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"thermos" poems
“If you could be anywhere in the world At this exact moment, Where would you choose to be?” I choose the easternmost point Of Acadia Maine at sunrise. Cold, salty ocean spray in my face, Warm thermos of cocoa in my hands And the promise of a new day Being made right before my very eyes. What could be more reassuring? What could be more solidifying? To know that no matter What happened in the days or weeks Or months or years or decades Before, Today, right now, at this exact moment, It is all behind you, It is all in your past. And that sunrise you’re watching Over cresting crashing white topped waves In the cool breeze of morning With the scent of dirt and earth and trees Carried on the wind that also brings The call of the morning dove and thrush And Phoebe-bird, Is the promise you’ve been waiting for. The promise that you’re gonna be okay Because today, today is a new day.
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May 22, 2014
May 22, 2014 at 11:18 PM UTC
Acadian Sunrise
You know how the Lorax spoke for the trees? I feel the need to speak for my four-year-old niece. Not because she can't speak -- she can and rarely stops once she starts -- but because there are certain concepts time has yet to grant her. So until time does, I got you covered, Lucy. Mommy, you call it the "poetry" of a child's sleep, ohh 'n ahh, she's so, so sweet, I call it child's "pose." Not the yoga neither. I'm posing and rolling and cooing biding time until you're tripping on the Ambien retreating to a dream. You're only reprieve. 'Cause when your *** is asleep, I be mixing up the Play-doh, red and yellow, black and white, 'till it's 50 shades of brown, alright? Dirt pies from the backyard, put 'em by the brownies in the morning world-weary in your pajamys Slip-up, slip-up, I smell a slip-up. Ain't a direct threat, Queen Buttercup because you'd just say, "I ain't afraid of you, shorty." Blood flow. Blood slow. Simmering, saucy. Mommy, looking down skyscraper balcony. May I remind, a giant ain't bringing down Manhattan, It's that little, wayward wrecking ball, eh Captain? Over my shoulder, drinking from a thermos -- stumble in your step mean you gettin' nervous-- hand me piece of paper and two crayons macaroni orange and swamp water liaisons these coloring sheets are so bourgeoisie. These coloring sheets are so bourgeoisie. "Color outside the lines, eh Lucy? don't play by the rules," my Mommy say, but I been around long enough to know dat 'dese rules pay. Outside the lines?  Is just uh sloppy. Been outside the club in front of the line with my fellow shawties. Slip-up, slip-up, I smell a slip-up. Ain't a direct threat, Queen Buttercup because you'd just say, "I ain't afraid of you, shorty." Blood flow. Blood slow. Simmering, saucy. Mommy, looking down skyscraper balcony. May I remind, a giant ain't bringing down Manhattan, It's that little, wayward wrecking ball, eh Captain? Chicken and fries three meals-a-day. Chocolate milk three meals-a-day. Tricycle boys three wheels away. Hands on your hips can't make me stay. Lego blocks lodged in your skull. I've hid the Advil. The Dayquil. Drank the Nyquil though. Alright, alright, time to get confessional. All my ***** accidents are intentional. I melt my own Barbies to feel alive. Snort glue sticks just to get hella high. Mommy, you've got a messy ketchup face. Mommy, you've got spiders in your hair. Mommy, you've got ****** on your pants. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Bi-otch. Blood flow. Blood slow. Simmering, saucy. Mommy, looking down skyscraper balcony. May I remind, a giant ain't bringing down Manhattan, It's that little, wayward wrecking ball, eh Captain?
