Submissions by Harold-Weathervein (Levi Braathen)
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
"You're going to be OKAY Harold....I can hear your God Damn smirk in your voice." '? I....oh...what does it sound like?' "Like....really rusty, not well taken care of Victorian gears grinding together." *smirk*
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
17th Oct 2021 1:19pm
17th Oct 2021 1:19pm
Happy Holidays
I notice the cars now.
The lot is empty.
Has been for 4 days.
That's when the last snow was and there's no tracks.
I haven't left home in 5.
It's around Christmas now.
I imagine i'm alone in this apartment complex.
No tracks for 4 days.
I light up.
'No ones around to catch me'
I feel sly but its too cold.
I check the mail and walk back upstairs.
And am hit with a sad deja' vu
Something in BIsmarck, H-----n St.
The apartments where at any given time 4-10 people lived at in a small 2 bedroom.
I had this one weekend to...
The lot is empty.
Has been for 4 days.
That's when the last snow was and there's no tracks.
I haven't left home in 5.
It's around Christmas now.
I imagine i'm alone in this apartment complex.
No tracks for 4 days.
I light up.
'No ones around to catch me'
I feel sly but its too cold.
I check the mail and walk back upstairs.
And am hit with a sad deja' vu
Something in BIsmarck, H-----n St.
The apartments where at any given time 4-10 people lived at in a small 2 bedroom.
I had this one weekend to...
#sadness
#anger
#loneliness #frustration
#loneliness #frustration
605 reads
3 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
10th Jun 2021 4:00pm
10th Jun 2021 4:00pm
7:22 A.M. Ten Years Coming (I wrote a Poem)
I woke up and smiled today
Even with all the hurt
Knowing I shouldve said things sooner than never but settled for late.
The wind was blowing branches angrily at my windows
the cats meowing at its mystery.
I smiled
I wrote a poem.
Writing felt right
I tried to keep it out of sight and out of mind
but the ink sweats off the page.
Off the brow in my head
The tightness and the pain returned in my chest
that kind you would talk about?
It reminds me of failure and my betrayal
and...
Even with all the hurt
Knowing I shouldve said things sooner than never but settled for late.
The wind was blowing branches angrily at my windows
the cats meowing at its mystery.
I smiled
I wrote a poem.
Writing felt right
I tried to keep it out of sight and out of mind
but the ink sweats off the page.
Off the brow in my head
The tightness and the pain returned in my chest
that kind you would talk about?
It reminds me of failure and my betrayal
and...
#sadness
#regret
#grief #frustration
#grief #frustration
476 reads
1 Comment
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
30th Apr 2021 3:48pm
30th Apr 2021 3:48pm
'I'm a f-cking corpse' (yes, that could make you a necrophiliac)
you're fucking a corpse.'
I murmured post climax.
*pant* "What?
What was that?" *pant*
'...nothing...let's lay for a bit.'
"mmmmm yeah, that sounds...."
She turned on her side and fell asleep.
I got up and disposed of the condom.
Looking in the bathroom mirror I thought
'you really don't feel anything for her do you?'
I washed my face and my hands.
My only worry was if I smelled like cigarettes.
She had told me to quit.
If she noticed...
But long distance relationships don't work...
I murmured post climax.
*pant* "What?
What was that?" *pant*
'...nothing...let's lay for a bit.'
"mmmmm yeah, that sounds...."
She turned on her side and fell asleep.
I got up and disposed of the condom.
Looking in the bathroom mirror I thought
'you really don't feel anything for her do you?'
I washed my face and my hands.
My only worry was if I smelled like cigarettes.
She had told me to quit.
If she noticed...
But long distance relationships don't work...
#relationships
#secrets
#sex
#SelfReflection
#dating
536 reads
3 Comments
DRUGS POEM
Published
13th Apr 2021 00:07am
13th Apr 2021 00:07am
don't mistake the things I feel guilty about with the things I regret.
Frantic.
I was burning madness.
Head was hot in the steamy night.
Streets alive with music from all sides.
Sweating out nothing but the bottle of scotch given to me by a girl.
She told me her Father was an alcoholic.
She told me that I could handle it.
To get it away from him, she said, would help her.
I didn't understand it then.
But I was the drunken hero.
Sweat. Antsy. Anxious.
I heard brass clashing from a foyer.
It was good.
Boy was it good.
My feet were still bare and leaving blood spots with...
I was burning madness.
Head was hot in the steamy night.
Streets alive with music from all sides.
Sweating out nothing but the bottle of scotch given to me by a girl.
