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madison curran Feb 2015
there's a house at the
corner of misery boulevard,
and heartbreak avenue,
that i call home.
& i can't count on my left hand
how many times,
those sand tinted rooms
with decaying light bulbs
have overheard
through paper walls,
the sound of that rose coloured capsule
embracing the floor,
only to find itself in pieces.
my mother always
hid that in a cage,
locked tight.
never did that stop my father
from finding the key,
she always slipped under the door mat.
like she wanted him to find it.
and you could hear it shatter,
into glass fragments,
that she was always left to clean up
by herself.
because he never stayed
to watch her pick up the pieces,
he didn't want to cut his life line
on her fragmented heart.
- or the time when my mother,
stained my ear drums,
and sold residence to a ghost
who now haunts the walls of my mind,
with words,
she'll claim her tongue never dismissed.
but ten years later,
and i still think i'm that painting,
in monochromatic shades,
that no one ever bothers
to glance at.
when they're gliding
down a vacant hallway.
more empty than the emotion
in this house.
but i still call it home,
because the walls have been
infected with sadness,
because there aren't enough vitamins,
to cure all this sickness,
released through
hatred hymns.
but those melancholy rhythms,
can't compete with the
floorboards that still sing me to sleep,
or the elation that fills
my lungs when i breathe,
because this house
still smells like mourning
the old flames,
from vanilla candle wicks
my ninth birthday knew so well.
& yes, there is no place
that sends fragile shivers
down my spine
when crossing the paths
of gloomy road,
and loathing crescent
but this is home,
this house is just like the cerulean tide,
because it always finds a way to
pull me back to shore.
& then i met you,
promenading down
hope street,
making empty prayers
to god
with a dry tongue and
waterlogged eyes.
another dawn spent
searching for the light -
in coffee shop windows
or even the stars.
something -
to guide me home.
and you taught me that
home isn't always a place,
you can find on a map.
sometimes,
it's two eyes and a heart beat.
it's love entangled words,
uttered through a pair of crimson lips.
& you showed me,
that ruby tinted vases,
look best when
they're not placed on shelves,
but rather granted as gifts,
sealed in envelopes,
with kisses painted
in scarlet lipstick.
& ghosts can be put to sleep,
by a lullaby,
you whispered in my ear
seven times a day.
i love you
has a ring to it,
but it's been six months and
that ghost sold his house,
to a boy who
told me i'm a composition
of colours.
that an artist painted me
in gold, because he sees it in
my eyes when i smile.
- i swear to god,
four walls and a front door,
build a house,
you'll always turn to
when the sky's crying, or when
you tear your jeans
on the wire fence
down the road.
and that boy
who is a composition of wonder,
possesses no door,
and the only window,
is the amber iris
that feels like the ocean
when he looks at me.
because,
he's just like the tide.
& i can still smell vanilla every time
i kiss him.
every single time.
Olivia Frederick Oct 2014
Why did she leave at a time like this?
Why does her house feel so empty?
Because it is.
How will I ever heal from this pain?
When will I -- what is that?
Is that a leaf? It's probably a leaf.
That green thing. Is that -- ?

A woman
Promenading through the trees,
With a scarf hanging down to her knees,
A handiworker's pleasant surprise,
It's one shade deeper than her eyes.
She's clutching her tote
As I try to stay afloat;
I'm drowning in this beauty.
She's gathering blackberries
And singing our tune,
The one with no words that oft' ends too soon.

