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"overheats" poems
Abigail slides the glass door shut. As beads of water percolate off her body and land on the faux stone tile, the smell of chlorine from her swim and the smell of coffee from my brewing *** blend. My uncle, Abigail's father, and my mother are seated at the sticky, spilt soda kitchen table beside me. "Go get ready for dinner," my mother's brother says, sending Abigail's bikini'd frame through doorway and around the bend. The brew idles, and I'm all porcelain and sugar substitute for a moment, then back by my uncle and mother. "Abigail has gotten so thin," my mother says. "Is she eating?" my mother asks. "I know it's tough for girls her age. When they're looking to marry," my mother says. I want to bash the smoking cup into her face. My uncle says she's been training for a marathon. My neurons get tidy and taper off. So, it's out of the kitchen and into an empty living room to park my *** on an empty piano bench. I set the coffee on top, and press eight of my fingers down on black keys. I hear toes-to-heels, toes-to-heels. I gaze over my shoulder. Now, Abigail's in a black, black dress. Mid-thigh. In her left hand, red fuck-me-shoes with a heel that could turn a curious man blind; in her right hand, black pantyhose and cherry lipgloss. "You should have swam," Abigail delivers with hushed precision, like she'd been reciting the line throughout the duration of her swim. Abigail has long brunette hair, and it's sticking to her neck. Deep permanent dimples frame her lips. She's a nurse in Waco. Each time I see her, I think about Bukowski's 103-pound "Texan". It makes me rash, violent, a heady monstrosity, and trembling sick. "I forgot my trunks." "That's no excuse." I would respond, but she's sliding the hose up her leg. In the living room. While my uncle talks a second mortgage around the bend. Her right leg crosses her left, an overpass and an interstate. My forehead overheats in a flash, and I feel like she's staring back at me. When my leering eyes shift from her toes to her eyes, the pupils beckon: "All roads lead to me."
0
Jun 18, 2012
Jun 18, 2012 at 12:48 AM UTC
**** the **** cousins
Abigail slides the glass door shut. As beads of water percolate off her body and land on the faux stone tile, the smell of chlorine from her swim and the smell of coffee from my brewing *** blend. My uncle, Abigail's father, and my mother are seated at the sticky, spilt soda kitchen table beside me. "Go get ready for dinner," my mother's brother says, sending Abigail's bikini'd frame through doorway and around the bend. The brew idles, and I'm all porcelain and sugar substitute for a moment, then back by my uncle and mother. "Abigail has gotten so thin," my mother says. "Is she eating?" my mother asks. "I know it's tough for girls her age. When they're looking to marry," my mother says. I want to bash the smoking cup into her face. My uncle says she's been training for a marathon. My neurons get tidy and taper off. So, it's out of the kitchen and into an empty living room to park my *** on an empty piano bench. I set the coffee on top, and press eight of my fingers down on black keys. I hear toes-to-heels, toes-to-heels. I gaze over my shoulder. Now, Abigail's in a black, black dress. Mid-thigh. In her left hand, red fuck-me-shoes with a heel that could turn a curious man blind; in her right hand, black pantyhose and cherry lipgloss. "You should have swam," Abigail delivers with hushed precision, like she'd been reciting the line throughout the duration of her swim. Abigail has long brunette hair, and it's sticking to her neck. Deep permanent dimples frame her lips. She's a nurse in Waco. Each time I see her, I think about Bukowski's 103-pound "Texan". It makes me rash, violent, a heady monstrosity, and trembling sick. "I forgot my trunks." "That's no excuse." I would respond, but she's sliding the hose up her leg. In the living room. While my uncle talks a second mortgage around the bend. Her right leg crosses her left, an overpass and an interstate. My forehead overheats in a flash, and I feel like she's staring back at me. When my leering eyes shift from her toes to her eyes, the pupils beckon: "All roads lead to me."
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50
dad is in the garage. days into spark-light and piles of polyethylene etched. soon, he says. as grandaddy laughs, rattling the icebox for more beer. dad’s homemade android: the thing. like a doll polished & grinning, it dances for us in the kitchen. the dog barks, chained in the backyard. the thing, do-si-dos for a laugh, catches a glimpse of the trees beyond the yard, overheats, circuits popping into a limp heap of pieces. dead. left to mold-over in the garage. the days. the rain. the cats tiptoeing along the edge of fences across the street. the dog barking, chained, & snapped. dead beneath a truck. dad is in hysterics. dad is in the garage, weeks in and his soaked red knuckles. mom is drinking with grandaddy. they rattle the icebox. the dog. the dog dances for us in the kitchen, reboots and sits. it digs a pit all night and buries three cats there. it sleeps on the mound. it never barks. it waits there in the backyard, still & staring into the trees. the trees.
