Submissions by TheBuggiest
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
I mostly write little self-indulgent things when I'm in the right kinda mood (lots of free-verse/I-made-this-structure-up metaphor type stuff). It's nice, but my real passion is storytelling.
Lost in Paradise: 1-1
12-31-33
How did I convince myself that recording my feelings on paper wasn’t an idiotic idea? Besides the risk, pouring my soul out to a fictional ‘dear diary’ seems such a childish indulgence, especially for an Authority like myself. That's what it comes down to after all, doesn't it? The higher the caste, the greater the responsibility, the higher the standards to which one must hold one's self.
That's what they would have us believe anyways, because of course it's not automatically better to be in power. Naturally we get nicer accommodations and credit allowances because...
How did I convince myself that recording my feelings on paper wasn’t an idiotic idea? Besides the risk, pouring my soul out to a fictional ‘dear diary’ seems such a childish indulgence, especially for an Authority like myself. That's what it comes down to after all, doesn't it? The higher the caste, the greater the responsibility, the higher the standards to which one must hold one's self.
That's what they would have us believe anyways, because of course it's not automatically better to be in power. Naturally we get nicer accommodations and credit allowances because...
526 reads
0 Comments
Done
I was angry before.
It mounted in me as the foundations were shaken
The benthic depths of being
Lurched at the faultline
Raw red-hot reaction bubbled forth
No longer small enough to be quenched by the cool tides of rationalization
Casting the cardinal glow suppressed for too long
On ugly toothy faces of truth wriggling and grinning at me
Truth in a situation masked by your words
YOUR words.
Because YOUR words were what mattered
YOUR feelings had to be catered to
YOU and YOUR expectations
YOUR standards
Of what I needed to be.
...
It mounted in me as the foundations were shaken
The benthic depths of being
Lurched at the faultline
Raw red-hot reaction bubbled forth
No longer small enough to be quenched by the cool tides of rationalization
Casting the cardinal glow suppressed for too long
On ugly toothy faces of truth wriggling and grinning at me
Truth in a situation masked by your words
YOUR words.
Because YOUR words were what mattered
YOUR feelings had to be catered to
YOU and YOUR expectations
YOUR standards
Of what I needed to be.
...
578 reads
0 Comments
Cardiovascular Incision
I am the surgeon, and here is my knife;
let's open you up, see what's causing your strife.
(Please don't regret trusting me with your life.)
Oh I am the surgeon, and here is my table.
Climb up and I'll help you to heal, if I'm able.
(Don't mind if my hands are a little unstable.)
Sure I'm a surgeon, see, look at my tools!
But the people who ask me for help are all fools.
(They should teach more about heart surgery in schools.)
let's open you up, see what's causing your strife.
(Please don't regret trusting me with your life.)
Oh I am the surgeon, and here is my table.
Climb up and I'll help you to heal, if I'm able.
(Don't mind if my hands are a little unstable.)
Sure I'm a surgeon, see, look at my tools!
But the people who ask me for help are all fools.
(They should teach more about heart surgery in schools.)
506 reads
2 Comments
Dawn
Red was always the color of my horizon.
I don't know when I started looking at the ground
Or when I forgot to breathe,
But I'm gasping now;
Lungfuls of sharp pain and beautiful air.
Finally it's not a fact to be filed away,
Finally the abstractions have solidified into experience,
And all I can say is thank you
For reminding me that I am alive.
I don't know when I started looking at the ground
Or when I forgot to breathe,
But I'm gasping now;
Lungfuls of sharp pain and beautiful air.
Finally it's not a fact to be filed away,
Finally the abstractions have solidified into experience,
And all I can say is thank you
For reminding me that I am alive.
465 reads
0 Comments
Speak
Each word is a stone
that I rolled up the hill
just for it to roll back on
me.
Each word is a gap
in the wall of silence
for flaming arrows to come
through.
Each word is a trap
set up in front of me
so I can step in it and
squirm.
I wish it didn't
feel like that all the time;
would losing my tongue be so
bad?
Bad...
leave me a pen and we'll see
if I can be stronger;
I wish I didn't
squirm
each time I open my mouth
knowing I'll soon regret
trying to talk things
through...
that I rolled up the hill
just for it to roll back on
me.
Each word is a gap
in the wall of silence
for flaming arrows to come
through.
Each word is a trap
set up in front of me
so I can step in it and
squirm.
I wish it didn't
feel like that all the time;
would losing my tongue be so
bad?
Bad...
leave me a pen and we'll see
if I can be stronger;
I wish I didn't
squirm
each time I open my mouth
knowing I'll soon regret
trying to talk things
through...
476 reads
0 Comments
Something to Do
My hands are restless and the rest of me follows
My list is getting shorter, and I am getting anxious
A distraction, the next distraction please,
I'm getting uncomfortably close to thinking
About the overflow at work
And the throbbing in my temple
And the bumper on my car
And the letter I got yesterday
Which brought up mounting insecurities
Except they were there already
Oh Discomfort on Discomforts!
The people who can't be there always
And my poor lisping stammering tongue
And the way everything tends to die
And people lose their...
My list is getting shorter, and I am getting anxious
A distraction, the next distraction please,
I'm getting uncomfortably close to thinking
About the overflow at work
And the throbbing in my temple
And the bumper on my car
And the letter I got yesterday
Which brought up mounting insecurities
Except they were there already
Oh Discomfort on Discomforts!
The people who can't be there always
And my poor lisping stammering tongue
And the way everything tends to die
And people lose their...
508 reads
2 Comments
Porcelain
Two glassy eyes and a painted-on smile,
Delicate veneer over 'feminine wiles'.
