"unties" poems
so you're disappointed
that you're disappointed
and maybe that's to be expected
some folks make beds
out of their catharsis
differently than others
it's this list
of things you lost in the fire
or how jealous you are
of people
who never came back up for air
you're crying
so the faucets leak out of solidarity
& someone asks you
why the floor is wet
so you tell them
"we've been weeping here forever"
then they want to give you
a mouth full of presupposition
by saying
"are you going down with the ship?"
& you look them in the mouth
like Leo is handcuffed to a pipe
five decks down
you look at them
like you just woke up
from that dream everyone has
where all their teeth fall out
maybe it's an intervention
a hearse vs station wagon origin story
a clearance sale
& everything's gotta go
or maybe it's the dream
where you're at the docks
from your childhood
and there's a little girl
unmooring all the ships
because she thinks
they'll float away
but every time
she unties them
they just sink
they just sink
Mar 13, 2015
Mar 13, 2015 at 5:20 PM UTC
When man,
enters woman,
like the surf biting the shore,
again and again,
and the woman opens her mouth with pleasure
and her teeth gleam
like the alphabet,
Logos appears milking a star,
and the man
inside of woman
ties a knot
so that they will
never again be separate
and the woman
climbs into a flower
and swallows its stem
and Logos appears
and unleashes their rivers.
This man,
this woman
with their double hunger,
have tried to reach through
the curtain of God
and briefly they have,
through God
in His perversity
unties the knot.
17.1k
Daydreamer waiting for her surprise
She's always sitting on the bench outside
Watching through the golden glasses
She sees through her eyes a world that unties
Beautiful creatures and where love prevails
She always wonder why her beauty does not impales
As she holds so many wonders
A sweetness in her bright almond eyes, behind the glasses that sat crookedly on her nose
She focused her eyes on a flat prairie
Where the unaccustomed eye sees only ordinary
In hers, the dale was a beautiful swathe of shiny green grasses
Trees are clothed in delicious cream and pink blossom
Jasmines dancing to the winds, choreographing autumn breeze
The sun casting its last golden rays
Changing its yellow into hues of tangerine and fire red
Her perfect world, she whispers
She is a daydreamer
With eyes so full of love that will make you melt
She is beauty and love
Looking at her shadow slowly shrinking down her feet
Only her can see the magic
You will find her outside
Waiting for the man to share the same picturesque landscape
Seeing her reflection on him just like a mirror
Sharing a moment, a smile, a touch, a gaze
Closing their eyes to a slow and soft kiss
Alas; she is still waiting on this
Waiting to meet him flesh and bones
Dreaming about it everyday
This love she's never met,
Yet she seems to glimpse him in every corner
And because of it, her heart craves for blossoming flower
Her heart is bound to a fictional imagery of him
Creating imaginary moments and opportunities
Clinging to a false sign that precipitates desires
The desire to lay her eyes on him and feel his lips on hers
The desire to feel her body shivers with his skin on hers
The desire to feel his heart beating to her caress
the rush in her veins, with just his look
She will be an eternal daydreamer
Until she finds him sitting on the bench outside for her
For an eternity of love
Dec 21, 2017
Dec 21, 2017 at 1:42 PM UTC
Rubber erases
deep spaces
line traces
where her face is
Her smile cracked
lips smacked
eyes tacked
fade to black
Imperfection
turned dissection
forgot protection
late detection
She weeps
Because she hears it sleep
Fearing it may seep
the scars just as deep
Now she cries
sad lullabies
emotion unties...
Rubber erases
deep spaces
line traces
where her place is
Lost and torn
her heart out-worn
her body scorned
her mind forlorn
Rubber erases
deep spaces
line traces
where her base is
Rubber erases
deep spaces
line traces
Rubber erases
deep spaces
Rubber erases
Rubber
Nov 11, 2012
Nov 11, 2012 at 6:25 PM UTC
Dont hate me cuz I am beautiful
Looking Hijabi-licious for Allah, devoutly dutiful
Shaking your head at me cuz I cover
Wouldn’t take you nor your wingman as a lover
Glaring at me crazily cuz I’m veiled
An ocean of chastity you’ve never sailed
And you’re all alarmed cuz I’m devout
I’m hijab-tastic! Not even a single toe is out!
