Prompt 24… the road less traveled

here in the final hour

where I slept the

last 10 hours in

sickness to renew

my health

I am playing

catch up

challenging my

mind and my hands

and my mouth

to produce

poetic undertakings

of heart and

soul

no sleep

no success

no stories

left to tell

until this last one

is written

the words pouring out

like morning coffee

percolating in the

machine and the cream

and sugar on the counter

blending to perfection

tasting like heaven

each sip more sweeter

than the last

yet the first sip reminiscent

of each tender moment

shared across the

screen, and the

keyboard

stroke after stroke

of professing minds

unleashed thoughts

unspoken feelings

to strangers

capturing the moments

creating the moods

calling the moments

to be still

for a short while

here in the corner

of peace and quiet

where all the house

is in REM sleep

and even the dog

has returned to

melodic rhythms

of slumber

I write, I breathe

and I exhale my

life lessons on a

crisp clean sheet

of promise and

hope and declare

the world is my oyster

the truth of my story

is mine to tell

my words to expel

and my heart does feel

compelled

to gather the heart

of the matter

upon paper

watching colors of

ink splatter and

to share with the

world my stringing

of words, that will

bring light and life

to humanity

 

FJ original 2016

As It Comes To a Close

Case closed

the closing

arguments

have been

heard

heated

although they

were

they were

candid and

transparent

opposing counsel

gave the best

speech he could

write from

somewhere down

in his bones

he obviously

sold his soul

to the devil

many moons

ago

but his story

was compelling

his closing

argument

foretelling

of the verdict

that would

crush the

very existence

of my spirit

so with words

I didn’t trust

they came out

in a rush

but were

authentic and

unrehearsed

the jury hung

on each word

caressed the

pain found in

each verb

and danced

along the

sentiment

they found

when the sound

grew to silent

the galley

was left shocked

and quiet

to discuss how

they felt about

love that didn’t

survive

they wanted this

one situation

to reverse

and there to

be in the wake

waiting

two hearts

that would travel

down the same

road together

but after two

half hours of

whatever

the deliberation

was brought

together

and it was

decided in

the favor of

the one who

brought the rose

with thorns

that I now oppose

the love that

wanted to bundle

himself in vases

across my heart

 

FJ original 2016

Lemonade Stands

we were innocent souls

on the corner selling

lemonade for a quarter

handing out kindness

and smiles for free

one afternoon

my three friends and me

we were suppose to

be raising money

for our treehouse

we wanted furniture

and curtains to

adorn the space

so we could sleep

there on the weekends

every Thursday afternoon

we found ourselves

on the corner

with our stand

and our pitcher

cups and cubes

and language of

well spoken licorice

candies – sweet

and innocent and

America’s favorite

The clientele

was always plentiful

although the street

was never too busy

Mr. Winthers across

the street drank most

of the lemonade

when activity slowed

down, and even helped

us get a pretty rug

for our treehouse

came from his late wife’s

estate

we never really had a

care, a worry or a clue

that some of our clients

would do the things

they would do

or at least the one

in particular

on this Thursday

afternoon

pulled up in his car

apparently my friend

knew him, said he was

friends with her father

he ordered 4 lemonades

to go and asked my friend

if she wanted a ride home

we were almost done

so she said yes

we all hugged and kissed

our friend goodbye

and finished our lemonade

stand for the last time

a week had gone by

no word from our friend

her parents unsure

if the torment would end

we never knew the

dangers of trusting those

we had always known

didn’t even doubt

his intentions

didn’t know our friend

would never return home

we decided to still

keep the treehouse in tact

although we knew our friend

was never coming back

but we grew up

that week after we said goodbye

a lemonade stand

now houses a pitcher

of broken lives

 

FJ original 2016

 

Make Love to…. (pG-13)

Make. Love. To.

Me.

