2023 Poem-A-Week Challenge (Poems Only Thread)

[Rockymtnman]

The first spring rain

the first spring rain
washes the dust off my soles
and the dark of winter off my soul
I’m lighter than I was yesterday
when the cloak of winter
still draped upon my shoulders
heavy, cloying and cold

 

[Rockymtnman]

a make up poem

ive missed the last couple weeks
feel free to slap my cheeks
i beg of thee, be kind
whilst you gently tap my behind
ill be better, I’ll make the grade
whilst your hand prints slowly fade

 

[goddessofglee]

#15/52 [18]

Let's just walk,
far away,
Walking the whole day,
Forget the world,
let's talk,
Miles of walking,
without a pause or stop,
With every step,
we'll leave behind,
Our sorrows and wounds
of every kind,
Let's hold hands
and take this endless walk,
Together,
let's wander,
and never stop.

PS:
I'm not sure
if I've put this rhyme here before...
my rhymes are rhymes
don't judge me as a poet
just play of words!
some say it's shit,
be sorry, that's the way it is!
it's just an effort we put,
that's the way to see or look
I don't claim to be a poet
if you don't like it, let it dwell
well, what should I say,
you might as well
look the other way!

 

[OtherMan]

How quickly passion’s matches flare
and then consume the sticks…
while eyes so blind from scratch’s glare
misses the touch of wicks.

No worries for the box is stacked,
the red phosphorus heads
willingly wait, just striking lacked,
their turn to burn the beds.

5/1/23

#28

 

[Rockymtnman]

the cobblestone streets
meander over canals
and by bridges
by shops of indeterminate age
children on bikes and families in cars
as the hustle and bustle
of every day life
slowly grinds them into dust

 

[Ambient4190]

prism
a starveling
protected gaunt
buried deep in dark

only when safe
raised to light
colors like jewels
dance in delight

transitory as
memories grapple
shroud again grey
prism nestles dearth
awaits to reemerge

 

[Ambient4190]

spellbound by waters
crushing violent thunder
preternatural kill

(actually had 2 this week: posting to get it out of my head )

 

[Ashesh9]

it's unusual weather here......
rain in May.......
Climate is changing her gear
Cyclones R frequent this year
El Nino is affecting South Asia:
Metrologists fear!!!!?

 

[Piscator]

What is the length of a memory?
Where do they go when
they’re
gone?

 

[Ashesh9]

Aged dynast was Crowned
pomp , pageantry, Gowned
Years ago a Beyootiful Princess was Downed
Mangled , Bloodied , Crushed in Parisian underpass....
She was Found
.....sighs , emotions, tears....Profound!!???

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

Her Prometheus


I did not ask for this half-life,
she conjured me,
part formed, from air
and imagination,
born of bewilderment
and grief.

I was not made evil,
more innocent and wild.
She placed in me, qualities
that tied me to her
and she blames me
for the deaths around her,
husband, children, friends.

Now she is alone,
with only me to remind her
of the darkness that nurtures
her past creations and cast it all,
ink to paper. While we wallow
in slack seas, birds gather,
ominously, in the rigging
and death lurks.

Inspired by the end of Mary Bysshe-Shelleys life

 

[Tzara]

The monster's footprints in the snow,

like my iced hand,
wanting to hold yours.

Week 19: Poem 1: Total 29

 

[OtherMan]

Is stronger play to stay unbroke
or be as broken, stand?
To longer ache when nay is spoke
or need the yoke and hand?

The reach that dream as ready for
someone to lay as tied…
to wait, obey, abed adore,
to take what long denied.

5/10/23

#29

*I really am quite the optimist… giddy even… seriously…

 

[Angeline]

 Waves

My footprints impress the sand but when the tides roll in I'm nobody.



Week 19, Poem 1, Total 24

 

[Ambient4190]

red flashes
100 yards
a fight
for life

no one moves
vehicles prisoners
is family waiting
or pet

this city wants to be NY
vibrant growth
but they never think
of the roads

by ratio
my turn
inevitably

pray soul ahead
will be ok
after shock wears off
and bills are paid

 

[Ashesh9]

A smart Alec' Pome'!?
‐---‐-------------------------------
Ashes to ashes
Dust to dust
If cancer doth Not kill:
Boredom surely must

P. S. ' pome' is officially Cockney-ese for Poem: check out in Enid Blyton books!!!

 

[29wordsforsnow]

Ego Strokes*

Oh little sunshine
state when you've been
so 1955 ever before
there must be some
McCarthy in this
alien power
don't say 'may'.

Who's to tell
the uptight rules
what's going on
between April and June,
you'll better be
never clever
don't say May.

It's all black-and-white
between the pages
unless you start
to burn your way
through to the top
what all the 'ons
don't, I may say.

