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The Best Bare Bones Poems

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

the skeleton tree

i am the skeleton tree
bare branches where leaves
are suppose to be
i am the skeleton tree
bare bones and no flesh
not another me
i am the skeleton tree
thousands of ancesters
but not one child for me
i am the skeleton tree
the end of my fathers name
and so called legacy

yet i sing a song
like there is nothing wrong
and being last doesn't matter
and yet i've writen a verse 
that many will rehurse
when one day my poetry matters
and when i die
who knows who will cry
i'll just be dead and gone
but the skeleton tree
that once was me
will live on in eternity
the skeleton tree
that one could read
and ponder possibilities
a skeleton tree
that one could recite
tell the difference between wrong and right
a skeleton tree
with branches and no leaves
yet and still the best of me
a skeleton tree
in this world i leave

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

You Say You Love Me

You say you love me but you’re not
You say you’re going to fight and give it all you got
You say you find it hard to breathe
You say you’re mad at me but I’m the one who seethes
You say you love me but you’re not (in love with me)

~ Tears falling, relationship flailing, love failing… ~

You say you need a place to stay
You say you’re asking me to find another way
You say you thought about the debt
You say you’re leaving but it hasn’t happened yet
You say you need a place to stay

~ The time, the hurt, the pain, the drain… ~

You say you overcame the jones
You say you’ve analyzed it to the bare bones
You say you finally found the cure
You say you’re righteous, clean, happy and secure
You say you overcame the jones

~ Familiar lies, thin disguise, love’s demise … ~

You say you love me but you’re not
You say you’re going to fight and give it all you got
You say you find it hard to breathe
You say you’re mad at me but I’m the one who seethes
You say you love me but you’re not (in love with me)

~ Tears fall, relationship flails, love fails…
The time, the hurt, the pain, the drain…
Familiar lies, thin disguise, love’s demise …
This time, this hurt, this pain, this drain…
Time runs out… no more to gain. ~

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

Definably Fall



When Summer pants in the hot humid air
sweat drops morph into dewdrops as night cools.
The smiles sunshine shaped, are no longer there
for all the kids have gone back to their schools,
leaving sandcastles and abandoned pools.

Green leaves are preparing to leave the scene
changing color as they begin to die.
And cottage doors no longer need a screen
there’s no mosquito, not even a fly,
for the sun's sitting lower in the sky.

Sunlight paints the leaves with brushes of fire
and moonbeams gild cerise edges in gold.
For nature's an artist to admire
Her fall pallet’s dramatically bold
and each day’s a masterpiece to behold.

Gusts of wind rattle the bare bones of twigs
and a forest of skeletons quiver.
A squirrel stashes nuts in holes it digs
fearing the worst Winter will deliver,
and it's cold enough to make me shiver. 

I inhale a breath of air, crisp and cool 
with a spice scent that's definably fall,
a fragrant thread pulled from memory's spool. 
Soon it'll be time for Jack frost to scrawl,
welcoming Winter in Her snow-white shawl.




(English Quintain)
Aug. 26, 2018
bring on fall Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Francine Roberts

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

In Response To My First Poem

AT THE FINAL GOODBYE

The congregation
mingled within the silent
stone slabs of their
ancestors, a final goodbye
to yet another
destined to leave this place.
Yet to one, in this his
profound sorrow an
enchanting moment.
He craved!  With a soul
sensitive and true to
touch a living memory,
his lips again to caress
her symbolic smile.
His need to glance upon
her northern eyes of blue,
stroke her flowing
“Celtic Flame”
That, while strolling in lanes
of love rebelled against
the moorland breeze.
He desired to paint this
memory of that moment
the very first day they met,
bestow in this a silent tribute
to the emotions within
their secrets, those, no one
else could ever share!

first posted 2nd may 2010

IN RESPONSE TO MY FIRST POEM

Our secrets to keep forever
The two of us only will share,
This my darling is my promise
To you so far away down there.

