30 Poems in 30 Days (Redux)

[UnderYourSpell]

1-5

Do you own a box of faces,
those that you show
to your sycophantic friends
so they only see
the poor downtrodden you?
Well guess what? I've found your box,
and yes hidden in the darkness
clinging tightly to the sides
with unsheathed claws is that face
you've unleashed on me
and others who fall foul
of your persistent paranoia.
The one with words that slash
with poisoned tipped talons.
I know your other face
and it's not so sweet after all.
Your real facade,
the one you seek to hide.

 

[todski28]

1-28

tight black dress
liquid grace
sinuous sway
club beats on
she moves and eyes
are magnetised
to her ass her thighs
sex in heels, breasts swell
I want to get on my knees
and worship her temple
a fuck me mantra
hailed at this Aphrodite
in flesh

instead I walk to the bar
order a drink
gulp it down
and move on

 

[butters]

1-29
pyrenean dreaming

the white beast lies
coiled beneath the pear tree
leaves dappling his coat
in shades of blood and mud

eyes closed, no pilgrim, yet, to
challenge on his road
he dreams of fat white rabbits
of now, and bite, and snow

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

3/22 - Winter Reverie

Long shadows of a summer morning
dew-moist still before the heat.
Surrounding me without a warning,
quail come running round my feet.

Dew-moist, still before the heat
the grass is daisy dapple now.
Quail come running round my feet
they are the sweetest things I vow.

The grass is daisy dapple now,
soft air of summer, birdsong filled,
it is the sweetest thing I vow,
alone I stand there, silent, thrilled.

Soft air of summer, birdsong filled
surrounding me without a warning
Alone I stand there, silent, thrilled
in the long shadows of a this morning

 

[Desejo]

1-29

Zahara

Zahara
it used to be called
The zzz of sand shifting
endlessly, striving to dissolve
solid seas into particles
that if not gas, may at least surf in sky

Zahara
it seems, means bright, shining
or flowering. What more
bright than billions of particles pursuing
the sun? What more shining than stars -
Thuraya under the ink of the sky?

Zahara
because what blooms more beautiful
than a flower, Zahra,
in the desert?

 

[Neonurotic]

1-30

Yakisoba, I Miss You and Japan Too

It's been so long I've almost forgotten,
almost, not quite. The narrow streets
of glowing Ginzas with hole-in-the-wall
dining, only three or four sit comfortably
while everyone else wait outside, but
it's worth the wait. Benny's yakisoba
is art on the flat iron grill, elevating
cabbage's humble status with carrots,
buckwheat noodles and slivered pork,
a delicacy smothered in a tangy sauce.

I've tried to recreate this recipe hundreds
of times with hundreds of "almost" dishes,
but none compare. Sometimes I fool
myself with sake and Yebisu though
I know even a drunk can taste the
difference between pork divine and
pink slime. One day I will go back to
Sasebo, find Benny, drink a beer and
suffer the glutton ways all for that bbq.

 

[Tsotha]

1-27

A constellation of thoughts,
circles, cycles, coils and chains,
patterns you'll never see.

You'll never see, undo or break
these things, too.

These things, too close to the heart,
once torn, they threaten to leave you empty.

Empty, and hollow,
is just fine for the strong willed,
for it provides room to rebuild.

You never could, as I can, as I will, now.
Watch, mirror.

 

[todski28]

1-29

heat waves a coming
7 days forecast over 40 degrees
summer has announced his arrival
astride a flaming chariot
melting mortals as he flies
then sinks into the shimmering sea
leaving his oppression behind

 

[Tzara]

1-30

My gold fountain pen writes poems blurry as a Motherwell painting.



.

 

[Remec]

2-5 Simplicity

"Always in the last place...."
I've heard it so
many times as to make my
head spin, when the
answer was just a
matter of rattling the
old cup we used to scoop
with and add another
layer to the food dish.
Voilà!

 

[UnderYourSpell]

1-6

He tries to break her silence
with words harsh and severe
but she just looks back and smiles.
Madness has no boundaries
no pattern to break,
the kaleidoscope already shattered
myriads of tiny pieces spin.
She laughs reaching out
to catch where they dance
within her eyes.