0
Oct 17, 2015
Oct 17, 2015 at 7:17 AM UTC
altered beast
They built me, standard-grade, But with one crucial chip missing. While other models are made Programmed for social networking. Laughter and jibes, except This variant groping in the dark. Much signs to intercept, Machine simmers, overheats, sparks. Every version upgrade, Alas, still just one step behind. Patience in every trade; Stranger, if you could be so kind...
0
Apr 14, 2017
Apr 14, 2017 at 6:19 AM UTC
Robot Boy
i always knew i would never be "girlfriend material" maybe the gods forgot to cut me carefully from the same cloth they doted out to everybody else a thicker and more claustrophobic material one that overheats and suffocates you my mouth is a forest fire that ignites at the first sight of thunder ahead other people use their words to heal and comfort their significant other while i'd always had a natural disposition of wielding my tongue as a freshly sharpened knife i wanted to learn i wanted to teach myself that in order to be in a relationship you have to treat the hardships like delicately gauzed wounds changing them out every few hours and applying ointments to soothe and mend the broken flesh but i don't know if it's because of my mother who was never very nurturing taking emotional withdrawals from me throughout my entire childhood teaching me to cultivate my isolation and find comfort in my loneliness i'd see the signs of her packing up her bags and departing from a mile away and the only survival method i knew was to let her go before she let me go, again and again and again and again i tried to mend myself for you to be less broken down for you i promised myself i'd be healthier and fight my depression like a true viking at battle i knew i was never girlfriend material i don't have the patience or understanding to learn how to nurture wounds my natural instinct has always been to throw salt in them to slit my throat and slit my throat and slit my throat until i bled out all of you entirely it's not that i never knew how to love but that i never knew how to love properly caring too much and showing too little displaying my fear of losing you with an anger that destroys everything in my path instead of affection and vulnerability my lovers never know if i love them i display my feelings in watered down sentiments that take shape in the way i allow my body to mold into theirs under bedsheets the love i carry though, suffocates me it drowns my internal organs and floods the entirety of my body leaving me speechless and incapable of articulating how i feel or why i feel the way that i do in turn i appear cold to the touch and that is how i knew i was never girlfriend material i want to lay down on train tracks and sacrifice my body again and again until i get it right but i fear it only leaves me in poorer condition than the last i'm sorry i don't know how to love you properly i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry you see, i'm just not "girlfriend material"
0
Nov 2, 2014
Nov 2, 2014 at 1:01 AM UTC
Girlfriend Material
i always knew i would never be "girlfriend material" maybe the gods forgot to cut me carefully from the same cloth they doted out to everybody else a thicker and more claustrophobic material one that overheats and suffocates you my mouth is a forest fire that ignites at the first sight of thunder ahead other people use their words to heal and comfort their significant other while i'd always had a natural disposition of wielding my tongue as a freshly sharpened knife i wanted to learn i wanted to teach myself that in order to be in a relationship you have to treat the hardships like delicately gauzed wounds changing them out every few hours and applying ointments to soothe and mend the broken flesh but i don't know if it's because of my mother who was never very nurturing taking emotional withdrawals from me throughout my entire childhood teaching me to cultivate my isolation and find comfort in my loneliness i'd see the signs of her packing up her bags and departing from a mile away and the only survival method i knew was to let her go before she let me go, again and again and again and again i tried to mend myself for you to be less broken down for you i promised myself i'd be healthier and fight my depression like a true viking at battle i knew i was never girlfriend material i don't have the patience or understanding to learn how to nurture wounds my natural instinct has always been to throw salt in them to slit my throat and slit my throat and slit my throat until i bled out all of you entirely it's not that i never knew how to love but that i never knew how to love properly caring too much and showing too little displaying my fear of losing you with an anger that destroys everything in my path instead of affection and vulnerability my lovers never know if i love them i display my feelings in watered down sentiments that take shape in the way i allow my body to mold into theirs under bedsheets the love i carry though, suffocates me it drowns my internal organs and floods the entirety of my body leaving me speechless and incapable of articulating how i feel or why i feel the way that i do in turn i appear cold to the touch and that is how i knew i was never girlfriend material i want to lay down on train tracks and sacrifice my body again and again until i get it right but i fear it only leaves me in poorer condition than the last i'm sorry i don't know how to love you properly i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry you see, i'm just not "girlfriend material"
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47
She hates that she is spineless: Starved of strength Emancipated. She hates that she is passive: She has two legs But cannot stand for anything When faced with a loud voice And menacing words That threaten the tranquility of her dream-world; The dream-world Where conflict is banned And people always have the best intentions Because in essence man is good. She hates that When faced with a thousand possibilities Tensions rise And gears stick Creak Metal on metal Straining Pushing As she tries not to succumb to her nature But in spite of it all Her head overheats And she overloads The perpetual screaming kettle, *** boiling over, and volcanic eruption All in one Tiny salted droplets of shame Race down flushed and swollen cheeks As her mental fists Painstakingly punch her essence Into action Fueling a transformation with "Inadequate" "Failure" And "Lazy" A transformation That never sticks: At least not as well as Her lack of faith in herself.
