Anti-bullying: When words hurt

you hurt me a long time ago
with careless jokes & cruel taunts 
       your mouth a gun
       your fists, bullets to my face 

night was my only friend
& fear silenced my tongue
       your arm a sword
       your words, impaling my chest

it took me a long time
to look at myself in mirror & smile again 
       your mouth a gun
       your fists, bullets to my face

invisible scars they remain 
fears I'll always fight to the last of my days 
       your arm a sword
       your words, impaling my chest 

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub- OpenLinkNight - In support of Anti-bullying Awareness, October 2013 ~  Thanks for the visit ~

I have not experienced bullying but my children have.  My two boys in their primary school fought outside the school premises in their uniforms.  Good thing they were fearless fighters because the  "bullies" never bothered them again.   I only knew of these incidents afterwards.  So I am now proactive with my youngest, a 14 year daughter.  She is to tell us if anyone intimidates or teases her in school or in social media.    

Picture credit: here

Beware of the Thing

Everyone points their fingers at 
Me
When there's no culprit to find
Me
When there's no excuse to rig
Me  
When there's no reason to tarry behind 
Me
Cleaning up the mess & cobwebs
Me
Wiping away woes & magical spells gone kaput 
Me
Scaring away house guests nobody wants
Me
Spooking postmen & little girls selling cookies
Me
Witch tales, moon-struck poems, who will listen 
Me
If you need somebody to pat your shoulders
Me
Or write a sweet letter to your Lady Love 
Me
Or rescue you out of box or clutches of homicidal maniac  
(Not me)
Tap & I'll climb out, parts incomplete, but family to  
You

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Poetics: Lighter side of ghouls & goblins 
Happy weekend ~

Picture credit:   here

A promissory note, pinned on the mirror

Kylli Sparre via Colossal

Darkness lifts from your shoulders
          for once, imagine standing by sea

Soulful as wind rushes
          your ears in a stampede of energy & verve

Extending your hands, you float 
          like lilies on pond, free of tangles & dead weights

Call the night now
         and see yourself, a key turning

In a singular fluid motion
         the water darkens with velocity 

Spine bending to sky  
         you say, take these seeds

Black & curdled with fear     
         & throw them away to tides & gulls

Moon rises from the sea depths 
         resplendent orange, full of light

Shining your face, earnest & ardent 
        inhale salt beds & sun-ripe meadows 

Everywhere you turn is luck 
        & love rooting & ripening, like it has never left -    
   



Posted for OpenLinkNight of D'verse Poets Pub - Join us every Tuesday at 3 pm EST ~

Deep sleep

Mendenhall Ice Caves, Juneau, Alaska

the color
of my sky, deep velvet blue

here the river
gravitates towards its womb:  a cave

carved out
of wind & mountain of solid ice

my hands 
touch the arctic stones, glazed-cobalt walls     

but there's 
no sensation, nothing burns nor sears

the memories 
no awakening but   

silence, haven
suspended time

perhaps
this is my salvation


Posted for Imaginary Garden for Real Toads - Hannah's Challenge - Haunted & Hungry
and Flash Fiction Friday - for the G-man - Happy Friday ~

call the night

Kylli Sparre via Colossal

the night comes faster
    faster than my blinking eyes
eyes that hold secrets
    secrets black as crows,  cry

cry to be broken free
    free as sky hued in grey 
grey bristles with energy, spark
    spark the bare lonely tree & i sway

sway where the wind calls
   calls forth my words
words: crimson birthing, raw 
   raw as full moon rising, fleeing like birds 



Posted for Imaginary Garden for Real Toads -  Loop Poetry - where I am hosting, smiles ~
The form calls for repeating the last word of the first line & using it as the first word for the second line & so forth ~ Rhyming is optional, though I have used abcb rhyming scheme.
Shared with Poets United

for Dave

Grace @ Everyday Amazing

a red leaf falls 

soft as sunset, i read back

 your words, lingering bright on my pages

~0~0~

you gifted me 

187 comments for the last 2 years

thank you ~

"the Goddess in the garden":
Lovely splash of all that summer should be.
~0~0~
 
"What i remind myself at night":

Full of good things, a most compelling poem. My favourite couplet:

"The sun hides behind the ruffled clouds.
And mustard walls, penciled with industrial carpet."

