24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
A pleasant surprise, Mr. Squishy
To see you curled up at my legs
Napping away in all your dark glory
Fuzzy and squishy, with just a hint of your fang
A reminder that to squeeze or not to squeeze, is never the question
More like a dare
One I’ll never balk at
Come here!
It was revealed to me in a book one time
and also in the stars
I could feel it in my bones
Some sounds were soft and sometimes far
When I saw him I just knew it
I recognized his eyes right away
We both knew we’d known each other
In his embrace where I was safe
In his arms where I would stay
In his arms where I would pray
In his arms I dreamt my biggest dreams
I’m still dreaming now, today
I have loved him since forever
Long before our paths had crossed
Without his light, love, and support
I know now that I’d be lost
Inside I alone am awake
Silence is deafening until the computer suddenly hums
An enormous fan nearly drowning all else out.
Despite its noise I hear so much more
Outside are birds, finches, swallows and crows
Perhaps a raven an occasional duck
But only rarely, and only with luck.
Inside are snores from at least two sources
First comes my husband’s which sound like several horses
Then there is Hank, fuzzy and fat, snoring far louder than your average cat.
The computer fan whizzes, its heat on my lap, the couch is warm too
The light is bright with the promise of dawn, and daylight shines through
that open screen door providing a lackluster view
Of another building.
It’s Wonderful to be here, alone in this quiet.
Too early to leave, and I wouldn’t abide it.
Poem 2
Valentine’s Day
By: Ashley L Powers
February 14th
For many represents a day of love
A time for gifts and dinners
Expected sex, flowers, and hugs
Its the day girls dream of engagements
And men actually put effort into make arrangements
A day I’ve never been too fond of….
Never knew this day would hold any importance
That it would become a date I will always notice
Never knew I love you and goodbye would be in the same sentence
Never knew this date would wake me up and make me pay attention
It’s the day my world fell apart
The day Cupid decided to break my heart
That dreaded phone call
The moment I became truly lost
Screams and tears as I held my phone
Only to hear these words from my sister….
Ashley, she’s GONE
Valentine’s Day….
You stripped away my mother’s love
Damn
I knew there was a reason I was never fond of you
The sandbox is where the magic happens.
A universe of particles waiting
to be created by the force of intention,
Animated into being by thought.
The I AM dances in shifting forms
always in motion, never still,
A restless magnetism holding all life
in shapes we know but for a moment
until they decay
until they pass away
until we pass away
The sand returns to the sandbox
Resting,
waiting for the joy of rebirth
at the touch of the creator
that old Slinky toy
descending the stairs
of my memory
its mechanical agency
as urgent as ever
Thunder and lightning clash swords up there
As healing waters flood from jars onto the grounds below
Dry and arid as the living souls
Watch the children dancing and babies whispering
This can only be magic and a beautiful one
Here outside a door
Wondering who is inside
Waiting and waiting
I do not understand how the trace
of fingertips across the back of my neck
has a gender— the press of lips
to my temple, the sobs that rattled
my ribcage like a ghost shaking
the walls of a place it longed to leave,
your arms both the exorcist and
the blessing— but you would not
have held me so close had you known
I was a boy. I could have held you
together through the long nights
when poetry could not contain
whatever clawed at the edges
of your mind— you named it
monkey, demon, mania—
but I’ve always known how
to talk it into silence. You believe
that no man could have this power
over you. I say that I do not
understand why you love must
attach itself to gender.
