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"skillet" poems
_~a jump-rope chant~_ Black silk handkerchief, what ya’ gonna’ hide? A pox that knocks on the church’s side. Preacher won’t preach where my daddy died. Angel forgot which soul to guide. Both arms wrapped in moccasin skin, open the gate and let her in! Snake-bone hag with watery eyes, count to ten when the baby cries. One for the moon, and two for sin, three for the teeth with the rusted grin. Four for the girl with the copper cough, dancin' in the attic with the light turned off. Five, six, skillet ticks. Seven, eight, shut the gate! Nine, ten, count again-- bathe him slow and cool the skin. held him close till the fever broke; air curled white from pinewood smoke. Chewed the haw and bit the sage, wrapped his bottle in a bible page. Ghost stood watch on the porch out back, shadow thin and eyes coal-black. Sayin', "I’m fine, don’t mind the cold," "died last spring but ain’t been told."
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Oct 5, 2025
Oct 5, 2025 at 3:52 PM UTC
Copper Cough Charm
Dough making with flour and water Salt and butter Calls for kneading In ritualistic candor As parts come together To an irreversible matter The soft cushion of dough between the palm and the bowl pliable with every push and shove stretched and compressed In sheepish conformity Blistered on  skillet Puffed up to a chapati Heavens thanked with each bite For flat bread with savory curry Fills nostrils with soft aromas- Relished as heaven on tongue- One is contented of this flat bread
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Nov 5, 2015
Nov 5, 2015 at 8:59 PM UTC
Ode to the Flat Bread
Last night I dreamt You called me "gorgeous," "Gorgeous?" I said, "that's not my name," I said, As my cherry red tongue dropped my lollipop Straight on the ground, ***** red sugar slivers gorging on my Blood vessels pumping into my heart - A big metal spoon banging on a cast iron skillet. Skillful, you are with your Cinnamon heart smile Burning my taste buds and Hugging my curves with every - Gorgeous. I dreamt of you Running your finger like a wet paintbrush on my Obscenely white canvas Soaking up my stereotypically common insecurities and Gently placing them in your pocket, "I'll take those, gorgeous," And then you color me with purples and reds, Red, Like Red Delicious waiting For the bite, like my neck, Waits for your teeth, maybe I'll just wake up and keep dreaming, To see you, Fiddling with a razor in one pocket, A cloudy crystal in the other, Mediating the argument of Who gets to protect you - Who gets to lick the salt from your cheeks After backyard creeks race to your lips The space between our tongues so small, Yet it weighs on me like A sixteen hour car trip with your baby cousin, Torture. Like blue eyes shaded by glasses, Hiding behind fallen heads. I woke up just to remember That your eyes are the only shapes I draw in the dark. Begging for sleep to bring me back To watch you stare at the dirt snuggled into your Weather cracked boots Your fingers tugging at the chain that rests on your chest, Keeping my attention, On the heavy black coat I'll be wearing 'til Summer, an extra layer of skin, Keeping me from gorgeous, Let me drop it like an old tissue in the cold, Let me lose it like I've been sick for weeks on you And I'm shedding my skin like it's time to start new, There you go, Wearing your silence like a tuxedo, **** - always **** And you're breathin' fractions of facts in my ear, Seducing it's drum like a late night jazz club and It's your first time on stage, Gorgeous. Let my stomach politely introduce itself to my throat, Pleading with my temple to hold on to that bead of sweat that Reluctantly drips down, Gorgeous. Down, Like the tips of your lashes meeting my bellybutton, Wet lips tracing my skin with "gorgeous," In your black coffee voice, Gorgeous.
