all of a sudden passion suddenly

[Angeline]

The day broke over your eyes, fluttered near
thick lashed, the iris leaf circled in bark.
I smiled upon your mouth full laughing, dear
kissing the blood of lips against the spark
of dawn. This is how we wake, and thus begin
anew the path leading away from then
and how it was and what will be to win
nothing from her or him but start again,
believe that something pure can be exchanged
within the breath of hope awakened now
in battered souls that here are rearranged
from what once was, reshaped by questions, how
love, do we know which way to go or be?
It matters not; our world is rich. Wait. See.

 

[tarablackwood22]

The day broke over your eyes, fluttered near
thick lashed, the iris leaf circled in bark.
I smiled upon your mouth full laughing, dear
kissing the blood of lips against the spark
of dawn. This is how we wake, and thus begin
anew the path leading away from then
and how it was and what will be to win
nothing from her or him but start again,
believe that something pure can be exchanged
within the breath of hope awakened now
in battered souls that here are rearranged
from what once was, reshaped by questions, how
love, do we know which way to go or be?
It matters not; our world is rich. Wait. See.

the waking hour comes
and hiding thoughts
is not a choice.

it feeds your eyes
and as you brace, it steals
your lies and pillowcase
to stuff your dreams inside,

and you must walk away
from night
into the light of days
you do not know,
into the rays that do not show
what lurks around a corner
or the thoughts
of those you meet,
all the faces on the streets
of those tomorrows.

you’ve seen the borrowed smiles before,
the miles of eyes
that cry the tears of dreary days
and wish, instead of waiting,
night would come again
to close their eyes
and think
the thoughts that wink at them
across its fading beams.

another day of seems and sameness,
stray and blameless weeping
of so many seeping spirits
trapped by dawn’s emerging light
that might, in other worlds,
have curled its arms around you,
found you sleeping
with your pillow, round
and creeping through your slumber
with your wishes and your dreams.

 

[Angeline]

the waking hour comes
and hiding thoughts
is not a choice.

it feeds your eyes
and as you brace, it steals
your lies and pillowcase
to stuff your dreams inside,

and you must walk away
from night
into the light of days
you do not know,
into the rays that do not show
what lurks around a corner
or the thoughts
of those you meet,
all the faces on the streets
of those tomorrows.

you’ve seen the borrowed smiles before,
the miles of eyes
that cry the tears of dreary days
and wish, instead of waiting,
night would come again
to close their eyes
and think
the thoughts that wink at them
across its fading beams.

another day of seems and sameness,
stray and blameless weeping
of so many seeping spirits
trapped by dawn’s emerging light
that might, in other worlds,
have curled its arms around you,
found you sleeping
with your pillow, round
and creeping through your slumber
with your wishes and your dreams.

The night is tired
when pain of past
suffocates the waking hours
as if all the power
of the world is captured
in the breadth of memory

we cannot see the way
to know if anything is right
when what was once
emerges from the years
of doing what they said
you should when trying
seemed a barker's game
toss a wooden hoop
like hope onto a dream
that never fits

all the way not enough
to win the big prize
just a token in the hands
reality a gimcrack consolation
second best you punch
the pillow needing something
maybe only rest to rock you
through the ticking until dawn

it matters not

belief is not the dreaming
change is simply
moving on

 

[tungtied2u]

Day or night makes no difference
only indifference to the path I walk
passing through both time
and time again long ago
having lost the compass
pointing to providence
escape from here is impossible
dawn to dusk
wrapped in endless loop
resembling a hangman’s noose
only awaiting my acquiescence
how many time’s must I
like Sysyphus put shoulder to stone
toil to push this load up hill
despite my weariness
and it’s weight
only to have it roll back down
when nearly at the top
rock and spirit reach nadir
a rope to hold my tired head
seems welcome

 

[Maria2394]

yesterday was Daddy’s birthday
I didn’t forget even though it’s been
three birthdays so far, that he has been gone
and he liked to have a thanksgiving dinner
on July thirty-first, I spoiled him, hoping
he would notice and maybe spoil me
just a little bit, in return but

it never really happened, someone in my family
was always at war, sisters with mama,
mama and daddy still fought
even after the divorce that never ended, then
brother and two sisters at war with me
and I wasn’t even fighting,

I remained the pacifist, wanted to be
a peace maker and work at as a translator
but I couldnt even understand my own family
and most people are not ever aware, acutely
as their dreams slip away , an unintended tide
of hope and wishes and childhood dreams
washing out to sea, that must be what happened
with me, and eventually

the time came when I told myself
it was time to stop dreaming,
we are all born, we live, we die and perhaps
someone will remember something,
just one thing we may have said or done,
I had thirty-eight years with daddy and the
night he died was the first time
he made me feel loved

now I can recognize that some things like love
and trust must be cultivated, like flowers,
or crops or children, I guess he didn’t know
but I think I always did, and at least one of us tried
and in the end, neither of us failed
cause daddy said he loved me
the night he died,
and the important thing about it was-
I didn’t have to say it first

 

