The Day After – A Poem

Though I haven’t done poetry challenges for a long time, I got invited to one on good old MySpace, so I gave it a whirl. The theme was the day(s) after Valentines Day.

 

I pass like a ghost among the gravestones
to collect the remnants of the flowers,
those I left for you just days before,
lying cold against the granite,
petals dried like the memories
that still linger, pale valentines I cannot forget
from a time when we never thought
that death could touch us with his icy fingers.
But he came and I remain
so every year I leave you roses
to remind myself that we once loved
and laughed and cried and sang
and that, though no one lives forever,
they are never truly gone
so long as we remember.

Song playing at the moment – Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes

Rambling Poetry: On the Side of the Road

(from Nov 2008)

Written while waiting in the parking lot of McDonalds 😉

On the Side of the Road

A world within a world
Panicked and yet so unobtrusive
Inside the steel cage
Joyfully greeting this solitude
As a universe passes by
Out of reach, on the other side
Safe behind the tempered glass
Meanwhile, moving down the highway
Are a thousand dreams
So close to one another
And yet isolated.
A hundred faceless, nameless souls
Who occupy this space
For only one moment
Before they speed past you
On their way to all the things
Which seem so important in their lives
But which mean nothing to you.
They flit past so quickly,
Not even worth a glance or notice,
And leave no impression or influence,
Like dead leaves at your feet.
A thousand cars,
A thousand thoughts,
But you are trapped alone
With only your own ideas for company,
A prisoner of our self imposed isolation.

Song playing at the moment – Summer Skin – Death Cab for Cutie

Rambling Poetry: So Ordinary

(from Nov 2008)

Written for BC Beneke’s open mic…

So Ordinary….

A slash across the cold gray sky,
A knife wound at the horizon
Bleeding red against the pale expanse
Cool morning brings redemption
Or just another day so like the last
Mix repeat, mix repeat
Directions for the ordinary life
The smooth gray box of mediocrity
Eggshell thin if only bravery
Would try to puncture through its skin
But better to have cried and lost
Than to have ever tried and failed
Better still to drown the dream to silence
Than to risk humiliation
At the cruel hands of the noisy rabble
It was just a case of mistaken identity
When the dream came drifting
from the heavens and landed
on the shoulders of an ordinary man
For things like that belong to those
Born under lucky stars
Or under lucky names
Not to those who go to work
And drink coffee from their ordinary mugs
While looking through their ordinary eyes
At their ordinary world
But perhaps the ordinary is only
In the eye of the beholder
And if you choose to see the dream
Then it is yours for the taking.
Each man decides himself,
Is it the dawning of redemption
Or of an ordinary day?

Song playing at the moment – Summer Skin – Death Cab for Cutie

Horror Poem: Werewolves

(Nov 2008)

I wrote this for the Demon Poetry  Contest, but lost :p

Claws tear and teeth rend both cloth and flesh
While seeking pale skin beneath
Chained in pool of crimson blood
Plaything for the werewolves in their den
Both beast and man wrapped together
Behind haughty eyes and sneering face
Each scream tickles their ears
As they take their turn with what used to be
A young maiden from the desecrated village
Both town and girl now ruined and destroyed
by hands matted with their blood
And they laugh as she pleads for death
A shattered victim of this bestial carnality
When her shell no longer serves its purpose
And they have exhausted their pleasure
Then their fun turns to feast
Raw flesh to tempt their pallet
And a burbling stream of crimson to end their thirst
Splattered on the walls and floors
Their den soaked with her life as she is pulled apart
A piece for each, a fight for the heart
With flashing teeth and snarling growls
And then the head impaled on a spike of stone
Above the door of the reeking den
A warning to those still living
Not to cross the werewolves path

Song of the Moment – Mother earth – Within Temptation

Horror Poetry: China Doll

(oct 2008)

This was written for a challenge.

