Submissions by javalini
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
POETRY IN MOTION
man lookit
how she wore them dresses
kicked them shoes off
and legs high
like the sound just took her
and that skirt wrapped tight
this way
then that
and it's like she was floatin',
like she might fly on out
and we all wondered how god done that
made that
set that loose somehow
then sent that music
to shake them perfect bones
and breasts
and fine long legs --
and then she'd be laughin',
all dewy and breathless
and hips swayin'
and every inch of her
pullin' eyes,
an' everybody lookin'...
how she wore them dresses
kicked them shoes off
and legs high
like the sound just took her
and that skirt wrapped tight
this way
then that
and it's like she was floatin',
like she might fly on out
and we all wondered how god done that
made that
set that loose somehow
then sent that music
to shake them perfect bones
and breasts
and fine long legs --
and then she'd be laughin',
all dewy and breathless
and hips swayin'
and every inch of her
pullin' eyes,
an' everybody lookin'...
#women
#beauty
#dance
440 reads
12 Comments
COVID BLUES
covid
she don't give a damn
who she touch
with evil hand
or where she lay
or what she break
as long as she got
hers to take
nestled sweet
in fleshy lair
a lover gone
for lack of air
but covid
she just move along
and pick another
from the throng
for lovers ain't
that gal's concern
covid don't care
who she burn
or who she break
with evil hand
'cause covid,
she don't give a damn
she don't give a damn
who she touch
with evil hand
or where she lay
or what she break
as long as she got
hers to take
nestled sweet
in fleshy lair
a lover gone
for lack of air
but covid
she just move along
and pick another
from the throng
for lovers ain't
that gal's concern
covid don't care
who she burn
or who she break
with evil hand
'cause covid,
she don't give a damn
#pandemic
364 reads
14 Comments
HYMN TO A WILD GOD
wake me up
you wild old king
that we might meld
and slip these chains
and take to claw
or fin or wing
blend wild night
with chastened soul
and stifled heart
and set them bold
for time is fleet
and i am gray
and it's wild wine
i crave today
my minutes sold
for silver laid
on comfort's hearth,
a foolish trade --
for i ignored
your moonlit calls
and hid my heart
behind these walls
but your wild heart
in marrow thrives
and by moonlight
is caused to rive ...
you wild old king
that we might meld
and slip these chains
and take to claw
or fin or wing
blend wild night
with chastened soul
and stifled heart
and set them bold
for time is fleet
and i am gray
and it's wild wine
i crave today
my minutes sold
for silver laid
on comfort's hearth,
a foolish trade --
for i ignored
your moonlit calls
and hid my heart
behind these walls
but your wild heart
in marrow thrives
and by moonlight
is caused to rive ...
#freedom
#escape
517 reads
6 Comments
BB GUN
set out pots to catch the leaks
money's gone until next week
baby's room is hot as hell
fill the sink to get him chill
beans and cornbread
powdered moo
Peanut butter
Kool-aid, too
poor weren't never all that bad
hand-me-downs just make me sad
ricky's big ol' jeans ain't cool
fight them bullies after school
mom, i want a BB gun
shoot their butts and make 'em run
money's gone until next week
baby's room is hot as hell
fill the sink to get him chill
beans and cornbread
powdered moo
Peanut butter
Kool-aid, too
poor weren't never all that bad
hand-me-downs just make me sad
ricky's big ol' jeans ain't cool
fight them bullies after school
mom, i want a BB gun
shoot their butts and make 'em run
#GwendolynBrooks
487 reads
9 Comments
SPARED
my disease was loneliness
bubbling up from
a chasm tucked under the ribs
a skeletal soul
repugnant
draped across the wire
as though waiting for redemption
still, the angels
did their best for me
circling my boat
keeping me anchored
praying the gods to blow their storms
to distant places
where harder faces bore their wrath,
fought the good fight
and took their losses
mike and phillip
luke and lisa
all broken by circumstance
ruined or dead...
bubbling up from
a chasm tucked under the ribs
a skeletal soul
repugnant
draped across the wire
as though waiting for redemption
still, the angels
did their best for me
circling my boat
keeping me anchored
praying the gods to blow their storms
to distant places
where harder faces bore their wrath,
fought the good fight
and took their losses
mike and phillip
luke and lisa
all broken by circumstance
ruined or dead...
