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Mitchell Dec 2013
Night fell
And we witnessed the brilliance of man's folly,
Every note falling in deciduous perfection;
Even prayers can be lost.

The stars flashed on,
The sun was nowhere to be found, and
And the moon belched like a drunken pirate,
Bending the trees and sending their leaves
Skyward, off to wherever they go.

There was a whisper
Between the blades of grass
We laid on.

There was a worry
Clouding over you
That told me there
Was to be more.

Candy cane fragrance
With a dash of cinnamon salt.

Grinning through the darkness,
We touched palms like children,
Caught in that blue jay dance.

Morning came like mist over a hill.
Our eyes fluttered open and close.
She rose first, then I rose with her.
We met by the window and looked down on the street,
Both of us feeling the fleeting of a feeling.

Secondary rituals over coffee and pastries.
The sun came through that café window like a shotgun blast.
And when she paid and left,
A kiss on the cheek for cordiality,
She dropped a note that read "Until next time."

When you don't see another for some time,
You wonder what they came to be.
A periwinkle ***** of 5 cents a pound,
Or a river lady loon that sang without a sound?
The maze has many turns, until you reach the end.

Those monsters
Under your bed,
Their color's shining
Ox blood purple and red.

They told me your name.
They scribbled your address.
They want what you have.
They're wondering why your'e so stressed.

When she came by the place again,
I wasn't home, so she dropped me another note.
This one had only one word:

HI

I can't lie.
I was quite
Surprised.

I thought she
Would have
Less to say.

Two days past.
A knock on my door.
Moon light's *******
Stretched into my
Living room window.

My couch held her like an egg in a carton.
Toad colored hat latched around her head.
Hair covering her eyes, her mouth, her broken nose.
She wore orange flip flops, wiggling her toes.
A zit planted in the middle of her forehead like white rose.

She asked why I hadn't called her.
I told her that I didn't have a number.
She talked about her soon to be dead father.
I sat down to listen, thinking of my forgotten brother.
We talked with a space between us for a long time.

When she began to cry, she came to me,
Like a bee to a flower or a fly to fresh ****.
I felt her hand on my chest and her breath in my left ear;
There's no guilt like the wicked
And there's no faith like the religious kind.

Hand in a hold.
Love is a recyclable mold.

The tattered priest protects the walls
Of his splintered sanctuary.
Every dream had
Is another man's
Discarded memory.

Oh my sins, my sins,
Where should I begin?

When you're born to lose,
There's no thought to win.

6 months past
And still, she came.
Our love for one another
Was a knot
I couldn't untie.

A year past
And the stars and the moon
Were a cure that
Blanketed our child, our family.

Living our days out,
Mixing poison and penalty,
Running from a life
That showed any shred of reality.

Buried side by side
Underneath a bent orange tree,
I died one day,
She dying the other.

We use the leaves of Fall
For cover,
And the blossoming buds of Spring
For something
To reach for.

When I say the maze is long
And that the hours are heavy,
I meant not for your blankets to fall cold
Or for your room to awash with darkness.

She came to me that day,
Just like someone will come for you.
And I had no choice,
But to attune.
I was half hung the **** over and feeling like total **** left to die.
The ***** was gone and the room looked like someone had set a bomb off in a ******* .

The phone rang out a ******* annoying *** banshee much like a Selena Gomez record sure everyone likes spoiled little ****** just not with the  sound on.
I answered the phone with all my southern charm.

What the **** do you want ! ?

There was a dead silence when finally a voice spoke on the other end.
Um MR Robbins  is this a bad time?
Well considering I haven't had a drink and my head feels like it was
hit by a plane nobody can find yeah sure it's a great ******* time.

Well MR Robbins the man continued on about **** I could care less about going through his whole pitch trying to sell me some over priced life insurance .
Yeah you got to love a paycheck you'll never see newsflash after I kick the bucket  I don't give a **** if you roll me up in a carpet and toss me in a landfill .

Well MR Robbins can we sign you up ?
I paused just to simply to hold up the works and make you the reader say where the **** is he going with this ****.

My friend I get this is your job but the only thing certain in this existence  is death  and I have far better things and strippers to waste my money on than a fund  for  when I kick the bucket .

Sure I could put money aside for a time I wont enjoy it, yeah and I could settle down get married become a regular dude who works his *** off till I retire to sit in a recliner **** myself and watch commercials about pills that'll give you a stiff **** and so many ******* side effects you'll do everything but glow in the ******* dark.

There is no ******* promise of tomorrow kids so live your **** off today and **** the future we can only know the present.

I slammed the phone down and poured what was left of a dead solider in a pint glass .
It was bitter and almost warm and as I chased it with a good cigarette
and thought to myself  as the jukebox came to life .

Dam I sure hope that was a beer if not someone probably needs to go to the free clinic .

Stay crazy hamsters .

Gonzo
Andie Lately Feb 2010
A life of joy
No complaint
Thankful for every morning I see
A prayer each night so I can see

A life of love
Friends to bless my life
Family to care and provide for me
Nothing short of expectations

God's guiding hands
God's eternal love
God's will
God's promise
Alicia Jan 2014
For Rayne.
I promise to make you proud.
I solemnly swear I will be the best big sister I can be for you.
I never want to bring about a frown to such an innocent, tan face.
Nor would I ever want to transfer negativity to your sacred space.
What I do, I do for you.
Seven years young, and you have the biggest heart of all.
I know you've seen me at my worst,
and you've seen me at my best.
And for you, I keep my head held high and poke out my chest.
You've been there to pick up the pieces.
You've been a shoulder for me to cry on.
You've given me free hugs and kisses.
And you're always one of the first to hear about what guy broke my heart
and on him, you're ready to beat on.
Rayne, you are as pure as the rain falling from the sky.
You are as bright as the sun when it's at its highest.
You are as precious as it gets, and I wouldn't trade you for the world.
Baby sister, one day I want you to hear this.
I want you to know I've told the world how much I love you.
I know I remind you every day,
and I know that it may seem annoying.
But this is something that will never go away.
Baby sister, one day I will give you the world.
And if I don't or if I can't, at least you'll know I tried for you.
Hands down, I will go to the ends of the earth for you.
Devin Rayne, I love you.
*81413
A dedication to my baby sister. Her favorite poem, of course.