[perks]

sometimes I sit here
and wiggle my fingers
across letters that
don't exist as words

and the little one
on my right hand
enters all my images
into black and white

classic, you say?
crisp clean shades of gray
and white with a black
stuccato and the scent
of well,
I can never remember
the name of that particular
flower

but it falls
one petal at a time
until you see
my truths
perfuming each
page

 

[WickedEve]

I had seven
maybe eight
poems in my head
ready to pen
but africa and cowboys got in the way

and there was big papa's mattresses
and guess where my mind bedded

on springs of squeaking love
with my big daddy

mamma rolled her eyes
and sped my hot car
across the virginia line

she wants a will before I jet
"think about the kids"

planes crash
big daddies thrash

and the fair was a smash
'cept that kiss in my hair
no more kisses
I have papers!

but no poems
they're gone from my head

 

[Eleanora Day]

Spank me, mi loco. Yo soy su mala muchacha. Si.
Run your hands around the curves of hip and tap,
laughing. Pull yourself hard. Bruise your mouth on me

and whisper Who’s the bitch, now? Tiny slap
reddens, laps, never really sting, mi amo. Night is near
as skin dimpled with shake and giggle, not a trap--

no pain. This is a rain of love. There is no fear
in stormy lovers’ games. Touch me dulce uno, turn,
y sea mi mujer. Who’s the bitch now, dear?

Te amo tranquilo o salvaje. Calm or wild, burn
into me. Dígalo! Now!, Amante, Now! Gasp,
groan, smile and moan. Poco a poco we learn

otros thrill, the power of our single breath, the rasp
of falling sibilence in looming moonlight’s tender grasp.

 

[Maria2394]

I am the cricket, for wicked eve

was it you, oh size five foot
stomping across the kitchen floor
as I played for you a midnight song
harpooning your silence with crickety
rickety song, oh let me soar
into your closet, broom and dustpan
no match for me,
and should you sweep me into a corner
I will sing anyway

of yesterdays distant, and not yet formed
of memories youve buried
or drowned with chloroform
step upon my fragile body, expelling song
into puddle of green on your nice pine scented
linoleum floor

 

[Angeline]

Twilight shadows the nursery,
darkness drapes the room.

The fire licking at the grate
steals lurid glances at her,
frozen en pointe, neck curved
just so, lashes drawn fine
against the swell of cheek,
and still, all still by the flame

of the steadfast soldier's dusty gaze,
his rigid stance, gunmetal posture
at odds with longing
for her eyes to open just once,
once to see his attention,
guarding her cold countenance,
the ice of her silence delicate,
and empty as her hollow fragility,
painted to the thin pink twist
of her smile, arch-seraphic.

Does her glass heart move at all?

Tin melts. He will fall
in love, helpless, hapless
bravery will fall against the flame,
the fire will claim all of him,
and she alone, unmoved.

 

[tungtied2u]

They lie in the shadows
of darkened storefronts
and dead end alleys
the downtrodden
crumpled up and discarded
like yesterdays news
pushed hard against the wall
by societ's disavowal
held firm at arm 's length
hand to throat
choking off the breath of hope

 

[Angeline]

In my dream,
I sat on your knee.
You smiled, widened
your eyes at me,
that way you do
when you first
wake up.

Your hand rested
on my knee. You said
I'm a civil engineer
and I giggled, said
No, you're not,
you're a fish.
You giggled, said
Blub,
and we kissed.
It was warm there
in your arms. Safe.
I was wearing
your hat.

 

[tungtied2u]

neck cracks
popping stresses beat
bop
bop bop bop
bop
shoulders taut
like snare drums skin
bop bop
bop bop bop bop
out of time
out of reach
fluidity and flow
bop
bop
movement
makes it crack again
bop bop
bop bop
pop

 

[tarablackwood22]

rose of late autumn

quick white arrived
the day before,
my girl
too trapped in a cage
of tears to walk
into my valley.
but I know she will come,
as she always comes,
rolling and laughing
over yellow hills,
so I bend, seek shelter
from the cold white weep
of dead October, looking
for a child and the sun.
I was meant for her hand,
for the pane that sees
her lake and shields her eyes,
crying with her to the water,
not for this wrinkling, waiting
for a savior,
skin of frozen crimson falling
with the flakes.
how do I reconcile my thorns
in a world of accidents,
in a game of lonely windows
and early snow?