The kind of love
That makes me
Take notes, sift
Though the creative
Files of my brain
As you stimulate
My intellectual mind

Words arresting me

Holding my responses

Hostage in the room

Of interrogation

Four scores

Of foreplay

From a fluent tongue

 

How your noun and

Verb agreement tickle

Me, causing me to

Shift nervously in my

Seat, each thought

More profound than

The one before

Entering the stratosphere

Of genius and galloping

Into the hallway of

My left and right

Hemispheres knocking

On all the doors

 

Come in

 

Take your shoes off

And get comfortable

Your eyes penetrate

Me, roaming the

Terrain taking in

The pools of my honey

Whiskey that sparkle

In the sun

 

Digging deeper into

Me your eyes say things

Words can never convey

Not seeing through me

But seeing through to me

The deeper me

 

Intoxicated with your stares

Stroke after stroke after stroke

Of my hair, as you massage

Me into a coma

Wanted and inviting

Your hands are sorcery

Gifted to you by a

Woman who knew she’d

Found love

 

You add enough friction

To my scalp

And integrate words to

Take me to a place

That doesn’t exist

Altogether lovely

Totally out of this world

 

Resuscitate this lifeless

Body, breathe new life

Into it 2 breaths, so

Minty fresh and 50

Compressions later

Leaves me gasping

For air and confessing

Grasping for straws and

Eager for the next lesson

 

Make love to me

The me you can’t

Physically reach

Limitations we won’t

Ever teach each other

just try it

Bourbon and cobbler

Warm and flaky

Sweet Georgia peach

Smothered

 

There is a level of

Intimacy both deep

As it is wide.

The heightened level

Of knowing that,

Stands alone

Tests the waters

Walks on them

And then testifies

 

Make love to….

Me.

 

 

Fj original 2016

7 DAYS of MAGIC with You  (24/7, 365)

Meet me in the hallway

Open the door to my complicated

Neglect it, no, protect it

Dance in the bare soul steps

Always okay with the pace

Yearning to go a step further, together

 

Tempt me to trust you

Understanding begets unification

Engaging our hearts to taste

Serenade the in between of my

Disappointment until my diss has a standing

Appointment with your deliciousness

Yield to the good and the plenty

 

Whisk up the compromise

Ending any argument with rekindling

Dripping with aggressive behavior

Not the combative kind, the make-moves kind

Enter my confusion each time it presents itself

Stay long enough to right every wrong

Didn’t even create them, but kind enough to right them

And you do it because you love my imperfections

You know the feeling is mutually exclusive

 

Touch my mediocrity

Heal my wounded spirit,

Undo my stifling guilt,

Ride the waves of trepidation

Stand in the rain of my pain

Date my hang ups, until they hang up

Activate my whole self to love your whole self

Yesterday, today and a forever of tomorrows

 

Feel the future, brightly shining

Reminiscent of sunsets that never set

Impaired vision fixer

Daydream and goal chaser elixir

Archived in the records of love’s vinyl

Yet in heavy rotation on the airwaves

 

Speak in a lover’s tongue

Anoint my hard head with a forgiving oil

Taint my misplaced expectations with your truth

Until your truth is easily my own

Renditions of a masterpiece unfolding

Deals made in the dark,

Appear to manifest in the dark

You aren’t afraid of what’s under my bed

 

Stay here in this space with me

Until the very last breath has been expelled

Never let go of the promise you made

Don’t dare give in to temptations

Alas I will ride this thing out with

You, and give you the offerings of me, unconditionally

 