Superb!
~0~0~


"What the sign said: Pennies are ok!":
their drug & eden (lost) -- Brilliant, but the poem had me as a fan long before that!
~ 0~0~ 

 "at night, unboxed":
I see this as a tender portrait of someone coping well with the rat race,
~0~0~

"Beneath the skin":
Beautifully handled. Exquisite.
~0~0~
 
"Gemini":
The third stanza is a real humdinger. Lights up the whole poem.
~0~0~

"Violet blooms":
Somewhat above the general run of such poems. Lovely thoughts and lines.
~0~0~

"A prelude":
Which leaves us all agog for the main event -- which is exactly what it should do.
~0~0~

"m(a)ystery of the woman":
Yes, witch to queen, a new plot so far as I'm concerned. Powerful in itself and powerfully portrayed here. Excellent.

~0~0~
These are just some of the comments I have received from Dave from both of my blogs. His first comment to me was June 27, 2011.  

"I do believe you have prompted me to visit the dentist for a much put-off job - and that's no small achievement, so congrats! " 

Shared with D'verse Poets Pub - For David King, who has passed away last Oct. 4, 2013.  

Skyfishing

Artist:  Catrin Welz-stein

I call in 
not going to work today,
I'm going fishing instead


To where the sky opens 
Blue, clear & opulent
I hook the worms
Lilies are blooming feathers    
I cast the rod 
Wind blasts a million jellyfish  
I stoop, tugging extra string 

I catch 
a man wearing a business suit
& clouds 
laugh along with me

Posted for: Imaginary Garden for Real Toads - Writing from the point of view of the animal & place -  Hosted by Peggy ~

and Flash Fiction Friday for the G-man  - 55 words ~ 
Thanks for the visit ~

Forever bicycles

Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square

3,144 bicycles by Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei 

Photo credit: Kanwar Sandhu

this 
is what our sky looks:   

tower of wheels, frames & gears

stacked in stainless steel & metallic paint

the smell of gas, smog & paved roads

fanning our cheeks with humid 
air 

this 
is how our city stands:

leaning forward, eyes on fast turn

of cars across super highway, one foot pressed

on gas pedal racing against the clock- by grid-

 lock, we crowd, an indistinguishable 
face-

this 
is what we have become:

mechanically pounding city streets

chasing another sale or dollar, cycle/in/cycle 

we say we're lucky we got a job but who's 

minding rice fields, fish ponds &  
forest?

sun - 
a slit behind grey clouds,

is off-center, less king in our eyes

perhaps a dying star, but we're busy taking shots of bicycles- 

no handlebars nor seats, an art statement  

or a silent protest:  is this 
progress? 

Posted for:   D'verse poets pub - OpenLinkNight - Happy Tuesday to all ~

In the kitchen where it all started & ended

Coconut pumpkin soup

it is not his words solely

but the way he spits them to her face - 

hiss of the blade, sharp upper cut 

that makes her cringe like a

disemboweled rotting pumpkin - 

scalp torn open, carved bleak

candles all melted inside-




she slowly stirs the pot 

kitchen is messy of peelings, 

seeds & sweet golden pears 

& rich coconut cream-

she once was like this  - cream

puffed, silver-glass slippered girl,

riding a carriage made out of pumpkins-

now, she feels trapped under a lantern's

ghostly smile & empty 

   


of autumn's colors,

she scoops red chili paste

slowly staining the yellow puree    

hiding the tears crawling down her chin   

like ants, crimson as her hands

breaking into leaves,

soundless, the arc of a falling knife 



Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Talking about pumpkins and/or issues - Happy Saturday ~

Beautiful darkness

Grace @ EverydayAmazing

shiver -

the wind passes 

cold as blue moon, sharply

weaving the night to beautiful 

darkness 

i lay

vulnerable -

frayed & wind-tattered, i 

should be afraid of what's coming 

instead   

silence -

a crescendo

of heartbeats & gulls cries

engulfs me in peace, beautiful 

(amidst) chaos

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - I used titles of my teen daughter's books ~

And Flash Fiction Friday for G-man (55 shivering words) : 

We walked briskly, under shivering light of the blue moon.  Where once we were proud as eagles soaring near the sun, we now move like angels in the beautiful darkness.   Perhaps its the silence, a crescendo of heart beats we're seeking, but beautiful is what we find amidst the chaos of the city's underground ruins.