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Apr 18, 2013
Apr 18, 2013 at 7:29 PM UTC
Wrecking Ball Freestyle (For Lucy Claire)
You know how the Lorax spoke for the trees? I feel the need to speak for my four-year-old niece. Not because she can't speak -- she can and rarely stops once she starts -- but because there are certain concepts time has yet to grant her. So until time does, I got you covered, Lucy. Mommy, you call it the "poetry" of a child's sleep, ohh 'n ahh, she's so, so sweet, I call it child's "pose." Not the yoga neither. I'm posing and rolling and cooing biding time until you're tripping on the Ambien retreating to a dream. You're only reprieve. 'Cause when your *** is asleep, I be mixing up the Play-doh, red and yellow, black and white, 'till it's 50 shades of brown, alright? Dirt pies from the backyard, put 'em by the brownies in the morning world-weary in your pajamys Slip-up, slip-up, I smell a slip-up. Ain't a direct threat, Queen Buttercup because you'd just say, "I ain't afraid of you, shorty." Blood flow. Blood slow. Simmering, saucy. Mommy, looking down skyscraper balcony. May I remind, a giant ain't bringing down Manhattan, It's that little, wayward wrecking ball, eh Captain? Over my shoulder, drinking from a thermos -- stumble in your step mean you gettin' nervous-- hand me piece of paper and two crayons macaroni orange and swamp water liaisons these coloring sheets are so bourgeoisie. These coloring sheets are so bourgeoisie. "Color outside the lines, eh Lucy? don't play by the rules," my Mommy say, but I been around long enough to know dat 'dese rules pay. Outside the lines?  Is just uh sloppy. Been outside the club in front of the line with my fellow shawties. Slip-up, slip-up, I smell a slip-up. Ain't a direct threat, Queen Buttercup because you'd just say, "I ain't afraid of you, shorty." Blood flow. Blood slow. Simmering, saucy. Mommy, looking down skyscraper balcony. May I remind, a giant ain't bringing down Manhattan, It's that little, wayward wrecking ball, eh Captain? Chicken and fries three meals-a-day. Chocolate milk three meals-a-day. Tricycle boys three wheels away. Hands on your hips can't make me stay. Lego blocks lodged in your skull. I've hid the Advil. The Dayquil. Drank the Nyquil though. Alright, alright, time to get confessional. All my ***** accidents are intentional. I melt my own Barbies to feel alive. Snort glue sticks just to get hella high. Mommy, you've got a messy ketchup face. Mommy, you've got spiders in your hair. Mommy, you've got ****** on your pants. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Bi-otch. Blood flow. Blood slow. Simmering, saucy. Mommy, looking down skyscraper balcony. May I remind, a giant ain't bringing down Manhattan, It's that little, wayward wrecking ball, eh Captain?
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61
Soft Rock Music Old and New No social media Fan or Air conditioning on Cold drinks standng by in great Thermos Phones silenced Hugs that go into the night Amazing and loving moments Easy and gentle
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Jun 15, 2025
Jun 15, 2025 at 4:08 PM UTC
Moments
The bright sun’s rays Are dappled as they strike The manicured greensward. He, tall, lithe, teeth all aglow In cream slacks and pastel blouson, She, fair and fairylike in acres of shimmering gauze, Alight from the auto At the site of their ‘manger al fresco’ Let us call them Justin and Jocelyn. The basket is heavy No matter. He lifts it clear to carry She gasps, he grins. In minutes the scene is set The rug, the plates, the glasses The pate, the cold chicken, The fruit….the wine. He deflowers a bottle of Moselle, Wishing it were her. Guessing as much she blushes. Ants retreat to nests Wasps attack alternate targets Flies zoom elsewhere to feed. And all the while the sun The golden sun continues to dapple. The rain is not quite horizontal As Joe and Judy Run from the bus stop To the stony beach. Not quite horizontal But driven off the sea it tastes salty. He, ordinary, average, in a dampening grey mackintosh. She, hair bleached in a sister’s frock and jacket Holding hands, And hold each a sandwich Cellophane wrapped. Squatting against the seawall They eat. Wet eyes flash bright signals. Joe has a small thermos Its vegetable soup, And somehow a hardboiled egg appears, To share. The rain continues its attack.
