all of a sudden passion suddenly

[clutching_calliope]

Bobby Flay, My Hero

.....

 

[TheRainMan]

If you could not talk of farro, of vinaigrette,
of cherry tomatoes at the height of the season,
what would you speak of? The furrow

of your brow peppered with parsley
tells me
in one quick instant

if it was the next wonder of the natural world
arranged on a drizzle plate,

or not.

been watching them cookin' shows again?

toss me a salad, baby. make it sting.

 

[vampiredust]

The plot of my father

I witnessed his character
unfold when I was young,
as if someone had laid out
the building plans for him

before me and pointed out
the faultlines. When it rained,
I watched his windows shut;
hands stretched out to feel it

running over his uneven
surfaces. I never wanted to
remember thunder happening,
because his body would always

crackle; his words charging out
at us like a swarm of electrified
bees. I wanted a demolition sign
to hang over him then.

But I was too late. He had already
started on taking himself apart
brick by brick, myself with him.

 

[annaswirls]

yes I call my self poet trust me or not
call me woman calll me tall call me
indecisive
why not I am
call or call not
matters or matters not

cant help but doubt the assertion
that things do not exist until they are named
trust me
poets
cant
hide
mightaswell call them out
Poet!
whatever your construct
concept content
arrow on my chest
"this way up"

 

[annaswirls]

been watching them cookin' shows again?

toss me a salad, baby. make it sting.

I cannot believe you are asking a chaste young lady to toss your salad!
You need to be sprinkled with balsamic vinegar and spanked.

 

[vampiredust]

Fever

I felt the city walk over
my chest as I lay in bed,
cars writing their poetry
as they drove over spots

dotted like manholes. Dogs
lifted their legs against thin
hairs, coating me with yellow
mist; ignoring the geese

flying off my skin, dissapearing
out of my window, my thoughts
tethered to them as I lay thinking
of you.

 

[vampiredust]

End of a friendship

I watched her place
a ring of stars around you,
wanting them to burn
so you would be branded

forever with her mark. But
that would never happen;
you always kept her on a
chain, watching her tethered

to the earth as you drew me
new birds to be set free,
laughing as they fell and burnt.

 

[RhymeFairy]

fresh meat, rushed to curb side.
service is not an option
as peak a boo negligee
sees and presses deep
feeling his burning cock, ironed smooth
hanging out
to meet after hours with feelings
reeling, as black speedo's drop
draping his ankles to showcase
silhouettes of hot melted
steel. take the burn
feel that rub
school girls dreams cry
out, sweet torture to see
tasting
smooth rum, rush as knees
give out, pray baby
pray for forgiveness
meek, wild, slutty coming
went
gone.
shown afterwords in the moonlight
another case
another religion went mad ...

 

[vampiredust]

Trinkets

Dust grazes on the tissue
paper coral grown on old
trinkets: antique dolls,
crumpled trains, chewed

up trunks. Mother opens
up her old travelling case,
exposing clothes that we
should never have seen;

each garment still stained
with the memory of him,
his voice still trapped in
the thread, slowly unlocking.

 

[vampiredust]

The cockerel sings, peppering
the cooker's enamel skin with
its notes. Grabbing its sunset
coloured body, I push its head

under the sink and twist. I can't
hear it snap under the rushing
river of bubbles, their noise
covering up my murder.

There is no blood on my fingertips,
just soil, as if its song reached
into the earth to rescue it, leaving
nothing but bones and feathers.

 

[vampiredust]

The performance poet

She stands still for a moment,
arms raised as if asking the gods
to give her poetry. We wait
and watch as it begins, words

acting like capillaries, delivering
her images to her heart singing
like her poetry in the air. I can
feel it entering my skin, my cells

slowly beating in synch with hers.
When she has gone, her heart
will still be beating, tick-tocking
to the tune of an immortal clock.

 

[vampiredust]

Learning to write again

I held my broken bird
as the snare-tongue
hissed, trying to lick

drops of rain from its
wing tips. As my fingers
ran across the contours

of its wings, I felt it jerk
as if its heart had been
re-wound and all it needed

to do was fly.