You can quit cat-calling me too; Cuz I’m chaste
Aint’ no welcome sign wrapped ‘round this waist
Tryna peer pressure me cuz I’m concealed
And ain’t out here tryna cop a feel
Pontificating that I’m oppressed cuz I’m different
“miss Muhammed is much too modest, we like ‘em ignorant”
And you’re kinda curious cuz u cant cuddle this Jelly
Joker, Lord knows ur stupid tail ain’t ready
So don’t hate cuz you, your boy, and your girl cant touch this
I’m a female manifestation of feminine justice
*********************************************
And girl, now you’re just jealous cuz you think he likes it
Said “wonder what her hair’s like when she unties it?”
Yeah She’s hoping to high heaven that I’m hot in my Hijab
So she can get me to join her in flashing flabby flabs of abs
Don’t be mean to me cuz real men find me appealing
Kindly consider concealing all the cleavage you’ve been revealing
You’re surprised because our boss recognized my mind?
Could it be because he isn’t busy admiring my behind?
I heard there was insane party where the office nicknamed you Lil “Miss loose & cray cray”
Oh, Dang. Anyway, they nicknamed me Lil Miss gotta go pray pray
You out here hating cuz my beauty is discreet
But if I was half naked, girl you know you couldn’t compete
So later for you, your lewd dude, and your half **** crew!
It’s not your pleasure that I seek
Allah, the Beautiful Fashioner, formed this physique
Verily Allah made everything valuable a challenge to achieve
Pearls, diamonds, gold, heaven, and— yes!— even ME
He, Almighty, offered me a trade treaty,
His commands for my Destiny
So I traded in ****** for decency
I traded in popularity for modesty
And I’m trading in your knuckle-headed opinion
For His highest heavenly dominion
Hijab-ulous 4 life!
Dec 7, 2020
Dec 7, 2020 at 2:34 AM UTC
And then
quite unexpectedly
the sound of your laugh
unties the knots
I have been keeping around my soul
your eyes
are intense
and I’m scared
don’t make me regret this
please.
“Hello.”
Jan 2, 2022
Jan 2, 2022 at 12:54 AM UTC
134
Perhaps you’d like to buy a flower,
But I could never sell—
If you would like to borrow,
Until the Daffodil
Unties her yellow Bonnet
Beneath the village door,
Until the Bees, from Clover rows
Their Hock, and Sherry, draw,
Why, I will lend until just then,
But not an hour more!
1.9k
I've been going right on, page by page,
since we last kissed, two long dolls in a cage,
two hunger-mongers throwing a myth in and out,
double-crossing out lives with doubt,
leaving us separate now, fogy with rage.
But then I've told my readers what I think
and scrubbed out the remainder with my shrink,
have placed my bones in a jar as if possessed,
have pasted a black wing over my left breast,
have washed the white out of the moon at my sink,
have eaten The Cross, have digested its lore,
indeed, have loved that eggless man once more,
have placed my own head in the kettle because
in the end death won't settle for my hypochondrias,
because this errand we're on goes to one store.
That shopkeeper may put up barricades,
and he may advertise cognac and razor blades,
he may let you dally at Nice or the Tuileries,
he may let the state of our bowels have ascendancy,
he may let such as we flaunt our escapades,
swallow down our portion of whisky and dex,
salvage the day with some soup or some ***
juggle our teabags as we inch down the hall,
let the blood out of our fires with phenobarbital,
lick the headlines for Starkweathers and Specks,
let us be folk of the literary set,
let us deceive with words the critics regret,
let us dog down the streets for each invitation,
typing out our lives like a Singer sewing sublimation,
letting our delicate bottoms settle and yet
they were spanked alive by some doctor of folly,
given a horn or a dish to get by with, by golly,
exploding with blood in this errand called life,
dumb with snow and elbows, rubber man, a mother wife,
tongues to waggle out of the words, mistletoe and holly,
tables to place our stones on, decades of disguises,
wntil the shopkeeper plants his boot in our eyes,
and unties our bone and is finished with the case,
and turns to the next customer, forgetting our face
or how we knelt at the yellow bulb with sighs
like moth wings for a short while in a small place.