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Jul 25, 2014
Jul 25, 2014 at 11:58 PM UTC
A Tale Of Two Picnics
Grime-caked fingers digging into An infant’s innocent eye sockets The chubby little **** shouldn’t be wearing that locket No tears run their course down its soft, pink epidermis But one could bottle up The slightly thinning blood Into a small Thermos I told that **** to get an abortion My ******* ***** deserves better than her I can’t stand the scent of baby lotion I’ll go fishing with its flesh as lure ‘Cause I’m pro-choice Yeah, I’m pro-choice ‘Cause I’m pro-choice Yeah, I’m pro-choice The wailing, ****** howl dies down When the child’s trachea is crushed By some hand-me-down, rusted hammer That turns its body to mush One could still see the baby’s frozen face Open-mouthed and purple-blue Spinning around the unwashed blender With the previous night’s food I told you to get a simple abortion My ******* ***** deserves better than you You better coat your putrid *** in baby lotion And have some mouthwash ready, too ‘Cause I’m pro-choice Yeah, I’m pro-choice ‘Cause I’m pro-choice Yeah, I’m pro-choice
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Mar 12, 2010
Mar 12, 2010 at 8:48 PM UTC
Pro-Choice
Four days left 'till Christmas I'm trying to get home to you I'm in Nevada in the mountains With the sky an eerie blue I'm driving past my limit Awake on pills and joe Trying to get back cross the country Trying to beat the coming snow Snowflakes burst like little bombs On my windscreen in the night I can't see where I'm going My blades are frozen tight I'm driving to the image That is fading out of sight I'm gonna get back home for Christmas I'm gonna help make Christmas right Three days now till Christmas In the Dakotas, stuck in snow My windows frozen open And you should hear the winter blow I'm not stopping 'till I get there Although you seem so far away I'm gonna be back home for Christmas I'll be with you on Christmas Day Snowflakes burst like little bombs On my windscreen in the night I can't see where I'm going My blades are frozen tight I'm driving to the image That is fading out of sight I'm gonna get back home for Christmas I'm gonna help make Christmas right Two days now till Christmas In Minnesota, freezing cold I've drunk five thermos' full of coffee I've put my bladder right on hold I'm blazing through the streamers Right through the drifts, some ten feet high I'm driving back to you for Christmas I'll be back home, unless I die Snowflakes burst like little bombs On my windscreen in the night I can't see where I'm going My blades are frozen tight I'm driving to the image That is fading out of sight I'm gonna get back home for Christmas I'm gonna help make Christmas right One more day till Christmas I've crossed the line into our state I'll make it home to you by morning So, Christmas breakfast...it's a date I've driven across the country To get back home, where I should be I'll be there when you both wake up Waiting by the Christmas tree Snowflakes burst like little bombs On my windscreen in the night I can't see where I'm going My blades are frozen tight I'm driving to the image That is fading out of sight I'm gonna get back home for Christmas I'm gonna help make Christmas right
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Nov 17, 2013
Nov 17, 2013 at 9:50 PM UTC
Four Days Until Christmas
Four days left 'till Christmas I'm trying to get home to you I'm in Nevada in the mountains With the sky an eerie blue I'm driving past my limit Awake on pills and joe Trying to get back cross the country Trying to beat the coming snow Snowflakes burst like little bombs On my windscreen in the night I can't see where I'm going My blades are frozen tight I'm driving to the image That is fading out of sight I'm gonna get back home for Christmas I'm gonna help make Christmas right Three days now till Christmas In the Dakotas, stuck in snow My windows frozen open And you should hear the winter blow I'm not stopping 'till I get there Although you seem so far away I'm gonna be back home for Christmas I'll be with you on Christmas Day Snowflakes burst like little bombs On my windscreen in the night I can't see where I'm going My blades are frozen tight I'm driving to the image That is fading out of sight I'm gonna get back home for Christmas I'm gonna help make Christmas right Two days now till Christmas In Minnesota, freezing cold I've drunk five thermos' full of coffee I've put my bladder right on hold I'm blazing through the streamers Right through the drifts, some ten feet high I'm driving back to you for Christmas I'll be back home, unless I die Snowflakes burst like little bombs On my windscreen in the night I can't see where I'm going My blades are frozen tight I'm driving to the image That is fading out of sight I'm gonna get back home for Christmas I'm gonna help make Christmas right One more day till Christmas I've crossed the line into our state I'll make it home to you by morning So, Christmas breakfast...it's a date I've driven across the country To get back home, where I should be I'll be there when you both wake up Waiting by the Christmas tree Snowflakes burst like little bombs On my windscreen in the night I can't see where I'm going My blades are frozen tight I'm driving to the image That is fading out of sight I'm gonna get back home for Christmas I'm gonna help make Christmas right