Twitter: @the_monAlicia
Audio: soundcloud.com/liciii/for-rayne
Neha Srivastava Jul 2017
I am an emotional fool I say ,
yes ..so is my heart that feels the promise made wid every beat ..
and so are my eyes that lives that promise with every blink..

Promises are made to be broken they say..
Try not to ...as you are also breaking my tender heart full of hopes..

My heart is shattered ..it says nothing now..
just beating for u...
My eyes are closed. Says nothing now..
just full of tears rolling down for u..

My Mind is so clever that laughs and says
'Told u .. not to destroy urself just for a promise made'...
Xander King May 2015
Letter to my parents who for some odd reason feel the need to micro-manage my life and treat me like a villian:

First off, *******. All you do is act holy and like you are better than me. You act like you never made any mistakes, and ohhh yes you did ones waaay worse than mine. You're gonna tell me I cant see my friends or watch tv because I smoked. Well what about you? You've told me some pretty crazy stories about your teenage days getting ****** and drunk and skipping class and ******* off. At least I go to school, at least I go to school and do my work and don't get ****** before class. At least I'm ******* responsible. Oh and I've been grounded from the internet for over a year for dating a ****** bag and being "Inappropriate" with him. Remind me about your pregnancy at what? 14? 15? HAHA at least I'm still a ******* ******. I'm rude?I'M RUDE?!?!?! SAYS THE ***** WHO STILL CALLS BLACK PEOPLE ******* AND GAY PEOPLE *******, SAYS THE ***** WHO CALLS HER STEPKID CRAZY AND SAYS ONLY HER AD WOULD CARE IF SHE WERE POISIONED, SAYS THE ***** WHO MAKES SUICIDE AND BULIMIA JOKES LIKE ITS ******* FUNNY!!!! SAYS THE ***** WHO FAT SHAMES PEOPLE AND TALKS **** ABOUT CHILDREN TO ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN!!!! i'M ******* RUDE?!?!?! I'VE NEVER STOOD UP FOR MYSELF AND IM DONE WITH IT!! You have 2 ******* choices, either change and treat me like a human instead of an animal! Or I'm leaving. I'm moving the **** out and taking matters into my own hands. Try to stop me. I'll tell DHS about you pretending to call the cops on my brother and saying he was trying to stab you (He wasnt) all because he came home. I'll tell them about you locking jake out of the house when he had a fever of 112 and he nearly DIED. I'll tell them half of the **** you do and you'll be in prison faster then you can come up with some ******* lie. WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS ILLEGAL. Even if you arent my legal guardian it's still considered neglect and child abuse. So come at me. Either you shape up or I leave because I'm NOT gonna sit here and listen to some random ***** tell me I'm a **** up IM useless IM nothing. I am worth it. I deserve happiness, i deserve to be able to leave my room without having anxiety attacks. I deserve to be able to have a self confidence that doesnt revolve around what you think of me. I want to be happy. And if i keep getting everything taken away for a simple mistake and never being able to live it down, I'll never be happy. Just ******* let me  breath, let me **** up, I promise if oyu stop suffocating me then I'll come to you with my problems, but if you keep suffocating me and making me scared to even ask when dinner is that'll never happen.
Austin Bauer May 2016
In a house
Near the loch
Awaits a bride
For her wedding day.
Soon her groom
Will take her hand.

Extending his hand,
At his father’s house,
Out reaches the groom
Toward the loch
Saying, “in a handful days
I will have my bride.”

Meanwhile the bride,
With her gentle hand,
Writes the day
On invitations in her house;
Sending thoughts across the loch
Toward her groom.

Simultaneously the groom
Thinks of his bride,
Receiving her thoughts from the loch.
His promise on her hand,
Hers is in his father’s house,
But he won't see it until the day.

In just a few short days
With his friends the groom
Will leave his father’s house
And await the bride
To take her hand
At the ceremony near the loch.

And in the city of the loch
Their lives most historic day
Will be when they take each other’s hands
And the groom
Will have his bride
And will make a home of their house.

But until then… Toward the loch the groom,
Awaiting the appointed day of his bride,
With lovesickness stretches his hand toward her house.
a sestina.
jndv Oct 2015
HER
A mother’s love is so sacrificial
They care and advise us unconditional

From the day that I saw the world,
You were the first person who hold

Since I was young and fragile,
You guided me from what is right and wrong
You always give me that beautiful smile,
You’re the reason why I’m this strong

From the start and end,
You are the person I depend

I never heard you complain,
Because you know,,, from you.. I will gain

Thank you mom,
For everything that I am today
Someday I’ll repay,
Just promise me you’ll stay

Sorry mom,
If I am not that easy,
As you watch me growing
You hide and you cry,
Without me knowing

Mom, I just want to say,
That I love you in everyday
And if you plan to say goodbye
Please don’t, cause I might die
A B Perales Oct 2016
Mothers smoking ***** from a bamboo pipe in the morning.
She peels bananas for breakfast with her hands that are never clean.
Father died in a rich mans mine.
Mother has found an Uncle to beat her on the weekends when the Wine runs out.
Uncle make sister touch his monster in the mornings.

The speakers of His word bring salvation and sugar cane husks for the children after class.
All the parents miss the sermon and drink early morning wine on a sunday.

In the cities and the suburbs girls chose the guys who can buy them jewels and give them children.
Security is what matters who cares how you feel.
A thousand smiles smile back as she holds the sparkling stone high for everyone to admire.

He felt safer with his sister towing buckets in the mine.
His Uncle didn't like it but the money bought more drink.
They always needed children to venture deeper in the Earth.
Slender hands and small bodies pulling Diamonds from the mines .

She secretly admired the promise on her finger as he pounded away on her ripe smelling flesh.
It takes a special kind of someone to fake it all for Gems .
Men so lonely they convince themselves it's Love ,when they really know it's Diamonds.

There's something about stones that take lifetimes to form .
A Gem so strong only the hands of a child can set them free.

