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JP Goss Jan 2014
Tinderbox pt.1—Magic
At first,
I caught its eye
In the rolling smoke of fire
I ****** my hands
To pull it out
And speak with lighted words,
In light of brilliance,
A vital warmth,
But in the end just ashes.
And then,
The curve of silk waters
Which rushed upon and through the rocks
Wrote to me
A rich and liquid poetry
Not in bursts but subtle waves
I cupped my hands to catch its words,
But even then,
I could only hold so much
And only for so long.
               Tinderbox pt. 2—the Artist
Entranced in the world
Here and beneath the moment,
In the spaces and each letter
I saw the fire, the waves of silk
Each play in their environs,
I’d grieve
At their perfection,
Running my eyes over their hilly peaks
And dreaming mine had been there.
My worlds were ugly, incomplete
Extinguished at very moment
That the two would meet
The tinderbox was fire to my hands,
My cup was rife with holes
And there, I’d thought the artist dead
Or never even alive.
In my sleep I’d hear a voice
Like Milton, Coleridge, or Shelley
A babble arresting and forcing pity
From its infantile lucidity...
I knew this thing, but killed it.
Perhaps even now, I believe in magic
Though, to pluck rain from a furied storm
Or converse with tiny sparks
That become
Something of brilliance and solemn silk
That groves were wrought from tiny seeds
Long after mere chaos
That, from it, comes a universe
and white paper is all it needs.
What awoke me was not
That there was art
But that the words had tried to say something,
Something the heart could not speak
Nor the mind would dare to reason;
It was not as much the words that made it up
But the worlds in between them.
Art is not the presentation, but the meaning that hides beneath it--what it says both with words and without--in both author and audience. Art is not magic, it's a voice, an articulation of one's inner world which springs from a single inspiration. Perhaps, one should not begin trying to craft worlds right away or bring the world to word; it's hard enough solidifying one'd own, inner tumult of thought and scene. Don't be discouraged if your art is not pretty; you've created something, a world, a universe, and that's worth more, more aesthetic than any pretty string of words. Art is art, it's subjective, and creators are worth more to us than anything else.
rained-on parade Jul 2013
My mind is a tinderbox.

Only awaiting a reminder of
the taste of your breath and your many loves
to spark up and light a deadly fire.

It is vulnerable to hate, jealousy and other
fiery emotions,
and more than once have you deliberately
caressed the ends of this box
with an emery touch.

It feeds on past sensations of the skin,
forgotten beatings of the heart,
and promises only skin deep--
they are still just the sensations
from crosses you made on your chest.

It is a bubble, waiting to burst.

But make no mistake,
it is very powerful.
Do not, and I repeat, do not
let yourself be swept away with fuzzy emptiness
and homely tempts.

It is awaiting only a weak moment.
Like a swish of warm breath
on a stack of old dry grass,
to start a fire so bright
you have to squint.
I'm already treading on the ashes of an unknown flame.
André Morrison Nov 2014
Patterns of insanity
Echoing the same skewed concept in your twisted perception
Becoming more plausible with every succession
Infinitely decaying your common sense
Until there is a speck left of you
Rendering you unstable and inefficient
The gravity of your grief; your inner disarray
Crushes those around and close to you
Leaving thee, secluded, fragile and vulnerable
All that's left is for someone to light the tinderbox
And the blaze shall come erupting out
Truly creating agony for those you desire
Infinitely scorching and traumatising them psychologically
Even worse, resulting you, to exhaust the last of your philosophy
The darkness has, beyond steadily seeped in
The conclusive ray of light, has undoubtedly vanished
For all eternity
PEARL PSYNATCH Apr 2016
I'm sure I've guessed what's within
your tinderbox mind.

You hope to ignite a fuse.

we'll see...

