when the play came to an end
at last the lights switch off
The curtain closes on the podium

to night, the city under the firmament
folded as a black blanket
congregation of the stars in the sky
wind chants melody tunes a lullaby
The streets lights guarding like a hawk

In palm tree-like houses
They embrace dreams
in their azure dreams
It that black dark night
The silence is also frightening.

This city for me now
peeps it as a blackboard
the pedagogue erased characters
for next day class

Joy is an endangered species

Hunted by the blood thirsty

the brutal and greedy

Joy is rarely and fleetingly glimpsed

One day when the planet

lays down all it’s weapons

I can look forward to it

I couldn’t make it through the episode without dissolving in a fit of tears
like exposure therapy like the fullest release like finally being seen
in my exquisite suffering
not unique to me but rarely written into scenes
I’ve never seen it played back that way

I observed hopefully, intently, as others watched it too
but I’m confused – didn’t you see what I saw?

are the parallels being lost
are we on the same channel
is this thing even on?

how was the similarity not jarring
all too familiar warning signs
until they’re fighting to pull her close
almost too late

pleading that they are right here
they don’t want letters
they want to be let in

but it’s not that fucking easy

it’s
just
not

this creature is a curse that lingers peripheral
whispers in your sleep
steals you right out from underneath their noses

and you fight it
with everything you have
running for your life
screaming and flailing
stumbling
barely escaping
this time

this time

until you wake up in that haunted place again
on unsuspecting days
that creeping headache never fully releasing
it’s grip
it’s got it’s claws dug in
wake up running again
fighting again
body on the verge of breaking
it wants to wear you down
catch you when you’re alone
at your most defenseless

how long can it be drowned out with music
with memories of better days of connection of loved ones still living
before the grief and the fear and the guilt

those bittersweet moments
seared into the front of your mind
like your survival depends on them
projected large and clear
impossible to miss
impossible to leave behind
dragging you back from the ledge

the same ledge I’ve been on for half of my life
carved my initials into it years ago
so that you’d know I was no stranger
I want you to see it
I want you to understand

that this is a curse – sinister and dangerous
contagious and invisible

until you learn what to look for

Beneath the streets
subway cars rumble.
Platform serenades
soothe or annoy
while you wait.

Offshore, Lady Liberty
watches and wonders
when Freedom’s
bright promise
will be renewed
and fulfilled
at America’s gateway.
 

The pastel air is peaceful
And though we know the holiday
Is nearly over, still we here can breathe
And hear the gulls.
Still, we here can hold the moment
Peacefully, and say
‘We will carry this happiness
Through louder days’.

Text Prompt

Write a poem using  one of the following titles:

The Watchtower

Second Breakfast

Books for Beginners

The Woman with the Top Hat

Echo Husband

Image Prompt

Photo by Felipe Dolce on Unsplash

are you married and

how old are you teacher and

do you have children?

mind your manners child

it is not polite to ask

yes I am twenty

Please don’t ask me which
was best— leaving or sitting
in an oak ten feet up.
It was defibrillators primed.
I sat in an unpaved parking lot
under Palmettos and said
NO
for the first time. I could speak.

How many ways can this be said?

I choked on my love for him.
Suffocated. Self flagellated.
I placed the best parts of myself
under his steel toed boot.

I washed his grey. Sanitized it.
Sanitized myself.

No color for me. Black skies
in black shirts over a blackened
and charred heart.

Somehow it still beats.

write a poem for a city, real or imagined.

Blinding city lights
bokeh lights blinking in the distance.
Lost in the light,
Concrete jungle,
deserted and unhomed.
Nature doesn’t live here any longer.

Skyscrapers with roots beneath
the surface of concrete
Reaching for the stars.
Blinding lights masks
the dark night sky.

Stars compete to shine
blazing through, city lights
burn brighter than the stars.
You can hear your thoughts
talk to you in the wild.

Out here, in the middle of civilisation
its all just noise, decibels.
City is so beautiful to look at.
You can get lost in the blinding lights.

Just remember to never lose yourself
to civilisation, let the wild grow within you.