   What a symbol for promise ,for Love and forever.
A stone pulled from the Earth by way of child labor and sometimes child blood.
Kimberly Clemens Sep 2016
Leave your car keys on the leather seat
I promise the world won't move without you
So there's no need to try to get so ahead of yourself,
The roads will wind around your restless mind
Please don't get too dizzy trying to read between the lines
of the GPS directions you never listen to
The set destination is only far
because you keep turning away from the arrows
And theres a beautiful mystery in the flickering of your eyelashes
blinking against the cinematic sunset
Those colors couldn't give off a fraction
of the colors surrounding you
I know your hands play in the dust
tracing curved lines the same way
you stumble when balance plays with your legs
falling into him

Leave your car keys on the counter
because your footsteps can carry you
onto the carpeted floor, the collage of a blank white wall
painted in sound as substitute for aesthetic
Why get ahead of yourself
if he is facing in front of you?
You've learned to ease your restless mind on your own
yet his hands take the worry and wash them off
a caress across your cheek like a gentle waterfall
you find yourself babbling down the stream
with no map in your hands, no worry of a destination
just a journey on its course
There's a beautiful mystery in the flickering of his smile
lit up like a melting candle that's brightening your face
This heat doesn't represent a fraction
of the energy kept between you
I know your bodies trace lines against one another
weaving more and more into existence
of two universes colliding
a passionate destruction of walls you are no longer keeping

Put your car keys into the ignition
there are so many roads to drive down
but somehow this time I know
you will not get lost.
Ignatius Hosiana Sep 2015
FOR Mwima Zubair Naser*
(Gone too soon,when still in bloom
In the line of duty,what a pity)
In memory of you I'll always cry
I won't stop no matter how hard I try
Why do you have to promise
And then just pass on like this?
Especially when you are all gone
Leaving us in this world on our own
Did you have to leave this young
When I lack any beautiful speech
On my saddened tongue?
When the ball is still on pitch?
You had Samson's courage
Like a car with shocking milage
Did you have to go when I need you
Did you have to evaporate like morning dew
From the fragile petals of our youth
Did you have to join the boots?
It isn't fair to go when I cannot send you off
When I haven't condolence,not half a loaf
Did you have to go so soon
And leave my heart out of tune?
Say hallo to Wilber and the others
The thought of you all really bothers
I've never been one to say goodbye
And saying it will all be but a lie
To me you still breathe and live
That you're gone I cannot believe
I hope you made it through
And all these rumors ain't true
Nat Lipstadt Jul 2013
I mashup me, myself, and thee: Part II

Excerpts from my poems about poets, poetry and the process of composition. In chronological order, from the earliest to the most recent.
---------------------------------------------------------­-----------------------------------------------------------------­----


The three poems went about their business,
Bringing heaven to earth,
FYI, even Angels can't be everywhere, so,
God invented poems to do his ***** work,
Cleansing souls.

They rode in~out of town on a prankster wave,
A cheering throng was not around,
But a singular poet saw, recorded the vision,
And thus, this nameless poet,
Below unmasked, unsealed,
Cleansed one more soul,
And that soul, this soul, as required,
Paid it forward.
~
Nothing produced from this place
where routine means the gorge tastes bile,
When surcease is welcome relief,
Where dancing on ice in bare feet
Is step one to ripping your chest open by your own hands,
The toxins thus released rejuvenated by salted air,
Can be finally be transcribed onto paper
And realized.

Warn them once and then begin, you,
Get serious, delve, with hurricane unambiguity,
to torrential words upon the unsuspecting,
let them taste the rawness, only the truth provides,
let them know salt tears so briney,
They will flee this place, n'er to return.

~
One day she intro'd me as her fav poet,
To which I acknowledged by addressing her as
My number one fan,
Which seems to have stuck,
so I acknowledge her as such,
And always add a polite, respectful, winking,
Yes ma'am!
~
Like this new day,
there are always
new poems

Like last night's sunset,
day's efforts reviewed,
a special light,
a yellowed marker,
highlighting a few deserving

Take them home,
kiss them goodnight,
rest them in the poetry file
that is no file,
but a large fabric box where
sewing tools once stored

How appropriate and
how happy that makes me.

~
Yo! Yo!
Remember your first real high,
That moment
No absolution, no return.
That moment
When you admitted, confessed,
to yourself:

I am
Forever forward,
A home-grown poet.
I am
Soul enslaved to words.
The alphabet - My oxygen molecules,
I am both,
Addict and dealer
A ****** poet

Yo! Yo!
So you do recall,
The exact moment,
God-spark-within, ascendancy gained
You lost control,
Wept words instead of tears!
A ****** poet ******!

Yo! Yo!

Sophie's Choice.
You chose writing over breathing,
Worshiper of the purest pleaure,
******* in deep the smoke-high of
Head-nodding discontented contentment
Stealing anything you saw
For to satisfy the need, the craven
Craving.
****** poets!

Yo! Yo!

Don't you're ever sleep?
Hear that the city, the state,
Gonna methadone your kind
In a special program
Teach you only language to sign.
**** poets!

I am a ****** poet.

The first step taken.
Admission.
Poetry is my default rest position,

My drug of choice.
~
Have you noticed here

Each poet declaims his fellow
The better one, his teacher,
From whom they shall learn and gather up
Inspiration

Gonna run for Congress,
My first bill, Poetry-care,
Will make it a requirement that
All citizens must contribute,
Exchange once a day
To this peaceful place,
Even just a syllable, a single letter,

K?

~
Literally my eyes see words awaiting coordinating,
Poems flying by, needing plucking,
How a child eats his morning cereal,
His rituals informing, of the man yet to be,
How our bodies lay, hair unbrushed,
Tying us into a conjoined knot...

No matter that plain words are my ordinary tools,
With them I shall scribe the small,
Cherish the little, grab the middle,
Simplicity my golden rule,
Write they say, about what you know best,
Surely in the diurnal motions,
The arc of daily commotion,
Do we not all excel?
~
The ice of poetry,
glassine smooth
but
charged hardness,
hits you, ****** you,
unexpected snowball in the face,

the fire of poetry,
cherished phrase, a patois,
comfort food when
whole winter skies
swallow you bleak

mutual contradictions of poetry
savaging the soothed ego,
revealing the raging id

what's in a word anyway?

