Submissions by brokentitanium (k.)
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
I'm just a human living my life, and this is where I spill the stuff I can't say out loud. Sometimes the words arrange themselves nicely, and that's pretty cool.
SELF POEM
Published
15th Apr 2024 12:53pm
15th Apr 2024 12:53pm
Butterflies don’t get trapped in spider webs, so I must be something different…
this web of my own choosing
I even helped to build
its supporting structure
has upheld me
and those I love
through countless trials
invisible, sticky strings
of friendship
holding tight
preventing flight
I don’t want to tear the fabric
for those who still belong
but they’re too heavy to take with me
I am afraid to fly
alone.
I don’t know where I’m going
and I am afraid to stay
grounded
lest my wings (soul) dry up
drop off
the path...
I even helped to build
its supporting structure
has upheld me
and those I love
through countless trials
invisible, sticky strings
of friendship
holding tight
preventing flight
I don’t want to tear the fabric
for those who still belong
but they’re too heavy to take with me
I am afraid to fly
alone.
I don’t know where I’m going
and I am afraid to stay
grounded
lest my wings (soul) dry up
drop off
the path...
#SelfReflection
#FeelingLost
#escape
#risk
#NaPoWriMo2024
218 reads
6 Comments
SPIRITUAL POEM
Published
14th Apr 2024 5:40pm
14th Apr 2024 5:40pm
Sunday
We praise you, O God,
our redeemer, creator…”
Almost time to get tidied up
presentable
for the parade of washed and scrubbed souls
lined up in our chairs in the chemo ward
waiting for that weekly infusion of faith
“Not what my hands have done
can save my guilty soul…”
I do want to look like I have my shit together,
at least enough for basic hygiene
forget that an hour before, I was stinking and greasy.
I’ll stand up there and sing
and they’ll imagine me “mature in faith”, ...
our redeemer, creator…”
Almost time to get tidied up
presentable
for the parade of washed and scrubbed souls
lined up in our chairs in the chemo ward
waiting for that weekly infusion of faith
“Not what my hands have done
can save my guilty soul…”
I do want to look like I have my shit together,
at least enough for basic hygiene
forget that an hour before, I was stinking and greasy.
I’ll stand up there and sing
and they’ll imagine me “mature in faith”, ...
#religion
#faith
#music #NaPoWriMo2024
#music #NaPoWriMo2024
227 reads
6 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
13th Apr 2024 8:04pm
13th Apr 2024 8:04pm
To see love win
I cannot change the system from within,
so why stay here, stuck in the status quo?
I know I might not live to see love win.
When frightened minds see human love as sin
and power players change rules as they go,
it’s risky changing systems from within.
I feel the judgement even from my kin,
who say that change is moving far too slow
and don’t have time to wait to see love win.
But change by force will only change the spin,
as new oppressors rise up from below.
To end the cycle, hearts must change within.
...
so why stay here, stuck in the status quo?
I know I might not live to see love win.
When frightened minds see human love as sin
and power players change rules as they go,
it’s risky changing systems from within.
I feel the judgement even from my kin,
who say that change is moving far too slow
and don’t have time to wait to see love win.
But change by force will only change the spin,
as new oppressors rise up from below.
To end the cycle, hearts must change within.
...
#oppression
#politics
#religion
#rebellion
#NaPoWriMo2024
223 reads
8 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
12th Apr 2024 2:09pm
12th Apr 2024 2:09pm
Sister, removed
I wish I had known you better.
I wish I could say I tried.
But I – buried under small bodies
and schedules and needs,
with just enough distance between us to be
inconvenient –
And you – for so long obscured from my view,
with my lifelong tormentor between us --
I just thought we’d have more time.
Eclipsed by his tortured shadow
of bluster and opinions and judgement,
she tossed out colourful sparkles
of beauty and care into our family,
touching us all with a thoughtfulness
much deeper than...
I wish I could say I tried.
But I – buried under small bodies
and schedules and needs,
with just enough distance between us to be
inconvenient –
And you – for so long obscured from my view,
with my lifelong tormentor between us --
I just thought we’d have more time.