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Mar 17, 2015
Mar 17, 2015 at 11:32 AM UTC
Gorgeous
Last night I dreamt You called me "gorgeous," "Gorgeous?" I said, "that's not my name," I said, As my cherry red tongue dropped my lollipop Straight on the ground, ***** red sugar slivers gorging on my Blood vessels pumping into my heart - A big metal spoon banging on a cast iron skillet. Skillful, you are with your Cinnamon heart smile Burning my taste buds and Hugging my curves with every - Gorgeous. I dreamt of you Running your finger like a wet paintbrush on my Obscenely white canvas Soaking up my stereotypically common insecurities and Gently placing them in your pocket, "I'll take those, gorgeous," And then you color me with purples and reds, Red, Like Red Delicious waiting For the bite, like my neck, Waits for your teeth, maybe I'll just wake up and keep dreaming, To see you, Fiddling with a razor in one pocket, A cloudy crystal in the other, Mediating the argument of Who gets to protect you - Who gets to lick the salt from your cheeks After backyard creeks race to your lips The space between our tongues so small, Yet it weighs on me like A sixteen hour car trip with your baby cousin, Torture. Like blue eyes shaded by glasses, Hiding behind fallen heads. I woke up just to remember That your eyes are the only shapes I draw in the dark. Begging for sleep to bring me back To watch you stare at the dirt snuggled into your Weather cracked boots Your fingers tugging at the chain that rests on your chest, Keeping my attention, On the heavy black coat I'll be wearing 'til Summer, an extra layer of skin, Keeping me from gorgeous, Let me drop it like an old tissue in the cold, Let me lose it like I've been sick for weeks on you And I'm shedding my skin like it's time to start new, There you go, Wearing your silence like a tuxedo, **** - always **** And you're breathin' fractions of facts in my ear, Seducing it's drum like a late night jazz club and It's your first time on stage, Gorgeous. Let my stomach politely introduce itself to my throat, Pleading with my temple to hold on to that bead of sweat that Reluctantly drips down, Gorgeous. Down, Like the tips of your lashes meeting my bellybutton, Wet lips tracing my skin with "gorgeous," In your black coffee voice, Gorgeous.
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67
If wishes were fishes, I'd have a whole bunch. Swimming in fishbowls, Awaiting their lunch. If wishes were french fries, I'd have a caboodle. Frying in the skillet, To feed to my poodle. If wishes were colors, I'd have a rainbow. Coloring the world, In hues of magenta and mango. If wishes were flowers, I'd have a garden full. Showing their pretty faces, And smelling of taffy pull. If wishes were mine, I'd hand out a dozen. To every girl and boy, To each uncle and cousin.
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Jan 4, 2011
Jan 4, 2011 at 1:06 AM UTC
Wishes
Leave if You Can II I live in the house of poetry. I ascend her stairs slowly and leap back down. I sit in the chair of poetry, sleep in her bed, eat from her plate. Poetry has windows through which mornings and afternoons fall, and how well she suspends a teardrop how well she blows until I tumble / With this I mean to say that one basket brings both wounds and bandages.   I love poetry so much that sometimes I think I don’t love her / She looks at me, inclines her head and keeps knitting poetry. As always, I’ll be the bigger person. But how to say it / How to tell her I want to leave / honestly I want to fry my asparagus… I see her coming near with her bottle of oil and crazed skillet. I see her, her little bundle of asparagus slipping out her sleeve. Ah her freshness / her chaotic glint and the way she approaches with relentless meter.   I surrender / I surrender always because I live in the house of poetry / because I ascend the stairs of poetry and also because I come back down.     — Translated by Lisa Allen Ortiz & Sara Daniele Rivera
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Jun 10, 2023
Jun 10, 2023 at 9:02 AM UTC
Leave if You Can II by Rossella Di Paolo
A title, from the "Best of the Alternative Press" After reading I realize I'm not a woman after all She can talk about the cruel things men do to women **** and ****** Then discuss draperies in the next breath how to organize your closet Female Genital Mutilation in Africa and her favorite appliance: a Panini maker I am supposed to rush into my kitchen to make sure I have the same brand "She understands how much women care about their houses" I look around I am happy here but A new cake of soap doesn't send a thrill through my body A fresh towel doesn't make me ****** I could make a grilled cheese sandwich The way my ancestors, male and female have done In a skillet with bread and cheese If I squish it it, it becomes Panini I check the mirror I'm naked, and I see I am a woman
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May 5, 2012
May 5, 2012 at 9:39 PM UTC
"What Men Don't Get About Oprah" (?)