~
Please Pop, pick wise,
the life and lies, the faces and disguises,
I will need employ to achieve success
in the eyes of my reading beholders,
who own the liens on my soul
because of the promises I believed,
when you sang me
glowing lullabies of my future days,
how everyone would love my stories,
my poems, someday...
~
Place your ****** hands upon thy chest.
Let them melt thru and come to rest,
Inside, the battle ongoing, under thy breast.
Watch, eyes open, knowing, fearful.
Swiftly, with no hesitation, from within,
Rip open your body, exhaling the best,
And the worst of what you got.

The cool air rushes in,
Stirring the inside stew of:
Infected grime, shameful desires,
Secrets that should not have been exposed,
The ***** stuff that you alone know exists.

Contact with the atmosphere makes
Self-pity dies, blue blood turn red,
The TNT tightness explodes,
Ashamed, you have only one escape hatch.

Now, you are ready to write.

~
My life is on the boring side,
So welcome gents to look inside,
The surfed sites, the emails, hardly slimy,
But stay the fk away from my poetry!

Tis obvious from your midnight editing,
That my wordily, working body has been discretely
Simonized,
My data,
Googlized,
My poems,
Scrutinized,
A comma, a colon, a verb, out of place, capsized,
Little threads kept in door jambs, their alteration,
Your snooping presence, a confirming revelation
~
Where I write, here, all comes so easy,
Every glance a poem formed,
Every phrase a title to a poem served,
Every conversation overheard and those wind-lifted brought,
A seed, a germ, a word~worm hooked to the pole crook of
My finger saying, see man, time to get more ink and paper,
Go and catch us a few poems for dinner

The snapper weakfish word colors are
Running past my-by the thousands,
We will need a basket to catch but a fraction
Of what you see, more than more enough to share,
Only Happy Poems for all

It is this rhyming way I view the wold,
That is my freedom, is my-present essence,
How the poems come, how thy flow,
Peaking, I cannot berate, rarely eat,
Sleep a thing of the past (as you be aware, beware)
There is poetry in simply everything.

~
But if my aura be a comfort insufficient,
Let this surprise poetic gift awaiting your arrival,
Give you rest, from crying surcease!

For when the who, the why of me interrogatory posed,
Describe me in a brevity I ne'er possessed, say:
He was just a poet, and I,
Just, his lover, number one fan.

This truth eternal, never to change.
~
But I am open to learning, the arduous task
Of raising a teenage daughter,
After I have my head examined

Though I am just a bunch of eclectic electrons,
I got powers a few, like making life's happiness
Hearted happier, encouraging your forays into
You-know-what,
And when tables turn, a hasty retreat you beat,
For imaginary cappuccinos and poems we will meet,
Comparing notes on who felt lousier when...

But what I can do 100% is assure you
There is no lone nor lonely daughter extant,
Your voice not just clear but soft-edged,
For I have poetically adopted you,
Here and now, assuming you sign on the
.............................................................­line

~
Take these words at plain face,
and look not askance
at this fair warning,
for I am but a tragic,
empty vessel for you to fill,
you are the raconteur,
me, just a  
poet poseur extraordinaire,
street urchin, word merchant,
all my verbally, wordly goods expropriated
from the wind,  where your scattered thoughts
lie about, carelessly,
unattended
~
Guiltless in life, we but survived,
Hurting no one, no thing,
Yet, here we lie, ignored, unattended,
Yet, you fail again to see our connection?
You do not recognize us?

We are the shells, the husks of you,
Your poems unread, you labors unpreserved,
All wasted, for unless they are read, they die,
As you will too.
Some fast, by water, some slower, time-eroded,
All, ended, by drowning in the Sea of Who Cares!

~
What sourced this elegiac distich,
Too many poets, fully disclosing their downbeat, aroma of defeat?

The world is in a **** mood, not one of us, got nothing
Good to say, seems that love storms ripping hearts
With no trace of mercy, the radio has elected nonstop
Taylor Swift and Jonas Bro's
Just to make the point!

It is so easy to feel ******,
When the sun is unshining, elegant distich, **** me.

Thinking back, getting a good idea,
Found some long necked Corona overlooked,
Turn on the tv, pretend I'm a real cowboy,
And for god's sake, shut down poetry,
Good Bye Poetry, for the rest of the day.
~
once upon a time,
a traffic light rainbow,
stopped n' go, was a word design,
demarcated visions of spun sugar,
bodegas sold me
magic beans by the pound,
masterminded into cups of delight,
treasury's bounty overflowed,
now, dregs drain, sink stained,
as are my writing utensils,
my ink stained, us-less, fingers

come visit me, unknown stranger,
let us exchange fluidity, barbs,
a contest of kissing, eye lashing
wit ands shared vision stashing,
and together, once more,
write with our feet,
while holding hands,
becoming once more
poets of the street.

Only, come quickly.

~

But reading thy cries, an exercise,
Teeth-gnashing frustration.
It brings no relief.

So sad girl,
Write till you are righted,
May be it will snow on July 4th,
And tho unnatural,
So is thy grief.

Nonetheless, write me write me all about it,
Right us,
For tho snow falls, its loveliness,
Makes the heart rise up in gladness!
~
She brings me coffee in bed.
I propose a violin accompaniment.
Some babka, with nice-crumbly-in-bed
Streusel topping,
A concerto we could make!

Her derision snorted so loud,
The mollusks on the beach
From their shells come out.

"Good luck with that,
Put that fantasy on
Your **** poetry site,
Cause that is the closest you will ever get!"

~
For she will be my heroine for all time,

These words to expand with rhyme and verse,
T'is a welcome task, one familiar, but anew,
Each dawn each dusk, a daily trust, a love poem diurnal-birthed,
As if god created the world, but left upon completion,
With a grievous thirst, a new notion, he did burst.

He created the Eighth Day, for celebration of his
Most cherished invention, the idea of love.
This is where, the secret writ Eleventh Commandment occurs,
Love thy Poetry Gods, Honor them with daily verbs.
~
Officer...you should see me gut a

Poem,

Slice its belly open,
Sometimes straight, sometimes Askew,
Feed the gulls them
****** insides on the dock, by-moonlight,
Can ya cut me some slack?

