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"strollers" poems
The line didn't move, though there were not many people in it. In a half-hearted light the lone agent dealt patiently, noiselessly, endlessly with a large dazed family ranging from twin toddlers in strollers to an old lady in a bent wheelchair. Their baggage was all in cardboard boxes. The plane was delayed, the rumor went through the line. We shrugged, in our hopeless overcoats. Aviation had never seemed a very natural idea. Bored children floated with faces drained of blood. The girls in the tax-free shops stood frozen amid promises of a beautiful life abroad. Louis Armstrong sang in some upper corner, a trickle of ignored joy. Outside, in an unintelligible darkness that stretched to include the rubies of strip malls, winged behemoths prowled looking for the gates where they could bury their koala-bear noses and **** our dimming dynamos dry. Boys in floppy sweatshirts and backward hats slapped their feet ostentatiously while security attendants giggled and the voice of a misplaced angel melodiously parroted FAA regulations. Women in saris and kimonos dragged, as their penance, behind them toddlers clutching Occidental teddy bears, and chair legs screeched in the food court while ill-paid wraiths mopped circles of night into the motionless floor.
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10.3k
Flight to Limbo
When I opened my eyes I sat in this body. The wind ran through thick black hair. Grass surrendered under my heels. I didn't hate myself then, or yet, or ever. Even now, when I part the clouds and look down down, squinting into the tops of trees that were in my yard. In the last home I knew, gentle hands fed me food. We joked and my eyes smoldered for their pictures. Why did they always take so many pictures? You probably think I'm angry I had to leave like this. That with one terrified bullet from two firmly planted hands, my might and power and God given beauty did not move. I remember that moment. The air was swept from my lungs, through my lips, and two angels descended on my animal form. My soul wound around one of their slender gray fingers, while the other angel folded up my skin into a cavernous pocket. We ascended into lush tropical rich radiant paradise--who knew? Animals are allowed here. Sometimes I wonder what might have happened if I could have morphed into human form in the right moment. When I became human, they became animal. You see, an animal is that which is unpredictable and wild; terribly aggressive. But people were scared. Now they have more reason to lock up their kids behind bright little screens as they push them in secure strollers. "Look at this game. Isn't it fun? Mommy's here. You're in a belt. You are safe." I just heard a sob from below. As I think these thoughts, I can sense she is crying and missing me, missing a creature she never knew. She sees God in me. She sees God in everything around her. To shoot me was to shoot her spirit in the chest, to watch the blood form in pools while people watched and put away their cell phones and pushed their strollers to the next set of bars. On to more eyes that hide their secrets from the humans. [in memory of Harambe the Gorilla]
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Jun 2, 2016
Jun 2, 2016 at 12:35 AM UTC
shoots and leaves
When I opened my eyes I sat in this body. The wind ran through thick black hair. Grass surrendered under my heels. I didn't hate myself then, or yet, or ever. Even now, when I part the clouds and look down down, squinting into the tops of trees that were in my yard. In the last home I knew, gentle hands fed me food. We joked and my eyes smoldered for their pictures. Why did they always take so many pictures? You probably think I'm angry I had to leave like this. That with one terrified bullet from two firmly planted hands, my might and power and God given beauty did not move. I remember that moment. The air was swept from my lungs, through my lips, and two angels descended on my animal form. My soul wound around one of their slender gray fingers, while the other angel folded up my skin into a cavernous pocket. We ascended into lush tropical rich radiant paradise--who knew? Animals are allowed here. Sometimes I wonder what might have happened if I could have morphed into human form in the right moment. When I became human, they became animal. You see, an animal is that which is unpredictable and wild; terribly aggressive. But people were scared. Now they have more reason to lock up their kids behind bright little screens as they push them in secure strollers. "Look at this game. Isn't it fun? Mommy's here. You're in a belt. You are safe." I just heard a sob from below. As I think these thoughts, I can sense she is crying and missing me, missing a creature she never knew. She sees God in me. She sees God in everything around her. To shoot me was to shoot her spirit in the chest, to watch the blood form in pools while people watched and put away their cell phones and pushed their strollers to the next set of bars. On to more eyes that hide their secrets from the humans. [in memory of Harambe the Gorilla]
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33
Tall round beams standing in salty water, connecting fishermen and star-fish gazers with a moon-shaped bay on the eastern Pacific. They stand on land and step into sea, as rolling barrels from Arctic grounds tickle their lower legs. A centipede of wood, this outward- jutting wharf. The fishermen sink expectant hooks; the surfers haul shiny glass banana-shaped boards of foam; the weekenders come posing baby strollers for picture shooting. Each passing wall of blue energy slows at reach of shallow sand, deciding whether to keep rolling or transform into a steep stack of snapping water. On big days the sea legs shake all the fishermen. They lock away their sacrificial bait in rusty boxes and collapse their fibered rods. On calm days I step out to a wooden bench and hang my face between the rails. Running people pass below, between the knotted hips and creosoted thighs. August buries this preserve in such drizzle. Gulls go bundling inside their sleek robes of white feather, leaning windward on worn bent knees.
