Hey, February is exploding with Open Mic goodness. Head over to the Open Mic Page to hear Pleasant Street’s latest addition. And as always, visit her site. You’ll be better off for it.
Category: Poems
liminal space beneath a rock (20170215)
today i lifted the rock
where as a child
i always found a menagerie
hapless creatures
slugs pillbugs spiders worms
damp in the shade between
their stone sky
and wet earth beneath
their many feet and raw bellies
only dry dust coated
the bottom of the stone
no damp earth, but a hole
carved through the earth
and in it
the sky on the other side
of the world
as if someone had placed
a mirror beneath the rock
but the sky below
held stars other than sun
and placing my hand through
the small opening
i felt ocean spray
on my palm
and no distance between here
and there
Today’s Open Mic
Why, it’s from me! It’s the third most popular poem from my site last (according to WordPress stats) and it’s oddly appropriate for today’s date.
Please head over to the February 2017 Open Mic Page with all due haste and suffer through the madness inducing tones of my eldritch vocalizations. And the only cure for such madness is to make your audio offering. After all, ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!
conversing heart (20170214)
you are an
explosion of blood
in my chest
you the flames licking
at the bones of my ribs
whoever painted cupid
as an insipid
arrow aiming toddler
was never in love
you are a piston
in my heart
keeping me alive
giving that four-chambered muscle
a reason to contract
——
revenant (20170213)
this is how we find us
broken open
like the head of a fine
china doll
this space between
this silence a ghost
of words
this silence a slow fade
of smiles
a spectral liminal shade
we touch
the sound of yellowed paper
rustling
——
germination (20170212)
i grow a forest sapling by sapling
shade loving and rough barked
while leaves turn upward seeking light
the roots
demand darkness
the roots
feed the tree
driving into the earth
drinking its life
its undulating fingers writhe
in the fecund loam
strangling the living and the dead
this is what makes the tree blossom
this is what produces the bounty of fruit
the juice that runs down your chin
the soft sweet flesh between your teeth
the satisfied smile when you spit out the seeds
fireborn (20170211)
the tip of an index
smooth it with your finger
make the seam disappear
make the seeming disappear
this struggling, squirming babe
birthed in this moment
how long did it wait in a belly
or did it spring
like a migraine
from your head
hide the evidence of your
fingerprints
and cast it in the fire
sinking (20170210)
we swim in dark waters
under storm-black skies
the sound of waves
disguising the direction
of land
sightless
we grasp buoys and anchors
with our hands
unable to discern them
from one another
under the water
there is no sky
and you must sink
to stand again
this is the way
this is the way
this is the way
Hot Stuff Coming Through!
And now we’ve got a lovely little 50 words story of what you get when you play with fire from Poet Rummager. Visit her site and check out all of the golden voices who’ve contributed this month on the February 2017 Open Mic Page.
soundtrack (20170209)
i’ve been skipping
through my music
one song after another
arranged like a handful
of thrown dice
waiting for the right chord
i wish i could play
an instrument
but i hate practicing
did you see the ending
to my movie
the real ending
not that crap they
played in the theaters
or on tv
there was no heroic victory
no parade
instead
a meteor crashed into my chest
you can only see it
on the director’s cut
special limited edition
blue-ray release
i’m sorry
it’s only available
in new zealand
for some reason
at some point
i start hearing the same
songs and wonder
if i missed something