Oh yes I can hear and see you
From this my place far up above,
I listen to your sweet whisper
See us in your portrait of our love.

Alas ‘tis only my bare bones
That lay idle beneath your feet,
Leaving everything about me
In your memory this my treat.

Our precious although short moments
Forever lives on in my soul,
Until one day yet far away
The final end your earthly role.

Then once again true love will meet
Your need to touch my Celtic Flame,
Mine to gaze upon eyes of green
Our lips passionate wild untame!

28th Sept 2015

© Harry J Horsman 2015

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

I love a good plot

The skeletal remains are being chalked out,while mystery and intrigue are engraven, cryptic.Lying beneath, this freshly seeded idea;upon these grounds, the words are etched,what are you looking for and how will you get it,for these are but the bare bones of a story.The key alone is in your closet, slowly turning,as you opened the creaking rusted door.You slowly peep inside the mausoleum of your mind,where cobwebs hang on every angle.Suddenly, a cold swift draft blows across your spine,as if someone has just, walked on your grave. You look up to see, all the entrapping’s laidbut then again, you are still lying in a good plot.

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

What I Was Too Afraid to Say Over Text Message

You were the first promise I was willing to keep,
my first hope that something could last forever.

You were the first time I opened up like a blooming flower
and gave you every piece of me,
every lie I’ve told,
every nightmare that kept me wide awake,
all of my hopes and dreams stored somewhere safe inside of you.

You taught me that there is no shame in unwinding myself 
into someone else’s arms,
that it’s time I exposed my gentleness that I’ve hidden beneath my thick skin,
for it hasn’t seen the sun in years. 

You were the first person I failed to find a poem in
because I loved you down to your bare bones and raw heart
and no metaphor could ever satisfy my admiration for every part of you.

You were the first time I wanted to belong to someone,
the first time I could read a thread of text messages like reading my favorite book,
my first kiss,
my first time getting butterflies after just hearing your name.

You were my favorite song,
my 11:11 wish;
a silly girl staring at a clock, waiting for the numbers to be perfectly inline 
so that she could wish to forever keep a love that already belonged to her.

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

talk to the hand - for contest


y'all know me-     I'm in the poem biz     
and it is a no brainer     when I need a fix(I come to the main drag)of
       this poetry site

this my security blanket     my safe harbor    my home away from home
    it has taken me years to learn the
                 set up(its a long way to poet)gonna take a journey 

listen I don't consider my poems hot stuff 
nor do I have hang ups             but the bare bones is this    
    I go bananas for contests                I won't bamboozle you    
 I just wanna win (win and win)

but getting a poem selected    is an uncertain crapshoot      
     its a tricky business
            when the theme is announced    
                    I need to give it a good think (think)

and sometimes I write a lemon                (a real stinker)        
      oh when I lose(so blue)oh so near  when I win   bees knees happy

sometimes I put on my war paint       and make my way
    to the shooting gallery        (I mean the blogs)
        don't wanna open a can of worms    but
            a poet needs guts to make a comment there

oh yessiree    your words can be turned to smoke
sometimes its all snoggling       and sometimes its just aggro
      the blogger asks for an opinion      then the fun begins
get out the boom box     say what           talk to the hand

bring me the funny wagon     gotta get outa there
before I go nuts   gotta chill out         take my peepers to a poem                  
            like it when its mellow yellow in blog world

y'all know me-     I'm in the poem biz
and it is a no brainer       when I need a fix(I come to the main drag)of
         this poetry site

_____________________________________
July 1, 2015


Free Verse

For the contest, Colloquialisms, sponsor, Laura Leiser

Fourth Place

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

When Eagles Clash

Two eagles hover over the bare bones of a poem
leaving choice morsels for the appetite of the other.
And with poetic hunger they devour each other’s words
occasionally choking upon the other’s genius. 

With wings spread wide they ride a poetic thermal of prose
eagerly dipping into the ink of the other’s thoughts.
For when eagles combine talents to create poetry
oh, what wonders are conceived amidst such sheer majesty! 

