Submissions by javalini
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
COLD
born of
icy mud
and sticks
and melded
such that
light and warmth
are holy
and all my prayers
are for fire
and my hunger
for sparks and embers
and my dreams
of desert sand
and rocks too hot to touch
and my want
for someplace warm
that i might pull the heat
from all corners
and wrap myself in it
and my need
for someone to know this icy fate
and hold me anyway
and swaddle me
in arms soft and warm
as morning sun
icy mud
and sticks
and melded
such that
light and warmth
are holy
and all my prayers
are for fire
and my hunger
for sparks and embers
and my dreams
of desert sand
and rocks too hot to touch
and my want
for someplace warm
that i might pull the heat
from all corners
and wrap myself in it
and my need
for someone to know this icy fate
and hold me anyway
and swaddle me
in arms soft and warm
as morning sun
#illness
274 reads
2 Comments
CIRCUS GIRL
practice
is freedom
and grace
and knowledge
deep and true
so that i know my place
exactly --
light as a wren,
balanced here
and later
on shoulders
sturdy as trees
or on hands of wire and hard wood,
an inflexible stage
for a spider's dance
or a one armed
handstand
or a back flip finale --
me, airborne,
spinning,
light as dust
and then,
just as quick,
solid on the ground
and the crowd
will be amazed
is freedom
and grace
and knowledge
deep and true
so that i know my place
exactly --
light as a wren,
balanced here
and later
on shoulders
sturdy as trees
or on hands of wire and hard wood,
an inflexible stage
for a spider's dance
or a one armed
handstand
or a back flip finale --
me, airborne,
spinning,
light as dust
and then,
just as quick,
solid on the ground
and the crowd
will be amazed
#art
289 reads
1 Comment
GOOD OL' DAYS (1970'S RHYME)
the player ate my eight-track tape
this payphone smells like beer
my pinto's in the shop again
i can't get out of here
three channels on the tv
and the broadcast ends at night
some folks can watch in color
but we got just black and white
though sunday is a day of rest
you can't buy beer or wine
you can smoke 'em if you've got 'em, though,
any place or time
viet nam still rages on
then nixon's in the stew
there's riots in old birmingham
and mayhem on the news
but let's hitchhike to silver...
this payphone smells like beer
my pinto's in the shop again
i can't get out of here
three channels on the tv
and the broadcast ends at night
some folks can watch in color
but we got just black and white
though sunday is a day of rest
you can't buy beer or wine
you can smoke 'em if you've got 'em, though,
any place or time
viet nam still rages on
then nixon's in the stew
there's riots in old birmingham
and mayhem on the news
but let's hitchhike to silver...
#memories
#nostalgia
292 reads
5 Comments
VAMPIRE, TRUE
he spread his monstrous seed
like a foul wind
and it landed
here and there
and those he touched spread it
until there was an army of monsters
operating underground
slimy under the skin
and he looked
a thousand years old
when they finally caught him
and put him, disheveled
and wild haired
on the six o'clock news
and she was enraged
and said they ought to
kill him where he stands
and i said
baby, he was likely
infected as a child
and she said
yeah, but ain't no cure
and i knew she was...
like a foul wind
and it landed
here and there
and those he touched spread it
until there was an army of monsters
operating underground
slimy under the skin
and he looked
a thousand years old
when they finally caught him
and put him, disheveled
and wild haired
on the six o'clock news
and she was enraged
and said they ought to
kill him where he stands
and i said
baby, he was likely
infected as a child
and she said
yeah, but ain't no cure
and i knew she was...
#evil
257 reads
4 Comments
LITANY
We who are healers.
Who tolerate.
Who are frail, yet not.
Who are secretly mighty.
Who are fortresses standing against the onslaught.
Who endure.
Who say, "Pile it on," and so are champions of endurance.
Who dream.
Constantly.
Who want.
Always.
Who live in desire.
Who bask in it.
Who wallow in the fire.
Who relish the white heat of obsession.
Who pray.
Who profess our truths and confess our faith and our lack thereof.
Who are alien, yet ordinary.
Who are common as dirt.
Who are plain.
Simple....
Who tolerate.
Who are frail, yet not.
Who are secretly mighty.
Who are fortresses standing against the onslaught.
Who endure.
Who say, "Pile it on," and so are champions of endurance.
Who dream.
Constantly.
Who want.
Always.
Who live in desire.
Who bask in it.
Who wallow in the fire.
Who relish the white heat of obsession.
Who pray.
Who profess our truths and confess our faith and our lack thereof.
Who are alien, yet ordinary.
Who are common as dirt.
Who are plain.
Simple....
#strength
#respect
217 reads
4 Comments
SKY
this sweet
urgency
lifts me
that i might
coast on gusts,
stretched wide
as hawk or gull,
my bones
hollow and
light as air,
my wings
caught and pulled
into this deep
blue current
and all of it
bright and blue
and deep and holy
and the string is pulled
so taut it trembles
and the anchor
drags the
ragged shore
and i think
i might
break free
and tumble
into your warm
blue heaven
right now
urgency
lifts me
that i might
coast on gusts,
stretched wide
as hawk or gull,
my bones
hollow and
light as air,
my wings
caught and pulled
into this deep
blue current
and all of it
bright and blue
and deep and holy
and the string is pulled
so taut it trembles
and the anchor
drags the
ragged shore
and i think
i might
break free
and tumble
into your warm
blue heaven
right now
#spiritual
365 reads
8 Comments
MONSTER
this what
rises out of me
this black ooze
that binds me,
sinks me,
smothers me,
wants me broken,
dead,
forgotten,
wasted,
ruined
this what bends me in the middle
and hollows me
and scrapes me from the inside
and makes me waste my wishes
and my good prayers
and scoffs
and sneers
and puts me out
to wander in its cold
this bully
this monster
rising from a cancer
in my soul,
this bleak thing
that calls itself Truth
and spits
and curses
and...