Mmm, I see here in your license,
You are a disabled guy,
A **** poet ******,
Who often does his best work
Legally all alone in the HOV lane,
So I'm gonna let you off this time
Just with a warning!

~
We can share words, we can grant tiny easements,
We can weep with you unseen tears,
We can etsy you little homemade gifts
Like this.

That you can take and keep, and break out in time of need knowing full well that these words will not spoil nor rancid turn, cannot be out grown,, or torn, or rent asunder in anyway for once they are shared
They are irrevocable.
~
When you write,
It as if you write upon our
One skin,
For I am your tablet,
Your sole/sol/soul composition.

So stop kissing me
and
Write upon us.

~
This will not be the hardest poem I e're wrote,
But if there is no inspiration
For you to smote,
And armpits refuse to provide perspiration,
To source juices for a new creation,
Try this trick,
I promise you
No one will lick your ice cream cone,
Nor mistake you for Leonard Cohen,
But when you are done,
You will be High Priest of
Hello Poetry for the rest of the day!
~
You think you can write?
Then employ  a word outside your comfort zone,
Go it alone,
And write four sentences that will make
The hopeful reader stand up and
you twice as much, and shout

Hallelujah
*******.

Work. Poetry is work. Hard work.
Don't fret. But, think on it. Have the sweetest dreams.
In the morning, when you but awake,
A poem will be aborning in thy mind,
And dare I say it, you will find a new freedom
In free verse.
(I know you will slip in a rhyme or two,
I can't help but do it too)

~
Had myself forgot,
That a poem needs a
Frame of jungle gym sounds,
An aural aura resonance unbound.
Purposed to make the heart lift
Your ears say:

Say what!

It needs a tune,
An internal music,
It needs a lilt!
A cadence, that both
Marches and swings,
Even when'd urgent dirge
grief pours forth.
~
This Sabbath day you fog-hide
Your gift of bay and beach
So quiet implore, beseech,
Keep the sailors safe,
And your poets saved.

I ask much.
But I ask for all of us,
There are so many such
That are booster-chair needy
That I am succumbed, overwhelmed,
Enormity fearsome needs help even from a deity.

Small words, big hopes.

If you cannot grant it,
Won't wait for intervention,
Do it myself, answer prayers one and all,
Best I can, starting now with this
Po-hymn.

~
I used to sleep
With pen and paper on my nighttime table.
Nowadays, my iPad tablet rests upon my chest,
Not only does it keep me warn,
It takes my poems from within, Fresh Direct,^
Edits, credits, and delivers them to your door,
While I'm still sleeping.

Which is why they come at all hours.
It is also why they call them,
Love's Labour's Lost saving devices.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**So I spend my cold, hard time
laying down cold hard verse,
Can't stop, cause it's my daddy's dying curse.

I am both: Addict and dealer, a ****** poet ******.
Robert Guerrero Feb 2013
Fresh cut
There it stands
Waiting for your name
After so many years
Of running from your fate
You finally collapsed
Under the tidal waves of depression
Loaded up your 45
Tied a noose just in case
And sharpened your blade as a last resort
Ran to the place we both found peace and solitude
The one place I now refuse to wander
To me its not a name carved in stone
It’s your name I am carving into this stone
This marble headstone
Where in a few hours your body will be placed
Six feet below the shadow of this headstone
As the sun finally sets
I stayed after the ceremony
I asked you if you remembered those days
When we were just little kids
We would walk to the beach early in the morning
Stay all day
Listen to the other kids play
Their parents yelling at them
To not play with the jellyfish
That washed up on the shore
Hours before we arrived
We would walk hand in hand up and down the beach
Letting the water lick at our feet
Sat together in a silent embrace
We would wait patiently for the sun to set the sky on fire
With colors of the rainbow
We would watch the gulls shadow cross our faces
Reach for each other’s hands
It wasn’t selfish to sit here alone
It was just we loved being close
Sharing a common passion
The sea would extinguish the sun
The sea would glow with a neon foamy green
And we would swear it was the most beautiful place
The most perfect memories
The greatest moments within our history
Now here I am
Tears rolling down both cheeks
As I carve this name into the headstone
But its not just any name
It’s your name I am carving here
Trying not to mess up
Because deep down
I never told you how I feel
I regret not asking you out to the movies
The Valentines Day ball
The Homecoming Dance
The Middle School Prom
All the opportunities and instead
You sat at home alone
Crying your eyes out
Wearing the dress your parents bought
For you every time there was a dance to go to
I regret all the small things
That led me to pass up
Spending time with you the way we used to
And that pain hits me harder
With every time I carve a letter of your name
Into this ice cold marble headstone
I should have been there for you
The way that I promised you
I told you I would always be there for you
But I regrettably failed to keep that promise
And look at where it landed the both of us
Your dead and six feet below where I now stand
I am here standing looking at your name
The fresh name carved in stone
I am sorry
I still have all those secret Santa presents
And anonymous Valentines cards
The very ones we both knew where from you
Because you would blush
Every time I talked about them
You would try to hide your smile from me
And I thought it was the cutest thing ever
Because deep down I really do love you
And this pain I have from all the regret
Unfortunately gets passed to all the girls
I will use to cope with the pain
Your suicide has brought me
And I know it wasn’t selfish
You wanted to prove a point
And I hope these tears that refuse to stop flowing
Are evidence enough that your point is very clear
I Miss You!
I am sorry for all of this
But sadly the one thing that haunts me the most right now
Is seeing your name carved in stone
A name that I carved
Into ice cold unforgiving marble
Dave Matthew Dec 2011
I want you
The thought of you *******
And me *******
Hearts coated with promise

I want you
You are smiling to me
And we are here
Blazing new souls of joy

I want you
Now we are one
How is this happening
Are we wrapped in always?

Evening has come
I want you
to scream
So your sound will echo in me

I want you
Your breath on my skin
Your hair in my mouth
You are by my side
"I'll let you in on a secret.
Will you promise to keep it?"

He is...