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Apr 27, 2015
Apr 27, 2015 at 10:30 PM UTC
Old Wharf on the Bay
the earth will always be there for you. although sometimes it shakes, for now, it is still and you may sit or stand or lay on it for as long as you'd like. and if you stay there long enough you may feel gravity gently tugging you lower, lower, lower into the earths core to rot for we are all simple satellites orbiting the earth; born high in arms and strollers we slowly learn to crawl, walk, run, limp, walk again, hunch over in age -- and no matter how many airplanes we ride high in the sky, everyday we are dragged a little more, sagging a little bit more, into death of the earth and of the bones. gravity is a constant reminder that one day our parents put us down and never picked us up again, and that soon enough the earth will drag our bones into the soil and earth from whence we came. for it was there, in you, in birth; and soon you will be there, in it, in death.
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Apr 12, 2016
Apr 12, 2016 at 1:02 AM UTC
born just to die that's the human curse
5 million angels of God with a shortage of love 10 million small feet without a heaven to call their own orphans of a lost war, children of hunger and distress the loving nest in their parents arms got blown to shreds. So they suffer, innocent souls that have no were to hide in tears of pain, in between heaven and hell Muhammed walks in a drone strike a child’s future in the last thing on anyone’s minds Every day war mongers cultivate the future enemies of this land. Suffer the little children, the infants, the school kids, the toddlers In the hot desert sand burn and riddled with bullets lie their rotting corpses their small eyes staring blank into infinity and no one dares to close them sleeping on ravaged streets barely out of their strollers. Wish I could send my useless hands to heal their wounds the American invasion of Iraq became their tombs. Suffer the little children in sulfur victims of greed, lust for power and oil pray to Allah every night to care for them children without a future, victims of a war they didn’t deserve. And so they suffer.
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May 23, 2013
May 23, 2013 at 1:06 PM UTC
Suffer the Little Children
I am hopeful now Walking the seawall straightens me out The clouds and the waters One foot in front of the other Walking the seawall To my day to day The choices I've made One foot in front of the other Dogs on leashes Babies in strollers Or on daddies in front The seawall Windy and peaceful One foot in front of the other Birds eat Fresh crab meat The circle of life Tug of war One foot in front of the other Runners run. Cyclists, bike Childs play The walk to work One foot in front of the other
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Mar 26, 2016
Mar 26, 2016 at 5:32 AM UTC
One Foot in Front of the Other
White, calloused hands Gripping white soft belly Bushy white hair Rubbing clean white face Unfurling smoke rising Rising like the tide on a full moon Into blue sky Blue as the ocean itself Lakes north of the Twin Cities Life living liberally under rocks Death staring darkly from the depths Moon glowing brightly above Train brakes screech The passengers rustle a bit Black as the night Hard as a rock Rampant youths file into the alley Raging inside Ranting out Rigid bones cease The drug addicts plead mercilessly With their alter ego More more more **** **** **** The businessmen do their fast walk And the women do their little sway Walking dogs and walking strollers Clinically insane they repeat Dark blond hair Ripped jeans Tighter than skin Gay shoes Beautiful brunette Big *** **** Smirking smile She knows she’s hot Random dudes street talking Random chicks street banging Random kids street dealing Random guys finish the job Men in work clothes Buy love symbols for their niece And rock shows for their nephew But nothing for their sons Watching the sunset Watching the moon rise Watching the tides roll Watching you fake it all Justine took all the pills She’s passed out on the futon This basement gives me chills I think I heard someone call 9-1-1 Someone in uptown died tonight Shot On the street Blood rained like rain Red towels from the hotel Stolen again Marriot’s free swimming pool Cost me 800 dollars *** and drugs combined Rugs and thugs And enemy teams Gunshots, gun fights
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Sep 18, 2012
Sep 18, 2012 at 4:31 PM UTC
In Some Far Off Fairy Tale