CHINA DOLL

Creep across the floor and through my nightmares
wave your tortured limbs and scream about the agony
Haunt my memory and sicken me with guilt,
black and sticky like the tar we buried you in.
Cut me with razorblades of shame
the way we cut you.
Peel away my face and replace it with a china mask
while I scream and plead for mercy,
until my words are just gurgles of my own blood.

Watch my life soak your makeshift operating table,
the way yours did the one hidden in his basement.
Have your fun, take your revenge like we did.
Though my sin is so much greater than yours,
one who died for being too much,
the right name, the right face, the wrong attitude.
It was the punishment we inflicted on you,
you thought you were perfect and so
we made you into a living doll,
twisted and grotesque beneath our clumsy hands,
pale skin stitched with bloody threads.

Now you come to torment me in darkest night.
So take me to his basement
Tie my wrists and ankles with barbed wire and
shove a dirty rag in my mouth
to stifle the agony as you rearrange me
and when it’s done
and your macabre experiment has concluded
then bury me in the tar pit, a mutilated corpse who is
finally free of their mistakes.

***************

Fav song of the second – Think About It – Flight of the Conchords (this thing is hilarious!)

Rambling Poetry: Oh, Elizabeth

(from August 2008)

I was trying to sleep and for some reason suddenly found myself channeling Adam Duritz and Don Mclean at the same time, which is funny because I have been listening to Death Cab for Cutie the last two days – but who am I to complain?  Anyway, it’s actually a song – kind of – but I think that falls under poetry! So here is some….

Oh, Elizabeth, do you think that we could fly
Away from the ground into the blue studded sky
Where the only thing lost is the next golden age
And the sounds down below mix to a sweet serenade

Can you see past the dirt, past the coming decay
Where the lives lived are wasted and your sweat doesn’t pay
Past disease and misuse, past the lack of your tears
To a time long ago when we both used to feel

Oh, Elizabeth, do you think that we could fly
Away from the ground into the blue studded sky
To a place in our memory when the whole world felt free
Hazy and sweet wrapped in colors of green

I’m dreaming of angels, wearing star studded shoes
And they dance cross the sky while below we all loose
Wait in anticipation for dawn’s coming day
The sun rises like ashes that burn as we pray

Oh, Elizabeth, do you think that we could fly
Away from the ground into the blue studded sky
Past the hating and wanting, where we’re shedding our skin
Drink the wine of communion while we’re drowning in sin

Can you see me?
Can you catch me?
When I fall, will I fall alone?
Can you see me?
Can you hear me?
Are you there or am I really here all alone?

Oh Elizabeth, do you think that we could fly
Away from the ground into the blue studded sky
Oh Elizabeth, do you know what we’ve done
What we’ve corrupted and ruined and now overrun

Oh Elizabeth, do you think we could be free
From the chaos and destruction that is all that we see
Oh Elizabeth, can we get out of this place
Away from the death that is the whole human race?

Song playing at the moment – Summer Skin – Death Cab for Cutie

Collab Poem: Blue Waters

(from August 2008)

This time there was a theme: Country Songs, so, I wrote a country song 🙂

I did do a pic-n-poem version using a random photobucket photo, but since it has a person in it that I don’t know, I am running the text only version:

Down by the creek,
A soft kiss on the cheek
Two kids at play, on a summer’s simple day
They grew too soon
And she moved away from you
But you smiled like you were dyin’
And the world whistled your tune

They say Blue Waters run deep
And you play that song so well my friend
So open the curtains and take one last bow
Fly high and proud, and if you should fall,
Remember you almost had it all.
Where the circles never broken and life keeps going
Round-n-round

Eat at Joe’s,
The best food we know
Don’t go too fast or you’ll miss out all the fun
Don’t give up tryin’
Live like you’re dyin’
Take this advice
And, my friend, you will be smilin’

They say Blue Waters run deep
And you play that song so well my friend
So open the curtains and take one last bow
Fly high and proud, and if you should fall,
Remember you almost had it all.
Where the circles never broken and life keeps going
Round-n-round

Oh, the crowd,
Whistles and shouts
Next time, maybe, we’ll try something new
We’re up high
In a sunny yellow sky
I think I’m the only one who sees
We’re just pretending, you and I

They say Blue Waters run deep

And you play that song so well my friend….
Yes, you always do….

