Submissions by javalini
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
A POEM ABOUT MIND FULLNESS
ain't no quiet in here, mama
'cause this monkey don't sleep
and there ain't enough wisdom
in the whole buddha-wise world of dog eared books
to reign that rank beast in
and so there ain't no quiet jasmine scented peace
like what i wished for
'til i learn to hear past it
and that ain't no kinhin in the park
(that's a joke)
like i got these clouds rollin'
thick and ominous
as the ocean from whence they sprung
rumblin' rat grey and troubling this anxious mind
and a worried sailor takes to the bridge ...
'cause this monkey don't sleep
and there ain't enough wisdom
in the whole buddha-wise world of dog eared books
to reign that rank beast in
and so there ain't no quiet jasmine scented peace
like what i wished for
'til i learn to hear past it
and that ain't no kinhin in the park
(that's a joke)
like i got these clouds rollin'
thick and ominous
as the ocean from whence they sprung
rumblin' rat grey and troubling this anxious mind
and a worried sailor takes to the bridge ...
#Buddhist
#funny
#myself
313 reads
6 Comments
LOVE COMES AFTER FIRE
love comes after fire, baby,
and tests the mind
and holds the heart
like a tight fist
and makes one look
for sparks among the embers
love is a kind blanket
in the wake of passion
and a kind eye
to what one didn't see
and couldn't know
love carries and holds
and gives and takes
in equal measure,
a truce that binds
one's heart to mind
and mind to eye
love is the prize
and the price
too high for many
and tests the mind
and holds the heart
like a tight fist
and makes one look
for sparks among the embers
love is a kind blanket
in the wake of passion
and a kind eye
to what one didn't see
and couldn't know
love carries and holds
and gives and takes
in equal measure,
a truce that binds
one's heart to mind
and mind to eye
love is the prize
and the price
too high for many
#love
343 reads
8 Comments
OPEN BOOK (Melancholia With a Side of Anxiety: The Breakfast of Champions)
i've always just pulled it out of bed
no matter how dark it got
and dragged it through the day
regardless of how beat down
and miserable i was
because that's what i was taught a man does
it's as though being broken inside
is some sort of sin against
the gods of masculinity --
a sign of unforgivable weakness --
because a man doesn't whine or coddle himself
but carries his own weight and walks the pain off
and does what he's got to do
and that, my friend, is that
and so some of us self medicate...
no matter how dark it got
and dragged it through the day
regardless of how beat down
and miserable i was
because that's what i was taught a man does
it's as though being broken inside
is some sort of sin against
the gods of masculinity --
a sign of unforgivable weakness --
because a man doesn't whine or coddle himself
but carries his own weight and walks the pain off
and does what he's got to do
and that, my friend, is that
and so some of us self medicate...
#LifeStruggles
#MentalHealth
#humankind #masculinity
#humankind #masculinity
406 reads
THE LIVING END (for Jim Morrison)
i am the mortal
half brother
of gods
i am the horn,
the wing,
the drum,
and the lyre
blessed and cursed
holy and profane
i am a stranger
to these uneven streets
free and not free,
here but gone
before the light fades
and the pages turn yellow
and youth's fresh beauty
goes sour
i am wisdom
and folly,
a spark fading
in the damp chill
of Charleville,
doting on my
beloved's bones,
then following
my shadow
through the...
half brother
of gods
i am the horn,
the wing,
the drum,
and the lyre
blessed and cursed
holy and profane
i am a stranger
to these uneven streets
free and not free,
here but gone
before the light fades
and the pages turn yellow
and youth's fresh beauty
goes sour
i am wisdom
and folly,
a spark fading
in the damp chill
of Charleville,
doting on my
beloved's bones,
then following
my shadow
through the...
#memorial
363 reads
2 Comments
POEM FOR DAN'L
wishin' i could
write like dan'l
dan'l write,
it come out jazz
i seen words
what coo and wail
an' be some
holy poem
whereas
oft
my words
is cold and stifled
overcooked
and dry as sand
all that shit
be stoked and stoking
once i learn
to write like dan
'cause dan'l, he
improvisation
words what
roll
and
jump
and sing
in once
unknown
association,
pruned
and punned
them words
got swing
an' dan,
he spill ...
write like dan'l
dan'l write,
it come out jazz
i seen words
what coo and wail
an' be some
holy poem
whereas
oft
my words
is cold and stifled
overcooked
and dry as sand
all that shit
be stoked and stoking
once i learn
to write like dan
'cause dan'l, he
improvisation
words what
roll
and
jump
and sing
in once
unknown
association,
pruned
and punned
them words
got swing
an' dan,
he spill ...
#WritingPoetry
#respect
374 reads
4 Comments
THE GREENEST GOD
my god is green
as them hills
though i ain't
been up that high
and ain't likely goin'
and couldn't afford it
even if i had time
though i work work work
all the live long day
and all the live long night as well
my green god
got pockets so deep
my tendons
'bout to pop
and i still can't grab
me enough of him
to keep the lights on
and the baby fed
and gas in the car
but i keep on truckin'
like a trooper
like the good man i am
'cause a good man
works works...
as them hills
though i ain't
been up that high
and ain't likely goin'
and couldn't afford it
even if i had time
though i work work work
all the live long day
and all the live long night as well
my green god
got pockets so deep
my tendons
'bout to pop
and i still can't grab
me enough of him
to keep the lights on
and the baby fed
and gas in the car
but i keep on truckin'
like a trooper
like the good man i am
'cause a good man
works works...