They peruse through ideas like a garden of delights
collaborating on verses fueled by fragile dreams.
And collectively nurture fledgling thoughts, giving them wings
as they scratch enigmatic lines, using their claws and beaks. 

Searching for perfection two egos soar beyond belief
seamlessly approaching the heights of creativity.
For when eagles clash they release raw unbridled feelings
that converge, crafting clever prose that are worthy of note.

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

An Bee Cailleach


“Éagmais croí a dhíscaoileadh ar gach eagla.
Faoi dhíon taobh istigh de na blianta seo.
Fanacht i bhfianaise, a dhíscaoileadh ar gach eagla.
Ós rud é go ndearnadh tú a chaitheamh.
Briseadh an tost seo”



"An Bee Cailleach"


She lives to wake to new days
and new nights
to walk awake
in her fiercest dreams
to drown the damned in 
Delta of Cancer
Her Venus
Lights bonfires
Where her feet step
blazing imprints
swift flames
into stories 
Life is on Fire
breath over death 
does she breathe
Awake from Dark Deep Sleep to
Awaken Desire
Blood pumping
Passion that bleeds
Into all of her lost creatures
Her Lost Lovers’ Woods 
Her hidden King Wolf 
and all of its 
Silent Sapped
Trees

She is the Witch
conjuring 
White Light spells
to draw honey from bees
to bring life to dreams
to those dead in deep wells
mouths that remain stitched
empty eye sockets
vacant cataract 
white clouds 
that no longer bleed
where they dwell
forever lost in 
The Sleeping Time
Dead in the ditch
At the bottom of 
Some kind of 
Home that is 
Dark Delta Wave Hell

Love is the potion
Joy is the spell
Bee is to Be
Naked life buzzing
Fire in the blood burning
bit by beautiful badassery  
HC Agrippa Majick
conjures 
The Beckoning
to cast her
Mesmerising 
She stands her ground 
While the earth all around
brontide
is not bound

Now arrives
The Becoming 
on beamish bewitching bold breeze
trembling and tickling
the dendrites her 
divination
spreads up her body
shakes all of her potent burning
molten Bee’s Wax into
To Be’s
Blows her breath on 
All of the Trees 
Her stories
Their Seasons of Turning
Green, Burnished Copper Rust Tarnished Gold, 
Springing Green Fairies,
then stark Artemisia absinthium Winter Leaves 
another realm suspended inanimate
supine on the ground cold frozen and old

Her sting will raise
dead lovers to bloom
blushing like Spring Roses
fragrant petals moist succulents
climbing passions embrace
no prison walls in her room
to taste the strange fruit
from bare bones  
the Life that was took
she brings forth 
The Borne Again Spell 
from Her burgeoning conjuration leaves
does she read, she reads from 
The Book of the Bees

Flesh awakening
Lie down in soft moss 
carnal nude bellies at noon
Luscious and longing 
sweet claret and 
Garnet Red Poppies
addiction forsooth
Delectable heat 
senses that swoon
Quills from Lyre birds plucked
To dip in her ink pot 
To write Mystical 
4 lined Lost Lovers'
Love Charms
Seductively takes measure and stock 
Turquoise and Blue feathers of 
strutting fool Peacocks
The Owl silently watches on now
As she chants out her spell


“Be Be Be 
Love, Joy and then Be”


Raises her arms to the Trees
Buzz in the Body
Now shaking 
words spoken to read 
on their new wet inked leaves
She chants for 
Mephistopheles
Sweet release 
Sings her pleas
to kiss 
sleeping eyelids 
Awake to Life
Dance entwined 
bare limbs under Moon
Dance her Silken
Barked Trees
Drink Lilac Wine 
And then drunk
in the Land of Forever in Love
to swanningly ardently swoon
in the Realm of Divine
Sip Mead from gold chalice
Milk and honey to bathe
Pluck ripe Grapes off the vine
No more lie in the grave

