Submissions by JohnVincent (JVD)
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
I usually just write whatever's on my mind. Could be anything. Brain-to-hand-to-page.
My Great-Grandma in "Bellevue Asylum for the Insane"
My great-grandmother lived in a time when if you sang too loudly in a public place
Such as on the bus
With no audible music anyone else could hear
You were thrown away
Reported by the sanest of citizens
Locked away in the mental ward of Bellevue Asylum
By your own family
She was an alcoholic
Well, she was Italian
As was that whole part of my family
And Italians like wine
And she liked her wine
Maybe a little bit too much
My grandfather said that by six o'clock
Everyone in the house was screaming
Throwing things...
Such as on the bus
With no audible music anyone else could hear
You were thrown away
Reported by the sanest of citizens
Locked away in the mental ward of Bellevue Asylum
By your own family
She was an alcoholic
Well, she was Italian
As was that whole part of my family
And Italians like wine
And she liked her wine
Maybe a little bit too much
My grandfather said that by six o'clock
Everyone in the house was screaming
Throwing things...
534 reads
1 Comment
Willowbrook State School, 1972
They're children
They're just children!"
He screamed at the camera
"And they're forced into this
Living Hell with no way out!"
He tried his best to raise
Whatever awareness could be aroused
It was wrong
These children
They were writhing
In their own
Piss and shit
Curled up in little balls
Without an inch of clothing on them
When he came in
The orderlies avoided him
And his camera
They couldn't be held responsible
For the atrocities that were taking place
In the buildings where they...
They're just children!"
He screamed at the camera
"And they're forced into this
Living Hell with no way out!"
He tried his best to raise
Whatever awareness could be aroused
It was wrong
These children
They were writhing
In their own
Piss and shit
Curled up in little balls
Without an inch of clothing on them
When he came in
The orderlies avoided him
And his camera
They couldn't be held responsible
For the atrocities that were taking place
In the buildings where they...
644 reads
1 Comment
You Are Your Own God
People on this Earth
Don't seem to notice
When another walks by
Nobody chose this
This stretched rope we walk
Seems to thin out
With each and every step
There's no way out
Either you make a move
Or stay still
Both ways you end up dying
Even by way of pure power of will
That rope is always there
Staring you in the fucking face
Taunting you and telling you you're nothing
All you know is you've got to get out of this place
Get in the road
Rip the engine up
Fuck that twisted path
Even what's...
Don't seem to notice
When another walks by
Nobody chose this
This stretched rope we walk
Seems to thin out
With each and every step
There's no way out
Either you make a move
Or stay still
Both ways you end up dying
Even by way of pure power of will
That rope is always there
Staring you in the fucking face
Taunting you and telling you you're nothing
All you know is you've got to get out of this place
Get in the road
Rip the engine up
Fuck that twisted path
Even what's...
740 reads
4 Comments
Smoking in the Hospital
Sitting, dying, waiting
Casually ticking my eyes back and forth
At doctors and nurses rushing
Trying to save one more life
Just trying to make it to the end of their shift
When I saw you walk out the elevator
The look on your face told me you could use a lift
Of spirit, of body and mind
And that's when you took out that pack of Parliaments
"You can use a cigarette,"
You said through gritted teeth
I looked, smiled, obliged the notion
"How'd you know?"
As I pulled one from the pack
"This is a hospital, man,...
Casually ticking my eyes back and forth
At doctors and nurses rushing
Trying to save one more life
Just trying to make it to the end of their shift
When I saw you walk out the elevator
The look on your face told me you could use a lift
Of spirit, of body and mind
And that's when you took out that pack of Parliaments
"You can use a cigarette,"
You said through gritted teeth
I looked, smiled, obliged the notion
"How'd you know?"
As I pulled one from the pack
"This is a hospital, man,...
817 reads
2 Comments
Is it So Wrong to Say What You Mean and Mean What You Feel? (My Equation)
I've been called
Super feminine
In my emotions
And my lack of apprehension
To express them
I don't know what it is
Why people are this way
Why can't it be just be imple enough
For people to feel comfortable to say what they mean?
I've been
Accused of being gay
Felt unmasculine
But for me there's no other way
To go about living
Without saying what I mean
Meaning what I feel
But it seems
People like me are far inbetween
The general population
However, I'll say this
I'm thankful for the time I live in...
Super feminine
In my emotions
And my lack of apprehension
To express them
I don't know what it is
Why people are this way
Why can't it be just be imple enough
For people to feel comfortable to say what they mean?
I've been
Accused of being gay
Felt unmasculine
But for me there's no other way
To go about living
Without saying what I mean
Meaning what I feel
But it seems
People like me are far inbetween
The general population
However, I'll say this
I'm thankful for the time I live in...
721 reads
3 Comments
Portrait of a Killer as a Young Man
910 reads
2 Comments
A Declaration of Love (and Death) in a Locked Box
Back when I was about ten or eleven, the only friend I had was the most beautiful girl I knew. Her name was Jessica and her and I did everything together. In school we were inseparable, always chit-chatting before, during and after classes. So much so that teachers bestowed upon us the annoying, yet endearing, encompassing nickname of "Jackica" - a combination of our names; Jack and Jessica.
I was so thankful for her companionship, and thinking back it might have been a pretty uneven relationship, emotionally. I was an overweight and awkward Harry Potter fanboy and she was...
I was so thankful for her companionship, and thinking back it might have been a pretty uneven relationship, emotionally. I was an overweight and awkward Harry Potter fanboy and she was...
791 reads
2 Comments
You Wake Up in a Room
You wake up in a room
It's not your room
Nor is it any room
You've seen before
Not in reality, not in your dreams
Not in your nightmares
You look around
Dazed as can be
Trying to rub the sleep
From your eyes
And you notice the paint on the wall
Is chipping
Then the smell hits you
It's not all that offensive
It's that stale, moldy odor
That you encounter when you enter
Your grandparents' attic
Like the room doesn't see many visitors
You hoist yourself to your feet
And you notice there is no door
No...
It's not your room
Nor is it any room
You've seen before
Not in reality, not in your dreams
Not in your nightmares
You look around
Dazed as can be
Trying to rub the sleep
From your eyes
And you notice the paint on the wall
Is chipping
Then the smell hits you
It's not all that offensive
It's that stale, moldy odor
That you encounter when you enter
Your grandparents' attic
Like the room doesn't see many visitors
You hoist yourself to your feet
And you notice there is no door
No...
597 reads
2 Comments
A Peculiar Home Invasion
I awoke to screaming
Only it wasn't my own
This time, it appeared
Someone had invaded my home
I got up quickly
I reached for my bat
But knew that if anything would help
It probably wouldn't have been that
But still, quietly I crept down the stairwell
In the kitchen stood a man
Or what appeared to be
He gazed at me and raised his hand
One finger to his lips, "Shhh"
So I raised my eyebrows and opened my mouth
To speak but he shushed me louder
This time and lowered himself into a crouch
And that's when...
Only it wasn't my own
This time, it appeared
Someone had invaded my home
I got up quickly
I reached for my bat
But knew that if anything would help
It probably wouldn't have been that
But still, quietly I crept down the stairwell
In the kitchen stood a man
Or what appeared to be
He gazed at me and raised his hand
One finger to his lips, "Shhh"
So I raised my eyebrows and opened my mouth
To speak but he shushed me louder
This time and lowered himself into a crouch
And that's when...
554 reads
4 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by JohnVincent (JVD)