my god i’m so lonely so i set my small salt lamp on the edge of the window on the tiny wooden ledge i turn the dial clockwise and the light burns in my eyes sending a message to the dog across the street the only one who might be able to understand my mess of signals, signs indistinguishable from the clothes heaped on my floor nobody, nobody nobody nobody nobody, oh, nobody nobody somebody, anybody, nobody, again.
Smaller seaming, Because he was younger, and brimming, not breaming, Avoided ringing doorbells, Wrote love poems, Fell for risks too far, Bridge too tall an order, Gambles on goon squads, Heart, drawn and quartered, Imagine waking to find that normal. If life was dimming, And one finds a switch, Would you first turn it off Or just turn up and live? If I started singing, Same time swinging my arms, Nobody listens, Not even to turn me off.
quite literally they cannot spill out of my mouth into the toilet bowl fast enough green, neophyte, insensate swirling around in the clear, shallow water, they almost look like they are swimming ancient, ferric, turpentine its midnight on sunday afternoon and the morning never felt so far away verily, salt, halcyon pulling the lever, they swirl away, the letters sloshing together into a murky soup gestalt, vermilion, fear they turn into equations with no solutions when i bring my hand away from my mouth, wiping ouroboros, nineteen, baseless i know better than to brush my teeth golden, gale, corridor i know better than to go back to bed right after demilune, murmur, mirror linoleum, throat, nightgown listless, lucid, dreamer
Debbie downer of many outcomes, Money protected against downturns, Fathered from powerful maelstroms, Freshly showered out of sleep, What is deep? What is to and from, Blue sea, who flowers their queen, Without a penny, empty bellied, 'You let them down, son' Sour cherries, as he devours many Let them down yourself, please, Out of envy, twenty thousand leagues.
Writing one hundred pages, It turns out to be permanent makeup, Not exactly an act of nature, Rather products of one's labor, Tattooed to the skin with lasers. Other people, Other places A number of changes, fables; One's mind, the world adjacent. Fine, just fine, Never find time, Why bother in the prime of life, When eyes stretch beyond the tide.
Is my life but a minor arc? Mirror dark, a nine of hearts, Why walk into the distant fog, Past miles of silver boxes, Simple props with silver foxes, Waiting for their turn to balk. I could write ironic of a pen who talks, Night-time bombings, a man who moved on, Wildlife watching. 'Will I be fed to dogs' The pen responds: 'Terrified by conflict you write a law, But will the dogs obey? I think not.'
Warning: this is looooooong and if you’re a sensitive individual the first parts may bother you. But hopefully the last part will inspire you. Speak your truths friends. The ones who matter will love you all the harder. #worldmentalhealthday Hidden Stories They smiled, jokingly told her she looked tired, “Must’ve partied hard last night.” Smile quietly returned, “just didn’t sleep too well I guess.” She didn’t tell them how hard it was to get out of bed this morning, How sleep never came last night, How it felt like the darkness would just swallow her whole, How she felt hollow and empty and there weren’t any tears left, just an ache deep within that wouldn’t subside. And maybe if she just squeezed her eyes shut and stayed in that bed in the blacked out void, She wouldn’t have to face another day of faked smiles and “I’m ok” lies. “Just tired today I guess.” “It’s warm today man!” “What’s with the long sleeves all the time?” “Got some crazy tattoos under there?” He smiled, laughed along with them, Self-consciously ran his hands over his wrists. Over the bandages binding his secrets. They didn’t know how close he got last night, how he almost let go, How so much blood, HIS blood swirled down the drain, mixing with his tears. He was sure no one would miss him, but he wondered if he would miss this world, And the good days out in the sun, Few and far between as they were. What would they say if he were gone tomorrow? “You should’ve come out with us last night. You would’ve had so much fun...” She nodded and made those “next time” promises, though she knew they were lies. She’d stay home again, Wrapped in the icy grips of loneliness, Which felt somehow better than her burning cheeks when the right words just wouldn’t come, or the wrong ones spilled out, and she felt their eyes on her, Panic rising, thoughts frozen Wishing she’d just stayed home, Away from the judgement, And all the wrong moves she always made “Haven’t seen you around in a while! Doing ok?” His mouth smiled, head nodded, lips formed words he’d said so often, automatic. Because, really, he thought, How could I describe that moment last night, body curled up with forehead cold against the kitchen floor, Ears covered to block out the voices, Silent screams wracking his body as the panic overwhelmed him, No breath to speak, And who could he call