Soft Pink velvet lips
brush Swans' graceful necks
drink from gullies of dew
A journey barefoot 
Running her honey
naked alive warm
No Ginger Root took
Through gushing 
warm pulsating brook
Moaning for Lost Lovers 
No clouds anymore 
in their eyes
Green Emeralds
Crystalline Amber 
Brown Velvet
Gray Granite
Violets Wild
Big Sky 
Bright Blue
Paradise Amygdala Iris 
On fire
Seekers of Truth

Soft Paw 
treads softly beside 
She's licking her lips 
Bee stung they bleed
"they are ready to kiss"
he thinks, 
this she will miss
In his eyes 
she is seen
this he watches on 
silent as if watching a dream

Lost Lovers now all
Rise from the Dead to
Swim with the nymphs
She will make 
Royal Celtic Kings 
Walk in magick 
conjured from
Lost Lover's Woods
of Tall Trees
Creatures of land,
air and
Babel 
the brooks
They all will eventually talk
She waves her Quill wand 
Dripping ink 
No need for Twigs 
to mark maps in the dirt
They are mere wobbling
False Divination Forks


While Her Legion 
of Buzzing Soldier Bees
Sting the lips of
Fair Maidens 
all shook
Thorny Thistles 
Climbing Asps in Green Ivy
Ephemeral Seraphim evanescent
Now Immortal Consorts


To remember their dreams
To remember their dreams


Buried and stolen
By those that 
Plundered and locked 
Their souls’ fate to be sealed
And thought to bury 
Deep under ground
Their sweet Lost Loving 
pulsating Hearts in  
LIFE’s BOOK
Their Book of the Dead
Buried and bound 
ne’er to be found
No comfort or sucker are fed

They are now found
They are now found 

“Be Be Be 
Love, Joy and then Be”


An Bee Cailleach 
conjures her
Royal Beehive of Bees
Virgin Bees befriending 
No longer mortal 
Supersedure enemies
deadly venom is ending
With each Be’s  barb 
they are stung
with Her Love they are bit 
by Her Rhapsodomancy
to bow down 
on their knees

Swallows 
they thirst
they sing with satiated
Harmony and Bless’ed 
Bee Bliss Buzzing tweets
Flocking to the Kings 
Who were once 
Frozen as Trees

Raises arms to the Trees
Buzz in the Body
Now shaking 
words spoken to read 
on their new wet inked leaves
She chants for
Mephistopheles
She Pleas 
for 
Her own sweet release 


She is An Bee Cailleach
Witch Goddess
Queen of the Bees
Before She they kneel
Virgin Queen Bees
Avoid Supersede
Soldiers and Kings
To them she bestows
Love Joy and Be
In The Glistening
Dreaming awake from 
The Sleeping
dreams her dreams
into 
Real





“Frail of heart renounce all fear.
Locked away inside all these years.
Remain in Light, renounce all fears.
For you have been mesmerized.
Break this spell of silence”



(Lovejoy-Burton/2018 May)





1.
Artemisia comes from Ancient Greek (Artemis). Artemis was a goddess of the hunt, and protector of the forest and children

Artemisia absinthium/Wormwood

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

sunset



Sunset

last rays share the sea
with bare bones of pirate ship
beautiful in death

~


Contest: sunset haiku
sponsor: P. D.
Written : 8th November 2011

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

Silent Fights

When we fight in silence, like titans abound by egos
An eager poet overcome by words.
A beautiful model delicate as raindrops
When the silence in the room is as thick as our nostalgia
Wanting to hold each other but held back by thick egos
Ripe with the wretch of imminent paradoxes
Contemplating charades of choices of parallel provisions
As if we can afford life without one another


 When we fight in silence and the room gets microscopic
Her presence bold. she drifts like a thunderbolt across an African sky
Similar spaces, sharing oxygen and the ammonia in our hearts
our breathing aligned by the poisons of our fear
We have sacrificed in miles to allow centimeter consequences
Our story ripples gentle beneath her feet
A story that eclipses at the axis of our ex's
Subtle and calm in the stanzas on our palms
our skin cells still thick under their fingernails



