Poetry in Public 2013 Read online

  To the throne

  Of what used to be

  His kingdom.

  * * * *

  PG P3

  A pleasant chill is in the air,

  Blood-red trees,

  Shedding leaves that crackle underfoot.

  The breeze blows,

  Bringing with it a smell of pine.

  Looking up at the sky,

  Faintly illuminated by the sun,

  It's rays peeking through the graying clouds.

  Sprinkles of rain gently begin to fall,

  Spotting the ground like a Seurat painting,

  The dots glittering like jewels in the streams of sunlight.

  I close my eyes.

  Zeus thunders up above,

  I can hear Poseidon sending waves crashing on the shore.

  I open my eyes to the ocean breeze,

  Salt sprays my face.

  These are my last moments,

  Before I join Hades.

  * * * *

  GH P0

  “Forgetting”

  A bird

  Comes down,

  To grace you 

  With its presence.

  It is the most

  Beautiful gift

  Ever given.

  Glorious.

  Magnificent.

  Brilliant.

  But then,

  It ends.

  The bird

  Takes to

  The sky,

  In a display of

  The utmost freedom.

  Before it leaves,

  A feather.

  A token. 

  Meant to mock you.

  It is a reminder.

  Of something

  Unattainable.

  Because you

  Will never see

  That bird again.

  That one trace,

  Taunts you.

  Forever.

  Before it 

  Fades away.

  Into

  Nothing.

  * * * *

  MH P8

  Art is an alternate universe in my opinion,

  Its colors and images create a surreal world,

  One you might not even imagine exists.

  A lone painting can create so many moods,

  Reflecting the artist’s experience

  Of something that was worth depicting.

  A lion sleeping in a barren savannah

  Sleeping with his brethren

  Keeping warm during a hot summer day

  In Western Africa,

  A picture expressing

  A nature lover’s artistic vision

  All in one photo.

  Maybe he might draw a series,

  Depicting a Panda

  Eating bamboo

  Anything can be expressed

  Through an artistic vision.

  * * * *

  NH P1

  The world is unfair,

  It’s cruel and unexpected,

  We learn for years, and then work ‘til we die,

  We are made fun of and harassed,

  We end up depressed, yet no one listens,

  We cry for help, but it’s almost as if we’re mute,

  No one cares, so why should we,

  If we make the pain go away forever will they care then?

  Too late, you can care at my grave,

  You never listened, but now I’m gone you hear me loud and clear,

  You hear my cries, but now it’s too late,

  I’ll leave you to care at my grave.

  * * * *

  TH P2

  Do not take apart your computer

  You need to store the battery

  Store the energy inside

  Or else it will not work

  The computer is you.

  Do not pull the plug

  The computer needs the plug

  Not only to function

  It needs a companion

  Now I'm speaking to your friend.

  Do not take apart

  Your understanding

  The importance

  The small details in life

  Of what people have done for you

  Will help you

  When you are in need

  Any way around...

  * * * *

  SH P4

  The world would be better without you.

  You are a tornado, a virus, a monster.

  I don’t like you.

  Maybe you don’t like me.

  I don’t care.

  You are an ugly pencil.

  Just a stub,

  Broken tip,

  Used-up eraser.

  You are an ugly chair.

  Uncomfortable,

  Too bright,

  Plastic.

  You are a fake.

  I can’t wait to see the day you put your costume away.

  Dressed as a superhero, you don’t fool me.

  I see your weaknesses.

  I see your flaws.

  I could be your greatest enemy.

  But I’m not.

  One day we might be allies.

  But not now, villain.

  Because I don’t like you.

  Maybe you don’t like me.

  But I don’t care

  Then you’re an unknown factor in my life

  * * * *

  BJ P3

  My black box of joy,

  Full of mystery and intrigue.

  Bringing me times of happiness

  And times anger.

  Hey, Do you remember

  The countless hours

  I’ve spent trying to perfect you?

  I keep trying but I know

  It’s impossible

  Why do I keep trying, you ask

  One simple answer

  I’m addicted

  Spending the money I have

  On things I don’t need,

  The headsets, the new releases

  You’re sucking time,

  From my life.

  I try to give you up,

  But I find myself

  coming back for more.

  The countless hours,

  The time I should have spent

  Studying, all your fault

  the horrible grades.