Awake still...sipping coffee this unholy hour...i wonder how buried moments can easily gatecrash into my sober flow of thoughts, flipping like pages of a book, blown by a strong wind...i could smell dried rose petals pressed between the pages. i could also smell mottled pages holding mottled memories...they should have crumbled, be forgot, but, bravely, they flash back, clear as the rustling of bamboo leaves right outside my window.....ahh, the devil never sleeps...he creates a stir at the unholiest of hours, drops it like a bomb, disturbing my calm universe; suddenly, it's 4:00 am i blink a few times to dismiss what should be forgot.....then, suddenly, it's 5:00 am.....more coffee. the eyes watching bubbles from curling, crisping bacon, strayed, far from the skillet, but, focused back, before the pieces got burned. 6:00 am now...breakfast time for online class attendees. in my universe, mornings are a mix of sniffs...of coffee, fried eggs, fried bacon, sausages, fragrant gardenia blooms...not to forget whiffs of good and bad memories. :::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::: ::::::::::: :::::::: ::::: :: : Good morning everyone! sally b © Rosalia Rosario A. Bayan July 13, 2021
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Sep 6, 2021
Sep 6, 2021 at 1:14 AM UTC
Coffee...In My Universe
I want to fall with a Poetress Not a girl but a woman that can match my intellect. She can cook and clean but is far from domesticated. Need a ghetto queen like Latifah I'm from the hood baby I can handle a skillet. Let's split it You cook the rice I make the chicken A woman that understands it all from politics to religion She fights for her rights And some nights she doesn't want to lay she wants to ride   Never ask for nothing but is willing to die Living for the moment Like of our live is being directed by Nick Cassavetes A Poetress I promise to keep smiling Like a woody Allen movie And if I sell my soul I'll be Adam and she Lilith I want to fall in love with a Poetress That argues with me metaphorically Poetic in her actions When she threatens to leave me A goddess with words and she let's me hear it A woman I can open up like a book And let's me eat in her living room One that can bear baby Jesus and the anti Christ if God decides My match My one on one Wether I have a bible or a ski mask Much more than superficial beauty But if I had to choose She'll be Patron white with a Henny *** Don Pergion for a mouth, she speaks class 1880 aged wine for her mind Her thoughts are dined I want to fall in love with a Poetress Who understand cutlery But loves bacon and burger beef A goddess of poetry Would be the only one right for me I want to fall in love with a Poetress And the search begins your majesty.....
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Jan 8, 2015
Jan 8, 2015 at 3:32 PM UTC
I want to fall in love with a Poetress
I was sitting at the computer trying to think of a way to describe a woman's *** as anything other than a woman's *** and there were marlboro black cigarettes on my creaking desk and I had a fifth of whiskey on the windowsill and I rubbed my forehead and thought of fruits-- apples and oranges-- no, no that's overdone and I thought of animals-- elephants and horses-- but, again, no, I'd come across as one of those sick ******** that go to the zoo in   stained trench coats and rub themselves against the chain link and Eve would walk in beautiful girl with short hair and a sharp mind she'd ask what I was writing about and I'd say women but the women were never her, she pointed out and I'd say I don't want to jinx this, what we have, you know? and she'd say okay, okay I'd get lit up every evening and I'd text other women I'd tell them about the shapes of their ***** and the sizes of their brains and they'd usually say uh huh yeah but I was fishing, always fishing for that compliment that sliver of hope, that unsatisfied wife when you're trying to be Bukowski you'll throw yourself under the bus again and again for what? a story, trivial and base, and that good woman, that best woman, that Eve, one day while making breakfast she'll say to the eggs in the skillet I can't take this **** anymore and you'll say so don't and she'll say fine and she'll walk out the front door wearing your t-shirt you'll feel free for a week and alone for two years.
