the birds, the humans

the birds showed off in warbles

of approval and distaste;

to mate or not to mate?

the humans grew weary of love games,

energies gone to hurried waste;

they halted and left it up to fate.

04.2010

the rain in April

April showers
turned every thought
topsy-turvy like the sea:
unspeakable calm
interrupted by torrential storm
just so each side
would have its fair say.

Marching on through
as i vowed to do,
rays of light
seamed to soften the blow
of torments
that ought to have knocked me right down.

promises
that, at last,
something would happen
that wouldn't drain me of all
i've worked for
or dreamed for.

the rain in April
made everything clearer,
cleansing all the disdain
that's so used to accumulating over time.

reconnections and reestablishments
proved less harmful than
wasting all of it away.
vision isn't extremely unclouded
but it's no longer
searching for answers in the dark
which is more help
than anyone's offered as of late.

the sea is all right with me
so long as it brings flowers
next time
and above all
follows through.

05.2010

drag-dropped

i don't mind the lonely bus rides
to a town with a train station like
this morning, for instance,
the sun rose behind the six wind turbines and
you know how much i hate the country;
it was the kind of picture that makes you think
God really exists and that people could be born
good. the clouds had been drag-dropped in,
you'll have to drag me screaming
from this kind of prophetic proof.

04.13.2012

perhaps it was me who got it drunk

the piano has been drinking.

but then again i've been slamming on the keys

for the better part of the hour

so perhaps it was me who got it drunk.

i don't know who they want me to sound like

and i do know that i shouldn't care

but i'd be lying if i said i didn't.

my hands make better music when they're

flailing about over my head anyway.

the piano has been drinking...

perhaps it was me who got it drunk...

04.2012

[this was inspired by a line/prompt i saw posted in another poetry community, "the piano has been drinking." i'm not sure where the original line comes from but i liked the sound of the line and wrote this piece off of that. it's nothing special, but it's certainly how i feel sometimes. i'll get better at these inspired/prompt pieces as i go along, i hope. x]

breathe and stand

it's a broken world
so we're bound to fall.
panic is unfurled,
a hindrance to all,
becomes our downfall.
it takes us down hard,
there's no looking back.
i play the wrong card;
can't avoid attack,
can't ever go back.
walls will waste away.
do not lean on one.
secrets of today
drown under the sun
when shelter has gone.
take a look around
to find your own place.
sorrows can abound
without a friend's face,
without embrace.
children always smile
but it can't mean much
when you walk for miles
without human touch,
without aid or crutch.
slipp'ry hands hang tight
for dear death or life,
clinging with all might
to anger and strife,
to elements of life.
when hope has crumbled,
when fear is at hand,
when faith has stumbled,
when nothing's been planned,
take a breath and stand.
grab hold of my hand.
i'm strong but humble.
i will help you stand.

01.2005

doomsday, beginning

so what happens now?
i am pushed to my limit.
doomsday, beginning.

another world war;
on the phone with headquarters
to reach some odd deal.

don't pretend it's not
something that's worth fighting for.
a light, a tunnel.

have another go
and try to make it matter
before time runs out...

01.2010

breaking

suburban sunset rain falls down and i am
not walking in it or running in it
i am alive in it though i am witnessing
the maddening beauty of Mother Nature breaking
New Jersey's incessant heat wave this time around
Taylor takes pictures of it as if he'll never
see it again in his lifetime he may not who knows
i cross my legs on the coffee table it's not mine
it belongs to Starbucks but their furniture is so comfy
it feels like a living room with an impossible window
to heaven

07.2011

don't stop me

after i've had a few Chardonnays

i become the world's most blatant flirt

and then whether you like it or not

i'll launch right into stories

about my fortuitous grandfather

and the decorated life he led

the Livestrong bracelet on my right wrist

i wear in memory of him and

the uneven battle he fought, the

only battle he did not win

and about how my heart never left

France even though my body did

and if you're lucky and the Chardonnay

has gone quick and direct to my head

i'll test out my French on you

if you can speak it, too, then

my flirting will turn serious

and we might see each other again someday

i will go on and on

if you don't stop me

and just for once, i must tell you

i would like not to be stopped

08.2011

[breathe again.]

hi, lovelies.

thanks for sticking with me through the reworking of this blog, i rather like the way it is now. please, please, please comment if you like what you are reading, or if you have something to offer for improvement. i take my writing very seriously, and appreciate the feedback!

i've recently moved my life back to the States after living in France for seven months, so i'm working on getting my life back in order, looking for a job and organizing all of my things. if i pop in and out, that's why!

many of you write from prompts from other poetry blogs, some off of Poets United and some not, and i will be working that into my writing on here soon, so stay tuned. and thank you, as always, for reading.

peace and love
dlf xo

no bottle for it anyway

i threw my hat across the Atlantic

figuring it would be easier to get back to you

than the standard message; i had

no bottle for it anyway, not

one to hold all i want to say.

homeward bound

i knew you'd keep it safe for me

until i could thank you in traded breath

and spill the contents of a stained glass chest

without making a mess of everything.

sometimes even i

don't know my own strength.

keep me, keep me here.

05.2012