She told me her Father was an alcoholic.
She told me that I could handle it.
To get it away from him, she said, would help her.
I didn't understand it then.
But I was the drunken hero.
Sweat. Antsy. Anxious.
I heard brass clashing from a foyer.
It was good.
Boy was it good.
My feet were still bare and leaving blood spots with...
#music
#alcohol
#travel
#confusion
#bittersweet
446 reads
0 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
4th Mar 2021 3:47pm
4th Mar 2021 3:47pm
Let The Nicotine Fly Higher Than The Birds Over Superior Lake. (the gig was up. I should have set sail at dawn.)
Gloomy midwestern mornings.
I'm sure some ass-hole wrote about its beauty.
I'm sure i'm guilty of it. Anyways...
I had bought a bag of rolling tobacco a week back.
I quit smoking 8, 9 years ago.
When I was with an ex-girl, I had picked up rolling my own,
for...financial reasons I explained.
What I didn't tell her in that Duluth? hotel
was that I started rolling as an excuse to get away from her.
She hated the smell more than a regular cigarette somehow. ...
I'm sure some ass-hole wrote about its beauty.
I'm sure i'm guilty of it. Anyways...
I had bought a bag of rolling tobacco a week back.
I quit smoking 8, 9 years ago.
When I was with an ex-girl, I had picked up rolling my own,
for...financial reasons I explained.
What I didn't tell her in that Duluth? hotel
was that I started rolling as an excuse to get away from her.
She hated the smell more than a regular cigarette somehow. ...
#alcohol
#tobacco
#honesty
#despair
#dating
526 reads
3 Comments
NON-FICTION PROSE
Published
27th Dec 2020 1:09am
27th Dec 2020 1:09am
Cutting Out The Climax Pt. 2 (Therapy. Happiness.)
The coffee pot in the waiting room was empty.
That was fine. I only ever get a cup for...I don't know...formality?
Something warm to hold?
To look busy?
It's nerves.
Mostly just nerves.
Though i'm not sure why.
Why am I lying? She gave me 'homework'.
It seemed very Socratic method.
She wanted me to think of a question to ask Her.
It's been a few months of this now. Bigger fancier words spring to mind. Cognitive behavioral therapy. Holistic therapy. 6 syllable...
That was fine. I only ever get a cup for...I don't know...formality?
Something warm to hold?
To look busy?
It's nerves.
Mostly just nerves.
Though i'm not sure why.
Why am I lying? She gave me 'homework'.
It seemed very Socratic method.
She wanted me to think of a question to ask Her.
It's been a few months of this now. Bigger fancier words spring to mind. Cognitive behavioral therapy. Holistic therapy. 6 syllable...
#depression
#loneliness
#MentalHealth
#emptiness
#SelfWorth
425 reads
0 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
25th Dec 2020 00:52am
25th Dec 2020 00:52am
The hilarity of understanding affairs.
I've been laughing at the absurdity of it all lately Rose.
You seem to keep being right, even now, 10 years later.
Not just the drinking no
But my mental health being on the edge.
You warned me that I wouldn't be able to keep up with it.
With myself,
everything around me.
That it was all just to much, alone.
That if I would just accept help
If I would just slow down
If I would reach out and ask...
I understand now why you left for another more and more the further I get from it.
You...
You seem to keep being right, even now, 10 years later.
Not just the drinking no
But my mental health being on the edge.
You warned me that I wouldn't be able to keep up with it.
With myself,
everything around me.
That it was all just to much, alone.
That if I would just accept help
If I would just slow down
If I would reach out and ask...
I understand now why you left for another more and more the further I get from it.
You...
#relationships
#shame
#honesty #bittersweet
#honesty #bittersweet
527 reads
0 Comments
NON-FICTION PROSE
Published
14th Dec 2020 1:32am
14th Dec 2020 1:32am
2021 Resolution (2020 Resolution. Pt. 2)
Hey,
I still keep my hands in my pockets.
What I didn't tell you a year ago was that it was to hide the tremors.
I can't say if they were withdrawals or medication side effects.
They said it would last awhile...I thought I'd tell you they're gone now.
Now I just fidget from anxiety.
Back to normal I guess...
The coping skills have helped alot...
And this year, well, it's been a weird year for EVERYONE.
I know this thought is selfish but...but it's nice to not feel alone about it this time...
The neuropathy is letting up. People...
I still keep my hands in my pockets.
What I didn't tell you a year ago was that it was to hide the tremors.
I can't say if they were withdrawals or medication side effects.
