Old Hallows Eve
The spooky season is upon us like a beast upon its prey Hallows Eve is 18 away The fall aromas spread across the land each day Candles burning, witches yearning to take first flight […]
Tag Archives: Poetry
No Emotions
The Sunshine shines on the farm The farmer awakes on the alarm The birds that chirp, the new crops that were harvested The tomatoes and potatoes that got marketed The farmer’s emotions disappear Allowing […]
Peace
In a hot and loud classroom somewhere in Manhattan Girl in black stares out the window yearning for peace. Oblivious teacher in a button-up shirt gestures to an image of the 1960s Students who […]
Family Spirit of Thanksgiving
Cooking fills the table with love. Different styles of culture lie on the table. The scent of turkey and garlic fill the air. The smell of food makes me drool. Rushing waves of voices […]
Glass Heart
“Give me a song of hope and a world where I can sing it.” – Pauli Murray Give a glass heart to Me. say you’ll trade my heart back maybe tomorrow– A lie too […]
Flight
Flight is the pounding feeling in my heart when I am onstage, about to perform Flight is the flurry of butterflies in the pit of my stomach when I try something new Flight is […]
The Path to School
Fall, Wheat covered, Wind whipped, Dirt and mud, Stones under foot, Crunch as you step, Walk through the dry, dead grass, The forest Covered in red and orange hues And stick figure trees, Nearly […]
Based on All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury
All Summer in a Day I dream of a glistening burning radiant Sun A gold crayon sunflower fire on the stove I feel the heat warmth Of the sun against my skin I’m Spinning […]
Poetry by Emily Rose
it’s not christmas anymore her bruised lips are stained with sickly sweet pomegranate wineher hollow eyes drunk with power (and with pain)the moonlight beams into the darkness through wooden blindscasting shadows on long-forgotten coffee […]
In Light Blue
Like a songbird with a broken wing Who cannot fly but only sing Like a songbird with a broken wing Who cannot fly but only sing Who sings in hope but stops in vain […]
Anxiety
Tendrils of my gray fingers twist and crawl Infiltrate the chinks in your armor Coil and squeeze around your mind I will exploit you from within I afflict cold chills, sweaty palms upon you: […]
Where I Am From
“I am from the heat of my village /
And the blizzard of a New York winter /
I can feel my sweat freeze”
Through the Cracks
“Once I broke the trust they had /
I regret breaking a pickle jar”
Bat Mitzvah
“I remember arriving, and thinking everything looked picture perfect. /
I remember it was dark, but at the same time very bright. /
I remember demanding that my friends were called by their nicknames.”
Feeling Colors
“Dear Blue, /
I hope you’re doing well. /
But recently I heard you are doing quite bad.”
Summer
“Breaking through/
the salty water/
I swim back to shore/
My feet feel/
smooth rocks/
on the shore/
as I step onto/
the beach.”
The Summer Breeze
“The summer breeze whistles through my hair/
It swims through the grass and trees/
Makes the gleaming sun looks like a gem, so rare/
And dances on the waves in the seas.”
The Goose is the Garden
“The goose is the garden/
Is becoming overgrown we need to trim the weeds/
Take over the driveway
Is really falling apart/
From you I can’t seem to think.”
Hopes and Dreams
We, the successors of this country
Are grateful for being born in a country
Where there is freedom and democracy
Where anybody can become president
PERSEPHONE / Wake of A Dark Rose
Me,
A tendril of a person, wrapped around a bruised finger.
An obsession, as you’ve said before.
Problems and struggles and flaws and fault
When really,
What is fault, when everything has two sides?
Not two dimensional, so deep,
So rooted into the pure
Keys on the Keyboard
Sometimes I am lucky,
Everything going my way
Other times my soul feels like
It’s being sucked away
Butterflies in the sky
Then stormy weather, don’t know why
We
“We are, and always will be, humanity.”
We’re Stronger Together, A Poem
“The more people who work to defeat this,
Then the stronger we will be”
Peace
“The first petals of Spring have arrived,
but no one dares to admire their glory”
And You Feel Like a Child
“your ceiling
is your sky, and Now
becomes engulfing”
How to Help the Helpers
“It matters not,
Whatever you bought,
It need not be a lot”
Beyond the Walls
“Desperate for restful sleep
Beyond these walls, disconnect so deep”
And So The Sun
“The world is just like a sun
That will not set
When will the world
Ever rest?”
If I Had Known
“I would’ve told her that I was proud of her”
Hello Coronavirus
“How do I comprehend this chaos?”
Pandemics and Poker
“Separation becomes isolation
The few feet of space now a void of unknown”
Separate, Together
“For the overworked, recognition
For the jobless, hope”
Your Voice
“Write. Make your voice be heard.”
What I Hope I Sound Like Through a Gramophone
“we shared an ice cream, by the shore
and then i found that i much preferred
your presence only in pictures”
Numb
“to be deprived of emotion or the lack of sensation”
Light in the Darkness
“There is an opportunity before us,
and we can use this time to change.”
Waiting for the Dawn
“Hushed, they wait in silence
Waiting for the sun”
Loose Brick
“Your electric toothbrush
vanished from Mom’s medicine cabinet.
My kitsch cast was claustrophobic with sharpie.
The maple trees out my window turned red.
How did the Continental soldiers survive
six months of wind whipped backs?”
Dear Mockingbird
“What do you do when there is no sound?
Do you just sit around?
When you mock people are you loud?
Does this make you proud?”
Cold
“Time moved forward.
Tearing deeper into my flesh.
The more the scars grew
The more my wounds bled.
The more something within
Began to fade away.”
