24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
“Look at me.”
“I see you.”
“We never talk.”
“I tell you about my day.”
“Don’t take me for granted.”
“What do you need?”
“A little romance.”
“What do you call them flowers?”
“You are hopeless.”
“I don’t know what you are on about.”
“So what’s for dinner?”
“Steak.”
© 2015 Silvester Phua
PIZZA for 24 Hours Marathoners!
Pita
Ingredients mix
Zest flavor
Zippy meal
Always welcome
(Acrostic @2014 from Poems, Thoughts and More)
“I don’t miss him.”
I state this calmly over olive oil and pita bread,
the Mediterranean smell of chickpeas wafting almost cloyingly.
You raise one eyebrow, mute contradiction implied.
I shake my head, almost sneezing as the motion wafts up honey,
hummus, grapes. Chokingly amplified by proximity.
We sigh, mirror images; you are my future, I am yours.
And we dip the bread in oil.
I think the water is cold tonight,
I think we should meet there,
By the lake,
The glistening omen to the dying wants,
Where every goddamn lover had their share,
Of the purity in the night.
I think the water is calm tonight,
I think we should meet there,
Fall in love, breathe the air,
Or perhaps get drunk,
Make love in the dirty grass,
And by the water,
Let the secrets eat us alive,
Or perhaps we go to that party,
Together, together, those vodka lips, a secret kiss,
In the atmosphere, the mood is my savior,
We went there,
We went there and destroyed,
The calm, but let’s meet by the water,
Or at that party,
Let’s meet tonight,
Tonight, as the night changes us,
I think that’s a good idea. right?
An alliance of women by the bedside:
Sisters by twos, 3 generations of strength
(Though certainly, it felt otherwise.)
When it came, I was ripe for escaping.
She stopped breathing, we looked,
and gave her our final kisses.
There’d been a robot breathing on the bed for days.
My sister didn’t want the body taken;
but they talked her ‘round within the hour.
I called the nurse quickly and packed up her things.
My Nan, who liked tea in a glass teacup
and sent sandwiches back to hospital kitchens
for the ample offence of ‘squiggly lettuce’;
was already doing something new.
Dear friends, you have hiked a mountain so have I
On this treck I’ve been home meditating in silence
Writing poems and thinking about what it is to give up.
When is it ok to quit, and when to keep going?
You have hiked a mountain and so have I.
At the peak of this mountain of words, now
I must begin the trek back down, back home
back from this peak of experience,
back from these new views I’ve discovered
You have just hiked a mountain and so have I
Let’s rest awhile, sit around the table and eat.
I found a recipe for vegan enchiladas you will like!
Horizon
Virginia Carraway Stark
Contours of
A living world thread across
The lines of hill and sky
Plunging down and rising
To meet the sea
As undulations fold and sink
Up and down
In synchronized movements
Of chaos
As choreographed as ever
Was any formal French dance
Unplanned beauty
Spraying in wonderful
Magnificence that stuns the viewer
And fills me with awestruck wonder
That this is my horizon
You marked me
With raven hair
Ruby lips
And death match glare
Marked me with.
Whom I should be
A love lost soulsoul
A broken seed
A power rich
And pure divine
While world leaves me
Hunted unkind
Promises made
And promises broke
I am what you hate
I am what you hope
Manifested addiction
I am I’m the flesh
And you hate me for it
With each escaped breath
You threaten to love
You threaten to kill
You threaten to life me
With what is your will
Evil’s not ugly
Nor does it scare
Temptation you’ll find
Seductress fair
So now you stand
Heart at your mark
Just make it clean
And end the spark
For death is my dancer
I write his song
The word that you could
Never sing along
Burberry and Birkenstocks,
And anything with Carol Burnett,
Get these things together
And watch how wet I get
If that’s a problem with you
I’m sure to get upset
Girl, you can have your own thing
But you’ll stay my filthy pet
So I grab my kicks and spray myself
And watch Little Orphan Annie
Get in the mood
Because I’m on my way
To come invade your panties
So when you want to start me up
Just sneak up to my room
Turn the tube on Nick@Nite
And spray that damn perfume
When that odor hits your sexy body
I’ll come running, in my shoes
Ready to sing about “Little Girls”
And drink a little booze
Overfill the bathtub
Pull the curtains to the floor
Tonight we’re getting freaky
You’re my dirty red head wh*re
I’ll be yelling, “WHOOOOOOOOO!”
And you’ll be screaming, “YESSSS!”
Do like Daddy Warbucks do
On your body I’ll invest
Then I’ll ride you like the stock market
Top it off with a cigarette
I’ll spritz you down with Burberry
And call you Miss Burnett
In the morning you’ll grab my sandals
To go and turn on the T.V.
Get back in bed
And shnuggle up
And watch some Mama’s Family