Hour 4, Prompt 5: Cycle of Life

 

Sweet nectar breathes life into a dark, dreary day
As the moth reflects on his changes
From a small caterpillar, crawling high on the orange tree branches
To the moth now sucking the orange juices to subsist
A dichotomy exists; the cycle of life
From caterpillar to cocoon
From seed to sprouted fruit
Both the orange and the moth have their purposes made clear
As one life continues, so too one must end
The orange, unknowing, the moth be its doom
The moth, now knowing the orange be its lifeline
And yet, they need one another in a narcissistic way
For one’s survival and one’s immortality

Blinders

Blinders on
so we don’t see
the harm that’s done,
the travesty
of children caged
in a foreign land
so afraid and alone
though their cages are crammed
with others who sought
a better life
and wound up here
no hope in sight.

But it’s hard to look
and harder still to see
so we have blinders on
in this “land of the free.”
We are far from brave.
But those kids sure are
while we look away
their young lives are scarred.

Or we look fleetingly,
then wring our hands
and offer some logic
about foreign lands
and rules of law
or scarce resource
or how there must be consequence
of course -
for breaking the law
in the USA.
This country’s ours
not theirs we say.

When these children cry,
we look away.

Alone

I hated the sea, its vastness, and uncertainty.

Thrown on a boat, tethered to the helm.

Murky brown waters fade to clear blue as the sun beats down on me, all around me.

Blinding heat chokes me as salt permeates my skull.

I yearn for blissful shade, a gust, a breeze.

Thirst falls upon me, my mouth unable to form words.

I cannot scream for help.

No longer do I care about how alone I am on this vessel.

The time has come for me to survive.

My teeth saw my hands free from the ropes, it takes hours.

Struggling to keep my balance I peer over the side of the ship, the depth is dizzying.

Panic sets in.

I am alone.

The engine rolls over every time I try to start it, I am dead in the water.

So I allow myself to float.

Staring at the clouds as I lay on my back trying to remain calm.

Time passes.

I reflect back on my life before The Boat.

Kick my self over all the time I took for granted.

Nausea, exhaustion.

At some point, I lull off into a warm sleep.

Visions of cold water and comfort fill my head.

I wake.

I cry.

Night comes and the sky explodes.

I never realized how terrifyingly microscopic I am in this universe.

Millions of stars guide me through the night, singing lullabies.

The water becomes still in an almost malicious way.

Dawn begins to break and I’m carving words into the planks on the floorboard.

And then a bump.

Land.

prompt 4 Motion Frees My Words

I am given thought—

When cleaning up a slimy sink;

dishwater refreshed.

Cleaning up a muddy mess.

Pulling weediness.

Like fresh breezes move the dust;

motion frees my words.

Give my thoughts a little gust—

From mind’s rancidness.

 

 

I saw

  • I saw a little man
    With a hunched up Back
    Gobbling leftovers in a shack
    I saw a tiny girl
    Sitting under a tree
    Holding her injured knee
    I saw a famished boy
    Sneaking in an old shop
    Snatching from the table top
    I saw a beautiful girl
    Tears shining in her eyes
    Surrounded by lies
    I saw a broken soul
    I saw a suffering soul
    Oh! What I saw
    Broke my heart

That’s That Shit

That’s that shit right there, that gets me in the mood.

Baby if you smart, you’ll follow me to our room.

That’s that shit right there, that pisses me the fuck off.

I may have “lost” my religion but I didn’t loose me.

Our God’s ain’t got no beef, if you look underneath.

That’s that shit right there.

That make me be like,  “Ooo I knew something wasn’t right.”

That’s that shit right there, that fills me up.

No hot sauce for me.

Cause I’m all the hotness I need.

That’s that shit right there.

That’ll get you fucked up.

Because as the saying goes.

You better check your self before you wreck yourself.

You know.

That’s that shit right there.

That be having me all up in my feelings.

You better move out my way.

You blocking the TV.

That’s that shit right there.

You just got done feeling, thinking, saying, moving your body, neck, head, doing.

Cause this poem is that shit.

That’s right here.

 

Copyright © 2019 By Angelica Stevenson

All Rights Reserved

 

 

Goodbye

Weary eyes blink in the light

Do we have to go mother?

Yes, there is nothing for us here now

But why?

Life isn’t fair sweetheart

I don’t understand

You will someday

Too far gone, the past already seems

Even though it is one step behind us

Forward, we must move forward

Into the bright light

Never looking back

On the childhoods we left behind

Empty

The Sun’s heat freezes me

But in the cold I can melt.

 

Empty eyes, dry hair,

Gaunt face, and hollow stomach,

This is the way I’m supposed to be.

 

I’ll reach my goal one day

One day I’ll bee 100 pounds,

then 80

then 60.

 

The goal is never met,

It keeps getting further and further away

The numbers get smaller

But my waist is still to big.

 

If I reach 0 pounds

Will it be enough?

If I drop dead

Will it finally be enough?

June Window

White and grey vapor, the clouds discuss plans
as they drift in the sky and to some eyes paint pictures.
The shadows are ink smears of wisdom and rambling
writ across ground flowers gravel and paper.
Letters with no words and questions with no answer,
the rules that will bend and the suggestions are law.
Wishes and wind whirl in shouts or in whispers.
Sharp bushes shiver and rattle and gossip,
vines show their stems but hide their intentions,
while trees learn and teach that in silence there’s brilliance,
and their branches sway slow, leaves green open drinking
the sun’s beating bright beams, its burns and its kisses.
And the the smell and the heat and the sight and the light
and the air and the touch and the thought are the all
and fullness and absence respond to the awe,
the love and the wonder that uncover, surrounding,
the aching that insists to create or to numb.
The space with no limits and no fixed direction
The portend of time to end soon or never
The beliefs, the guesses,
the convictions, the whatever
the happy and sad
the lost, the had
the girl and the cat
the car and the crash
the no and the maybe
the quiet and loud
the pills and forever
the somewhere
the nowhere
the found
The color the sound
The mystery profound
the fields, the sky, the wall
It is nothing at all.