The allegro of every moment's decresendo.
The sense of deja vù, in a series de novo.
The lyrics of my song,
The right to my wrong.
The notes in my music,
The wisdom in what i believe.
The reminders on my board,
The message of these words.
The image in a scenery,
The metaphors of my poetry.
The giggle in my laugh,
The memories of my photographs.
The smile in my tears,
The courage to face my fears.
The North star in my sky.
The only truth in all the world lies.
The flame of my fire.
Every second of my hours,
My very reason for living.
The secret i held inside my heart.
Secured away.
Secluded.
His presence--
Justify my existence.



*(Don't tell him, what he doesn't know or he might...)
To a king from a princess.
I want to write something about how you make me happy.
Thank you.
Dawn-Hunter May 2014
The quintessence of my loneliness can be summed up in the number of romantic comedies and books of poetry I own.

I've been trying to look at life through a stained glass window, but so far it's just blinding my vision.

The pottery scattered on my kitchen floor is more like bits of my heart
and less like art.

People have been spending their lives leaving footprints laced in my mind, but every time I turn my head trying to find some form of beauty in all of this, no one seems to notice I'm not looking.

I grew up with people insisting everyone would want to be my best friend because I'm kind and I would have so many boy problems because I'm pretty,
but so far I can count encounters like that on my left hand.

And I've been spending my whole life trying to find someone who thinks I'm worth understanding, but so far every time I think words aren't needed, when I finally do speak
there's no one there.
Every time I think the poetry lies not in words but in eyes, I sound
Too sad
Too mad
Too happy
I think too much
I talk too much
I don't talk enough
I need more flavor
I need less flavor
Too poised
Too craze
Am I the only one who's tired of being too much or not being enough?

What ever happened to being just right?

In a world tipped, on a scale that's out of proportion anyway I think
there's too much room for heartache and not enough room to learn how to spell it.
Too many mountain peaks,
and not enough tools to get there.
Too many girls taught how to be lonely,
and not enough lessons on how not to be afraid of the dark.

So from here on out I won't be saying "I'm sorry"
for trying to understand how the moon slips into the pavement like it's finally found something worth resting in.
From here on out any time I turn my head trying to find beauty's final resting place,
I promise
I won't be looking back.
A slam poem I wrote & performed recently
When I am dead and gone
my flesh to earth better worn
what shall old fate say of me
upon the pages of life's melody
When this heart has waged it final woe
to whom shall it say it did go
and where in all of dignity
Shall the soul gather it's serenity.

When these hands have ceased their write
and faded letters appear in sight
Shall the words speak true of poet dead
or shall they be as words unsaid
Who will know the greatest loves
that filled my soul like blessed doves
Shall a tear linger out for me
while far between this world I be.

What of all I dream't and feared
the passions born, the torments reared
The little words I shared with glee
the promise of love's tender plea
But sure as time shall mark the spot
Shall I have gained all that within I sought
or will the winds but carry me afar
To leave my soul as a burned out Star.

Alisdaire O'Caoimph
Cedric McClester Mar 2016
By: Cedric McClester

We’ve become a nation
That refuses to think
They pass us poisoned Kool Aid
And we can’t wait to drink
We’re gullible enough
To go for the hoodwink
If there’s a ***** in our armor
It’s that we’re missing a vital link

Promise them anything
But they’re gonna get Arpege
Just like that old
Perfume commercial says
We’ve been sold a dream
By those running for prez
Tell me who out there
Right now could use a Pez

No one ever asks
How are they gonna deliver
Before they buy that bridge
Over the Hudson River
Some say they’re flexible
Do they mean Indian giver
Or maybe they just suffer from
Cirrhosis of the liver

Have we become so desperate
That we’ll go for anything
No matter what concoction
Snake oil salesmen bring
One wants to be the president
The other probably king
But we’ll know bye and bye
Once the fat lady gets to sing




Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2016.  All rights reserved.
Irkar Beljaars Mar 2018
How many of us have to to die, go missing, be ***** before justice listens? The blood our people have spilled have wet the ground for centuries. Our children have been stolen, our families shattered and our land taken all due to the arrogance of white men.

To this day our people have been made to live in fear, a fear that has been driven, beaten, shot, stabbed and ***** into our very bodies. In the last 500 years our identities have been bombarded by men who are called pillars of our history. Their statues litter the land, a reminder of the atrocities they committed and fawned over by their ancestors.

The schools tried to erase us, the men with white collars, callous hearts and empty souls, the sting of their violations like ripples in a pool lasting generations. They taught hate in schools, they created Gerald Stanley and Raymond Cormier and thousands like them. They created ignorance that we feel even today.

Our two faced politicians who shed tears, kiss babies and at the same time deny our children basic human rights. Their tears buying our votes with empty promises and back room deals, selling away our children, our land and our souls.

We never forgot, the generations of genocide would not let us. “A good Indian is a dead Indian” the man on the radio says, his words are like the stones thrown at women, children and elders during the Crisis. The violence we experienced that day was just another chapter in the long history of massacres, land theft, stolen children and degradation.

The change that our two faced politicians talk about is the trickle down economics of social change, I say trickle down because like every other promise it doesn’t exist. I grow tired of the fight but I know that we must continue. We are the symbol of the voice yet to be born. The words of our elders continue to lead us, guide us like they always have on the path towards growth.

We must continue to educate and fight the ignorance that permeates every corner of our society. It’s the idea that must be destroyed, the idea of white supremacy which has plagued our land for centuries. Growth cannot happen without truth and that cannot happen without honesty. To have true honesty our society will have to look in the mirror and acknowledge that of which most of them cannot, that hate exists.

We must acknowledge that white supremacy helped Gerald Stanley and Raymond Cormier commit and get away with their horrific crimes. Change will only happen when we no longer allow fear to hold us back, to keep our mouths shut. Change will happen when we look at each other as equals and help one another to heal, to grow and to teach.

We are not defined by a stereotype, we are not the alcoholic, the drug addict, the *** worker, or the homeless person. We are teachers, doctors, social workers, lawyers and Chiefs. We are actors, writers, poets, singers and Djs. But most importantly we are nations of people, people that have been the stewards of this land for a millennia.

We are people who refuse to be victims, we refuse to have child services take our children away from their mother’s breast. We refuse to be silent when our sisters go missing and are murdered and we refuse to believe that the police are doing everything they can.

