Submissions by javalini
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
I AM A BOOK
i am this book now
dusty, the cover worn,
the binding cracked,
the pages yellowed, loose,
and brittle
and certain phrases
heard or uttered in moments
of anger, fear, or despair underlined
and key moments, bright and dark,
highlighted on dogeared pages
with notes in the margins
made, it seems, by someone i once was
i am this ancient vinyl disc,
a relic from a day made brighter in retrospect,
smudged and scratched from careless use
and though i hear the music clear
through the clicks and...
dusty, the cover worn,
the binding cracked,
the pages yellowed, loose,
and brittle
and certain phrases
heard or uttered in moments
of anger, fear, or despair underlined
and key moments, bright and dark,
highlighted on dogeared pages
with notes in the margins
made, it seems, by someone i once was
i am this ancient vinyl disc,
a relic from a day made brighter in retrospect,
smudged and scratched from careless use
and though i hear the music clear
through the clicks and...
#aging
103 reads
4 Comments
WISHES AND PRAYERS
wishes are prayers
and i pray all the time -
beseeching gods
and angels,
interrupting
their leisure,
wanting
nagging
all my prayers are secret
and i wonder
if they transform my
meager virtue
into lies --
is my love a lie?
my commitment?
the promises i keep?
is it a lie to live
as though i have no secrets,
to keep some cards hidden,
to look my lover in the eye
and pretend satisfaction?
because i am a clandestine
master of yearning, ...
and i pray all the time -
beseeching gods
and angels,
interrupting
their leisure,
wanting
nagging
all my prayers are secret
and i wonder
if they transform my
meager virtue
into lies --
is my love a lie?
my commitment?
the promises i keep?
is it a lie to live
as though i have no secrets,
to keep some cards hidden,
to look my lover in the eye
and pretend satisfaction?
because i am a clandestine
master of yearning, ...
#SelfReflection
75 reads
4 Comments
SOUTHERN PRIMITIVE
alexander,
that boy,
he's talented
in ways
i can't even
comprehend --
builds a thing
to perfection,
each piece
cut precisely
and snugged against
the other
to make
a harmonious
polished
perfect
whole
and, i swear,
sometimes
i just wish,
but deep down
i love what's mine,
all the freewheelin'
make shift
hodgepodge
crazy
junked up
recycled
upcycled
brainstormed
make do
half assed
full fledged
bullshit...
that boy,
he's talented
in ways
i can't even
comprehend --
builds a thing
to perfection,
each piece
cut precisely
and snugged against
the other
to make
a harmonious
polished
perfect
whole
and, i swear,
sometimes
i just wish,
but deep down
i love what's mine,
all the freewheelin'
make shift
hodgepodge
crazy
junked up
recycled
upcycled
brainstormed
make do
half assed
full fledged
bullshit...
#SelfReflection
109 reads
6 Comments
ORDINARY HOLY
what is god
rests here,
in ordinary
dirt,
in scrub oak
and laurel
and old
makeshift
shed,
unmoved
by ego,
deaf
to fear
and desire
it waits not
for priest
or poet
but is free
as wind
and open
as this
blue sky
rests here,
in ordinary
dirt,
in scrub oak
and laurel
and old
makeshift
shed,
unmoved
by ego,
deaf
to fear
and desire
it waits not
for priest
or poet
but is free
as wind
and open
as this
blue sky
#spiritual
76 reads
4 Comments
CHERYL GOT A CAKE
it is odd
to want
a thing
and not want
it --
to want
to be invited
but always prefer
book and blanket
to boxed wine
and small talk
to desire the camaraderie
of like minded people
but consistently choose
the TV instead
to want to be
the center
but then
yearn for
the sidelines
all the years
spent working
in those drab halls
and hardly
a nod goodbye --
just the night supervisor
who smiled
when i turned in ...
to want
a thing
and not want
it --
to want
to be invited
but always prefer
book and blanket
to boxed wine
and small talk
to desire the camaraderie
of like minded people
but consistently choose
the TV instead
to want to be
the center
but then
yearn for
the sidelines
all the years
spent working
in those drab halls
and hardly
a nod goodbye --
just the night supervisor
who smiled
when i turned in ...