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64
When the first sweet scent of summertime, sifted through the sea-salt scented air, so many things and everything were bright, light and happy-go-fair, the Summer Life with you was finally here. As soon as our bare feet hit the wood bridge, running from the road up over the dunes, great grey seagulls squawked, dove and swoon, we held hands together, one and one made two, dash-dancing across the shiny sand with you, dressed and undressed in our Summer Life moods. Colours like pinwheels spun like yarn, flashed and clashed bright orange to blue, you danced and giggled like a loon, pulled me up and so close, so close to you, that I had to dance, I had to dance like a loon, I just had to laugh and dance and laugh along with you. How we played, we frolicked beneath the beachy sun, belly-surfed upon the waves just for funny fun, flicked flecks of sand from our sticky picnic lunch, shared swigs from a big blue thermos jug of fruity-fruit yummy punch, sharing and caring beneath the Summer Life's sun. By evening-tide the air grew cool, you called me 'lover,' I called you 'fool' -with a big ol' blanket draped over our shoulders, we kissed and cuddled, growing much bolder, falling flat back upon the mighty mattress of sand, feeling the mists of the waves licking our hands, as the Man-In-The-Moon arose and shone, to dance and laugh with us on the Summer Life's throne.
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Aug 8, 2010
Aug 8, 2010 at 1:46 AM UTC
Summer Life
~ *"Satellite, oh, satellite who sits upon our skies how deep do you see when you spy into our lives?" This is for when coyote called into the ether connecting heaven to earth For when glasnost sang and velvet revolution twinkled in the humming air This is for when the quiet hedges of lilies and remains came out of darkness For when the misty curtain man shopping for codes and antiquities poisoned the salt shakers This is for when a spy in an alcove twisting the thermos tops to his dark-eyed sister shelled the transmitters of Radio Free Europe For when his wife refused This is for when working in the glass structure of a Cold War made spider and I a measured room an arc of doves For when the last step from the surface was the end of a thin cord* ~
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Nov 16, 2021
Nov 16, 2021 at 5:59 PM UTC
Spy in an Alcove (This Is for When...)
WIMBLEDON COMMON Wimbledon common Was always the place to go, Catching the train from Streatham The family all aglow, Sandwiches in a paper bag Thermos in a sack, Plastic sandels and tennis racket Not forgetting the cricket bat. Everyone was skippy The sun high in the sky, Dad had his umbrella But the rain was shy, Jumping from the platform Down a row of steps, Brother took a tumble And that was that. Plasters in a pocket All was mended soon, Finally recovered Felt over the moon, Reached the grassy stretches Whoops mind the dogs, Come away from the lovers They're out for a jog. Find a shiny tree trunk Horizontal on the ground, Four happy people Tuck in to raspberry jam, Now for the thermos Plastic cups ahead, Here come the wasps To eat our jam and bread. Later penguin biscuits And a trip behind the bin, Dad puts out the wickets Let's see who wins, After a quiet session Brother looses his cool, Slings the bat skyward You should see it go, Mother looked upwards Covering her head, Just managed to miss it Landing on the hedge. I went off walking To gather pretty flowers, Dad hid under the paper We had a quiet hour, Clouds gathering slowly The sun going down, What a lovely day in the country We're now homeward bound. In memory and gratitude to my lovely mum and dad Grace and Eric Ayton- Robinson who always did their best. Love Mary **
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Jan 31, 2018
Jan 31, 2018 at 10:47 AM UTC
Wimbledon common
Often we approached the bay over high ground Taking the track from Totland between the heather Where the small blue butterflies dusted the grass With a fluttering sparkle and the gorse spoke yellow. The climb to the top was arduous with many stops Sitting on prickles, the scent of sheep buzzing Around our ears and nostrils and filling sandels. A rest refreshed with that thermos coffee hot on lips. Then in an instant we came out of shadow to meet The white glare off the sea and a downward decent Across grassland filled with thistles To drop Through style and gate and down onto the road. Love Mary