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May 13, 2014
May 13, 2014 at 5:15 PM UTC
Trying to Be Bukowski Will ******* Ruin Your Life
I lie here paralytic Inside this soul Screaming for you 'til my throat is numb I wanna break out I need a way out I don't believe that it's gotta be this way The worst is the waiting In this womb I'm suffocating Feel your presence filling up my lungs with oxygen I take you in I've died Rebirthing now I wanna live for love wanna live for you and me Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow Rebirthing now I wanna live my life wanna give you everything Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow Right now [X2] I lie here lifeless In this cocoon Shedding my skin cause I'm ready to I wanna break out I found a way out I don't believe that it's gotta be this way The worst is the waiting In this womb I'm suffocating Feel your presence filling up my lungs with oxygen I take you in I've died Rebirthing now I wanna live for love wanna live for you and me Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow Rebirthing now I Wanna live my life wanna give you everything Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow (I come alive somehow) Tell me when I'm gonna live again Tell me when I'm gonna breathe you in Tell me when I'm gonna feel inside Tell me when I'm gonna feel alive Tell me when I'm gonna live again Tell me when this fear will end Tell me when I'm gonna feel inside Tell me when I'll feel alive Rebirthing now I wanna live for love wanna live for you and me Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow Rebirthing now I wanna live my life wanna give you everything Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow (I come alive somehow) Right now I come alive somehow Right now I come alive somehow
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Jan 24, 2015
Jan 24, 2015 at 3:28 PM UTC
Rebirthing (Skillet)
I lie here paralytic Inside this soul Screaming for you 'til my throat is numb I wanna break out I need a way out I don't believe that it's gotta be this way The worst is the waiting In this womb I'm suffocating Feel your presence filling up my lungs with oxygen I take you in I've died Rebirthing now I wanna live for love wanna live for you and me Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow Rebirthing now I wanna live my life wanna give you everything Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow Right now [X2] I lie here lifeless In this cocoon Shedding my skin cause I'm ready to I wanna break out I found a way out I don't believe that it's gotta be this way The worst is the waiting In this womb I'm suffocating Feel your presence filling up my lungs with oxygen I take you in I've died Rebirthing now I wanna live for love wanna live for you and me Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow Rebirthing now I Wanna live my life wanna give you everything Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow (I come alive somehow) Tell me when I'm gonna live again Tell me when I'm gonna breathe you in Tell me when I'm gonna feel inside Tell me when I'm gonna feel alive Tell me when I'm gonna live again Tell me when this fear will end Tell me when I'm gonna feel inside Tell me when I'll feel alive Rebirthing now I wanna live for love wanna live for you and me Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow Rebirthing now I wanna live my life wanna give you everything Breathe for the first time now I come alive somehow (I come alive somehow) Right now I come alive somehow Right now I come alive somehow
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61
Now he knows. She introduced his necklace to inferno. No shame, she set aflame Flowers from prom night. Sifted their sweet ashes into a jar Maybe even prayed the ashes or the glass they came in would leave a scar Tied it with a pretty ribbon (maybe just in metaphor) Grinned while she envisioned His defeat from afar (From here I can hear the smile cross her lips.) And all this time she said she’s sleep With the teddybear she gave my name (Lay awake and wish it was me…please…) (I often do the same) Still has the jacket named skillet hanging in her closet (She could wear it if she’s really cold…) (She hasn’t lied or lost it) She still has my purple heart (She has all of them I’m told) This...this gives me hope I'm scared to hold.
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May 4, 2012
May 4, 2012 at 2:07 PM UTC
Flowers and Infernos
Grandma made plantain fu-fu On the fire hearth. A big iron skillet of hot coconut oil. Her hands were gnarled and knobby. But. Oh they knew the way. Mashed green bananas and special. Salt season. Dropped lightly . In fried to gold. Out and rolled with a green glass bottle then. Deep fry again. Hot plantain fu-fu. In coconut oil. Hello Africa. Kenya. Nigeria. Sweet and nice.
