feet tracing ruts
softened by the weight of others
the path was worn
polished
not by insight
but by generations
unquestioning the same direction
a weed split the sidewalk
where my foot hesitated
they handed us maps
already marked, folded
creased at the routes
they wanted us to traverse
walls hung with heirlooms
no one claimed
shadows
longer than the rooms
classrooms’ chalkboards of certainty
offices pressed flat with protocol
we learned the art
of veiling the eye behind the eye
we drank from vessels
lips like waiting mouths
etched with forgotten crests
believing the shape of the cup
taught us thirst
air rehearsed its return
like a tethered animal pacing
the same invisible circle
inscribed with grace
shaped like a cage
narrowing the limit
of knowledge
of wisdom
altars made from repetition
shaped our days
to fit the mold
filed down the splinters of doubt
until only smooth compliance remained
tell me—
what is awakening
if not the moment
your hand reaches
for a handle
no one told you was there
and the quiet moment after waking
my heart
uncertain
unshod
hesitates…
Categories:
chalkboards, freedom, identity, introspection, philosophy,
Form: Lyric
Outside my window, underneath an eave,
nestlings chirr, greeting the new dawn
Sleepy eyes begin to open, seeking,
much to do now that dark of night is gone
The Keeper of the Stars is gathering
her children onto a cloud where they loll.
Dawn is stretching her fingers out, pulling
light out of golden tresses, letting them fall
Dew is spun into rainbows, clouds, stacked
in a corner of the sky where they wait
Triumphant and with her greatest glory,
Dawn makes her entrance a little bit late
The moment when everything is brand new,
we are given chalkboards, blank of mistakes,
empty of regret, no sorrows linger
Faith in living is all life takes
Categories:
chalkboards, writing,
Form: Rhyme
Alone,
the television muted
Thoughts float about on
shadowed wings
Faces with moving mouths appear,
nothing is heard
My mind collects itself,
slanted views
Trading happiness for solitude,
beneath spinning blades
Not sharp,
but constant like minutes
Time teaches unwanted lessons
erasing chalkboards and creating dust
There is a moon, I have seen it,
felt it, reached out to touch it
It lit your face
and I knew from that moment...
why
Who cares what color they say is in,
black is here in the silence
It flows effortlessly like satin,
stitched in memories and dreams
It tints the windows reflecting truth
Showing what has become,
glassed over situations
Blocking the moonlght,
shuttering desires
Burlap trajectories crashing
beyond the horizon
Fabricated realities for those awake
or those
alone
There is a moon, I have seen it
Then it was gone
Categories:
chalkboards, dark, moon, solitude,
Form: Free verse
Poems have their verses
Blinded by the light
Stood outside to stare
Counting clouds in groups of two
If only you were there
Dreams may come in circles
Rounding out the bend
Ovals in a cornered box
Wanting you again
Laughing through the sadness
Easing past the fear
Bandages of cotton call
Wishing you were here
Singles by the double
Threes improve the score
Adding up the right and wrong
Needing you once more
Pens run out of ink
Pencils break their lead
Chalkboards need to be erased
I’ll love you instead
Poems have their verses
Often they do rhyme
It really matters not to me
As long as you are mine
Categories:
chalkboards, love,
Form: Rhyme
By Laura Dee
November 5, 2014
Suddenly tired of being wired
Desire to die while being admired
Every omen reaks of old grass stains
Nothing in this twisted game to gain
Daggers and crimes filling my mind
Burning so bad it's making me blind
Every last sound the silence will make
Nails on the chalkboards of my mistakes
So what do you call this new loneliness?
A Dead Sea Disease inside an empty kiss
Missed every falling leaf in the chilly autumn air
I never once dreamed life would be so unfair
It's not ok and it won't be all right
I never even put up a fight
It isn't something that I was dreaming of
I burned out so fast in the gleam of your love
So I'll find the pills cause I never had the will
To win on my own in this twisted game of skill
Or maybe I was never really made of gold
My dead frozen hands were never yours to hold
So I'll cash the hand that I'm holding now
So much of my life that I could disavow
Instead I will stand on my two feet again
Embracing the bittersweet truth from within
Categories:
chalkboards, addiction, depression,
Form: Rhyme
A most genius, scientific mind, whom I respect,
with chalkboards full of numbers and symbols;
such mathematical equations and theories
as to boggle the ordinary mind, spoke these words,
"No room for God."
I find that odd.
The same words spoken to Mary and Joseph.
The irony couldn't be stranger,
thus Jesus, born in a manger.
Everything so condensed to nothing, given birth with a bang.
How long was nothing, nothing; till it became everything?
Who knew or made a difference in the two?
What was the cause of this evident explosion?