7 DAYS of MAGIC with You  (24/7, 365)

The Colorful Way the Child in me Loves… Let me count the ways …. 120 ways

I taste the richness of your MAHOGANY skin

Bask in the FUZZY WUZZY BROWN of your glow

Stare into your CHESTNUT eyes

And see the RED ORANGE of your ancestry,

The expanse of what makes you SUNSET ORANGE beautiful

Your MELON is a compliment to your melanin

The OUTRAGEOUS ORANGE of your bravado that I drink in

Until I see VIVID TANGERINE kisses with no tongue

BURNT SIENNA upon your flesh after we lay in the sun

BROWN is beautiful but an understatement to what is you

SEPIA seeps into your feet that you carry in your shoes

Picking the ORANGE of your smile in a crowded room

And when you see me, how your BURNT ORANGE blooms

The amazing COPPER of your people, your ancestry

Mixed with the MANGO TANGO of your immediate family

Introduce me to the matriarch ATOMIC TANGERINE

And the patriarch BEAVER as he adores his lovely queen

They lay down ANTIQUE BRASS and create a scene

In the DESERT SAND of a lover’s dream

The RAW SIENNA of your high cheekbones stand out

The TUMBLEWEED is a beautiful thing, to be talking about

Like how when you TAN, new heights you seem to reach

Your flesh hairy and amazingly beautiful like a PEACH

Around the table of love, second help of MACARONI and CHEESE

From Aunt APRICOT who always aims to please

That NEON CARROT cake that never disappoints

And the ALMOND incense that fills up the joint

YELLOW ORANGE bellows down the hall

As the sun sets and GOLD lit the sky in the final call

The beauty is in the SHADOW of that sight

As the BANANA MANIA of the little people rises at night

You read a story that makes your niece and newphew SUNGLOW

The dimpled GOLDENROD of their whole hearts show

In those moments, I’d be DANDELION if I didn’t  you

That you happened to YELLOW across my heart and let me grow

We chase the highs of the each day’s GREEN YELLOW

And lay in the SPRING GREEN of tonight’s mellow

It makes the OLIVE GREEN of your hard work so attractive

And how you attack the LASER LEMON of life, proactive

Nothing is ever to hard to UNMELLOW YELLOW,

Never one to raise your voice, your CANARY can yel-low

You have the keen ability to INCH WORM into my spirit

Calm the ASPARAGUS of butterflies fluttering, do you hear it?

Your lips taste like my GRANNY SMITH APPLE

The ELECTRIC LIME in the receiving line at the chapel

Has me SCREAMIN GREEN when I need to see your face

The FERN flows from your mouth at a steady pace

We embrace every FOREST GREEN thing that is thrown at us

Even when it makes us sick to even have to SEA GREEN cuss

Trips to the MOUNTAIN MEADOW of a long weekend

The SHAMROCK is just our luck, lovers and friends

Each time we cross the JUNGLE GREEN of this here life

You are the happiest CARIBBEAN GREEN with a queen as

A TROPICAL RAIN FOREST of a wife

I am her, and she is the PINE GREEN in me

You trace your seed, makes our ROBIN EGG, BLUE

AQUAMARINE fills the space used to make love

Lying on the floor of TURQUOISE BLUE below

Only to graze at the SKY BLUE up above

Your love rockets me to OUTER SPACE

In between the BLUE GREEN of an out-of-body place

Is this really the expanse of the emotional PACIFIC BLUE

So melodic, this CERULEAN, reminders of me and you

Legs strong like the stalks of a CORNFLOWER

As the MIDNIGHT BLUE in the midnight sky in the midnight hour

Propels us to tell the truth in the worst NAVY BLUE

Anything that gets me out my DENIM and on top of you

A BLUE Monday of memories, a weekend has passed

I want you to PERIWINKLE the twinkle out my a$$

I assumed as a CADET BLUE we would keep it pg

Knowing the pep of my INDIGO feet, follow your lead

You are the stop of my WILD BLUE YONDER

Basking in the MANATEE MAGIC, take a minute to ponder

How at the ding of your BLUE BELL

You pump me with more seed, to make my BLUE VIOLET swell

That in turn makes my PURPLE HEART swell

We are the kind of ROYAL PURPLE that seeps in the cracks

With the PURPLE MOUNTAIN’S MAJESTY across our backs

Never met a VIOLET (PURPLE) whose melanin lacked

A cut above the others, WISTERIA soul that can’t be jacked

In the VIVID VIOLET of my mind I knew it, that someday

I had to infuse ya, the way FUSCHIA made a way

For your spoken word to make a SHOCKING PINK

In the PINK FLAMINGO room where the conscious go to think

And expand, sipping our PLUM wine

Me on the stage in my HOT MAGENTA, trying to make you mine

The PURPLE PIZAZZ of my boldness

Only fuels the fire, and confirms that RAZZLE DAZZLE ROSE officially owns it

Room full of a fragrant ORCHID

No one can ever do my RED VIOLET the way you did

And the way your EGGPLANT do what it always do

Tears of CERISE when you slide on through

WILD STRAWBERRY candles set the mod every time

Picking up the MAGENTA of another dope rhyme

Locked and loaded in my LAVENDER fields

You allow yourself to explore the COTTON CANDY in my hills

The way I turn every VIOLET RED trick

Enter the folds of my CARNATION PINK and allow me to swallow the d!ck

RAZZMATAZZ in the motion of what lovers really do

My PIGGY PINK will never ever tire of the whole of you

Your flaws taste like JAZZBERRY JAM , I better hush

Each time I speak of our love, my melanin…BLUSH

If they were misinformed, you really TICKLE ME PINK

Manifested in the scope of my PINK SHERBET, you I only drink

MAROON volumes of your right hemisphere quickly create

The amazing RED, and the RADICAL RED is best to date

MAUVELOUS across my body like stretch marks

Extracting the wetness of my WILD WATERMELON parks

I again blush SCARLET

I wasn’t your wife, I’d be s SALMON harlot

BRICK RED, stay on 10 only for you

Knowing with this garden variety, plain WHITE could never do

But I release your inner TIMBERWOLF in the dead of night

I send myself into SILVER shivers in the heat of moon light

Just like that, we return to our 120 shades including GRAY

That decadence of our intertwined BLACK bodies as we lay

in the wake of our unrequited love.