2k
a moment of clarity
a single drop of sensibility
and reason unveals itself
making me crazier
the knot unties itself
the rope unravels
and I begin my descent
into the unknown
beautiful unknown
it excites me just to think you
I know not, but it's clear to me...
...you have waited for me
as I've just realized
I have waited for you
the truth is pure insanity!
Dec 19, 2011
Dec 19, 2011 at 4:27 AM UTC
it presses my shoulder blades,
ties my neck muscles into knots,
then settles deep within my chest.
the pain is the first sign
that my body is haunted.
it then puts my thoughts
on a hamster wheel.
they run in circles
without an escape.
this is the second sign.
but my heart takes control.
it voices my thoughts
so they can be seen and heard.
it stops spinning the wheel,
slowly comes out of my chest,
unties the knots in my neck
and lets go of my shoulder blades,
and my body does not feel its weight.
Apr 5, 2021
Apr 5, 2021 at 12:01 AM UTC
waking me up without saying farewell
to the ties i have knotted in my dreams
because reality unties them without asking.
waking me up without warning
you speak through cold hard teeth life is what you make it,
living through dreams will only drown your luck.
face facts, i'd rather face your face and kiss it in my dreams
in my dreams
you are waking me up to a hollow grave
cause your love is dead to me
like roseless stems and winter tree limbs
waking me up from daydreams
you said i should be here not there
but in reality i am falling to pieces
in my dreams i am collected into one gallery of what i want to be
and isn't that so wrong?
Jul 26, 2013
Jul 26, 2013 at 9:53 AM UTC
I’m hungrier lately, not because I never eat,
no, my usual diet of everything just seems to be
bland,
I’m hungry for words that do more
than echo deep into my eardrums,
I’m hungry for eyes that see more
than literal words on a page,
I’m hungry for fingertips with minds
of their own and empty palms
grown tired of holding air,
I’m hungry for my nose hairs to be
tickled with the forgotten scents of childhood,
I’m hungry for another tongue to touch
mine in search of Truth, or at the very
least a lie
you can love,
So today, I won’t be having the usual,
Give me yesterday’s special,
and do the same for me tomorrow,
that way we have a little bit of time
to let them talk about it,
and they will talk of your cooking
and my hunger until your apron
unties
and I’ve had my fill
of all the extraordinary things
we let eat us, that culminate
into this dish called
Life with a steady helping
of an unknown spice.
May 2, 2015
May 2, 2015 at 7:28 PM UTC
I know a girl with bright blue eyes
I fear that I may soon despise
For every time I start to hope
I come out feeling like a dope
Every word's a bit of rope
And each encounter is a slope
But I cannot climb out the trough
Instead I find myself aloft
Hanging from the rope I tied
With my sentiments denied
But I never meet the end
For the hangmen is that friend
The girl who ties and then unties
The rope that hangs me from the skies
Each time I hope that things will change
But instead things rearrange
Slightly different than before
A variation on the score
But the music ends the same
Because it is the same ole game
But I cannot quit the field
Nor will I bend knee and yield
Instead I'll stand my ground and say
You cannot stop love...only delay
Apr 26, 2010
Apr 26, 2010 at 4:18 PM UTC
Speed demons.
They wait for me under my bed and whisper my name into the night.
They sink vampire teeth between my eyes,
inject awful toxins that make my mind throb,
pulsing pain like a second heartbeat.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
I battle.
I ignore.
I cry alone into the night.
I clutch my sweat-stained sheets,
trying to grasp reality as vivid hallucinations of another dimension
dance across my vision, a world of
*** drugs, and rock and roll.
It’s sexual. It’s sensual.
It’s perfection, my forbidden fruit,
tempting, red, succulent, delicious,
rocks my body like an untamed sea,
unties the ropes of blue that pin my brain to D
O
W
N
and let me run free.
P.
Free. Running Free. Flying High. So Far U
I can barely breathe, my heart is racing
And this is only memories.