They said it would last awhile...I thought I'd tell you they're gone now.
Now I just fidget from anxiety.
Back to normal I guess...
The coping skills have helped alot...
And this year, well, it's been a weird year for EVERYONE.
I know this thought is selfish but...but it's nice to not feel alone about it this time...
The neuropathy is letting up. People...
#confessional
#StreamOfConsciousness
#sadness
#relationships
#MentalHealth
344 reads
1 Comment
SELF POEM
Published
8th Nov 2020 3:44am
8th Nov 2020 3:44am
I built my vocabulary to distract you from the things I don't want to tell you.
To have you pick apart the statement
rather then accepting its whole construct.
Words are the distraction
disconnected from the feeling.
MIspellings to notice
to ignore what I meant.
It's tactical
and shamelessly misleading.
But I got tired.
Not lazy.
Just tired.
and it lead me here.
Back to simplicity.
Even here and now
You reading this.
It's another sleight of hand.
Because i'm still putting off
writing about the more intimate...
rather then accepting its whole construct.
Words are the distraction
disconnected from the feeling.
MIspellings to notice
to ignore what I meant.
It's tactical
and shamelessly misleading.
But I got tired.
Not lazy.
Just tired.
and it lead me here.
Back to simplicity.
Even here and now
You reading this.
It's another sleight of hand.
Because i'm still putting off
writing about the more intimate...
#anxiety
#identity
#myself #despair
#myself #despair
361 reads
1 Comment
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
25th Aug 2020 4:10am
25th Aug 2020 4:10am
"Come on you booze hound, Somebody wants to meet you!"
I met a woman outside of Lincoln NE.
Back when the Road seemed holy,
It was out at some old farmstead we weren't supposed to be at.
But someone decided to invite me to one of the biggest fires i'd ever seen.
Flames swirling 15 feet into the night sky.
And that there was drink.
And I was missing something
I was hung up on Michigan.
I had cigarettes.
She had a 5 liter jug of port wine.
and I was just beginning the long trail to gut rot.
We called it a...
Back when the Road seemed holy,
It was out at some old farmstead we weren't supposed to be at.
But someone decided to invite me to one of the biggest fires i'd ever seen.
Flames swirling 15 feet into the night sky.
And that there was drink.
And I was missing something
I was hung up on Michigan.
I had cigarettes.
She had a 5 liter jug of port wine.
and I was just beginning the long trail to gut rot.
We called it a...
#sadness
#kindness
#loneliness #honesty
#loneliness #honesty
625 reads
2 Comments
NON-FICTION PROSE
Published
6th May 2020 6:32am
6th May 2020 6:32am
Pimple Squirter Cleaner
4:36 A.M.
I don't even know what we were drinking then
It probably didn't matter
It was the amount that counted in the end
Playing the long game
The room was so cold on that floor
We scribbled in between phonebook names making up back stories.
Adding the infidelities of Zips and Area codes
You were amazed when I told you how many Omaha had
I didn't blame you for thinking I was lying
Who would know that anyways?
You stopped and stared
"There's something in...
I don't even know what we were drinking then
It probably didn't matter
It was the amount that counted in the end
Playing the long game
The room was so cold on that floor
We scribbled in between phonebook names making up back stories.
Adding the infidelities of Zips and Area codes
You were amazed when I told you how many Omaha had
I didn't blame you for thinking I was lying
Who would know that anyways?
You stopped and stared
"There's something in...
#women
#memories
#bittersweet #fear
#bittersweet #fear
517 reads
1 Comment
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
4th Apr 2020 3:43am
4th Apr 2020 3:43am
K.C to S.F, June. 20-- (barefoot)
there's a vague talk of balance
of leveling out
some want it to be the same as it was before
i dont remember what before was
or if it was better
short term happiness
distractions
on the move
on the go
in and out of cars
over state line borders
reaching city limits
making the escape
the holy escape
the holy tobacco
the holy bottle
the holy pills
the holy fasting
false gods under the falling sky on I-79
burning mind
burning eyes ...
of leveling out
some want it to be the same as it was before
i dont remember what before was
or if it was better
short term happiness
distractions
on the move
on the go
in and out of cars
over state line borders
reaching city limits
making the escape
the holy escape
the holy tobacco
the holy bottle
the holy pills
the holy fasting
false gods under the falling sky on I-79
burning mind
burning eyes ...
#anxiety
#travel
#confusion
#escape
#emotions
394 reads
0 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by Harold-Weathervein (Levi Braathen)