#money
#funny
#philosophical
408 reads
2 Comments
EXACTLY WHAT I WANT
i am jealous of genius.
there.
i said it.
i yearn for what isn't there --
that holy spark
that two plus two
that concoction of syllables
that drops like sweat
from the forehead
and becomes a novena
a mantra
a spark or incantation
so that mind is hindrance
and soul
becomes translator
and
goddamn
it touches me
somehow
and
how,
how,
HOW
does she do that?
where
does it come from?
those words
set loose
rolling...
there.
i said it.
i yearn for what isn't there --
that holy spark
that two plus two
that concoction of syllables
that drops like sweat
from the forehead
and becomes a novena
a mantra
a spark or incantation
so that mind is hindrance
and soul
becomes translator
and
goddamn
it touches me
somehow
and
how,
how,
HOW
does she do that?
where
does it come from?
those words
set loose
rolling...
#WritingPoetry
464 reads
13 Comments
TRUTH
the truth,
though flexible,
seems fixed
one wonders how
it does such tricks
and bends itself
to suit the mind
yet calls itself
the bottom line
a fact
these days
is not one thing
but any song
you want to sing
or any color
you might choose
to change the truth's
natural hues
for truth that once was
black and white
is made these days
of bits and bytes
and thus is easily
refined
to suit a certain
reader's mind
and any fact ...
though flexible,
seems fixed
one wonders how
it does such tricks
and bends itself
to suit the mind
yet calls itself
the bottom line
a fact
these days
is not one thing
but any song
you want to sing
or any color
you might choose
to change the truth's
natural hues
for truth that once was
black and white
is made these days
of bits and bytes
and thus is easily
refined
to suit a certain
reader's mind
and any fact ...
#manipulation
#deception
549 reads
6 Comments
MOURNING IN AMERICA
one wonders who will pay for the crimes of those
who stole her dignity
and mocked her prowess
and denigrated and diminished her
and twisted her truth
and raped and broke her
and left her bleeding in the marble halls of congress
(five dead, one hundred forty injured)
who, fearful and quaking
and blinded by their lust for power,
sold their souls
and embraced the monster
and acquitted him
and put him on the pedestal
and genuflected
and beat their breasts
and called themselves righteous for it
and thus sealed her...
who stole her dignity
and mocked her prowess
and denigrated and diminished her
and twisted her truth
and raped and broke her
and left her bleeding in the marble halls of congress
(five dead, one hundred forty injured)
who, fearful and quaking
and blinded by their lust for power,
sold their souls
and embraced the monster
and acquitted him
and put him on the pedestal
and genuflected
and beat their breasts
and called themselves righteous for it
and thus sealed her...
#politics
534 reads
2 Comments
FAST FOOD
You flip burgers. That's how you make your living now.
You, with your twenty hours shy of a degree in Psychology.
Your 3.6 GPA. Your $35,000 student loan debt.
Your pride.
Your ambition.
There was a time when high school kids did this job. Now it’s you. Big ol’ balding, fat bellied you.
Big, stupid you.
The man who for some reason, at thirty years of age, just can’t figure it out.
How he got stuck here, in this job.
Or how he lost his wife.
And his kids.
And his...
You, with your twenty hours shy of a degree in Psychology.
Your 3.6 GPA. Your $35,000 student loan debt.
Your pride.
Your ambition.
There was a time when high school kids did this job. Now it’s you. Big ol’ balding, fat bellied you.
Big, stupid you.
The man who for some reason, at thirty years of age, just can’t figure it out.
How he got stuck here, in this job.
Or how he lost his wife.
And his kids.
And his...
#sadness
#rejection
#breakup
661 reads
8 Comments
THINGS WE MISSED
the best was always hidden,
incognito,
stealing in
amid the chaos,
mingling in the mayhem,
waiting
to be noticed
the greener grass lay
just beyond the constructs we held despite ourselves --
foundations built
of the rants and lamentations
of our tired parents,
overworked and weary,
desperate and jealous of our youth,
they never realized
that the stripes they laid
across our bony backs
would be the truth
we lugged into the world --
stupid
and lazy
and too goddamned sensitive ...
incognito,
stealing in
amid the chaos,
mingling in the mayhem,
waiting
to be noticed
the greener grass lay
just beyond the constructs we held despite ourselves --
foundations built
of the rants and lamentations
of our tired parents,
overworked and weary,
desperate and jealous of our youth,
they never realized
that the stripes they laid
across our bony backs
would be the truth
we lugged into the world --
stupid
and lazy
and too goddamned sensitive ...
#SelfReflection
397 reads
4 Comments
GRIEVANCES
the dead gathered
for a meeting
in conference room A
the silence
was deafening
there seemed
much to complain about
but nobody said a word
there was some
angst related to
a general lack of respect
bad feelings
about recent
policy changes
cut backs
and
pay cuts
the lack of qualified staff
impossible quotas
outright lies
and double talk
still
the dead
just lay there
until the bosses left
then that shit ...
for a meeting
in conference room A
the silence
was deafening
there seemed
much to complain about
but nobody said a word
there was some
angst related to
a general lack of respect
bad feelings
about recent
policy changes
cut backs
and
pay cuts
the lack of qualified staff
impossible quotas
outright lies
and double talk
still
the dead
just lay there
until the bosses left
then that shit ...
#culture
248 reads
0 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by javalini