My head flutters at the idea of flying again.
And I ache and I pine the touch that only speed can give me,
a high that takes me to heaven on earth.
But still I battle. I battle for my friends.
They cry, they get upset.
They tell me I’ve changed,
riding an emotional rollercoaster straight to hell
to blow lines with the big man in red.
They see a demon inside my sunken face. They just want me.
To own me.
To own my body.
Once Again.
They plea, they want to help.
Call, text, show up, knock at my door.
We will tend to your broken baby bird body.
My body is breaking.
I am frail. I am small. I am hollow.
I am cold, all the time. My kidneys ache, my head screams,
my weight disappears faster than I can choke down bites of mediocre sandwiches.
I am tired. I am sad. I hole up in my bed for hours
drowsily listening to the sweet sultry voices under my bed.
But I fight. I say no. I cry. And I yearn.
I never stop wanting those ******* pills.
Jan 5, 2012
Jan 5, 2012 at 2:37 AM UTC
choking on the words that wouldn't let you be.
everyone tried to show you, even me.
biting your fingers and twisting your hair,
it wont make it easier.
not one bit, i swear.
stubborn, even stuck.
do you ever wonder whats with your twisted luck?
reaching out for a helping hand,
you're down on your knees.
the pressure wont let you stand.
your chest tightens and you begin to lose the ability to see.
you think to yourself "i can't be okay, this isn't me".
you long for that pill,
it makes you feel alright.
it gives you the guts to walk alone at night.
the man made medicine floats through the veins in your skin.
the excruciating experience is just about over.
so when your tongue unties and you can focus,
just promise me one thing.
promise me it wont take you,
promise you wont let it win.
-dh
Oct 21, 2014
Oct 21, 2014 at 11:56 PM UTC
Bright shining light in the darkness of night;
Shapeless transcendence comes billowing out,
Filling my head with six figures of peace.
What could I call you, if your name's my own?
Tracing the silence and words leading home,
I stepped out the door and wandered alone.
But this bright shining light in the farness of sight
Unties my wings so my thoughts can take flight
And beckons me on with dreams ever more.
What could I call you if my thoughts didn't soar?
Facing the waters, embracing the shore,
I stepped off the moor and wandered alone.
But this bright shining light on the horizon,
I beg you to tell me who I am
for then I may know who you are.
Feb 7, 2012
Feb 7, 2012 at 10:27 PM UTC
‘Why’ yawps and whines in the corridor, dim
lights paving ceilings to greater unkindnesses;
Greater unknowns fester in cigarette smoke,
And always in dwindling moonlight . What do you
Suppose of yourself? Is it to be, or not
Until men in hats set your sad sky aflame?
The sunset stains you, you’re frittered and worn,
Deluged in the spirits of seventeen.
The night unties the laces of school kids
And you lie in your idle sheets of euphoria
To ignore, or simply not to know.
Where did you go
When you said you don’t know, in sheets shrouding school kids
and their shoelaces all soaked with the sap
Of seventeen, sunset coloured in daylight
Beckoned by men in hats asking rudely of
Scathed suppositions and how they might sound
When the moon is seen blushing in thieving late hours
Catching cigarettes with fading lungs in its glow,
And the greater unknowns which prey on us all;
At the end of poorly lit corridors, asking why.
Apr 2, 2018
Apr 2, 2018 at 7:26 PM UTC
Sometimes I feel like I’m in a vat of molasses,
Stuck,
Unable to move,
But on the outside I’m still moving,
Smiling,
Laughing,
Hiding,
Lying,
And sometimes I feel like I’m stuck in the shadows,
Tied down,
Kept in an unending circle of thoughts,
Forced to relive my darkest moments,
Hearing the words said to me by others,
‘Freak,’
‘Ugly,’
‘Idiot, ‘
‘Stupid,’
‘Shut up!’
‘No one cares!’
‘Why should I listen to you?’
******
****** *****
‘Yeah, so?’
‘Was I talking to you?’
‘Go away!’
‘We don’t want you here!’
‘Go somewhere else!’