 

[4degrees]

humid gray flannel sky
hangs up
insulation of a city
compartmental diety
fluent in anti reality
no matter what color the
traffic light is
i can't fucking stop
to save my life.

 

[vampiredust]

owls with post-it-note feathers
hoot at me as I pass the shops,
trying to ignore the clop clop

of heels galloping on cobblestones,
clambering into taxis only half full;
their amber cylops eyes dimming

as they follow the path of the sun
like bees, returning to the cycle
as they sleep.

 

[vampiredust]

An englishman tries to speak Italian abroad

Rain started to nest in dad's
panama hat as we walked
along the row of empty shops
looking for shaving cream,

guided only by the cries of gulls
and the trail of guano they
had left for us. Joining up the
dots, we found an old chemist

whose throat was devoid of
english words. Staring into his
wire wool eyes, I wanted to
offer my condolescences as Dad

tried to speak; his syllables pecking
at the crumbs on my coat as
he squawked. The old man tried
to shoo him away, not noticing

his wings had been broken for a
long time.

 

[HotKittySpank]

That's all it takes
One quick look
One small word

That's all it takes
For me to round
The bend into
A new light
A new feeling

I am new again.

 

[vampiredust]

Watching a nest of TV aerials

TV aerials hang on the roof
like exposed fish bones,
waiting for an engineer

to climb up and tweak them
a little. Or if its sunny, just
polish their silvery foreheads

and let them propogate the
signals floating in the air,
ignoring the words blooming

in our heads

 

[vampiredust]

Roadrunner

The upside down y
starts chasing swarms
of dust as the train

screams past, flashes
blinking as they capture
still life.

Meep, meep indeed

 

[vampiredust]

Her Bones

Mother wraps her bones
in brown paper, tying
a neat 8 with the bow.

She doesn't want to lose
them as she flies away
from him, his voice caught

in her throat like a dress
stuck in a door. Blowing
a kiss to the wind, she lifts

the hem of her skirt in a final
prayer to her world, never
looking back as she leaves.

 

[champagne1982]

I keep my eyes open when I kiss
to see the bright lights of thought
vision never so keen as when
my pupils dilate and I can see
the inkling of ideas being born.

Men have such delicious eyelashes
long and full like a sable stole
thrown over their lids.

Looking at closed eyes is a totally
different kind of exploration.

I'll keep my eyes open.

 

[HotKittySpank]

Mother wraps her bones
in brown paper, tying
a neat 8 with the bow.

She doesn't want to lose
them as she flies away
from him, his voice caught

in her throat like a dress
stuck in a door. Blowing
a kiss to the wind, she lifts

the hem of her skirt in a final
prayer to her world, never
looking back as she leaves.

I totally loved this one. Seriously..., loved it. Had to read it over and over again just to roll the words around in my mind.

 

[vampiredust]

Bacalao

Slabs of bacalao stand
next to the jigsaw. Some
have been cut into wings,
the exposed bones stripped

of their feathery scales. They
will be boiled later, served
with capers. Nobody will think
about the fish that they are,

unaware of the gills still beating
on their plate.

 

[vampiredust]

Golborne Road

The bottled chickpeas
look like deformed peas
as I walk past, glancing
at the exotic vegetables

burning in the midday sun;
dogs suede tongues dripping
like taps as they sit in door
ways, waiting for their owner

to come. Arabic men sit in cafes,
watching Portugese women walk
by, their hips rolling like peaches
as they tease them behind veils.

 

[vampiredust]

Spa

Herons dip anorexic legs
in muddy puddles, jack
o'lanterns grinning as they

smear the sludge over grey
feathers. Youth does not
happen this way, I think;

watching them shake off
elderly scales from newborn
skin.

 

[vampiredust]

the tailfins flapped
as if needing water,
but Dad never stopped.

Everything else was too
important but never you,
me or the tailfins.

And as we pulled up,
I wanted to show him
the mermaids on the boot

cursing him with every
splash.