Eclipsed by his tortured shadow
of bluster and opinions and judgement,
she tossed out colourful sparkles
of beauty and care into our family,
touching us all with a thoughtfulness
much deeper than...
#family
#shadows
#spiritual
#cancer
#NaPoWriMo2024
194 reads
12 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
11th Apr 2024 1:12pm
11th Apr 2024 1:12pm
Forcing a poem is a little like forcing a fart...
Uh-oh, oh crap, today is gonna be one of those days!
I’ve tried to kickstart poetry in many different ways.
My time is running out now, with obligations looming,
and still there’s nothing written on the page.
I thought I’d write about the pretty sunrise on my walk,
but “blah-blah pink” and “blah-blah birds” – the muse just wouldn’t talk.
I searched the room for hints, but I just see the same old junk.
The vault of inspiration won’t unlock!
I asked my husband for a prompt – that didn’t push me through.
So then I asked my phone for help,...
I’ve tried to kickstart poetry in many different ways.
My time is running out now, with obligations looming,
and still there’s nothing written on the page.
I thought I’d write about the pretty sunrise on my walk,
but “blah-blah pink” and “blah-blah birds” – the muse just wouldn’t talk.
I searched the room for hints, but I just see the same old junk.
The vault of inspiration won’t unlock!
I asked my husband for a prompt – that didn’t push me through.
So then I asked my phone for help,...
#funny
#WritersBlock
#NaPoWriMo2024
163 reads
6 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
10th Apr 2024 9:06pm
10th Apr 2024 9:06pm
Moonlapse
What symptoms are you noticing?” he asks.
And I fumble with words,
trying to shove the frayed thread of them
through the needle’s eye
of all the awkward ways that I am
dissatisfied and
confused and
just generally itchy
in both my psyche and
in parts he can’t comprehend
And clear as day I can read his thoughts
as they float in a massive midair speech bubble:
“please let her mention something
that I can order tests for…”
But there is no test for the way
my soul has stopped fitting in this body, ...
And I fumble with words,
trying to shove the frayed thread of them
through the needle’s eye
of all the awkward ways that I am
dissatisfied and
confused and
just generally itchy
in both my psyche and
in parts he can’t comprehend
And clear as day I can read his thoughts
as they float in a massive midair speech bubble:
“please let her mention something
that I can order tests for…”
But there is no test for the way
my soul has stopped fitting in this body, ...
#women
#frustration
#aging #NaPoWriMo2024
#aging #NaPoWriMo2024
156 reads
6 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
9th Apr 2024 11:50am
9th Apr 2024 11:50am
Some things (and places) are worth the hype
Human-made wonders
can be hit and miss
when it comes to the awe department,
but nature never disappoints.
And human nature,
when at its rare best
can be truly extraordinary.
To see night fall within seconds
under a blazing crown,
and day return just as fast –
truly worthy of all the glory,
and others will write of it
more eloquently than I.
But
to witness it with thousands
who have sat cramped in cars for hours
through towns where “traffic” means
three cars at the...
can be hit and miss
when it comes to the awe department,
but nature never disappoints.
And human nature,
when at its rare best
can be truly extraordinary.
To see night fall within seconds
under a blazing crown,
and day return just as fast –
truly worthy of all the glory,
and others will write of it
more eloquently than I.
But
to witness it with thousands
who have sat cramped in cars for hours
through towns where “traffic” means
three cars at the...
#shadows
#peace
#humankind #NaPoWriMo2024
#humankind #NaPoWriMo2024
166 reads
6 Comments
SPIRITUAL POEM
Published
8th Apr 2024 12:41pm
8th Apr 2024 12:41pm
Waiting on a poem
As I sit
and wait
for God or the muse
or caffeinated brain chemistry
to give me a poem,
I’m noticing a strange reflection on my wall
and resisting the urge to investigate its origins.