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Apr 9, 2018
Apr 9, 2018 at 7:18 PM UTC
Alum Bay
Hungry, no breakfast again Nosed pressed up to the screen door of the cafeteria While the other children play I watch and sniff the air while they eat Wishing I had those soft, delicious rolls That cold milk I had bologna on white bread And green Kool-Aid in a thermos Always warm and unappealing by lunch time Same thing every day Once Kathy gave me a roll And it made my day
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Sep 18, 2009
Sep 18, 2009 at 6:27 AM UTC
School lunch
What is my Purpose? On this earth's surface. Do I have an ultimate service, within these verses? What is my purpose, In today's circus. Is it to buy all that I can purchase? Or be out on the street shirtless. What is my purpose, Among the Earth's worthless, Is it to grow up scared and nervous? Or walk around nerveless. What is my purpose, In this earth's furnace, Is it to be full of pureness and warm those around me like a thermos? To the above questions, I am wordless. To the above questions, I am verbless. To the above questions, I am termless. So i guess my purpose, Is full of obscureness. And in this search for sureness, I strive on with sterness, Ignoring the churchless, In doing my best to furbish My best definition Of Purpose.
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May 4, 2010
May 4, 2010 at 9:21 AM UTC
Purpose
~ *lost library books and broken lunchbox thermos, her childhood under a forgotten leaf on a pond. she's attracted to the sound of the breeze through her hair, inner-city birds recommending she listen with her head underwater, to experience it as a fish might. this is inescapable. blood roses in the snow, her unemployed martyred fingers in the factory. the manufactured years go by at a price too great to recover from. for every flash of beauty, there is a hint of anger; a dash of violence. this is inescapable. her sleep-flower recital in a dew-swathed spring morning hospital, some kind of faraway pink funeral for dead trees and traffic lights. treasure impaired clouds capture an isolated moment in time. perhaps several moments. perhaps several parts of the same moment. this is inescapable.* ~
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Apr 30, 2023
Apr 30, 2023 at 1:29 AM UTC
Studies In Paralysis, Pt. 2
i am sick with what feels like a bad cold mixed with a horrible flu yet you still have no fear in placing your lips against my cheek. you bring me warm soup. you laugh into my thermos and you hold my hand because nothing else matters.
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Dec 5, 2011
Dec 5, 2011 at 10:40 PM UTC
thank god you're not afraid of germs.
Accidentally locked out Of my cavern, With cold for company. Cold, and thoughts Uncold: Kept hot in the thermos in my chest, Kept sweet: Borrowed juice of a ripe fruit - A peach, do let's say a peach - Uncold company, And in loneliness A warmth... A neatlyfolded Origami Man is going 'round Cleverbuzzing and kindsmiling At little sillyshining things That sometimes climb Him, With My name folded up inside And warm in the thermos In His paper chest - The stem of a mouse wineglass Is not so delicate Nor is He any less Solid than the granite 'Pon which I'm resting - That something fragile should be So arresting... The thought pins me warmly In place, So what of a wait? Inside or out, hot or cold, Somehow somewhere He is Impossibly folded up Around Me. I can wait.
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Oct 8, 2012
Oct 8, 2012 at 1:21 PM UTC
Unfolding
I feel the call from the oceans, the voices whisper from its breeze. Snow and satire can't label the mindfulness of memories slowly coming back to me. My mountains have missed you so much, my legs miss the warmth of your thermos, I miss your gentleness and subtlety. Priority one. If you don't think you will make it by Tuesday, I'll travel back in time before we were forty degrees, you can read the seraphs on my signature if I can lay in your sheets for a week. Chrysanthemums all over the hallways, Irises in azurean hues. The charter won't take us all the way to the break wall, I'm at the airport trying to reach you by phone. I'd take the flavor of your spirit, over the sweet coolness of truth, Slide my fingers into the holes in the jeans you always wear for me when I come home. The only thing I write off are pages, Tables marked with the ends of so many words. Who are you to know what you can do without The more I've learned, I realize I'm happier with the less I know.
