mark
time camp-
ing
in
a worldly chair
near your body
fun
scene motion which is a
pendulum at best because to swing
is
not at all a curse from birth but rath-
rather what the hanged man calls
for
once he sees from upside down the exit
door that traps death in with us
Could I not follow?
And if I could not,
Would that be shallow?
One phrase, a simple breeze
‘Twas all I wanted,
Between the trees.
Yet every open hand
Is measured for a blade;
Every silence made to stand—
Proof of something I made.
I grow tired of explaining
What love is not to me,
As though affection, unrestraining,
Must conceal duplicity.
Every word, a trial,
Each kindness, accused.
Every act, a file.
And somehow, everything, excused.
All the evening asked of me
Was only stillness, only air.
I had it once, between the trees.
I cannot find, no more.
Could I not follow?
And if I could not,
Could I swallow?
Of then,
Smoke of a squandered summer morn
The barrel of a summer afternoon
And the spittle of the soundless shots of the stars within a summer eve
Homeless homage, tainted talent awaits to watch and berate
Wilting wonders to wound a heart the size of a horse
Hoarse to mourn the drowning drought of the mellow monnow
To drown the blessed sapphires of summer fever
With fevor and bloodied weather
And sleep on a velvet throw
Turn these demons and paralysis upon the stars
And stitch and tie and tighten
And wear aware of the consequence
And ensnare the stars aware of the darkness
Pay the fare to the ferry
And pretend not to hear the merry walks and dreary ends of life
Pretend not to tighten without the enticement of and ending life
Pretend not to sleep
Away and away and away
Further than the astral splurges of this
Life
Sleep with the intent of death
So death may bless the creaseless crown of my forehead
And sleep with his singular kiss forevermore
2//5//2025
You tied the noose that I hang from
I stare at the writing on the wall
I feel like all the words are written wrong
My feet can’t find the stall
I wish my thoughts would just be gone
I am the rope in which they tie
I can’t seem to shape the future of my life
Got me thinking am I the one who’s ready to die
I decided to roll the dice
Sick of living a lie
Why did I think twice
Now I’m begging for a reason why
Corked off glue, oral mucosa clamped, oyster bald razor, thumb running along twine binding the package, a conductor testing violin tension. Hairy balls of fire, a jackdaws caw, drawing her in with dirty sticky wet joy. Creaks on bed springs, open windows, neighbors staring, a drumbeat counting down to rupture. The squeezebox gripped tight, seething under bare back muds. Breath, a bird in a cage, jabbing at the bars of her ribs. Burnt-out fluorescent light, firefly flash caught behind bone. Hands unwrap with surgeon’s grace, flesh revealed: pink, marbled, mutinous. The cuts: rare, exotic jewels radiating a savory sheen. A finger tests the muscle, a pianist poised over ruin. And then: a grunt, “the trick,” a gesture, sleight masking ripened fruit. And my snake, swollen, pounding, thick and huge, slithers through her smooth underbrush. The Calvary arrives, a swarm of bees in spurred leather. Engines rev, Bouffants tumble, spiderweb eyeliner, one blink from collapse. Ten-gallon hats deflate, soft as old balloons left out in the sun.
Starlings chime down an alleyway.
Corked off glue, oral mucosa clamped, oyster bald razor, thumb running along twine binding the package, a conductor testing violin tension. Hairy balls of fire, a jackdaws caw, drawing her in with dirty sticky wet joy. Creaks on bed springs, open windows, neighbors staring, a drumbeat counting down to rupture. The squeezebox gripped tight, seething under bare back muds. Breath, a bird in a cage, jabbing at the bars of her ribs. Burnt-out fluorescent light, firefly flash caught behind bone. Hands unwrap with surgeon’s grace, flesh revealed: pink, marbled, mutinous. The cuts: rare, exotic jewels radiating a savory sheen. A finger tests the muscle, a pianist poised over ruin. And then: a grunt, “the trick,” a gesture, sleight masking ripened fruit. And my snake, swollen, pounding, thick and huge, slithers through her smooth underbrush. The Calvary arrives, a swarm of bees in spurred leather. Engines rev, Bouffants tumble, spiderweb eyeliner, one blink from collapse. Ten-gallon hats deflate, soft as old balloons left out in the sun.
