today there is no smog
no hazy skies
the air bitter and cold
handfuls of clouds
hold up the sky
themselves tiny
thin-stretched hands
the sidewalk belongs
to me and my feet
alone aside from drivers
in their shipping trucks
old cars with windows that
stopped rolling up and down
smashed taillights
what might be bullet holes
smoothed over with bondo
even the guys at the
aerospace building
won’t come out and smoke
at the curb today
i make myself walk
faster to warm up
and get the hell off the street
It’s a new year. We’ve all got these feelings still building up inside us like moisture inside a kernel of popcorn If we don’t let them out soon, POP! out insides will be outsides and no amount of butter and salt will make it better.
I’m here for you. The January 2017 Open Mic is now open for you to record your poems/songs/rants/diatribes. But please, no money-making schemes.
The Skinny:
Record yourself reading one of your own works.
Post it on your site.
Include a link to this site in your post.
OR Comment on that month’s call for entries
OR send me a message using the contact form.
I will post a link with your name and poem title RIGHT HERE.
It’s an open mic invitation. NOT a challenge.
Some tips:
Go simple.
I record using my iPhone, then email/share the file with myself. I very rarely edit it, unless I really waited too long to start talking.
Want better quality?
You can get a relatively inexpensive mic on Amazon that you can hook up to your computer. Some of there come with editing software. If I do edit, I use Audacity on the Mac. It’s free and pretty easy to use. There’s a version for Windows, too.
Hosting.
If you pay WordPress to host your site, you can add your audio by clicking on the Add Media button in the post editor. Have the free WordPress? You have options.All of the sites below will let you upload audio. Some will host for free up to a certain amount of storage. (I think with Youtube, you’ll have to upload a movie, but you use a still image and add your poem.)
in the dream, we drive
the radio buzzes
we must be in europe
because you are at the wheel
and you are on my right
you laugh
your smile burns
blindness inducing white
an atomic bomb going off
each time you open your mouth
like a fridge
the door opens
the light comes on
the door closes
the light goes off
inside, when it works,
when it does its job,
it is dark
it is cold
all movement ceases
everything is preserved
especially the rot
i thought there were no more
broken places in me
but as i shifted my weight
i heard the tell-tale
tinkling of shattered glass
the whispering of lacerations
when the sun sinks
birds shed feathers
skin moistening
as they slip into the creek
throats bulge with songs
they cannot contain
each a hymn
each a lullaby
Words and Feathers 