Submissions by AverageJoe (Average Joe. AJ. Joe)
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
Nothing to see here folks, no bells or whistles, I'm just your average Joe. Ignore the award on my profile. I got it for having a pulse.
LOVE POEM
Published
2nd Jan 2025 10:29pm
2nd Jan 2025 10:29pm
String of Pearls II
It’s the soft deep of night and I lie awake in the stillness
With thoughts of you coming easier than sleep
Your memory answers in the silence with feelings felt
Not heard
The reach beyond my reaching
The distance beyond my words
For the words I’d speak would be but soft as the caress of my breath upon your skin
And yet, urgent and demanding in breath’s rise and fall as my kisses upon your lips
…which haunt my waking thought
Time and distance mean little to sleepless memories.
For your memory with night’s passage ...
With thoughts of you coming easier than sleep
Your memory answers in the silence with feelings felt
Not heard
The reach beyond my reaching
The distance beyond my words
For the words I’d speak would be but soft as the caress of my breath upon your skin
And yet, urgent and demanding in breath’s rise and fall as my kisses upon your lips
…which haunt my waking thought
Time and distance mean little to sleepless memories.
For your memory with night’s passage ...
#love
130 reads
2 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
1st Jan 2025 11:17pm
1st Jan 2025 11:17pm
String of Pearls, I
"And that that which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space."
Kahlil Gibran
***
Why do stars fall
And comets have tails
Why are there meteor showers
How vast the array of the sidereal heavens
Set for times, and signs, and seasons
How measures the sweep
And the breadth of it all
Who can answer the timeless questions
Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades,
Or loose the bands of Orion
Canst thou bring...
Kahlil Gibran
***
Why do stars fall
And comets have tails
Why are there meteor showers
How vast the array of the sidereal heavens
Set for times, and signs, and seasons
How measures the sweep
And the breadth of it all
Who can answer the timeless questions
Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades,
Or loose the bands of Orion
Canst thou bring...
#love
132 reads
2 Comments
EROTIC POEM
Published
31st Dec 2024 9:55pm
31st Dec 2024 9:55pm
The Scarlet of Desire (Redux)
When night falls in shadows which deepen your eyes
Do they whisper of leather or lace
or
Do you long for my desires
For I esteem neither night or day one above the other
Mine the dream that passion lives
Not in the set place
The special setting
The contrived moment
That somewhere future day
Passion lives in this moment
The immediacy of now
Fierce
Urgent
Heedless of time or place
Fires burn to consume
Thirst seeks to be quenched
Hunger knows only the desire to be filled
So...
Do they whisper of leather or lace
or
Do you long for my desires
For I esteem neither night or day one above the other
Mine the dream that passion lives
Not in the set place
The special setting
The contrived moment
That somewhere future day
Passion lives in this moment
The immediacy of now
Fierce
Urgent
Heedless of time or place
Fires burn to consume
Thirst seeks to be quenched
Hunger knows only the desire to be filled
So...
#lover
#lust
#passion
252 reads
7 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
31st Dec 2024 9:13am
31st Dec 2024 9:13am
Seaside
The sea
The gentle lap of waves
And boards weathered gray
Some split or warped
Along the dock
Strung with fenders of plastic and tires
And near the end of hemp
Worn and battered
And I wonder when, if ever, all of this was new
Salt air and the thought of you
Chimes my mind of distant reveries
And I think of your words
Dancing between them to catch glimpses of you
Certain phrases give weight to the air
As I leave the pier
Wandering past wood pilings and beach grass
Down to where water meets the sand
And...
The gentle lap of waves
And boards weathered gray
Some split or warped
Along the dock
Strung with fenders of plastic and tires
And near the end of hemp
Worn and battered
And I wonder when, if ever, all of this was new
Salt air and the thought of you
Chimes my mind of distant reveries
And I think of your words
Dancing between them to catch glimpses of you
Certain phrases give weight to the air
As I leave the pier
Wandering past wood pilings and beach grass
Down to where water meets the sand
And...