 When we fight in silence and cant even look each other in the eye
The war between our minds that our tongues abstain from
Cold war of silent minds in love like a godless church
When the earth sprints beneath us,
bare bones and shuckles in our silenced fight
I don't know if its a curse that we both cant quarrel
Like feral lambs with a deep predilection for another
Infatuation so simple like the cartography of her skin
Her hair superior, laden ith disposable paradises
Simple chemistries of lovers who 've been through some ****


When we fight in silence. Hearts smooth as skipping stones
Hungry enough to believe the silence tastes better
But time... Time is a cold mason between us
Like a perverse heartbeat, the worst kind of treason
I have lived bittersweet moments that slow down the clock
I have seen pendulums and hourglasses turn lovers to strangers
I have heard how we change the world & the world changes us
I have learnt that the world is always ending and love prevails
Like neglected flowers in thick mahagony vases
Infested with greedy butterflies free from their leashes
The agony of traded dreams and faded hopes


Words are despots I would rather be silent than say something I will regret.
She is my armor. No sword in my castle, verbal nor metal
My fists only fold when I pray to God for her existence
Four eyes, one vision, one blindness
Heroes are for children and those who cant save themselves
After the silence the dialogue writes itself in a calligraphy of apologies
In our new-found understanding of the tapestry that is you & me
Minds re-aligned like telephatical alphas Completing each other's sentences
Simple enough this is our redundant arithmetic
Learning integrals of loving her beyond her crutches through infinity
Thats the mathematics of my existence. When we fight in silence

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

meat robot

somewhere down deep, everyone has some kind of love of life.  Down deep to the 
bare bones of instinct, the mother of all reasons, survival spends it's sway.

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

Winter

Winter rises  and snowflakes fall 
laying out a stark elegance 
of pure white untainted beauty
Winter reduces everything to the basics,
to the bare bones of life
only the underlying structure is left behind
with time, we too are reduced 
to our bare essentials, the bare bones
as our frailty comes to light 
our bid for eternity slows down
and  the winter of our lives
draws to a close, but life goes on, as
winter gives way to spring and
new life begins again, as winter ends.

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

Bare Bones Bob

Pretending he has all he needs.
On two wheels of ILLUSION, he rides his steed.   
EVENTUALLY the ride is over.
To find him lying in a bed of clover.

Reminicing is his favorite game.
You'd never know he feels any shame.
Partytime comes and he fades away.
Attentive INFUSION leaves him in dismay.

Longing for a comfortable corner.
Always seems the INEVITABLE mourner.
Concience sighs with casual levity.
Evoking riches of unusual CREATIVITY.

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

I Have Long Departed Life


you cannot crucify me now
or scourge my body red
for I have long departed life
to live among the dead

there is no gravestone marker laid
no earth disturbed above
I live within and in-between
the hatred and the love

I walk the dusty ditches of
New Mexico alone
a thousand shades of red I see
that bleed from ancient stone

she walked me west of Eden where
the buses run on time
she says the bus is never late
if you provide the dime

I gaze back at the garden gate
the gate and garden - gone!
I turn to her with hope she might
tell me what has gone wrong,

her thread-bare bones stand silent white
then vanish in the sand
and mixed among the mica grains
gold rings from her left hand

the west wind blows with rage so wild
it cuts and strips my skin
I sit down under cactus shade 
to contemplate my sin

as turbid air disturbs my fate
the desert disappears
I rise into the morning sky
my face now flushed with tears

but fear is dissipated soon
it drowns along with dread
for I have long departed life
to live among the dead

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

Villanelle: Do spun balls eddy in Black Hole corsets

Villanelle: Do spun balls eddy through Black Hole corsets

Do spun balls eddy through Black Hole corsets
   Or cosmic spins pierce through armoured shells
Who threads sheltered yards in safe space rockets

