Submissions by oTHER_vOICES
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
Rita Mae Brown "Let others live in black and white, YOU must live in Technicolour. Let your readers see τђє blood at τђє heart of τђє ruby."
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
11th Nov 2013 4:29pm
11th Nov 2013 4:29pm
WHERE IS POEM?
WHERE IS THE POEM?
It hides cocooned
inside
waiting to be jettisoned
or ripped out
or slide effortlessly
into being
Naked and ashamed
it will be mine
to name
or leave unnamed
to discard or coddle
as I please
I can expose
its contrived innocence
to other eyes
or hide it in this notebook
forever
a simple and selfish pleasure
(Collage: Butterflies 1 by Carlton)
© Carlton Carr 2013
http://othervoices.blog.co.uk/
It hides cocooned
inside
waiting to be jettisoned
or ripped out
or slide effortlessly
into being
Naked and ashamed
it will be mine
to name
or leave unnamed
to discard or coddle
as I please
I can expose
its contrived innocence
to other eyes
or hide it in this notebook
forever
a simple and selfish pleasure
(Collage: Butterflies 1 by Carlton)
© Carlton Carr 2013
http://othervoices.blog.co.uk/
874 reads
3 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
9th Nov 2013 7:48am
9th Nov 2013 7:48am
THE OEDIPUL SON Chapter Nine: i know this is what you really want
At the all day cinema, when Carlton was thirteen, a stranger of about thirty sat next to him and, during a break in the film, he bought him a coke and began to talk to him. He asked Carlton questions and listened to what he had to say as though his words mattered. Carlton felt as though he’d suddenly woken from a long dream, that he’d become alive, that he was no longer alone in the world, that he was no longer invisible.
The Stranger was smartly dressed but his clothes were slightly wrinkled, as though he’d slept in them. His handsome face was unshaven and he smelt of cigarettes and...
The Stranger was smartly dressed but his clothes were slightly wrinkled, as though he’d slept in them. His handsome face was unshaven and he smelt of cigarettes and...
770 reads
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LOVE POEM
Published
9th Nov 2013 6:29am
9th Nov 2013 6:29am
PLACES OF DANGER
(The Meat Rack, Battery Beach, Durban)
I searched for you
in the faces of strangers
in places of danger
I knelt to mouth
my silent prayers
in supplication
to inaccessible gods
Dogs they were
who once the worshipper was fed
kept the searcher at bay
and fled
leaving me with the bitterness
of their unholy sacrament
But you remained
and grinning from the dark
while the barking of the others
began to fade
you blessed me
with your smile
with the electric touch
of your healing
finger tips
you...
I searched for you
in the faces of strangers
in places of danger
I knelt to mouth
my silent prayers
in supplication
to inaccessible gods
Dogs they were
who once the worshipper was fed
kept the searcher at bay
and fled
leaving me with the bitterness
of their unholy sacrament
But you remained
and grinning from the dark
while the barking of the others
began to fade
you blessed me
with your smile
with the electric touch
of your healing
finger tips
you...
648 reads
2 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
8th Nov 2013 8:11pm
8th Nov 2013 8:11pm
THE OEDIPUL SON Chapter Eight: i’d rather you were dead than a homosexual
In his loneliness Carlton found a friend in Adrian. Adrian was very camp, direct and confrontational and this made Carlton afraid. When the other boys teased him he would lower his head and walk away. Adrian however would scream at them in a frightening falsetto, “Fuck off and die you baby making pussy lovers.” To Carlton’s amazement this seemed to work and while he continued to be harassed daily, Adrian was given a wide birth.
They were both members of the chess club and that was where they became friends when Carlton discovered that they both wrote poetry, found expression for...
They were both members of the chess club and that was where they became friends when Carlton discovered that they both wrote poetry, found expression for...
