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Nat Lipstadt Jun 2023
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you pout and defer, dancing backwards,
claiming, blue is now blackened
from underuse, incapable and incapacitating revival

saying  eyes cannot see, distinctly, neither near or far,
the tremble of love, forgot & distantly absent,
but I know, a heart’s sensory muscles never die,
though weaken they might, underused, un-exercised

denying  that inspiration  
no longer resides with in thy sensitivities,
has fled, undercover of smoking forest fires
all the diurnal hazards that invade, occupying

my internal spaces once filled by poems
you conceived, birthed, in a pleasured haze,
came so fast, you bare recall agony accompanied,
but not the ecstasy of the end resultant!


you know it’s you of whom I write, but,

a note not shaming names, but messages
countless private messages have I sent
begging, beseeching, give me your gifts


once more, you owe me not, though I
oft irritate with my deafening pleas,
yet only denials continue, my pleas ding
but dent not, the tired fear of your exposition

so speak to you plain,
feed my soul selfish
like in years gone past,
there are holes in mine

that require your elixir,
creamy softness that moistens
my face with tears of your words
originating, astound, enfold

not later, not soon, not excusals,
write for me NOW, WRITE FOR YOURSELF,
but leave me not forsaken and thirst un-slackened,


Answer! To whom do you owe your poems?
Sunday, June 11 11:29 AM
2023
in the sunroom
Tyler Nov 2012
I sit here angry with the writer (myself)
for his overuse of cliches, for his underuse of relatable things
Scorning his very existence.
    "Why would you write, you fool?"
"Ah, It's an escape for you! Who gives you the right?"
No one does.
If you must, continue

I'd rather I heard 1,000 bad poems tonight
than let you sleep without writing a one.
CR Mar 2013
a man without a country is what he called himself, but this was his country, make no mistake. a man without a home, is what he meant. he overheard two girls joking a few years ago, they were saying what if we just lived in the tunnel, then we wouldn’t have to worry their voices bounced off the bricks, louder in that tunnel, where he was, where they wouldn’t have to worry but he did. he sighed into tobacco-yellow fingers. a few years ago, this was. a few years of rain and relentless seasons’ change and the kindness of strangers fewer and farther between and kids that will never be that way, that pretend they don’t hear him and they don’t see him and maybe they don’t. a few years of that’ll really take it out of you. his voice is deeper now from underuse and cold air and tobacco and being just so ******* tired. the kindness of strangers stops short of his hard palms most of the time. winter’s end just doesn’t feel like much anymore. a few years of that’ll really take it out of you.
Moriah Jean Feb 2011
All my fondest memories are dreams.
Days I've painted over and re-written.
Like that time we spent all night talking and,
I had to sneak in before my parents woke up.
Or that time he took me to the city and,
We held hands as we walked the golden gate.
Or that time we went up on the parkway and,
He kept me warm as we looked at the stars.
Such pretty scraps of paper for my keep-sake box.

Today is foggy with sleep and underuse.
I'm an old toy that got lost and then everyone forgot about.
I can breathe in fresh air until my lungs ache,
But that wont clense me of my need for numbing pollutants;
I can soak up sunshine until my skin is black,
But that wont rid me of my unquenchable thirst for rain.
Yesterday's smile isn't getting me through today;
I slept too long last night.

Tomorrow, tomorrow
is just another day I'll spend asleep,
Waiting, always waiting
for my ship to come in,
So I can go sailing.
But that doesn't really add up.
And I know ships don't even have sails.

Tomorrow,
Kasey will pick me up around noon.
And he will save my life,
                                                 for a day.
© February 5th, 2011 Moriah Jean

For Kasey, for saving my life whenever he gets the chance.
This is the first poem I've written for him. And it's long overdue.
Sean Hastings Jul 2021
Don't ever underuse I love you
Especially to your friends who need it
Don't ever go to bed angry at someone
Work it out before so you both are on the same page the next day

When you look at life in rose colored glasses
The red flags sometimes look like flags
When one friend doesn't like someone
Out of everyone you know, listen
They may see something you don't

And the biggest life lesson of all?
Protect your heart over anyone else's
You only get one and your happiness
Is the must important
Just some lessons I've learned and still trying to live up to

— The End —