A Question – Unanswered – Solved
“Don’t I know what’s best
For the person who’s been through more
She said it herself
In the letter she wrote
I guess it is fate
That my high
Is my low”
Fatal Feelings
“You are not equivalent to my race
Stop trying to change my broken face
I can kill myself
But I’ll do it slowly
My smile is there but fading shortly
Figure out how you wanna write your story
You will never put that pen down
You look at me with raging glory”
I Don’t Know What To Call This – A Poem
You own me in chains. Cold, hard steel. Break me, break my bones. Shatter my spirit of writer’s block.
I don’t know what I’m saying. I don’t know what I’m trying to say. I’m bad at this. Bad at life. Cut my throat of blood and ice. Rip my spine, use it for your books.”
Miriam’s Song
“We tell them who we are.
First, people. Second, Jewish.
Here to spread the love of those around us,
Not to kill.
Here to help people that don’t have as much as we do,
Not to hurt.
Here to tell people that they are not alone in this big, scary world,
Not to hate.”
All the Way
“The waters break roughly,
So I look far out to sea,
Where it sits patiently,
Waiting calmly for me.”
Sea
“The stunning Azure waves whip the rocks, engulfing them in sea.
Bubbles rise up, expiring at the foamy surface.
At sunrise, the horizon spreads fiery colors over the calm ripples.”
Bored
“The scent of all these sweet fruits and vegetables begin to make me nauseous
I wish for an AC in this horrible and hot place
I feel so weary in this place
I beg someone to get me out of this place, but alas, there is no one here”
Loyalty
“From the furthest corner
Of her satchel worner
Out comes a shiny gift
Your birthday
With a Hallmark holiday
Card insignia on the back”
Poem # 3
“Some details only noticed by the wise,
Beautiful worlds live in disguise,
Small moments catch uninspired eyes.”
My Past
“Crying is like being a punk about it, that’s what people on the street say. The boy didn’t believe it at first when he came in the room on a Saturday in June and his mom was crying and said, “Your father passed away.””
After Hours
“The beautiful color of the blue flowers
They must be happy when there are rain showers
They must be happy after hours
But it’s not true their sadness devours”
Tonight
“Do to me this for it shall be no worse
Than what has’t been done,
Forgotten from thy lips
My name once sweetly sung”
Bay Area = No Kind Of Grey Area
“Drive to hills,
Drive to the bay,
Drive to the city,
Drive, drive away.”
Hiraeth
“you go to bed before me
so i can tuck you in
search my soul for doubts and find
so many”
Identity
“isn’t it
euphoric
when
you open your
mouth
and you
hear harmony?
a string of sounds.
that make
perfect
sense?”
Anactoria’s Cry
“I traced her name into the swirling brown dust, / and it came out loud, and free, and infinite — “
Perfect is a Knife
“The pinboard is a fantasy, a collection of moments, of friends that anyone would want but it is just a fantasy. This is my life! I say screaming to anyone that will hear.”
The Sapphic’s Jumble, A Grammerless “Unpoem”
“The words are sweet and watery you gorge / yourself on them.”
March 17th
“The trickee has become the trickster / Running around with crushed hearts in hand”
Monsters
“when you think of monsters you think of long claws have three heads / hiding under your bed ready to attack”
When I Cringe
“When I cringe, / I feel disgusted.”
People
“Our Consumption is endless / Our hunger never quenched”
Hunt and Gather
“Hunt and gather / Build and break / Some of us give but / everybody takes”
I Remember
“I remember you, Bubbe Ester. / The smell of your house is what I remember clearly, / The smell that comes with things that have been loved over time, That carries so many memories with it.”
Boundless
“The sky is an endless path for Apollo to trek / his glorious reign flushes my face”
Halo
“An angle of the sun’s embrace / Shining in the thunder’s wake”
Pay No Mind – VII
“I stare at a mere reflection, / a girl whose eyes, drained, are watering still after hours nonstop”
Uncertainty
“She thinks she knows / He thinks he understands / Yet I am still alone”
Dirty Laundry
“Dirty Laundry / The chore that everyone suffers.”
when i ran out of thyme
“when i ran out of thyme / they should have buried me in lavender”
Night Alone in Mytilene, Lesbos
“When the light is gone, when the moon is quivering… / the Pleiades are gathered into a drawstring pouch of white stars,”
My Last Goodbye
“It’s a fifteen hour flight to South Africa / A journey across the Earth my family embarks upon once every two years”
The Adventures of Rusty and Runty
“When two sailors of the open seas / Come forth to a ruler of fortune and keys / Whence spews forth a prince who wears gold / Who has weak bones and a fragile mold”
Sept. 22 Writer’s Block Poetry
“I have an idea / It’s on the / Tip / Of my tongue”
Black Roses
“We planned our funerals together. / You told me you wanted black roses. / ‘Black roses, where can I find those?’ I asked. / ‘I’m sure you’ll figure it out,’ you smiled.”
He Laughed like the Ocean
“The tide pulled the water closer to my feet / He threw his head back / And bellowed / He laughed like the ocean”
The Bower
“The bridal moon turns a natural eye to the wild pools of sunflowers, / the bloodshot summerhouses and discarded Cola cans / and the air strokes like heaviest satin.”
The Monster
“There is a monster inside of me / The monster — / It scares me / It stays in me”
Gone for a Walk
“Gone for a walk / The sun beaming hot on my back / Trees offer their shade to passersby / The sweet smell of summer in the air”
Little Bird
“The Cove / Its water an incredible, powerful beast / Dormant for years / Warmly welcoming her father’s fishing boat and allowing her to splash in the shallows as a child / Then suddenly awake”
Uncontrolled Fury
“darting through her head, faster / than her hand can keep up with. / She tries / to grasp one before / it disappears, but her hand holds / nothing / except a pen. / The sound of it scratching / against paper fills / the empty silence.”