In school
Men listened to what
boys never learned

*commas for free use: ,,,,,,,,

 

[Wonderer67]

A Saturday Evening

I swear to God, I only took CBD
And had two Advil’s for my back
And four PBRs
But I was high and/or drunk as hell

The day was finally warm
70° after three weeks of 50 and gray and rainy

My wife and I busted our asses all day at the farm
Exhausted
The sunlight was behind the Polish beer I bought

Sue was on a roll
Funny as fuck
Juvenile humor to match mine

She renamed the beer brand Lomza into LoMenza
After a friend of mine

I got super horny
And told Sue I wanted to fuck her on the picnic table on the patio
We’d done it several times before
So, I was surprised that she was actually kinda shocked
(We usually go at it on the table during the summer time)
But she didn’t make an “ewww” face
Perhaps she was thinking about it

I looked at clouds
It was a perfect late afternoon
“That one is a sea turtle!” I said to Suzie.
“No, it’s not. It’s the turtle from the Bugs Bunny episode that challenges Bugs to a race”
The next was a pterodactyl
“It’s a Phoenix!” she retorted
One looked like a cock and balls, I swear to God

“This one here is a spine! There is my shitty L5!”
Suzie laughed.

Finally, all the clouds passed and it was just blue sky
A blue, blank slate.

I felt like I could re-write my entire life story
Everything seemed possible for a moment or two

Then the clouds came back… it was getting cool
It felt good
Chilly, but nice in my short sleeves, enjoying the dying sun and the early May chill

We were listening to my random playlist and I got up to get our portable speaker

I told Sue I wanted head
I took down my pants
Laughing like a grade schooler
Right there on our patio
Any one of our neighbors could have seen it
She sucked me but I couldn’t get hard
I laughed hilariously
And got the speaker…

Now blaring buzz saw guitars
Campy and poppy lyrics
Fuzzy guitar
Music for the soul

The Move, Wanda Jackson, The Runaways
Then the Fleshtones came on (we’d seen them in Asbury Park a few nights earlier)

It sounded so right
Each song better than the last
It hit me in my heart and in my gut

i heated some pizza
The beer, so sweet and bitter
And the cheese on the pizza, so salty
A perfect combination

The songs were getting louder
I could hear the grass grow

I started dancing
My lower back hurt
But I hardly felt it
My rotator cuff managed to rotate
The songs built to a crescendo
Now X was singing “Hungry Wolf”
(God, that was such a great record)

My wife was laughing at my bad moves
“Where the fuck did your funk go?” she asked

We moved it inside after debating whether to start a fire in the fire pit

King Khan and The Shrines came on
We looked thru the window to our right
The early evening sky was the perfect dark blue
To our left the almost dead sunset was a light and beautiful blue

The full flower moon rose…it was 9:11

It was quite a day
Exhausting and exhilarating
We plowed, raked and planted our pumpkin field
600 fucking pumpkin seedlings planted in mounds

I smiled
Took a last sip of my beer
Stretched my back for the umpteenth time
Put pen to paper and wrote this

18/52

https://twitter.com/x/status/1658298007685570563

 

[Rockymtnman]

A faint touch of lilac
perfumes the air

 

[OtherMan]

Maybe I see it now…
the ever-present problem,
pallid and grey,
that polishes my brain…
makes it
a shiny, smooth mirror
of all the holy directions…
the reflection of
relationships
between lovers
as single organisms
dedicated to the other
with fenced acts
of physical fidelity
as proof of a clean
heart created
but baited by lust…
when patience
and forgiveness
and long-suffering
break all
possessions
and make all
obsessions
the end
they always
mean.

5/18/23

 

[Wonderer67]

Iris

Iris strained against her bindings
Through cold nights and the singeing sun of May
Nothing could break her unbendable spirit
She was owned by no one
She looked upward and onward
Ever the optimist
Arms reaching for the sun
One morning she finally came
Broke into bloom
She erupted
A stunning beauty
Spread wide for all of us to see
And love

19/52

https://twitter.com/x/status/1659357550725267457

 

[Ashesh9]

Man can think endless thought or engage in endless work.
But thinking while working or working while thinking affects both thought as well as work

I tried blank verse format / it is called Amrita Chando in Bengali or Nectarine Prose

 

[Ambient4190]

how beautiful ageless a woman
wearing colorful sari
brocade silk georgette cotton
brilliant jewelry sets
bangles pearls gold necklaces earrings

glimpses of henna tattoos
on hands
intricate designs
mesmerizing spiritual
make-up divine

am i jealous you ask
yeah
professional clothes
or blue jeans leggings and t-shirt
no tattoos

short skirt high heels cleavage
sexy sex appeal
contrast elegance grace
how a woman must feel swathed
in a sari

 

[OtherMan]

No wallow pity,
step into the dark
to see the light
and follow the same
steps I’ve stepped
before…

And now I’m here
in the pit
of pithy and
pain…

wanting nothing
more than to
live again.

Bite the swallow
of hope and…

far away…

hides
the black
of
what I do.

5/20/23

 

[Angeline]

American Sentences

Rejoice (or not)
Persephone returned! My world is green, my eyes red, can't quit sneezing.

Empty Head
I listened for inspiration. My head is a shell echoing wind.

 Eternity
How many more weeks of this are left? Poetry sometimes I hate you.


It is a sad day when emoticons have more to say than I do.



Week 20, Poem 1, Total Poems 25