Make the side win hoards of precious nuggets
   Rousing Super Bowl far-flung galaxy yells
Do spun balls eddy through Black Hole corsets

Elsewhere rugger lads break through pelting belts
   Asteroid storms of bare bones and muscles
Who threads sheltered yards in safe space rockets

Watch how rugby touch-downs pile-up sweats
   Barely kissing ground hugged balls crushed in smells
Do spun balls eddy through Black Hole corsets

Rugbymen fall for foes during somersaults
   Some even take home loads of their scented cells
Who threads sheltered yards in safe space rockets

O! Lord of the Nations! Let fear nor threats
   Keep you from flexing wills with alien spells
Do spun balls eddy through Black Hole corsets
Who threads sheltered yards in safe space rockets

©  T. Wignesan - Paris, 2017

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

RETOLD JOURNEY

Insane
I turn around
an amputee

to live, for not living
fighting the inner war
speared,
lacerated,
like neanderthal in cave

my weapon
the serrated moon
cried in fluted dark

a glimpse of bare bones
the ash of a bleeding dawn
my shuttered courage
in urn
there was only one evening



SATISH VERMA

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

Her smile

me sit here drinking on me pint
i see the lovely face across from me
oh how i love her lovely smile
but now she has withered away
nothing but her bare bones exposed
but i love seeing her smile at me
he hair is long with out colour
barley staying on her head
the dress i bought for me bride
she still wears today
it may be old and full of holes
but she smiles at me today
our love will never wither
like she had done 
her eyes are on longer blue
just two empty holes in her head
her lips i can no longer kiss
but she still smiles at me
gaping hole in her chest
but she smiles at me
so i drink me pint to me love
that sits across from me
to the day me die 
i will be with her
as she smiles at me

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

We Held The Fire And Ate The Blaze

We Held The Fire And Ate The Blaze

We held the fire and ate the blaze,
And love sang in its fantastic musical tones,
Such was deep pleasure we sought to  raise,
Living on our love and meager bare bones.

You cried when I begged for your sweet hand,
Swearing our love would forever last,
I was so worried making such a bold stand,
Praying you would not remember my bad past.

Exultation came when you cried out- right now,
I truly knew your heart had embraced mine,
And had accepted my risky pledge and vow,
Giving me all of you, my darling so very fine!

Life gives and blesses as it tumbles onward.
With eyes wide open we must look forward!

Robert J. Lindley
MAY 9TH, 1976

Note- Almost 40 years ago. I was once that hopeful and thought that love 
could be an unbreakable bond.

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

Make no bones about it

Bony bona fide bones bare bones                                                                                 
Skeleton key turning a bone of contention                                                                     
Sticks and stones break bones words do hurt close to the bone                                          
Not so funny hitting funny bone hard words break no bones                                            
Depends who is speaking old school don’t be an idle bonehead                                          
Be like dog with a bone gnawing it till tomorrow                                                                
His word a fire in my bone true to the bone envy is rottenness                                           
To the bone a broken spirit driest the bone don’t be chilled to the bone                         
Pleasant words health to the bone so bones may rejoice                                            
Working fingers to the bone be not wise in thine                                                             
Own sight fear the Lord depart from evil a bone to pick                                                  
Dead man’s chest be not filled with dead men’s bones                                                 
Prophecy to bones dem dem bones come together again                                                  
Look to the cross not to skull and bones crossed bones                                                  
Playing bones Yo ho ho Rome’s smoked filled bottle                                                           
They grind bones to make their bread who Jesus has freed                                             
Don’t point that bonier finger but back in the closet                                                         
Not a bone was broken as he died for our sins                                                                 
Or you may be a bag of bones chilled to the bone                                                        
Being bone dry baring your own sin upon your bones                                                         
He is bone of my bone empty tomb make no bones about it

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

Arizona

Lay!
Bare bones,
stew'd in smoke of eye--
sun man,
send no buzzards unto me;
the canyon is my home
red rock walls
coyote calls
all in all,
the A-Zone is the place to be.