Just… watch…
I see the shape of a tree --
strong, bright, curved roots
drawing nourishment of pure sunlight,
into its branches, reaching…
but no, they’re no longer branches now, but ocean waves --
an incessant flow of ups and downs
wrapping around the corner of the wall
into new territory
And over it all, an...
and wait
for God or the muse
or caffeinated brain chemistry
to give me a poem,
I’m noticing a strange reflection on my wall
and resisting the urge to investigate its origins.
Just… watch…
I see the shape of a tree --
strong, bright, curved roots
drawing nourishment of pure sunlight,
into its branches, reaching…
but no, they’re no longer branches now, but ocean waves --
an incessant flow of ups and downs
wrapping around the corner of the wall
into new territory
And over it all, an...
#spiritual
#StreamOfConsciousness
#NaPoWriMo2024
173 reads
6 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
8th Apr 2024 00:23am
8th Apr 2024 00:23am
Maybe you had to die for me to live
Sometimes I worry
that I don’t really miss you as I should.
My daily life was never good
at making space and time for you
(perhaps an unintended legacy
of the independence you encouraged?)
Now that you’re gone from this space and time
the guilt of that failure
has mostly gone with you.
No “when will I see you next?”
or long conversations
at inconvenient times
(oh, how selfish that sounds!)
And though I say I feel grief
what’s often stronger is relief
that I don’t need to filter ...
that I don’t really miss you as I should.
My daily life was never good
at making space and time for you
(perhaps an unintended legacy
of the independence you encouraged?)
Now that you’re gone from this space and time
the guilt of that failure
has mostly gone with you.
No “when will I see you next?”
or long conversations
at inconvenient times
(oh, how selfish that sounds!)
And though I say I feel grief
what’s often stronger is relief
that I don’t need to filter ...
#mother
#father
#identity
#confessional
#NaPoWriMo2024
235 reads
14 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
6th Apr 2024 1:53pm
6th Apr 2024 1:53pm
A story of Mom and me (and you)
Just a girl in the 40s with expansive thoughts,
wearing pigtails and coke-bottle glasses --
they knew she was different; they even ran tests,
but found no diagnosis to label
a girl with a hunger and singular drive
to unpack the whole human condition.
She did it through books, for she wasn’t content
to just live her one given life.
In search of connection, the characters there
were as real as the ones in the flesh.
And though she did marriage, and children, and jobs,
it was story that held her attention.
She studied...
wearing pigtails and coke-bottle glasses --
they knew she was different; they even ran tests,
but found no diagnosis to label
a girl with a hunger and singular drive
to unpack the whole human condition.
She did it through books, for she wasn’t content
to just live her one given life.
In search of connection, the characters there
were as real as the ones in the flesh.
And though she did marriage, and children, and jobs,
it was story that held her attention.
She studied...
#mother
#SelfReflection
#philosophical
#ADHD
#NaPoWriMo2024
205 reads
8 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
5th Apr 2024 12:51pm
5th Apr 2024 12:51pm
On Daisy the dog, whose life was saved by her cuteness
#anxiety
#love
#dogs
#acceptance
#NaPoWriMo2024
308 reads
10 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
4th Apr 2024 12:48pm
4th Apr 2024 12:48pm
Heart to heart
Those little hurts that keep us pushed apart –
it isn’t you that triggers that emotion:
a family heirloom, passed from heart to heart.
The loaded words and silences that smart,
perceived rejection causing such commotion --
old memories that keep us pushed apart.
The monster feelings soaring off the chart,
pulling us deeper in a cold, dark ocean --
an ancient trauma, passed from heart to heart.
When little things make reasoning depart
and distrust spreads through veins like poison potion, ...
it isn’t you that triggers that emotion:
a family heirloom, passed from heart to heart.
The loaded words and silences that smart,
perceived rejection causing such commotion --
old memories that keep us pushed apart.
The monster feelings soaring off the chart,
pulling us deeper in a cold, dark ocean --
an ancient trauma, passed from heart to heart.
When little things make reasoning depart
and distrust spreads through veins like poison potion, ...
#conflict
#friendship
#healing
#PersonalGrowth
#NaPoWriMo2024
284 reads
10 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by brokentitanium (k.)