I'm lying in the weeds,
Her green scarf clutched in my palms,
And it's getting easier to breathe.
Inspired by my great-grandmother's passing.
2/3/2013
Olivia Kent Feb 2014
The ancient church of St James.
Lead-edged windows, each portion given stained glass faces.
Sunlight rippled on those faces, each face a tale to tell.
Sheltered from the elements, donated from above.
Safety under a covered roof of green lichen.
The bell tower shouted its cheerful peals.
Bridegroom proud. Standing in regimented battle regalia.
Epaulettes almost glowing with excitement.
Matching his shiny shoes.
As he waited for his bride that day.
To make his life complete.
He knew for now, deep in his heart.
That very soon he would depart.
Church bells rang,  excitedly, as if missing every second beat.
His heart was missing more.
Glances up.
Between the external aisle, the now laying; no longer living, brothers under standing stones.
A picture of pure innocence in her ivory wedding gown.
Promenading through the church yard to catch her wanted man.
Escorted proudly by him, by the father of the bride.
Into the church they drifted upon ethereal glow.
The vicar bade them welcome.
After hymns and prayers of three.
Holy man he gave his blessings.
Pronounced them man and wife.
As the following morning sun she rose, forbade the joys of married life.
He wanted not to wake his bride.
He left  just a bunch of flowers, mauve and blue, forget me nots.
In his heart he hoped he'd see her soon.
Before the wake of summer's moon.
For off to war he went.
Both knew he had to go.
Proud man departed for war, with rivers of silent eyes.

(C) LIVVI
Ek Jul 2022
it is high noon
and white sunlight blazes the sky
the air becoming a wall of heat
it is a miracle anything survives

at the bottom of the sky,
long blades of grass climb upwards
rustling with movement
veiling all life in shadows

mother cat is promenading
striding with babies in her belly
they push against their mother
her stomach expanding gently like a rock

somewhere beneath the canopy
a shifty dragon lies
his snarling tongue is sniffing for something alive
slowly crawling towards a dent in the grass

a newly born litter of kittens
their mother still wandering for shade
their life snuffed out before they’ve opened their eyes
do they feel the sun kiss their sleeping heads goodnight?
Sometime before dawn
You curls in my dreams
And got me smiling
Like a promenading butterfly
Who aback;sights a garden phlox

I whirl enchanting on my cot
Until I hear the **** crow
And plug the melodrama
Though I wish relentless
I wing my arms like a baby
Thinking about you

I don't know how you do that
Or does it
But it seems you're an adept
Or probably a witch
To have cast such a spell on me

Ton!Ton! I picks my cellphone
And reads your messages
Thought as much,is her;the witch
Who incessantly sparks my match-sticks
And brighten my day

But am cowed,and wholly gobbled
Whenever I reminiscence about the oratories
"Nothing lasts forever"
So now tell me!
Your days and times
The protractions of your sojourn
And let me know"Witch

Though I'm hog-tied for your premium
I'm hog-tied for your rob too

Infatuated by a witch
©Historian E.Lexano
Little Bear May 2016
We must not ignore the pachyderm in the attic.
Trying to pull knitted fabric over our visual orbs.
For I am sure, although it's home is vacant.. the electric bill must be huge!
Maybe it requires a soupçon of his own panacea?
But we all know the summation of a pair of pairs..
And will come to the realisation.. it is a cadaverous fellow promenading.
We should all indicate the direction with our index finger...
And declare.. Pachyderm!!!


*We must not ignore the elephant in the room.
Trying to pull the wool over our eyes.
For I am sure, the lights are on but no one is home!
Maybe it needs a taste of it's own medicine?
But we all know, adding two and two together...
And come to know.. he is a dead man walking.
And we should all point
And yell.. Elephant!!
My kids doing homework today came up with this :o)
Esfoni Sep 2014
Butterfly's searching
On the wings of an enraged wind
Within the shivering leaves of a willow tree
For her footprint
Lurking on the desert hillocks
Athirst
Around midnight, promenading lame
“Have you seen my footprint?”
Asked of every being: The butterfly
“I've seen it!”
Uttered: The scorpion
Inside the intestinal curves
In the belly of a horned viper
Was looking for you!

09/19/2014
Scot Powers Jan 2013
Welcome to the party
welcome to the show
this is for the tired beauties
promenading the watering hole
searching for another
stand in for the night
back in the darkest corners
where they lose their fight

And when the sun goes down
the feelings start to stir
another chance to redeem yourself
have you really found your cure
loneliness and desperation led you to this place
stuck in a world
where deceit is common place

Take a look in the mirror
tell me what do you see
are you proud of what looks back now
who you want it to be
wasted days and nights go by
soon turn to years
hopeful dreams and pleasantries
vanish into tears

