The candlelight
that once lit up so bright,
cautiously began to fade.
Though the room got dimmer,
it went unnoticed for a long while.
When it signaled for help,
we simply watched as it flickered.
Now all that’s left
is a glowing ember on the wick,
in a dark room.
They stream in, seeking liberty
hoping for some sympathy
America once extended a welcome
Today the outstretched hand is seldom
Leaders neglected to check the newcomers
for police records, to view their true colors
We let in too many criminals, too much crime
with neither good reason nor rhyme
A perfect storm ensued
migrant murder and corruption
dominates the news
giving well-meaning Americans the blues
A tragedy could have been averted
had not government shirked its sworn duty
But now there are mass deportations
narrowly backed by a jilted population
You shirk the weight of parenthood's call,
leaving your children to wither, unfed.
Are you a father, or mere specter of one?
A mother, or just a shadow that's gone?
While others nurture, educate, and guide,
you abandon your own to fate's tide.
Your concern lies with outsiders, it seems,
while your kin suffer, and your legacy beams.
The children you forsook, the partner you left,
will rise to greatness, despite the neglect.
Will you claim pride in their future fame?
Seek praise for years of absence, and hollow claims?
Awaken to your duties, and seize the day,
for the future beckons, and will not stray.
Lights off,
Door closed,
She leaves again.
I see the men she goes off with every night-
Never the same, never familiar.
And I'm left here,
Alone.
Always alone.
The silence.
That heavy,
dreaded
silence
Descends when she leaves,
The click of the lock,
The turn of the key,
Pushes her further away.
I want to scream for her,
Into the dark, unforgiving street,
But she won't come back.
Not for me, not for anyone.
She returns
When she must.
But she doesn't speak,
Not to me.
Her hair tangled, frizzy,
Clothes torn,
Sick on the carpet,
Tears fall,
One,
By,
One.
I hear them hit the floor.
I want to comfort her,
To let her know I'm here,
But she doesn't care.
Not about me.
Sometimes I wonder if she remembers me,
If she even knows I exist,
But I'm here!
I'm always here.
I never leave.
I can't.
I won't.
Because if I leave,
She'll be all alone,
Even with those men,
Those countless, nameless men.
They can't get enough of her.
Do they even know her name?
Do they know
She has a daughter?
A family,
A life beyond those nights?
Probably not.
They don't care.
But I do.
I'll always care.
In cities gleaming, where dies are cast,
Where wealth and want meet hand in hand,
Forgotten dreams and futures past,
In this, our proud and troubled land.
Hungry hearts and empty streets,
Echo voices long unheard,
Promises broken, incomplete,
Justice whispers, seldom stirred.
Oh, land of hope, can you not see?
Your strength lies in our unity.
A most neglected of limbs is the wrist
Next to a place where ladies still get kissed
Smack dab on dainty hand
Is where smooches do land
Hard bony wrists are just not in demand
When we were with each other,
Her fond looks I disregarded;
Her true feelings I neglected.
What a stupid I was then!
There’s no use crying over spilt milk…
Bite Size Contest no.62 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Line Gauthier
Date: 02-05-2023
A peacock to some,
but to others a confident and close friend.
Confidence, humorous,
displays feathers,
selects the perfect mate.
Unbeknownst is he of the
defects
within his selection, too much time
lusting the outside,
never fully knowing the inside.
Secure in his vibrant colors,
overconfident that his mate would never stray.
Too concerned with the outward appearance
of those within their circle.
Neglected is she who grooms the offspring and tends the nest.
Healthier to leave to the injuries she's received,
yet flaws hold her bonded.
Too late you come with the validations
which she required.
Divulged is the straying
with those of lesser colors.
Injurious is it to your
prideful mantle.
Both are now imperfect,
insecure in being,
and require a pal full of time.
I’m sporting this new lipstick
it won’t fade, smudge or smear
I’ll be lucky if it wears off this year.