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Nov 18, 2012
Nov 18, 2012 at 2:57 PM UTC
Fu-Fu
I'm death defyed by you Your warm skillet Of afterthoughts And tongues The sweet taste of Teardrop and bubblegum The *** from the nurses Cabinet The stairwell We had a good habit Only to lash out Of many times like this When I kiss the cheek Of a monster And steer down A road less inhibbited One we want to know again One that taste of teardrops and sin And fun nights of running With guns down the streets of Adalie And once again We find this bliss Somewhere between Heaven and who gives a **** Where the stars kiss our toes And wine fills our holes From valinquished unrelinquesed love Replaced by sweet current aftertaste Trying to perfect this flow Is a hell of who knows Why must I travel down it again alone
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Oct 8, 2018
Oct 8, 2018 at 3:59 PM UTC
Untitled
when he was 84, he rarely recalled the Great War, though he left a finger somewhere in French soil, and on deep sleep nights, few and far between, it would call him a spectral image of  gas dead faces drifting through like sallow clouds in the charcoal sky his nephew was the only one left to fish these green waters, to court the steady trout that he too saw in his dreams--all the others, even his own sons, marching  in the concrete squares of the cities, visiting now and then like peddlers hawking wares he could not understand... soccer games and mutual funds gourmet feasts at eateries with cryptic names the lake was still the same the  loons chatting, the waves lapping but without his Helen, the fish he caught were usually granted reprieve, saved from his sharp gutting blade, her sizzling skillet, and without her beside him under her ancient quilts, the nights were not longer, for grief, he knew, did not stretch time, but only made its circle smaller was a sun sated Saturday when the nephew had honey do's as good excuses and the old man was left alone, sitting by a black rotary phone, waiting for one of his old nine digits to dial the new nine and two ones, it is what they all would have expected, a cry for help, a long mute ambulance ride, them seeing him helpless with hoses and wires, delaying the funeral pyres, as was the custom in this post teen century instead, though he felt the anvil on his chest, and sweat drenched his JC Penney work shirt, he moved not his feeble fingers to the phone, but his fated feet to the lake, once only a long a hop from the porch, now a mammoth journey, ten, twelve Sisyphus steps downhill--when he reached the waters edge, the fowl called him casually, their slow song on the currents, and he sat in the fresh grass, watching the painted blue sky he saw the fins of those he had set free, hoping that would count for something when he curled in fetal repose, and closed his eyes by this lonely lake
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Mar 5, 2015
Mar 5, 2015 at 10:31 PM UTC
of loons, lakes, and luck (Helen’s husband, 1899-1983)
when he was 84, he rarely recalled the Great War, though he left a finger somewhere in French soil, and on deep sleep nights, few and far between, it would call him a spectral image of  gas dead faces drifting through like sallow clouds in the charcoal sky his nephew was the only one left to fish these green waters, to court the steady trout that he too saw in his dreams--all the others, even his own sons, marching  in the concrete squares of the cities, visiting now and then like peddlers hawking wares he could not understand... soccer games and mutual funds gourmet feasts at eateries with cryptic names the lake was still the same the  loons chatting, the waves lapping but without his Helen, the fish he caught were usually granted reprieve, saved from his sharp gutting blade, her sizzling skillet, and without her beside him under her ancient quilts, the nights were not longer, for grief, he knew, did not stretch time, but only made its circle smaller was a sun sated Saturday when the nephew had honey do's as good excuses and the old man was left alone, sitting by a black rotary phone, waiting for one of his old nine digits to dial the new nine and two ones, it is what they all would have expected, a cry for help, a long mute ambulance ride, them seeing him helpless with hoses and wires, delaying the funeral pyres, as was the custom in this post teen century instead, though he felt the anvil on his chest, and sweat drenched his JC Penney work shirt, he moved not his feeble fingers to the phone, but his fated feet to the lake, once only a long a hop from the porch, now a mammoth journey, ten, twelve Sisyphus steps downhill--when he reached the waters edge, the fowl called him casually, their slow song on the currents, and he sat in the fresh grass, watching the painted blue sky he saw the fins of those he had set free, hoping that would count for something when he curled in fetal repose, and closed his eyes by this lonely lake