We'll see.
Brandon Mar 2012
I'll see her soul floating in thin space surrounded by adoring faces
of grotesque amusement. And I'll be there for her, through
the nova to super. A sparkle in the stars of a
goddess that sees all
and accepts the fate that she has chosen, beaming in the orange
afterglow of knowing that you'll continue onward with her through
her journey

An intertwining entanglement twisting spiral of
emotion spoken verse through shreds
of hair overlapping ears enveloped in the mind
of a poet the paper queen and razor king
the light plays a soulful time stretched across harpsichords
of ****** bone she stands amidst the destruction. A beauty of
*******
tainted blood running in rivulets down her thighs. Looking at her vile
nameplate in the mirror. The object of her hatred her own soul.
Betrayed easily by a lovers hand

A lovers love convulsing putrid green from behind her eyes
a demon that's been awakened a last call for a feeling long since
forgotten but longed for breathlessly
yearning to feed on her hardened heart. Cold and barren
from years of other diversions besides blowing her
calming storm over it. A festering wound from whence came
her own destruction.

The bracelets left by a lovers palms greased for enjoyment
a monkeys paw make a wish but be careful
wishing is for lighthearted fools. Only time can
save her now. Stitching together her spine
with rusty wire and dull needles. Hinges that are necessary to
open up the door to the fates that twist her insides. Cotton
truly makes her tick.

Made of straw old and rotten hanging on a cross
a symbol forgotten. Watch the stitches unravel
and conspire into snakes swimming the oceans miles
drowning the last visage of hope. The soft white underbelly of a
faith long ago dubbed "unreliable" who will
save them now?

A circle with Cs on either end a faith an idea the doll
deserted in the corner of a child's room that never came home
with a broken arm and a cracked porcelain face waiting for
someone to wipe off the dust, make her feel wanted again. Shell
wait until the air caves in her delicate mouth. Blowing
holes through a time faded dress. Caressing decaying eyelashes
about to fall away

Caressing the downfall outstretched hands that reach
so far the decay sets in as ****** claw regression
into obsession
yet can never make it to the other side where acceptance
rules the heart and blonde hair fades after so long leaving
the ravished ones old and worn

A tower on a hill, the hair flowing still birth into
the warm womb of a bees nest built for a porcelain doll
long since face has faded to Raggedy Ann china *****
spreading her 1950's Compton pantaloons to the masses
wondering why none of them will invite her into their hybrid
plantations of rioting smiles and half lit eyes that never seem
to stop tearing

Ripping the seems of societies blunders the under stitching that
hides the batteries of a thing not present red hair fade to gray
as times progresses the  lines fade
into a remote inkling of remembrance. The hands that covered
her existence pushing her gently yet leaving painted bruises.
An art exhibit in the making. Pay me for pleasure
I bring but leave my soul to peace

Leave my peace to suffering
This is exhibit A. witness testify to a false maker
of false hopes a dreamers dream disappearing on the lids of
a waking being. So is the theme spoken in rainbow
brilliance the soul is trapped in a toys body break me discard me
no use for this
this is exhibit B. a lifeless rendition of a restless warrior begging
to be freed from his crime in watching his own hands  children
and a pregnant woman willing to sell her soul for redemption.
Break him, discard him but never let him forget

Time elapses travel to the future, Raggedy Andy and the soul
a machine cold and calculating everyone wants one for Christmas
unwrap the gift and sell it tomorrow
wont get much out of it. Devoid of extraneous packaging
it's lost it's worth and the scars are blessed tracing them with my tongue
a willing conspirator in your lie that you live day to day. Praying to whatever
that tomorrow you won't wake up and the pain will stop. Should have never
bequeathed my soul then because now I'll never let you go

The welcomed touch of another to soothe the decay build a house of
legos galore a horror left untold but whispered in empty space someday
it will reach the ears all will be out of place the blessing of scars and the blessing
of tides. Wash the dreams into reality
yet with your eyes squeezed shut you cannot see the smiles
I flash you from across the room. Another cold winter with plastic walls,
the floor rough beneath my paper thin feet. I am getting older and your passion
still falls to ripping me open and seeing what color I am today. Your
dream is my hell. A reality we all want but some never have a blessing
of the tides for you but not the patchwork of needle veins left on my
heart

A ragdoll sows well after unthreading unraveled secrets that are being
spoken a hidden meaning in things known so well and held
so dear the addict is addicted the silver polish of another exit
and a feared exit (exist)
picking away at the surface he is relieved to see his own
reflection on fates tinderbox. Matches with his name on them and other
wealth's of knowledge he cannot comprehend. I take in his
apathy and replace him whole.