rises out of me
this black ooze
that binds me,
sinks me,
smothers me,
wants me broken,
dead,
forgotten,
wasted,
ruined
this what bends me in the middle
and hollows me
and scrapes me from the inside
and makes me waste my wishes
and my good prayers
and scoffs
and sneers
and puts me out
to wander in its cold
this bully
this monster
rising from a cancer
in my soul,
this bleak thing
that calls itself Truth
and spits
and curses
and...
#depression
#homelessness
#MentalHealth
409 reads
3 Comments
LEGS
it's the legs
mostly
and then the heels
and then the skirt
and maybe
it's a flaw in the male brain
or maybe not
but what most men see first is the legs
and the high heels
and the way the skirt
is bunched up around those thighs
and yet she's one weary girl
catching the tough breaks
picking the wrong men
and god knows the money's gone
and the rent's past due
and the car's a piece of shit
and the boss is an asshole
and mama's a bitch
and every goddamn body
just wants wants...
mostly
and then the heels
and then the skirt
and maybe
it's a flaw in the male brain
or maybe not
but what most men see first is the legs
and the high heels
and the way the skirt
is bunched up around those thighs
and yet she's one weary girl
catching the tough breaks
picking the wrong men
and god knows the money's gone
and the rent's past due
and the car's a piece of shit
and the boss is an asshole
and mama's a bitch
and every goddamn body
just wants wants...
#women
#men
307 reads
4 Comments
the intimacy of strangers
that young man
in charlotte
who dressed
like madonna
and danced
a glittering pantomime
and the next morning
all of it was in the floor
but some remnants of makeup,
his lipstick a sticky bouquet
smeared across the pillow
and he said
see?
you didn't need all that
and i said, yeah
i guess not
but i knew i did
and outside the sun was an ember
buried in November's chill
and him in jeans and ball cap
and us, cordial as neighbors, nodding,
and there was nothing that...
in charlotte
who dressed
like madonna
and danced
a glittering pantomime
and the next morning
all of it was in the floor
but some remnants of makeup,
his lipstick a sticky bouquet
smeared across the pillow
and he said
see?
you didn't need all that
and i said, yeah
i guess not
but i knew i did
and outside the sun was an ember
buried in November's chill
and him in jeans and ball cap
and us, cordial as neighbors, nodding,
and there was nothing that...
#loneliness
#LGBT
330 reads
5 Comments
IN THE MOTEL BAR
It can be the same with women, I thought.
High heels and low light can make all the difference in the world.
The right coiffure. Some makeup.
A tiny skirt and a shit load of jewelry to add a little flash and sparkle.
A certain feminine effect achieved...how?
Crossing the legs at the knee?
A coy tilt of the head?
"A wiggle in the walk and a giggle in the talk," like the song says?
Of course, we call 'em like we see 'em.
All decked out, he looked like a she, and I wasn't the only one treating him as such.
I was the only one,...
High heels and low light can make all the difference in the world.
The right coiffure. Some makeup.
A tiny skirt and a shit load of jewelry to add a little flash and sparkle.
A certain feminine effect achieved...how?
Crossing the legs at the knee?
A coy tilt of the head?
"A wiggle in the walk and a giggle in the talk," like the song says?
Of course, we call 'em like we see 'em.
All decked out, he looked like a she, and I wasn't the only one treating him as such.
I was the only one,...
#women
#men
#sex #bisexual
#sex #bisexual
220 reads
0 Comments
IDEATION
the earth pulls
from up there
a crazy tug
on the psyche
that warns one
not to lean out so far
unless he really intends
to jump
it's safer in bed,
swaddled in a warm cocoon
of familiar blankets,
the pills resting in their amber nest,
promising euphoria or
a slightly nauseous ride
into the light
(if one can keep them down)
much better than the noose --
bulging eyes
and a swollen tongue
are an ugly finale
and the bullet is least likely --
sinister and...
from up there
a crazy tug
on the psyche
that warns one
not to lean out so far
unless he really intends
to jump
it's safer in bed,
swaddled in a warm cocoon
of familiar blankets,
the pills resting in their amber nest,
promising euphoria or
a slightly nauseous ride
into the light
(if one can keep them down)
much better than the noose --
bulging eyes
and a swollen tongue
are an ugly finale
and the bullet is least likely --
sinister and...
#dark
363 reads
4 Comments
Mångata
she is pulled by the moon
her way traced
like light on water,
her fingers
raking the shore
pulling it deeper
than he can see
even in dreams
and he by the sun
by the hand and the gun
and lays his head on rocks
and makes his bed on nails
and he is born to this
and she to that
and each is only a piece
of a thing
and where, sweet jesus,
is the other piece
of me?
her way traced
like light on water,
her fingers
raking the shore
pulling it deeper
than he can see
even in dreams
and he by the sun
by the hand and the gun
and lays his head on rocks
and makes his bed on nails
and he is born to this
and she to that
and each is only a piece
of a thing
and where, sweet jesus,
is the other piece
of me?
#women
#men
262 reads
2 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by javalini