a crowd at Dromahair;
His heart hung all upon a silken dress,
And he had known at last some tenderness,
Before earth took him to her stony care;
But when a man poured fish into a pile,
It Seemed they raised their little silver heads,
And sang what gold morning or evening sheds
Upon a woven world-forgotten isle
Where people love beside the ravelled seas;
That Time can never mar a lover's vows
Under that woven changeless roof of boughs:
The singing shook him out of his new ease.
He wandered by the sands of Lissadell;
His mind ran all on money cares and fears,
And he had known at last some prudent years
Before they heaped his grave under the hill;
But while he passed before a plashy place,
A lug-worm with its grey and muddy mouth
Sang that somewhere to north or west or south
There dwelt a gay, exulting, gentle race
Under the golden or the silver skies;
That if a dancer stayed his hungry foot
It seemed the sun and moon were in the fruit:
And at that singing he was no more wise.
He mused beside the well of Scanavin,
He mused upon his mockers:  without fail
His sudden vengeance were a country tale,
When earthy night had drunk his body in;
But one small knot-grass growing by the pool
Sang where -- unnecessary cruel voice --
Old silence bids its chosen race rejoice,
Whatever ravelled waters rise and fall
Or stormy silver fret the gold of day,
And midnight there enfold them like a fleece
And lover there by lover be at peace.
The tale drove his fine angry mood away.
He slept under the hill of Lugnagall;
And might have known at last unhaunted sleep
Under that cold and vapour-turbaned steep,
Now that the earth had taken man and all:
Did not the worms that spired about his bones
proclaim with that unwearied, reedy cry
That God has laid His fingers on the sky,
That from those fingers glittering summer runs
Upon the dancer by the dreamless wave.
Why should those lovers that no lovers miss
Dream, until God burn Nature with a kiss?
The man has found no comfort in the grave.
Aodhán Corr Jan 2014
Down to the docks, every Friday night
Goes a man with a glint in his eye
He says “Gather all around, all you boys and girls,
And I’ll show you how to conquer the sky
Yeah I’ll show you how to conquer the sky
Yeah I’ll show you what your money can buy

“You gotta put your best foot forward
If you wanna go far
Forward like a speeding car
Yeah, forward like a freight train
With fifty cars full of coal
The world’ll try to swallow you whole

“But you gotta keep moving
Keep moving; keep grooving
Dancing to the beat of a thousand drums
A thousand hums
Vibrations; gyrations
Twiddling a thousand thumbs

“Gotta beat out a thousand dum-dums
For your spot on the throne
Way high up on Olympus
Drink your ambrosia Jack!
And don’t ever look back
At that man that you used to be

“Can’t you see?
You’re better than that, now
You’re new, you’re fresh, you’re cool
Too cool for school
Relaxing by the swimming pool
The swimming hole

“Sitting with a fishing pole
Gonna catch the big one
Gonna reel it; keel it
Lug it in and tug it in
And hoist it up over your head
Like the champion you are

“You’re gonna be a real big star
Gonna be one soon
Picture in the paper
Gonna land on the moon
See you later, alligator
Stand up a little straighter

“You need a haircut
You need a new coat
You gotta buy a boat
You gotta buy a car
You gotta buy a big *** pile of gold bars
Buy silver

“Silver, silver, platinum, iron ore
You need that iron core
Get right down to that iron store
Get steel
Get real, get steel
Chromium

“Unlock that inner potential
Go commercial
Get the **** out of residential
Totally existential
Essential
The steps on Jacob's ladder are entirely sequential


“You're gonna be great, kid
And you’re gonna have greatness
And that greatness ain't never gonna wane
Just get on the next train
Get in the fast lane
Go batshit Roman emperor insane

“You’re Nero! Caligula!
I figured a
Guy like you would be sold
It’s stone cold
It’s a deal
It’s a ******* steal

“Don't get it?
Don't sweat it; forget it
It’s not for you if you’re happy with all this
Happy being soaked in blood and sweat and ****
That’s just fine
‘Don’t cast your pearls before swine’

“You drink your watery beer
I’ll drink whiskey and wine
And special French cognac you can only get in Delaware
How can a fella care
With that kind of life?
No worries and no wife

“So get paid, and get laid
And get ready to wade
Knee deep in an ocean of *****
You’re the best
Puff out your chest
And the rest got nothing, absolutely