 

[Maria2394]

released by Him
a grip from too far away
too tight, not tight enough but
we both held on and relived
our old pain and wishes over
and over until they became muted
prisoners of "what the hell were we thinking?"

and the he whispered to me
that I was free and the words
didnt drop me,
the world did not stop spinning

as he is now my friend
after 4 years,nothing left to prove
except that we were meant to be
what and who we are
we share a space
separate because of time

and this new found freedom
feels like a hug,
not betrayal or scorn
everything is easier
when you know you are loved

for rick

 

[echoes_s]

the storm

rain pattered
against hardened pain,
tiny feet from the past,
heartbeat memories,
wrapped warmth
wrenched from deep
too brief to breathe,
frozen fear shivered,
resumed

clashing thunder collides
with lucent transom,
buried placement,
convulsions threaten
shattered assumed serenity
scarred lightning
lacerates and bleeds
wounds thought healed
now weep

 

[No Bagles]

"do you realise just how
fucking
big that is?"

brethless conclusion
contemplation on a cirrus stretch
horizon to horizon
and beyond - most probably
eternal - not possible
but that's the way it feels

for a moment i do

and shrink myself to propotional
dust pebble

stopping my heart
and rational homo diligent
rushing in alarm to fill the void

just a moment
but a moment enough
to once again make me forget

that i should scold
paternally:

"mind your language, son"

and instead

"yes, i know...
fucking
big is what it is"

 

[echoes_s]

the sun shines always
somewhere,
sometimes too deep to feel
warmth,
to see it's smiling peep
of rays upon flesh

always the child
of my heart hangs on
swinging above tree-tops
a piece laughing
as leaves tickled
underneath

landing, i pick
a baby sprout grass
sprinkled with dew
place it between our lips
to share this kiss
a memory anew

the sun shines always
somewhere,
sometimes to deep to feel
but the warmth of you flourishes,
to remind me rays of friendship
shine strongest when weak

 

[eagleyez]

there is a green vapor-
like a reverbing can of tynes
in a muffling soundbox
traveling downriver,
traveling county cross county, a
visible green mist stretched
from sunburn to eardrum
to kneecap to fetus feet,

Harry leans in and says "cut the mystical shit."

No, its just green.
Thats all.

 

[annaswirls]

something in the aire pulls words
tatoo
henna
moon
sun

trying to fing find the connection between the four

it is august
I never knew you in august

springtime swallowed you whole greedy
bitch flowered petaled rain soft soil
called you in
said fiftty springs with those eyes
you have had your share
and
we have prepared youwell

prepared for proper dispersal

through time through time through time

 

[Angeline]

something in the aire pulls words
tatoo
henna
moon
sun

trying to fing find the connection between the four

it is august
I never knew you in august

springtime swallowed you whole greedy
bitch flowered petaled rain soft soil
called you in
said fiftty springs with those eyes
you have had your share
and
we have prepared youwell

prepared for proper dispersal

through time through time through time

Time and time
again those giggly eyes
how can anyone
be so merry
and serious at once
so equally opinionated
and self-deprecating

I'm a goof.

you said
sent me a video of you
dancing, one sock falling
off your foot
then a photo of a spiderweb
woven to a bench
glistening

I think you'd be happy
me memorizing conversations
nodding over photos
rereading poems
and smiling

no more tears
though the well of pain
is full

Fifty?

A thousand isn't
near enough.

 

[annaswirls]

Time and time
again those giggly eyes
how can anyone
be so merry
and serious at once
so equally opinionated
and self-deprecating

I'm a goof.

you said
sent me a video of you
dancing, one sock falling
off your foot
then a photo of a spiderweb
woven to a bench
glistening

I think you'd be happy
me memorizing conversations
nodding over photos
rereading poems
and smiling

no more tears
though the well of pain
is full

Fifty?

A thousand isn't
near enough.

a thousand years
with the presence
and spoken
written
half laughed words some invented
visual and
auditoiry octaves spanned
and scope not enough
never enough
for us


but for starving five (sucking life
through a straw cheeks puckered) senses,
never slowing for the chunks of fruit,

whole

the breath
the breadth



now
everwhere

through the straw
easy air flows


and it all makes sense
you always wanted it to make sense

questions and questions and questions
please help me understand jennifer,
everything, Everything

today you are with me
and her and her and him and that one over there
you never met yet

all at the same time
please, simultaneous submissions!

and that is what you always wanted
never quite figured out how to do it
love everything disappoint nothing
learn something from all


love you for this
with you in this
show me through

this



love long live strong

"see ya, mean it"



my tears have all evaporated and settle in beside
you ---

and her's and their's all suspended
vapor side up

your own layer of the stratosphere

I think it is the one that gives the stars
their twinkle




~
thanks ee and ang

 

[echoes_s]

a star is an etheral glow,
eternal blast
bombarding
explosions of deep laughter,
love, wildness and purity of heart

shining so hard
as one more
breath burst
and could shine
no brighter
with such
trembling force

an etheral glow
of tumbled kisses,
of swirling emptiness
caressing each heated curve
brushing slopes
a velvet touch,
fibred ridged tips,
every grain embedding
a millisecond more sensation
all over again

 

[annaswirls]

dont read this it sucks and says nothing

tathagata -- the "sin" of suicide / it is still very much a work in progress


pat

all we are

works in progress
and there was someting I came here
to say
but thought seem to be treating water
in the east river

treading water in the
east river

which is nothing like the left bank

what was it what was it

it is the next poem

 

[annaswirls]

jesus died for someone's sin
but he did not die for mine

I claim them
in the name of
all who I owe

installment plan

die for
my own they are mine to own

always the hard way
too stubborn for the easy lesson

in my face
on my back

pounded remediation and it hits me


I pay for my own sins