#LifeStruggles
81 reads
4 Comments
GREY
i am light as wind
sometimes,
empty,
my bones hollow,
my skin
like that of an onion
translucent
almost a whisper
i admit
there is regret
and i wonder
if everybody has it
or just people
like me
they said it would be
enough
to have tried,
but i don't think so
sometimes,
empty,
my bones hollow,
my skin
like that of an onion
translucent
almost a whisper
i admit
there is regret
and i wonder
if everybody has it
or just people
like me
they said it would be
enough
to have tried,
but i don't think so
#regret
99 reads
6 Comments
HOLES
there are holes
big as fists
where the wind whistles
through
what am i
supposed to do with that?
in summer
Ra holds me
like a baby,
rocks me in his
silver arms
and i am
his mirror,
glowing
like a god,
holy
as jesus,
swaddled
in warmth
i am orphaned
in winter,
lonely for heat,
that bitch's
grey lips
like frost on
my bones,
sucking at
the marrow
big as fists
where the wind whistles
through
what am i
supposed to do with that?
in summer
Ra holds me
like a baby,
rocks me in his
silver arms
and i am
his mirror,
glowing
like a god,
holy
as jesus,
swaddled
in warmth
i am orphaned
in winter,
lonely for heat,
that bitch's
grey lips
like frost on
my bones,
sucking at
the marrow
#winter
78 reads
5 Comments
A POET'S LAMENT
i have no secrets left
everything has been surrendered -- it was all mundane and of little interest to anyone
all my catastrophes -- the hair loss, the unrequited affections, etc. -- were apparently flashes in the pan of an ordinary life,
worthy of a sympathetic nod or a little reassurance
or maybe some half-assed advice from a stranger eating a stale doughnut in a church basement
all my addictions were easily overcome
my proclivities were banal -- i said banal -- with a "b"
all my sins were venial -- the priest sighed
and i said...
everything has been surrendered -- it was all mundane and of little interest to anyone
all my catastrophes -- the hair loss, the unrequited affections, etc. -- were apparently flashes in the pan of an ordinary life,
worthy of a sympathetic nod or a little reassurance
or maybe some half-assed advice from a stranger eating a stale doughnut in a church basement
all my addictions were easily overcome
my proclivities were banal -- i said banal -- with a "b"
all my sins were venial -- the priest sighed
and i said...
#parody
#satirical
109 reads
2 Comments
DOG
ordinary
as me, this one--
part one thing
and another,
saved
from ruin
and still
aching
for love,
always
waiting,
wanting
there is
nobility
in mongrel blood,
a hybrid
soul
behind eyes
deep
as sky
but brown
as earth
things
said
but not spoken
a heart
designed
to love
as me, this one--
part one thing
and another,
saved
from ruin
and still
aching
for love,
always
waiting,
wanting
there is
nobility
in mongrel blood,
a hybrid
soul
behind eyes
deep
as sky
but brown
as earth
things
said
but not spoken
a heart
designed
to love
#love
#dogs
101 reads
8 Comments
SUMMER DREAM
dreamed of
long days
under the light
of heaven,
my silver star
burning
and every
bead
of sweat
was holy
in summer heat
wings sprouted
from the blades
of my back
and i was
part angel
but still
weighted
by bone
and blood,
too heavy
for flight
though all my
prayers
were vapor
rising,
finding their way
in winter's grey
there is no such luck
long days
under the light
of heaven,
my silver star
burning
and every
bead
of sweat
was holy
in summer heat
wings sprouted
from the blades
of my back
and i was
part angel
but still
weighted
by bone
and blood,
too heavy
for flight
though all my
prayers
were vapor
rising,
finding their way
in winter's grey
there is no such luck
#dreams
#summer
#spiritual #happiness
#spiritual #happiness
74 reads
3 Comments
BRIGHT MORNING PRAYER
i am a devotee
of the star king
Ra,
touched
by silver hands
and swallowed by
heat
and light
i am healed
delivered
sanctified
saved
and resurrected
in the glory His bright
and holy day
amen
of the star king
Ra,
touched
by silver hands
and swallowed by
heat
and light
i am healed
delivered
sanctified
saved
and resurrected
in the glory His bright
and holy day
amen
#happiness
#sun
#summer #pagan
#summer #pagan
85 reads
4 Comments
THIS AND THAT
i am neither
one thing
or another
and never was
and never will
be only this
or just that
but am each
in its ragged
time,
selves
dwelling in this
familiar cloak
of flesh,
an endless
rush
of tides
rising,
falling,
subservient
to sun
and moon
and devil
and god,
breaking
now
on this
rocky shore
one thing
or another
and never was
and never will
be only this
or just that
but am each
in its ragged
time,
selves
dwelling in this
familiar cloak
of flesh,
an endless
rush
of tides
rising,
falling,
subservient
to sun
and moon
and devil
and god,
breaking
now
on this
rocky shore
#identity
67 reads
2 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by javalini