24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
A time capsule
unearthed by a snapping turtle
Yes, she thought my dry back hill
is a good place to lay eggs.
Eighteen eggs, wow.
But wait, there’s more to see
a time capsule, cracked open
one, two, three… sixteen, seventeen, eighteen
all fell into the capsule.
What happens next…
I don’t know.
nonet
the pandemic finally ending we begin a record heat wave old temperatures shattered by ten degrees speaks to climate deniers all demagogs willing to let earth burn
Shuffling softly along, plodding playfully
Feet on repeat, sweet streets replete
With concrete, and self-propelled people
Off to meet and greet to a neat beat
As old as time, rhyme, and the sublime
Strolling, not trolling, at a casual saunter
Flaunting by the foot, perhaps to mince
Since we could promenade like a prince
Road tripping through the rural Midwest
multiple stops at towns, map dots
places so obscure people
living there don’t know where
they happen to be
Blissful in their
remoteness
and my
envy.
– Mark L. Lucker
© 2021
http://lrd.to/sxh9jntSbd
The day is unseasonably hot and languid. The long arms of the pothos skate around the window and reveal leaves that have browned in the summer heat. I consider joining an impromptu trip to the beach. My glass creates a small puddle on the kitchen table.
A familiar piano tune harmonizes with the whirring of the fans staggered around the main floor of this shared home. The small silver-blue fish seem agitated and dart back and forth in their tank. I look down at a note christened by black lipstick.
Everyone gathers downstairs. The heat has risen and the wood of the doors swells. I pace the house searching for something that will pique my interest. I grab a plum from the hanging basket in the kitchen and sink my teeth into the soft fruit. The juice dribbles through my fingers and over my chin.
A pile of ideas is gathering on notes in a wooden box carved with spirals. They wait on the writing table by the window for someone willing to implement them. Outside the camellias flanking the porch are between flowering cycles and carefully plan their next blossoming. The tall candle I lit on Summer Solstice has finally burned down in its glass.
There is so much that I’d like to say
To paint a picture just for you
But the colors turn muddy
My voice comes unsteady
What can I do when
Words are useless,
Colors dull,
But sit
Mute?
restless, frantic
pacing, bouncing, racing
mania, paranoia, darkness, despair
sleeping, isolating, weeping
hopeless, immobilizing
(A diamante is composed of seven lines, where lines 1 and 7 are opposite in meaning and are typically one-word nouns, but may also be concepts or phrases. Lines 2 and 6 should contain two adjectives, which clearly describe Lines 1 and 7, respectively. Line 3 will be made up of three -ing verbs which refer to Line 1, and Line 5 is composed in the same setup with regards to Line 7. Line 4 is the focal point of the poem, uniting Lines 1 and 7 by juxtaposing two nouns addressing Line 1 followed by two nouns addressing Line 7.)
Pushing myself farther than ever
Soaring out beyond the ends of reality
Seeking more than anything to find the meaning
Learning to trust the process of growing
Learning to love the me that I find.
I say goodbye to another carnival—
my childhood wrapped up in its
bassinet, my body rocking to its
commotion. Little girl on the Sizzler.
“Hush little baby,” it says.
I age into debt,
I age into hardship,
I age into photographs
and I age out of laughs,
but I am never too old for
the fair.
Hush little baby, don’t say a word,
if all of mother’s gifts one day break,
you can still pay eight dollars for
a funnel cake.
I thought I saw you in a storefront today
Just a glance from my periphery
Side-eyed as I walked by
My heart stopped and I froze
A familiar pang leapt to my chest
Needle-sharp, straight to my heart
Memories of that day in the sun
My periwinkle dress discarded on the ground
Entwined together in the grass as we watched the clouds
“You can’t see the sky in the city,” you said.
The busy city, littered with skyscrapers and idle gossip
We were the only two souls in the world that day
I turned and looked again into the storefront window
And you were not there
I smiled sadly and walked away