  But no more

  I shall resist the urge

  You’ve taken away

  so much of my life

  No more

  I’m giving you up for good

  No more, Playstation 3

  * * * *

  ZJ P3

  The black canvas covered the sky,

  The neighborhood seemed abandoned

  She felt as of someone was following her

  She turned around and there he was

  A man with long hair, so black or seemed blue

  His eyes were baggy and as purple as lavender

  She started running away

  She looked back for a second

  He was gone

  She turned back around and

  He was there in front of her

  His arm swung around her neck

  His blade pierced her skin

  The blood dripped out like candle wax

  Her blood was as red as raspberries

  He took his arm off her

  Her body fell to the ground

  He looked at her with hatred and vanished

  * * * *

  SK P1

  On a boat like a boss.

  With the DJ scrambling the beats.

  The guests are bouncing.

  To the beat with the strobe lights flashing.

  The fish swim away from the loud bass.

  That shakes the very ocean.

  The champagne bottles poppin to the beat.

  The music stops to the guests disgust.

  The owner of the party gets to the stage.

  The mink fur coat on his back

  The chains around his neck.

  He whispers something to the DJ and takes over.

  He cracks his fingers smirks and drops the bass.

  As soon as he drops it everyone starts to bounce even higher.

  You could hear the cat calls over the bass.

  The boat went farther and farther into the rising sun.

  All the way the beat keeps on going.

  * * * *

  TK P1

  The world like us has bad days and good days

  One minute its a beautiful day

  Then a sad rainy day

  But the world keeps on spinning

  And thats what we have to do

  Can't let the bad days ruin our lives

  But use those days to help us push forward

  And not make those mistakes again

  * * * *

  AL P1

  “Life”

  A baby is born, and all the world stands still.

  An elder dies and life goes on.

  Huge dragons erupt in the baby’s mind as the brain develops.

  His wife dies and a man is crushed with pain.

  The baby takes a step and is showered with love.

  The man’s life now revolves around sadness and false hope

  The child gets an A for showing up.

  The old man loses his brother.

  The child goes to high school.

  The mans family tries to comfort him.

  The teen has an argument and discovers a fake hatred.

  The old man loses his best friend.

  The adult goes to college.

  The slow realization of death strikes the old man through his heart.

  An adult gets married.

  The coldness in his heart freezes his soul.

  A new baby is born and all the world stands still.

&nbs
p; An old man dies and life goes on.

  * * * *

  RL P8

  “Interrupted”

  Mingling

  with the tumbling waves

  and the drink of the

  ocean,

  a woman floats through,

  with a matted banner

  of fishhooks for

  hair,

  and pearls for eyes.

  Her arms are just tendons and

  seaweed now,

  the flesh was lost to

  the reckless water,

  and her legs have been woven

  with shark teeth

  and octopus tentacles.

  Her body is a landmine

  with starfish and coral,

  and as she floats

  along the surface,

  her body is unfeeling

  but her

  eyes

  are still conscious,

  longing and

  looking.

  Mingling with the tumbling waves

  and the drink of the

  ocean,

  a man floats through,

  with a vicious bunch of

  anemones

  for hair,

  strung out into curls and

  swaying with the

  current.

  His torso has long since

  unfolded.

  Muscles turned into caves for

  Crabs

  and a stomach ballooning with

  water,

  coral blazing like

  scintilla.

  Eyes like the inside of a

  mussel,

  and arms sewn from the ocean floor

  and fishing nets

  rippling with the

  tide.

  His body is an eruption,

  with eels and

  urchins.

  And as he drifts

  among the surface

  his body has withered

  but his eyes

  are alive,

  yearning and

  looking.

  The two

  dauntless people

  found each other,

  mixing in the ocean’s

  bowl.

  Their starfish and eels

  became friends,

  and the corals

  shined brighter

  like an oil slick rainbow.

  And as their bodies

  Pierced

  each other,

  warmth returned

  like the

  migrating birds,

  their faces,

  long overrun by

  algae,

  cracked the surface.

  And they smiled!

  For even just the second,

  they forgot the water,

  the flora and fauna.

  They remembered how to

  Use

  their waterlogged

  lungs.

  And each took a breaththe right

  direction.

  Pearls became the inside

  of the mussel shell,

  and the insides of the mussel shells

  became pearls,

  as they traded eyes,

  and both went blind.

  But they didn’t care.

  They just remembered instead.

  Too fast,

  the current came,

  clutching

  the man from the

  woman,

  and the woman from the

  man.

