Eyes didn't organize
The tent drop
Code violation
Ten days an hour, so what week
Use on the monthly?
We not gonna speak
Lost voices in bravado money, can't reach
Such is that meaning why?
Answer four times a second
Birth control that
Building code violation
All over California
Hop
Y'all crawled hip?
Pay my rent
Inexplicably silent in choir
being unusually quiet
not a word from me was heard
neither spoken nor sung
so as not to cause a riot
when jibes bad vibes at me were slung
and I was asked, 'Cat got your tongue?'
I replied, 'Here's the thing,
really and truly, I cannot sing,
it's been this way for all my years,
whatever it is I appear to hear,
and between my ears to me audibly sits,
tho' quite right there, when on the tongue's tip,
it's not the same music my mouth emits.'
People say the oddest things
not realizing their faux pas
Given the chance to self correct
they usually fail miserably
Is it malice or stupidity
~ unlikely we'll ever know
AP: 3rd place 2025
You speak of vows like broken tools,
iron bent, still hot in the hand;
seeing the feast tipped into a gutter,
and name each grain of choice.
Dogs sniff at what was once a meal,
grass bows away from the teeth.
The wind carries scents you do not forgive.
There is a field where promises rot-
fruit collapsing inward,
sweetness leaking into the soil.
Some walk there hungry, some in disgust,
all with shadows long behind them.
You throw stones at the well,
hearing no splash. I lean over,
and see only my own face, wavering.
its whimper sounds like a whisper, it slips as it slithers away
the loud fear it left on my mind still spins my spine
i run, forgetting my heart is still hanging in my mouth~
it pounds like a tornado blowing through my veins
the ricochets of its anger shudder even my tiniest nerves
our nights and days will never cross paths again.
nude iron statues
by Sir Anthony Gormley
stand on Crosby beach
toddler blurted out
“look Grandma, there‘s his willy”
I burst out laughing!
downcast, downtrodden, down-in-the-mouth house
not perky enough for a raccoon or a mouse
was passed over quickly by Lee Ann’s spouse
Buying this monstrosity would make him a louse.
Summer Joy Hiku
a sweet cold treat
melting softly in the mouth~
summer joy in hand.
e
r ~ ~ a
a s -w -e -e -t c o l d t ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ t
m ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ y in the m ~o ~ u ~t ~h~
e ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ l
l ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~t
t ~ ~ ~ ~ f
l ~ ~ ~o
n ~ s
g
s ~u ~m ~m ~e ~r j -o -Y in h ~ a ~n ~d.
he’s a puppy, everything goes into his mouth
piece of paper, spiral notebook, birthday card, screwdriver,
glass lightbulb, copper spring, nail gun, jewelry,
When we hear his teeth clicking we try to see what he has
He runs from us
Fishing it out is not an option
He has super large teeth
We have to trade him something
Dryness is such in me I cannot speak,
articulate my thoughts, desires, tongue-tied
I am, and in your presence, a poor, weak
servant, who, in asking, has no self-pride.
Your parted ruby lips, while mine are dry,
in contrast, glisten with overt desire;
a tongue across them means I will comply?
To deny, would turn me to a liar.
And should the hair shirt dryness moisture meet
in doing so articulate my thoughts;
I feel that I would still be incomplete
for you are you, and me, a psychonaut.
Kiss me, kiss me slowly is all I ask
why is that such a complicated task?
In the Mouth of Desire
touching me
your lips, your tongue
chalice
filled with sweet fruit
we’re no longer friends
when we sup
lovers
once again
we can’t
get enough
sucking grapes
nibbling red apples
tender, the nape of neck
at
eureka’s urging
in the mouth of desire, inverted spires
lean toward the grots of Hell.
tongues forked, skewered with sapphires
in the mouth of desire, inverted spires.
Adam's apple burning cores, as moths for martyrdom's fires.
on the path to perdition: many had attended well.
in the mouth of desire, manipulation stirs.
the crone fanning her cauldron
a hot vat of ruin, Wiccan shrieks and whirs.
in the mouth of desire, manipulation stirs -
a warlock's cherished heart of burrs,
tears of crocodiles, his every gentleness abandoned.
in the mouth of desire, sirens sweet, curses
lure purple wearers and weavers, beasts with saints,
low_down to the broad gates, gilt black, swinging purses.
in the mouth of desire, sirens' sweet curses
but wisdom's rare jewels, bereft in their verses.
for want of wisdom, man's sovereign will faints.
Plump cherries sit atop twin mounds
and a sly smile hovers around her
ripe strawberry lips,
Sweat, like honey, titillatingly
rolls in rivulets down her
lithe and luscious torso to
an oasis, moist and luxuriant.
From the hilltop region down
to an enchanting sanctuary
lies a pulsating plateau,
sizzling like bacon in a frying pan,
stirring my latent passion
to a feverish pitch…
melting me like
a scoop of ice cream on a hot summer day.
I’ve grown a mouth that’s so,
sharp.
Cruel.
When anyone gets near,
I bite with my quick words.
Leaving nothing but a scar.
It’s all I can give you.
And when you come,
And steal a kiss,
My teeth,
will only cut your lips.
And I wanted to so bad,
But it seems,
I only break pretty things.
I know you meant well,
but I’m not a vessel for your good intent.
I will only wring you dry.
Leaving you with nothing.
but your bones,
Brittle and cold.
I’m sorry,
I’m not what you’ve asked for.
But you need abandon.
All your stupid dreams,
Of what you wanted me to be.
You gotta know,
that this won’t last.
But if you’re blind to that,
I am fine with that.
In the mouth of desire
your words drip fire,
enticing me to the pyre
of a singular quagmire
where you are the supplier
of this drug called love.
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