Existence is superficial floating ecstasy through a ravers midnight
meltdown the drugs that soothed soon are smoothed out of the system
a gentle touch the softest if skin paper thin paper thin
licking the edges and listening fast, a deep puff, euphorium. Wanting to
play tonight the caterpillar sees, puffing his own blue smoke fast.
bloodshot eyes hide the daylight from your stolen afternoon. The headboard begs
for some grease, let's at today, my love, let's break me again

The twins of wonderland and the cat disappearing a story
forever after faintly breathing from the lips of the souls
sought wondering
sharing a shotgun with a confidant the after taste sour and strained. Not
enough we all see into your twisted head. Plucking on my heart strings
too rough. Wanting to see me bleed. Not this time the queen of hearts will
soon beat you with a flamingo and send you flapping
through the hourglass a king of king and clams

A nursery rhyme for all children to sleep a child's toy finally
dies leaving behind soiled memories
a VERY OLD poem written long ago with Brook Ilges (Italicized.) this was a night long poetry rant. it falls into the "good for what it is" kinda category. It has no structure, no reason, no rhyme. Just hyped up teens spitting words to each other.
Prabhu Iyer Dec 2014
ome orth azarus, come th laz, ome for zus
echo in the winds outside the empty cave;

In the desert an insurrection
to deluge the earth from cauldrons of faith;
Tinderbox by the Dneiper, an interview stolen;

Dance of Ishtar caged, the demiurge call.

Treading on ice, our mortal lives;

Ancient wells wailing with the earth;

A vessel weathering the storm, sinking
now at Galilee.

At Golgotha, by the empty Crucifix;
it all began here in Bethlehem where we wait.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+11%3A38-44&version;=NKJV
Saint Audrey Jun 2018
A blinding
Hopeless inclination towards a blending of nostalgia
And something just a twinge surreal.
Too enraptured, perhaps, or too locked inside the senses
The search takes me places, to small shards that I don't quite comprehend.
Still unsure why, if I can't, or I just don't want to.

It's old and familiar
Soaking in solitude, rife with memory.
Touched lightly by the hem of rose tint, blooming in the spreading flames.
As the old wooden paneling, tried as a tinderbox
Begins to peel away, affected by the heat.
A fire, awakening with the first rays of morning.
To warm up the little room, as the walls softly fall, turning to ashes.
Revealing the bare frame.
And the fauna outside begins to show itself
Sprinkled with dew, gently coaxing away the flames.
Rooted too close, it would seem
As they progress, slowly wither under ash

But for now, I still crawl through creation.
Hopeless, I'll never recapture...
Ignoring new context, engulfed in this fruitless rapture
With the past still dancing through my head.
Wanderer Mar 2012
This is exhibit A. witness testify to a false maker
of false hopes a dreamers dream disappearing on the lids of
a waking being. So is the theme spoken in rainbow
brilliance the soul is trapped in a toys body break me discard me
no use for this
this is exhibit B. a lifeless rendition of a restless warrior begging
to be freed from his crime in watching his own hands  children
and a pregnant woman willing to sell her soul for redemption.
Break him, discard him but never let him forget

Time elapses travel to the future, Raggedy Andy and the soul
a machine cold and calculating everyone wants one for Christmas
unwrap the gift and sell it tomorrow
wont get much out of it. Devoid of extraneous packaging
it's lost it's worth and the scars are blessed tracing them with my tongue
a willing conspirator in your lie that you live day to day. Praying to whatever
that tomorrow you won't wake up and the pain will stop. Should have never
beqeuthed my soul then because now I'll never let you go

