Tag: poetry

turbulence (poem 20160509)

crow10 Comments

the earth spins when you speak
i wonder about my weakness
why i can’t excise these
inner ear bones
that twist the world
under my feet
when your mouth opens
when your tongue glides
across your teeth
afterward, after words
i hear rushing blood
river rapids in my head
i think is it my heart
turning on a shaft
a waterwheel churning in my chest
flooding my veins
with turbulence

——

The Daily Post
The Daily Prompt: Chaos
https://dailypost.wordpress.com

on not ruining you (Poem 20160508)

crow6 Comments

i’m always relieved to see you smile
it means that i didn’t ruin you

(this is a song that i sing to myself)

i used to only hum it but i learned the words
so i could write it down
so i could write a chorus
so i could play guitar during a round at camp by a fire
but i never learned guitar
but i hated camp
but there’s not enough money to get me to lead a round
of anything

you are roses freshly and newly bloomed
and i am the mud staining the thorns
the blemish of mildew on the leaves
aphids attaching and draining

and your smile is the fragrance that spins my head
and if my head were to come clean off
it would sing my song
and i would not regret it

twilight (Poem 20160507)

crow6 Comments

we joke about it
you want me to murder you
but you insist it not hurt
and i tell you that
if it ever came down to it
i would follow soon after

i think too much about it
maybe this is why i don’t have friends

painless leaves few options
maybe pills for you
just a gentle falling asleep
or a squeeze of the iv bag
some extra morphine
like i always imagined i’d
have to do for someone else
like i would hope someone
would have the sense to do
for me

but for me, maybe a hose
from the exhaust pipe
through the passenger window
and i could listen to
death cab for cutie on my phone
because that would be ironic

this is why i don’t have friends

eclipse (Poem 20160506)

crow4 Comments

the screen tries to hold my focus
but shadows
flicker past catch my eye

ghosts, shades, living fades,
the memory of a wind chime
on a still day

with the right suns
you can mix light and shadow into
crisp edges and soft blue blisters

but these shadows sport human shape
i watch them lengthen and merge
and wait for their whispers

——

The Daily Post
The Daily Prompt: Shadow

useless wings (Poem 20160505)

crow19 Comments

i would make dust devils
if a pair of wings
sprouted from my back
like those pictures of angels
from a kid’s illustrated bible
–you know, the one with blond jesus

ah, those wings, so bright
so electric fluoride white
were they just for show
i don’t remember seeing
the angels fly in those pictures

one image i remember–
flaming sword in hand
staring off at the horizon
not even looking at adam and eve
but ready to set up the hue and cry
as they slunk away in the shadow
of its petrified glowing wings
with shame-shadowed stained faces

or maybe he stared at them
disappointment smeared across his mug
insects trying to steal their way
back into a prison called paradise
or envy since they soared
without wings and without
having to carry that dead weight
around on their backs

——

Jane Dougherty Writes
Poetry challenge #29: Tears

your woods (Poem 20160504)

crow12 Comments

i search the wild place
inside you where you left me
you invited me into your woods
under the pretense of a picnic
i expected sandwiches under
these trees, to serve tea, watch
the sunlight dapple the leaves
but i have become lost inside you
my compass is slag in my hand
stars move about the sky unfixed
where the earth should be hard
it moves like water
caught in some legned or fairy tale
i curse myself for not leaving
a trail of small white stones
and listen in this silence for your voice

——

the secret keeper
Weekly Writing Prompt #35
5 Words: | WOODS | LEGEND | WILD | HARD | SERVE |

shattered voices (Poem 20160503)

crow11 Comments

the angel unfurls its wings
wings of a thousand thousand feathers
each a razor black with blood

they beat
space is cut
voices of shattered glass
fill the air

it turns my way and i am pierced
lacerated by its message
its wings seek my heart
it flays the living flesh
from my bones
leaving no human trace
not even
my name

Open Mic Announcement (Post 20160501)

crow3 Comments

So, I didn’t get a lot of people participating last month for the Open Mic invitation. And then it hit me. It was National Poetry Month and I was asking a bunch of poets who were tirelessly devoting themselves to making words stick to the page just so. What was I thinking? I should have known you’d be far too busy.

So, this is going to be a monthly thing. Each month, I will announce the opportunity for you to participate in the Open Mic. It is not a challenge. There are no rewards except getting to hear me sound ridiculous as I read my own poems (and maybe feel pretty good about how you nailed it.

Participate or I’ll have to post this every week. Every. Week.

——

Here are the steps you need to take:

  1. Record yourself reading one of your own works.
  2. Post it on your site (or Soundcloud or any other audio hosting site).
  3. Include a link to this site in your post
    OR Comment below
    OR or send me a message using the contact form.
  4. I will post a link with your name and poem title RIGHT HERE and on the new Open Mic page (it’s above in the menu).
  5. It’s an open mic invitation. NOT a challenge.

Also, if you can think of a way to improve the format, I’m all ears.

It’s an Elder Gods thing. I wish people wouldn’t stare.

**Hey, two NEW entries! Now we’re talking. Get it? Talking?

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Poet Rummager Counting Sheep
https://poetrummager.wordpress.com/2016/05/01/by-counting-sheep/

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BRH Car Park Blues – Open Mic
https://supazubablog.wordpress.com/2016/05/01/car-park-blues-open-mic/

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Crow on not ruining you–the words
on not ruining you (reading 20160509)

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Poet Rummager Three Haiku Poem: Suck the Poison
https://poetrummager.wordpress.com/2016/05/25/three-haiku-poem-suck-the-poison/