Is your ear corrupted
by what you see
Are the sounds distorted
in blind relief
Do the voices sleep
in images gone
Does a nightmare deafen
—tomorrow’s song
(Dreamsleep: April, 2023)
though they sought the gentle verse
a wracking pain drew up their purse
as thoughtless sovereigns hissed their curse
the dollars drained; their feign- rehearsed
this tragic dismantling
ever-torn fabric seams
flowing a pious demand of the feed
groveling majesties
planted their effigy
cordially under the pew cushion seats
stating repeat
loving the myrrh
silent decree
ebony spurs
Susan B. Anthony...an American "Suffragist"
And also, "Civil Rights Activist"
For her, luckily
Though she was hung, it was only in effigy!
Educate Me With Humor-Leader Clerihew Poetry Contest
Sponsor Andrea Dietrich
1-24-2019
Away in Mexican Isla de las Muñecas- spirits sway
Into the sobbing island green terrain domain
Wherever, I extend my eye high
I discover those hanging dolls clanging
As though actuating me queerly
To acknowledge something hairy 'n scary
In their eyeballs dim still 'n chill
Covered in destroyed limbs 'n skins
Strung up in the air, overhanging 'n swaying
In creepy, spooky, ghastly, scary
I grieve,
But I do not grief for death,
Not for death?
It's a grieve for the dead,
But not of a thing that breathes
Bitterness arrest my breast,
Woebetide my countenance
That even an ocean of tears
Cannot wash away the excruciating pain
I had my dream carved into a beautiful effigy
Her beauty titilates my soul
I polished her day and night, so she could shine brighter,
I shielded her away from the tiniest of smudge
I rose from slumber this morning,
Alas! My beautiful effigy
Had turned pieces of gravel scattered over the earth
Tears welled up my eyes, but couldn't be shed
My heart aches, my soul broken
How have this come to be?
My yesterday's beautiful effigy
Is now a piece of stone.
His eyes always see the beauty in my heart.
An ugly duckling is the way I think of me.
He paints me as though I am a lovely work of art.
I'm not dainty like a hummingbird or a honeybee.
An ugly duckling is the way I think of me.
I've never considered a mirror to be my friend.
I'm not dainty like a hummingbird or a honeybee.
This man loves me and he has been my Godsend.
I've never considered a mirror to be my friend.
When he looks at me I see such love in his eyes.
This man loves me and he has been my Godsend.
When I'm in a sultry mood he tells me I'm his prize.
When he looks at me I see such love in his eyes.
He's the man I adore; my greatest love in effigy.
When I'm in a sultry mood he tells me I'm his prize.
My love for him is deeper than fathoms of the sea.
He's the man I adore; my greatest love in effigy.
He paints me as though I am a lovely work of art.
My love for him is deeper than fathoms of the sea.
His eyes always see the beauty in my heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 25th, 2016 ~ Pantoum Contest by: Eve
She stuck into me like a shard;
“Pick me up,” she said.
I liked the way she beckoned;
She liked the way I bled.
She had the look that ruined gods,
With dark eyes and a temptress air.
She set fire to my virgin Eden,
And I burned within in her stare.
And so I took her by the hand—
She was broken as clean as a bone.
She said “I am empty, forsaken;”
“I am tired of being alone.”
My enigma,
My sexual effigy;
Jarred from a distant dream.
My inebriation,
Forbidden love,
My incomparable supreme.
I watched her wipe the lipstick onto her forearm,
And let her draw me into herself.
All night I held her, sleepless,
As the numbness began to quell.
For the first time I felt something quiver,
And burst like an unfettered dream.
When she woke, we lie there,
Open.
Then it was time for me to leave.
groupthink likes word games the unwritten history rectification
Late at night I hear the monkey’s laughing in the jungle
They are burning an effigy
And they find it more than amusing
They find it comforting.
They built it out of broken dreams and green cards.
It was no accident that they built it
The moon and the tides gave them no choice
As it burns the night screams
And I wait for the dawn.
Tenuous as it may be I can wait
For I am still taking apart my nightmares
And putting them on the workbench to toil over
To reassemble and to ponder
I never read the instructions I just go with my gut.
As I look through the trees I see the burning light
And I wonder why it looks familiar to me.
What will the ashes tell the seer?
He was a man who lived liked an animal?
He was anonymous to feelings and life.
Atavistic to the end, destined to die but never to live.
Up river they all seem to know the truth
It’s simple: keep the primates happy
And they will leave your soul alone.
I hang my head out of a window and howl at the moon
She smiles back benign and hopeful
I think about the other side; cold and dark
And then I realize the fire in the jungle is to drive away my fear
And it all makes sense.
build me an effigy
red brick stone
one brick alone
a tear
a sorrow
a wall
built to contain
a soul maimed
build me a pyre
gold covered relief
a smooth curved bowl
made to hold my soul
set it afire
with belief (c)mjr 2007
H A R S H
B L E A K
T R E E S
R E G A L
S T I L L
Broken millionths,
this brilliance;
reflect a fate in destiny
a mirrored effigy of mist
Beckoning in tendrils
caressed with ether,
carried into the mystical
drifting to your name
Floated thoughts carry a scent,
shadowed regret darkened
and eased into mind,
bringing its own tragic smell
A started bond,
touted was this mating,
fruitless in foresight
thoughtless to fright,
entering your circle
hells own playground
Oh it smelt good !
but underneath,
the rot set to bleeding
an identity,
mine
As if dripping water
to torture,
barbs of love
darted into psyche,
haunting my effigy of mist
is regret,
that wont forget,
evermore