The Girl Next Door, the Guardian Angel and the Best Friend
“Her heart throbbed. / For more reasons than one.”
Summer
“The sweet flavor / Bursts in my mouth / As the sticky juice / Runs down my chin / And falls on my lap / Oh the clothes / That have been stained forever / By the chaotic season / That is summer”
For Them All
“Kind / He was just kind / Everyone knew it / But I liked it the most”
Soccer Ball
“Full of stories / Both joyous and bitter / Used to accomplish dreams and goals”
Nature
“Animals, nature, the weather so nice / Waking up early to sun or to ice / Milking the cows and getting the eggs”
The Guest House – Confusion
“Hi Confusion, Although I never expected you to come, I guess you’re welcome, because confusion leads to thought, and thought leads to finally maybe making sense of some chapter of this crazy, twisting, turning, torrentuous story called life.”
Benevolence of Change
“Summer smiles in sun-kissed bliss with her cloudless days, / Watching over a child with emerald eyes, / Who rocks back and forth in his chair in a joyful haze / And laughs in glee under bright and clear skies.”
Pest Poems
“We relax under the cabinet / Eating the leftover cheese / Contemplating the meaning of life / And wondering if there is any bread / That we can pair / With this sharp cheddar. / We are happy / At the moment.”
The Sun Is Up
“The sun is up / But I am not / I am numb / For the day is not”
Dogfriend
“Yellow dogs. / Black dogs. / White dogs. / Red dogs.”
Nervous
“The light stains my eyelids a / lurid pink. / I fumble with the / Pen and paper / That lay on my desk.”
for the poets
“your words coat my lips / like honey / i sit cross-legged on my bed and speak them / over and over again”
Alas, such are the ways of the clouds…
“I must serve them because alas, such are the ways of the clouds / I gather worms although alas, such are the ways of the clouds”
Serendipity
“The ingenue dreamed of a catastrophic world of cerulean music. / There were many realms in that world, each surprisingly different. / Her favorite glowed during the day with beautiful, cloudless skies. / The night sky was gorgeous as well, colorful but dark.”
Sports Poem
“I find life often so represented by sports / The interwoven reliance of European football / With still the individual spotlight of baseball”
Blue
“Blue house / New house / New blouse / Blue blouse / Blue hue / Few to”
Poisonous Rain
“Rain is falling / Mom is calling. / It’s time to go inside / Weather lied.”
Glasses
“An elegant work of art, / Fragility, / And clarity”
Five Haiku to Clear the Mind
” Terminal Storm / Shrieks of laughter fill the air, / Joyous new leaves flutter, / Clouds roll in to halt it all.”
Life’s Library
“Everyone’s life has a place where it keeps / all the important memories / whether it is a box or a shelf, / A cart or a peanut butter jar,”
Enough Is Enough
“An AR-15 has 15 functioning parts. The length of the gun, the speed of the bullet determines how lethal a fatality is. / The time it takes to unload the empty chamber. / That one flick can cause a mass destruction.”
Women’s March
“Millions of faces / Millions of stomping feet / Millions of pink hats / Millions of minds, / Determined to set things right.”
Red;
“A woman with a stroller, the baby / Kicking its feet and the aging leaves / Crunched under wheels. / Red;”
Cold Summers Night in the Country
“We’d hear the wild grass / Rustle like a blanket / On a cold summer night / As we watch the stars.”
Shelves
“on dusty racks / my whole life sits / in crumpled balls of / scribbled lines / the stories that / i couldn’t tell”
The Colors of the World
“An effortlessly beautiful, captivating dream that keeps you afloat on a cloudless sky in midwinter / Skin as white as the velvety snow atop faintly visible mountains that kiss the sun on the horizon / It’s unmistakably yet naturally different from me”
Song Of The Isthmus
“The ship docked on the sandy shores. / Waves lapping at its barnacled belly / the anchor digging deep into the earth. / Hundreds swarmed the grounds, / scouring for fresh water.”
Pieces of Myself
“I am not made of gloriously pristine lavenders / Or resplendent, snowy daisies / Not even cherry blossoms with petals as softs as the summer rain”
All the World Poetry Collection
“His hair is flawless; his eyes are perfect, / His music: my very inspiration, / His dreamy face is another aspect, / Singing to me in each situation, / But lighting up a smile on the faces, / Of countless devoted, adoring fan, / Does not equal knowing his embraces,”
grey
“the type of tiredness that settles behind your eyes and doesn’t leave. / the type of quiet that twists your gut and unsettles your mind. / the type of moments that make you wish for an alternate reality.”
gasoline sickness
“and they told stories, too, of gasoline sickness, / the bloodshot eyes and ragged breaths,
the sleepless nights and sleepwalking days, / how they were homesick/homesick/seasick/homesick,”
Cotton Candy Skies
“Reach up, up, to the cotton candy skies. To the heavens of pink, of white, and of gray, to the spun-sugar taste of a spring’s lovely day. The fire’s smoke twists into skeins of dark air, but the blue sky’s cobwebs knot into pale hair. Sunlight and moonlight and light of all hues, quiet in violet and in all types of blues.”
partition
“One nation, torn apart / by cartographic line / and the thunder of fifteen million footfalls. / Bodies pile and neighbors leave / for a chance to live. / That history, I am its future.”