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Dec 21, 2015
Dec 21, 2015 at 6:30 PM UTC
Landscape Architecture
you rise before the morning does, watch the black sky go gray through the shower curtain lacy shadows cast on summer-night skin not ready to awaken, blue eyes half-mast to squint away the fluorescent intrusion as your mother butters toast for you that you leave behind, your stomach sleeping too. yawning, you thank god that the possums are exercising better judgment as you hold the wheel at eight and four, shake your knees at every stoplight, sing billy joel top-volume to stay alert while the clouds go pink and gold. you join the real-world almost right away, asleep before you hit the tracks at westport tickets tickets tickets grabs your ear, but only just. your coffee cools in its thermos, forgotten in the new haven line haze, your nerves all perked up fighting with the fog between your ears. your nerves all perked up. your nerves all perked up. you try to kick the fog to no avail. you all but sleepwalk down the platform, you barely watch the gap. hey, wouldn’t it be crazy if he came your dream-voice whispers to your conscious yes it would be crazy your conscious chuckles at the thought. you trip on the overweight businessman’s pennyloafer and you think how much you need to *** and you toss your cold bagel in the all aboard trash can and you think about how crazy you would be to hope to see him and you hope your backpack isn’t slowing traffic too much and your nerves all perked up your nerves all perked up and you shake away the fog one last time and you get to the end of the long hot platform and you— hey wouldn’t it be crazy if but yes he’s there and yes you don’t know what to say but yes your eyes wide yes mouth open yes you don’t know what to say but *hi, I love you, yes*
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Jun 30, 2014
Jun 30, 2014 at 9:41 PM UTC
Hi
you rise before the morning does, watch the black sky go gray through the shower curtain lacy shadows cast on summer-night skin not ready to awaken, blue eyes half-mast to squint away the fluorescent intrusion as your mother butters toast for you that you leave behind, your stomach sleeping too. yawning, you thank god that the possums are exercising better judgment as you hold the wheel at eight and four, shake your knees at every stoplight, sing billy joel top-volume to stay alert while the clouds go pink and gold. you join the real-world almost right away, asleep before you hit the tracks at westport tickets tickets tickets grabs your ear, but only just. your coffee cools in its thermos, forgotten in the new haven line haze, your nerves all perked up fighting with the fog between your ears. your nerves all perked up. your nerves all perked up. you try to kick the fog to no avail. you all but sleepwalk down the platform, you barely watch the gap. hey, wouldn’t it be crazy if he came your dream-voice whispers to your conscious yes it would be crazy your conscious chuckles at the thought. you trip on the overweight businessman’s pennyloafer and you think how much you need to *** and you toss your cold bagel in the all aboard trash can and you think about how crazy you would be to hope to see him and you hope your backpack isn’t slowing traffic too much and your nerves all perked up your nerves all perked up and you shake away the fog one last time and you get to the end of the long hot platform and you— hey wouldn’t it be crazy if but yes he’s there and yes you don’t know what to say but yes your eyes wide yes mouth open yes you don’t know what to say but *hi, I love you, yes*
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46
When I was cleaning the toilet I killed my angel because I brushed her off my sleeve. to be fair, the devil suffered a fall as well, but he only dropped a few feet. The porcelain surface gleamed in the light cast by the single bulb flickering valiantly to stay alight like the little engine who could. The bathroom was my place of refuge, it seemed like the only place I received some privacy whenever my parents were home. I reverently removed my Superman wrist watch and placed it on the sink alongside my vintage Spiderman lunchbox complete with a thermos and collapsible spoon. Inside the thermos I had hidden a pack of razors I swiped from Jim’s Hardware store; he was nearly blind, but liked me because I always cleaned his yard. I set the razors on the edge of the bathtub for a moment and only looked at them. When someone knocked on the door I refused to answer.
