My knuckles are raw from the cold subway pole,
and the guy next to me smells like damp wool and cheap coffee.
He’s staring at a cracked phone screen,
his thumb scrolling past headlines, dinners, divorces.
We don’t talk.
Nobody talks here.
But under his heavy black winter coat,
somewhere behind his lint-covered tie,
a small fist of muscle is slamming against his ribs.
Thump.
It’s a clumsy, desperate noise,
like an old radiator knocking in a basement.
It keeps time against the black tunnel outside the window,
a persistent thudding negotiation with the dark
that just asks for enough time to get to Tuesday.
We walk around pretending we own the sidewalk,
worrying about the rent, the teeth that need fixing,
the text message left on "read."
Every wet breath is a lease renewal
signed in the dark without our permission.
I look at the girl across from me,
her eyeliner smudged from a long shift.
Her chest rises.
The cold world looks the other way,
indifferent,
and lets her have another minute to figure it out.
It’s not a grand design.
It's just a truce.
A messy, fragile truce,
kept alive by a pound of red meat
stubbornly refusing to stop hitting the wall.
Narrow winding road passing through the stretched fields
A flock of white storks strutting on the ridges
As if they were the landlords
Slight warbles and trills of birds
I went on enjoying the symphony during my morning walk
A chaos...
The purring of a gasoline car
All the birds soared upwards with a flapping
One confused stork flew in the reverse course
And hit the hood of the car
A thudding sound followed by a weak wailing
I sensed what had happened
Saddened at the sight of the discoloured bird
The static stork plucked my heart strings
An unknown bird...
Still, turbulence in my heart
The hard lucked bird has become my storyline
My tranquil RIP to the hapless soul!
Premiere Contest : 3rd Place
It was just a dream but I have a headache from tears I never shed.
It was just a dream but my breath is racing.
It was just a dream but my heart is still thudding in my chest.
It was just a dream but the pain still pulsates throughout my entire body.
It was just a dream but I still feel their hands on me.
It was just a dream but I still hear the echoing of their whisper.
It was just a dream.
It was just a dream.
It was just a dream but why does it feel so real?
It was just a dream.
It has to be just a dream.
Please let it just be a dream…
mary (a quiet yes) bows low
as light (soft as breath) spills into her womb—
a promise cradled in infinite space.
joseph’s hands (calloused & trembling)
grasp the weight of whispers:
holy. impossible. near.
caesar decrees, the world bends—
roads unravel like threads on a loom.
a city swells, heavy with strangers
searching for shelter,
for place,
for peace.
(no room)
(no room)
(no room)
until a manger beckons, humble as dust.
stars shiver—
their silver echoes fall to earth
to crown a child
wrapped in rags,
in glory.
shepherds (all elbows & awe) stumble in:
the sky split open,
angels singing of peace like rain.
their stories drip into silence,
hearts thudding in wonder.
the child stirs.
and the world breathes anew—
eternity held
in the curve of His tiny hand.
Unseasonal summer rains at once burst
Everywhere litter and garbage dispersed
Making men run here and there for shelter
In no time, life becomes helter-skelter
Unexpected like facing an old friend
Heat waves turn into zephyrs in the end
Enraptured by a great relief to hearts
Pleasant weather diffused in many parts
Unlucky for farmers who toiled year long
Grains stay afloat; a heart rendering song
In the wink of an eye, things go tumbled
Happy dreams about their kindred crumbled
Unkind like a bad master who reviles
Vicious arrows of words for making trials
With tongue lashing, makes the servants feel hurt
As huge hailstones thudding down with a spurt
Unfurls an eye feasting vibrant rainbow
Cleans air and makes leaves look fresh and aglow
Koel starts singing as if spring gets back
A curtain raiser to ‘Fall’ next on track
Place: 2nd
Featherlight touches
Fluttering kisses
Thudding heartbeats
One look
One gasp
A million desires erupt.
~ PoeticSoul
Your sand, my waves
you're every grain
hotter than one
can possibly explain.
My water
trickles to you ,
at first
just to tease,
increasing
in urgency to aid
in your release.
Before too long
my waves
crash against you,
covering the loin
of your land,
caressing it in it's
beautifully long span.
My wetness envelopes you as
I bury you in the splashes,
applying wet thudding lashes.
I pound your hot surface
with all that is my waves
because in the end it's only
you that I crave.
©SamHarty
The bell rang once, a faint tingle;
clear, sharp in the cold, numbing air
yet strangely muffled in the mist.
