all of a sudden passion suddenly

[ghost_girl]

if you had the choice

before that conjoining
of egg and sperm
into zygote, into human
with blood and a soul

if God had asked you
"Son, or daughter,
I give you the choice"

ould you be here?
would you have been born
knowing what you know
the pain, th trouble
the problems you might have
to paddle through

would you be here?
would you want another chance
would change make any matter
if you had a choice in the matter

would your answer be-
I choose this life, this spark
I choose it to be
this gift of life breathed into me
or would you answer-
let this soul fly elsewhere
let some other being, be

this time, this existance
might seem so hard
futile and unforgiving
but regardless of the outcome
if God had asked of me
I would be grateful
for the chance He gave
to be simply me

 

[ghost_girl]

another possum poem

in the old house we had a wood stove
theh stove pipe angled to the celiing
and late at night mama cooked scorched potatoes
daddy hated the smell and would cuss
said they stunk so she only cooked them
on the nights when he played poker

I was four, and the rain was pouring,
pounding the tin roof all night,
I remember hearing hoot owls
then I heard mama yell-
Dear God, what in the world
and then the sound of the broom
against the stovepipe rattled the house

theres a damned possum in the stove
mama whspered. at first she was gonna kill it
but it was just so cute,
she stood by my bed,an oil lamp lit
beside her.

we tiptoed into the kitchen,
possum had wriggled free
and was feasting on raw potatoes
we both held our breath
as possum finished her snack
then mama shooed her out the back door
with her straw broom.

mama was up early, I remember her crying
down by the ditch where the Queen Annes lace
grew thick, she had a shovel
and no shoes on, digging in the red dirt
she made a cross from a stick

she never told me, and I never asked
there were never anymore possums in our stove
as far as I know, and mama never made
scorched potatoes on poker night again

 

[flyguy69]

You’d love me better were I a man.

All these sallow-sweet letters you could believe
I might be writing them to you. Ambiguity
without mention of your moniker. You could be my lover.
The shape of any woman’s feet could be my muse.
Her fingers in my mouth, like chilled grapes. The architecture
of her back would bring a lesser Raphael to weeping. Such
is her manner: perfumed curves, wanton wrists. To have her,
slight and slim. To keep her, hopeless.
When the numbers sway heavy to the feminine,
it’s either this or be gay.

Don't I love you
good enough, baby? Back bent
for the labor of you. I'm at the rock
when the cock cries
lover! and I'm pushing
my way to 5, lifting these words
these heavy words
from bottom to top.
I'm Paul Bunyan's axe, John Henry's
hammer, working
the world into a better shape.
When I bring it all home
I'm Atlas with an oyster,
a four-chambered gift
on my shoulders.

 

[champagne1982]

beyond the craters of the moon

A stardark glimmer of anti-energy
waits to glint off the hot edge
of an icy comet's vaporizing tail
and be validated in the scream
of a quasar beam xray and gamma
careening through vacuum
only to slam against that invisible
ozone layer which is much harder
than it looks and more fragile
like the sea-- broken at a man's
touch; ruined by indifference.

 

[4degrees]

suddenly
wind whipped and long fingers
twining a twist of fate
a nail in a coffin
more pine than is proper
as usual
enough sap to glue us together
in an ever manner
if you only knew.

 

[RhymeFairy]

if only you knew
each word spoken was a caress
a taste of my heart, shaped
shined
to honor and respect. showcase
my desire for more of what I knew
I could not have. the forbidden
fruit whose taste always will tempt
tease this sinner
to want more. if only
you knew ...

 

[sugarmountain]

the fruit hung high up in the tree
ripe and red and round
how mightly it tempted thee
from high above the ground

is it worth the risk you asked
to taste this luscious fruit
do I feel up to the task
to up the tree trunk scoot

am I worthy to partake
of nature's sweet abundance
or fated not to ever slate
this thirst if not in chance

perhaps I will pretend to pass
as if I have forgotten
then one day it will fall at last
((by then it may be rotten)

a breeze may blow it from the bough
while you stay on the soil
only to find it's full of worms
the juicy meat has spoiled

don't miss this opportunity
to grab so grand a prize
risk the scrapes and bruises
while its before your eyes

 

[Maria2394]

down time

there were clean sheets spread crisp
before the door had coupled with the hinge
on your way out

hands restrained by recent conversation
managed their way into the lace
obscured by sullen tones

and they dance, lke you never could
knees and valleys, so cliche, skin
that could be our own

sewn into oblivion by lust, a craving
for your tongue
upon my scarlet throne

what use is a man when the lights
wont come on, and his hands
are bound, imperfect, unsewn

i could knit you into a sweater
wear you upon my glistening breast,
a careless tug upon a loosened thread

you come unraveled, I am gone

 