White, calloused hands Gripping white soft belly Bushy white hair Rubbing clean white face Unfurling smoke rising Rising like the tide on a full moon Into blue sky Blue as the ocean itself Lakes north of the Twin Cities Life living liberally under rocks Death staring darkly from the depths Moon glowing brightly above Train brakes screech The passengers rustle a bit Black as the night Hard as a rock Rampant youths file into the alley Raging inside Ranting out Rigid bones cease The drug addicts plead mercilessly With their alter ego More more more **** **** **** The businessmen do their fast walk And the women do their little sway Walking dogs and walking strollers Clinically insane they repeat Dark blond hair Ripped jeans Tighter than skin Gay shoes Beautiful brunette Big *** **** Smirking smile She knows she’s hot Random dudes street talking Random chicks street banging Random kids street dealing Random guys finish the job Men in work clothes Buy love symbols for their niece And rock shows for their nephew But nothing for their sons Watching the sunset Watching the moon rise Watching the tides roll Watching you fake it all Justine took all the pills She’s passed out on the futon This basement gives me chills I think I heard someone call 9-1-1 Someone in uptown died tonight Shot On the street Blood rained like rain Red towels from the hotel Stolen again Marriot’s free swimming pool Cost me 800 dollars *** and drugs combined Rugs and thugs And enemy teams Gunshots, gun fights
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64
Central Park transformed, a natural stadium of tourists, strollers, drunk on: spring beer Buds, or buds of forsythia maps upside down, smiles right-side up Amazing, they don't even notice, 'walk on by,' *the white shirted, black suited   unicorn playing the accordion* or the *violinist imitating Charlie Chaplin, playing both her instrument and her hula hoop, simultaneously* ah Central Park, your air is like a first cup of spring, a first morning coffee, a fresh breath of a special new, if you know how to just be, in NYC
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Apr 13, 2014
Apr 13, 2014 at 10:08 AM UTC
A Commissioned Poem: Just Another NYC Saturday
people -- blue jeans -- t-shirts -- volleyball -- sparklers -- *** its -- stone bridge -- pine trees -- new trees -- old trees -- fireworks -- grass -- sonic boom -- picnic chairs -- bicycles -- oak trees -- bare neck -- tickles -- sneezing -- bless you -- slight chill -- cloud cover -- police cars -- policemen -- uniforms -- night sticks -- sweat pants -- baby strollers -- skull & crossbones -- muscle shirt -- sweat shirt -- baseball caps -- fountains of sparks -- greenery -- dandelions -- yellow weeds -- wafting smoke -- black man in white shirt -- white man in black shirt -- SUV -- Boxer dog -- red wagon -- smoke stacks -- asian couple -- running shorts -- acrid smoke -- ice cream truck -- double trees -- pony tail -- mosquitos -- fishing hat -- yellow truck -- handlebar mustache -- bad *** attitude -- shaved head -- balloon -- barbeque -- sunset -- affro -- tennis shoes -- multi-colored hair -- canoe -- golden purse -- playing band -- American flag -- folding chair -- name badge -- red, white, & blue -- skipping rocks -- cargo shorts -- matching couple -- bike path -- hippie hair -- low rider -- peace sign -- golden chains -- waning moon -- waxed legs -- hoodies -- striped shirt -- victory dance -- short shorts -- cigar smoke -- watermelon -- Viking's bag -- leopard skin jacket -- skooter -- digital camera -- creepy stalker dude -- tent building -- horeshoes -- personal space invaders -- glow sticks -- picnic basket -- cooler -- smoke bombs -- plaid skirt -- 77 sweats -- interracial couples -- motorcycle -- orange vest -- plastic ball -- face paint -- cops in two different uniforms -- split tree -- pregnant lady -- trash talking horeshoe player -- street lamps -- playing tag -- large blue cooler -- bright green pants -- humorless boy
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Oct 27, 2014
Oct 27, 2014 at 5:40 PM UTC
Fourth of July
