Official DUP NaPo/GloPoWrimo 2020 Competition

#27 of 30

Kisses of Debasement

I went to far at end of days
conveyed a love that few display
when deities were brought to bear
by invocations love had led

the ground quaked at the gentle tread
hinting powers beyond compare
still pained lust sought to hold
these entities beneath the soles

I kissed the god beneath their feet
enraptured by the underneath
fully stooped in shamed respect
for the position I’ll not regret

now these passions are condemned
by the souls who can’t comprehend
the extremes of embarrassment
lavished kisses of debasement.

#27
Poetry flatline

No anguish over loss tonight -
life happens; sometimes sad, so what.
There's no parade of lingering hurts
to stoke fires of rhythmic resentment.
No awe-inspiring sight before me
to awaken spiritual rhymes.
No commentaries on my tongue
of friendship and its disappointments.
No nagging questions or angry rants
to encourage ink from my pen.
This rollercoaster has come full stop -
no up, down, forward or backward.
Just a sideways glance from outside my head
at a brain that is out of synapses.
The feelings and thoughts have all been used up,
no blips on the poetry meter.
Truth be told, after the week that has been,
the silence is downright restful.

#27 of 30
Camping
Anticipation of traveling to a campsite
The excitement is unparalleled
Car packed full of camping stuff, firewood, and family
Finally checking in and finding our empty lean-to
Feeling giddy about unpacking the tent
The place my sister and I will live for a week with our dog
Helping our parents unpack their things into the lean-to
Swinging the axe to chop up kindling (or as Vermonters say ‘kinlin’)
Starting the first fire and cooking our first meal over the flames
I smile at all the memories that accompany a campfire
Hiking and fishing and swimming and exploring
Nothing comes close to that level of happiness
My anxiety, worrying, and overthinking go away
I smile more and enjoys spending time with my family
Life doesn’t get any better than that

27 of 30

Saying Goodbye

It’s almost time.
I always say goodbye
before it’s actually time.
Just get it out of the way.
Push people away and
move on.

Really, most of the time
I just fade from view.

Because it’s too
close here.

I’m more of a
drop in at Christmas
and Easter girl.  

I tell myself, year after year,
that I’ll stick around.
That I need this
camaraderie .
And it’s true,
I do.

But at what cost?

27/30

What Awaits?

I go to sleep, eyes greeted with the darkness just before dreams,
But this time, the darkness, darker than any of my dreams,
Takes hold of me,
Won't let go of me,
Stays with me after awaking,
After eating,
After fighting,
After everything...
...It's still there,
My mind running in circles but going nowhere.
I can feel the gears in my head turn
Towards that thing for which I have begun to yearn.
What awaits me when the gears stop turning?
When my mind stops thinking,
And sends my muscles into doing?
What am I capable of?
Where will hide, the peace dove?
My anger boils inside me,
It frightens me,
But if I can't scare others with my dark deeds and ideas,
Then I can scare myself with my wicked ideas.
I am not (that) bad, and I am not going to hurt or kill myself,
But I wish that I could worry others for myself.
If I can't worry them, then I'll worry me,
Of what I am to be.
What will happen when I bloody that final battlefield,
My mage staff I wield,
To bring down the Arch Demon,
Will I die, or save all of Ferelden and Thedas, and be a champion?

27/30

[ NapoWriMo 2020 Collection ] Survival

Part X—Pandemic

Wuhan Central Hospital
December, 2019

I think there should be more
than one voice in a healthy society,
and I don't approve of using
public power for excessive interference.
~ Dr. Li Wenliang, Whistleblower, Covid-19

i
He was relatively unknown—
even where he worked

A 33 year old Ophthalmologist
serving  at Wuhan Central Hospital

His entire life
had been academic excellence—
praised as honest and diligent
with good judgment

so it was only natural
when he discovered a positive
test result for SARS coronavirus
that he alert his peers—

"Seven confirmed cases of SARS. . .
exact strain being subtyped;
take protective measures, friends"

Reprimanded by his employer
censured and warned by police
labeled a rumormonger—
he continued regardless

Exhibiting symptoms of covid-19
Li tested positive in February—
but not before sharing
suppression of free speech publicly—
and vowing to return to the front
lines after recovery