anyway, How would he explain these moments of pure fear that slipped in unnoticed and become everything, took everything, until he was a shivering shell of himself. Sometimes he wondered, if they could see through him, would they think him weak? Would they walk away...? These people are all make-believe, but the experiences are not, taken from articles and discussions and sometimes even revelations from real-life friends. These are not my stories, but they are someone’s truths, Not their weakness, Not their short-lived sadness that they can just “get over” if you try hard enough to make them happy. (My gosh do I need to remind myself of that part sometimes...) But that doesn’t mean you stop trying. Love them y’all. Love them so damn much that you’ll sometimes break through the cracks in their self-inflicted armor. Listen to them, Give them the chance to be open and honest, And if what they say makes you flinch, imagine what it must feel like for them. Do something kind that makes them smile and get ready to do it again tomorrow. Smile and laugh with them. Cry with them. Be genuine with your thoughts and feelings. Give them space, but check on them. Pull them out of the dark for just a moment, say, “I’m here for you when you need me. And I always will be.” Mental health issues are often invisible, but still feel debilitating to the one inside that head. Stay educated. Be understanding. Love the hell out of each other. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤🤍🤎💗
Throw back the covers on the incessant redundancy of another day. Putting in time for a world we no longer believe in, if ever we truly did. ...Them rose-tinted glasses were long-ago shattered... Our dedication repaid With more stolen hours Coming home with less time To spend with ourselves, Or perhaps those we purposely surround ourselves with, Than we’ll spend talking to ceiling tiles in the dark later on. Droning away the limited hours, The constant pull of a thumb , —Refreshing— Giving our ❤️s away In an opinionated match game Finger-fucking ourselves to sleep Just to say we felt alive Before succumbing to darkness With a see-you-later sayonara Whispered into black, Just like the onyx air pixels we’ll be counting later to lure heavy eyelids back into a much-too-finite slumber ...Or maybe the fluffy white bastards will do the trick Whatever helps you sleep at night... Next day, the inbox the same, Full of spam mail we unsubscribed to ages ago That somehow keeps rearing ugly heads, hydra-like with a pretty new name every time, to keep us believing in the possibility that this particular lovesick prince will be our salvation. DELETE to clear our foggy heads While trying to remember which ones are the liars. The mirage keeps on shifting. Repeat, repeat, World keeps on turning, pulling us along, A child’s toy on a string. But what if, for a moment, We turn away from from the unending axial spins, Sidestep the scythe again, seek out the sunrise... Find the beauty brave souls! Crack open that Earth-shaped geode and search out the wild world within And you know what... Go buy you a new pair of those pretty pink shades
Poetry Satirized What is this thing they call poetry? It’s mostly “pretty words” you see Ok, maybe there’s a bit more to it... I’ll see if I can walk ya through it. We rap similes and metaphors, Figurative language whores Plays on words And turns of phrase Emotional squalor And issues for days Lovers lost And sadness deep Words that when trapped Keep us from sleep “Racing to the finish” Or dragging our feet And not to compete or attempt to defeat But simply To complicatedly complete Alleviate or desecrate All depends upon the date Or what kind of day we had Pissed off, celebratory, sad Or in poetic terminology, Raging, blessed, melancholy We personify and mystify “Let them see it through our eyes” We rhyme and reason Or sometimes we don’t It’s not that we can’t It’s more likely we won’t Abstract or concrete Or both all at once Painting deeeeeep pictures... But sometimes only of confusion Poetic delusions 😉 Words made in illusions Or maybe allusions? No wonder we can’t always reach a conclusion... So “pretty words” though they may often be, There is a bit more to this thing... Poetry.
Books opens, pictures, Bulldozer, fixtures, Foot soldier of bitterness, Do good moments wither? Pull over, hood open, Notice you could use a push, Look to the wool-grower, Whose home you turned to dust, Hopeless with his heritage lost. Is a cactus cost-effective? Is an organ, mostly defective, Less than nothing? Ask a cleric, politician or elective, At best, they repeat what they must.
Chord dissonant, World lissome, and handsome, Magnificent. Is this it? Chortle ignorant, A turn with the guns, cannons, Munificence. Fishermen old, Where is yours? A thirst of knowledge, fyords and comments. Participant bored, Answers of nonsense, Can a parrot talk, conjugate or long? What color am I? It asks with a song, Replies loathsome, Bandied to a swan. Grey says the voices, Not what you are, But of your choices, Monsieur.
