Submissions by CruelHandedWriter (Jamie Rhodes)
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Love
I write in to the early hours.
Awoken by her moving through the house
preparing for work.
That necessity swallowing her up
for the waking day.
Soon it will be more.
Soon there will be only moments.
What we know now as life
will become work.
And in loving her
I have to allow her to tread that path.
Support her as her mind and body
react to the side-effects of exchanging oneself
for income.
I will wake up, ready to start the day.
My day.
She will leave.
I will end my day and close my eyes. ...
Awoken by her moving through the house
preparing for work.
That necessity swallowing her up
for the waking day.
Soon it will be more.
Soon there will be only moments.
What we know now as life
will become work.
And in loving her
I have to allow her to tread that path.
Support her as her mind and body
react to the side-effects of exchanging oneself
for income.
I will wake up, ready to start the day.
My day.
She will leave.
I will end my day and close my eyes. ...
#love
#loneliness
#nightmares
#sacrifice
#job
446 reads
4 Comments
The Hardest of Days
#depression
#loneliness
#suicide
#shadows
#weakness
764 reads
6 Comments
As short as it gets
In falling in love with you
I learned that you know
very little of the word.
I learned that you know
very little of the word.
#love
#breakup
498 reads
4 Comments
The lady with the two little white dogs
I see her almost every night
just before 1am.
She looks like a million dollars
If a million dollars weren't lined
with greed, selfishness, corruption,
and slavery.
If a million dollars were just peace,
wise choices,
and self preservation.
The result of good, honest hard work.
I wonder who she is.
If she's lovable.
If there is a man at home
who lets her walk their dogs
at this hour.
If I were him I would be hand in hand with her.
Looking down at our little white canine children
and smiling.
just before 1am.
She looks like a million dollars
If a million dollars weren't lined
with greed, selfishness, corruption,
and slavery.
If a million dollars were just peace,
wise choices,
and self preservation.
The result of good, honest hard work.
I wonder who she is.
If she's lovable.
If there is a man at home
who lets her walk their dogs
at this hour.
If I were him I would be hand in hand with her.
Looking down at our little white canine children
and smiling.
#love
#women
#money #greed
#money #greed
505 reads
2 Comments
Can’t teach an old dog how to be a rabbit
#loneliness
#relationships
#conflict #sex
#conflict #sex
445 reads
3 Comments
A short one
Be grateful your cigarettes survived the rain
As your heart did the winter
As your heart did the winter
#courage
409 reads
1 Comment
Deep breaths into empty stomachs
It was a god-given right
to wake up on days much like this one
have the bile rearrange itself in to narrative
maybe listen to some Rachmaninoff piano concertos
anything to work through the nausea.
Suddenly I possess the spine of some older creature
ass cheeks, thighs and prick sticking to the vinyl chair covering
some lousy joke about peeling myself off
not really looking at anything
not wanting to be looked at.
What is there to love about a room full of people
singing ‘Sweet Caroline’
temporarily in love with each other. ...
to wake up on days much like this one
have the bile rearrange itself in to narrative
maybe listen to some Rachmaninoff piano concertos
anything to work through the nausea.
Suddenly I possess the spine of some older creature
ass cheeks, thighs and prick sticking to the vinyl chair covering
some lousy joke about peeling myself off
not really looking at anything
not wanting to be looked at.
What is there to love about a room full of people
singing ‘Sweet Caroline’
temporarily in love with each other. ...
#loneliness
#LifeStruggles
#music
#alcohol
#aging
614 reads
4 Comments
I never realised it was so easy to be a writer
You can avoid all the rejection letters
If you just follow these seven steps:
Avoid too many personal pronouns
And distance yourself a little.
Don’t do it when you’re on fire
Or loaded.
Lower your blood pressure
Breathe easy and check your punctuation
Always keep an ear to what’s trending.
Re-work your work,
Keep checking it over
Until there’s nothing left of you
on the page
And eventually they’ll pat you on the back
And it must feel good.
because you finally made it.
They told you not many do, ...
