Submissions by rowantree
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
they/them/theirs. Polyamorous, proud, patient power. Love and joy and journals and the journey! Which IS the destination.
The Street Sleeps Heavy
I think
all I'll ever really need
is summer air through the window
of that death trap you call a truck.
It was like the half-moon dipped us in blue
and threw us in there for the hell of it.
All I know I'll long for
is wearing nothing but my favorite jacket,
my legs bent while I rest on front-seat leather,
listening to you talk about politics.
All I don't want to live without
is seeing the cherry of your cigarette glow
and watching you breathe smoke
into the sound little night
I would have been proud to call home.
...
all I'll ever really need
is summer air through the window
of that death trap you call a truck.
It was like the half-moon dipped us in blue
and threw us in there for the hell of it.
All I know I'll long for
is wearing nothing but my favorite jacket,
my legs bent while I rest on front-seat leather,
listening to you talk about politics.
All I don't want to live without
is seeing the cherry of your cigarette glow
and watching you breathe smoke
into the sound little night
I would have been proud to call home.
...
712 reads
4 Comments
To Shout at the Sky
Skylight, shake me,
daylight, take me,
rhythm, break and bend;
Seconds, wear me,
minutes, scare me -
hours, tear and blend:
Fear, exalt me,
hear and halt me;
hold me till the end -
kiss me sweetly,
slice me neatly -
leave me here to mend.
daylight, take me,
rhythm, break and bend;
Seconds, wear me,
minutes, scare me -
hours, tear and blend:
Fear, exalt me,
hear and halt me;
hold me till the end -
kiss me sweetly,
slice me neatly -
leave me here to mend.
880 reads
6 Comments
Morning After (song)
You're even gorgeous in your sleep.
Do you dream; do you dream of me?
You like the way I kiss your cheek
just right - I can't wait till tonight and
my hands on ya, my plans for ya;
I'm gonna make it rain sideways baby -
No one around, can't stop us now,
let's slow this down
because we got all night;
our hands are king;
we'll set the heavens alight
while the angels sing
and by the end of tonight
the stone will crumble,
we will dance, the sky will rumble:
I wanna touch you till the...
Do you dream; do you dream of me?
You like the way I kiss your cheek
just right - I can't wait till tonight and
my hands on ya, my plans for ya;
I'm gonna make it rain sideways baby -
No one around, can't stop us now,
let's slow this down
because we got all night;
our hands are king;
we'll set the heavens alight
while the angels sing
and by the end of tonight
the stone will crumble,
we will dance, the sky will rumble:
I wanna touch you till the...
673 reads
2 Comments
White Knuckles
entry for the "get it all out" competition*
~
Every string that wove
me -
every little
knot -
is pulsing
in a pattern -
healthy,
hungry,
filthy,
hot -
the cells in me that think
themselves
so worthy of the
word -
the me, the I; we beg and
rhyme
and
grope
you
through
the
earth.
No want can
change
the miles that
shove
themselves between us
two -
I'd scream to make the sky
shake...
~
Every string that wove
me -
every little
knot -
is pulsing
in a pattern -
healthy,
hungry,
filthy,
hot -
the cells in me that think
themselves
so worthy of the
word -
the me, the I; we beg and
rhyme
and
grope
you
through
the
earth.
No want can
change
the miles that
shove
themselves between us
two -
I'd scream to make the sky
shake...
840 reads
2 Comments
Bueller
(inspired by the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off)
*entry for poem about a movie competition*
~
Carry your youth
as it ends
in the back of the car
with your friends.
You may notice it
wither and die,
give it more
than regret or a sigh -
give it love,
give it freedom and fun,
dodge a bullet
or grab it and run.
He let red through the window
to smash,
turned his father's remains
with a crash -
I rest easy
just knowing he's free,
but that car died
with...
*entry for poem about a movie competition*
~
Carry your youth
as it ends
in the back of the car
with your friends.
You may notice it
wither and die,
give it more
than regret or a sigh -
give it love,
give it freedom and fun,
dodge a bullet
or grab it and run.
He let red through the window
to smash,
turned his father's remains
with a crash -
I rest easy
just knowing he's free,
but that car died
with...
652 reads
2 Comments
I Sent Him to Iceland (song)
Number thirty three
Step forward, please
Let me help you stick the needle in your arm
Here we cake it on
Leave you feeling strong
We pretend to be embarrassed by our scars
She don't notice you
It's just high school
Everybody's got their heads in the ground
In the middle row
My little baritone
I was high on you but now I'm coming down
Mm, baby when
I am done, I'll tell them that
(chorus)
I sent him to Iceland
His lies should keep him cold
The fire I thought I felt is gone
He can come back when he's buried...
Step forward, please
Let me help you stick the needle in your arm
Here we cake it on
Leave you feeling strong
We pretend to be embarrassed by our scars
She don't notice you
It's just high school
Everybody's got their heads in the ground
In the middle row
My little baritone
I was high on you but now I'm coming down
Mm, baby when
I am done, I'll tell them that
(chorus)
I sent him to Iceland
His lies should keep him cold
The fire I thought I felt is gone
He can come back when he's buried...
685 reads
1 Comment
Masks
Entry for "Audio gaga (strikes back)" mask themed comp*
~
People say you cannot tell
behind a face, if darkness dwells -
this I know, for darkness hides
and masks can change a stranger's eyes.
Some are broken, all are grand;
some suggest and some demand
an evening drink or midnight snack,
a flutter or a heart attack -
some have teeth that warn of claws;
some would simply give you pause.
