the scar is where the word got in
digging like the worm that it is
lacking but one letter for such a metamorphosis
single-toothed it found fertile ground and began to feed
to breed, a heart sized parasite
scar, i name thee trust
——
Tag: weekly
fifty (20160929)
for syllables and rhymes i wrack my brain
i took up this challenge–must be insane
were forty-nine poems all just to train
my poet’s fingers? well, if it’s a strain
it’s worth it since it’s for you, my dear jane
oh. moon
——
eden in fair weather (20160820)
this garden fruit and soft summer colors
you come to me in the shade
world relaxed, murmurs of
bees and no lonely blossoms
though soon gentle eden will know
wild wind, wet rain, winter frost
——
everybody’s happy (20160819)
these rooms overflow, voices ringing with laughter
i too let my voice, a small bell, ring with laughter
but it’s false and hollow in my ears, fakery
of the worst kind. they watch me, ringing with laughter
because they see inside, they smell the rot of me
their noses wrinkle, their throats catch, stifled laughter
ah, if only i could slip away unseen now
then they could resume, a profound choir of laughter
but i stay where i am, eyes on my back, my neck
cadaver cold, waiting for the end of laughter
——
my feet on the roof, off the ground (20160714)
Marc Chagall [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
lemon
night sky floating
decapitated head
sing and i’ll dance right off this roof
and down
your song
doesn’t interest the cat at all
but my love dances too
past earth’s long curve
to me
——
for
Jane Dougherty Writes
Poetry challenge #39: Sleep walking
the coldness of the moon (20160711)
the feelings appear
like a sudden moon
shining in the night sky
darkness ripped away all at once
but the stars are so small
and so very far away
far away from me
far away from each other
i will own this sadness
though it’s not authentic
this melancholy that turns
like a record in a jukebox
that spreads its roots
like a tree growing
from my chest, bursting through
bones and sinew
i will carry it
because letting go is cowardice
and facing it is cowardice
and writing this is cowardice
—–
for
the secret keeper
Weekly Writing Prompt #45
OWN | TURN | SHINE | TREE | STAR
a long time ago (20160710)
my pulse dances in your veins
no small victory for me
knowing that i once moved you to wonder
to see more than obscuring clouds
more than the blinding sun in the sky
mukashimukashi, i saw the heavens part
and though the angels were not visible
i felt their eyes upon me, reducing
my organs to ashes
i hold them out to you now
——
for
the secret keeper
Weekly Writing Prompt #44
MOVE | SMALL | WONDER | DANCE | PART
look (20160709)
my ugly language
a symphony
like an enormous moaning ache
mother dream skins me
crushes me smooth
a shadow’s sweat
my tongue whispers still
watch
——
norns (20160703)
the woman sits at the loom
thread in her hands
she measures a cord
an arm’s length equal to
the length of a man’s life
if she coughs
or bored, looks out the window
as she pulls the skein
the measurement
might lack
if she sings freely
a song that makes her smile
or remembers a boy lost
to all but memory
she may add an extra span
she adds no knots
weaves no pattern
that task goes to
a sister already tangling
measured threads
the pattern and the knots
disguise the true length
hiding years, hiding dead ends
hiding where the third sister
kissed it with her blade
——
for
the secret keeper
Weekly Writing Prompt #43
SONG | WOMAN | FREE | NO | LOST
antique lions (20160622)
the light is gone, replaced by gloom
cold water laps my feet unseen
by all but keenest twilight eyes
i linger long before your tomb
antique lions patinaed green
my sole companions of great size
i wait here with them for my doom
above the darkness grows between
the stars wink out so many lies
you said you’d wait while pale you grew
i’ve killed this world to join with you
——
for
Jane Dougherty Writes
Poetry challenge #36: Drowning leaves/trilonnet
First line: The light is gone…
Words and Feathers 