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Apr 11, 2012
Apr 11, 2012 at 10:34 PM UTC
The Fortress of Solitude
Country nighttime turned off the world Absolute window blacking Any other life void-invisible Universe shrunk snack-size Existence is only this cab, these tiny lights, this fuzzing radio One direction Only ahead Only these tracks A change in rhythm signals new territory Lower infrastructure spend Budget acknowledged by transitioning drum track More toms Double kick More bass, but no less hypnotising, no less soporific, no less slowing, no less… Snap. Driver vigilance alarm earns its keep Pierced by safety sound needles Bleary eyes split open Only closed for seconds Enough to dry 3am eyelash glue Intermittent, intensifying battle Open versus closed Here versus where Wake versus yawning, rocking, mesmerising, irresistible… Snap. Assistance required Scan for options Snoozing thermos drools its last drips onto the floor mat Moment of silence for coffee, our absent friend What else? Lunch box offers carrot sticks Sharp, crisp, smug No help. What else? Cake. A silent bargain – okay calories, we’ve had our differences, but we need to pull together Health is tomorrow, safety is now Sleepiness shrinks and stretches place and time There is only here Only now Battle and bargains Winning and losing Until the sun comes up
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Oct 24, 2024
Oct 24, 2024 at 10:53 PM UTC
Night train to cake
The first few sips were the hardest. Between the taste and the guilt, I cringed, running away from my problems the only way I knew how. It took a few more to overcome the burning, expired cough syrup taste of the stolen alcohol from the thermos hidden in a ****** box. I felt my innocence tremble when I called you down. When my heart raced, I had forgotten about it. When you kissed me in my brother's room (my first, just another for you) my innocence broke. It was almost out of view, a tiny dot along the horizon line, the moment your hand ran down my side and I shivered. One last glance in the rear view mirror, and it had vanished, as you rolled on top of me, lying skin to skin. But the insant I grasped reality, understanding what was about to happen, in my big brother's bed, my innocence won, saving me from endless regret and rumors in the halls. The innocence that I had never before cared about, the innocence I was trying to rid myself of, won as it put my hand on your chest, breathed your name, and asked you stop.
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Sep 2, 2012
Sep 2, 2012 at 8:14 AM UTC
Fading
Put your ear to the concrete, now. It has the same rhythm as watercolor,             our souls have the same consistency as dirt. La la la. Everything is plowed in the ground eventually –       every ticktock shows Atlantis a friend. This balcony smells like violins, like a comet, like waifs                           & has the sound of crowded prose.     A man will spit, spit, spit on you:   a girl will crawl from a bottle of effervescence –       both carry their flask one is so red, do worry about communism.                                 We will all have our canteen microwave like a thermos & aerate into                     our crowded spit bubble, big finale la la la.
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Apr 7, 2013
Apr 7, 2013 at 1:10 AM UTC
big finale
The children would be packed and ready days in advance. At first, we packed for them, but as the years passed, They were experts at rolling clothes for twice the space, Using laundry baskets rather than luggage tripled our carriage. We'd leave early Saturday morning, almost night, Departing from the Ontario weather like a bad odour. Kathleen was away at school. Mags and Andrea were in their teens now. Ten years of March madness was terminating. Herself would sit shotgun with Triptik and thermos. The kids would awaken south of the Ohio, Hungry, grumpy, and eager. She had it all planned out. Crosswords, colouring, wordfinds, books, Gameboys, lace, Sandwiches, juice boxes, treats of all sorts, For another twenty hours on the road. I invariably imagined our Mini in the return lane As we crossed the Bluewater Bridge into Michigan; Trip over, kids exhausted, us, quiet, subdued, Just wanting our own bed. But twenty hours on the I-75 lay ahead, Turn left at Knoxville For Myrtle Beach, sun, tennis, seafood, Separation. I found no peace in our final escape. Conversation with her had halted. A round-trip of dialogue in my head. She'd said, I bought a house. Words wrapped like an egg-salad sandwich. It was our March break.
