Taste of time begins to dull
ticks of spice turn clockwise gruel.
Ink forms script on pages new
memories writ, the present’s gift.
Black on white shall tell the tale
when life deserts the day.
Relationships
The Reader
Grocery cart near, she sits
tattered book in lap,
mutters, sometimes yells
talks aloud to no one.
Page eight, crawl through,
into that letter E, straight lines.
They won’t follow, can’t see me.
I fit in this book! FLAT SPINE!
Invisible. I hide in air,
melt on pages with big letters.
Home is no where. Go ahead.
Jump into the story. Whatever it is.
Show them. I AM SOMETHING!
She stands up, unsteady,
lands on top of book,
face first in torn pica print.
And she disappears
from your corner,
into a pauper’s grave.
Photo credit: Wikipedia
Unsettling Found Poetry – Sitting on a Book Shelf
It is a wicked time.
Pride and prejudice run amok
fueled by devices and desires.
Politicians play the confidence game,
endangered values center stage.
The dreams from my father
seem so very long ago.
Sunday drives in the family car,
unlocked doors, porches with swings.
That used to be us.
Today I watch appalled.
Certain trumpets spew vitriolic words.
In cold blood stories litter newsprint pages,
stained red in televised image
too often unseen by too many.
Let us pray for a still life
with bread crumbs for everyone,
hope we are not racing a timeline
to the end of [y]our life book club.
Amen.
Created from book titles found on a Chicago book shelf: Wicked by Gregory Maguire, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Devices and Desires by P.D. James, Confidence Game by Christine S. Richard, Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama, That Used To Be Us by Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum, Certain Trumpets by Garry Wills, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, Still Life With Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen, Timeline by Michael Crichton, The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe.
Am I
Shrinking I am, walls closing in on me
head in a vise. Eight by ten, five by
seven, four by six, wallet size. A
postage stamp stuck on some
old godforsaken envelope
thrown out. Unneeded,
Your old cameo. I’m
a person with pain.
To you, nothing.
Disappearing.
I am a void.
Am alone.
Am I a
not I
am
Ø
From Her Side
Like a dust storm
swirls of grey, dark, darker still.
Whirl of words stick to skin
broken twigs, stabs of blame.
Misery clings to eye lids,
sneers and looks of disdain
seen in every moment of wakefulness.
Like sheaves of wheat broken in the gale
she droops, snaps, folds in to herself.
Years of neglect wrought this reality.
She disappears, marginalized,
haze floating on the wind.
Mouth open, silent howls, she succumbs.
Responsibility acknowledged by no one.
Acrid pain swallowed,
she chokes on life.
This World or the Next
Memories shimmer
stretched taut
like a spider’s web.
Tubes, wires,
stainless steel
monitors with beating blips.
You lay there in that present space
but somewhere far away.
Then, like a marionette
whose master dropped a string,
your eyes jolted open
and you returned to me.
No photo. Thankful for every day.
Here But Not
photo credit: Geoffrey Whiteway
The macaw flew out the window
and my world became inescapably grey.
Poe’s raven without naming text
no black, no white.
Like peering closely at a newspaper,
pica type-print not visible
only paper fibers
etched in fine lines of shaded grey.
Guaranteed indelible ink
smudged by presses.
And no voices.
Only empty word bubbles
suspended from flapping mouths.
Filmed eyes watch stick figures
slink nearby in slow motion.
What happened to me that day?
The day the macaw flew out my window.
Dedicated to those who live in the throes of mental illness or depression,
invisible too long.
Her Name Was Melody
Her goal
to live a pentatonic life
like the piano’s black keys,
always in harmony.
Juxtaposition Tales
He laughed at the brightly colored
bird mobile above his head,
crib swaying slightly
each time his chubby legs kicked
inside the pajama bag.
The premature butterfly,
monarch colors still pale
fluttered lightly, insistently,
beginning to outgrow its cocoon.
She was plump with curves,
delicious for his taste
and he wondered if she would be interested
in a bloke like him.
The tabby cat slurped milk
knowing she could use her paws later
to lick off vestigial drops.
The moon lead him down the path
until he reached the dock’s end,
a point of no return in his fogged mind.
The cricket struggled
to rub his wings together one more time,
his sweet song coming to an end
with the killing frost.
Photo Credit: Juan Sole
Diamond in the Rough
Oh
So
cold
Immune
ToLoving
RoughTimes
ColdShoulder
HurtMeDeeply
ColdHearts
ColdLike
IceAnd
Dead
To
Me
WP Writing 201: create a CONCRETE/SHAPE poem employing the word/meaning of COLD, and employing the device of ANAPHORA (repetition of same word at the beginning of multiple lines of verse).
lillian the home poet 