The welcomed touch of another to soothe the decay build a house of
legos galore a horror left untold but whispered in empty space someday
it will reach the ears all will be out of place the blessing of scars and the blessing
of tides. Wash the dreams into reality
yet with your eyes squeezed shut you cannot see the smiles
I flash you from across the room. Another cold winter with plastic walls,
the floor rough beneath my paper thin feet. I am getting older and your passion
still falls to ripping me open and seeing what color I am today. Your
dream is my hell. A reality we all want but some never have a blessing
of the tides for you but not the patchwork of needle veins left on my
heart

A ragdoll sows well after unthreading unraveled secrets that are being
spoken a hidden meaning in things known so well and held
so dear the addict is addicted the silver polish of another exit
and a feared exit (exist)
picking away at the surface he is relieved to see his own
reflection on fates tinderbox. Matches with his name on them and other
wealth's of knowledge he cannot comprehend. I take in his
apathy and replace him whole.

Existence is superficial floating ecstacy through a ravers midnight
meltdown the drugs that soothed soon are smoothed out of the system
a gentle touch the softest if skin paper thin paper thin
licking the edges and listening fast, a deep puff, euphorium. Wanting to
play tonight the caterpillar sees, puffing his own blue smoke fast.
bloodshot eyes hide the daylight from your stolen afternoon. The headboard begs
for some grease, let's at today, my love, let's break me again

The twins of wonderland and the cat disappearing a story
forever after faintly breathing from the lips of the souls
sought wondering
sharing a shotgun with a confidant the after taste sour and strained. Not
enough we all see into your twisted head. Plucking on my heart strings
too rough. Wanting to see me bleed. Not this time the queen of hearts will
soon beat you with a flamingo and send you flapping
through the hourglass a king of king and clams

A nursery rhyme for all children to sleep a child's toy finally
dies leaving behind soiled

1,187 words
Carlo C Gomez Aug 2021
~
Jara sang undaunted,
Fet-Mats, turned to stone, dug deep,

—as if a silent prayer in Latin,

—as if the sacredness of wedding vows,

—demonstrative
as a water lily.

There's a perpetually simple elegance
to what water fallen words
kept in a tinderbox stir,

—bless the soft spoken
and the loud cry.

—bless the dead poet
and the buried miner.

—bless the nouns and verbs
of a crescent bride
about to receive her husband
inside of her.

~
Edmund black Apr 2023
I write insane poetry’s
          To magnify my desires and the Hell
                     that lives inside me
         Or my soul would have had to settled
                   in its misery and loneliness
in silence.
      And that, I wouldn’t ever be able to live with.
For it would have been a slow death
bleh Oct 2014
i am lost in the wisp of your faltering
the fluttering of concrete entrenched
into stoic rigmarole

to reach out layer by layer
peeling unearthing
a catatonic subdivision of disjoint subdivisions
a limit ordinal
between touch and feeling

where we kiss on the cusp of that silent ocean on the edge of sound
drowned in the nebulous familiarity of
a distant melody
a tired resolve
re  solve the old puzzle  muscle memory's misted amnesia
half the pieces falling out the warn tinderbox

inarticulate drowned severed isomorphisms over
brea(d)thless infinities
self adjoint matted topologies
nestled snugly in the amniotic absolution
of form before being

      hands of matted ice
contorted into perfection
by the sculpting propensities
  of undulations of estrangement,

where we touch in the cusp of self reflections thousand mirrors inverted propensities
                        infinite infinitesimals
  nestled meromorphic partitions
hidden corners in the brevity of dusk
multiplicities fragmenting behind empty veils
(  to be seen is to be made discrete
   to be discrete is to flicker
                                     and disappear
  (inevitably invariable
          inevitable invariability))