Starlings chime down an alleyway.
Why call it tying the knot
Out of a knot some husbands have got
Smart wives call it preparing the noose
so that it never comes loose
ninny nonny noose
with a neck inside
stretchy stretchy stretch
and the witch she died
golly, gallows in a gully
hanging hung in such a hurry
spell a spell a spell did she
with a bucket boiling full of tea
with which the witch survived
never never died
ninny nonny noose
no neck inside!
If you knew that the only thing
giving me purpose is my poetry
The only thing keeping me going
Is writing about you consistently...
You'd probably laugh because
you were more than happy
and more than justified
to leave me behind
You simply did
what you had to do
You followed your truth
You washed away the glue
that stuck me to you...
While I'm still hoping I stay stuck
Because one part of me
believes I deserve it and
the other part is just too
stubborn to untie the noose
My role is not to lead
Rather to simply lead the heard
back to the pack
And answer whatever ludicrous questions
should anything at all go wrong
The ensuing kangaroo court once
in session propose in summation to
offer up
As all they need is someone to blame and
any old patsy will do
So long as they have a functional neck
too place inside the hangman's noose
Then everyone's a winner here there are
no losers
Sorry apart from yes the sacrificial lamb.
Who come on really does anyone give
a damn about
a noose please said the persnickety goose.
hop owner queried “a hanging dog noose?”
I will be hanging a hog, but please yes.
was this a murder? Did the goose just confess?
shop owner was a butt-insky from way back.
dialed 911..........they did not have a heart attack.
“People kill hogs all the time, sell goose the noose.”
By then goose had escaped the cage and was running loose.
When loose is a noose,
There won't be hanging:
To hang one must choose
Noose of chain clanging
Or rope doubly tight,
Not making plans light.
Business seem a game
Wasting hands prove tame,
Then, death starts singing
And danger ringing:
Some arms just swinging,
To nothing clinging...
Hangmen, a lot booze
For mum's heart they bruise:
The necks forget "whose?"
As it's of no use...
A dirty subject!
What all ears reject...
Then, what's my object?
Exceedingly painful shoes
About your blasted toes The Curious ask ‘Whose?’
The footwear to distrust its ever becoming loose;
If your feet were some neck, a throttling noose.
Off-And-On Tightening Shoes:
You put them on, ease a ruse;
God you shall need for their prolonged use
But the very insistence, a real bad news!
Massive Shock-Giving Shoes:
Their trauma you fight with booze:
Bottles of stout beer taken in twos
And then around try to cruise…
Smile-Snatching Leathery Shoes:
Sometimes, more of my tuneful blues!
The majority of mine lxiii years
expended delving deep into imagination,
yours truly escaped, loosed, thwarted...
reality courtesy bookland
roaming cerebral cortex terra firmae
did not amp pulley satiate
seemingly depression found me
(an uncompetitive, oversensitive,
intuitive, contemplative bookworm)
with scrunched pate,
a day short and a dollar late
one dime a dozen lad
hood scrimp and scrape,
a familiar pattern typified fate
viz - hand to mouth bleak
how zing existence aye equate
extant throughout three score
plus three years date
journeys round el sol,
this varsity schlepper, procrastinator,
malingerer did create
current emotional state
mottled with sea henna tint
financial, emotional and
psychosocial characteristics stint
aye serum eyes while
in utero the blueprint
indelibly etched analogous
brand York Peppermint
also analogous to musician
recording tracks upon primed glint
ting digitized compact disc
clear polycarbonate plastic substrate,
a reflective metallic layer,
and a clear protective coating
of acrylic plastic
breakable as flint.
aka Laugh-in Stock
Trump's tie hangs below his buckle
To advertise honey suckle?
But Trump's in the red
So no pronouns shed
Though it does make some folks chuckle!
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.