Chateaux
“As a corpse might recall / fingers of moonlight tangling gossamer / heavy with silence”
The Masked Player
“Without discernible misery / The masked player strides in / Confidence exuding in wavering streams / The curtain lifts to uncover / So many gleaming faces / Apprehensive”
Moral Transformation
“He was no longer lost in space / His childhood gone at life’s behest / As he grew, a change in pace / To grow, to make money, to beat out the rest”
Stigma
“You know that feeling when some days, we wake up and we just don’t want to get out of bed? So bedridden that sometimes, it even hurts to breathe. What’s the point of all this?”
Moving From the Sea to the Mountains
“I buy clean white sheets; / I do not want to feel sand on my ankles / when I sleep under Appalachian stars.”
Black Girl
“I am expected to drop out of school at sixteen due to pregnancy, and raise a baby without a father. / I am expected to live off of minimum wage with a fast food job and welfare for financial support. / Expected to live in the projects for the rest of my life until I make it out of it, but really never make out of it.”
America
“Land of the free / Not for you / Or for me / Not for the homeless man, who / Can’t get a job because to get a job, you / Need an address”
Colorado
“The creak of broken brakes and / the soft whoosh of bicycle wheels / lift up lazy dogs’ heads / as we slip through the night.”
Iceland
“We woke up early that day, / a cold morning with icy winds that burnt our faces. / We gripped our hot chocolates with stiff fingers, / every sip of warm rich liquid somehow warmer than a summer day”
Ghost Rider
“Dawn / The sun rises over the glinting sea / A ghost sailman paddles over the translucent water / His boat empty, devoid of life”
Countdown to Freedom
“The turquoise water shimmered. Small waves flowed onto the black sand of the beach before heading back into the sea. The island positively glowed with sunlight reflecting off the water while palm trees provided shade. It was picturesque, except for the old, wooden mansion that stood tall in the middle of the island.”
Trees
“Trees / Be it Children Running in the sun / Or an Old Couple picnicking in the Shade / They Watch”
Umami Tears
“I talked in hushed tones with my brother / while we were walking / to get his hair cut / about times we had cried / not salty tears / but umami tears – / substantial and / rich.”
The Longing
“The Polaroid camera sat on display pleading to be used, / It itched to capture the colors of the rising sun. / It longed for a chance to snap the wind”
Purple
“The color of kings / Lies in my roots / And flows through the minds / Of all men.”
Heard, Not Seen
“Frustration embodied / By monsters that fly from lips / That have seen many years. / Or, sometimes fairies that don’t fly.”
Chaotic Joy
“Popping under my eyelids / Spreading / Hue of bubbles”
Time Wears Gloves
“Time wears gloves on its hands. / It tiptoes past us, / Cautious of alerting us to its shadowy presence. / We only notice its movement once it has gone.”
Peeled Away
“A layer of skin has been peeled away / Revealing what lies beneath me / Secrets exposing themselves / In the burning light”
Anger and Fear
“Anger and fear are very similar / they both lead to death / fear: the most powerful spark in history / anger: a flame that burns faster”
Untitled
“They say the opposite of love is not hate / It’s just indifference / And because / those who seem to love me / those who really know me enough to love me / seem so few and far between”
The Foundation behind the Teal Ribbon*
“Just because you have a mental / illness, does not mean you are different. / People with anxiety are fighters. People / with depression are survivors. People who / self harm are strong.”
Again
“Somebody promises themselves they will change and reform their ways again, / Yet in the end it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks, yet people still try again and again.”
A Body That is Not Your Own
“When you are born, you receive two gifts. / You get a gender, and you get a name. / Most of the time, these gifts are kept. Most of the time, people are content with these gifts. / But sometimes, people don’t like these gifts. They want different gifts. And when they ask for different gifts, they often get the answer that they had hoped would be out of the conversation entirely.”
The Sky (A Sestina)
“The blue / sky shows your heart, / Shows you how to sing, / Lets you speak, / Teaches you to think, / Helps you be you.”
Achoo the Llama
“There was a cute llama named Achoo. / He lived in the glorious Peru.”
Anxiety
“I know it’s you, / I can always tell, / when you show up at my door, / and lean on the bell.”
A Man-made World
“My breath leaves clouds on the small window, / Dissipating to reveal fluffy clouds outside, / The wing of the airplane in which I sit.”
I Got It
“I got it / Even though it’s been years since the last time / I shot it”
Melt Away
“You watched your grandfather die. / I believe you were 7 years old at the time / But the strangest thing was even though he wasn’t blind / he refused to acknowledge your face.”
Maturity
“Earbuds vibrating inside my head / A barrier from those who leave me dead / They park their hearse outside my weary skull / Emotions bubble but my face remains dull”
Life is Beautiful
“life is soft and serene when you let her / when you wake up too early and you sit in the living room / the sun hits you and you hear ocean waves”
Fire
“I watch the little spots of color / Dance around the night air / Like lightning bugs / Twirling into the night sky / And disappearing from sight.”
Sunset
“Yellow is the bright color of sunflowers and sunsets / Then the sun goes down and the sunflowers are forgotten”
Unified Separation
“Once there was a sun and moon / The sun circled the moon, like a dog racing to catch its tale / They were Unified / Stronger together / The light and the moon / The same / But separate”
Going up the Stairs
“Take a breath. Foot up foot forward foot down. Take a breath. Then you’re at the top but uh oh you fell down.”