we
       stand in a waterfall of gravel
   and drown our voices in the choke of our cellophane hearts

caked
             into fillets of aphasic tundra


  where we whisper our nothings in the desert on the boundary of silence

our words
                         escape us
           like rats from shipwreck


                                      we are
                       disembowelled catharsis
                           intentional and fatuous
                                   retching upon itself

       severed
and free
       and dead
like a phantom phantom limb
i miss the familiar deaths you bring
mark john junor Sep 2014
her tinderbox mind
burst into flames of mad sadness's at any moment
that will burn like a river of tears
she will strain at speaking just the right words
terrified that she will get it wrong
so she paints her one word at a time tale
in brilliance colors on bathroom stall windowpane
hoping to compensate for all the written fears
no frilly graybeard teddybear to save the queen of forever's this time
so she will lay in her lovers arms
staring up at the wonder wheel of stars
wishing upon all the falling hero's
that she had her knight
that she wont be alone for all her tomorrows
that just one hero has survived to craft her
tell her who to be
how to not feel the tears
That old coat, the one you wore,
You wore in laughter,
Drenched in rain, cold water  pouring, droplets of pearls,
Glistening in light of the single star, the one,
Which didn’t die yet.

That old coat, which sits by the fire,
A hearth of orange, now only black,
Devoid of colour, life, warmth,
A dead tinderbox, of passed emotion,
And happy feeling, all turned grey.

That old coat, frayed, torn.
The brown leather faded in patches,
Patches of memory, think back,
To happy days once before,
That old grey coat, you used to wear.

That old grey coat, stained in mud,
Undistinguished in the rough hide,
And broken seams, rough stitches,
Coarse repairs to hide the scars,
Of just been worn out.

That old coat,
You used to wear,
The one which was a part of you,
Sitting on a rusty peg, holding memories, so carefully.
The snap. The drop. The thud. The coat falls.
And the thoughts shatter again.
The coat was one which belonged to my great uncle John (Who I took my middle name from) when he went and enlisted in the army during WWII. He left it on the peg the day he went and enlisted and never returned for it because he died fighting for our freedom. It needed a story.
Jonathan Witte May 2017
You have to start
by finding things
to burn.

Turn the island
into a tinderbox.

Fill your truck with driftwood
and detritus hustled up from
derelict construction sites.

Scavenge plywood scraps
and lengths of two-by-fours.

Find a spot beneath the dunes
and dig into the still-warm sand,
your rusted shovel syncopating

with the rhythm of the waves,
crunching into the cool dark
hollow of a deepening pit.

By dusk, the hole will be capable
of containing everything you want
to burn.

Set the shovel down.

When the darkness
finds you all alone,
take the lighter fluid
in one hand
and a match
in the other.

Wait for the
wind to die.

If you do it right,
the orange embers
will crack and rise,
truant children
ushered home
by pacing stars.

If you do it right,
the smell of salt and smoke
will stay with you for days.

If you do it right,
the bonfire will
bloom like a flower
and consume itself
all night long.

In the morning,
your work will
have healed, doctored
by persistent currents
and the extinguishing
sweep of high tide.
Folie Apr 2019
Why care for the world when we can set it all on fire
Catch my personality in a pyro’s attire
Spiral through my desires and watch gasoline make the flames get higher
Inspired by passion
I’m tired of waiting for sparks, fuel, or a lighter
I’m tired of looking at this fire
I’m tired.
NuurSeraph May 2014
Tinderbox is full of Tinker things
Rarely do I open it to take out anything
It sits where I had placed it many years ago
Don't know why I kept it, just compassion, couldn't imagine a toss into the trash would be an alright thing to do.  

There is a subtlety of sad emotion when something that I have kept in my possession, no matter what it's purpose might be, might one day be an easy afterthought, to have forgotten why I acquired it originally.