I’ve got this new eyeliner that’s like
a luxurious, glittering, penciled tattoo
Leong asked, “How do you get it off you?”
I unpacked these chemical wonders
to see if they’ve lost their luster
by being neglected since last summer.
When you study too much, you feel pent-up,
so my compadres and I chose to get dolled-up,
rolling-up to dinner, like beauty queens on parade,
and not just sophomore scrubs trying to make the grade.
.
.
Webster: compadre: a close friend or buddy
Finally one day the old man
Will behave like a baby
Will cry like a baby
Will stumble like a baby
Will become sick like a baby
Will become weak like a baby
Will become helpless like a baby
But unlike a baby
He's going to retire from the society
Finally of no value to the society
And then overlooked by the society
But never by God
As God is kind and understanding
He says, I'm the bread of life
He who comes to me won't be hungry
He who believes in me won't be thirsty
Hurrah, the old man will be accepted
By our Almighty God
Regardless of his loss of value caused by
The unavoidable process of aging
Before he finally degenerates and leaves this world
scruffy
neglected
ragged
dejected
frazzled
rejected
confused
disconnected
shivering
unprotected
My footsteps on the long narrow
streets,
are shout outs of my boundless
cringing griefs.
I cry hard looking up to the
sunshine,
asking its radiant rays to help
me find
an abode builds by love
not huge hate,
'cos I want to stop this unfair
fate.
I turn my eyes once to the moon
at night,
begging pity to guide me in
its light
for I don't know exactly where
to go,
in this wild world that no one
can turn to.
I carry the cut grass to a
still place,
where the trees swaying on
my pale face,
as though their whispers
are wisdom and lull,
so I can sleep with a hoping
soul,
I am living in a home now
with fair,
their heat, light, shade- truly
an endless care.
Dwelling abandon neglected
Not at all picturesque
This decaying house
Been condemn now for nineteen months
From the roof to the porch
Harvesting ferns in garden
Overgrown growths wild grasses dandelions
Up the swaying staircase
Window,door crack and broken a mess
The sun and wind whispers through the downspouts and eves
Condemn and abandon only one on the block sees
This abandon decaying condemn dwelling
While over the yard weeds prostates growing rosette wilds killing
This nonpicturesque abandon neglected decaying dwelling
7/16/20
1st Place placement in Contest
Decaying House Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Constance La France
KILLING HER OWN.
She carried him for months,
The pain and the suffering
All now dressed in new pants,
The commencements
Dumped in the street
A stranger picked and raised him.
Nursed by not his own,
Life isn’t a given.
Is this what our mothers have become?
Is this what the fiber of our ancestries have become?
Is this what we call freedom of choice?
Is this what we call civil rights?
Killing him for the crime he didn’t commit!
What happened to mother’s love?
That he was promised on conception.
Do you have to break him when your vows break?
Do you think you must dump him when his father disappears?
Do you think you have to destroy him when your heart dies?
Leveling your displeasure with his breath.
His lifeforce will haunt you to hell
His bones will bellow loud through the prison walls,
His innocence will echo through the temples
All the way to the gates of heaven
Until justice is found
Why killing him for the crime he didn’t commit?
My bones are weakening,
they have carried this manly man
through heaven and hell and back again.
I’ve always chased women,
and on too few occasions
have actually caught them.
Now, here in my down-hill
race against time, I’m
beginning to get in touch
with my female side.
I cry over grandchildren and
sad dog tales.
My inner woman has emerged,
and she is a pretty pissed at me;
she resents being mostly ignored
for so many years.
I imagine buying her flowers,
and reading Sylvia Plath together
while I dab our eyes,
or maybe watch a chick flic
like ‘Love Actually’.
I did, I watched it, but alas
fell asleep – of course
she had to keep waking me up.
I shouldn’t complain,
she has stayed with me now
through thick and thicker,
and I love her, in my
very manly way.
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