“Prosecute me, if I steer you wrong
If I appear too strong
Just don’t refute me
But if you want a stroke of luck?
Wanna get ******? get your little **** ******?
Then, first I’m gonna need a buck.”
Aidan Corr Olsen (c) 2014
natalie Jul 2014
When we arrive at the beach, the oppressive sun has
begun his slow, creeping descent towards the gap in
the dunes where, if one stood at the very crest, he
might see the swampy bay, tufted in tall, thin grass
and dotted with ospreys and cranes. I carry a bag
depicting a bastardization of the American flag, and
he tugs the narrow mesh cart with cartoon wheels across
the flesh-toned sand. The crowd of hungry beachgoers
is thinning, and the lifeguards have just begun to lug
their tall wooden stand back from its perilous proximity
to the gentle breakers. I walk just a few paces behind
my father, until he stops, asking, “Is this a good spot?”
I nod, never before remembering a time when he
sought my approval for a seaside roost. After ******* our
umbrella—blue-green, as though reflecting in canvas
the fluctuating shades of the mutable Atlantic—deep into
the cool sand, and setting the two chairs firmly in its chilly
shade, he asks, “Wanna swim?” Again, I nod, stripping
until I wear nothing but a mint green bikini and sunglasses.
Leisurely, we stroll towards the small waves and wade into
the just-right water gradually. Subconsciously, I am again
just three or four footfalls behind his frame, as if I cannot
continue any deeper until he has tested the sea, and each
step forward is a promise that everything is okay,
and I may proceed with caution.

Our steady immersion suddenly releases in me a torrent
of memories. I see myself, maybe seven, planted next
to him on the beach, where the sand is only just damp,
digging holes with our hands so that a small pool of
icy liquid slowly emerges, and then cupping the sand
and carefully dripping it along the edges to create a
system of fortresses and castles melting in the breeze.
I see him explaining to me, age nine, the proper way
to bodysurf, and I feel once again a sudden fear that
the salty water will fill my nostrils and cause that
choking burn that I detest to this day. I remember
him laughing that hearty guffaw as I was, invariably,
thrown from my boogie board in the aftermath of a
particularly large wave, skinning my knees against
the broken shells dotting the rough ocean floor. I
hear his careful instructions about the proper and
improper behaviors when ****** into a rip tide—
swim horizontally, he’d say, and if I didn’t understand
the word, he’d clarify that it meant to follow the beach,
because following the sea was certain death.

When our waists have just begun to adjust to the
temperature, I overhear the father of a girl who is
about the age I was in these memories exclaim that
a pod of dolphins has come quite close, and upon
looking, I see their gray bodies slithering in and out
of the deeper water. I nudge my father and point, and
we both marvel at this rare occurrence. Thousands of
seconds pass, and this time he is pointing off in the
distance, saying, “They’re still hanging around. Must
be a school of fish or something.” When I ask him if
he knows why they are within swimming distance,
he tells me confidently that it must be due to the
water’s unseasonable warmth, and I know in my
heart and in my brain that he is correct, as usual.

After the dolphins have disappeared, I say that I
am done swimming, that I want to start the Marquez
tome weighing heavily upon my conscience and that,
besides, we shouldn’t leave our valuables alone for
too long. He simply shrugs, as if to say, “Why would
you want to get out of this ocean?” almost as though he
didn’t realize thievery is such a common occurrence
at the Jersey shore. From my haven in the shade, I
feel goosebumps emerge as my father’s shirt deepens
from heather gray to taupe. Before leaving the
house our family has visited every summer for over
a decade, I borrowed his brand new headphones—he
was so excited to tell me that they don’t knot—and
their bulbous coverings, when stuck in ears on a
windy beach, create the sort of howling found in
1970s horror movies, my own personal FX. Despite
the fact that I have just surpassed one quarter of a
century in age, I still see him, a few years past the
half-century mark, turn around, squinting, until he
sees me safely planted in the plastic chair, as safe
as a father could hope his oldest daughter to be.
st64 Mar 2013
Ring-a-ring-o' Ruth, goin' round and round.....
  
Ring-a-ring-o' Ruth, goin' round and round
  
She dare not lose it, but she couldn't keep it
Not anymore
No, not anymore!
  
For the rings of Ruth
The one she wears, oh!
They keep her in her place
He keeps her mind in place.........
  
Dare not spill your red treasure on his floor
Oh poor woman, watch your step
Contain yourself...........
  
Daren't let him in, oh Ruth
No, daren't let him in, uh-oh Ruthie
Why lug around his le-ga-cy in your mind?
Of relentless rings of insanity.....goin' round and round.......
  
Ring-a-ring-o' Ruth, goin' round and round
  
Come on home, dear Ruth and flush 'em fears away
Watching you, my Ruth, I can see you from afar
Won't hurt you anymore, won't make you run away
Your heart will sing the Truth that the sands of Time will veil.
  
So, come on home, dear Ruth
Come home......
Come home!

Star Toucher, 13 March 2013
(Written 2007.
Posted elsewhere before....
Inspired by novel "Rose Madder" by Stephen King)

— The End —