I feel a twinge of ungrateful abandon to think these little tinker things, I will toss with the used, useless, unwanted things.
I feel that it would be strangely out of place, to lay among the trash.  
I think sometimes I think to much, but I'm kinda glad I do.
Those tinker things must have a place of valued memory in mind, that I'm not quite ready to let part...I must always appreciate the Value of Things.
Surface is there for those who prefer to stay right there.
touka Aug 2014
oleander pale
in love with the scarlet
ardent against the gale

empty walls
chipping their paint
arms of war
had settled stains

tinderbox broken
for a half-assed light
baneful prayers
and their volume's height

artlessly, the breathings
of a craven deep in night.
panic attacks,
and whatever else my fingers dreamed up.
haint gonna mock ridiculous science
     asper to be bled
dark practices to leech out mailer daemons,
     not so laughable nor in cred

double, when oppressed diabolical  dread
oompah loompah fealty l'chaim fled
as hand grenades explode within my head
mettlesome monsters

     make mercuric chrome dome feel like a led
zeppelin with fractured stairway to heaven in stead...
delivers me zombies, where angels fear to tread  
cuz, the devil and psyche did wed

shotgun Swedish crow did house mafia style
wrenched, wrested wretched
     mental state most intense (no croc) dial
shattered, slewed, splintered sanity,
     thus practitioner with "FAKE" know how aisle

apprentice Aunt Roadie,
     who will skewer me evil spirits den da deuce
till I beak home one sacrificed overly cooked goose
a burnt offering shish kabob

     no longer able to raise cane on the loose
like a red bull
     rocky on the shoals of a frantically angry moose
livid with rage
     (akin to diary of mad a housewife)
   entropy written, where death will be only truce

pyromaniac qua ramshackle shanty (tinderbox)
     unleashes wicked zeal
hellacious incendiary juiced ride
     up plies noisome rubbery odor,

     sans hot wheel
along the outer limits of functionality explosions
     precipitate like drops of molten steel
routing hunger, searing nostrils,
     tearing tenuous fragile tethered tendrils

     self cannibalizing via tooth and nine inch nail      
     linkedin with nauseousness as thine meal
exemplary asper full blown panic attack
     lodged within mine genetic blooper print deal.
Prabhu Iyer Nov 2016
two are the shadows cast
of the future
back in our time
it is of us that we will be
us as in the world

both shades of a dark darkness
how did it come to this?
oh if we did but
contemplate
on us that we will be,
as we wont to do,
as we seldom do

are these all that were on offer?
how if we are not of this darkness
for how else would be know of
dark from light?

privilege and sacrilege of the gentler kind
sets the world on a tinderbox the other
why did it come to this?

now, a wring and a toss
with hand on our hearts
for we cannot choose,
a game of dice,
is what separates
of us that we will be
us as in the world
to all American friends...the greatest nation on earth right now, but have you not failed us...
Red Bergan Mar 2014
We travel far and wide,
To seek the ones who hide.

Our wings of white,
Our horns of black.
We dance above.

War is like a tinderbox,
Only takes one scratch,
Of the match..

As Guardians,
We will protect our people..
Expanding our wings to the steeple.

Roar my siblings,
Calm this everlasting storm.

Bring forth the golden one.
The beast of fury,
He will not fall.

He is a Dragon Slayer,
The Lord of Skies.
He stands beside his mate,
The Girl of the night.

