The Empty Page
It sat there at my student desk
In wait of task to tend.
Write a poem, the teacher urged,
Your thoughts to paper, penned.
Intently, I perused the sheet,
Pale white and yet unmarked.
It lay there teasing my first move,
“Don’t leave me unremarked.”
This paper, college ruled and prim,
Well-bleached and full of aughts,
Stared blankly back at me to help,
With all my labored thoughts.
I searched the room for any clues
Of how I was to learn.
The clock was running faster now,
No time to wait and yearn.
I sat there squeamish and unnerved,
Too weak to brandish pen.
It was my first time close to death,
Too late for where and when.
Surely, all the class can see
My torment and refrain.
I’d rather have a spelling bee.
I’m circling ‘round the drain.
In looking back these many years,
My eyes were outward bent.
The chalkboard hung erased to black.
My mind, abridged, was spent.
But time has made its mark on me,
Halfway granting one old wish -
To find that poem in myself,
And give to Mr. Nish.
Robert Farrell Waltrip
If you have a weak stomach skip this one
Last chance.
Squeamish around gooey smelly stuff?
Second last chance.
Pass on by honey, and quickly.
My dog threw up today.
not once. Six times.
Each pile a little bigger than the one before it.
It was a coral color, and smelly. Gooey. Piles of it.
I got closer and saw pieces of partially eaten hot dogs.
Chunks of steak.
Part of a t-bone.
I gagged when I had finished cleaning these six piles.
Oh, yes, my husband said. I saw that on the porch.
He claims he only saw one pile of throw-up.
Not possible.
I am no longer speaking to this man.
Chris
My mother shouted from the kitchen
Beckoning me
Look have you seen this
And pointed to
A dead squirrel sprawled out
on our front lawn
And it was still there the next day
But luckily for me before i had to
take care of it myself
I spotted my neighbors Mike
and Jimmy talking and said
to them have you seen this
what i found
And Mike took it away and got
rid of it himself
I'm surprised im not a vegetarian
because if i had to actually had
to kill what i eat
Id probably starve or end up
being eat by what i couldn't
bring myself to kill
Ominous shots sound far in the distance
Echoes lunge toward us grow ever near
Grim foes tear down the gates with persistence
In blows hurl wild flurries of ice cold fear
Relentless on our guard it's them or us
Gloomy skies foreshadow bloody skirmish
Nothing short of heated hellish chaos
This here turbulence ain't for the squeamish
Against front line action we raise our shields
Soldiers will soon succumb to the nightmare
Wish I could remember bucolic fields
Where the sun glittered in Mae's golden hair
I'd trade my last prayer for a sole rose
As clouds hover o'er the poppy meadows
AP: 1st place 2020
Submitted on December 12, 2019 for A BRIAN STRAND SONNET contest sponsored by BRIAN STRAND - RANKED 1ST
The pain is like child birth, it hits sudden and hard
Don't try to endure go and get some help
Fluids help to flush the little prickly pear stone, down the internal pipes.
But it is not a quick and easy flush.
Think skinning your urethras open to urine's burn.
Time heals all wounds, lots of time...
Dedicated to all those who have suffered from kidney stones.
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