#love
129 reads
2 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
30th Dec 2024 3:20pm
30th Dec 2024 3:20pm
Eddies and Sloughs
Sometimes currents flow and other times life eddies
And I am lost in doldrums throes
Wishing you were close
I need you
The deepening of me
The true
The shaping of reality
Else why the wistful longing
When all's a washed out grey
No sound, yet silent calling
Wishing light come back to day
You, words, to kiss, to touch
To guide the path of dreams
I ask for little and need so much
Sometimes silence screams
I wish you were close
I could use you right now
Heaven knows
To...
And I am lost in doldrums throes
Wishing you were close
I need you
The deepening of me
The true
The shaping of reality
Else why the wistful longing
When all's a washed out grey
No sound, yet silent calling
Wishing light come back to day
You, words, to kiss, to touch
To guide the path of dreams
I ask for little and need so much
Sometimes silence screams
I wish you were close
I could use you right now
Heaven knows
To...
#love
110 reads
3 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
30th Dec 2024 12:28pm
30th Dec 2024 12:28pm
Drenched
I wake
Long silence
Til I realize I breath
And that thought an act of violence
Miss you
Wanting you
Like some unspoken need
Crave what I imagine to be true
My whore
My goddess
All "feels" and uncertainty
A merciless hunting tigress
You want me to look at you, breath lust for you
Nostrils flaring, eyes narrow, circling you
Is power feeling aching need rise for you
You've got it wrong but it is all about you
Fires blaze, roar, they scorch that on which they...
Long silence
Til I realize I breath
And that thought an act of violence
Miss you
Wanting you
Like some unspoken need
Crave what I imagine to be true
My whore
My goddess
All "feels" and uncertainty
A merciless hunting tigress
You want me to look at you, breath lust for you
Nostrils flaring, eyes narrow, circling you
Is power feeling aching need rise for you
You've got it wrong but it is all about you
Fires blaze, roar, they scorch that on which they...
#love
155 reads
10 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
24th Dec 2024 8:00pm
24th Dec 2024 8:00pm
Siren Song
My heart oft times runs on vapors
The memories of lipstick traces
(((Ripples)))
The echo of your thighs
Spreading
Softer than sighs
I sometimes dive deliciously
Into that sea
Drowning
In a sea of dreams
My own, imagined
Your fingers in my hair
My guide
Your siren song
Sweet murmured
Having brought me safely there
To the lapping of the waves
You turn
Twisting
The rise and fall of tides
Precious liquid in your flow
The arc of your waves ...
The memories of lipstick traces
(((Ripples)))
The echo of your thighs
Spreading
Softer than sighs
I sometimes dive deliciously
Into that sea
Drowning
In a sea of dreams
My own, imagined
Your fingers in my hair
My guide
Your siren song
Sweet murmured
Having brought me safely there
To the lapping of the waves
You turn
Twisting
The rise and fall of tides
Precious liquid in your flow
The arc of your waves ...
#love
#lover
#lust
234 reads
13 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
23rd Dec 2024 4:34pm
23rd Dec 2024 4:34pm
Words I Should Know
What is the change, in your presence, near
A knowing, a feeling of certainty awakens
As I search for words
Like fingers tracing your skin in the dark
Meanings unfold in the savoring
Warmth
But I'm torn
Sometimes life is hard
And I don't want a woman who falls apart with the "feels"
Sometimes life's Bonnie and Clyde
Ride or die
To me love means
You're on my fighting side
Breath, I'll give you the space that you need
Be all you can be
Let you be that for you
And be that for me ...
A knowing, a feeling of certainty awakens
As I search for words
Like fingers tracing your skin in the dark
Meanings unfold in the savoring
Warmth
But I'm torn
Sometimes life is hard
And I don't want a woman who falls apart with the "feels"
Sometimes life's Bonnie and Clyde
Ride or die
To me love means
You're on my fighting side
Breath, I'll give you the space that you need
Be all you can be
Let you be that for you
And be that for me ...
