Words
arise and die
simultaneously~
lingering words
are prolonged
death~~
“The secret of it all, is to write in the gush, the throb, the flood, of the moment – to put things down without deliberation – without worrying about their style – without waiting for a fit time or place. I always worked that way. I took the first scrap of paper, the first doorstep, the first desk, and wrote – wrote, wrote…By writing at the instant the very heartbeat of life is caught.”
~~Walt Whitman
He cries
Yes sometimes
The memory burnt in
Hot iron press into his weak mind
He saw the flowers yet again
Some bustling with life
Half drooping and dying diligently
And he saw
Theres something sinister in the mind
When you realize you near the end of a chapter
All you can do is read on until it ends
...
Well what if you dont want it to end
Stopping reading would be stopping everything
And reading is your life
Escaping or reality of the mind
He knew he was nearing the end of that chapter
All he wanted was to hold on
Read a little bit slower
So mabye
Just mabye
He could enjoy his comfort for a little bit longer
See he is plagued
Not with a disease no
But with foresight
He knew again it was ending
And it ended
And it broke him
All he could see were the flowers
Tears meandered the regular path on his dry cheek
He could still see it
As he slowly forgot her face
The flowers
Sitting atop the dresser
LINGERING
Photographs linger in my mind—
faded snapshots of a backyard,
the swing creaking in the breeze,
the taste of lemonade,
the warmth of sun-soaked afternoons.
I chase those moments,
but they dissolve like mist,
leaving only the chill of absence,
the ache of what was,
and what will never be again.
©2025 Sara Etgen-Baker
"Lingering leaves of gold
frolic in the autumn wind,"
Swept up by bygone breezes,
already collapsing
before they begin,
As disillusionment clouds an overtired soul—
Misplaced and irretrievable
To a society that ravenously
disembowels empathy,
Twists and mangles trust
until it becomes unrecognizably disfigured,
Leaving the carcass to be plucked by bone-thin vultures,
Fed by culture’s apathetic, parasitic narcissism,
Under the boiling, pre-winter sun.
"Lingering leaves of gold
frolic in the autumn wind"
and I am lost in a swirling,
dance of golden leaves,
twirling, whirling ...
leaping, here there, lingering.
They flutter and quiver,
golden in the glaring sunshine,
a slight breeze and they glide,
for a moment ...
is there anything more lovely,
than a nice autumn day.
I gather gold leaves in my hands,
and smell their divine scent,
sweet, pungent,
that speak of autumns decay,
the leaves glow as though,
lit from within.
She never did say, I could just tell
Fear of the unknown, held her without bail
A heartbeat so proud, subdued without sound
Longing to speak..she walked away from a man
For love and all its treachery
In silence unheard...
mountains white
bathed in the light
of sunset bright
dusk lingers
sun's fingers
are joy bringers
humble homes
with tent-like domes
shine like chromes
nestled here
where nature's near
spreads tranquil cheer
pine trees tall
heeding winter's call
rustle in the squall
a river flows nearby
gurgling waters sigh
lingering dusk catches my eye
and reminds me of...
... God on high
Someday to write
the greatest poem
The most powerful words
forever to hear
Someday to write
the moment solemn
Where time will stop counting
— and prescience endears
(Dreamsleep: March, 2025)
follow the poolside shadows
Venus of Delphi
daughter of bitter waves
peek through the peephole
of my glaucous thorax
open your byzantine eyes and
spurn your locomotor ataxia
one glance at our vitreous hands
– a sight for blind sore eyes
one brush of our riveted lips
– gone astray in malformations
one ponderous confession later
– immaterial as a shadow of the lash
let the weeping corpuscles lie
swarm and jostle in the grotto
rattle and blather away our days
I’ll wait for your recriminations
fall asunder under your touch
fastidious in my entomology
let the bouquet glide downstream
the scytheman is still in his kingdom
then we rejoice in endless daze
the lingering beaten with bravura
my muse
my unspoken words
our antithetical stories
your charm
your goodbye before the dawn
i traced the lines of our fate
never aligned
the red string woven around
which seems too weak
your presence lingers around me
like a shadow
rain poured down before
before we became alive
before I let it out
before I could hold on
before you screamed it out
I watched you being washed away from my shore
i watch the rain
blurring the edges of my side of the world
As i wait for it to cleanse my wounds
As i wait for it to blur my memory
As i wait to let go
Written with Deepali
An empty packet of Gauloises,
black coffee, a croque monsieur.
An aromatic café
breakfast in the Montmartre.
Later I switch to Camels,
a bumpy ride to seek out a friend
in the sixth arrondissement,
that night I left my Dunhill lighter
on her bedstand.
The cigarette lighter
had value,
I had haggled for it in Malacca,
eventually a young Hindu guy
reluctantly parted with it
as if selling his own grandmother.
Malaysia smoked lucky Strikes,
sold as single sticks,
you could buy them at any age,
they kept them in a glass jar
on the counter like candy.
Our generation thought it
too high a risk to die old,
and yet here we are
still lingering by the La Brea tar pits
looking for smoke signs.
Lingering emotions, restless thoughts,
Old memories haunting yet soft.
Fleeting time grasped in moments,
Echoes swirl of reckless promises.
Lingering emotions, empty stares,
Hollow heart , and soft regret
Staring at the ceiling there I sat ,
Hinting a regret of what could've been said
Lingering emotions, bittersweet disguise
Those deceiving eyes breathtaking lies
Every glance a hint ,a dare,yet
I am left wondering lost in the air
Lingering emotions unsaid questions
Endless possibilities questioning doubts
His words a web , an endless haze
He looks my way yet never stares.
Lingering emotions, a sweet passion,
Coffee eyes and a mesmerizing face.
A hope in his eyes, yet longing in mine
Glistening eyes as if stars intertwined.
Sugar spun words and an unsaid feeling
Lingering emotions and reckless promise
Can I die from a broken heart?
If I smile through the agony
Will it tear me apart?
Or will I somehow be ok?
If I drag myself out of bed
Clear the poisonous thoughts
Out of my fragile head
Will I somehow be ok?
Can I die from a broken heart?
Should I lay here and never leave
Or rise and focus on a fresh start
Tell me which do I choose?
When all is said and done
And I chose the latter of the two
Would that mean that he has succeeded?
In truly breaking me
While I dillydally in my spring garden
I smell the lavender before noticing the buds
Dusk in a symphony of lavender hues
Summer can wait; so can my coronation
Lavender’s blue, dilly dilly,
Lavender's green
When you are King, dilly dilly,
I shall be Queen
Who told you so, dilly dilly,
Who told you so?
'Twas my own heart, dilly dilly,
That told me so
I pick a sprig to put into my pillowcase
To sleep, per chance to dream
A chance to see you again
Healthy, vital
My childhood friend and confidant … my king
The man I fell in love with
Before Life intervened
My thoughts melt into the lingering dusk …
Words were lessened, hardly ever spoke
If you've let me hear you in the night sky, darling I would have stayed woke
Send me your thoughts, deliver them to my heart,
So you can hear from me when we are apart
If you see the darkness, in the abyss
Please let me be your light,
I could bring all happiness to you
Pull you out the stygian,
If you just let me under your skin
My dearest, in this world I have nothing to loose
But rather something to give to the special eye in my view
If only you take this stoned hand, and crystalize our love like fire with sand.
Related Poems