The answer isn't odd.
It, my friend, was God.
He reveals himself through numbers and scientific discoveries.
From infinities our minds can't see,
and so small the number three.
He himself, father, son and holy spirit;
we being body, mind and soul.
And the great scientific discovery of atoms;
even those three parts well known.
So let us give a nod.
There is only room for God.
He is Alpha and Omega; the beginning and the end'
Jehova and The Great I Am,
Jesus, the precious Lamb.
Author's note:
What some call universal intelligence;
I call God.
I will not deny him.
Contest: God
Sponsor: Regina Riddle
Categories:
chalkboards, faith, god, science,
Form: Verse
i am drawing a blank right now
the clock is sweating and becoming impatient
i see the dots and spots that formulate clots in the hollow banks of my memory
i am collecting the air as i write
the sky is dehydrated and becoming desperate
i notice that sags in my rags that causes invisible razors in the tags of my tattered clothing
i am draining my brain in vain
the walls are transforming into chatterbox chalkboards mercilessly tickling the tolerance of my sanity
i experience the faded scenes of genes thorughly dismantling the teams i once relied on to cope
all the while
blueprint rhythms pile
and go wild
every page emits rage
in a collective deluge of
escapades
i spin until the whirling
air kisses my eyeballs
in multilples of multiplicity
then the mallet slams down
like thunder on a lazy sunday
my mind is set free, and no matter
the emotions in the middle of the pot,
i inspire a type of happiness in you in continuum....
Categories:
chalkboards, poetry,
Form: Free verse
Recess Bell
Where'd it go
That twice a day relief
Leaving behind blackboard's chalk-lines
To immerse in the blacktop chalk-lines
That place where hop scotch
Poison line
River ball
Target ball
Quickly made chalk nubs
Made innocent everyone's fun
Made sad classroom returns
That ringing in our ears
Announcing freedom time
Now but a morning and afternoon
Workplace coffee break
Signaled by silent bells
Company rules
Good for morale
Where'd it go
The real breaks of our youth
That escape from control-seeking minds
Racing across playgrounds
Making sweat that was real
Laughter that was infectious
Exhaustion no amount of
Head-time on the desk
Could relieve
Chalkboards out
Monitor screens in
Grownup hours made endless
Stress related focus
9 to 5 at the desk
7 to 10 at home-office sanctum
Homework
The evolved institution
Resulting in maybe...
Possibly getting...
A gold pen?
A gold watch?
A golden parachute?
Maybe?
Recognition
Reward
Life's profit margin
Remaining ever questionable
Categories:
chalkboards, work,
Form: Free verse
In human affairs, what prepares
A mortgage to funnel a home
A church to repent its coffers
A vehicle to search its on tank
What keeps stolen pride alive
While kingdoms crumble
Let it be
The barnacles of the bridge
Enlightenment rescind its kid
As chalkboards charter a change
Or simply rearrange furniture
The hospital panic to save us
When jobs dont cover the cost
All the workers will wander around lost
In the future to plunge
Awareness with an empty lung
Categories:
chalkboards, adventure, death, dedication,
Form: Free verse
Silence splattered across the page
Riding on deeply buried tides
Climbing from treetops into hills of tomorrow
Life never exists the way the say
In boardrooms and across chalkboards
They just know what you're likely to eat...
The sun shatters cobwebbed dreary polite peace
Too glorious now to remain unmoved
For those with windows and eyelids to perceive
Everywhere quicksand pebbles shift
The glory of the sky urges me
To believe differently, everyday to the utmost
An open page is calling with folded arms
Invisible typewriters are pressing their tongue
Nomads invited to roll out their carpet
Categories:
chalkboards, art, history, life,
Form: Free verse
Dull becomes the page, when there's nothing left to say
When the classroom is empty and the projector is blank
And the halls echo in silence their voices now gone
Autumns past, as the inspiration dies and the winter dawns....
Gathering my pens and a felt unto the chalkboards place
One final mark amid this farewell, to leave but a happy trace
As turning out the lights to close the door upon times
Crossing a vacant lot to leave this world; its colours behind....
**************************************************
....“When The Poetry Fades Away” ~
Categories:
chalkboards, hope, life, love,
Form: I do not know?
The hue of streets; cousins of chalkboards;
the distinct voice of transition; of forbidden love
sipped through straws of anticipation;
swallowing decadent tribulations
to nourish picturesque gardens
and English dreams; the line between
appreciation and alienation
Happens to be the blemish
of today's death; headline hopscotch
founding father of premeditation
Sound prints in the sand
By Glenn McCrary
© 2012 Glenn McCrary (All rights reserved)
Categories:
chalkboards, life, nature,
Form: Imagism