My husband and I are new to a small town. People are talking. I watch the world pass me by through the window. I’m afraid to walk alone yet I can’t stay inside forever. I would rather hide. I decide to try to wave. I…
Category: Poetry Prompt Responses
2020 – 3
The voices once quiet, The ones unheard, ignored, Even silenced at times. They get louder. They echo In chambers we built To contain them. But the cycle never ends. The voices get louder. The faces get seen. No longer veiled by The darkness we impose….
Where the Music
By Sandy Lender Someone had prayed for peace on Earth, God bless them, But prayed without specificity Thus we awoke in July to silence outdoors Spotify stopped, the airwaves dropped, Pandora closed her box With Hope locked trembling inside As if waiting for a…
Pandemic
One day folds into the next and I am disoriented by so much time, so little time At night, my dreams are haunted by face masks, germs and nasal swabs. What time is it now? Sometimes I think how much I will age before my…
Afro’s Frame
My tight coiled hair fills the frame Of an otherwise short existence They tell me “heat. Add heat” To straighten and elongate What’s more they say it’s not enough And so I add extra chemicals that burn Good hair Bad hair White hair Black…
The Allure of Testing
NB: Very mild spoilers for Portal 2. What is the allure of testing? Never resting, striving after New disasters for the test To best a challenge thrown By unknown opponents Enter the ring Testing, proving, Trying, moving, Thinking, knowing, Learning, growing. GLaDOS knows her drive,…
Each Time You Spit
Such outward sorrow as clads your smile Betrays the secret you hold. Far too long from haunting it now acts with substance and you, racked with self-imposed stains have left it too late to lighten And each time you spit, you will see it….
A preface to a new form
When I was thinking about The Bop, a poem I wrote in 2018 for The Woody Guthrie Festival poetry reading came to mind. Here is the poem, which was published after the festival in The Oklahoma Observer and in my book, I’ve Got the Blues:…
A SINGLE GRAIN
If we can’t fill tiny stomach, let us try to save one single grain that made tiny stomach drain. If we can’t make tiny face happy, let us try to be a clown that will make their sadness down. If we can’t take care of…
Prompt Three (3): I’ve Got Problems [Hour 3]
I’ve Got Problems What the virus brought to me… It brought more complaints; Get a job! A real job! Wait, I am high risk for the virus… And I do have a job, it just doesn’t pay! I’ve got problems! What made you think I…