I find myself
On a lost, dusty shelf
Brush off the dirt to see if I still shine
Just like the rainbow
Follows the storm
You ain’t seen nothing yet
We’re worn but still goin’ strong

They say Blue Waters run deep
And you play that song so well my friend
So open the curtains and take one last bow
Fly high and proud, and if you should fall,
Remember you almost had it all.
Where the circles never broken and life keeps going
Round-n-round

Song playing at the moment – “Addicted” – Ace Young

Rambling Poetry: Ring Around the Rosies

(originally from July 28, 2008)

No idea where this came from……

Ring Around the Rosies

So it’s ring around the rosies, pocket full of posies,

Three times, three times, now we hit the ground,

While memories slip through fingers, like petals of flowers

And the whimpering wind carries that sweet as honey sound.

 

A reminder in slow motion, of a world nearly forgotten

And a place that is forsaken, lost down paths I cannot find.

Amidst the summer keening, where the young heart’s always reeling

And the afternoon’s spent dreaming of warm places in the mind

 

There in velvet colored shadows I can find the smallest whisper

To remind me of the feelings that once a time were dear.

But to ponder and to worry on the emotion and occurrence,

Many years past now a blur, seems a game too childish here.

 

Because no person place or thing in the web of here and now

Can live up to imagination or those memories now dreams.

So to while away the hours, wasting all recourse and powers,

On contemplation and comparison is as useless as it seems.

 

Still, I recall them slowly, and though the memories seem perfect

Sublime nature’s an illusion a façade to hide the truth.

And perfection only seems so when you’re standing far away

From the source of your delusion, from reality aloof.

 

Two birds in the hand are worth five in the past.

If it’s gone it didn’t last, so it’s nothing that you need

Instead of hanging on and pining, inwardly sigh and dying

Take a look at what surrounds you and let the wistfulness recede.

Song playing at the moment – AFI – Beautiful Thieves

Collab

Okay, so I am getting back to posting the worthwhile stuff I have accumulated over the years….

(from July 2008)

This was written for the CPCC weekly collab share:

     OPEN YOUR EYES…
Soaked in sweat, startled awake from my dream,
In the cold morning light, nothing‘s as dark as it seems.
The land was purple and golden, cool light hypnotize,
turquoise in water, a lightning bolt pierced the sky.
OPEN YOUR EYES…
I stand on the zenith beneath the star’s shower of dust,
arms opened, eyes closed in a portrait of lust.
With memories, I paint your beauty on the backs of my eyes,
while your voice slips away, echoing through my mind.
OPEN YOUR EYES…
I wander through fields, alone in time, lost.
Seeking you, needing you, I’ll pay blood as my cost.
Then I see you approach, as from heavens serene,
But there’s fear in your eyes, like a cold, frozen scream
OPEN YOUR EYES…
I try to reach for you, but you’re flying away
As night turns to dawn and dawn turns to day.
You cry, “Circle back, before I hit the ground.”
And I catch you, holding tight, not making a sound.
OPEN YOUR EYES…
But you slip through my hands, as the moonlight past the sun.
You flee into the mist, all my hope is undone.
Wracked in despair, this is where I will lay me down,
without a word or a whisper, no stone and no mound.
OPEN YOUR EYES…
It’s just one dream consistent, day after day;
repeating, reoccurring, endless cycles of pain.
I must conquer this fear, this nightmare of mine,
The circle is broad, but I’ll pass beyond it this time.
OPEN YOUR EYES…
Soaked in sweat, startled awake from my dream,
in the cold morning light, nothing is as dark as it seems…

(Some lines are from: Cheryl, Debra, Colleen B, Off2Troy, Lady Seda, Lanie, Tyler, Linda, Miranda, Raiden, BlackSunchine, joshibear, Michelle, Winetr’s Chuld & juliet)

As a bonus, The poetry nest has a Bermuda Triangle shindig happening and here’s what I dropped off there….