A Girl to Remember
“I remember her cheekbones / twirl / smile / grace / eyes / But I remember her pain / I remember her laughter / But that was before”
The Strange Realities from My Soulmate
“A carbon atom must only have a specific number of protons / A strand of DNA writes novels of identity out of our control / A swipe of scarlet nail lacquer applied without a proper top coat will flake away in a matter of days”
The Lost Sky
“A girl disguised by the somber mists of taunting loss, / Glooming shadows escaping the night’s bitter sky, / The latent stars vanished without gloss, / Wishes muted by a concealed lie.”
Verb
“Tighten / And ripple / And ache / And redden.”
on sin: wrath
“he’s always been good, / at throwing punches that land / in the shapes of bruises / on sandbags and plastic / play-pretend armor.”
Three Dreams
Everyday resembles a blank canvas, / Any color can accommodate the dull lines, / Our dreams arrange like butterflies in the rain, / Pattering down in rattled drops as the sun beams beyond them.
Butter
“It happens quite often that I feel my thoughts start to disseminate like continental drift.
It happens also that I feel like I am biting into a chunk of solid butter.
Sometimes, though, it is melted butter, and sometimes, the butter is whipped.”
Monday Is
“Monday is the lowest of the low. It’s at the bottom of my trash can of hate, along with fake smiles and the objectification of women.”
autumn fabled
“the friday light shines in his eyes,
iridescent and ethereal”
deities of green
“i actually kind of like the park
it’s just that once my mother lost me and i’m still afraid of dirt paths and trees that look like faces in the dark”
Honeysuckle Yellow Sunny Socks
“There is water in the air bubbles that pop when I crack my knuckles. I am in a tank of water. The water tank is full of floating honeysuckles.”
Generation of Fear
“Most citizens believed the one
And started to despise
The ones chosen to hate upon
Fed with fear and lies”
Invisible
“I’m right in front of you
I am a rare bird who’s there but not seen often
My gold feather with multiple colors of feathers”
The Last Time I Saw You
“You looked at me, frustration exploding like fireworks all over your face
You couldn’t communicate your feelings to me”
I
“The pale, waning moon is wearing a frightening mask.
We have the love of a thousand seas.”
I Remember
“You were drinking champagne from a wine glass
The wine glass had a red lipstick stain on the side
I knew from the red ruby color you had given up”
Lost
“A piece of me is gone, severing the soul that is truly me
It’s like I’m a stranger to myself”
Holocaust Poems
“I don’t hate Jews.
I am going to keep this guilt
inside of me
forever.”
Ohh sun, hot sun
“when I’m in a pool, you’re fun.
Ohh sun, hot sun, you’re a ton.”
Smaller Than the Sky
“Chewing my cuticles when you laughed at something the girl with the sunset hair said to you
Swallowing the cloud in my throat as I practiced asking you if we would still meet every Friday to watch the stars
Realizing, when the fog cleared, I would never ask”
I Don’t Remember Her Name
“She’s sizzling, dazzling, snappy, and can put on a damn good show.
She can be impolite, rude, snobby, and horrible, but only when in need of enlightenment. “
Ode to the WiFi
“Burn against our wishes,
And our hopes of productivity
Are crushed by your insensitivity”
Shattered Coloration
“the sweater is one of ripped holes and seams,
and I watch the soft, tawny sunlight grace your neck
to assure that I or the universe did not simply dream you into being”
La Tulipe
“Pale yellows dancing with the boldest
Swipes of tangerine on a sun-drenched canvas
Sway their heavy heads”
Impossible Reality
“The breeze lifts my hair to the sky,
to the sun,
to the curve of my right ear.”
Blue Room
“The water receives her.
every day her heart is open to the sound of waves.
always the same sound, the same deafening sound.”
MTA
“Cleanliness is nonexistent.
The rush of the system takes over.
Dirt and love coexisting.
Flying through tunnels and darkness.”
Food Memories
“Strawberry frosted donuts with rainbow sprinkles on top, eaten before going to the train store. Watching toy trains rush by on wooden tracks, licking the frosting from my fingers.”
Identified
“a name
is your most personal possession,
identifying you.”
My Love
“Love reminds me of a shirt I made for my sister,
sweet candy yams.
Love is my sister at Coney Island at night”
Life Lost, Love Hidden
“Life lost love hidden I lost it all in one sittin’
so I grabbed a pen and pad and started spittin’
I’m more than a conqueror so there’s no quittin’”
Unknown
“Today Is A Good Day, But Tomorrow Is Unknown,
The Past Already Happened. That’s Why I Left It Alone.”
Hope
“Hope is a test
A test you have not studied for
A test you cannot study for
A test you will fail”
Ben’s Space Poem
“From the Earth to simply explore,
We always want peace, but never want war.
3009 is the year that we chose,
But the year we come back, nobody knows.”
Courage
“Some people have courage
I do not always think I had it
But now I know I did”
White
“White is a color that shines like the moon.
White is a color that breaks through the gloom.”
The tree I used to dream under was cut down to make room for the extension
“There was a jar
filled with Ring Pops
that she would always
pull out for me.”
Snow
“Crystal, white, sugar-light,
how beautiful is the snow?”
She likes to volunteer at every museum and park and organization in the city
“The stream
looped around
the yard near the fence,
and I begged her to
put a bridge in so
I could cross it.”
Bloody Sunday
“His fingers wrap /
around her neck. /
This necklace is /
the present no one /
asked for.”
It was Beth Israel before Mount Sinai took it over she explains as we get off the subway
“I watch as she sleeps.
Easy, is the word
that comes to mind.”
Heartbeat
“The static of a thousand rays
captured in the tear
of a heartbeat,
a silent scream ripping through the swallowed air.”
Tightrope
“Or perhaps I would stroll across a fire.
I could watch the destruction
and the beauty,
without letting anything reach me”
Lost
“Yet all are lies,
but the fault lies not within our sense,
but within our mind
where we refuse to make amends.”