 

[Angeline]

1-29

An American sentence? Fifty years on the bus without a home.

 

[Tsotha]

1-28

How is it that one can be a sage to others, but not to himself?
I am both much older and much younger than I need to be right now.

 

[Remec]

2-6 Giving it a shot

Is it still insomnia if I'm not trying to sleep; 'though I should?

 

[butters]

1-30

"Seventeen," they say, "seventeen!" - has this replaced n-n-n-nineteen?

 

[Angeline]

1-30

Taxi honks and finger cymbals: a Seventh Avenue culture crash.

 

[Desejo]

1-30

Zahara, bis

there are only two colors
blue outlining the coastline
as if we are looking at a printed
map, and brown.

The two seatmates look out.
One is from the forest regions
further down that coastline, where
it turns into mangrove and is no longer
blue, but muddy, and where there
is really only green and mud.

The other looks out on his home,
so different from the cold grey
muted colors of Paris and his eyes
scan the horizon captured in the
porthole to the world.

People live here? the one asks,
astonished
Yes, Nomads, with their camels
The land then must be cheap, there
is nothing but sand.
It was, but now there is a city.

They speak in French.
As the plane lands, the one
intones prayers in Arabic.

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

3/23 - Fallen

I never felt so free as when locked in your embrace
I never knew devotion until you showed me yours
Unfettering my future that hid behind sealed doors
You seemed to lure me with kindness from my hiding place

But it was pure seduction, you caused my fall from grace
And forced me, next, to sell myself like your other whores
Hoped and waited for my heart to thaw, escape your claws
My whole being, every pore, longed for a breathing space

How sweet life was for us when shared confidences
And oh! How innocent and naïve I must have been
For you to take advantage and yet avoid the blame

Harsh reality caused me to come to my senses
Thus I became determined to leave that evil scene
I wish my sorority the strength to do the same.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

1-7

In the distance looking over the top of that hill
do you see it? That's your future
it skipped ahead like a child
with a picture book
eagerly turning the pages
to see what happens next.
Now it waits impatiently
for you to catch up
fidgeting from foot to foot,
coat buttoned to the top against the cold
and gloves hanging on a tape
threaded through the sleeves.
So gather up your dreams,
get on the right path
and journey onwards,
there's more story yet to be told.

 

[todski28]

1-30

breaking in a wild thing
foot stamping teeth bare
I lead her to water
she drinks greedy
has a second
want to bury my fingers
in that mane and ride her

this wily filly of pelted
pedigree all challenge
lunge, parry whip crack
she responds now
in this dance of wills
back and forth
relish in the resistance
tease and flirt with danger
see yes in her posture
the way she drops her head
sidles in close
let hands tease taut flanks
she is mine

we take the tight track down
we ride, hard, fast
exhilaration in exertion
till breathless
heart slams in her chest
before I let us rest
exhausted
big grin,
we'll ride again
in the morning

 

[Remec]

2-7 A Newly Discovered Passion

The option of kissing her dangled before unrecognizing eyes.

 

[Angeline]

2-1

William Burroughs, seamed, a needle in a suit glittering on Tenth Street.

 

[GuiltyPleasure]

3/24 - It Sucks

To day would be my final post, lack of commitment says six more.

 

[Tsotha]

1-29 - American wall of text

Do you get mad at children for doing the things children like to do?
Do you deny what they ask for, if what they ask for costs you nothing?
Do you clock 'em upside the head for running with scissors in their hands?
Do you get mad if they do not act like grownups as per your demand?
Do you feel guilty, watching it all burn from your seat on the front-row?

 

[UnderYourSpell]

1-8

We buried her under the hawthorn tree
where she loved to lie in the shade
with her old grey muzzle on her paws.
We'd had her longer than we hoped for
but could see that now she'd had enough.
I held her in my arms one more time
and kissed her soft fur as she slipped away.
Oh that someone would love me enough
to let me go so easily.