Standing at the crossroads
of life uncertainly
past choices and decisions
stare back impassively
nothing comes easy in this life it seems
is all what appears to be
hannah delight May 2016
Secret Gardens
Made for whispers and peculiar things
Slight breeze hums over trickling waters
Vines reaching for their piece of Sun

Blooming peonies
Hushed lavender
A single auburn rose
Not afraid of different

A wooden swing hung from the lilac tree
Moving to the beat of the wind
Giggles formed from the years spent
A plutherea of delightful times

A whist is heard
A cascading leaf?
Or a faery bride
Promenading down a pebble isle?
Stanley Wilkin Feb 2017
A rude dawn over the city
Where Pepys once fought with his beautiful wife
After seducing whatever servant-girl chanced
To be around, where kings
First ruled from cold castles full of cockroaches,
Murderous cousins
Lurking through the baleful halls of history
Eyeing the empty throne. The stinking
River long shorn of fish sweeps elegantly before
The crimson petticoats of multiple ******
Promenading along Thames Street,
Winking at under-washed gallants.

Vauxhall gardens a pithy cavalcade of priests and doxies,
Of flower girls, flaxen haired girls selling fruit,
Anxious to reach home before the ****** hour of early
Evening when beaus gather in alley ways establishing
A testosterone gauntlet in the dust-spawned gloom.

The road to Tyburn is littered with lost hopes!
On hanging day bodies swung like debutantes dancing
To jazz tunes-
Aristocrats quartered with precision squealed like common folk,
Bleeding as much. The city watched all this
And didn’t murmur-never complained-
Smiled, as only a city can smile, at gin-drunk matrons, pie eating aldermen
And the ****** activity in street shadows by relieved young women on
VE day 1945.
ArianaRusso May 2014
The sounds of the city

she was so young
only sixteen
walking in solitude til hell freezes over
Always, always a cigarette hanging out out of her mouth
sweet smoke just a poke

Promenading me and my shadow
Offbeat gazes
brusque antiphon

vague tracks of paces left from penitence foot prints

She wants to stupefy
she wants to feel without a hitch Numb

Emerging out of the pavements of south philadelphia a metacarpus grasps onto her oxford
Dragging her to the subways of the city

Underfoot, underground

Who’s the conductor?
Who’s driving the train of anarchy

At a screaming halt, the train stopped
the metacarpus flings her off
fall

she scrapes her knee to see she’s remaining at the same locus
Unaltered

Where’d  she go, she dont’ know
Arise!
She continued to linger through the streets

Julliet wanted romeo but romeo wanted another
Lifes a toy
she desired just a boy, maybe then life would be a joy

tooth for a tooth
bleed for me
a desire to conspire, a must for a bit of lust
David Bremner Dec 2016
In the rain we met
On a Sunday too
A day for promenading
With a girl round Hyde Park

From nowhere you sprang
You appeared before me
Fresh faced - like the sun
Peeping through the rain clouds

Your pretty features - blonde hair
What - nineteen?
Too good for me
Yet you chose to stay

And you smiled as we walked
Laughing through the rain
As we shared my umbrella
And listened to the racists

And the Marxists,the athiests
Even the preachers too
And those who did announce
'That the end is nigh'

Your eyes sparkled
With the mirth and joy of it
To the world did we appear
Like another couple in love?

Perhaps - but then
I let you slip - I had to
And you joined the crowds on Oxford Street
And I chose to stay

With the Marxists in Hyde Park
In the rain
My love owned by another
On that Sunday afternoon.
It was a memory of me
sitting
on a donkey,promenading
along the sandy beach,I feel sad
that yesterday is out of reach and yet
I can still touch upon
that ride along and still I see
the dripping nose of that grey donkey as I
hung on,but yesterday has gone
the donkey too and memory's no use to me or you,
still it comes,
with sherbet dips and real cap guns and I still sit
and take my ride
somewhere deep
deep down inside,
Wk kortas Jan 2017
There are notions which prove impervious
To the forces of nature, the whims of politicians and philosophers
Perhaps even, in the final analysis, to time itself.  
Tell me, what epiphany is realized
Through the parsing of prepositions from the Hebrew or Latin,
Why should we hoot and shake our fists in some battle to the death
Over some microtonal discord lurking behind a bassoon?
What is revealed in the lolling gait of the harlequinesque priest
Promenading down the aisle, incense burner clanking in time?
Observe, rather, the ancient, scarf-clad women among the muzhiks,
Bent as if entreating the very ground itself,
As they feel, smell, taste the soil,
Unearthing what peasants and saints
Believe to be the fingerprints of God,
And what is revealed to them in that rudimentary yet holy act
Is that which brings down Czar and prime minister,
That which exposes the proclamations and directives of commissars
As supercilious cant, the howling of a lost child into the wind.
jeffrey robin Aug 2015
.