And after a while new ones are added, ones said by my own brain to me,
I’m a freak,
I’m a good for nothing,
I’m a loser,
I’m never going to amount to anything,
I’m Hideous,
If I’m not carful they’ll know I’m weird and tell me to leave,
Who cares what I have to say?
I’m worthless,
My writing’s s**t,
I’m fat,
I’m weak,
I should have run farther,
Look at me, can’t even do a pull up,
And sometimes I feel so wrapped up in those thoughts that I can’t even breathe,
Can’t pull myself out,
Can’t look up,
Can’t get out of the shadows,
Can’t see the light,
I feel so lonely,
Too caught up in the looks others give me to see the smiles of my friends,
Sometimes I feel like I’m caught in the dark,
Sometimes I feel like the shadows will consume me,
Sometimes I need someone to pass me a torch to beat off the shadows and ward off the darkness,
Sometimes I need someone to pull me out of the vat of molasses,
Sometimes I need someone to see past the smiles,
Sometimes I need someone to see the girl tied down in the shadows,
Sometimes I need someone to untie me,
Sometimes I need someone to break the circle of thoughts,
Sometimes I need someone to wave away my darkest moments,
Sometimes I need someone to combat what others and myself say,
To say that I’m worth it,
I’ll succeed,
I’m beautiful,
That they will never leave,
I belong here,
Don’t go,
Stay,
We’ll never make you leave,
What do you think?
You’re worth something,
Your writing’s great,
You’re strong,
Other times when I’m in the light,
I see those who are in the shadows,
And then I’m the one who beats off the shadows,
I’m the one who passes the torch,
I’m the one who wards off the darkness,
I’m the one who pulls them out of the vat of molasses,
I’m the one who sees past the smiles,
I’m the one who unties them,
I’m the one who breaks the circle of thoughts,
I’m the one who combats the words,
I’m the one who offers companionship,
I’m the one who gives the encouraging words,
I’m the one who helps,
I’m the one who saves a life.
May 20, 2014
May 20, 2014 at 5:36 PM UTC
Diamond pitched dark to black
The milky way is never exact
Paper smiles and fielded dreams
The stars will need the moon it seems
Cap shifted left to block the ray
Heat hits the hand all the same
One, two, and three make home
All the Angels feel alone
The Devil sits upon the mound
Shoulder sore from pleasing the crowd
Nine a measure of lined up time
Not long enough when the score unties.
Jun 25, 2014
Jun 25, 2014 at 6:23 PM UTC
Hitting the dirt
Again and he spins
Averts the impossible
Loses but then he wins
Taking the swings
With the pauses
And the misses with the hits
Always minds his causes
And takes the chunks with the bits
Out and about
He's a man for all people
They scream and they shout
But he's no feeble
Minded trickster with those
Lying sleeves and words
He's the one they chose
He's not just for the birds
No - he don't subscribe to the herd
When it's all said and done
And he unties his laces
He says he's had fun
Open and closing cases
Taking and stealing bases
Like it's just part of his day
Running and gone with no traces
It's not about the pay
No - no, just part of the day
May 12, 2014
May 12, 2014 at 6:24 PM UTC
A hostel, somewhere in Gangnam.
It was around 10, possibly 11
hot chicken in a box, and a man holding it.
A small man
thin shouldered, narrow faced
chicken *****
He wore a light green vest or
rather, it wore him.
And each leg being 10 kilograms
each wing, about 8
and upon later inspection, there were
5 legs and 3 wings thus
74 kilograms, plus the box, then
76 kilograms and that
that
was the weight of his world, which he carried.
...
Her name is Soo-Ae, he said.
She is in the first grade and
can tie her shoelaces,
all
by herself
Ding,
the elevator.
The chicken stepped inside, and
so did the man.
Her name is Min-Ju, he said.
She graduated 3 years later,
but I waited.
For her, I could’ve waited
3 hundred.
…
(Room 3 hundred three, right?)
(Yes.)
3 hundred,
3 hundred one,
two, and
three.
...
But sometimes,
just sometimes, you see,
shoelaces can tangle badly
like umbilical cords
I’m sorry,
Doctor Lee had said as he
held her hands, shaking
hands shaking hands, shaking
Poor Min-Ju, he said.
