Submissions by Tallquietguy
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
Can you call yourself a poet if you only write when the muse beckons? Sometimes I feel as if someone else is writing the words & I'm just the one putting them on paper. Schizophrenic or just plain weird?
One More Night
I drink deeply of the silence
Of starry late winter skies
My old friend Orion marches in step
With Gemini and his companions;
A new moon hides behind the dark veil,
leaving distant suns sparkling with rare brilliance.
A teenager I once knew
Yearned painfully to reach those stars;
Eighteen to eighty serves up
A disheartening dose of reality
Year by year, day by day,
Moment by soul-crushing moment.
Yet dreams dead and buried
Slowly but surely give way
To clarity that cuts through the noise
Of...
Of starry late winter skies
My old friend Orion marches in step
With Gemini and his companions;
A new moon hides behind the dark veil,
leaving distant suns sparkling with rare brilliance.
A teenager I once knew
Yearned painfully to reach those stars;
Eighteen to eighty serves up
A disheartening dose of reality
Year by year, day by day,
Moment by soul-crushing moment.
Yet dreams dead and buried
Slowly but surely give way
To clarity that cuts through the noise
Of...
#inspirational
#LifeCycle
#aging
#gratitude
#nostalgia
67 reads
1 Comment
River of Sorrow
All that you have, even all that you are,
Will one day be lost
If not already, 'tis yet to come
Each loss feeds a drop of sorrow
Into the stream that bubbles beneath the surface,
Coloring each day, each moment, in a slightly off-color hue
Until it grows into a raging torrent
That when least expected, bursts through with a stunning eruption of sadness,
Paralyzing the mind, the heart, the will to breathe
There is no escape - to wish it were otherwise
Is to wish to be other than human - ...
Will one day be lost
If not already, 'tis yet to come
Each loss feeds a drop of sorrow
Into the stream that bubbles beneath the surface,
Coloring each day, each moment, in a slightly off-color hue
Until it grows into a raging torrent
That when least expected, bursts through with a stunning eruption of sadness,
Paralyzing the mind, the heart, the will to breathe
There is no escape - to wish it were otherwise
Is to wish to be other than human - ...
#sadness
#vanity
#bittersweet
85 reads
3 Comments
The Dream Master
Dreams insist on destroying my happiness,
tainting the moreorless pleasant flow
of here and now.
Barely have my eyes closed
in blissful repose
Than the dream master opens
his bag of tricks --
Selecting characters, feelings,
and silly situations
To create his comedies and tragedies
and, just as often, dramedies.
They whisk me back to times
and forgotten places
I had assured myself were safely
under lock and key.
Lies & truth and wishes & fears ...
tainting the moreorless pleasant flow
of here and now.
Barely have my eyes closed
in blissful repose
Than the dream master opens
his bag of tricks --
Selecting characters, feelings,
and silly situations
To create his comedies and tragedies
and, just as often, dramedies.
They whisk me back to times
and forgotten places
I had assured myself were safely
under lock and key.
Lies & truth and wishes & fears ...
#sadness
#regret
#forgiveness
#gratitude
#bittersweet
73 reads
1 Comment
Just Another
Just another day .. not worth getting out of bed
Just another day .. not worth not being dead
Just another day .. not worth staying in the game
Just another day ... just another
Just another dream .. blows up in my face
Just another bridge .. collapses in the sea
Just another flame .. fizzles to a whisper
Just another day ... just another
Who am I? Still searching for an answer
Why am I? I haven't got a clue
Why this life? There's got to be an answer
I'm spinning 'round in circles, dis-integrating in my head ...
Just another day .. not worth not being dead
Just another day .. not worth staying in the game
Just another day ... just another
Just another dream .. blows up in my face
Just another bridge .. collapses in the sea
Just another flame .. fizzles to a whisper
Just another day ... just another
Who am I? Still searching for an answer
Why am I? I haven't got a clue
Why this life? There's got to be an answer
I'm spinning 'round in circles, dis-integrating in my head ...
#depression
#loneliness
#frustration
#despair
#emptiness
162 reads
7 Comments
I'm Not Okay, You're Not Okay
I woke up early this morning, laid there talking to myself
Conversing with my demons, they just won't let me rest
I'm frightened of the future, I'm living in the past
Memories drive me to the edge, love tries to bring me back
I'm not okay, you're not okay
We've known that from the start
Don't let it get inside your head
and tear your world apart
I'm not okay, you're not okay
A hazard of this life
It doesn't mean that we can't dream
of a better space and time
I walked outside this morning,...
Conversing with my demons, they just won't let me rest
I'm frightened of the future, I'm living in the past
Memories drive me to the edge, love tries to bring me back
I'm not okay, you're not okay
We've known that from the start
Don't let it get inside your head
and tear your world apart
I'm not okay, you're not okay
A hazard of this life
It doesn't mean that we can't dream
of a better space and time
I walked outside this morning,...
#anxiety
#depression
#MovingOn
#bittersweet
#fear
223 reads
4 Comments
Regret
Do I have the right to feel lonely
when I chose the path I walk?
Do I have the right to be sad,
knowing few will mourn my passing?
Today I joined with others to say goodbye
to a man who showed us what life is for -
to build & nurture a family legacy
of love & joy & peace & hope,
and an immeasurable circle of friends
through which his spirit will flow forever.
I come home to an empty house
with a dawning realization
that breaks through my...
when I chose the path I walk?
Do I have the right to be sad,
knowing few will mourn my passing?