(      
            •
                              )



  ­                                                      ( pretty baby )

^^^                                            

•         •


pretty baby come home

^^^
0
==

promenading

Up and down the streets

/:;/


Remnants

Of a dying humanity

"""

The busted story

Of a sacred journey thru the years



We are merely

Creatures suffering

From some form of fear

~<>~ ~<>~ ~<>~

Won't YE promise me yer  gonna try and make it

Thru to the end of the Line ?

I can't really even hope to make it without YE

seems like all the Burden is mine

•         •

Pretty baby

let's take the show on home

)(
(         )
) (

it's all kinda meaningless

To try and heal the world all on yer own



it's a broken story

only greed and lust remain

All the virtues are gone

( the only righteousness is what we bring )

)(

So come on

There's promises we must make

If we want to remain sacred

For the unborn child's sake
The world a canvas; Nature our adorned painter.
Piece splashed with vibrancy all over, yet stood a time about to die.
The leaves of the figures: dancing despite the frigid kiss of North.
Promenading forth and back am I; digesting, devouring, desiring for more.
Alas! Coming forth, the painter’s brush
Dotted with feathered black. The flock ebbing, flowing, pouring over the landscape.
Shadowed over the bodies of my peers, the birds fly in unison.
Now I hear a beautiful, magnificent symphony as the flock the noted bars,
The wind - woodwind; crinkled leaves - percussion; the branches - strings; the trees:
Grouped dancers of ballet, performing the interpretation
Of the dreamt reality set before me.
Mateuš Conrad Apr 2018
usually it takes me about 300ml
of *****,
     to catch up to the sober people
talking vehemently about something...
namely: that the freedom
of speech is synonymous with
the need to breathe...
                          300ml of *****,
or, the perfect sunset,
in a small town, just shy off Masovia,
walking back through this tangling
streets, soaking up remnants
of what is to become of young
couples promenading in the park
and on the streets,  
lonely hearts club of two girls
spotting cookies on park benches...
skin heads meat heads
and the whole shabang..,
      300ml of ***** and i'm tickling
an: into it, nose dive, kumać...
    and if I had the gift of the polyglot
I wouldn't be writing about
a bilingual labyrinth...
                     more a custard clot
worth of utility,  commerce, rubick cube
through and through...
   cameleon crowd pleaser...
I still don't know how they manage
to talk so much,
    and by talking so much,
they fall into the pitfall akin
to trivia instead of knowledge,
memory erosion,
  pedagogy's useless rubrics...
                 how does it sounds:
freedom of speech comes with no authority...
but... cuff me and usher in
the blind woman's cameo:
  you have the, right, to remain silent...
the freedom of a hen is not
analogous with the wolf...
  contradictory, notably due
to the intra-species differentiation..,
looking into the intra-species
    integration...
politicians and lawyers have no bible
and no Koran adherence...
their sole holy scriot, the thesaurus
        is ultimatum "pax"...
I still have to paint my grandparents'
kitchen in the colour: lemon peel...
just shy of the neon zest...
    if only, epilepsy at a disco
when the strobe light comes on...
there's all that,
    I don't know, perhaps I sleep better
because I have inherited a continental
biology and living on the wet,
and dingy, and mushroom clout island...
the persistent damp uneases me...
300ml into the heterogenous
fizzling of anti-dialectics...
                             and, somehow,
2 months spent in a homogeneous society
is a breath of, ease...
      post-colonialism is a real
zeitgeist...
                  to have inherited
a past, considered a future
while struggling with the present...
is it possible that i've seen more
heterosexual couples walking
about a town of  60,000 people...
on a single Saturday evening....
kissing, holding hands,
                     in one evening...
than I saw in London,
throughout all the days of the week,
for a total of say, 7 years?
jealous? not exactly,
if instanced by one, example,
maybe...
            but when there are replicas?
I too anticipated Sienkiewicz's
krzyżacy to be more engaging...
          well... less of what it current is,
which doesn't mean i'll suddenly
abandoned the book and take to Proust...
but when something akin
to Münster happens...
   I go and sit by the river,
take two glugs of *****,
light a cigarette,  and pour the rest
of the bottle onto the earth...
if I haven't had invested 23 years
of my 31 years (and counting)
immersed in England and this,
tongue...
   given the continental climate,
and the hardly exhausting
homogenous narrative...
                     what the hell are we even
talking about?
     a tongue that has become
a body tied to four horses,
about to be pulled apart...
                              if only
those having inherited English
as a host language... retained
a bilingualism...
      could actually call english,
a lingua franca, a language of commerce,
of tourism...
                the natives would
have remained natives...
   as odd looking as Japanese retirees
globe trekking...
     lost in the big city like London...
but no...
              "forgot" the mother tongue,
suddenly you have the whole
language being hijacked
by a political Heimleich...
                     I use this language...
**** trying to identify with it...
next time i'll be ******* into the sacrament
of wine and adding Nutella to the bread...
the point being,
   a hammer and a nail...
      reciprocation, symbiosis -
the jolting reaction to biological cancer,
and botanical cancer,
perfected symbiosis....
no brain of a cancer, but a vector...
the bulges of mistletoe on trees...
      reiterated Kant:
     there is not Hegelian dialectic
of thesis and antithesis...
what there is, is the reinvention
of the master / slave dynamic...
towing other dissociative synonyms...
dichotomy, dynamic... morality...
   came the master, and the slave...
came the host... and the parasite...
luckily, on the periphery...
hyenas, condors, rats...
scavengers, or rather,  opportunists.
migayle ocuaman May 2019
Will you dance with me?
A sweet melody,
whispers of us two,
and the girl I knew.