We will not stay silent when the media places blame on the Coltons and Tina’s over the world, this victim blaming must stop. The white patriarchy cannot continue to own our future. We as Indigenous peoples will take back our story and we will be the ones to write the next chapter.

A chapter where our sisters do not go missing, where our youth have a future, and a chapter where our communities are thriving. I refuse to accept despair and pain, I’d rather believe in hope, growth and love. That is how we create change. When remembering the words of my late mother, a closed fist is a closed mind, while an open hand reveals an open heart.

Change is a beautiful thing, we are the masters of our own future. We will bring down the walls that divide us and together bring the change this land sorely needs.
Danielle Shorr Oct 2014
I will regret this in the morning
but I will do it anyway
my impulsivity often overpowers my conscience
yet I am almost always fully aware
of the decisions I make
and their consequences
I am not exactly mentally stable
but I am sane enough
to know right from wrong
yesterday from today
love from lust
although sometimes I mix them up
I have a tendency to lunge at any pair of arms that open for me
my mind and body often disagree
my body saying yes to eager hands
my mind saying no
constantly looking towards my heart
thinking how stupid one must be
to fall repeatedly
get hurt every single time
and still manage to do the same
over
and over
again
I wonder
how many times I will have to hit the ground
in order to learn to stop falling face first?
I often say things
that should be left unsaid
I often do things
that should not be done
sleep in beds unfamiliar
make believe love to strangers
get to know people who will not remember me tomorrow
I am gone as quickly as the hangover
I can be washed off the tongue
just as quickly as the liquor
I often believe I am capable of inciting change
I kiss temporary lips with permanence
hoping that I can train them to stay
I love temporary people with permanence
hoping that I can train them not to leave
and when they do
I claim to have seen it coming
I am incapable of forgetting
a scrapbook memory of skin and heartbeat
of touch and moments
I know not to look directly into eyes
for they can be blinding
and I still
do it anyway
I know of the risks that shouldn't be taken
well aware of their consequences
and I still
take them anyway
you could say
it is my own fault
for the way that things continue to turn out
but I can make no promise of apology
instead
I will live momentarily
**** up intentionally
love recklessly
fall unguarded
break enough times to learn how to put myself back together
crash into concrete enough times to learn how to shift a crooked smile
into something worth seeing
I have been told that a life lived in fear
is hardly a life lived at all
so I intend to live every second
like it is the last one I will have
I will write each night as it happens
narrate my own stories
and hope they turn out okay
I will regret this in the morning
but I will do it anyway.
Ivette Nov 2018
You told me that I was spoiled? Why out of all people, you chose me? For someone that didn't have anything and to finally have happiness and to not be afraid to show it I am now spoiled?

I used to be homeless, no money, no clothes, I used to steal everything to get what we needed. My family of six at the time, now seven with my dear brother came into the world.

You don't know my story! Calling me spoiled just because I get five dollars to take to school everyday??? When before I had to steal what I wanted because I didn't even have a nickel?

Calling me naive even though it was me lying back then to get what I wanted. Me not believing anyone at all because I would be afraid to be kidnapped sleeping on the park bench?

Saying I have it easy? REALLY? I HAVE IT EASY!!!!???!!?!?!

Before I didn't have nothing. My mom was pregnant when her and my dad were abusing the drugs! Then I went into Foster Care and always getting in arguments because I wasn't at all used to having rules, and with them abusing the power and using me for the money they receive for my life!

You say your my best friend but you never ask me how I am doing? You don't think saying these things will take an impact on my feelings.?

Calling me spoiled and that I don't care! When I promised myself that I will help the poor, the kids in Foster Care, the ones who live on the street and praying everyday that they'll find something good to eat!

You saying that I am one of those people just hurt me so bad that in that moment I swear I wanted to punch your face so bad. But..no I am not a bad person. I am not spoiled.

I am who I believe I am. A good person that went through torture and still going through the day with a smile even when I cried the most tears. I guess I may hide it well for you to think that but you shouldn't judge like how I don't judge you my friend.

I am not trying to call you out which is why I don't say you're name.
I promise.

To everyone though you have to notice the story behind every face!
Don't just assume right away or make any assumptions.
Beyond that happy attitude, that smile, and those bright eyes.
Might possibly be pain, they may be going through something or they just got out of a horrible situation and is just trying to live in the present to forget about it!

Take me for example, I grew up with nothing but parents who were addicted to Crystal **** with three brothers at the time. Became homeless and being bullied at school then going to Foster Care. After that my baby brother was born.

A year from now everything is fine. We are all back into the happy family that we once were. My parents got better and the baby is fine. Right now I am trying to forget, everyday I am the happiest I can possibly be.

Notice the story of everyone, if you can't then just ask.

I am not spoiled, I am not a brat, or a conceded person. I am me
Please, this is a true story, this is all true, but the reason I wrote this is yes because someone did call me those things, so I decided to write a partial back story of my life. Just to show that everyone has something in their life that they don't talk much about but still sensitive too. Please everyone don't just right away think you know someone.
Virginia Mbaluka Mar 2013
You have been there for me
since I was in my mother’s womb
until now and forever.
Being with you, feels like an eternity
of love and happiness
the day and night I spent with you are eternal.

You have protected me from evil
guided me from miscellaneous
and shown me the path to rightful
I vow that I will love and cherish you forever
in rich or poor, health or sick.
I promise to love, respect and honor you
share your plans and interests
ideals and emotions,
through all the trials and tribulations of life
as well as the joyous times
caring for you in lifelong commitment.
I give my flesh, heart and soul
for my love for you is everlasting.
K Mae Nov 2012
My children being bombed
brothers  sisters too
mothers wail from graves
to wake us from our death*

I grasp at sunset  reach for the moon
where is comfort from this doom ?

I pray and promise, make a deal
to end insanity's appeal

Do we need this to learn compassion ?
And what of evolution's action?
Leah Oct 2019
Give me your sunsets
                                         my love
and I will paint every one of them.
Bring me your faith
and I will  m o v e  
                                     t             /\
             /\                n    a.      /    \
           /    \           u           i  /        \
         /        \     o                  n          \        
       /              m                         s        \
                                                      for you.
Share with me your darkness;
and I will leave the lights on.
Tell me about your dreams
and I will grant your every wish.
Bring me your sorrow,
                                        your pain,
and I will hold your hand through it.