0
Sep 3, 2014
Sep 3, 2014 at 1:46 AM UTC
Spineless
step right up to this broken machine she'll take anyone look at this queen she's shiny and new with smiles so bright every step she takes is light her colours are more than a rainbow can boast she has more than any she has the most they drift in the wind and fall from her fingers her joy is infectious she's contentment's dead ringer this machine never stops that's why its so popular people will travel far there is no other none so dedicated to her job as this she's a volunteer so surely she loves it but a crisis strikes every once in a while the machine won't admit it, she's in denial but her colour store is personally supplied if she told you it's abundant, surely she lied this machine has colours she enjoys sparing but to spend her whole life as this machine is daring machines must be turned off must be unplugged this machine never does because help is her drug she goes and she goes until she overheats her colours start melting they run through the streets these runaway colours are scooped up and scrounged meanwhile the machine is left on the ground she rusts while it rains, there on the ground no regard for the girl whose rainbow seems to be gone look how she lays so curled up and crying but not from her loss crying because her aid is the cost with no regard for herself she whispers "if I take a break, look at who suffers" but the rainbow too must be regrown it can only take time and care and sweet tones encouraging words to let her know she's not alone, she will never be thrown from this world with contempt because love exists but love may not always come to you free sometimes there is just one fee it isn't much... just to ask
0
Jan 19, 2017
Jan 19, 2017 at 9:40 PM UTC
Broken Machine
step right up to this broken machine she'll take anyone look at this queen she's shiny and new with smiles so bright every step she takes is light her colours are more than a rainbow can boast she has more than any she has the most they drift in the wind and fall from her fingers her joy is infectious she's contentment's dead ringer this machine never stops that's why its so popular people will travel far there is no other none so dedicated to her job as this she's a volunteer so surely she loves it but a crisis strikes every once in a while the machine won't admit it, she's in denial but her colour store is personally supplied if she told you it's abundant, surely she lied this machine has colours she enjoys sparing but to spend her whole life as this machine is daring machines must be turned off must be unplugged this machine never does because help is her drug she goes and she goes until she overheats her colours start melting they run through the streets these runaway colours are scooped up and scrounged meanwhile the machine is left on the ground she rusts while it rains, there on the ground no regard for the girl whose rainbow seems to be gone look how she lays so curled up and crying but not from her loss crying because her aid is the cost with no regard for herself she whispers "if I take a break, look at who suffers" but the rainbow too must be regrown it can only take time and care and sweet tones encouraging words to let her know she's not alone, she will never be thrown from this world with contempt because love exists but love may not always come to you free sometimes there is just one fee it isn't much... just to ask
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48
Don't say you love me. I have a hard time accepting those words. Like they are foreign and do not translate into my native tongue. Don't look at me with such kind eyes. It burns my skin and overheats me. Like sun rays on newly exposed flesh. Don't hold me so tenderly. My body can't handle the pain of your gentleness. It has been conditioned to the harshness of humanity And may break apart if handled any other way. Don't leave me. I know I am difficult, closed off and crazy. Truly a complicated puzzle to piece together. But I promise I am worth it.