Today I joined with others to say goodbye
to a man who showed us what life is for -
to build & nurture a family legacy
of love & joy & peace & hope,
and an immeasurable circle of friends
through which his spirit will flow forever.
I come home to an empty house
with a dawning realization
that breaks through my...
#sadness
#regret
#loneliness
#redemption
#bittersweet
114 reads
2 Comments
Transition
A lone snowflake glides stealthily
through the late autumn mists,
scouting the barren territory
for the incoming invasion force
It floats to the ground
& fades into its surroundings,
reporting to the commander of the white army --
"the enemy is unaware of its imminent danger"
Additional squads of glittery commandos
leap from their silent aircraft
& link up at the scout's position
as the tension mounts
Suddenly the distant treetops disappear
behind a thick curtain of parachutes;
Wave after wave...
through the late autumn mists,
scouting the barren territory
for the incoming invasion force
It floats to the ground
& fades into its surroundings,
reporting to the commander of the white army --
"the enemy is unaware of its imminent danger"
Additional squads of glittery commandos
leap from their silent aircraft
& link up at the scout's position
as the tension mounts
Suddenly the distant treetops disappear
behind a thick curtain of parachutes;
Wave after wave...
#storm
#winter
#fall
#nature
#LifeCycle
155 reads
0 Comments
Autumn
I love those days when autumn’s dawning,
but with a gentle hand
Jack Frost stands on the sidelines,
awaiting his part in the plan.
Green leaves fade to orange & yellow,
& vibrant fiery red
Starry-eyed lovers stroll hand-in-hand,
harvest moon glows o’erhead.
The north breeze hints at things to come,
rustling softly through the trees
Squirrels stock cupboards with nutty stores,
birds take flight on seasonal journeys.
Dig out the fuzzy sweaters
to stave off the evening’s chill
Dig out the cocoa &...
but with a gentle hand
Jack Frost stands on the sidelines,
awaiting his part in the plan.
Green leaves fade to orange & yellow,
& vibrant fiery red
Starry-eyed lovers stroll hand-in-hand,
harvest moon glows o’erhead.
The north breeze hints at things to come,
rustling softly through the trees
Squirrels stock cupboards with nutty stores,
birds take flight on seasonal journeys.
Dig out the fuzzy sweaters
to stave off the evening’s chill
Dig out the cocoa &...
#fall
#nature
#LifeCycle
140 reads
Olivia N-J (r.i.p.)
And before earth could even protest,
the songbird flew back to heaven,
rising notes of a thousand beautiful melodies
lifting her wings beyond the stars
the songbird flew back to heaven,
rising notes of a thousand beautiful melodies
lifting her wings beyond the stars
#sadness
#grief
#strength
#TimeHeals
#redemption
193 reads
1 Comment
Sunbeams (revised)
Sunbeams play in shades of grey
in dancing shadows on the floor
Mesmerized & hypnotized,
I'm drawn into the show
Dragons' wings & stranger things
morph and sparkle and glow,
waltzing in time to photonic rhythms,
then fade into the void
As Transience writes my story
in disappearing letters & words,
Today's wrenching melodrama
is tomorrow's mouldering paperback,
discarded by the side of the road
My hopes & dreams,
expectations & aspirations
are but dancing shadows in...
in dancing shadows on the floor
Mesmerized & hypnotized,
I'm drawn into the show
Dragons' wings & stranger things
morph and sparkle and glow,
waltzing in time to photonic rhythms,
then fade into the void
As Transience writes my story
in disappearing letters & words,
Today's wrenching melodrama
is tomorrow's mouldering paperback,
discarded by the side of the road
My hopes & dreams,
expectations & aspirations
are but dancing shadows in...
#fate
#TruthOfLife
#LifeCycle
223 reads
1 Comment
Long Ago and Far Away
The hometown looks the same
It's the faces that have changed ... (seems)
Everyone I know has died or gone away
The old house looks the same
but only ghosts remain
in the shadows of the corners of my mind
As I walk beside the memories, I find it hard to breathe
Reliving all those years I've left behind
Long ago and far away
I was young forever and a day
Then time moved on and dreams crumbled into dust
Long ago and far away ...
It's the faces that have changed ... (seems)
Everyone I know has died or gone away
The old house looks the same
but only ghosts remain
in the shadows of the corners of my mind
As I walk beside the memories, I find it hard to breathe
Reliving all those years I've left behind
Long ago and far away
I was young forever and a day
Then time moved on and dreams crumbled into dust
Long ago and far away ...
#sadness
#TimeHeals
#aging
#nostalgia
#bittersweet
279 reads
2 Comments
Are Raindrops Ever Lonely?
Surely raindrops are never lonely,
Being that they always travel with family and friends
Though perhaps they lose their personality
As their droppiness merges
Into a puddle in the grass
Surely raindrops are never sad
One can't imagine they ponder much on
Death and taxes and unjust war
(If there were such thing as a just war)
Though they probably fight to breathe
Being all squished together
In their little puddle in the grass
Do raindrops notice when they're dying? --
When the sun warms the earth
And the...
Being that they always travel with family and friends
Though perhaps they lose their personality
As their droppiness merges
Into a puddle in the grass
Surely raindrops are never sad
One can't imagine they ponder much on
Death and taxes and unjust war
(If there were such thing as a just war)
Though they probably fight to breathe
Being all squished together
In their little puddle in the grass
Do raindrops notice when they're dying? --
When the sun warms the earth
And the...
#rain
#storm
#water
205 reads
2 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by Tallquietguy