30 Poems in 30 Days

[champagne1982]

3-1-22

Christmas Dresses

Go down to the neighbourhood
by the highway, close
to the school and take a look
at the slightly, shabby ladies
with their seasonal finery.
The dowager wears a glittering
tiara along a snowy eave
and the matron to her right
raises her chin just so
that we can admire the diamonds
draped around her sagging
balustrade. The maiden aunt,
next door, never comfortable
with showy guadiness, pushes
an errant lock behind her ear,
treating the passersby
to a glimpse of shimmering
earrings at the open door. Let
the princesses and the debutantes
shine in the brilliant colours
of modern baubles. The dignified
ladies of uptown merely turn away
and sip sherry with their biscuits
and thank God the grandkids
only visit once a week.

 

[tungtied2u]

2-1

Anti- dote

I saw what you wrote
about how you dote
how you pine
the time you spend weeping
tears like sap seeping
from freshly cut bark
your heart in decay

the sinews of your soul
striated, as you wait
for healing from within
without, your blossom fades
limbs weigh heavy, droop
your crown bows , broken

Wood, that I coud be
your arborist, renew the roots
of your existence, place a poultice
wrap your wound, stop the flow
make the pain go away
I saw what you wrote
let me be your antidote

 

[annaswirls]

2-love-6

save a space
for my poem



here



keep it warm
in case I don't return

 

[tungtied2u]

2-2

Third Saturday, second hands
slow down, deskbound as outside
the big picture window traffic streams
sunshine, blue skies and my day
beckoning me to join it

To distract myself from time's perversion
fool it into fast forward,
I fool with words, for the faster I type
the closer closing time tip toes forth
Fin. Finito. The end.

 

[champagne1982]

3-1-23

I Must Write

In spite of the mud thrown
and the dirt in my eyes
my vision needs to clarify
and my thoughts a solid
bed to rest that I might
express without the vile
spatter that splashes
and sullies all it touches.

I must write to cleanse
the atmosphere I breathe
and the couch I lie down
upon since the dogs
leave fleas behind and I
can't stand the itch.

 

[annaswirls]

2-love-7

Yarn puppet

The saleswoman shows me where
the clear fishing wire
comes unattached here
and here for when the lines become tangled.

Funny, I have been pulling our wires
for years, unable to find a loose end.
I do not even remember how we started

but I do remember the shirt I bought
when we first met. The black clingy one
with a silver ring at the neck.
In the dressing room
I felt sexy again
as I slid my hands
down my waist as if they were yours,
over my hips, up across my breasts.

We promised: no edges,
let the weeds grow
over onto the walk. We promised:
no ties or knots. No wonder
I have yet to be able to weave our story.
Unpackaged, without instructions,
without a marketing plot, no tangle free dancing,
some kind of endless braid.

 

[RhymeFairy]

1~7

He saved me



When the towel
was thrown,
black bells rang out.
Knocked to the mat
as far down, as I could go.

No breathe left to gasp
in relief,
only tears of devastation
trailed down taunt,
withersome cheeks.

Those side stepping
rope riding fiends,
gathered around
double, triple teaming.
Till a loose lipped fairy
spilled her guts.

During this mean time
a helping hand of friendship,
entered the ring. Circling in,
then rounding out a KO
to the opposing team.




(made it just in time me thinks, lol )

 

[tungtied2u]

2-3

Finality

How much he asks
himself does he long for
the warmth of completion
the embrace of a last exhalation

as life passes before his eyes
has he romanticized the inevitable
end of mortality, life slowly ebbing
from limbs once vital and vibrant

now atrophied with age and disuse
his mind more focused on the past
rather than promises of possibility
each day an anti climax

he crawls into bed, shrouds himself
beneath the comfort of closure, prays
as falling lids bring darkness and peace
tomorrow will be a dream

 

[RhymeFairy]

1~8


Momma ...


she worked two jobs, with two children
and never complained. each day
rising before the sun. clothes rushed on
hair disarray, running off to work
another dollar, another day.

bus driver, cook, maid and Mom
seems her work was never done.
more
work than hours, mouths to feed
and bills to pay. so much to do
she would never say.

then late,
late into the night
her cold body slips in bed.
smelling like,
the special of the week.
a weary sigh escaped,
this prayer
her solemn voice shaped.

thank you lord
for my children.
thank you
for the food on the table.
most of all, thank you
for being such a kind
and loving lord.


amen ...

 

[annaswirls]

2-love-8 we used to be something else

painted scrap sculptures
on your lawn
you call yourself "cannibal"

school-girl scapel
dissects another coughed pellet
from under the arborvitae
dried skeleton, fingernails,
eyelashes, silver rings, questions



not done

 

[annaswirls]

2-love-8b ?????????? ? ???????????

?????????? ? ???????????

some days I wish
I could read my spam


rats don't have the greek font, working on it

 

[champagne1982]

3-1-24

Misdirection

The problem with a misogynist
is the mistrust and hate spills
into idiocy and becomes
misanthropy, a self hate
that damages self-control
and respect. Being female,
I daren't criticize the hater
for accusations of misandry
will rise up out of the pool
of testosterone to drown
me out. I love men, I prefer
their company but then again,
I like dogs. Maybe since
both wag their tails.

 

[RhymeFairy]

1~9


carefully creep,
vacuum cleaning swipes
across skin.

accounting
every elevation

of breathe

gasps, moans.

tracking down trails
with each
bite
into pleasures pinch,

pluck.
plucking the erotic aftermath
of spent
space and time ...