Poor Soo-han, he said.
…
(Beer?)
(Uhm. Any green stuff?)
(Yes.)
(Thank you.)
(Here, I’ll
pour you.)
(Thank you.)
…
Most of the time,
Soo-Ae unties them herself,
or asks me like,
like
Appa?
swig
(one.)
but did you know, he asked
that the moment that a father gets depressed
is not the moment that he realizes
he cannot do it,
but is the moment that he realizes he must tell his
daughter
that he cannot do it,
and watch, helpless, as half the lights in her eyes
flicker and
die out.
swig
(two.)
Poor Soo-Ae, he said.
Poor Min-Ju, he said.
Poor Soo-han, he said.
(Pour me.
yes
that’s good.)
…
And
and when your hands start shaking,
like, like
shaking,
they become hard to untie,
those knots.
and everything.
Soo-Ae is no longer in the first grade,
and no longer wears ribbons in her hair.
Sometimes coming home very. late.
Where were you?
**** off, you drunk.
Poor Soo-Ae.
Min-Ju is no longer three years younger,
And stays in bed, staring years.
Sometimes waking screaming sobbing.
Where is Soo-Han?
I hear him crying, where is he?
Poor Min-Ju.
…
Sometimes, big knots become
smaller, and smaller
and that’s when you know your life is over,
or that it’s time to get
new glasses, at least.
and
the liquor
stopped.
...
Do you know
what happens when a knot
cannot be untied?
he asked
My bleary eyes
went from liquor,
to cup.
And finally,
to my father’s hand.
…
You cut it?
...
No, he said.
...
You keep on trying, whether it takes
three hundred years, or
three hundred and one, or
three hundred and two, or
three hundred and
three.
You keep on
trying.
swig
(three.)
...
And that night, at a hostel
somewhere in Gangnam
my father.
thin shouldered, narrow faced
chicken *****
wore a sad expression,
or rather,
it wore him. my father.
...
My poor,
poor father.
Jan 27, 2018
Jan 27, 2018 at 1:24 AM UTC
Here
she had been
put to music,
candles lit to memory,
the room now empty
lifeless quarters,
dull, ghost-less periphery
Some greater part
of learning wondered,
if each unites
or all unties,
what riches but old rags
were plundered,
if nothing lived
before her eyes
Sep 10, 2020
Sep 10, 2020 at 12:35 PM UTC
THE...DREAM UNTIES...THE WRITING AND/THE/WORDS//JUST FALL /IN/A/SENSELESS/HEAP/AT/MY/FEET. . .
In my dream
I am
everything
not only the ball of thread
unraveling
but Ariadne’s trembling hand
and a frightened Theseus
as the echo of his footsteps
are erased by the silence
that rebounds
from these spiraling walls
until finally
reaching the center
of all this horror
I find that I am
the Minotaur
roaring with fear
and pain and anger and shame
and then I
wake up
words useless words
scattered about my feet
stupid
stupid
as tears.
Dec 18, 2017
Dec 18, 2017 at 7:10 PM UTC
Bummed
picking up the crumbs
People grown numb
all craving green thumbs
No one is abundant as the fed who sits atop
the heaping pile of people who are slowly reaping crops
Separated
wrongly legislated
Segregate and weaken
before unties peaking
Some will see the lies
others live their lives
Without batting eyes
toward a kins demise
Another one who's babbling of peace and unity
cumbersome is life when your unchained untruly free
My eyes were tightly shut
but even then i felt
As if the cards at hand
where incorrect when dealt..
Mar 10, 2017
Mar 10, 2017 at 7:45 PM UTC
Your teeth sink into my flesh,
A knot tying in my stomach.
Clothing is lost,
And despite being in my most vulnerable position,
I trust you completely.
The knot ties tighter,
And tighter.
Burning, stinging, throbbing sensations envelop me,
And soon,
The knot of writhing, wriggles snakes unties,
And pure bliss consumes me.
Apr 20, 2018
Apr 20, 2018 at 7:29 AM UTC