The Bear Rap
“I was thrown into the junkyard, by the Trash Man.
I swam out of the junkyard and saw my mom.
I yelled but she was busy on facebook.com!”
Carousel
“Round and round upon the ground,
the carousel goes spinning.”
Destinations
“They were almost… alive,
heavy, smooth, warm under your fingertips.”
This Place Called Home
“Here–the crime rates are as low
as the stress is high
with the nerve picking pressure
of decisions to be made.”
The Telephone Wants to Retire
“the obvious contrasts of
mother and a mom and beloved mommy
and she knows if the news is good or bad
just by how they say hello.”
The Ten Sailors
“But when he hooked a dolphin he fell in
and grabbed its fin and was never to be found again.”
judas is crying now
“i was called to the funeral, and i wore a yellow dress
to commemorate the color of her cheeks”
Summer Break
“But the knowledge that one day
The chains will return
Sieges your liberty.”
His Eyes Through a Window
“His crystal eyes caught a glimpse of the outside world,
a world filled with natural beauty,
a world that sang with joy from the perfect chaos of nature.”
Winter Fashion
“I stand. Strong. Waiting for the demon.
The demon that fights for greed.”
give and take
“I can’t take from others
Because I know how hard it is to give.”
The Story of Autumn
“As you plan to make a leaf pile, a work of childish creation, the brown leaf sits at the edge of your vision. You put it at the top. Quite strange, how sending it to its imminent toppling seems to be a nice gesture.”
Moonlight
“I crawl into bed and put my sheets on.
‘Good night Shimmer,’ I murmur to my dog.
My eyes close and I drift to sleep.”
birds singing
“the birds sighed your stolen song most begrudgingly right after you left
To kiss another’s cheek”
My Body Is a Temple
“On my frieze tells a story
and helps me grow.”
Pearls
“Each one
As luminous as a pearl”
Express Yourself
“Is it really something on which we dwell?
Or is it thoughts with which we comply?”
In Search Of
“the gods paint a psychedelic watercolor
on your window.”
Life
“Butterflies flutter around my head and leap and frolic through the air. The flower’s fragrant aroma gently floats on the balmy morning breeze as the swing set in the deserted old playground creaks.”
Cactus Blooms
“This morning,
my broken dreams suddenly
appeared in my cupped hands.”
The Sweetest Dreams
I’m trying to keep up with you on a trembling tundra
of crushed snow cones, dribbled with flavorings that’ve bled.”
A Crinkled Page
“I walk up the steps and through the doors, and as I infiltrate the entry, I pause to take a breath.
My lungs expand and I push out my rib cage in which my charred heart is encapsulated”
Untitled
“No, we can’t begin there”
What-If?
“I am always watching…”
Used
“An intricate maze of
fatigue, fear, and
furiosity”
Trapped Part 1
“Why do i feel like i can’t breathe?!
Why do i feel like i can’t get out of this box?
Why can’t i speak?”
Thunderstorms
“Being alone while messiness
Surrounds
In the form of something normal.
Being together while order
Surrounds
In the form of something strange.”
Thunderstorms
“She laid there,
numb.
It was okay.
She was okay.”
To Me, Izzy Meant
“But in truth I knew the real her all along
I realize now that I was trying so hard for everything to stay the same
Even though I knew it never would”
Thunderstorms
“Coldness seems to seep
through the windows and walls,
sneaking past her sweater
and chills her to the bones,
as the demons fight in the air
where they can’t be seen.”
The Zoobreak
“they went to complete their crimes”
The Price of Words
“Words are worth a thousand pictures
and we can’t change that, either”
The Death of the Party
“I don’t remember who was here
To celebrate throughout the years
I want to stay, although I know
My party ended long ago”
Teddy Bear
“But maybe the monsters were too big”
Robin Flew
“she hid in her backyard by the swings that she never sat on.
She had stolen her father’s matches and kissed it with her hair,
just to see “what would happen.”
If she would become life.”
School
“The numbers are buzzing in my head
I systematically copy them on the board
The ringing
It’s back”
Our Garden
“So I planted these seeds to watch our love grow,
instead of fading like the crinkling leaves of my past mistakes.”
Number One Wish
“eventually my dad
may find his princess,
and my mother will find
her prince charming.”
Masked and Lost in Thought
“He left without looking at me”
It Will Be Different Soon
“that I am not a woman yet
because until the world is different
I will not be a woman
and that I will not be a woman
until the world is different”
Flower Poem
“Although the flower was young and vibrant,
within seconds, it turned gray and crumbled.”
Evanescence
“but I most certainly did not expect it to be there.
and perhaps it was not too beautiful,
but it gave off an essence of tranquility,
of mystery,
that someone was there once before me.”
Dreams and Silence
“And here, the moon knives through the night
The leaves like puppets in the light”
Homophones
“The drying laundry seems
Like ghosts
The wind crying over mended seams.”
Castle
“My mind is now a tower made of diamonds. But now there are walls and gates to keep traitors out.”
Bridge
“A bridge between two worlds
above regretful waters
ideas that didn’t make it
friends who left me
swept under the bridge.”
A Cut On My Finger
“and let the sweet rust
spread across my tongue
as a coat
of armor
and it still didn’t hurt”
A FIREFLY
“dragging me along, captive
a burlap sack
of Brooklyn haze dissipating over me
my magic scooter
suddenly is not as broken as I thought.”
1 to 10
“two is too long .. it runs & it bleeds & it bleeds and it bleeds out.”