If you just follow these seven steps:
Avoid too many personal pronouns
And distance yourself a little.
Don’t do it when you’re on fire
Or loaded.
Lower your blood pressure
Breathe easy and check your punctuation
Always keep an ear to what’s trending.
Re-work your work,
Keep checking it over
Until there’s nothing left of you
on the page
And eventually they’ll pat you on the back
And it must feel good.
because you finally made it.
They told you not many do, ...
#LifeAsAWriter
#WritingPoetry
#PowerOfWords #art
#PowerOfWords #art
750 reads
7 Comments
Woodlouse with a deathwish
Walking up the hill, if I can call it walking...
I was leaning forward in the hope that I made it there.
I watched a woodlouse dart for under my barefoot.
I wondered about the kind of day it might have been having.
I wondered if it hadn't wanted me to redirect my pace.
The kid with the brights eyes was carrying his can again today.
He stared wildly into the passers-by:
Throwing threats at a light skinned black man
who carried on walking.
Then I passed him and he looked down.
His eyes are those that are hell bent on something I do not understand,
but...
I was leaning forward in the hope that I made it there.
I watched a woodlouse dart for under my barefoot.
I wondered about the kind of day it might have been having.
I wondered if it hadn't wanted me to redirect my pace.
The kid with the brights eyes was carrying his can again today.
He stared wildly into the passers-by:
Throwing threats at a light skinned black man
who carried on walking.
Then I passed him and he looked down.
His eyes are those that are hell bent on something I do not understand,
but...
862 reads
5 Comments
Houdini
It must have been through the window,
but it's a second floor window.
Without the assistance of another, you can't get out;
not without taking the keys with you,
but they're next to the speaker where I left them.
No note, no number, just the half smoked cigarette
that I didn't want to stand in the cold of the open window
and watch her smoke,
so I told her she didn't need it.
I'm scared of walking downstairs,
what if she's sat at the dining table with the rest of the household
with reassuring hands on her shoulder and the leaflet about God...
but it's a second floor window.
Without the assistance of another, you can't get out;
not without taking the keys with you,
but they're next to the speaker where I left them.
No note, no number, just the half smoked cigarette
that I didn't want to stand in the cold of the open window
and watch her smoke,
so I told her she didn't need it.
I'm scared of walking downstairs,
what if she's sat at the dining table with the rest of the household
with reassuring hands on her shoulder and the leaflet about God...
920 reads
3 Comments
The most beautiful thing in town
I’ve just finished drinking good beer,
served to me by the most beautiful
thing in town.
She taps her hands against her thighs
when she has nothing to do
and looks at me occasionally.
There are a handful of other men looking.
Now, I am in bed
breathing deeply
at ease.
I told her that she was fucking stunning
just before I left
and for a second I saw a grimace
on her face.
I wondered about it,
but then I smiled again.
I’ve just finished drinking good beer
served to me by the most beautiful
thing in...
served to me by the most beautiful
thing in town.
She taps her hands against her thighs
when she has nothing to do
and looks at me occasionally.
There are a handful of other men looking.
Now, I am in bed
breathing deeply
at ease.
I told her that she was fucking stunning
just before I left
and for a second I saw a grimace
on her face.
I wondered about it,
but then I smiled again.
I’ve just finished drinking good beer
served to me by the most beautiful
thing in...
890 reads
2 Comments
welcoming committee
There's always someone close to the train doors
Waiting for my body weight
To not so politely ask
If they wouldn't mind standing aside.
They are always reluctant,
But I am solid.
07:30 is too early
For an insight in to herd mentality
I need long baths
And the chime of a meditation bell.
I am ready for you,
My dearest Monday,
You and all the other fuckers
Who follow.
Waiting for my body weight
To not so politely ask
If they wouldn't mind standing aside.
They are always reluctant,
But I am solid.
07:30 is too early
For an insight in to herd mentality
I need long baths
And the chime of a meditation bell.
I am ready for you,
My dearest Monday,
You and all the other fuckers
Who follow.
1061 reads
8 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by CruelHandedWriter (Jamie Rhodes)