people -- blue jeans -- t-shirts -- volleyball -- sparklers -- *** its -- stone bridge -- pine trees -- new trees -- old trees -- fireworks -- grass -- sonic boom -- picnic chairs -- bicycles -- oak trees -- bare neck -- tickles -- sneezing -- bless you -- slight chill -- cloud cover -- police cars -- policemen -- uniforms -- night sticks -- sweat pants -- baby strollers -- skull & crossbones -- muscle shirt -- sweat shirt -- baseball caps -- fountains of sparks -- greenery -- dandelions -- yellow weeds -- wafting smoke -- black man in white shirt -- white man in black shirt -- SUV -- Boxer dog -- red wagon -- smoke stacks -- asian couple -- running shorts -- acrid smoke -- ice cream truck -- double trees -- pony tail -- mosquitos -- fishing hat -- yellow truck -- handlebar mustache -- bad *** attitude -- shaved head -- balloon -- barbeque -- sunset -- affro -- tennis shoes -- multi-colored hair -- canoe -- golden purse -- playing band -- American flag -- folding chair -- name badge -- red, white, & blue -- skipping rocks -- cargo shorts -- matching couple -- bike path -- hippie hair -- low rider -- peace sign -- golden chains -- waning moon -- waxed legs -- hoodies -- striped shirt -- victory dance -- short shorts -- cigar smoke -- watermelon -- Viking's bag -- leopard skin jacket -- skooter -- digital camera -- creepy stalker dude -- tent building -- horeshoes -- personal space invaders -- glow sticks -- picnic basket -- cooler -- smoke bombs -- plaid skirt -- 77 sweats -- interracial couples -- motorcycle -- orange vest -- plastic ball -- face paint -- cops in two different uniforms -- split tree -- pregnant lady -- trash talking horeshoe player -- street lamps -- playing tag -- large blue cooler -- bright green pants -- humorless boy
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1
a scream of fusses in rustic reflections -- off again, forcing trust is a silent revolution for us. no blades with this parade; grasp hot coals without blinking and YES i am on top of the world. NO i can't feel a thing. Was it the destruction of senses that bordered our hesitance? Blank pages won't fade away with this operation. only collect dust. And i remembered to close this mouth. Eye contact at a minimum. Contradictions lead to continuous disagreement. i feel it even when your voice reverberates though this mind of mine, no real sounds, piles of old junk mail and fast food wrappers left to dye in the open sunlight. weren't we prepared for a battle? Fists up, intellect down. We have reports of a beast-infected stand-still. Plots to **** I keep my sketches in my pockets, next to packets of mild sauce and cigarette butts. Mistaken for less dangerous, but let's face the music while it still plays for us. Limited is what we have become. Pushing thoughts like empty strollers over bridges and ignoring the collision and the crowds that keep forming. oblivious, but not really... considering we chose this catastrophe. Drawing lines over famous portraits, orchestrating every moment. No regrets, no remorse. Broken bones and stolen show times. As we disguise our characters and dress them under fine white linen, we count the lines. we count the circles. we prepare for the unbroken. replacements are cheaper and easier to find. hollow, determined, violent. place fingertips on pointed objects and close those heavy eyelids. this is the ending. this is the awakening. this is what you wanted.
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Mar 27, 2014
Mar 27, 2014 at 9:10 PM UTC
Contrasting
a scream of fusses in rustic reflections -- off again, forcing trust is a silent revolution for us. no blades with this parade; grasp hot coals without blinking and YES i am on top of the world. NO i can't feel a thing. Was it the destruction of senses that bordered our hesitance? Blank pages won't fade away with this operation. only collect dust. And i remembered to close this mouth. Eye contact at a minimum. Contradictions lead to continuous disagreement. i feel it even when your voice reverberates though this mind of mine, no real sounds, piles of old junk mail and fast food wrappers left to dye in the open sunlight. weren't we prepared for a battle? Fists up, intellect down. We have reports of a beast-infected stand-still. Plots to **** I keep my sketches in my pockets, next to packets of mild sauce and cigarette butts. Mistaken for less dangerous, but let's face the music while it still plays for us. Limited is what we have become. Pushing thoughts like empty strollers over bridges and ignoring the collision and the crowds that keep forming. oblivious, but not really... considering we chose this catastrophe. Drawing lines over famous portraits, orchestrating every moment. No regrets, no remorse. Broken bones and stolen show times. As we disguise our characters and dress them under fine white linen, we count the lines. we count the circles. we prepare for the unbroken. replacements are cheaper and easier to find. hollow, determined, violent. place fingertips on pointed objects and close those heavy eyelids. this is the ending. this is the awakening. this is what you wanted.