0
Jun 22, 2016
Jun 22, 2016 at 7:29 AM UTC
Complicated Plea
I've hit "F5" waited in line for this wave to crash and burn --- Just to get a drink. feel dry, but not yet parched i see waves in the heat; need a moment; need to breathe. its too dry... my mouth begs for a cool splash, the engine overheats, I'm stuck wondering [is it 120 degrees?] a suburban village a hum and stream of cashflow... leaking through unsettled buildings and cracked doors.... only my feet have begun to feel a sensation of cool as shade from the trees... bakes away i need the rain to make the area bearable, wonderful and breathable. maybe the summer should hit "F5" and let it rain so maybe a sense of refreshment can take over and soothe the panic of those who cant access the "WWW" to work,play, and feel as if the summer from hell has made its stay short, so we may 'Fall' and the screens we look through Re-Fresh.
0
Jul 9, 2012
Jul 9, 2012 at 12:18 AM UTC
Re-Fresh
There is no fail-safe. The heart wants, What it wants, And oh, I am miles from safety, now. No going back. There is no mechanism in the heart, To bring it down if it overheats, To bring it down at all, darling, (But would you want to? Don’t you like it when I make you heat up? Bubble over...?) I suppose what I’m saying is this: Remember when people didn’t know you should only heat oil in a deep fat fryer? We would put hot oil in pots and pans and we would leave it there because, Human beings have a tendency to be distracted? And the oil would get far too hot and catch fire, And we’d try to put it out with water, But because of the oil it sinks and expands and makes the oil shoot out of the pan in a fireball, And consume the kitchen in flames, But, Isn’t that love?
0
May 26, 2019
May 26, 2019 at 10:50 PM UTC
There is no fail-safe.
I love the English springtime: the lambs that gambol in the sprouting grass, and budding flowers that spread their scent. But oh . . . ! I hate the sneezes and the running nose and streaming eyes of allergies in English springtime. I love our English summer that warms but rarely overheats my thirsting body.  And I love its cooling breezes.   But oh . . . ! I hate those wasps that buzz around my honey-covered toast at breakfast-time outdoors in English summers. I love the English autumn. The russets and the golds that tease my eye; the orchards and their apple scent. But oh . . . ! I hate that mud that ***** my walking boots from off my feet on country rambles in English autumns. And then the English winter that never can decide which of the seasons it most likes to emulate. But oh . . . ! Thank god there are no wasps!
0
Nov 23, 2014
Nov 23, 2014 at 4:23 PM UTC
ZUGZWANG*
I used to see cars individually not as parts but the people inside those people would be driving around me and we’d wave to each other while navigating clear roads I would recognize their car out of familiarity the city has grown since then I don’t recognize cars anymore just brands and colors creating the traffic jam in front of me as my engine overheats.
0
Apr 27, 2021
Apr 27, 2021 at 8:16 PM UTC
Familiarity
the sweat cools where the body overheats in sudden wakefulness within the dead of night no sounds but the heavy breathing of a startled form beneath the covers momentarily dazed, unaware of the surroundings in which it finds itself eyes shut, it all comes back again those lucid pictures, vivid sounds where insects crawl beneath the skin and one drowns on land the fault was singular, of course, a suicide in a fake landscape a poor show of emotion where no one may judge quite often it would happen in painless reality where red stains white and black beats blue
0
Apr 29, 2015
Apr 29, 2015 at 9:13 AM UTC
alea
My melodious fire Waves and weaves Making a ****** of wood Delivering a birth of smoke Those swirling cinders choking Everything in sight Breathing in one of death’s contagions One by one they fall Until there’s no call to order Until there’s none left to perform for The mob grew angry. My wrists, my ankles Chained now with briars This an execution by my own desire For I required an exit light here Unclear liar lost in his lies here Fear-shaken, no stakes in truth, Fear-faking, I have no stake in you So I pull up stakes See you. I have no clue what I’m going to do I get lost in myself But in myself I have yet to choose These paradoxes and riddles That plague and peeve my mind Deceive me as I deceive them Till we’re all left deceiving in kind Till the other becomes the self And the self melts away from being the better Cluttered with curses from the past This incompatible software overheats Crashes fast And now we’re back— Fire. I was once blind to such simple facts Broken, silly tracks of thought off-track Lines left carved up in the sand The next day wiped away By nature’s erasure or another’s hand It is sand after all... But I gave up a pair Received my true third eye It's blind to these facts The grains look all turned up and twisted Spilling from my clenched fist Like they’re seconds in my hourglass So, my fellow pair-holders, I ask Why take a second to grasp So that a second in turn is given? I see no bargain driven Just a reality In which If you're livin’ happily, serenely You must be trippin’
0
Sep 19, 2017
Sep 19, 2017 at 4:47 AM UTC
Sand Castles