[flyguy69]

::

Tan lines

Through thick glass I took you
in binocular view, remote.
I loved you in pieces: the blue
bikini, the beads of sweat
on your belly, the flaking paint
on your many ends. I mapped
each mole and moved with sure strides
from your lifted chin to the shimmering mound
of your cunt. Was it my lashes
on your throat that made your lips
part? Or did you feel my eyes
thrust into you as you slumped
on a summer chair? As you gathered light
I pulled you, lens first, to my thirsting
tongue. Later, I poured lemonade
and you shaded your eyes
when I said “darling.”

::

 

[vampiredust]

Watching A Boatwright Repair My Father's Boat

A blind man repaired you. You
could feel his hands running
across your fattened wooden
belly, feeling every dip and turn
in your landscape. You groaned

as he reached inside your skin,
hands scraping against bleached
bones. He would mark points on
you, creating a constellation you'd
never be able to see. As he cut

through your body,you became numb;
as if you had you had watched life
though a pinhole camera and a curtain
was slowly covering your eyes, never
coming back up.

 

[cherries_on_snow]

humanity

an elephant's foot pad
is the most sensitive part
the part it uses to
affirm its dead

the mother delicately lifts her foot
over the baby, hovering
just above his dying body
over his body, feeling for breath

the foot passes over the body
and over
disbelieving passing again
over the body then stumbling away
literally stricken with grief.

the mournful cry is not a trumpet
but a woody thin wail universally
recognized by all mothers, all species

the elephants halt their journey
stay with the body
and mourn for three days

before covering it with dust and leaving it behind

 

[RhymeFairy]

confusion breeds disillusionment.
disillusioned by the pedestal I sat upon
for I could do no wrong. your rose
colored glasses have slipped, now
you see before you, a true bitch
in the making. for a touch
a word whispered brought pure
sweet emotion. a love that grew
and was like no other. now this woman
this love
has slipped, fallen from her majestic
chair. been placed upon the serving
block showing goods to all, or so
you think. take a look
she is the same, only changed
by the air pressure from being
uplifted to the heavenly heights
of love. for who can stay the same
when fallen from grace ...

 

[vampiredust]

Probably

Probably
have a thing
for blue eyes
he said, ignoring
the wasp stings
bubbling on his
skin. Probably
appeared when
he was gardening
in his journal, didn't
watch where he put
his tongue. Or his lips
for that matter

 

[vampiredust]

The First Cigarette Is Always The Hardest

Nobody taught him how
to smoke a cigarette. He
picked it, thinking he could
use it like a pencil; sketching
the outline of his lips with its
cork coloured tip. He started

to suck it as he fumbled with
the lighter, ignoring the boys
mocking batting eyelids. They
had placed bets with each other,
thinking, almost knowing, that
he would fail. The tip burnt,

glowing brightly as half damp
coals. He swallowed the smoke
that filled his half-empty lungs
thinking that the rite had been
completed. Exhaling premature
smoke, he coughed and fell.

 

[vampiredust]

Think of a word
the professor said
and imagine everything
associated with it. You
chose love. I'm not
sure why. Thinking of
hearts made you breathe
deeper. That never happened
with me. You pictured kitsch,
I pictured a human heart
dead in its surgical womb.

 

[vampiredust]

Receiving An Instant Message

you lacked velocity
when you fell down
the computer screen,
your syllables bumping
up and down, up and down,
on the feather gliding
to its resting place - Me

 

[Many Feathers]

thoughts

I should have walked away,
That first day we sat and talked,

Instead I came to know the woman you’d become,
Even so…I should have walked away.

I should have walked away,
When our lips soon met,

When I saw the twinkle in your eyes, and the spirit that was you.
Still…I should have walked away.


I should have walked away,
And had I known the pain of losing you,

And though the pleasures we shared beyond any I have ever known,
Even so…I should have walked away.

I should have walked away,
That night I painted your portrait in my soul,

And though the memory still lingers even now,
I should have walked away.


I should have walked away,
Had I known I would come to love you as I did,

Knowing even then your love would never be,
I should have walked away.

I should have walked away,
I should have known this day would come.

I should have known I would one day feel this loss, this pain,
I should have walked away.

I should have, but I couldn’t.
I couldn't until you walked away.