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1
It came quickly, roots broke through marbled concrete And vines draped off balconies of skyscrapers Floor to ceiling windows disappeared behind ivy Some beasts melted into shadows around the corner as their barks were adopted by the wind and pushed in strollers by the howl and the cold bite In the air, you could hear unattended car alarms And neon signs flickering on and off as they hum like a deathbed, EKG flat-line Hanged stoplights swayed back and forth off streetlight arms bent like telekinetic spoons spinning like criminals left on olive trees to die And the drab color seemed strangely magnetic and right I can swallow a pretty big storm
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May 11, 2013
May 11, 2013 at 1:11 PM UTC
Some Beasts
I walked out of my office today at noon and slid into the stream of pedestrians - the hipsters stroking their beards, the pale professionals blinking in the sun, mothers pushing strollers through the crowd with more skill than a racecar driver before I knew it, I walked past my lunch destination I kept walking - and watching the people of my town share a sidewalk without attacking one another for a moment I was tempted to take a picture post it on online, make a socio-political statement; if people from all walks of life can share the sidewalk can we not find common ground? I left my phone in my pocket - decided against adding my unnecessary opinion to the manufactured outrage that is the sad truth of social media I smiled at a pretty lady pushing her baby she smiled back and we shared a brief human moment I kept walking
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Nov 17, 2017
Nov 17, 2017 at 2:30 PM UTC
Sharing the Sidewalk
It hasn’t been as cold lately The train of shopping carts rattles Vibrate my forearms Especially as I cross the yellow speed bumps on the ground The city put those there to trip up skateboarders And to confuse babies in strollers Old women on walkers avoid them There are things designed to make us slower More careful I think about my last poetry reading while filling the coolers And don’t ask myself why when alone I take myself to the places that make me most happy My cashier asks me when he can go home You do everything slower when You keep yourself company When you’re lonely You’re not savoring moments You just taking your time Because you can I set the alarms and lock the doors The moon has been out for a while I will go home and write Everyone is asleep except for me I crack open a few beers Open the window so the moon can keep me company Forever I thought there was something wrong with me But I have learned Like the moon Some things will only shine in the nighttime Not everything looks like gold under the sunlight
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Mar 25, 2013
Mar 25, 2013 at 5:21 PM UTC
Hello Nighttime
Tick Tock Strikes The Clock. Their Numbers Numbers Mocking Impure Me Wishing For The  Time To Pass Me By. Women, Men, Children Question Infidelity Teens On The Side Smoking Cannabis With No Absolute Care. Little Children In Their Strollers Tugging On Their Silky Strands Of Shiny Hair. If Only I Was One Who Could Live With No Care. I Watch Time Move Ever So Slow. I Wish I Knew The Worse Of Me. As The Time Then Freezes.
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Oct 2, 2014
Oct 2, 2014 at 2:53 PM UTC
Circles Make More Sense
everything is crowded. I'm not sure what's real and what's fake, or what's good and what's bad, or even why I am still here and not at home and just sleeping relaxing letting go. Instead I am here. I am trapped between four men and three strollers and too many cowboy hats to even remember how many there actually are. All I can focus on is how absolutely terrified I am and trying not to disturb anyone but also trying to get enough air in my lungs that I don't suffocate. But that's really really really hard to do especially now especially here So please excuse me for a minute if I make myself small or if I start to whimper or if I cry a little bit. It's nothing I can help. But the worst thing about it is that when you're afraid of parties or stepping into the pantry or the city bus, it sometimes feels like there's nothing you can help. And trust me when I say that almost nothing is more painful than being useless.
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Jun 19, 2014
Jun 19, 2014 at 1:19 PM UTC
Asphyxiation
Said, I can show you around the blackberry bush – I planted it last summer, you know, that June you coasted to university and stopped having crushes on cousins. Said, you grew your hair long. I toss it out the window many mornings: dewdrops as a conditioner and tease strollers with a crease by my armpit you like(d), my flab on the side – I impress others now, men cling to the bottom of my skirt and suckle on the hem to make each thread fray. Said, but your knees feel dusty up against mine. There is no big wide world, no plum summit skies below the cuff of another person’s dress shirt – just a watch. Remind me how much time I have left until extinction, no hand held or hug goodbye: this is a kingdom where nothing can die and when it does, seeds are sown in the pelt of your heart. Said, no, I bred this world for the fireflies. Said, there are berry-droppings on your chin. You look as if you’ve eaten licorice or caught lung cancer; I wish you had, I wish I had never called you sugar.