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40
Home Some people can recognize A tree or a front yard and know they've made it home The walk from the car door To the front porch Becomes habitual Instead of intentional They get lost in the Contentment of familiarity But what happens when you find yourself So adrift, so off-course That you've worn a path in the circle you find yourself walking in What if the place you're looking for, Your home Was never really home After all But rather a false sense of security Wrapped up In a pretty pink ribbon On top of the layers Of gripping manipulation How many circles can I walk in Before I give up looking? How long before I'm lost for good? Home for me Is not the familiar walk To the front door Or the yard with overgrown grass that makes weeds look like bushes Home is a sea of senses Blending together in perfect harmony Home is walking in And seeing red Red skillet Red chair And my favorite redheads Home is the smell of Fancy hand soap Fresh laundry Fragrant candles And farty brussel sprouts Home is the first sound you hear A chuckle A musical The clearing of a throat Our favorite tv show Home In a nutshell Is freedom Freedom to laugh To cry Or maybe both at the same time To yell and to vent Without the burden of shame Or regret So home You see, is more Than the tree Or the porch Those things could vanish And leave you stranded Home is laughter And friendship That won't leave you lost It is safety and belonging That says “You are okay” It is the weight of a burden being Lifted off your shoulders Home is love
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Jan 7, 2018
Jan 7, 2018 at 10:31 PM UTC
Home
Home Some people can recognize A tree or a front yard and know they've made it home The walk from the car door To the front porch Becomes habitual Instead of intentional They get lost in the Contentment of familiarity But what happens when you find yourself So adrift, so off-course That you've worn a path in the circle you find yourself walking in What if the place you're looking for, Your home Was never really home After all But rather a false sense of security Wrapped up In a pretty pink ribbon On top of the layers Of gripping manipulation How many circles can I walk in Before I give up looking? How long before I'm lost for good? Home for me Is not the familiar walk To the front door Or the yard with overgrown grass that makes weeds look like bushes Home is a sea of senses Blending together in perfect harmony Home is walking in And seeing red Red skillet Red chair And my favorite redheads Home is the smell of Fancy hand soap Fresh laundry Fragrant candles And farty brussel sprouts Home is the first sound you hear A chuckle A musical The clearing of a throat Our favorite tv show Home In a nutshell Is freedom Freedom to laugh To cry Or maybe both at the same time To yell and to vent Without the burden of shame Or regret So home You see, is more Than the tree Or the porch Those things could vanish And leave you stranded Home is laughter And friendship That won't leave you lost It is safety and belonging That says “You are okay” It is the weight of a burden being Lifted off your shoulders Home is love
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71
the house was painted a soft hue. an old tobacco trap; discolored white where pictures once hung. in the kitchen, grease stains, faded bluebird wallpaper — long since ceased it's song, and one cast-iron skillet off to the side. pale and forgotten, the fine china shrieks! my barefoot innocence is lost as the cold-colored porcelain eats at the floor. sometimes when I lay there covered in turpentine, stars usually topple out of the cabinet, and my gas stove aspirations are botched. the sink drain moans with the silent invectives of an impure saint… her rosary still atop the mantle. just outside, a stone angel that smells of lilies, — savagely eats rosebuds over an autumn bonfire. from time to time her face is one of lament… it follows me from room to room, and my hands shake for hours while holding little antique figurines in a basket full of milkweed… they’d tuck at the curtain, their little music box voices complain about her eyes... they'd scurry up the ivy on the side of the house to avoid her disappointed glance… there was a sad wingbeat as I stepped out on the balcony to collect them one last time.