Let me clasp you close to me,
as gentle as the breezes that breathes,
harmonic symphony that sparks,
cascading through the world.

Stumbling scattering embers,
blissful angel smiles and laughter,
blushing youth that blossom about,
captivated entwined hand in hand.

I spun you round and round,
you fell laughing to the ground,
I thought I could keep you near,
I never thought you'd leave here.

vivid blurs of such memories,
felt like distant lucid dreams,
wandering thoughts of merry months,
she sways away as did time does.

I went searching for you, far and wide,
I never thought that you had died,
I kept you alive in my heart,
so we'd never ever be apart.

Through the gardens that bloom,
peaceful plains and quiet rooms,
humming your serene songs,
distant thoughts hang so strong.

Today, I found you once again,
your hair blew in the summer's wind,
but alas to me, you weren't the same,
somehow you had broken the chain.

For Spring it sprang as Spring it does,
winter’s loss becomes summers gleam,
a song of old enchanting memories,
for life has a passion for living.

The ring I gave you, you held dear,
I can see it now, though I'm no seer,
I'll go looking for you once again,
even though our paths don't blend.

So dance in the future with me,
my sweet love,
and promise you'll wait for me,
for I'll be there, by and by,
and sing to you our lullaby.

I'm the sorcerer, you're the witch,
never thought that you could stitch,
together with a broken heart,
you'd found a boy who wasn't quite smart.

I want to be like you are that of one light,
to see your eyes looking back into mine,
in the sight of every eye underneath the moon,
promenading through the mid starry night,
acoustic harmony of a heart that beats of one.

timeless illusion that swirls in the mist,
underneath the milk light of moon,
all that was lost is now revealed,
beckoning hums of golden memories.

I fell for you, I took you in,
though the light in my castle was dim,
I could see the spell cast upon you,
oh my dear sweet, I love you.
Donall Dempsey Jun 2017
THE QUIET AMERICAN

" 'course I 'member you!" she said
"You wanted to wear my red polka dot dress
& I said no!"