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Mar 10, 2017
Mar 10, 2017 at 10:38 AM UTC
March Break
Toward the end of every year, Christmas comes again, To life the tired spirits for those of us who can Celebrate with lights and trees and carols that we sing, And all the warm and happy smiles expensive presents bring. But December twenty-fifth to some is just another day To bear alone like all the rest that drain their lives away. Come take a look at holidays for folks you might have missed As you hurried by them to buy your family's gifts. Sara Jenkins limped along the sidewalk on South Main, Her ancient, failing body was bent with cold and pain. Her ***** fingers held the bags storing all she owned; She walked alone and spoke to ghosts of people she had known. The shoppers on the sidewalk stepped out of her way, The sight and smell of Sara drove them all away. No one knew old Sara, no one wanted to; No one had the time for her with Christmas things to do. She hobbled down an alleyway behind The Deli Suite, To find the empty packing crate she crawled inside to sleep. She turned a corner, dropped her bags and gave an awful howl, A delivery truck had crushed her crate against the Deli’s wall. Sara scrambled to the crate, and pulled the boards away She searched around until she found a photo in a frame. The glass was cracked, the photo torn, but she could see his face. And his arm around her shoulders in their younger days. Then the wind whipped up around her, she pulled her sweater tight. Sara knew she needed warmth to make it though the night. She saw a rusty dumpster where she used to look for food, The only thing the dumpster held were rags and broken wood. She packed the rags around her, underneath her clothes And looked about to find a spot to sleep out of the snow. But the alley didn’t hold a place to lay her tired head, So Sara walked up to the truck and tried the door instead. She braced herself and pulled, the truck’s door opened up, And Sara’s life grew by one night thanks to random luck. The driver of the truck had quit at noon that day, And left his lunch behind him in his haste to get away. A thermos and a lunch box were lying on the floor; Now Sara had a meal and a place out of the storm. She gathered up her battered bags and slid onto the seat, Locked the doors, settled back, and ate the driver’s meal. Tomorrow he may come back, and then she’d have to leave, But time for that tomorrow, tonight was Christmas Eve.
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Nov 7, 2016
Nov 7, 2016 at 2:35 PM UTC
Christmas Presence
Toward the end of every year, Christmas comes again, To life the tired spirits for those of us who can Celebrate with lights and trees and carols that we sing, And all the warm and happy smiles expensive presents bring. But December twenty-fifth to some is just another day To bear alone like all the rest that drain their lives away. Come take a look at holidays for folks you might have missed As you hurried by them to buy your family's gifts. Sara Jenkins limped along the sidewalk on South Main, Her ancient, failing body was bent with cold and pain. Her ***** fingers held the bags storing all she owned; She walked alone and spoke to ghosts of people she had known. The shoppers on the sidewalk stepped out of her way, The sight and smell of Sara drove them all away. No one knew old Sara, no one wanted to; No one had the time for her with Christmas things to do. She hobbled down an alleyway behind The Deli Suite, To find the empty packing crate she crawled inside to sleep. She turned a corner, dropped her bags and gave an awful howl, A delivery truck had crushed her crate against the Deli’s wall. Sara scrambled to the crate, and pulled the boards away She searched around until she found a photo in a frame. The glass was cracked, the photo torn, but she could see his face. And his arm around her shoulders in their younger days. Then the wind whipped up around her, she pulled her sweater tight. Sara knew she needed warmth to make it though the night. She saw a rusty dumpster where she used to look for food, The only thing the dumpster held were rags and broken wood. She packed the rags around her, underneath her clothes And looked about to find a spot to sleep out of the snow. But the alley didn’t hold a place to lay her tired head, So Sara walked up to the truck and tried the door instead. She braced herself and pulled, the truck’s door opened up, And Sara’s life grew by one night thanks to random luck. The driver of the truck had quit at noon that day, And left his lunch behind him in his haste to get away. A thermos and a lunch box were lying on the floor; Now Sara had a meal and a place out of the storm. She gathered up her battered bags and slid onto the seat, Locked the doors, settled back, and ate the driver’s meal. Tomorrow he may come back, and then she’d have to leave, But time for that tomorrow, tonight was Christmas Eve.
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