***

In a theatre full of bodies,

we all clamour to be heard—

voices rising by the thousand,

and each vying for a word.

Distraught, the din is all it takes

to set our dull eyes glistening—

the ache of all us noisemakers:

is there anyone listening?

***

April 3rd, #escapril2020, prompt “is anyone listening?”

***

EXHIBIT A:

This mind, a shaded garden—

sheltered to its detriment,

detritus in the making.

—and in burying these selves,

am I enough?

—and in dying, is there hope

for growth from the decay?

EXHIBIT B:

This body, a phoenix—

pre-hundredth-resurrection.

Mid-ashen-moult,

the terror-ecstasy of ending

before you can begin.

—and as the flames catch,

am I enough?

—and is rebirth

simply a signal

that the cycle never ends?

***

For the prompt “growth/decay.” April 2nd, #escapril2020. Definite Plath influence here from “Lady Lazarus.”

***

#poetry

#freeverse

#escapril

#writingprompt

#growth #decay

#sylviaplath

***

this collection of years

a decade of evening—

of all this violet hue—

with longing for sleep

and dread for morning—

through eyes which ne’er saw dawn—

***

#poetry

#metre #meter

#escapril #escaprilprompts

***

a senate of dragons

safe from the abyss

a president claiming

there’s nothing amiss

with treachery lurking

suspicions surpass—

glass in the gravel

and snakes in the grass

***

Can you tell I’m angry?

***

#poetry

#rhythm

#rhyme

#COVID-19

#uspolitics

***

come, darling

and look with me

past the edge of the ravine

at the rockface,

harsh and punishing—

the rushing of the stream

now look away

and look around—

there’s so much else to see

—come, darling

won’t you take my hand

and walk away with me?

***

For anyone who’s looked down into that ravine—and anyone who’s tried to help that person away.

***

#poetry

#rhymeandmetre

#mentalhealth

***

*

Come downtown

and we’ll count windows in the sky—

Come downtown, and help me fight

the urge to cry.

All these windows into lives we’ll never know—

all these people who have nowhere else to go.

*

(and at the core of it’s the grinding of the gears)

(and at the core of it’s the loss of living years)

*

see, in the ’scrapers, we all work ’til dying time

and in the ’scrapers, count a dollar, earn a dime

*

(—I was hoping I wouldn’t end up here.)

*

***

#poetry

#rhyme

#meter

***

Here’s to the pantheon

I knew in youth—

the human deities

flawed and uncouth.

To goddesses as cruel

as they were kind—

to gods, as little shits,

unworthy of the shrine.

***

#poetry

#micropoetry

#greekmythology

***

Bare of foot on this, the hallowed ground.

Light of foot on this, the hollow ground.

Best

tread

lightly,

lest

it

all

fall

down.

***

#micropoetry

#poetictriplet

#poetry

#tercet

***

—yet there’s only so much grace

in

the

decline—

***

A/N: a taste of things to come.

***

#micropoetry

#prosepoetry

#freeverse

#poetry

***

The sweetness of the summer

having beat a swift retreat,

the clime has lost all mercy

for the people on the street.

The very air is sweating

in the damp, inhuman heat—

the pavement breathing fire

upon unsuspecting feet...

***

#poetry

#rhyme