 

FJ original 2016

happy birthday to my mother

what a way to celebrate your

birthday across the globe from

me, I wish I could be there

for cake and company

I wish I could take you to

the spa and out to lunch

I wish we could spend some

time and maybe the next day, brunch

I wish I could buy you diamonds

and house on a hill

maybe even retire you from working

so you could netflix and chill, for real.

I wish you could do whatever you wanted

and not have to worry about a thing

I wish you would have answered

the phone, so to you, I could sing

I know it’s far too early

and I can’t behave like a brat

after all it’s your birthday not mine

and you can sleep as long as you want

there’s nothing wrong with that

but when you awake in a couple of hours

without a card, breakfast or some flowers

know I’m coming over soon to love on you

and to make some of your birthday

wishes come true.

 

Happy 58th birthday mommy.  I love you

 

FJ original 2016

 

This place I’ve been all week

Uncomfortable

cold and colors

mundane

but here I bring

my solace

my upset stomach

my stomach pains

my body bows

to the porcelain

and my sickness

pours out

then I wash my hands

and warm my self

before I crawl back

into my cloths

of comfort

and safety

as the world

turns my stomach

yet again

the room that

holds memories

of how I was up

and down and

up and down again

simple formula

no answer yet in sight

and when I have the

strength to fix the smells

I use the head of

rain to make pellets

hit my body just right

working up the steam

to match the temperature

just perfect

whether or not

I feel good or I don’t

the moment here

is always worth it

gels and washes

creams and potions

a longer run

in the rain forest

followed by oils and lotions

and that can at least

boost my spirits

if not make me feel better

this is where I spent my

week being far under

the weather.

 

FJ original 2016

The haunting truth – prompt 16

I loved you, more than you’ll ever know.

foolish girl, how could you fall for him

didn’t history repeat itself for you enough

didn’t you know this journey would be harder

yet you wanted to run along that river of trepidation

anyway

at any rate

gathering sticks and stones, clutching you heart

and breastbone wondering if he’d do right by you

because in all these years, has anyone but you

done right by you, oh my foolish girl

you want to bring fantasies into a cruel harsh world

maybe in the next lifetime you’ll kiss frogs

and won’t get warts, maybe there will be princes

and castles and hearts won’t get hurt by

step-sisters and step-mothers who mean you no harm

what does that translate into in this day and age

locked up hearts like caged animals and

no glass slipper seems to fit you right

but you still threw caution to the wind

and went all in for an amazing fight

love is a losing game

and sadly that

foolish girl lost her life  loving the wrong man

her tombstone read

I loved you, much more than you’ll ever know

 

FJ original 2016

 

 

 

That Cup of Joe got cold…. prompt 17

We were kids

with hearts

untainted and pure

we knew no limits

to love

the version of it

we knew

I was willing to

give him my heart

and my womb

he wanted ten kids

lol, ten

I barely wanted a pet

but he was the

epitome

of beautiful and

manners that

were rare and

exquisite as the

islands were

foreign and untravelled

by me

He was majestic

in his features

royal in his stature

and he was mine

we were young

and we were unaware

that life would soon

carry us to different

sectors of understanding

but we stayed caught

up in the moment of

we until we were no

longer we,

it was february 13

the day before valentines day

when he told me

we should just be friends

we should end this

long distance

affair

as we were only kids

and clearly we had our

whole lives yet to live

He rocked my entire universe

in that sentiment

and broke my pure heart

for love

this man child who

was suppose to always

be mine

eyelashes that touched the stars

a pool of Madagascar

chocolate that canvased his

entire body and eyes

like honey whiskey

his voice was dripping

like molasses

and his hands were always

warm, enveloped in mine

the universe halted on

its axis

meaning meant nothing

was meaningless

from this moment onward

there was no longer

a peace treaty between

wholesome nouns and

helping verbs

I threw out every letter

he wrote and picture

he drew the day

he rained on our parade

cancelled the best

show this world had

never seen before.

 

FJ original 2016

 

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