Share with me your forever,
and I will promise to love you
even
longer.
I love you.
Brother,
It's severely strained me to not say sorry
every five seconds because
I cannot answer all of the questions
causing the fog within your skull.
I can't provide these answers
not because I don't want to
or don't know how
it is because I simply cannot.
I'm constantly held at gunpoint
by your elder teachers
who want to keep you polished
in the same state on a shelf
for them to watch.
They don't realize you're constantly
surrounded by kinks in their plan.
Your ears aren't in tune
to hear the evening news.
You haven't learned to digest reality.

You know,
I've always found it odd that
prostitutes practice their profession
in the same places
that kids play pick up sticks
near parents who promise themselves
to protect them
by dressing them up in ignorance.
By lying to their faces
and telling them about the stork
or Santa Claus.
To keep them "pure".
Preserve "innocence".
How does it help to raise your child like a bird.
Keeping them in a wire cage,
to sit on a wooden swing for hours
while they wait for daily meal
and swig of water.
They have wings for a reason.
Calling this "freedom" would be a disgrace.
Let your fowl fly free into the warmth of earth
and explore with guidance
to become new.

Artists do not buy canvases to keep them blank.
Galleries all over the world aren't filled untouched with sheets of white.
Artists buy canvases to create something beautiful.
Let your children become something beautiful.
innocence brother questions young pure personal self
David Hilburn Jun 2024
Sunshine with a memory
For you, a silent opportunity
In a stranger's smile, the thief of worry
Has a callous sake, a gift to those that seek nativity

A role of simplicity, if not seemly kind
The searching and adoring reach
Of sincerity in churched thought, is a wieldy mind
Of patience for mercy to step forward, and claim each?

Behave yourself, a promise to keep
Has the voice of uncertainty
When if, is to be a heart in the leap
Of such, to verify vanity is much more than a key

Have, and hello...
So fine, adjusted to curious mores
Nary come a well-wishing same, in spare owe
There is always the option, of determining lives worth

Falling asleep, in the sun
A wind of sparer tows, to remember a fate beyond...
Sulking in the needs of another, welfare of whole, come
Has a burden let, been the sake we knew, of a graceful some?
Yet in line and shine, the truer sake sublime
Tick Tock.

Tick Tock.
I wait.

Tick Tock.
I'm waiting.
You made a promise.

Tick Tock.
I'm waiting.
Waiting on a promise.
A midnight promise.

Tick Tock.
I'm waiting,
Wondering,
Will you make it to
Your midnight promise?

Tick Tock.
I'm waiting.
Standing at the door now.
Waiting for the moment;
Waiting for you to come for
My midnight promise.

Tick Tock.
I'm waiting.
My heart feels ready now.
All it wants is you,
So I wait for it--
Wait for you to fulfill
The midnight promise.

Tick Tock.
I'm waiting.
Will you ever come?
My heart is fleeting,
My head feels dizzy.
Am I ready?
Ready for it?
Our midnight promise?

Tick Tock.
I'm waiting.
Looking out the window,
Pushing out the dark curtains of
Doubt in my mind.
You promised.
I'm hoping, waiting.
This is
My midnight promise.

Tick Tock.
I'm waiting.
I know that you must be coming,
But there is a shadow--
A shadow of doubt and fear.
Please come,
Come before this shadow
Destroys what is good in me
And burns the
Lover's midnight promise.

Tick Tock.
I'm waiting.
I'm in a panic mood.
Less than a minute left.
Won't my friend,
My cherished,
My hero,
Keep his promise?
I remember he said he would.
He said it was
His midnight promise.

Tick Tock.
I'm waiting.
Silent, alone, doubting.
The clock has struck.
I look out, one last time.
Grievance ending as I catch
Your starry gaze.
I run,
Heart pounding,
Feet smacking-- suddenly sliding,
Falling into a midnight sun,
Waiting on a midnight promise.
Candock Definition: A white water lily
labyrinths Sep 2014
DONT TELL ME IT WASNT REAL
JUST PLEASE KEEP ME SANE
AND TELL ME IT WAS REAL
TELL ME I DIDNT IMAGINE IT ALL
AND THAT HAND IN MINE WAS YOURS
KID ME INTO BELIEVING YOU FELT IT TOO
AND YOU FELT THE EMPTINESS IN YOUR HEART WHEN I LEFT
(WHETHER IT WAS GOOD OR BAD)
SAY THAT YOU THINK ABOUT ME SOMETIMES
AND THAT NIGHT IN JANUARY WHERE IT ALL STARTED TO GO WRONG
PROMISE ME YOU DIDNT FORGET ME
AND SOMETIMES THINGS STILL REMIND YOU OF ME

YOU DONT NEED TO SAY YOU LOVED ME
JUST THAT YOU NEEDED ME AT SOME POINT IN TIME
(THE TIMING DOESNT MATTER
ALL I NEED TO KNOW IS THAT YOUR WORDS WERE REAL
WITH REAL MEANING BEHIND THEM
SO I CAN STOP
QUESTIONING MY SANITY)
"it's within us that brings that lonely feeling"
Just Ty Apr 2019
2012 oh man what a year
That was the year when everything became clear
Six years ago you became a blessing to my life
I delivered you myself, so no need for a midwife
At 9:29 I knew that forever my life would change
And sure enough I was right for things haven’t been the same
As I watch you grow into such a extraordinary young man
I realize more each day that taller I must stand
For you look up to me and mimic everything that I do
I must ensure that you reach further in life than I ever grew
I promise you I will give you better than my best
I will never stop trying I will never stop to rest
Daddy will always love you until his last day
I will love you every second of every minute not just on your birthday

Happy birthday little Ty
helia Feb 2021
baby i'm your poison
and you're my antidote
a taste almost divine
sinfully saccharine sweet

raise me from perdition
with your heavenly lips
kiss me til there’s nothing left
but marks blossoming red

let's let go for a while
don't be shy and come closer
i promise i won't bite
but i'd love it if you did

darling just wait and see
we were made for each other
i'd love to see how well
those hands fit around my neck
taste me, try me.
nov 2, 2020

— The End —