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Apr 7, 2013
Apr 7, 2013 at 12:49 AM UTC
blooms and sprouts
The sun kissed the horizon The plump Russian babysitters have Strolled away with their strollers Long ago. But I watched her make dinner On the bark stove she carved into her mind. She set the table with her fanciest china, Tonight was a special occasion I presumed. She placed a heaping plate of potatoes On the flower-splattered tablecloth, Made to match the grass growing Underneath her feet. I could almost see the steam rising From a distance As she scooped each golden yellow tater One by one into each dish: First, second, third. How sweet, She’s preparing for our family dinner. It will be as likely as the willow branches, Serving as her ceiling, Will protect her from lightning. It starts to pour I start to leave The horizon has swallowed the sun whole. I want to run back and tell her That the willow will not be the only one Weeping some day. The branches will curl onto themselves And the stove will rust with age Until it can no longer be used. I turn Behind her still thin lenses she peers at me With twinkling eyes; Penetrating my already thick ones. Her head is like a protrusion of the tree. I want to go back and tell her To run away with me Far away from the willow. But all I can manage is A heavy yawn Ready to swallow The glowing beacon hanging by a thread In the sky. How time has flown by And how I wish, My little darling, That my memory of you Stopped haunting my dreams. She wanted to tell me The willow is not as ***** as it seems. But I’m not meant to make such predictions. With a regretful tear I turn away And run up the hill To what I thought was higher ground. Maybe one day She will greet the journey with a smile.
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May 4, 2012
May 4, 2012 at 3:05 PM UTC
Underneath the Willow Tree
The sun kissed the horizon The plump Russian babysitters have Strolled away with their strollers Long ago. But I watched her make dinner On the bark stove she carved into her mind. She set the table with her fanciest china, Tonight was a special occasion I presumed. She placed a heaping plate of potatoes On the flower-splattered tablecloth, Made to match the grass growing Underneath her feet. I could almost see the steam rising From a distance As she scooped each golden yellow tater One by one into each dish: First, second, third. How sweet, She’s preparing for our family dinner. It will be as likely as the willow branches, Serving as her ceiling, Will protect her from lightning. It starts to pour I start to leave The horizon has swallowed the sun whole. I want to run back and tell her That the willow will not be the only one Weeping some day. The branches will curl onto themselves And the stove will rust with age Until it can no longer be used. I turn Behind her still thin lenses she peers at me With twinkling eyes; Penetrating my already thick ones. Her head is like a protrusion of the tree. I want to go back and tell her To run away with me Far away from the willow. But all I can manage is A heavy yawn Ready to swallow The glowing beacon hanging by a thread In the sky. How time has flown by And how I wish, My little darling, That my memory of you Stopped haunting my dreams. She wanted to tell me The willow is not as ***** as it seems. But I’m not meant to make such predictions. With a regretful tear I turn away And run up the hill To what I thought was higher ground. Maybe one day She will greet the journey with a smile.
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59
No two people ever conceived by God could possibly be more alike than us We live our lives in perpetual hope of Country Time Lemonade commercials and old reruns of “Leave it to ****** We hope that, around the next bend on a dusty, sun streaked road we will find our Mayberry That place where old men weighing down sagging porches speak in parable of better times That place where young mothers perpetually in their Sunday best push strollers edged in brick-a-brack That place where little boys have impossibly grass stained knees at the edge of muddy fishing holes That place where little girls pick Black-Eyed Susan's in verdant fields and play at getting married while the little boys flee in terror That place where dapper fathers mow lawns in their shirtsleeves and tip their pipes to one another in the falling afternoon sun Together, we dream of this place; this ideal; this America. Together we dream and, together, we continue down that old dirt road; hoping to find Mayberry just around the next bend.