Maybe it's sincere, and then maybe it's not;
Not like it matters much to me, see, I'm caught
Between a Victorian tea set and an old priceless vase.
It's incredible I made it this far into this place
With its shelves of pottery, its trinkets, its dolls,
Stacked up to the ceiling, piles lean against the walls.
I just wasn't MADE for precarious navigation,
Treading softly in the hopes of avoiding agitation
Of these old leaning pillars of brittle sentiment and glass.
Dust...
Delicate veneer over 'feminine wiles'.
Maybe it's sincere, and then maybe it's not;
Not like it matters much to me, see, I'm caught
Between a Victorian tea set and an old priceless vase.
It's incredible I made it this far into this place
With its shelves of pottery, its trinkets, its dolls,
Stacked up to the ceiling, piles lean against the walls.
I just wasn't MADE for precarious navigation,
Treading softly in the hopes of avoiding agitation
Of these old leaning pillars of brittle sentiment and glass.
Dust...
586 reads
2 Comments
Scavenging
Sometimes I think about vultures
Gliding on the heat pushed out by a storm
Taking apart the broken with indecent relish
Wheeling down from heaven to examine roadkill
There are truths found in their wings
Perspective, and opportunity, and guiltlessness
Descent and humility
Freedom
There are so many weights that cling to the skin
Oh, that we could shake them off like water droplets
And find ourselves winged
And find ourselves flying
And find ourselves realizing
How unnecessary it is
When we are all bedraggled and drowning...
Gliding on the heat pushed out by a storm
Taking apart the broken with indecent relish
Wheeling down from heaven to examine roadkill
There are truths found in their wings
Perspective, and opportunity, and guiltlessness
Descent and humility
Freedom
There are so many weights that cling to the skin
Oh, that we could shake them off like water droplets
And find ourselves winged
And find ourselves flying
And find ourselves realizing
How unnecessary it is
When we are all bedraggled and drowning...
489 reads
0 Comments
The Rules of Window Shopping
It doesn't matter how much or how little you have
So long as you've got eyes, you can window shop.
You just stick your hands in your pockets, put on a pleasant smile
And stroll past the store fronts at your leisure.
It is imperative to stay focused on your objective,
To keep from longing or jealousy:
Admire the colors and textures and features, that's fine;
You can even discuss these with the other window shoppers,
But in your mind do remember the impracticalities
And how silly it is to spend resources without any real need.
The employees will try to...
So long as you've got eyes, you can window shop.
You just stick your hands in your pockets, put on a pleasant smile
And stroll past the store fronts at your leisure.
It is imperative to stay focused on your objective,
To keep from longing or jealousy:
Admire the colors and textures and features, that's fine;
You can even discuss these with the other window shoppers,
But in your mind do remember the impracticalities
And how silly it is to spend resources without any real need.
The employees will try to...
541 reads
0 Comments
Common Thread
That's it folks, we've finally done it:
we've discovered the link in the great web of chains,
that one little thing that holds us all together
under humanity's banner.
We've found the creed that links each one to a neighbor,
to a brother, a sister, a stranger half way around the world.
So get up on a table,
on your soapbox,
on your mountaintop,
and scream the creed we all cling to,
scream it out for all to hear:
"EVERYONE BUT ME IS THE PROBLEM."
we've discovered the link in the great web of chains,
that one little thing that holds us all together
under humanity's banner.
We've found the creed that links each one to a neighbor,
to a brother, a sister, a stranger half way around the world.
So get up on a table,
on your soapbox,
on your mountaintop,
and scream the creed we all cling to,
scream it out for all to hear:
"EVERYONE BUT ME IS THE PROBLEM."
537 reads
0 Comments
There's always someone worse
There's always a deeper hole than yours
even if you think it's black as pitch and you're drowning in it, well
you've never even SEEN pitch, you can't understand
how bad everyone else in the world has it
There's always a taller precipice you could be dangling from
gravity may pull us each the same but
ten thousand feet is ten times worse than one thousand
so don't you say anything about the fraying rope, it's indecent
There's always a bigger beast stalking someone else
fine a barking dog can be scary
just not compared to tigers and crocodiles...
even if you think it's black as pitch and you're drowning in it, well
you've never even SEEN pitch, you can't understand
how bad everyone else in the world has it
There's always a taller precipice you could be dangling from
gravity may pull us each the same but
ten thousand feet is ten times worse than one thousand
so don't you say anything about the fraying rope, it's indecent
There's always a bigger beast stalking someone else
fine a barking dog can be scary
just not compared to tigers and crocodiles...
489 reads
0 Comments
Running on fumes
It's a long and winding road we're on, paved by God's own hand
No skid marks marring the virgin asphalt
Or gravel
Or just dirt sometimes, marked with potholes
Sometimes you've got to go your own way, and I understand
It's easier to navigate the holes for you
And to dodge the deer you don't see til it's almost too late
I know it, I've felt it, I've driven alone and needed that time
But these old tires are getting pretty flat
My battery's running low, the AC's dying
So when you're ready buddy
I'll be waiting for you at the next station
No skid marks marring the virgin asphalt
Or gravel
Or just dirt sometimes, marked with potholes
Sometimes you've got to go your own way, and I understand
It's easier to navigate the holes for you
And to dodge the deer you don't see til it's almost too late
I know it, I've felt it, I've driven alone and needed that time
But these old tires are getting pretty flat
My battery's running low, the AC's dying
So when you're ready buddy
I'll be waiting for you at the next station
491 reads
0 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by TheBuggiest