killing him

My intention was only
To kill him through poetry
Surely and slowly.
My intention wasn’t to
Hurt him physically
My thoughts and words
Last longer
with my pen
I can
beat him down harder
My intention wasn’t to hurt him,
My intention was to kill him slowly
Through my words
Through my poetry

fear

You’ve probably never feared something so much
That it made you want to die
When you see a picture of it
Your eyes begin to cry
Your whole body tenses up
It’s not just
A spider or a scream
a reaction
Of petty childhood nightmares
But it’s a fear so great
It causes despair
You numb up inside
But somehow you still care
It shakes everything
you thought you believed in
It changes the way that you see things
A fear that your whole life is based upon
Without it you couldn’t go on

wishes

If wishes were fishes
Then I’d have an ocean
To float in
I’d go any and everywhere
Cause if wishes were fishes
I’d have time to spare

If noses were roses
The world would be a garden
A soft place where hearts unharden
Beautifying everything
And all the world would be green

If thoughts were worth pennies
Then I’d wish that you would think of me
And someday in my arms you’d be
For forever and eternity

If eyes were like starshine
And you could be all mine
Then wishes wouldn’t need to be fishes
And noses could be posies or anything else
They wished to be
I wouldn’t need oceans to float in
Cause I’d have your arms wrapped around me
The world would be a garden and
the hearts would be unhardened
by the love that they would see
The love in your heart
For me

big hearts

Someone once told me
That big hearts break easily
That was before you broke mine

You once told me
That big hearts love easily
That was before you left me

Someone once told me
That big hearts:
Beat stronger
Fall farther

Love harder

That was before
I realized that no matter
how much pain you inflict
Upon me
I will always have room
In my big heart
for you

The Bee Box by Lowell Parker

In this small box, my love,
you'll not find a ring,
but instead, a brave little bee.
He'll be dead by morn, having given his life
defending his flowers against me.
I felt his sting
while picking the small, purple pansies
growing wild along the roadside,
in hopes of an afternoon bouquet for you.
And I grieved the sting,
more for him than me,
knowing full well the price he paid
for my small pain.
And I allowed him his victory,
leaving his flowers as a memory,
and brought you instead
this brave little bee,
who proves there is love
even in the smallest
of things.

April: National Poetry Month

April is national poetry month, so during the last week or so of April make sure you get some reading in or writing if you are so inclined.
Also, here's an idea from poets.org : National Poetry Month is about sharing and celebrating the wonder of poetry, and what better way to do this than by putting poetry in a public place? Go one step beyond hopscotch squares and write a poem in chalk on your sidewalk!

Pick a favorite line from a poem and choose a clean piece of sidewalk or pavement to write on. You can search for a poem on Poets.org or check your bookshelf for an old favorite. Use bright colored chalk to attract attention to your work, and add drawings or artistic flourishes to create some extra fun. Passersby will pause to read the lines and you'll have put a little poetry into someone's path.

11 seconds

Eleven seconds left on the clock
Time goes so much slower now
And you hold your breath
And wait for the shot
Pulling your hair out
Crossing your fingers
All you’ve got now is
Just a prayer
2 points away
Winning or losing
2 points is the difference
And there’s no in between
You are left
Either screaming joyful victory
Or leaving the stadium
Empty handed

knock twice

Love knocks twice
Then enters slowly
A woman’s voice heard
Talking softly

Love knocks twice
And closes the door gently
After it leaves
Taking the biggest and smallest
parts of me

More Picasso

“The world today doesn't make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?”
-Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

I Love You by Sara Teasdale

When April bends above me
And finds me fast asleep,
Dust need not keep the secret
A live heart died to keep.

When April tells the thrushes,
The meadow-larks will know,
And pipe the three words lightly
To all the winds that blow.

Above his roof the swallows,
In notes like far-blown rain,
Will tell the little sparrow
Beside his window-pane.

O sparrow, little sparrow,
When I am fast asleep,
Then tell my love the secret
That I have died to keep.