Soy el saber de la diosa griega Athena. Ella también, tenía la inteligencia pa excavar los misteriosos del universo. Soy los anillos de Saturno. Somos de las mismas cosas: tierra, rocas, y movimiento. Soy los diamantes debajo de la tierra. Somos el carbono, el cuarto elemento mayor en la galaxia. Y como los diamantes, brillo. Yo tengo diecinueve años pero soy mayor que el sol. Yo soy las estrellas en en cielo. Cuando una estrella nace, una nebulosa necesita derrumbarse. Y también, me caí de la gracia divina. Y eso no fue mi muerte, fue mi nacimiento. Estoy lista para ser una de las estrellas allá. El autor F. Scott Fitzgerald dijo que “cuando tenías diecicinco años tenía el resplandor de la mañana temprana, pero cuando tienes veinte años, tendrás el luminoso triste de la luna.” Soy de los rayos de la luna. No soy más brillante del sol, pero reflejo el resplandor de la gente más como el sol, brillante. Soy luz, soy luz, soy luz. ¿Identidad? ¿Personalidad? Definir es limitar. Entonces, no me limitaré. Soy el árbol viejo en el campo vacío del granjero. Soy sola y mi mente necesita el silencio. Miraré el cielo y todos los animales que me hacen sus casas. Soy la lluvia de las mañanas tempranas cayendo encima del árbol viejo, suave y bastante frío. Soy artista melancólica. Me disparé en el medio del campo entre los girasoles altos. Soy todas esas cosas y todas más. Soy las interpretaciones de la gente que conozco. Aún, las interpretaciones que las otras no son que soy de verdad.
i see sunday mornings beyond my time. does sunday still exist? i see my history yawning out before me. can corpses exist on both edges? i see my mother. can grief follow a child out of the womb? time, death, and life roll the die to see which takes their turn first. west and north argue over the sun while east and south clutch each other, wailing. god's suicide passes through us concentric circles of chaos look, there is too much blood in the streets!
it's my turn to put away the dishes it's the same knife i use to cut strawberries in the mornings the sucrose covers my hands. do you think blood is the same kind of sticky? will it come off with soap and water and elbow grease? will it even matter?
Who was I to write down? Key turns loud, however, The key turns around. Free me of my bounds, I can free you of yours, My art, part astounding, Mostly aster pounding, Hoping for brighter pink. Who am I to press down? Pestle grinds slow, A Mind grinds slower, Eventual beach polluted, The key turns around, It says: "Free me of these clownfish, acting clownish and catfish. Art is only partly a mish, Mostly is unequalled feeling." His art, part niche, Part for seating, Parts for kings, rich, Parts for heathens. Parts to reason other parts, Written partly to see them.
Like a hurt cardinal, bandaged, Perhaps again it flies perverse, Perhaps times himself per verse, Per second, per lurch, per word; Managing his time it finds a perch, Challenging himself, flies the world; Flies and bugs no more, Pecking the spine it eats a horse, Like a fuhrer pardoned, seminal, Perhaps one finds it not so curt, Curtsies, words lies, Lord survives. "I would make gentle return, Messiah of none, I arrive, Time to waste no more." It hears but fury, speaks short, "Perhaps past such things were worse, Such meaning in verses, Supple leanings of wings of worry, Speckled and shiny this rock is yours"
Courage at last, my heart be closed, Would a tap of emotion be more apropos? Cold alack in a world of clothes, Told: Dress myself more appropriate, My moment is now and I'm blowing it. Could it be at last, my heartbeat thuds, One claps along, misunderstands the words, I'm told I owe an explanation, for those, For they were written bitter and old. So? that's how they turned out, spoiled, Characters, write their life in whole, Much like something serpentine coiled.
They ask for more free verse, Ironically I ask for freedom. Turn yourself, the sun faces west, Learn your self looking into distance, A poem of story, rhetoric important. He just tells of lions and beasts, Ire and deceit, lies succinct, Are my poems of heart not complete, Even if truth is too foolish to be? Future hard to see, a pence to me, Fences mended where darkness meet, A dense man where the larkin leap, Without them where would we be? A garbage heap, a fence two feet, A garbage pile, a fence of three, A garbage life, spend barking of time, Not mine but others, I covet. My duvet stained with oil, lovely, When was it worth more, white forlorn Or in a pile on the floor disgusting?