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Jul 11, 2015
Jul 11, 2015 at 8:51 AM UTC
There's a Broken God in my Head
The cast iron skillet of love Fell on me from up above No time for a warning to be said It landed squarely on my head Pain far from dull It caved in my skull Scrambled my brains Let them all drain Gray matter splatered Nothing else mattered An unstoppable event It quickly came and went It left my heart sore My brains on the floor
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Feb 19, 2016
Feb 19, 2016 at 8:38 PM UTC
Cast Iron Skillet of Love
The colors of your shirt stick to your skin Swollen, tired, tattered The dirt collecting Under, Over, On In the stillness of the new moon You became a mother A wife A daughter Through the thickness of the humid air the sweat collected on your brow the nape of your neck A crying child A barking dog Some butter on a scalding skillet Oh, Marisol! If your hands could speak The scars and lines would serenade the sun and soothe your cousin's swollen cheeks the gold in your teeth would shine each time you smiled and said goodbye but your chestnut hair is whipped by the wind instead and laced black leather boots tower over you in the haze they grasp your arms as if they are their own and cover you in white to protect themselves Oh Marisol! it is now late at night but you shine for the love you brought with you across six nations all of them packed and stacked neatly you carry them strapped on your back like the sun kissed streets of Cuenca cultivated, preened, and compressed put into the back pocket It is in dusk when you lay your head Down on that cold, dry, earth And grasp that plastic bottle to your breast Closed eyes and memories of sunrise 20 miles away from the southwest America rises still beyond Fences lined with flowers pale As white and rich as all those men But towers over you of course and in the shadows of the Joshua trees You can depart for home again
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Sep 21, 2016
Sep 21, 2016 at 9:38 PM UTC
N31* 44' 55", W111* 12' 24"
At three or so I would awaken Out of a fragile sleep to the clang of pots and bowls Cabinets, silver spoons and a measuring cup Pancakes fried in a skillet Buckwheat from a box I don’t know how long I lay there Listening And I wondered whom else in the house can hear I was closest to the door that led to you Just one door that separates Were the others in this darkened house staring at the wall or ceiling? Counting? Afraid, just a little. Thinking about the morning when it comes After your feeding,   the kitchen would be cleaned to its former glory Spotless And into the bathroom Right next to my ears You would step softly and close that door behind you Turning on the sink’s faucet And then the shower Taking the laxatives And wait I wait We all wait in this house for you to finish It goes on and on And then you turn off the water Go back to bed And maybe then I can sleep Again.
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Sep 28, 2018
Sep 28, 2018 at 2:14 PM UTC
Insomnia
Morning Softly fall the bright yellow beams Across the hardwood floor. Awaken as the skillet scrapes Across the iron stove. In rhythm with the fizz and pop As eggs and bacon fry, And blending with the wind-chime song Of black-capped chickadees. Afternoon Ambrosia air breathes calming scents Of grass and lake and farm. Pillow-down clouds and sultry sun Reflect on sleeping ponds. The sounds of summer pulse and course On waves of humid air. The maple crack of a wooden bat; July's favorite pastime. Evening The apricot horizon fades and bows to glowing moon; While fireflies flare and fade into The silver stars above. As mellow as the mourning dove, The distant owl sings. Sleep well tonight, for tomorrow will be, Another midsummer's day.
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Jul 20, 2015
Jul 20, 2015 at 7:04 PM UTC
A Midsummer's Daydream
Modern and Contemporary Poetry takes up most of the passenger seat. Pages' edges ruffled like the balled-up polo I'm wearing. *Tommy Hilfiger'd be rolling in his millions.* Twenty minutes till work's screen door crashes on the frame twice before settling. Three salad plates, a skillet, and two jars of unsweetened tea condensate on the metal counter. They soak dinner bills and paper towel coasters. The front door vacuum seals behind sandal families reeking of Chlorine and hairspray. Beachy look. Three more families crowd in behind them, taking turns sifting through the hostess desk peppermints for discarded toothpicks. Reservations for 7:00 come in at 6:50 and demand a table. They're just like the mints packed tightly in the lobby, but there are a few patient ones at the bottom.  They're the ones that inspire stanzas in Modern and Contemporary Poetry, the college textbook waiting on my passenger seat. Three more hours.