  Their seaweed untangled,

  and the corals dulled,

  like stars

  blinking out.

  His stomach bloated higher,

  her legs grabbed more seagrass.

  Their mouths

  Opened

  and their blank eyes

  widened

  both felt a

  stabbing in their

  minds and a

  searing on their bodies

  as they were

  wrenched

  apart

  by the unforgiving

  ocean.

  The last they felt

  of each other

  was a slight

  pinch

  of a hand squeezing a hand.

  A finger connecting a

  finger.

  Then both felt nothing,

  the heat was

  wiped away,

  with a numbing,

  wet,

  swipe.

  Both kept on

  drifting.

  Seeing nothing,

  knowing nothing,

  feeling nothing,

  as their bodies

  filled with

  blood.

  A tear escaped

  both eyes,

  only to be lost,

  among the endless

  other

  molecules of the

  sea.

  Just

  left,

  lost in the unforgiving

  churn

  of the

  ocean.

  * * * *

  TL P1

  You might hate her,

  But I might love her.

  We should be happy,

  With what we have.

  We shouldn't be taking her for advantage.

  Killing all her little pets.

  Melting all the ice in her water.

  Bringing many people that weren't invited.

  Were pushing her away slowly, and quietly.

  No one can tell if she will be here tomorrow or not.

  But she can tell us, warning us with her loud cries,

  And rapid tears falling from her face.

  No one can really hear her cry but we all know she is.

  She's trying to help us not hurt us.

  * * * *

  AM P4

  Above.

  That seems to be where you stay, the sun goes dark  when you wish to be in front of it.

  Your tremendous wings make flight look so easy.

  The way you stare upon the earth with your ancient gaze is enough to make any man cringe.

  You are either a symbol of freedom or one of oppression.

  You remind us that the closer we get to you, the higher we get in the sky, like a small man on an old gray mountain the further we have to fall.

  I don’t know whether to think you the stuff of dreams , or a foolish creation of one.

  You look so small, distant in the endless blue above.

  A million miles away it seems, never to come down.

  I’m supposed to believe that you will save me. How do I reach you?

  You can’t acknowledge me from up there.

  The shine of your wings is blinding.

  Nations are roaring.

  The clouds has opened up to a heaven rarely seen!

  The clouds part to a warm sun that shines without shame,

  Wind moves freely taking those clouds with them.

  For you.

  You screech.

  The screech that shake seas,

  Crumbles empires, and moves already peaceful forests

  Seems to be directed to me!

  Yet nothing happens.

  Eagle, your beauty cannot help me up there!

  Let your wings rip clouds to shreds, let them lick the stars.

  But it is of no help to me.

  I feel your burning gaze again scorching the earth below.

  Maybe that is why you stay up there,

  For one as perfect as you Eagle

  Cannot exist in such an imperfect place.

  One so pure as an eagle in flight,

  With no gravity or emotion binding him to what bind us.

  Everyone desires a perfect symbol

  To make themselves feel as if there is one.

  So you stay upstairs, you righteous creature.

  Leaving only a memory of where you once flew,

  And a reminder that you can’t anymore,

  For those,

  Below.

  * * * *

  MM P4

  The world, a giant rainbow sherbet

  Swirled and twisted like a chocolate soufflé

  All of the sweet and sour things

  Like gumballs and crybabies

  That make up the worlds being

  The evil that surrounds it,

  Like black licorice,

  But a little light peeks out

  Like a neon gummy worm

  And for all we know

  It’s never there

  And that’s exactly what

  He wants us to think,

  The world is slowly falling into syrupy goodness

  And there nothing we can do to stop it

  Like a lemon head jaw breaker

  And that’s exactly why I love candy

  Because the dentist is always wrong.

  * * * *

  MM P0

  “Memories”

  The feelings, the feels

  As everything clusters around you

  What was said

  What wasn’t said

  All coming back

  Moving in

  Invading thoughts and memories alike

  What can’t be taken back

  What should never have happened

  What happened

  As everything

  Everything

  Comes forward

  Envelops you

  Devours you

  Leaves you to your worst dreams

  * * * *

  SM P1

  The way she walks seems like it has no purpose,

  No meaning anymore.

  The only words you hear from her is when she ask to leave the room

  She has her a future you can see, but her head
down low with no hope.

  Everyone knew her as the one to be jolly, and friendly,