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

The Talents of the Unwell

The politeness ate at itself until what was left; the bare bones of anger. 

This rage didn't find pleasure in the company of others.

It sat in a corner, conjuring up schemes that slowly collected dust.

There by his side, laid a mysterious book, when opened revealed nothing but vacant pages. 

In the dampness of the couch, he sat staring into it mumbling feverishly. 

What seemed to outdo eternity, suddenly a swift motion surprised his own senses.

His hand found the finely carved wrinkles around her neck, carefully tracing where it ended.

Like a complex map, her body reflected old age yet a strange sense of innocence.

He found mad pleasure in seeing such purity in her worn soul vehicle.

The ritual was about to take place, euphoria suddenly occupying his vision.

Winter of terror filled her whites while her weak arms tried to push him away.

Bloodshot and blue, her limbs merged with the furniture; cold and unconscious.

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

I Have Long Departed

I Have Long Departed

you cannot crucify me now
or scourge my body red
for I have long departed life
to live among the dead

there is no gravestone marker laid
no earth disturbed above
I live within and in-between
the hatred and the love

I walk the dusty ditches of
New Mexico alone
a thousand shades of red I see
that bleed from ancient stone

she walked me west of Eden where
the buses run on time
she says the bus is never late
if you provide the dime

her thread-bare bones stand silent white
then vanish in the sand
and mixed among the mica grains
gold rings from her left hand

the west wind blows with rage so wild
it cuts and strips my skin
I sit down under cactus shade 
to contemplate my sin

as turbid air disturbs my fate
the desert disappears
I rise into the morning sky
my face now flushed with tears

but fear is dissipated soon
it drowns along with dread
for I have long departed life
to live among the dead

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

I'm Media

I'm Media
By Franklin Price
8/18/2016

I'm media,  must be on top
To tell whole truths would be a flop
If not exciting, ratings drop
And advertising bucks would stop

I use this sequence to begin
Find out the facts and put on spin
Your loyalty and faith to win
So ratings never drop again

To be on top and cash receive
Make small adjustments you'll believe
Takes little practice to deceive
The bare bones truth would make you grieve

What is it that you want to hear?
What kind of words to fall on ear?
Ones of comfort or of fear?
It's all for ratings, is that quite clear?

A lie discovered, I can retract
If written down, I can redact
A truth I say is only fact
If I did that how would you act?

Went to the Hill learned from the best
The home of spin its place to nest
To think of self before the rest
You find the truth, there'll be a test

Details | Bare Bones Poem |

no regrets

Dappled shadows sway and dance upon her face; 
The *** ends of stars smoulder miles above, 
Casting a brittle radiance across her pallid skin...
She lies on her balcony, naked and chilled, 
Pondering the heavens and her own melancholy – 
Two oceans of darkness, one above, one buried deep inside...
Her sadness is fathomless as the sea, and as cold 
It fills her with hollow pain, with the stench of death
And there in the moonlight she mourns, 
A pearly white widow, clad in intangible robes of nostalgia
Oh god, how she misses, how she yearns...how she regrets
Inside the confines of her skull there lies a dismal graveyard 
It is filled with the skeletons of dead and rotting loves -
She has given her heart to many in her brief life, 
Given it as freely as spare change – 
And reaped the consequences in razor-scars, 
And floods of bitter tears, enough to drown a city 
Or at least all of the men who have betrayed her 
Now the bare bones of her decrepit longings jangle, 
Creating a zombie chorus in the depths of her ribs 
And the night wind howls their names and their treacheries 
Shrieking them down her aching ears...
But still she lies there, quiet and beautiful in despair, 
And still she loves, her battered heart refusing to cease its beats 
Because though love may have wounded her with mortal blows, 
And though men have crushed her faith to dust, 
Still a life without love is no life at all 
And, fallen angel that she is, her halo still gleams with a tarnished shine 
And her gentle soul prepares itself to - one day - love and lose again