Submissions by Atakti
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
Turbulent waters ahead, sharks behind, shut up and paddle...
SPIRITUAL POEM
Published
4th Sep 2014 6:20am
4th Sep 2014 6:20am
Quieting
I am a dot on the parchment of time.
I am a drop in the ocean.
There is a stillness between heartbeats.
There is the warmth of the sun reaching
across the sheets, bringing the morning.
I breathe, I am, I breathe...
I am a drop in the ocean.
There is a stillness between heartbeats.
There is the warmth of the sun reaching
across the sheets, bringing the morning.
I breathe, I am, I breathe...
1132 reads
12 Comments
DARK POEM
Published
3rd Sep 2014 1:11pm
3rd Sep 2014 1:11pm
Drakos
A thousand lives in a slitted blink,
then a slow,
fixed
stare.
Cosmic scatters shine
in the great eye,
deepest at dusk.
Armored muscles shift
in their tectonic rumblings
and iron talons flex.
A hot rush of wings presses
shadow grasses down.
In its wake, solemn silence vows
its return.
then a slow,
fixed
stare.
Cosmic scatters shine
in the great eye,
deepest at dusk.
Armored muscles shift
in their tectonic rumblings
and iron talons flex.
A hot rush of wings presses
shadow grasses down.
In its wake, solemn silence vows
its return.
970 reads
7 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
22nd Aug 2014 6:28pm
22nd Aug 2014 6:28pm
Daring Cliffs
I could live in a poem,
starlit verses tumbling,
landing gem side up.
I write it, this poem,
and the Tuesday world
cannot compete.
Where I am, there are only the daring cliffs
and the cries
that cling to the skirt shadows
that I left behind
on the page.
starlit verses tumbling,
landing gem side up.
I write it, this poem,
and the Tuesday world
cannot compete.
Where I am, there are only the daring cliffs
and the cries
that cling to the skirt shadows
that I left behind
on the page.
1090 reads
13 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
22nd Aug 2014 4:27pm
22nd Aug 2014 4:27pm
Jet Rush
Time flies out of your palms
in a steady stream, laser lights.
You draw on the hunger, wanting
to feel the lift inside
from your toes
to your tingling hair.
You want to gaze
into
the depths of eyes,
the back stars of the cosmos.
You want to wrap yourself
into the fire
that licks the soul
and warms future lives.
It's there...
right there.
You're amazing.
in a steady stream, laser lights.
You draw on the hunger, wanting
to feel the lift inside
from your toes
to your tingling hair.
You want to gaze
into
the depths of eyes,
the back stars of the cosmos.
You want to wrap yourself
into the fire
that licks the soul
and warms future lives.
It's there...
right there.
You're amazing.
1104 reads
9 Comments
DARK POEM
Published
21st Aug 2014 8:27pm
21st Aug 2014 8:27pm
Night Swamp
I sense your warmth, close enough
to smell the past day on your clothes.
Grass and salt — the early dunes linger
on your skin, on blister cracked lips.
I see your hair is a tangle of lies you tell yourself
and the map is crumpled with frustration.
There's only further in, to the swamplands.
Red bumped bites... itching, oozing... " You mustn't scratch."
"This? Briny water, help yourself, here's a cup to dip."
I'm called by the dusk, by stirrings and flutterings.
My axe blunted, night hacking. Don't look back....
to smell the past day on your clothes.
Grass and salt — the early dunes linger
on your skin, on blister cracked lips.
I see your hair is a tangle of lies you tell yourself
and the map is crumpled with frustration.
There's only further in, to the swamplands.
Red bumped bites... itching, oozing... " You mustn't scratch."
"This? Briny water, help yourself, here's a cup to dip."
I'm called by the dusk, by stirrings and flutterings.
My axe blunted, night hacking. Don't look back....
1045 reads
20 Comments
ANGER POEM
Published
14th Aug 2014 6:54pm
14th Aug 2014 6:54pm
Noma(n’s lan)d
No, I am nothing. I am no one.
Where I live will not yield the clue,
nor will official documents.
Stop trying to shove me into the peg hole —
I’m plasma.
You can’t fathom me…
Perhaps I make you uncomfortable.
I don’t care.
I really don’t care how that irritates you.
Where I live will not yield the clue,
nor will official documents.
Stop trying to shove me into the peg hole —
I’m plasma.
You can’t fathom me…
Perhaps I make you uncomfortable.
I don’t care.
I really don’t care how that irritates you.
1018 reads
18 Comments
NON-FICTION PROSE
Published
13th Aug 2014 6:18pm
13th Aug 2014 6:18pm
Krill and Sea Gods
I face the low swells and try to breathe air, not the saltwater bubbling in my snorkel. I push against the waves and am mindful that the sea can push back harder. I face it, and in a few heartbeats am one with the krill, small and helpless in the vastness, ultimately sucked in and swallowed without a blink.
After a few dozen strokes, I turn and fly — the sea lifts me. Through the mask, I see the sand and rocks below, moving at a pace known by sea gods and my spirit soars.