 

[tungtied2u]

2-4

Christmas came early
a garland of Harleys, Hondas and Kawasakis
chrome gleaming, headlights beaming
guided by helmeted Santas,
with teddy bear co-pilots
hauling sacks of toys
destined , for children less fortunate

the Santa’s waved
from their two wheeled sleighs
honking their arrival at the crowds
who lined the highway, smiling
while hearts pulsed to the beat
throbbing from the street

Miles of goodwill and warm wishes
washed over the cavalcade
all ages, riders and watchers
joining in homage to the spirit
of three wise men, who journeyed
so many years ago, to offers gifts
in adoration and hope

 

[champagne1982]

3-1-25

The Non-Apology

Dedicated to bullies everywhere, you know who you are.

You realize of course
I was only joking
Your tears should stop
Now
I'm sorry
There
I said I was sorry
Stop crying
Christ
I'm sorry I apologized
You aren't worth it
Stop crying
Please,
C'mon, baby.
Enough already
Stop
Stop!

Stop!

 

[annaswirls]

2-love-9

the sun hides from
the power of night darkness

this is what the moon told us

there is no corner to back us in
send us to
breakfast never happened

 

[RhymeFairy]

1~10



Pillowing clouds of your scent
tantalized, teased me awake. I knew
you were gone, far
far distant. Yet, I could smell,
taste
in the roof of my mouth, like cotton candy
sweet. Melting down
dispensing delectable nips, to an already crazed
sweet tooth.

 

[champagne1982]

3-1-26

The morning after the day before at the gym

I should be at the gym.
I promised my ass the time
to turn into a tight, little
knot at the top of my legs.

I should be pushing weights.
The sculpting of those inner
thighs I see on the blonde-
with-pecs instead of breasts

I envy.

A dirty thought but there
it is, painting me with green
dissatisfaction in my gently,
rounded belly and soft
shoulders; perfect

for a man's head to rest
upon as we lay, replete, hands
laced together in happy
exhaustion after a better cardio
workout than that hard-bodied,
weight-room princess could ever

imagine.

 

[tungtied2u]

2-5

Women are often referred to
as being the fairer sex
yet their leaving often
turns men into wrecks

Where is the justice
in this sad situation
when the words "It's over"
cause such desperation

Who would have believed
that a body's mere presence
when absent would sap
life of it's essence

Or the glow in their eyes
could shine so bright
as to make a sunrise
seem devoid of light

I wrestle each night
with thoughts in my head
in the battle for peace
I once found in my bed

Yes, fairer she was
I was beguiled
but no justice have I
Now my life is a trial

 

[annaswirls]

2-love-10

I don't need you

still I rake the beds
scatter bluebonnet and poppy maybe
painted blankets

we will thaw

 

[champagne1982]

3-1-27

The Collector

He scuttles through the passageway,
crabwise in the narrow space
between the stacks, just beyond
the stench of charnel
and the graves of the innocent.

It is love he mourns.
Their pain, their struggle
to continue, gone
and forgotten with the end
and in the end, we are all

innocent. Dust to ashes;
from these come the bones,
lifted from the dank
remains to build the foundations
of the future.

A high column of calcified
bones becoming stones
and still, he lovingly places
every one for the living
to have a place to stand upon.

 

[tungtied2u]

2-6

I blame my tardiness
on the customer service at HP
(who are sitting in India, hours behind)
and the folks at Circuit City

who gladly sold me
a refurbished laptop
which came to full stop, tonight
(or yesterday or tomorrow in Delhi)

they like to place me on hold
ask me if the weather's cold where I am
have me repeat myself over and over
then record my case history

which nobody seems to read
instead ask for name, rank and serial number
have me repeat myself over and over
like a prisoner of war, customer service captor

life is too short. to spend time repeating
myself, I have poems to write
before midnight. lest I have to start again
tomorrow, I ask for a refund

 

[Angeline]

2-1 My words, lovely words

My words, lovely words O where have you gone?
You're mist, orphaned in the tide of my days
that ebbs on gray streets awash in the dawn
that waves me awake and laughs unvoiced, flays
me with skies that are empty of clouds, wind
that is soundles. Now in time of earning
the bread, of keeping the keys have I sinned
in the absence of muse and the yearning
that pleases hours, but trips up the tongue?
Have I misplaced words? Is the song ended?
Are there yet notes that I don't reach? Unsung
I'm a wounded hummingbird here, suspended
hover that shifts between hope and despair.
My words, lovely words now lost or still there?

 

[champagne1982]

3-1-28

Poison Man

Woe to the man whose every intent is bent
on defending himself. For isn't a life
spent under this stress a ragged cloth
shot full of holes? What is warmed beneath
that shroud? Nothing and nothing
is all he defends, for it isn't about him
at all, at all. No it isn't about him at all.

Cry for the man who keeps banging his head
and can't lie down to sleep. His head
is too soft and the wall is too hard
but he must knock a hole in the argument
to see what's behind. Nothing and nothing
is all he will find, for it isn't about him
at all, at all. No it isn't about him at all.

Pity the man whose fear can't let go of the straw
he holds. He doesn't see the grain in the field
for his hunger denies him the vision to drop
the straw to make room for the wheat. He would
rather starve than accept a loaf. Nothing and nothing
is all he will eat, for it isn't about him
at all, at all. No it isn't about him at all.

 

[tungtied2u]

2-7

I should have stayed in bed
head under pillows, eyes closed
let the day blow by, avoided
the calamity which hit me instead

I flew into a flurry of fury
and spit venom, only to have it
blown back in my face, vitriol
vented, bent back in a hurry

bit me in the ass, knocked me
off my high horse, humbled me
who was so intolerant,
turned a full 180 degrees