Pablo Picasso

“Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.”
-Pablo Picasso

undone

I’ve got my hands in my pockets
And a puddle full of rain
You say that you're sorry
But I don’t feel a thing

I’ve got a pocket full of clouds
That cover up the sun
The words you said made it all
Come undone

written by TMK

Rain

Today I was at the mall waiting for a friend when I overheard this lady say to one of the ladies working that they were waiting on the rain to stop. I thought about it for a few minutes and came to a sort of odd conclusion about it. Why would you wait for the rain to stop? like it's some sort of bad thing? So i walked over to the door to watch it fall, continuing to wait for the arrival of my friend, and I debating going outside and just standing in it. Letting it wash me clean and renew me, dancing in it and embracing it. As I sat there waiting and debating a lady walked in with her two kids, not realizing that I was waiting on someone to come in instead of waiting to go out, she said to me "It's a good thing you're waiting here, you don't want to be out in that" and I wanted so badly to reply "Yes, in fact, all of my wishes right now are to be out there in the pouring rain", but I held my tongue and didn't say anything. I thought long and hard about how if I wasn't waiting on my friend I would surely be running through the rain or playing basketball in it barefoot. I wanted to throw my arms out wide and just be open and let it just wash over me. But i was stuck inside, and as I stood there I starting thinking about my life and how I hope that I don't run for cover every time it rains. I hope that I can embrace my problems as easily as I embrace the rain. I would encourage you to do the same, not to run for cover when you start encountering problems, but to throw your arms out wide and embrace them, knowing that they might wash you clean, but also knowing that you will grow from it.

You Fit Into Me by Margaret Atwood

You fit into me
like a hook into an eye

A fish hook
An open eye

Edit: A little bit of an odd poem here. It was first shown to me by my good friend Deanna. I didn't understand it at first. It seemed really crude to say that someone fit you like a fish hook to your eye. Somehow eventually though I started to understand where Atwood was coming from. Yes, her poem is short and there isn't a lot to draw from, but she uses a concrete idea. I've seen this poem take quite a beating on several people's blogs and I'd like to change that. This poem is about ultimate pain. The pain that results when someone you love hurts you, possibly the pain in this poem was mutual. I'd like to commend the fact that she keeps the poem short, she gets straight to her point without decorating her ideas. I also like the fact that she first explains that he fits her like a hook to the eye and then expands on that idea by telling what kind of hook and that the eye is wide open. It's a crude poem, and it might have even made you wince the first time you saw it, but it's a very important to look past the metaphors and into the passion and ideas that are present. She has a lot of passion for this person and for her topic, whether her passion is bitter or otherwise, and the passion makes the poetry. This poem is a classic piece of poetry, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

a heart

When I walk
I trip over invisible things
And I wear your heart on my neck
A treasure above all other things.


written by TMK

Resignation by Nikki Giovanni

I love you
because the Earth turns around the sun
because the North wind blows north
sometimes
because the Pope is Catholic
and most Rabbis Jewish
because winters flow into springs
and the air clears after a storm
because only my love for you
despite the charms or gravity
keeps me from falling off this Earth
into another dimension

I love you
because it is the natural order of things

I love you
like the habit I picked up in college
of sleeping through lectures
or saying I'm sorry
when I get stopped for speeding
because I drink a glass of water
in the morning
and chain-smoke cigarettes
all through the day
because I take my coffee Black
and my milk with chocolate
because you keep my feet warm
though my life a mess
I love you
because I don't want it
any other way

I am helpless
in my love for you

It makes me so happy
to hear you call my name
I am amazed you can resist
locking me in an echo chamber
where your voice reverberates
through the four walls
sending me into spasmatic ecstasy
I love you
because it's been so good
for so long
that if I didn't love you
I'd have to be born again
and that is not a theological statement
I am pitiful in my love for you

The Dells tell me Love
is so simple
the thought though of you
sends indescribably delicious multitudinous
thrills throughout and through-in my body
I love you
because no two snow flakes are alike
and it is possible
if you stand tippy-toe
to walk between the raindrops
I love you
because I am afraid of the dark
and can't sleep in the light
because I rub my eyes
when I wake up in the morning
and find you there
because you with all your magic powers were
determined that
I should love you
because there was nothing for you but that
I would love you
I love you
because you made me
want to love you
more than I love my privacy
my freedom my commitments
and responsibilities
I love you 'cause I changed my life
to love you
because you saw me one Friday
afternoon and decided that I would
love you
I love you I love you I love you

Edit: This poem has been my favorite for a long time now. I love how Giovanni plays with her words and somehow comes up with a concrete concept of what love is. Her words are soft but her message is clear and defined. She relates her love to simple everyday activities, "I love you [ ] because I take my coffee black", and manages to make her love sound like the most romantic thing on the earth. I love this poem, it never fails to make me smile.

ramblings

What if every road I took
Took me further
Further away
Away from the places I loved
Loved to walk through in the spring
Spring rain falling on the streets
Streets filled with the people I love
I love you

What if every step I took
Took me further
Further from the things that I need
I need to hold you

written by TMK