Once I get closer to shore, I turn again. Back out towards the chopping and slapping, I try not to...
After a few dozen strokes, I turn and fly — the sea lifts me. Through the mask, I see the sand and rocks below, moving at a pace known by sea gods and my spirit soars.
Once I get closer to shore, I turn again. Back out towards the chopping and slapping, I try not to...
954 reads
10 Comments
DARK POEM
Published
8th Aug 2014 2:34pm
8th Aug 2014 2:34pm
Night Flight
I
Turbulence rattles us
but it's ok,
my book is strapped in.
It is tucked, closed and safe.
The cabin drops in darkness
with no frame of gravity
except for our rising buoyancy
and heart-rates.
Dull thuds hit the thin walls
but the blinking wing lights
fail to solve the mystery.
The elastic night stretches,
smoothly fitting our fears
in its cruel talons,
closing and climbing.
II
The heads are matted in dried blood.
Black clots thicken the hair and
the features are pulped as they hit...
Turbulence rattles us
but it's ok,
my book is strapped in.
It is tucked, closed and safe.
The cabin drops in darkness
with no frame of gravity
except for our rising buoyancy
and heart-rates.
Dull thuds hit the thin walls
but the blinking wing lights
fail to solve the mystery.
The elastic night stretches,
smoothly fitting our fears
in its cruel talons,
closing and climbing.
II
The heads are matted in dried blood.
Black clots thicken the hair and
the features are pulped as they hit...
1061 reads
18 Comments
DARK POEM
Published
7th Aug 2014 9:55pm
7th Aug 2014 9:55pm
Mercy After
Death is a woman.
She cuts from the cloth of time
the shroud of kings and waits
counting each grain, each day
until
the last one falls.
Hourglass curves flow,
a granular avalanche.
Whose eyes watch them?
While steel blades swing
and ropes bind and pull,
men roar, the blood pours —
the life sparks are dulled
to sand.
The last grain falls.
Soft tumbles
into triple weaves.
Whose hands wove them?
She cuts from the cloth of time
the shroud of kings and waits
counting each grain, each day
until
the last one falls.
Hourglass curves flow,
a granular avalanche.
Whose eyes watch them?
While steel blades swing
and ropes bind and pull,
men roar, the blood pours —
the life sparks are dulled
to sand.
The last grain falls.
Soft tumbles
into triple weaves.
Whose hands wove them?
1001 reads
12 Comments
DARK POEM
Published
31st Jul 2014 4:59am
31st Jul 2014 4:59am
Serenade, Marinade
Shush
hush,
be still.
Dry your eyes —
I'll do it for you.
Such a bitter disappointment...
Don't you know tears make
meat sour?
Smile, sweet,
and
sing.
Entry in comp, 'The Fibonacci Sequence'
hush,
be still.
Dry your eyes —
I'll do it for you.
Such a bitter disappointment...
Don't you know tears make
meat sour?
Smile, sweet,
and
sing.
Entry in comp, 'The Fibonacci Sequence'
935 reads
9 Comments
DARK POEM
Published
26th Jul 2014 00:02am
26th Jul 2014 00:02am
Sunder
Permanent grins pose while clothing flutters,
desolate flags of nothing. The roars and screams
have faded to dust and clicks, holding the page
wide open. Cue the moans, the thin slices of panic,
the breathless grief haunting each street.
Leave us be.
Our bones want to untwist, align with yesterday's ley lines
that said week followed week into the grey mists of heredity.
Pearl promises crack, chip, crumble in the rubble.
The light floods in, and we float on, hands unclasping
from silver wisp tethers. This pain is for the living.
...
desolate flags of nothing. The roars and screams
have faded to dust and clicks, holding the page
wide open. Cue the moans, the thin slices of panic,
the breathless grief haunting each street.
Leave us be.
Our bones want to untwist, align with yesterday's ley lines
that said week followed week into the grey mists of heredity.
Pearl promises crack, chip, crumble in the rubble.
The light floods in, and we float on, hands unclasping
from silver wisp tethers. This pain is for the living.
...
1326 reads
21 Comments
DARK POEM
Published
25th Jul 2014 5:35am
25th Jul 2014 5:35am
Redemption
His thoughts had a chokehold
on his impulse. He gasped
for stillness, for the invisible
shine like a polished glass door
that glides silently open in the presence
of solemn commanders.
Streaked marble on the veranda
was splattered and splashed,
the large leaves slapped down —
red dust exploding, streaming
in warm torrents. He looked up,
skin merging with the purge, relieved.
He stalked forward, footsteps now hidden,
his fingers wrapped around the corded grip
of a survival knife.
on his impulse. He gasped
for stillness, for the invisible
shine like a polished glass door
that glides silently open in the presence
of solemn commanders.
Streaked marble on the veranda
was splattered and splashed,
the large leaves slapped down —
red dust exploding, streaming
in warm torrents. He looked up,
skin merging with the purge, relieved.
He stalked forward, footsteps now hidden,
his fingers wrapped around the corded grip
of a survival knife.
835 reads
8 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by Atakti