856 reads
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EROTIC POEM
Published
8th Nov 2013 6:51pm
8th Nov 2013 6:51pm
SOMETHING REAL
Chase my heart
throw stardust in my eyes
tie my hands
deafened to my cries
I’ve tried to hide
disclosing only my disguise
but you’ve surprised me with desire
with fire licking at my eyes
Begin by thrusting thighs
against my tongue
like unshaven cheeks
and clasp my throat
with your strong fingers
sling my hands
with thongs
while songs are screaming
in the voices of satanic singers
String me up and hang my heart
and ride me high inside my soul
unsheathe deep down
the thorns of my desire
and drown...
throw stardust in my eyes
tie my hands
deafened to my cries
I’ve tried to hide
disclosing only my disguise
but you’ve surprised me with desire
with fire licking at my eyes
Begin by thrusting thighs
against my tongue
like unshaven cheeks
and clasp my throat
with your strong fingers
sling my hands
with thongs
while songs are screaming
in the voices of satanic singers
String me up and hang my heart
and ride me high inside my soul
unsheathe deep down
the thorns of my desire
and drown...
986 reads
2 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
8th Nov 2013 9:08am
8th Nov 2013 9:08am
SEVEN
seven seals
seven horsemen
of the apocalypse
war
famine
conquest
death
and the other three
we never see
seven seas
seven seasons
(counting those in between)
i’ve seen seven dreams
and lucky sevens
then there were
seven wonders
seven seconds
of hope
seven wise men
(they always leave out
robert mugabe
george bush
jerry springer
and the pope)
seven deadly sins
that’s where all this
fruitless counting
all begins
i’ve been to seventh heaven
and back again
but my...
seven horsemen
of the apocalypse
war
famine
conquest
death
and the other three
we never see
seven seas
seven seasons
(counting those in between)
i’ve seen seven dreams
and lucky sevens
then there were
seven wonders
seven seconds
of hope
seven wise men
(they always leave out
robert mugabe
george bush
jerry springer
and the pope)
seven deadly sins
that’s where all this
fruitless counting
all begins
i’ve been to seventh heaven
and back again
but my...
602 reads
0 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
8th Nov 2013 6:53am
8th Nov 2013 6:53am
THE OEDIPUL SON Chapter Seven: be sure your sin will find you out
Carlton always knew that he was different and that his difference was dangerous, although he did not have the words to describe what his difference was. He saw that others identified his difference too, from their looks that held hidden meanings, the conversations that went silent when he came too near and the whispers that were never loud enough for him to hear.
When Carlton came across the famous poem by Lord Alfred Douglas (Oscar Wilde’s lover) called ‘Two Loves’, he began to suspect what his difference was, but still this other voice, that came to him across a chasm of more than...
When Carlton came across the famous poem by Lord Alfred Douglas (Oscar Wilde’s lover) called ‘Two Loves’, he began to suspect what his difference was, but still this other voice, that came to him across a chasm of more than...
697 reads
0 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
7th Nov 2013 9:22pm
7th Nov 2013 9:22pm
DAY THAT LOVBEGAN TO DIE
the moment of our first glance
the dance began
that quick shy shifting of your lashes
was when love began to die
nothing that followed
could re-create
your first touch
nothing would smell as sweet
nothing that we did
could duplicate
the wonder of love’s name
when love began to die
now that love is dead
your tender touch
has changed to anger
and everything about you
makes me want to cry
makes me want to curse
inside
if only we could live life in reverse
and avoid the day that love began to...
the dance began
that quick shy shifting of your lashes
was when love began to die
nothing that followed
could re-create
your first touch
nothing would smell as sweet
nothing that we did
could duplicate
the wonder of love’s name
when love began to die
now that love is dead
your tender touch
has changed to anger
and everything about you
makes me want to cry
makes me want to curse
inside
if only we could live life in reverse
and avoid the day that love began to...