With our wings of White,
And our horns of black.
We will pursue,
We will. Attack.
Random thought. Add comments on what to add to this poem and lets see how long we can make it.
Lee Kelly Jul 2019
We have limited time
Scientists say 30 years
To reverse climate change
However, those that deny facts
Call it a hoax
Stop progress in
Reversing, irreversible damage.
In the next 25-40 years
There will be a shift in power
The likes of which this
World has never seen
Since ****** in Germany
Or the decline of
Imperial Europe.
First we lose oil in
30 years. Then gas
Then coal. I give it
50 years and its all
Gone. As the realization
Kicks in, it will be too late.
Countries will be at war.
They say the first half of
The twentieth century was
The bloodiest time in history
The third world war, a
Mighty scavenge for those
Last barrels of oil, pockets of gas
And lumps of coal
Will have no candle shone
To it by the great wars.
Hundreds of thousands of millions
Will lose their lives
As karma for ignorance and
Denial and lack of action for years
When we act it will be too late
This war will see the use of
Nuclear weapons
No longer a deterrent but a tool
Truth is the first casualty
Of war and the world is
Tinderbox. So the question remains:
Who will light the match and
What lie will we be sold
To justify one’s cause?
Alliances will go out the window,
The only truce will be
The enemy of my enemy is my friend
But your enemy is everyone
So it cuts both ways like
Your friends being cut down beside you
So if the world is a tinderbox
Who will dare to light the match
And who will yield?
PrinceAlexander Apr 2016
Through words of feelings tinderbox I kindle spark of pain
To torch in tears cold stone hearts in high emotions flame.
Third Eye Candy Mar 2018
separate from the swiss cheese tinderbox
in my deerskin hip fob... a white clot of cotton
and pistachio shells... milky with salt dust
and blind empty, like an open mouth.

separate from these. from the iron stalks of snow-melt
and the brittle tympani of my unescorted star.
from the compromise and the motives.... apart -
from all the art of my powerlessness.... [ and ] the polite dark -
of my open palm. like an open mouth.

I ***** for a river stone to whisper oceans too...
with a rope, and a loop. and a hole.

and always wanted too...
Kurt Philip Behm Sep 2018
Did you waste your life
  just making money

Did you eat the bread
  and not the honey

Did you sell your soul
  as your children watched

Was your heart left cold
  in a tinderbox

Were your excuses rich
  and your reasons poor

Did you wake up full
  and still ask for more

Were your blessings shunned
  as you scratched and clawed

Saying no harm done
  “I never broke the law”

Were you teeth all straightened
  and your motives bent

Were your eyes detached
  from what heaven sent

Were your memories lost
  in some dead refrain

As a lonely footnote
  to another’s name

If you had one chance
  to re-right these wrongs

Would you hide in silence
  or break out in song

With your soul imprisoned
  the choice is clear

All joy awaits
—redemption near

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)
David R Jul 2021
eyes ajar, like chocolate box
desperately trying to close
outside noise of yelping fox
and wife blowing her nose
leave my mind in flummox
unable to sleep or doze
expropriated as man in docks
of rightful slumber pose
so now in state as tinderbox
i gingerly throw on my clothes
close my hose, put on my socks,
'n venture on tiptoes,
half-past two scream the clocks
as children comatose
dream of bears and goldilocks
red cape and purple bows.
BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge:
#expropriate
Devon Brock Nov 2019
On the face of it
is  a mountain.
Below that,
orange sinus.

And in the long drip of it,
down to the lip of it,
a snot thing crawls.

But I took it on the chin,
lurching up to the clime
where leaves resolve
to needles, and the white
cliffs fall like beetles
in a tinderbox.

And the tangled lines
hooked below to stumps
and trinkets trickle
in the slipstream,
warm as mucous,
slow as dream,
bound to rust,
released as steam,
and effluents.
Kurt Philip Behm Apr 2019
Did you waste your life
  just making money

Did you eat the bread
  and not the honey

Did you sell your soul
  as your children watched

Was your heart left cold
  in a tinderbox

Were your excuses rich
  and your reasons poor

Did you wake up full
  and still ask for more

Were your blessings shunned,
  as you scratched and clawed

Saying: “No harm done,
  I never broke the law”

Were your teeth all straightened
  and your motives bent

Were your eyes detached
  from what heaven sent

Were your memories lost
  in some dead refrain

As a lonely footnote
  to another’s name

If you had one chance
  to re-right these wrongs

Would you hide in silence
  or break out in song

With your soul imprisoned,
  the choice is clear

All joy awaits
  —redemption near

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2016)

— The End —