 

[Tzara]

Overblaak

Cubist tulips,
yellow on brown brick
stalks—
clumped dense grove.

We watch
bipedal thin ants
climb
in the blossoms.

Cooking smells
drift
on the swift air
over black.

And
a huge white brush
for the dishes.

 

[RhymeFairy]

I should have walked away,
That first day we sat and talked,

Instead I came to know the woman you’d become,
Even so…I should have walked away.

I should have walked away,
When our lips soon met,

When I saw the twinkle in your eyes, and the spirit that was you.
Still…I should have walked away.


I should have walked away,
And had I known the pain of losing you,

And though the pleasures we shared beyond any I have ever known,
Even so…I should have walked away.

I should have walked away,
That night I painted your portrait in my soul,

And though the memory still lingers even now,
I should have walked away.


I should have walked away,
Had I known I would come to love you as I did,

Knowing even then your love would never be,
I should have walked away.

I should have walked away,
I should have known this day would come.

I should have known I would one day feel this loss, this pain,
I should have walked away.

I should have, but I couldn’t.
I couldn't until you walked away.

i should have walked away
not stayed
and talked, spoke of past
experiences, get lost
in your eyes of green. they lured
me in. cast a spell of mother
may I ... please. games you see
I was not aware of the playing field,
not *in on the scoop. instead
you wove me in your warm cocoon
of I am your man, stay awhile,
see where this might lead. let us
travel this road together
strike, while the iron is hot.
only it flamed too fast,
scalded the childlike
fingers that reached out.
yes, I should have
walked away,
then the feel of what love could be
would not stay in this heart
and burn me day after
day ...

 

[Many Feathers]

Shared thoughts

Last night while I painted you



Before I even touched you
I painted a picture of you in my mind.
The canvas was soft…pure
Just as you were

The lines I drew
Followed the curves of your soul
My brush was fine, light…caressing
Just as my eyes caressed, seeing your perfection

As the image of your flesh burned into my thoughts
I saw the beauty of the portrait that was you
Lying there beneath me, below me as though I was floating
Painting you…painting you with my heart, my mind…my flesh

Finally touching, my strokes initially erratic…
Nervousness, excitement, arousal…all the colors of emotion
Blending finally together
Painting you, painting what I saw, felt…came to know

In the only way that I could
Together, becoming the canvas
Becoming the image, two bodies touching
Flesh alive, melding together in ecstasy.

You were
A masterpiece

 

[TheRainMan]

Lake George and Places I Can’t Explain


Each night I would wait until the scoutmasters
were sleeping, the other tenderfoots
balled inside their sleeping bags and dreams—

and when I walked alone through the lake wind,
past the lean-tos and titled outhouses
and off into the woods, I always thought—

I am in a strange and wonderful place
I’ll never be able to explain.
Anything is possible—unicorns,
the risen bones of Indians, little blondes
who kiss me quick under a square green moon.

Every summer I return to the lake,
to that midnight ritual, to search
for the remnants of my worship. Night
does not invite a man in like it does a boy,

dangling beautiful territories like bait:
stars you can touch and slide around,
bushes shaped like painted braves,
the girls of your wide-eyed dreams—

and I do not ask for any of that—

since then I’ve been where it’s mean, where
a man can become everything he hates.
And there’s no getting at that either,
with the words I know—

I simply crash its gates to visit my secrets.
I make sure no one sees me do it—magic
happens best when no one else is watching.

And I pass from now to then, to those
far off nights and mornings
when I was simple and nothing changed,

when I heard a music so pure it lived
in my feet, when each constellation came
and disappeared on time
with its own light, its own myth,
its own soft way of saying goodbye.

 

[Tzara]

Snelltrein

Across the aisle,
features calm
as a pancake, sits

a cleft-chinned
porcelain doll.
She eats

a cheese sandwich,
placid as the cow
whose curdled milk

sits yellow in the bread.
The rain has stopped
and here is Delft.

 

[vampiredust]

Reincarnation For Beginners

Rain zig zags
across the
windowpane,
leaving a trail
for your paws
to follow. You
want to catch
the raindrops
on your tongue
just as you did
when you were
a boy; but they
won't let you out.

 

[vampiredust]

You wanted sushi. Your pda
wanted to browse for files
in the local shops. You said
he was insecure and stormed

off, deliberately avoiding putting
him in his pouch. You wanted
him to feel scratched, to see
that fragile glass skin cracked

so you would never be able
to see your own life unravel.

 

[vampiredust]

Boys need fathers,
Mother said. I
wanted to seal him
in a box marked
RETURN TO SENDER