My melodious fire Waves and weaves Making a ****** of wood Delivering a birth of smoke Those swirling cinders choking Everything in sight Breathing in one of death’s contagions One by one they fall Until there’s no call to order Until there’s none left to perform for The mob grew angry. My wrists, my ankles Chained now with briars This an execution by my own desire For I required an exit light here Unclear liar lost in his lies here Fear-shaken, no stakes in truth, Fear-faking, I have no stake in you So I pull up stakes See you. I have no clue what I’m going to do I get lost in myself But in myself I have yet to choose These paradoxes and riddles That plague and peeve my mind Deceive me as I deceive them Till we’re all left deceiving in kind Till the other becomes the self And the self melts away from being the better Cluttered with curses from the past This incompatible software overheats Crashes fast And now we’re back— Fire. I was once blind to such simple facts Broken, silly tracks of thought off-track Lines left carved up in the sand The next day wiped away By nature’s erasure or another’s hand It is sand after all... But I gave up a pair Received my true third eye It's blind to these facts The grains look all turned up and twisted Spilling from my clenched fist Like they’re seconds in my hourglass So, my fellow pair-holders, I ask Why take a second to grasp So that a second in turn is given? I see no bargain driven Just a reality In which If you're livin’ happily, serenely You must be trippin’
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54
night/night time/time night overheats                          wet awake, damp is the status: mystery no more, familiarity brings unsurprise, the machine issues environmental sounds, cool air, deep cover, setup ~ perfect wake up soaked/mystified/drizzled unhappy/awake to change/ meaning comes                          /pieces of randome thoughts/movie trailer bite sized/ these are:                 sweating words/eager for realization/escape needy/impatiented                 by foible human/who needs sleep? is the unasked question... dress for winter, may I? in May?????/!!!!!     /!\                               ~change to summery                                  "ACTIVE WEAR" at-tire<>                                    skin expose<>                                           AM I NOT ACTIVE?                               thus this oddity poem/product of sweat/                               provides cooling panting/dog?   am I a dog?                               that would be nice!                               sadly or nat~not, a human                           o         verfilled / o        verflowing                             tale telling from evrey pore/ Alcatraz                 escape/  recaptured/twisted                                                     d a m p                              became a poem/d a m p is me                              becoming/ reducing/emitting/inquiring/                              enquiring/                              aligned will this be my last poem? sweating with/from/AND all the way over to............................................................Anticipation...
0
Apr 19, 2025
Apr 19, 2025 at 2:23 PM UTC
Damp Anticipation
night/night time/time night overheats                          wet awake, damp is the status: mystery no more, familiarity brings unsurprise, the machine issues environmental sounds, cool air, deep cover, setup ~ perfect wake up soaked/mystified/drizzled unhappy/awake to change/ meaning comes                          /pieces of randome thoughts/movie trailer bite sized/ these are:                 sweating words/eager for realization/escape needy/impatiented                 by foible human/who needs sleep? is the unasked question... dress for winter, may I? in May?????/!!!!!     /!\                               ~change to summery                                  "ACTIVE WEAR" at-tire<>                                    skin expose<>                                           AM I NOT ACTIVE?                               thus this oddity poem/product of sweat/                               provides cooling panting/dog?   am I a dog?                               that would be nice!                               sadly or nat~not, a human                           o         verfilled / o        verflowing                             tale telling from evrey pore/ Alcatraz                 escape/  recaptured/twisted                                                     d a m p                              became a poem/d a m p is me                              becoming/ reducing/emitting/inquiring/                              enquiring/                              aligned will this be my last poem? sweating with/from/AND all the way over to............................................................Anticipation...
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33
A mind racing through the street, In the seat next to me making worries obsolete My chest overheats when you held my hand, feelings unplanned suddenly lost where I stand Stuck in quicksand when we lay close, kissing your nose a smile collectively grows No one knows why the daisy chose to be yellow, but like a lions bellow you had me at hello
0
Sep 24, 2018
Sep 24, 2018 at 10:30 PM UTC
Falling fast