“Riding”
“Ride as fast as a wild horse
Save every hoof you clean
Enjoy the ride you will never forget”
Olive Oil and Remedies of Melodies
“LISTEN TO ME
wait for me
she is the sun
Eclipsed and dead
I am a voice
Mute and soundless”
Opening Doors
“She always stays by that window”
Her Silhouette
“Her father cropped her body from the family photo,
told her she did not fit the frame.”
Nervous Breakdown
“I can feel my heart pumping
and hear my blood pulsing
coursing through my veins
and my heart beats
onetwothreefourfivesixseveneight”
Silence
“Silence is the loudest sound in the universe.”
Butterfly
“Until its wings
Land on your shoulder on
The cold train,
Then you are scared
Because such miracles
Have become unfamiliar,
And the unfamiliar,
We have learned to
Reject”
Abstract Poem
“forgotten colors
tucked away
behind smiling faces
ridden with pain”
Poem in the style of Alex Dimitrov
“Sometimes god is bipolar
Other times it rains
Her limp hair reminds him of that’
A Unanimous Marriage
“the wind blew with a sigh and the trees bent
not unlike a mortician bends over the shell of a soul
scalloped in just the right places”
Vanilla Sugar
“And the sky blue of my walls matches the color of my eyes and now that I think about it, that’s tacky. My walls should be light grey to match the color of my eternal need for whipped cream because it’s not with passion it’s with longing, and light grey is the international color of rainy days and on rainy days you long for the sun. But I don’t long for the sun.”
Happy Face
“A ratio of emotions, that no one…not even I could control. My mind and body would free themselves and feel what they wanted.”
I would never be tied down to humanity’s prefixes of an average girl.
Cassiel
“And the days were hers alone.
Days of quiet
steps along hardwood.
Days sprawled across her funeral pyre”
A Concentration Camp Poem
“I ask what color hair he had
he had quiffed brown hair that he loved
that he loved as much as I loved my red
red blood drips on the floor as we talk”
Shadow To Your Silhouette
“I was the shadow of your silhouette
Then the sun slipped into the simmering sea
Like a delicate egg being hardboiled
And we became crepuscular”
Their Beloved
“The spiderweb of her hair waves in the soft breezes that blow off the ocean that I like to think are made from sailor’s salty tales and mermaid’s murderous secrets. She isn’t looking at me so she doesn’t notice me writing poetry about her and taking her all in like my eyes are at an all-you-can-eat buffet and she is the meal. “
Love Letter
“My skin is prim, buffed until all the callouses have chipped away,
gilded like my eyes, my straight locks, my button-nose.
But, my dear, there is a loneliness in polite. A void among the dyed roots.
A core like a dilapidated creature, made of polished metal, with a coating
of rust that lies beneath it all.”
Hemorrhaged Hope
“I had the will to cut away the pavement
that made my feet hurt as they pounded
hurtling me past figures that leeched eagerness
I tried to see past metaphysical maybes that
made my head burn and cry out strings of lost thought
lost imagination
lost longings”
Yellow Paint
“Yellow is linked to happiness, so why wouldn’t eating yellow paint also be linked to happiness? It makes perfect sense.
I’m sure everybody has been at the point where they wanted to eat yellow paint, or their version of yellow paint.”
Into The Green
“These woods have bewitched time.
The trees and knolls and rocks,
Statues of their former selves.”
Just One
“Arms, legs, fingers
Mouth turns up at the corners
Green, green, green.
Green thread, green walls.
Skin is pink, delicate but powerful.”
Asleep in School
“My pages of homework just keep piling and piling, they utterly flooded my room!”
Parents
“‘When I was your age…’
There are few words more hated
Than these
Because a rant always follows.
Generations are different, for God’s sake!”
Me
“Without creativity motivating me I can no longer be an ARTIST”
Sticky Summer
“Heartache tunes
Sadness melodies
and the sticky popsicle
in a sticky summer”
Underground
“I let my arms float to my side
Weightless due to the gentle breeze
I close my eyes once more
And imagine that I am a bird
Soaring aimlessly through the sky
Only attached to the ground by
The cool ocean crashing
Against my ankles
Burying my feet in the moist sand”
I Can’t Think Of A Title: Poem Series
“I’m grey yet everything is in color
Choking on the fear of the unknown
Drowning in my simpleness”
Feast on Words
“Similes are some great stuff
I can never get enough
Metaphors are like chamomile tea
Subtle but strong enough for me”
Cerulean
“Fleeting.
Tears wiped from crinkled eyes, heads thrown back with laughter.
Petals waving in the wind. Fast moments.
Forgotten.”
Romeo’s Nirvana
“Fear is his ghost
It binges and gluts on a sane head
With words that are upchucks of senseless ragamuffins:
Their meanings need no coaxing”
Beauty
“Normality shielded by your ignorance
my world blocked by the disgusted look on your immaculate faces
my head booming with perceptions that you will never hear. Not from my beastly face”
Cornflower Blue
“Cornflower Blue are waters in the well
And green and glowing like an ocean swell
Heart of friendship long away
One has left and one must stay.”
First Hunt
“My foot falls are marked by the crackle of twigs and papery leaves,
Around me, I know they’re watching, waiting; they’re somewhere.
Pulling my spindly frame up the ladder, I see the woods differently.”
He’s Not The Right One For Me
“you had me at hello and I had to say goodbye
I usually get mad but I let it slide
I was tough to stay, strong to rise
but I fought for you that wasn’t a surprise
we work a path, you and me together”
Human
“I am a human.
Not perfect, not the best at everything, but that’s ok.
There is no right or wrong.
But I am still the unique one.