#love
#relationships
151 reads
7 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
15th Dec 2024 1:01am
15th Dec 2024 1:01am
Two
Stalwart stones
These pillars two
Bone of bone
Sun and moon
*
The moon
Sickled, low
As though
To scythe the velvet night
Of countless fires
Dying
With dawning's light
I am old
Ancient of days
Of soul
Even drunken moments
(Past)
Of drink or drug
Forgetting
All but what is
The pain of life
Paradox/Paradise
Time hollowed me
Removed memories
I wander wilderness
Like trackless sea
In vain
The starless moon
Low,...
These pillars two
Bone of bone
Sun and moon
*
The moon
Sickled, low
As though
To scythe the velvet night
Of countless fires
Dying
With dawning's light
I am old
Ancient of days
Of soul
Even drunken moments
(Past)
Of drink or drug
Forgetting
All but what is
The pain of life
Paradox/Paradise
Time hollowed me
Removed memories
I wander wilderness
Like trackless sea
In vain
The starless moon
Low,...
#love
161 reads
7 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
10th Dec 2024 8:52pm
10th Dec 2024 8:52pm
Sand and Foam Redux
Sand and Foam
"I am forever walking upon these shores,
Betwixt the sand and the foam.
The high tide will erase my foot-prints,
And the wind will blow away the foam.
But the sea and the shore will remain
Forever"
Khalil Gibran
***
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised the world is a harder place than I imagined it should be
reality always had more substance than the stuff of dreams
clearly defined and unyielding
as if bolts and bars were set between us
and perhaps they are
but in my dreams
my...
"I am forever walking upon these shores,
Betwixt the sand and the foam.
The high tide will erase my foot-prints,
And the wind will blow away the foam.
But the sea and the shore will remain
Forever"
Khalil Gibran
***
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised the world is a harder place than I imagined it should be
reality always had more substance than the stuff of dreams
clearly defined and unyielding
as if bolts and bars were set between us
and perhaps they are
but in my dreams
my...
#love
143 reads
11 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
9th Nov 2024 6:47pm
9th Nov 2024 6:47pm
How Long [Redux]
There are times when a man needs to back down from his strength
And remember his weakness…
The way isn’t always easy to see but the feeling is unmistakable
My heart has missed you
You who are closest to me…
And how can that be
Have you learned to live around me instead of with me?
If I think I lead
Where have I lead us to
A place where we each go our own way
And say we’re together
Can I still touch the part of you that thought I was everything?
Because I so desperately want to feel like that person again
Would you...
And remember his weakness…
The way isn’t always easy to see but the feeling is unmistakable
My heart has missed you
You who are closest to me…
And how can that be
Have you learned to live around me instead of with me?
If I think I lead
Where have I lead us to
A place where we each go our own way
And say we’re together
Can I still touch the part of you that thought I was everything?
Because I so desperately want to feel like that person again
Would you...
#forgiveness
#love
175 reads
2 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
8th Oct 2024 00:06am
8th Oct 2024 00:06am
Asheville
I spent a week with no power after hurricane Helene swept up through Florida and Georgia, and into South Carolina. The lower end of the neighborhood flooded when the Saluda river overflowed and backed up the creek. A lot of trees and powerlines down. There were gas lines and then food lines as restaurants reopened. We weren't expecting what we got. We took a hit.
We took a hit but western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee took a beat down. This past weekend I joined a group of volunteers and went to Asheville to help do what we could do. Restaurants were closed due to lack...
We took a hit but western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee took a beat down. This past weekend I joined a group of volunteers and went to Asheville to help do what we could do. Restaurants were closed due to lack...
#LifeChangingMoment
#LifeStruggles
157 reads
12 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by AverageJoe (Average Joe. AJ. Joe)