Some are spiced with shades of gray
that hide their words and voice away
in perfect curves and pretty things
and feathers from...
~
People say you cannot tell
behind a face, if darkness dwells -
this I know, for darkness hides
and masks can change a stranger's eyes.
Some are broken, all are grand;
some suggest and some demand
an evening drink or midnight snack,
a flutter or a heart attack -
some have teeth that warn of claws;
some would simply give you pause.
Some are spiced with shades of gray
that hide their words and voice away
in perfect curves and pretty things
and feathers from...
657 reads
2 Comments
Put Me Down (song)
First it was breathing
easy as in, and through
Now you got me seething
Yeah, I care so much my face is blue
So you know what you're doing
I'm just another routine
In the bed, yeah you own me
But in the streets
I ride free
(chorus)
and you don't wanna try to tie me down
Kid, I only like that in the sheets
You got bullets in my head and the blood is brown
Put me down . . .
You can dream . . .
Of holding me
Yeah, I know that you need it
I left you hungry for another taste
but to sit and...
easy as in, and through
Now you got me seething
Yeah, I care so much my face is blue
So you know what you're doing
I'm just another routine
In the bed, yeah you own me
But in the streets
I ride free
(chorus)
and you don't wanna try to tie me down
Kid, I only like that in the sheets
You got bullets in my head and the blood is brown
Put me down . . .
You can dream . . .
Of holding me
Yeah, I know that you need it
I left you hungry for another taste
but to sit and...
886 reads
4 Comments
Forgetting
For one terrifying moment, I forgot
the smell of you.
Just one moment - but enough to make
my mind rewind, my body shake -
I couldn't find your skin in my memory.
For just a heartbeat, I felt dead,
arms pinwheeling over edge -
you aren't good or even great
and wanting you's a big mistake -
and you're in love, and so am I
(or will be, some October night) -
But
mine, as you know already, is a home plate.
I keep my foot there
every day,
but when the ball goes to sleep
I run the bases. ...
the smell of you.
Just one moment - but enough to make
my mind rewind, my body shake -
I couldn't find your skin in my memory.
For just a heartbeat, I felt dead,
arms pinwheeling over edge -
you aren't good or even great
and wanting you's a big mistake -
and you're in love, and so am I
(or will be, some October night) -
But
mine, as you know already, is a home plate.
I keep my foot there
every day,
but when the ball goes to sleep
I run the bases. ...
658 reads
2 Comments
An Open Letter to Lust
Firecracker in my chest,
could I get a moment's rest?
Can't you just ignore his eyes,
the thought of him between my thighs,
the power in the words he speaks,
the coolness of the lips they leave,
the feel of expert teeth on skin,
his fingers where I wish they'd been -
sweat to mix and time to play -
(fingers where I wish they'd stay)
just choke the spark that crawls your fuse,
(the thought of being... being used)
hide it - make it disappear -
(want to feel him bite my ear)
drive for miles, take twenty turns,
(let him...
could I get a moment's rest?
Can't you just ignore his eyes,
the thought of him between my thighs,
the power in the words he speaks,
the coolness of the lips they leave,
the feel of expert teeth on skin,
his fingers where I wish they'd been -
sweat to mix and time to play -
(fingers where I wish they'd stay)
just choke the spark that crawls your fuse,
(the thought of being... being used)
hide it - make it disappear -
(want to feel him bite my ear)
drive for miles, take twenty turns,
(let him...
822 reads
2 Comments
Flat
Entry for Summertime Sadness Competition*
~
You've lost your taste.
Too much of my coffee
or too many breaths
of midnight on the sand;
I'm afraid it's true -
you've simply gone bland.
You've lost your spice.
Once it crackled
under the skin
of my face, but no more;
I'm afraid I may
be getting bored.
I want the kick
that you don't have -
to feel dead-sick,
to step in half -
I'll let you sink
(I'm fine with that)
but I just won't drink
if the love is flat.
~
Age when...
~
You've lost your taste.
Too much of my coffee
or too many breaths
of midnight on the sand;
I'm afraid it's true -
you've simply gone bland.
You've lost your spice.
Once it crackled
under the skin
of my face, but no more;
I'm afraid I may
be getting bored.
I want the kick
that you don't have -
to feel dead-sick,
to step in half -
I'll let you sink
(I'm fine with that)
but I just won't drink
if the love is flat.
~
Age when...
719 reads
3 Comments
Eleanor
Of innocence, my hands were bound,
of solitude, of vice;
the rope gnawed in to shred my skin,
rubbed red with every slice.
But once upon a sparkling dawn
from dungeon deep, I heard
the sound of you, so clear and true,
speak each forgotten word.
My Eleanor, the raven black:
a woman so surreal
that things can seem to be a dream
within her gaze of steel.
She slipped between the iron bars;
a shade did cross my eyes
as Eleanor the dark ignored -
it fell and let her shine.
She held me close, she made me strong,...
of solitude, of vice;
the rope gnawed in to shred my skin,
rubbed red with every slice.
But once upon a sparkling dawn
from dungeon deep, I heard
the sound of you, so clear and true,
speak each forgotten word.
My Eleanor, the raven black:
a woman so surreal
that things can seem to be a dream
within her gaze of steel.
She slipped between the iron bars;
a shade did cross my eyes
as Eleanor the dark ignored -
it fell and let her shine.
She held me close, she made me strong,...
642 reads
1 Comment
DU Poetry : Submissions by rowantree