679 reads
2 Comments
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
7th Nov 2013 8:33pm
7th Nov 2013 8:33pm
OEDIPUL SON: Chapter Six: there’s no such thing as a happy childhood
When Carlton was thirteen he started to keep a diary. His entries were irregular; he wrote when he was down or, not so often, when he was happy. There were entries that comprised merely of lists; books to read, movies to see, places he’d been to or boring catalogues of his day:
8:00 went to school. 12:00 came home for lunch, Aunt Dee was a little pissed and she bought me a pie from the café. 15.00 came home from school and found Prince waiting for me at the corner. 20:00 read for two hours, going to sleep now.
Carlton was reading Freud, not understanding much but labouring...
8:00 went to school. 12:00 came home for lunch, Aunt Dee was a little pissed and she bought me a pie from the café. 15.00 came home from school and found Prince waiting for me at the corner. 20:00 read for two hours, going to sleep now.
Carlton was reading Freud, not understanding much but labouring...
850 reads
0 Comments
DRUGS POEM
Published
6th Nov 2013 10:06am
6th Nov 2013 10:06am
THE MEANING OF WORDS
I know the meaning
of the word intoxication
I’ve found it in bottles
pill boxes, wrapped in newspaper
and foil
and between the open thighs
of countless strangers
It has soiled my days
anesthetized my dreams
and ruled my restless nights
dumping me time after time
in the ashes
of overwrought dreams
and selfish answered prayers
I search the lexicon of hope
for the meanings of new words;
abstinence
recovery
grace
and serenity
(Mixed Media Collage: The Secret Garden 3 (Detail) by Carlton)
© Carlton...
of the word intoxication
I’ve found it in bottles
pill boxes, wrapped in newspaper
and foil
and between the open thighs
of countless strangers
It has soiled my days
anesthetized my dreams
and ruled my restless nights
dumping me time after time
in the ashes
of overwrought dreams
and selfish answered prayers
I search the lexicon of hope
for the meanings of new words;
abstinence
recovery
grace
and serenity
(Mixed Media Collage: The Secret Garden 3 (Detail) by Carlton)
© Carlton...
872 reads
9 Comments
SPIRITUAL POEM
Published
6th Nov 2013 9:58am
6th Nov 2013 9:58am
NOTES ON AN ABORTED SUICIDE
I cannot live
with the ceaseless sorrow
that surrounds me
the hollowed out hopelessness
the isolation
that my banishment has brought me to
I cannot see a future
with this bond
that ties me to you
these unforgiving shackles
that suspend me
in a world
I don’t belong to
And yet
I cannot die
with all these words inside me
the flights of thoughts
that compel me to believe
that tiny seed of hope
that still clings to
my unlived life
my broken promises
my dead dreams of you
Something holds...
with the ceaseless sorrow
that surrounds me
the hollowed out hopelessness
the isolation
that my banishment has brought me to
I cannot see a future
with this bond
that ties me to you
these unforgiving shackles
that suspend me
in a world
I don’t belong to
And yet
I cannot die
with all these words inside me
the flights of thoughts
that compel me to believe
that tiny seed of hope
that still clings to
my unlived life
my broken promises
my dead dreams of you
Something holds...
734 reads
7 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
4th Nov 2013 9:08pm
4th Nov 2013 9:08pm
STANDING IN DOORWAYS
STANDING IN DOORWAYS
Caught
standing in doorways
years of hesitation
flash by
Suspended between
rooms I knew before
and doors to strange places
hiding on thresholds
holding out for a hand
to lead me through
You caught me
standing in doorways
and patiently waited
just out of sight
to stop me
from falling
(Digital Collage: Standing in Doorways 2 by Carlton)
© Carlton Carr 2013
http://othervoices.blog.co.uk/
Caught
standing in doorways
years of hesitation
flash by
Suspended between
rooms I knew before
and doors to strange places
hiding on thresholds
holding out for a hand
to lead me through
You caught me
standing in doorways
and patiently waited
just out of sight
to stop me
from falling
(Digital Collage: Standing in Doorways 2 by Carlton)
© Carlton Carr 2013
http://othervoices.blog.co.uk/
764 reads
8 Comments
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