Submissions by jswissman
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
SELF POEM
Published
12th Jun 2014 12:54pm
12th Jun 2014 12:54pm
"Everything happens for a reason."
Reasons are self-chosen fictions.
Existence does not conspire against or help us.
We are adrift as captains of our rudderless ships.
What have I to do with reasons?
Rather cast me in the preconceptual ocean of existence
That obliterates all categories, all reasons, all distinctions—
And let me call that home.
Existence does not conspire against or help us.
We are adrift as captains of our rudderless ships.
What have I to do with reasons?
Rather cast me in the preconceptual ocean of existence
That obliterates all categories, all reasons, all distinctions—
And let me call that home.
681 reads
3 Comments
DARK POEM
Published
11th Mar 2014 5:00am
11th Mar 2014 5:00am
When Death Pricked Me
As a child during my first fever did I weep
My first time between wakefulness and sleep
I saw the world but did not perceive myself
Unable to move my body or call for help
My identity was obliterated, my ego dissolved
My first experience of the abyss: completely engulfed
Death pricked me with his boney finger
And the feeling left me not but ever did linger
My first time between wakefulness and sleep
I saw the world but did not perceive myself
Unable to move my body or call for help
My identity was obliterated, my ego dissolved
My first experience of the abyss: completely engulfed
Death pricked me with his boney finger
And the feeling left me not but ever did linger
693 reads
6 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
28th Jan 2014 11:11pm
28th Jan 2014 11:11pm
The Absent Referent
We really have no idea
How powerful apathy is—
How cultivating the silence
Of the absent referent
To ease our consciences
In our lives of luxury
Murders the innocence
Of all our landscapes.
“Behind every meal of meat is an absence: the death of the animal whose place the meat takes. The ‘absent referent’ is that which separates the meat eater from the animal and the animal from the end product. The function of the absent referent is to keep our ‘meat’ separated from any idea that she or he was once an animal, to keep the ‘moo’ or ‘cluck’ or ‘baa’...
How powerful apathy is—
How cultivating the silence
Of the absent referent
To ease our consciences
In our lives of luxury
Murders the innocence
Of all our landscapes.
“Behind every meal of meat is an absence: the death of the animal whose place the meat takes. The ‘absent referent’ is that which separates the meat eater from the animal and the animal from the end product. The function of the absent referent is to keep our ‘meat’ separated from any idea that she or he was once an animal, to keep the ‘moo’ or ‘cluck’ or ‘baa’...
752 reads
8 Comments
UPBEAT INSPIRATIONAL POEM
Published
28th Jan 2014 5:46am
28th Jan 2014 5:46am
Because Our Hearts Are Unfiltered
I share a soul with you
In your darkest place
With no hope
I am there
And you become my greatest source of light
And I yours
In your darkest place
With no hope
I am there
And you become my greatest source of light
And I yours
767 reads
11 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
26th Jan 2014 4:49pm
26th Jan 2014 4:49pm
Clouded Leopard
Paws pacing glass clear
Echo my frustrated waves
Free habitat gone
Echo my frustrated waves
Free habitat gone
641 reads
12 Comments
DARK POEM
Published
26th Jan 2014 2:34am
26th Jan 2014 2:34am
Gone Astray Angel
Gluttony-smeared lipstick
Applied in generous stokes
Across her face by the suit
Less than an hour before....
Glazed junkie eyes try to focus
On the glass frame reflection.
Slumping to her knees,
Can’t find her keys,
Not desperate, doesn’t care
About the danger behind her.
Her black silk bruised silhouette
Is pushed down by a sadistic shoe.
Thomas Jeffersons drift to the floor.
Clutching the green,
She hears the spit.
Disheveled,
She grabs her heels—to the next trick.
Applied in generous stokes
Across her face by the suit
Less than an hour before....
Glazed junkie eyes try to focus
On the glass frame reflection.
Slumping to her knees,
Can’t find her keys,
Not desperate, doesn’t care
About the danger behind her.
Her black silk bruised silhouette
Is pushed down by a sadistic shoe.
Thomas Jeffersons drift to the floor.
Clutching the green,
She hears the spit.
Disheveled,
She grabs her heels—to the next trick.
745 reads
10 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
25th Jan 2014 3:52am
25th Jan 2014 3:52am
Slipping Gears
I’m at war with myself,
And I always have been.
Sometimes there’s a truce,
But it always starts up again.
And I always have been.
Sometimes there’s a truce,
But it always starts up again.
731 reads
12 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
24th Jan 2014 12:18pm
24th Jan 2014 12:18pm
Sometimes
Sometimes I will act
Like I want to get away
From myself
And your touch will not be able to soothe me
But if you wait a little while
The greyness of my face will break into a smile
Like I want to get away
From myself
And your touch will not be able to soothe me
But if you wait a little while
The greyness of my face will break into a smile
772 reads
10 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
21st Jan 2014 4:20pm
21st Jan 2014 4:20pm
Severing my Heart from Itself
I told you before
I cannot save you.
I can offer my love,
Support and gratitude.
But I dream
I was smart enough
Or powerful enough
Or something enough to save you from yourself.
You are so beautiful
Through and through
Lovelier than the moon.
But you cannot see this truth.
Why can’t I peel back that thick layer of self-hatred
And slip a finger directly into your heart?
Why does everything in this world
Have to be so damn hard?
My wants and desires are impotent
In the face of so many painful...
I cannot save you.
I can offer my love,
Support and gratitude.
But I dream
I was smart enough
Or powerful enough
Or something enough to save you from yourself.
You are so beautiful
Through and through
Lovelier than the moon.
But you cannot see this truth.
Why can’t I peel back that thick layer of self-hatred
And slip a finger directly into your heart?
Why does everything in this world
Have to be so damn hard?
My wants and desires are impotent
In the face of so many painful...
690 reads
9 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
21st Jan 2014 4:11pm
21st Jan 2014 4:11pm
Our Last Conversation
I can’t remember what you said last night
I watched your lips while thinking silly thoughts
You were trying to make a serious point
And maybe noticed I wasn’t paying attention
Words on butterfly wings fluttered away
I watched your lips while thinking silly thoughts
You were trying to make a serious point
And maybe noticed I wasn’t paying attention
Words on butterfly wings fluttered away
1087 reads
8 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
21st Jan 2014 2:32am
21st Jan 2014 2:32am
untitled
let me stretch my limbs
and revel in sin
until I’ve drained the cup
and dried my lips
and revel in sin
until I’ve drained the cup
and dried my lips
587 reads
8 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
21st Jan 2014 2:29am
21st Jan 2014 2:29am
Threads and Rules
Listening to a song about threads,
Bedsides and wounds bleeding day and night—
Voice of an angel, purple and gold.
A Christmas carol?
Heartburn.
I’ve bad manners:
Incapable of being polite and insincere,
A defect I’m sure.
But I also pretend I don’t notice every lie.
“Drive asshole!”
I know I’m driving too slowly,
Following the rules too carefully.
But how can I say that?
I’m not even sure what the rules are.
Do I break them or apply them with a vengeance?
Bedsides and wounds bleeding day and night—
Voice of an angel, purple and gold.
A Christmas carol?
Heartburn.
I’ve bad manners:
Incapable of being polite and insincere,
A defect I’m sure.
But I also pretend I don’t notice every lie.
“Drive asshole!”
I know I’m driving too slowly,
Following the rules too carefully.
But how can I say that?
I’m not even sure what the rules are.
Do I break them or apply them with a vengeance?
656 reads
5 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by jswissman