#OceanVuong
521 reads
13 Comments
LOVE AND DEATH
do you wonder
how you came to own
these frail
and weathered bones,
this gnarled and knotted heart
and all i was born to be
and bear?
my meager truths
aren't worth speaking,
these chronicles of a war with time
i was born to lose
though a gallant soldier
broken good as any now,
gray and sick and worried
about who will carry you
and who will make your peace
when i'm boxed and buried
and all my little gifts
are gone as me
how you came to own
these frail
and weathered bones,
this gnarled and knotted heart
and all i was born to be
and bear?
my meager truths
aren't worth speaking,
these chronicles of a war with time
i was born to lose
though a gallant soldier
broken good as any now,
gray and sick and worried
about who will carry you
and who will make your peace
when i'm boxed and buried
and all my little gifts
are gone as me
#death
#illness
#love
300 reads
4 Comments
SHACKLED
his soul
was a shiny plate in his
childish imagination
and every lie
a stain
and every secret
a blackish smudge upon it,
indelible
despite the promises
and incantations
and poor ol' bloody jesus
with his mournful eye
and thorny heart
and goddamn, lord,
there weren't no hiding
in your garden,
no sneaking past
your knowing
and he was just a boy,
undeserving
of the taint of sin
he carried 'till
the day he died
was a shiny plate in his
childish imagination
and every lie
a stain
and every secret
a blackish smudge upon it,
indelible
despite the promises
and incantations
and poor ol' bloody jesus
with his mournful eye
and thorny heart
and goddamn, lord,
there weren't no hiding
in your garden,
no sneaking past
your knowing
and he was just a boy,
undeserving
of the taint of sin
he carried 'till
the day he died
#religion
358 reads
4 Comments
COLOR LINES
it stuck in her craw,
that shit --
them actin'
as though white skin
was a ticket
to some
fancy banquet
where the livin'
was easy
and the money
flowed
and nobody
struggled
or was singled out
or shot
or arrested
and, shit,
she'd never owned
a slave,
never lynched
a soul,
didn't owe
nobody nothin'
and maybe if
they weren't so arrogant,
so goddamned demanding
'cause wasn't any
tearing up
or tearing down
going to change
anybody's
mind
that shit --
them actin'
as though white skin
was a ticket
to some
fancy banquet
where the livin'
was easy
and the money
flowed
and nobody
struggled
or was singled out
or shot
or arrested
and, shit,
she'd never owned
a slave,
never lynched
a soul,
didn't owe
nobody nothin'
and maybe if
they weren't so arrogant,
so goddamned demanding
'cause wasn't any
tearing up
or tearing down
going to change
anybody's
mind
#identity
#culture
387 reads
3 Comments
TREASURES
she was full of lies and secrets
and all the half truths that keep us
on the right track
there were tears, a few stories,
but most everyone who truly loved her
had gone before,
paving the way to nowhere
leaving every stone unturned
as the grass rooted in the red earth
her treasures flew like wrens,
scattered,
nesting in corners,
waiting for the next go 'round
and all the half truths that keep us
on the right track
there were tears, a few stories,
but most everyone who truly loved her
had gone before,
paving the way to nowhere
leaving every stone unturned
as the grass rooted in the red earth
her treasures flew like wrens,
scattered,
nesting in corners,
waiting for the next go 'round
#death
496 reads
12 Comments
KNOT
the tangle was a knot
she couldn't untie
though in her dreams
her fingers worked
until they ached
and she prayed
the clock would stop --
not stop
as that might mean death
but freeze
for a just a minute
while she worked
the knot
but the seconds
rolled on
as though with conviction
relentless,
determined
to do her in
she couldn't untie
though in her dreams
her fingers worked
until they ached
and she prayed
the clock would stop --
not stop
as that might mean death
but freeze
for a just a minute
while she worked
the knot
but the seconds
rolled on
as though with conviction
relentless,
determined
to do her in
#anxiety
295 reads
8 Comments
REPTILIA
the death roll is the worst of it
that, and waking in pieces
with no way to slap at the mosquitoes
she doesn't care and only knows
what the body wants --
some for now and some for later
she suns herself, her pale belly full
and warm against the damp sand,
guiltless, letting the river lull
tasting satisfaction
that, and waking in pieces
with no way to slap at the mosquitoes
she doesn't care and only knows
what the body wants --
some for now and some for later
she suns herself, her pale belly full
and warm against the damp sand,
guiltless, letting the river lull
tasting satisfaction
#relationships
337 reads
4 Comments
DROUGHT
when i thought poetry
finally died
it coughed a bit
and then just sighed
and then i saw
its spirit rise
like vapor
in this heated lull
to hang in droplets
on the skull
those bones as gray
and thick as cloud
and lightening, bright
and thunder, loud
and then its words
upon my pain
medicinal
as summer rain
finally died
it coughed a bit
and then just sighed
and then i saw
its spirit rise
like vapor
in this heated lull
to hang in droplets
on the skull
those bones as gray
and thick as cloud
and lightening, bright
and thunder, loud
and then its words
upon my pain
medicinal
as summer rain
#WritersBlock
#WritingPoetry
342 reads
8 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by javalini