He succumbed six days later
exonerated a martyred hero—
remains on the front lines of history
as covid-19's whistleblower
~

(28/30)

Moor Love

Ms. sunkissed, melanated Moor
Come give me a kiss mi amour
For I'm adoring your total essence
Please don't delay with any suspense

Let us commence this black love affair
As I stroke all that dread locked hair
Dropping despair & picking up rhapsody
Riding off into sunsets of pure ecstasy

Sensual energy comprises our chemistry
Everything about you fulfills my fantasy
Walking elegantly like an Egyptian Queen
Captivating Kings when entering scenes

27/30

Nothing Ever Stays

Ya know it’s not for everyone one this precious game we play
If you should lose what else will you do on the day to day
It’s not like there’s some net to catch you, no matter what they say
They would even want to bring it up lest there be a price to pay
It seems such a waste of talent, when we all go our separate ways
But it seems for sure and I know it well that nothing ever stays


Unique words: 66

27 / 30

ocean

above my lungs
below my throat
holding up my neck -

there is an ocean,
speaking,
splashing,
a fight
and a harmony
of blues
and sunlights,
always making foam.

sandy skin -
the land it licks -
stands knee-deep in its hunger

to hold the whole damn universe,
and pull everything under.

about my spine,
between my ribs,
and beating all the time,

an ocean swallows everything,
unashamed.

27/30

Bro Sis

I named her bro sis
What a badge to wear
Not many are let inside
My boarded up walls
But this eccentric human
Caught my attention
A delightful surprise
Without a real intention
She’s uniquely fun
And secure
Inspiring confidence inside
That’s why I need her
I feel she adopted me
That’s a rarity
Since my family overlooks
The things she somehow sees
It’s amazing
Bro sis, keep on rocking
Those shamrock shoes
And that commanding strut
When I’m big, I hope to be
A bro sis to someone else
Like you were to me

None

28/30

Despite It

When did I get so jaded and bitter?
I don’t remember. Which particular
Incident tipped the feather?
Was it the first time I lost my voice?
Couldn’t say no to innocence lost.
Just 4 years, experienced on earth,
Violating hands, that gave me no choice.
No haven. I was still a happy child. Despite it.

Was it the second? No stranger danger..
Loved ones who calculate, to violate, the manger.
How can a six year old be sexualised?
Yet the perpetrator not be demonised?
No haven. I still was, a happy child. Despite it.

Was it the third? A decade on earth,
Up next to confirm, my only worth.
Secrets they forced till my body hurt
No amount of scouring would wash away the dirt
My no and my stop, a voice never heard.
No haven. Was I still a happy child, Despite it?

Was it the forth? A Mother now.
Building a life of which she was proud,
Biting back demons, seeing them cowed;
Working with vulnerable, no damaged child.
Till he slipped in her drink, took her control
her dignity, her safety, her right to say no!
No haven. A happy child, was I still? Despite it?

Was it the fifth? Promise to love and protect.
Never saw it coming and didn’t expect
Violating violence, hurting in depths.
Smirking, telling me, what did you expect?
Just because they didn’t like an uninvited text.
No haven. Happy? A Child I was still. Despite it.

Many more times, I don’t need to mention.
Just want to understand my own intention?
Don’t want to be so jaded and bitter.
Though it’s my story, I’m not a quitter.
So dig dirt deep, light the shadows inside me.
No haven? I still be a happy child. Despite it.

# 28 of 30

Evil Blossoms


What I don’t understand
Answers something in me

And so I seek, walking
Feel nettles prick my skin

Hear hornets chastising
Menacing hovered ears

It’s irresistible
Because it’s contagious

I’ve always refused their
Magic gypsy potion

My body doesn’t fight
Does not forbid passage

Welcomes the sinister
Like beautiful bouquets

Indeed that’s how it looks
Both attracts and will kill

Like a lover possessed
That I know I’ll become

28/30
la vie de bohéme ~ {xxiii}

closer to the flame
than dar'd before,
an unknown ruby blaze
beckoning to coal
{devouring dead ash
a carnivorous spread
seeping into
pale foundations}
i
bear the scorch
{&} fold it into my modesty;
hold it close
praying to be burn'd
so it might cleanse___
'haps
permeate thru
the barren waste...
bring renewal once i
unwrap myself
{&} cautiously
bare the new