Sunday, March 28, 2010

Set Me Free

My eyes
are liquid charcoal
burning with injury
crying no more
my tear ducts
are blocked
with fragments
called pain
empty feelings
stay afloat
fulfillment extracted
never drained
held tightly
between the creases
of clenched fists
like the
hummingbird’s wings
I hum
listen
to the lasting effects
of a rapidly beating heart
anxiously awaiting emancipation:
hmmm,
hmmm,
hmmm…
set me free.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

White Stilettos


Fishnet stockings
white stilettos
jet-black wig
through this ghetto
I strut
my gut
hangs low
head held high
what’s that?
hmph!
skin like rawhide
heart of steel
your words mean nothing
(green paper, everything…)
look into my eyes
you have no idea
judge me
check the mirror:
sin is sin.

Ekphrastic poetry is poetry inspired by visual art.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

What the eff?


What I love most about poetry, particularly free verse, is that I can essentially be free in my writing. Free from rules and endless possibilities for word choices. There are no pictures, but readers will see images (at least that’s my goal). I tend to gravitate towards poetry with vivid imagery. These poems are especially lovely when read aloud.

I have attended and participated in quite a few poetry readings. While I appreciate poets that write for “shock value” (wow, I didn’t expect that; now that’s a twist), I can’t say that I care for poems with profanity. When I say profanity, I’m talking about the use of the f-bomb and other colorful words that you won’t hear on daytime television. I’ve found that the use of these words can sometimes weaken the effect of the poem because it can draw too much attention to the word. I recall a poet that dropped the f-bomb, not once, but twice in the poem, and I lost focus. At the end of the reading, many people in the audience couldn’t remember what the poem was about. However, what they did remember was that it contained overflowing profanity.

I challenge poets to find other ways to say what they are feeling without the use of vulgarities. Metaphors, similes, alliterations, etc. are so much more effective than obscenities. Let’s exercise and stretch our creativity.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Forgiven

A torrential downpour
of sobering thoughts
flood my mind
tear-filled eyelids
smiling ruefully
a bed of blue roses
cover my entire body
thorny memories
no longer prick
my once-pierced heart
the holes, I patched
in control, I am
and forgiven, you are.