ABDUCTED:
eyes of onyx stare
infusing fear into my soul
taking away hope

I blink back in confusion
attempting to comprehend
trying to understand

the boat sinks below me
slipping underneath the waves
disappearing to the bottom

aliens move around me
restraining me for the journey
ignoring my fear

The Bermuda triangle grows smaller
shrinking in the view screen
disappearing as we leave

the spaceship flies away
leaving behind the earth
taking me to unknown places

Song playing at the moment – Lacuna Coil – Kill the Light

Collab Poem: How I Owe my Thanks to Big Tony

(originally from May 2008)

 

And here is my Colab for the week! It was very hard to stick to my guns on this one – I had planned a mobster poem since Tuesday when I saw JT’s line about hiding from the Mob and then there were all these GREAT sinister lines! *sobbing* But, I managed to forsake them so here it is any way!

How I Owe My Thanks to Big Tony

Here we are, just you and I, at a cabin by the lake
hiding from the Mob and those cement shoes they make.
I’m sure they’d clash terribly with the pin stripe suits I wear
and so we had to run tonight and get away from there.

But we both know what we’re doing here, so there’s no need to ask why
and I’m trying to ignore your tears, but my God, you just keep crying!
You really can not handle stress, this much is plain to me,
I thought you’d faint when Big Tony said, “Come, let me hear your scream.”

It was such a peaceful night, in our large house near the park,
when a sound awakened me and I peered out through the dark.
I sniffed, the smell of gunpowder wafted on the evening breeze,
and in our tidy front yard I saw Mousy Marvin falling to his knees.

A stool pigeon by profession, this came as no surprise,
but I have to say I never thought our flower bed’d be where he died!
My brain raced and I made a plan, I felt like a live wire
then you ruined it when you started screaming as if you were on fire.

So Big Tony found us, waved his gun, made threats galore
and that’s when you nearly fainted to the naked bedroom floor.
So I fired off some rounds, and we escaped that place,
and through the whole trip you kept shrieking, “I’ve been married to a fake!”

Now I’ve had enough my sweet, even though I saved your ass.
Still you’re whining, and youre moaning, and you’re giving me much sass.
So let’s take a walk, just you and me, never mind my gun
There on that big rock just this side of the dock we’ll have a little fun.

You shake your head quite firmly as “Come here,” I softly say.
Then as I draw near you cringe and shout, “Put that duct tape away!”
You say that you don;t know me, that I’m a stranger to you now.
Well my real name is Billy Bob – it’s not catchy, I’ll allow.

I’m a gangster and a bad guy, and it’s always been that way
and you never cared before when the money rolled in every day
So don’t look so surprised and scared, you’ll only make me mad.
I’m getting tired of your noise and your nagging like a hag.

The life of an outlaw comes with a price, and you should have known it dear,
Coz now I’m contemplating flinging your body off the pier.
I don;t think I should leave you because the neighbors would all talk.
They’ll weep and they’ll whimper at the outline made in chalk.

Besides a body in the sun quickly starts to stink
So I’ll throw you in the water – you weigh enough to sink.
I load you in the boat and into the gulf we sail this day
I’ve often looked ta you and wondered, “Will she ever go away?”

And now I have my answer, thought it took a terrible fright
I really owe Big Tony for making me see the light.
It’s a pity that I shot him, but he’ll keep you company
In your watery grave, deep under the sea.

Some Lines from: Cheryl, Mic, Johnloving1963, racheAnne, lady Oregon, Oma, Lawrence of Ukraine, Sheila A, JT, BC Beneke, Mary Ska & Katrina

Fav songs of the moment – “Falls Apart” – Thousand Foot Krutch