"Also, I highly resented. . . "
she told him in no uncertain tones
"...my clothes looking better on you!"

she could still picture him
promenading in her bra 'n' *******
reciting a litany of American cars

"VikingBuickCadillacChevroletPontiacMustang!"
he reeled off a list of cars as if
it was The Shipping Forecast

"VikingDoggerRockallGerman Bight..."
she mocked and mimicked him
"I don't know them..." he frowned

"I could put up with
the cross dressing but
...it was the listing of cars got me!"

"There's ***** & then
...some!"
"You were the then some!"

"Oh you were all guy but
why...why
the paean to cars?"

"Oh & you always
stretched my lingerie!"
"No...no...I don't want to go out with you again!"
Grace E Dec 2022
Tell me that out there,
In the jungle of skyscrapers,
Mangled mazes of streets
And billboard lights flashing
Blinding you with hypnotic twinkling
You’ll remember me
Tell me that while you’re on top of the world
And your pockets are filled with gold
Promenading in an expensive winter coat
And dropping coins that clang in a beggars cup
You’ll think of me
The one who loved you from the beginning
Persephone Faust May 2023
I had to walk away from you.
I was fearful of what you were offering,
perhaps because you offered it once before,
that this time, I could not make myself accept,
that there was a possibility that you had changed.

You came promenading into my life,
turning it upside down, condemning me to become
an ocean of every single emotion, that I had padlocked
away, promising me, that this love was unlike any other.

And it was. Jesus Christ! I fell so fast! In a blink of an eye, I had surrendered everything that was me, to you.

I found myself wading in the deep color of your eyes, sinking in the depths of what you gave me.
I let you pour your broken pieces on me like rain.
I let your broken promises seep into my skin.
I let your lies intoxicate me, until I was so drunk on you,
that I did not know who I was...

It wasn't enough for you. I gave you the parts of me so dark, that they tainted the remaining light in my body.
I bound my trauma and put it in your hands, because you said you could make it seem, like it had never touched my body, or soul.
I handed you my trust, my love, my ego and my selflessness, just to watch you put it on the shelf collecting dust, your ignorance and abandonment.

You left me on my knees in the dark, begging for scraps of you.
I became less of a person, waiting for you to love me.
I watched you, shut me out of your life, no glimmer of hope, with no return in sight.
You kept me locked in your shadows, hoping that I had not recognized that you, you simply found another.

The prison that I was trapped in, began to fill with water, and I couldn't bother to save myself, because I had thought, for only a split second that you would come back and save me.
You had the key in your hand. I watched from the bottom of the darkness as you tossed it away, and me along with it.

It was only when I kicked my way to the surface that I realized that you were never really there.
You were a figment of the pain that I sought to control but couldn't get ahead of.
You were my dark fantasies and secrets, flashing out in the open for all to see.

I created you, because I couldn't love me.
I sought you out because I couldn't control my pain.
I clung to you because you were made of the same dark material, as my soul.
In the end, it wasn't me that wasn't enough for you...
Your darkness was never enough to drown me.
Donall Dempsey Jun 2019
THE QUIET AMERICAN

" 'course I 'member you!" she said
"You wanted to wear my red polka dot dress
& I said no!"

"Also, I highly resented. . . "
she told him in no uncertain tones
"...my clothes looking better on you!"

she could still picture him
promenading in her bra 'n' *******
reciting a litany of American cars

"VikingBuickCadillacChevroletPontiacMustang!"
he reeled off a list of cars as if
it was The Shipping Forecast

"VikingDoggerRockallGerman Bight..."
she mocked and mimicked him
"I don't know them..." he frowned

"I could put up with
the cross dressing but
...it was the listing of cars got me!"

"There's ***** & then
...some!"
"You were the then some!"

"Oh you were all guy but
why...why
the paean to cars?"

"Oh & you always
stretched my lingerie!"
"No...no...I don't want to go out with you again!"
Grace E Mar 2020
His magnetism was like the sun
So many adored him, many surrounded him
I find myself a mystified little planet
Involuntarily drawn to him
A dancer in the chorus line promenading around him
But though I am just another pulled in by his gravity
I’m so happy to bask in his warm light,
Yes I’m so happy to just be near him
I love him.

— The End —