Category: Poetry

Dis-ease – a poem about love and cancer

Poetry

I watch her body
fight life, death
fight for breath
and I am
inside her, she
inside me
will always be
since the moment
I was formed
a daughter

she watches me
seeks the mother
the child
the woman
she wishes I’d be

can I
lose myself
inside her
ravished body
for the sake
of mother’s love
of fewer regrets

the monster came
eating away at
extravagant love
radical inclusion
when I was still
a child

came again
to devour her body
after I discovered
declared my purpose
to love
unconventionally
in spite of
her closed door

can it find me now,
reach for me
with dripping claws
deep inside
the me in her —
can I conquer
this disease?

Will she?

AUDIO FILE:

IMAGE CREDIT: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/48/d1/7f/48d17fa73224c9f12218298f6ea43fcd.jpg

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Swarm

Poetry

Anxious thoughts like scurrying ants swarm over me,carry away scraps and crumbs of rational thought.

Thousands of insect feet keep time to the fluttering beat of my over-emotional heart.

Sugar-water tears stream down my cheeks, a map of trails for this demon ant army.

They march in formation over my face, into my eyes, my nose, my mouth, feasting on the tracks of my pain.

I cannot sleep, for the thundering battles they make in my head.

Depression Guilt  (a rondel poem)

Poetry

I don’t know how to stop bleeding.
I wish I could be someone whole:
patch the ragged tears in my soul,
and find the peace I’ve been needing.

You try to help, your eyes pleading.
You did not cause this pain, I know
it hurts you, to see me bleeding.
Maybe you need someone who’s whole.

My own doubts I just keep feeding.
My pain — on you it takes a toll!
I wish I could get in control.
Guiltily, I keep repeating,
“I’m sorry, I can’t stop bleeding.”

—–

POETIC FORM:

Rondel – Poem consists of 13 lines in 3 stanzas. Rhyme scheme: ABba/abAB/abbaA (uppercase letters are refrains) Usually 8 syllables per line.

AUDIO FILE:

Tongue-tied 

Poetry

NOTE: Depression is insidious. A dark and ravenous locust-cloud, it can arrive without warning and strip everything bare before you are able to find your wits. Warring with depression in myself can also become the battle of watching it attack those I love. These current writings are about that fight.

We are getting help.

—–

She once held her cup beneath the faucet of my mouth and drank deeply seeking understanding. Lately my words are clumsy incantations chosen with worry and whispered with care at the keyhole of her mind’s door. I keep getting the order wrong, mispronouncing the dialect. When she flinches, my own mouth floods with the acidic taste of smoldering ink and paper. I used to be the poet with the agile and well-oiled tongue — a skeleton key. But the locks are changed, there’s a secret code. I do not know the language and can’t remember how to conjugate the verbs.

—–

AUDIO FILE:

Wallflower

Poetry

NOTE: Depression is insidious. A dark and ravenous locust-cloud, it can arrive without warning and strip everything bare before you are able to find your wits. Warring with depression in myself can also become the battle of watching it attack those I love. These current writings are about that fight.

We are getting help.

—–

She’s flirting with ghosts
who are stealing her soul
and all I can do
is tie my own hands,
sew my own lips
into a fake smile,
watch her fade into fog
a little more each day.

I am the rope tied to her ankle.
I am the Polo to her
distant cries of Marco.
I am grey and thin,
a beating heart resisting
my own evaporation.

She waltzes in a graveyard
while I sit this one out.
She’s borrowed my dancing shoes.

—

AUDIO FILE:

August 2015 – a November Poem-A-Day Challenge – Diminishing Somonka

Poetry, Uncategorized
That night my world shook!
Your eyes met mine like a spear!
What a chance I took–
felt like jumping off a pier!
Your answer rings in my ear.
~
You shook me awake!
Oh, to see your lipstick smear–
unquenchable ache,
fueled by your smile, which was mere!
Your question rings in my ear.
—–
For today’s prompt, pick a month (any month), make it the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible months include January, February, March, (cruel) April, May, June, or even July, August, September, October, November, and December. Yes, there are 12 possible months; choose well, or write 12 poems (yes, I’ve thrown down the challenge within today’s challenge).

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POETIC FORM:

Diminishing Somonka
 
A form I created by marrying the Somonka and Diminishing Verse poetic forms:
  • two Tankas (5-7-5-7-7), written as two love letters to each other.
  • remove the first letter of the end word in each successive 7 syllable line.
 
Variation: Poets can remove sounds if they wish like “flies” to “lies” to “eyes.”
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AUDIO FILE:
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To Describe – a November Poem-A-Day Challenge – Diminishing Somonka

Poetry
Spinning galaxies…
Bluest feathered bird that flies…
Deepest sapphire seas…
Night-sky bed, where the moon lies…
How shall I describe your eyes? 
~
In turn I will attempt
(The way you wear those glasses…)
To tell how you tempt!
different from other lasses…
one in a million asses!
—–
For today’s prompt, write a description poem. Pick someone or something to describe. Get in depth, or just brush along the surface.

 

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POETIC FORM:

Diminishing Somonka
 
A form I created by marrying the Somonka and Diminishing Verse poetic forms:
  • two Tankas (5-7-5-7-7), written as two love letters to each other.
  • remove the first letter of the end word in each successive 7 syllable line.
 
Variation: Poets can remove sounds if they wish like “flies” to “lies” to “eyes.”

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AUDIO FILE:

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World Weary – a November Poem-A-Day Challenge – Diminishing Somonka

Poetry
I tire of this world.
Let me stay here on the floor–
back against you curled?
Read me tales of ancient lore?
I’m a boat, please be my oar?
~
Sweetheart, cry your tears.
In the morning you will fly!
Let go all your fears.
For tonight, with you I’ll lie, 
— on you keep a watchful eye.
—–
For today’s prompt, write a tragic poem. Two courses of action here: Write a poem that is heavy, or write a poem that is light. Or write a poem that could be heavy or light. For instance, a tragedy could be Shakespeare’s Hamlet or a bad hair day.

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POETIC FORM:

Diminishing Somonka
 
A form I created by marrying the Somonka and Diminishing Verse poetic forms:
  • two Tankas (5-7-5-7-7), written as two love letters to each other.
  • remove the first letter of the end word in each successive 7 syllable line.
 
Variation: Poets can remove sounds if they wish like “flies” to “lies” to “eyes.”

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AUDIO FILE:
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