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Mar 15, 2010
Mar 15, 2010 at 6:54 PM UTC
Mayberry
They cut down the old oak tree, The only place I ever truly felt free, On top of hawk hill Its branches were tender arms Its noble leaves full of mysterious charms That oak tree and I- we were made of the same stuff I was flesh soft and thin, he was wood thick and rough But our essence, our core- it was the same We were both something that no one could tame I laid in his arms no matter the weather And sap and blood throbbed together It seems like places to hide Just aren't around anymore Though there used to be so many I can't seem to find any But lord knows I've tried They clean my room Mop, dust rag and rough broom And take down the pictures, the memories tacked on the walls And hide my old dolls Because I'm too old to enjoy dolls It seems like places of solace, Secret and flawless Really can't be found Be they above or underground I'm big to fit in my old tunnel My secret, arcane land Where I used to be able to stand It seems like finding places of retreat Has become an impossible feat Places to love, places to pray Where are they? My spot in the basement Magical despite the smelly mold fumes Has been filled with old strollers and ripped costumes It seems like places special and hushed Have been annihilated and crushed, Have all but disappeared Isn't that weird? But perhaps they have become so rare, so incredibly rare Because we lack the art of simply receiving We lack the art of simply perceiving What is so freely given to us We search instead of discover Investigate but don't notice We sift, unearth, and probe But we lack practice in the delicate art Of simply stumbling upon
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Jan 12, 2013
Jan 12, 2013 at 1:39 AM UTC
Places to Hide
They cut down the old oak tree, The only place I ever truly felt free, On top of hawk hill Its branches were tender arms Its noble leaves full of mysterious charms That oak tree and I- we were made of the same stuff I was flesh soft and thin, he was wood thick and rough But our essence, our core- it was the same We were both something that no one could tame I laid in his arms no matter the weather And sap and blood throbbed together It seems like places to hide Just aren't around anymore Though there used to be so many I can't seem to find any But lord knows I've tried They clean my room Mop, dust rag and rough broom And take down the pictures, the memories tacked on the walls And hide my old dolls Because I'm too old to enjoy dolls It seems like places of solace, Secret and flawless Really can't be found Be they above or underground I'm big to fit in my old tunnel My secret, arcane land Where I used to be able to stand It seems like finding places of retreat Has become an impossible feat Places to love, places to pray Where are they? My spot in the basement Magical despite the smelly mold fumes Has been filled with old strollers and ripped costumes It seems like places special and hushed Have been annihilated and crushed, Have all but disappeared Isn't that weird? But perhaps they have become so rare, so incredibly rare Because we lack the art of simply receiving We lack the art of simply perceiving What is so freely given to us We search instead of discover Investigate but don't notice We sift, unearth, and probe But we lack practice in the delicate art Of simply stumbling upon
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48
framers and confounders, gold-sifting pitch-shifting plagiarist compounders, dreamer cells -- all stragglers and strollers; trollers, ex-tollers, frontier comptrollers... was a pupil for a day, gave two eyes for an A, said "I'll tell you what I see just tell me what to say" 2 fore thoughts 2 free thoughts of sons of freed slaves, think tanks and barnacles abound: I see twenty-six characters in need of an author to try me line by line 'til beseeched and swayed I reach the antithesis
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Jun 16, 2015
Jun 16, 2015 at 9:54 PM UTC
a small genetic verse
Crowded rooms filled with all revealing fluorescent light. Patiently waiting faces of all colours, painful bodies, broken bones, damaged hearts, crying babies in strollers. Wheel chairs of the waiting rooms. TV set announces bad weather, and bad news in whispers. GPs running the Marathon of waiting rooms. Next! Ill-pronounced names by a nurse; off to yet another chamber to wait. Noon hour closed for lunch. Patiently waiting impatient, and nervous patients waiting endlessly for the sentencing, by the good doctors. Appointments with death. Out again into rain of the sick outside world, last words of waiting rooms wrapped up in pills. (4-17-07)
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Oct 14, 2010
Oct 14, 2010 at 3:50 PM UTC
Waiting Rooms
sailboats at anchor rocking slowly to and thro small dogs barking high frisking down the seawall passing nannies and strollers till i chase them back again ringing my bicycle's bell swooping around the corner laughing in the wind
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Apr 24, 2016
Apr 24, 2016 at 12:42 AM UTC
Cruising
I love my mother like the prodigal son, she introduced me to activism, and where I'm at now I can't release it, even as we went to the Lincoln Homes and Estates to set up computers, to give people that look like me a chance. I remember the older dudes would tell me to keep my head up even when I was down. There is a heart in "da hood" as the white people around me put it. There are fathers pushing strollers. There are mothers making it against all odds. There are families decreasing, but increasing. There are computers full with words and poetry and novellas. There are black children picking up books more than guns. Picking up basketballs more than guns, and why should they be labeled as less intelligent? **** they just want to get out and achieve and it's wrong that you say that's the wrong way. I hate going to funerals for faces with cheekbones still heavy with baby fat. And don't love me for telling you this, don't love me for being that "black guy that talks about problems in the ghetto, da hood!" Change it, go there, help people, hand out books to children. There is nothing scarier than ignorance.
