24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
From underneath cracked concrete slabs
A young shoot stabs
Peeking in sight
Seeking sunlight
Breaking through the rusty red bricks
A sapling sticks
Mossy carpets
On parapets
Crawling over broken ruin
Vines regrew in
The city burned
The green returned
#PoemNo19
Everyone you meet and greet,
or even chat with will pose with this
formal greeting ‘’How are you?’’
As it is regarded as an unspoken
but practiced social norm which
reflects common decency
and polite courtesy.
To that I will revert back with a question
‘’Do you really want to know how am I doing?
But trust me when I say this,
none of them are really interested in
knowing what the fuck is up with you.
Because and when I say this
I speak from experience
Everyone is involved with their own self,
too busy to care about what you have to say.
Why suck up to social conformity then?
I will revolt in writing, pour out my frustration
but when it comes to doing it
I shy away from it.
Not because I’m scared
but because it has been so deeply
engraved in my very upbringing.
Society has imbibed this ritual of responding
with phrases like ‘’I’m good!’’ ,‘’I’m great!’’
Which do not at all sound genuine and heart-felt.
We lie to ourselves when we answer like this.
We barely skim through life
We don’t get to talk our heart out
Let’s begin a revolution of answering every ‘’How are you?’’
thrown at you
with nothing but honesty.
j.r.m© 2016
He does his best to woo her
With generous, glittering squares;
Presents her with the fiesty rectangles,
Sparkling rhomboids, glistening spheres.
While she, listening closely,
Responds as best she knows;
Her soft replies are in colour,
Gentle shades and milder tones.
Each aches passionately for the other
In every conceivable way.
But though each talks, they simply don’t
Understand a word they say.
© Anne McMaster
Dont say thank you
You and me together
We are not a favor
We are a flavor
Dont say thank you
Say love you
When i hold your hand
To cross the road
Or pass the salt
Or pay your bills
Or cook a meal
Drive you to work
Or that special togetherness
Just say
Love you. Always
Canary yellow
and cherry red straw sun hats
fluttering in the wind now.
Vibrant flower pots
decorate the veranda,
green shoots blooming.
Sunshine falls below
white umbrellas snap open
roast on the deck chairs.
Indigo kites soar,
children explode with delight
infectious laughter.
I stood waiting for father
Mother standing at gate
He came walking naturally
As I worried about getting late
He stopped and gestured
A person without voice
My thought ran along
How to help him if I had a choice
he gestured and tried
Telking us something incomprehensible
My mother irritated gestured
To stop his unknown fable
Tired and huffing in the end
He strode toward me
He stood in front of my scooter
And dramatically switched light off for us to see
He went away
Like it meant nothing
Changing my whole perspective
As if it was just a fling
True story: )
Broken heart may you heal,
from this endless pain,
Broken heart may you heal,
from this awful shame.
Broken heart may you heal,
so I can breathe again.
Broken heart may you heal,
from the hurt of your friend.
Broken heart I know you hurt,
You were two peas in a pod,
Broken heart I know you hurt,
You wonder if all friends are frauds,
Broken heart I know you hurt,
they say the first time is the worst,
Broken heart I know you hurt,
It is so bad you think you will burst.
Broken heart it is time to heal,
I know you think you can not,
Broken heart it is time to heal,
No one doubts it hurt a lot ,
Broken heart it is time to heal,
For there is a new friend for you,
Broken heart it is time to heal,
I will watch what we do.
Standing alone
looking back
while looking ahead.
Time doesn’t allow
us to live in the past
and the present
at the same time.
We must decide
to move on.
Learn from the past
and teach in the future.
she came with accessories,
baubles actually
and a blue-striped-green swirly sash.
her smile spoke,
you don’t know me yet
but you should.
Yet, I sat
silent to the corner, wondering,
were those her eyes,
or, contacts made to match her skirt.
They roamed about,
scanning anything stationary,
things moving were allowed to pass by
nearly unnoticed.
Perhaps my stillness caught her eye,
or, perhaps the smile that she discovered,
sitting slightly above the rim
of crystal filled with Chardonnay.
The parade of suitors made her laugh,
more a chuckle of pretense,
mingled with partial disinterest.
The moment of truth arrived.
Was my mind filled with delusion,
too much wine, or,
some concoction of appropriate bravado.
I’ll never know for sure.
As she approached the table,
and, the others fell aside abruptly discarded,
she asked if my dance card was full.
I looked at my folded napkin.
I reached for the pen in my jacket pocket.
No, but I was waiting to write in your name.
Kelly.
It’s full now.
We never retrieved the scribbled paper,
nor, the pen I left behind.
Neither seemed important,
but the music was mutually inspiring,
our movements impeccable,
and there was nothing else that mattered much.
By the way, I was wearing a white brush linen suit,
a dark brown t-shirt underneath,
brown tassel loafers,
and more pretension than I anticipated.
Male baubles, of sorts, I suppose.
The couple left, with others watching,
both feeling special within themselves.
We didn’t last long,
but what a week
We weren’t really looking
but found the things we seek
Welcome home, kid
While you’ve been away I’ve been right here grinding,
Building effigies to long forgotten memories you left behind
Yeah welcome home kid,
The foundation you helped build supports my structure now
Supports the sweat and tears, regret and conquered fears, but I don’t mind
Look, welcome home kid,
This place I’ve built is not some crusty punk squat crash pad
It’s anything but temporary, so if you’re going to be here,
Welcome home,
Not nice to see you but I hope that you’re ok
If you’re down and out and have no other place to stay,
By all means know you’re welcome home.