Disambiguation

Funny

how evolution works

moments slip past

mostly unobserved

but for a handful of sunrises

clever utterings of children

unforgiven slights

and random indignities

held closer than successes

Quipping about

how every Beautiful Thing

calls bastards to shit on it

letting wonder fade

accomplishments recede

like a coveted beach rock

in shifting tide

or an algebra problem

not quite grasped

Entirely heady

barely comprehended

except at Fortune’s peaks

seems lucidity

thrives at high altitudes

from here the view is spectacular

finally noticing

how the kids have grown

god they’re not babies anymore

Peculiar

how air is better here

for breathing

For the Thin Spiral Notebook 100 Word Challenge: PECULIAR

Aposiopesis

Struck midsentence

honeysuckle breath

tracking

sweet-sour redolence

of youth

No making sense

station stuck

approaching

dissentience

at full throttle

Different

I am different in my life

and I don’t know how.

What do I do?

All the banks are closed right now

but I need to know

and I am different.

How do I fit in?

How do I get out of this place?

Original verses sung by my daughter when she was perhaps six years old, scribbled down by me and forgotten, recently unearthed. Perfect.

Antecubital

Pocketbook

in the crook of my elbow

collects memories

like renzuru

conjoined against headwinds

tucked in the bend

There’s room for regrets

melancholy musings

all my origin stories

stacked up like displays

of rakes or greeting cards

This little pouch is new

and I hate how it looks

opaque

paper-thin

even while appreciating

its utility in sullen times

Forever a Sapling/Etoposide for Beginners

by Isadora Gruye and Marian Kent

Don’t bother pondering

what’s gonna happen

because it’s no secret:

I am coming for you,

and you can’t do a damn thing

to stop me.

Place those flowers in the trash can

and come closer, my sparrow.

For weeks, I have watched

mornings dissolve into afternoons

and no shadow as lovely as yours

has ever been cast across these walls.

Forget your lover, your children,

your poems yet to be written.

Forget the cherry tree you cultivated,

forever a sapling to you now.

Forget that my wrists

smell of iodine and bandages.

Forget that my toenails

have crusted orange from radiation.

Don’t bother giving up

your thrice-daily PBR

or try swapping bacon for tofu.

Don’t scribble in your journal

or make a fine documentary

lauded at Cannes

with 15 million YouTube hits--

The world might love you

but it don’t matter, you don’t matter.

Crawl into my sick bed, darling.

Rub your scruffy chin

across my fevered cheeks

and tickle my sallow knees

until they freckle.

Let’s give these blankets

something other than

deathwish sweat stains

to shake loose in the wash.

No race nor regimen’s

gonna help you at all--

You don’t even qualify

for a protracted goodbye.

I am coming for you

and you can’t do a damn thing

to stop me.

And then, we’ll lay still,

healthy limbs entwined

with my own.  

Knowing full well

there are worse ways

to waste away in bed.

Photo by Isadore Gruye

Seems like a good week to share again this collaboration between the amazing Izy Gruye and me, written two years ago. Be well, Gentle Readers.

Giving It All Away

Talk about

empyreal influences

interstellar traveller

aging voyager

Who are we

questioning

interplanetary authority

as the starry matter

burns

Turns out our heroes

are not immortal after all

the rains keep coming

strumming so

Our Write Side Poet of the Month!

Dude. Yours Truly, Poet of the Month. Inspired!

Thank you & xoxo & etc. to Stephanie Ayers for the wonderful interview. And all of you, Dear Readers, should be following Our Write Side!

January Poet of the Month: Marian Kent

Beehive Cafe

We sat

across a table

dappled with butter sun

Sipping black coffee

dustgazing

smoke snaking

reading the newspaper

Here take this

you proffered

a book of matches

Stood

hitched jeans on hips

took your leave

People don’t still do that

I thought

But sure enough

a number scrawled inside

And I was left

to decide

Flash 55 for Real Toads!

Airguide 2016

All I need's
a compass
& a bright star
to navigate
this new year

photo by Marian Kent

The Meeting + Resolutions