I am that person that people say ‘they’re different’ and I love the thought
of: ‘She is not the same.'”
If Time Stopped
“If time stopped, we would have forever. We would spend eternity together, thinking about all that we might have done. Wondering what would have changed if we had lived differently. Pondering the infinite possibilities of everyone, and everything. All the places we might have been, all the things we might have seen.”
John F. Kennedy International Airport Adventures
“murmurs of commotion, excitement
the smell of stale
people and personalities
unintentional noise, ears popping
I’m sorry
I spilled my iced coffee on your shoes”
No Good News Today
“I ate and wandered through the kingdom of my mind.
No good news today.
The sun was blotted out by hazy, forgotten dreams.
No good news today.
One day a giant force will pursue truth.
No good news today.”
Parfait Pantoum
“The oranges are making me bananas
Yogurt is a weird word
Especially oranges, they make me go nuts
Is a berry a fruit?”
Ramen
“Ramen, ramen ramen.
Where do I begin.
You beautiful bowl of noodles
with pork and spice”
Running
“The wind teases every strand of your hair
While the ground races underneath your feet
And everything around you moves too fast
When you decide to run”
Self
“The bus
In the back, swaying and bumping over roads
Paved with cracked tar
Laughing
Playing games with reality”
Window Writing
“the crunch of chips,
the bark of laughter,
the slam of a door,
the crack of a knuckle,
the pounding of the heart”
Dream in The First Place
“A scar built and made by unfocused hands,
Who wouldn’t want to say ‘I love you’ in the rain and thunder crash,
A ship sinking so well it forces laughter,
Life can be a burden, death can be a release,
And I can find my worth, my solitude, my soul
While flying on the shoulders of dreamers”
Memoriae Vitarum
“As your aura fades from
your jacket,
your car,
my memory,
I have trouble recollecting
the time we had together.
Only hospital beds and funeral homes
seem to come to mind.”
The Mistress
“It wasn’t silent, as nothing ever really is.
Moonlight lay on the waves
and hung in her tears.”
Humanity
I watched, but I could not see clearly. I stood, but I did not move an inch. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I watched, with tear-filled eyes as those […]
Bruises
“everything
was our main topic of conversation
i tripped without warning
i fell
and my skull clanked
on the cold dusty floor
but it didn’t hurt me
i was too long gone”
The Wind and Other Poems
“Gentle breezes, summer winds,
popsicles dripping down childrens’ hands,”
I Remember…
I remember rushing through the forest on two wheels,
“For the first time.
The wind blowing not only alongside me, but in me,
Acting as my own personal encouragement and pushing me along.”
Breathe
“As I am sitting on the bench I see this familiar man with a white and black dog saying my name.
I felt a rain drop wondering if I was crying because I saw him.
Sydney.
Ken.”
Beach
“I feel the sand sticking to my feet, falling off my skin, the air touching my skin as if someone was blowing on it.
The salt water getting in my mouth, spitting up the horrible taste, then eating watermelon, and dripping down my fruit pop.”
Now I Realize, Monster Inside, Not Soulmates
“So, it wasn’t long before
The monster and me were tamed again
He needed someone to blame
Because the burden was too heavy for himself
The man in the monster wants freedom
But the monster won’t leave him
There is a war raging between them
I hope the man beats him.”
I’ll Smile if you Smile
“I guess it took more than words to bound your wounds
because many didn’t even penetrate the surface
even when I saw you start to crack all I could do was stand back
and i watched the pieces fall i was helpless
I was small”
How To Kiss Death
“but how do you
believe in something that
you don’t know it positively happened?
yes, evidenceblahblahblah,
but I wasn’t there!
(fine, I’m a narcissist.)”
Cartography
“And that was the first time I was in love- I loved girls and I wanted boys, like the man who died amongst the bleached bone white sands, unable to chose between love and life, and so I starved”
Forced Poem
“How do you write a poem?
I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing
Do I just keep hitting the return key after every sentence?
Is a line break between two stanzas like a paragraph?”
The Sorcerer
Her journey would be long
As if a sorcerer, she rose her hands in the air, calling upon the earth
The cold took hold, choking her in the darkness
Hashtags
“I go to Instagram
and tap
the hashtags
#cutting, #depressed and #suicidal
#self-hating #starving #breaking
#fat #ugly #loser #trash”
Voices
“I am the voice that kills you.
I am the voice that seeps into your brain and tells you that you’re wrong. Whatever you’re doing
is wrong. You are wrong.”
I am a Lemon
“I am a lemon
a fresh new lemon picked from
a tree
but the thing is
I was picked too early
I was picked before my skin turned yellow
before my shell stopped being white”
We Shatter Glass Globes
“The pads of fingers kiss and synchronize with gravel tunes
and smooth notes, quick meter
and bounce
snap
baby, do you wanna dance?”
And I’m
“i’m sorry your tongue started bleeding
when i told you my name, given my hands
tell the same story and my back has the
same stains as a girl whose essence you once
stapled to your ceiling so if there
was an earthquake, she would be above you”
A Walk to A Future
“A Light that conquers the rest
Letting the Puzzle Pieces Really connect into Place
Letting it Fall into the shines of a Better Tomorrow.
Make A Better Tomorrow!”
A Tale of Imagination
“My innermost weakness is the song that motivates and guides
the wisdom of the painting dreamer.
The official opportunities
of an endless crimson sky.”
t-shirts
“…the ones who had been hanging
from street lights and shooting stars,
who asked for help in the form
of loud music, slow dancing,
painting in dark colors, tying
red balloons to doorknobs…”
Hidden Secrets
“Sometimes there are things
we know and do
not understand”