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Feb 25, 2012
Feb 25, 2012 at 7:47 PM UTC
Untitled
As fog covered my outside landscape I sat, relaxing and aligning with poetic ideas to scribe at later date. The air was warm, as a faint scent of lavender entered nostrils. My human eyes couldn't make out anything more than a shadow but; my inner senses knew I wasn’t alone. The being whispered adding fog to the room. With deepen breath it now made sense of my visitor recalling my art background. Remembering, my prayer just days earlier how I longed for a great maters of art to flow through me. As moments passed, the blur became more distinct. There he stood before me adorned with painters hat and smock. With a smile as he held up a brush and made like he was painting my form. I giggled with air of breeze. My third eye exploded with an image of Monet. He began to fill my mind with picturesque visions. Flowers entered my eyes as I felt a creative power serge. Fields of afternoon strollers adorned with paroles entered mind. And birds rustled in trees, as a flowing brook traveled within. More scenes manifested. I could almost taste the sweet air running down my throat. When I was filled to capacity, he stopped and I understood. He was providing me with fuel for thought. Scenes to transcribe into poetic jargon. As he bowed, and I whispered gratitude, he disappeared. I was again alone with my keyboard, dancing hands and vivid imagination tweaked with his talented light. I now was ready to create on canvas screen and of course my new curator of verse, Monet.
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Apr 14, 2019
Apr 14, 2019 at 7:44 PM UTC
A Visitor
I’m supposed to be happy right now Fitting into dresses and stretch pants And eating pickles I’m supposed to be glowing Watching my tummy grow And picking out the perfect name I would’ve known by now Whether you’d be born a girl or boy What color your room might be I’m supposed to be emotional But a different type than I am now I’m supposed to cry over things Like spilled milk And unlikely animal friends But I’m crying over emptiness instead Loneliness Fear I’m not supposed to be sad right now I’m supposed to be measuring my belly And eating lots of fruit Going to doctors And listening to your tiny heartbeat I’m supposed to be there I’m supposed to be overjoyed And excited And worried I’m supposed to be making plans And decorating and redecorating And driving your daddy crazy I am supposed to be a mom I should be looking at tiny clothes And little shoes we’ll use once Buying dehumidifiers and strollers Reading pamphlets and dodging cravings I should be complaining About stretch marks and growing feet and sweaty palms I should be loving every inch of you already And struggling with stupid simple tasks I should be moody And impossible And hungry And eager to meet my tiny human My sweet baby My whole heart... But I’m not. I’m supposed to be pregnant And I’m not I’m supposed to be waiting for you And I can’t Because I lost you. Because you’re already gone. And all I have left of you is memories Of cravings and emotions and ideas A doctors visit and a photo of my first test A faint pink line I’m supposed to be halfway there... And I’m not
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Jul 12, 2019
Jul 12, 2019 at 10:59 AM UTC
Supposed To Be
I’m supposed to be happy right now Fitting into dresses and stretch pants And eating pickles I’m supposed to be glowing Watching my tummy grow And picking out the perfect name I would’ve known by now Whether you’d be born a girl or boy What color your room might be I’m supposed to be emotional But a different type than I am now I’m supposed to cry over things Like spilled milk And unlikely animal friends But I’m crying over emptiness instead Loneliness Fear I’m not supposed to be sad right now I’m supposed to be measuring my belly And eating lots of fruit Going to doctors And listening to your tiny heartbeat I’m supposed to be there I’m supposed to be overjoyed And excited And worried I’m supposed to be making plans And decorating and redecorating And driving your daddy crazy I am supposed to be a mom I should be looking at tiny clothes And little shoes we’ll use once Buying dehumidifiers and strollers Reading pamphlets and dodging cravings I should be complaining About stretch marks and growing feet and sweaty palms I should be loving every inch of you already And struggling with stupid simple tasks I should be moody And impossible And hungry And eager to meet my tiny human My sweet baby My whole heart... But I’m not. I’m supposed to be pregnant And I’m not I’m supposed to be waiting for you And I can’t Because I lost you. Because you’re already gone. And all I have left of you is memories Of cravings and emotions and ideas A doctors visit and a photo of my first test A faint pink line I’m supposed to be halfway there... And I’m not
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