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Jul 26, 2014
Jul 26, 2014 at 10:59 AM UTC
Hostess Desk Peppermints
Amid the glory times of darkness, Sitting on the edge of the white tablecloth, Brilliant white from bleached soaking, and stained with yesterdays Clouds and air of desperation, was the cup, the coffee cup, Its broken flower coloration, its yellowish hue, Half full of what was once blistering hot, now the juice of warmth And the morning begins its wakening time. Four burners atop the gas stove, each with its black *** stand, Covered with blackened skillets, grease from the bacon, popping And sizzling and bringing the best of the day together, With the tablespoons of lard, from the five gallon silver bucket, Covered in white stained T-towels, and the shallow bowl in which you washed your hands. You dried your hands, loosely, leaving each damp and warm, As the biscuit dough was rolled, and broken up, and pinched into the skillet And then placed, with ringing noise, Deep within the ovens hole, no light there, and you could smell It all cooking, and see the hands that made it, With their wrinkles of days of and months and years, Making the breakfast of today, just as if it had made, no; it had made For many years. Bacon grease taken up on the tablespoon, and poured into the other skillet Black, and hot, and making that little sizzling noise, as the bacon fried, The biscuits backed, and the flours was spread in the skillet, Browning, hard little clumps; stirred around, spoon on the pan, And the milk poured from the quart jar, which was left on the porch this morning with four others, Before life as we knew it began, and the spoon turning, the heat from the stove Almost too much, and the gravy was stirred and turned, and stirred, Thickened up, burner down, and a dozen eggs cracked into the fourth skillet, Bubbling and popping, bacon taken up, put on a plate, the gravy stirred again, Biscuits pulled, placed on a potholder, their greasy tops looking fine and brown, Fresh butter, salt and pepper, breakfast was made again. For the umpteenth time in this umpteenth world.
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Jan 1, 2014
Jan 1, 2014 at 2:05 PM UTC
Morning In My House
Amid the glory times of darkness, Sitting on the edge of the white tablecloth, Brilliant white from bleached soaking, and stained with yesterdays Clouds and air of desperation, was the cup, the coffee cup, Its broken flower coloration, its yellowish hue, Half full of what was once blistering hot, now the juice of warmth And the morning begins its wakening time. Four burners atop the gas stove, each with its black *** stand, Covered with blackened skillets, grease from the bacon, popping And sizzling and bringing the best of the day together, With the tablespoons of lard, from the five gallon silver bucket, Covered in white stained T-towels, and the shallow bowl in which you washed your hands. You dried your hands, loosely, leaving each damp and warm, As the biscuit dough was rolled, and broken up, and pinched into the skillet And then placed, with ringing noise, Deep within the ovens hole, no light there, and you could smell It all cooking, and see the hands that made it, With their wrinkles of days of and months and years, Making the breakfast of today, just as if it had made, no; it had made For many years. Bacon grease taken up on the tablespoon, and poured into the other skillet Black, and hot, and making that little sizzling noise, as the bacon fried, The biscuits backed, and the flours was spread in the skillet, Browning, hard little clumps; stirred around, spoon on the pan, And the milk poured from the quart jar, which was left on the porch this morning with four others, Before life as we knew it began, and the spoon turning, the heat from the stove Almost too much, and the gravy was stirred and turned, and stirred, Thickened up, burner down, and a dozen eggs cracked into the fourth skillet, Bubbling and popping, bacon taken up, put on a plate, the gravy stirred again, Biscuits pulled, placed on a potholder, their greasy tops looking fine and brown, Fresh butter, salt and pepper, breakfast was made again. For the umpteenth time in this umpteenth world.
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He touched me and I said, “Lock it up, dear lay off my skillet, ***** I’m running wild fire, anyways, You know nothing about the smell of burning lilies, You know nothing of me I like your winks but only because the way the lighting frames your face so beat it solo and face the clouds alone.”
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Jan 31, 2012
Jan 31, 2012 at 12:47 PM UTC
Waitressing
get up early & open the windows to get that fresh balcony air from the slow-waking city whisky claws still in my scalp; smell of last night's stale smoke inside from the girl sleepin' upstairs and her after-glow cigarettes down on the couch. nothin' quite like cooking up some eggs in a greasy skillet, -- big hot mug of stiff coffee. (the way it sits like oil in the stomach) slouched at the table by the window in longjohns and an old familiar shirt (no sleeves/girl playin' baseball) might go smoke in the rain, talk to the neighbour who feeds the pigeons ... then pad upstairs and wake up miss new ***** for a little joviality.
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Sep 21, 2011
Sep 21, 2011 at 9:16 PM UTC
got the pan on low so the food cooks slow