Annie resides to the right, below the last rib,a carefully crafted forttucked under my diaphragm, gall bladder just beneath. She peeks between the foldsglimpsing toward thefleshy foundation that keeps herfrom tumbling into the organelle abyss. Annie’s always afraid, molding nervy clumps fromher tangled fears, then lobs them hightoward the gray sky, her worried masses land squarelywithin my neuron weave – and she celebrates. She will be heard today. Without a tantrum-tesseract elevatoredto the misconstrued mainframe or rocks ricocheted off my aortic valve. I say, “I’m here, what do you want to say, Annie?” Annie sits crisscross applesauce onmy pelvic floor, etching her initials into pubic bone. She picks at a scab, and whispers, “I’m nervous.” I say, “I promise, I know what I am doing, and I thank you for being cautious.You help me.” A string appears, tied to her finger, a bobbing balloon aboveinflated and lofty with compassion. Annie stops engraving;hopscotches across my iliac crest, realizing it’s high time to find a new
poem
The Last Hour in Town
Night storm was in townTenderness in eye and wandering in thoughtA cup of coffee in a shaky handLooked out the window;The clouds covered the bright starsDark trees were swaying in the windCreated humans’ faces in the pastWhile the rainwater slid slowly on its glassDrawing past places inside its frameLike a scattered picture of the road to south;A hazy road in the summer dayA few minutes remained to goThe dawn was waited in a placeOld books and souvenirs left on the groundSome I remember and others noSmall bag in a hand, no for more By Khalid Alshamrani, ©2020 Return to Poetry Gallery
Boundless
Mounding mustard faith.A tiny start; bigger end.A bloom, drops, becomes.
Cost of Paradise
visions of birdsin colorsof elementaryparachutespectrum time and all itsperceivedvariablesevaporateinto man-madememory
Eternal
Do not fear the music stoppingFor life is an eternal orchestraThe greatest musicianAnd when you close your eyesIt is the pauseBefore the next masterpiece By Sol, ©2020 Return to Poetry Gallery
Forever
A woman named foreversat on the porchwatching her children play. Each one was more beautiful than the last. Friend was water,the majesty of seasons,sheafs of wheat,stomachs bound with truth. Lover was gold beneath the abyss,eye of newt in clouds,flattened rage, and shiverin a single thunderbolt. Child, and her depth,her boundless hour,had no name. Forever felt a pang of regret.All threeso much like their father,destined to run. But on this dayno more than the sound oftires in the driveway,and the childrenran inside to greet him. The heart of foreverstill swoonedinto thelightthe herothe soulthe nothingnessthe god of god of god. By Bracelet, ©2020See more of Bracelet’s Poetry here. Return to Poetry Gallery
preta
younger than mesweeter than I could ever be what is more lonesomethan the youththat drags its own wings through the dirt?what else would I have done? I’ve watched hope springtime and time againcling its moist rootsto arid land somehow as infertile a wild;some auspice offeredto skin softer than mine what I’d lostbefore they’d begun to gainbucks buried in the halogenof the world ahead and what small sorrow it crows for yetlike a father’s shaking handsbefore I knew what trembling was or what such a shaken man begets or life along the highway lineanother cry carried on the airthreatened like road-wandering swinea frightened feral what is more uncaringthan childhood fancy –what is more forgetful of me? how abrupt has it beenand then to end in collisionflame spiraling, firing off its hot spittle –the youngest of the few never quite young enough By toukakouka, ©2020See more of toukakouka’s Poetry here. Return to Poetry Gallery
Why I Always Carry Tissues
To My Children: I’m laughing at myself,As I am prone to do becauseWhy I Always Carry TissuesIs the title of a poemI write for you. There is a story here,Of parenting, and responsibiltiesThat transcends yourself, defines me,Vis-a-vis you,then and there, and maybe now. When you were small,I took you by the hand,The cement canyons, trails & riversof West Eighty Six Street,Together, we would ford. Periodically, as Fathers are prone to do,Your hand, from my hand,I would releaseSo you could fall down,All on your own. It bemused me that I could seeThree or four paces ahead of theeExactly which crack,Upon which you would trip,And come crying back to me. Back-to-me.That was then.And now,Yes, no more,Back-to-me. But I always had tissuesto dry your eyesAnd no surprise,I still do,Always will. These days, they,more likely used to dry mine,As I have forded that Styxy river,When crossed, you spend more of the day,Liking Back more,Then looking ahead. No matter, by right and tradition,It is still
what is mine?
what is mine?my name–a collection of soundsborn from someoneelse’s mouth,vocal manipulation–how is it mine? hands like clouds–forms of vapor,visibleandintangible–are they mine? this flesh bagof organs and bone–born from someoneelse’s cells,its cells willdie, it will die,and the i that i thinki am–the mind madefrom memories–will also die, and the soundthat i thinki amcalled by willnever be uttered–is it mine? By Bina Perino, ©2020See Bina Perino’s Instagram, here. Return to Poetry Gallery
A Winged Thing
Be with mein all of my intricacies.A stripped,bare bones woman.Standing, shivering.Moaning as deepas the windas it sings its eternal,howling song.Living humblyon and onas the ancientworld goes round.It is difficult to keephuman feet on the ground.Goes against instinctto ascend, release. Freedom is some sortof winged thing.Some sort of untamed,urge-driven beastthat never even thinksto see itself.It cannot conceptualizeanything else,but the momentthat lies out before it.It knows no torment.No tortureof seconds and hours —iron hands that ticktheir meaningless powerupon even the mostmeaningful of lives.Limiting and frighteningour physical mindsinto rejectingtheir very own flesh. In the past, I wretchedupon such fears at night.Turned to the solaceof other realmsthat I beheldbehind my eyes.So desperately,endlesslydid I consciously tryto keep both feethere upon the earth —feeling the rough dustdeep within my lungsas I learned to cherishthe human hurts.I tried to ignorethe seductive, siren callof those ageless,tenacious depthsthat would ultimatelyprove falsemy mortal pretendingthat there truly isa death. Yet I will alwaysfeel and sensethat limitless,winged thing —gliding utterly freein all
Fire In Her Eyes
An old man in blue suspendersgazed down at his wifewho had just slipped awayin this hospital Her last breath was takenat 2152, documented by doc’s writingwhat started with chest painended in this dimly lit room The old man looked up at megravity pulled a tear to his shoeI blinked, the room began to spin The old manin blue suspendersthen calmly said, “As I look down at her wrinkled faceand thin lips,I can vividly remember the dayour friendship began Her eyes were full of lifeher red lips plump,her smile made my heartbrew emotions that wouldn’t pass We talked about these thingsthat made life seem so right She was my best friend. Now here lies her peaceful facewashed away and paledeath has finally taken heras it will me But those moments,those moments of lifethe bliss and her youthlive on immortally she’s still there in my mindthat young girl,with fire in her eyes.” By IrieSide, ©2020 Return to Poetry Gallery