All heard it, the distant, single;
ting, behind the droning prayer.
Though not a soul among their midst
affirmed each other that they heard.
The rope slid by black-gloved fingers
while the casket heavily sunk,
The vicar’s final mournful word
hangs above them all and lingers;
another ding, a thudding clunk.
Eyes quickly turn towards each other
others stare towards the ringing sound.
Disturbed unkindness ravens crow
above a grave; Elsie’s brother
interred beneath this Holy ground;
some twenty-seven years ago!
Rocking back and forth with a Magellan hat, Lennie prepares for sailing.
Incoherent babbling is heard from the explorer on all fours.
Items of existential curiosity, once seen from afar and distant, are now within reach.
Unbeknownst of this capable ability are those that keep watch, giggles to self.
Driven by wonder, soft thudding perks the ears of the canine companion.
The pain of fence posts cutting through tissue leaves a snail trail on the floor.
Finally making landfall, the little giant scales rectangular glass framed in wood.
Pauses, send deafening echoes to the villagers safe inside, stunned in silence.
Bored of this impenetrable defense, climb further to the cliff edge to peer over the brim.
A village made of logs, glittered snow that sparkles on hand, little people frozen in time.
With a reverse Midas touch, ends the curse of the village with the gift of flight.
Awoken, the God and keeper of the village imprison your curiosity in a netted cage.
12-28-22
An Existential Curiosity
Sponsor: Edward Ibeh
Hurry! Hurry!
All aboard the Cosmic Trane
Where the mind runs free and
the soul feels no pain
A location for the elevation of
humanness to the existential
realm of salvation
Galactic spiritual religiosity in the
form of rhythmic sounds
Free. Free. Running freely into
dimensions away from the third
A ride. A glorious ride of
harmonic bliss
A kiss, a sweet kiss...
So fasten and secure your headphones
and be sure not to miss
Because this is sure to be a ride
of epic proportions
Away. Far away from the chaos and
distortions
My God!
Jones will be thudding
With Tyner tinkling the keys
Oh yes, Garrison will be a 'bassing'
And Coltrane blowing like a breeze
A ride. A celestial ride out of
this world
To places and spaces where all
dreams and hopes are unfurled
O' Wise One in the sleeper for a
Song of Praise
And Afro Blue reflects on Africa
Giant Steps in the coming days
Blues Minor to Sweet Naima
I have my ticket, so you know this
means I can not stay
I just pressed play, and now I'm coasting
and floating away
I breathe for you when you cannot
I sleep within the screaming thought
Of life and love and death and pain
For tears stream silent in the rain
A shadow lives where once was I
Despair hangs heavy in the sky
A chasm stretching without end
And silence is my only friend
In dreams I see your sunlit face
I promised you I’d keep the pace
But all that’s left when daylight breaks
Is empty mem’ries and faded fakes
When without you the sun hangs low
My heartbeat fades until it’s slow
A thudding drum inside my chest
In longing for eternal rest
Sheets of rain covered my misery
Pouring into the follicles of my hair
Leaving puddles in the crevice of my collar bones
Rain running down my cheeks in cold teardrops
Tasting salt that stings this pain
Hearing your voice like heavy thunder
Bouncing off the walls of dark clouds
The thudding of those loud drops
Piercing my chest and stabbing my heart
Running wet through the corridors of my mind
Drowning under waves of anguish
Running through my veins
6.8.2021
Oft a desert stretches out before me,
empty of hope, sustenance, or new vista.
It tortures me: Illusions of being free,
its windy tendrils teasing skin as mine own Callista.
And as my salt-crusted eyes searches the heat-dancing nadir,
my thudding heart grows ever weaker.
Thoughts abound unbidden about the Father,
His will in this, my quest as truth-seeker.
I strive on, each stride a small victory,
each breath I draw a gift from the gods of old.
My stubborn strength and smile born from legends of Thor and Loki,
but my will, my purpose, residing solely in the new Christ's countenance of gold.
As I leave my fate as so many times before,
in His hands still, both shielding me since times of yore.
WHO WILL?
With frozen tears, she stands alone,
Not knowing what to do,
With nobody to call her own,
Who will her heart subdue?
Listen to her heart thudding loud,
She faces the unknown,
When darkness does her face enshroud,
Who will hearken her groan?
With weeping, she worries and frets,
Emotions rule her mind,
Sometimes, her purpose she forgets,
Who will help her unwind?
11.23.2020
(8.6.8.6 syllables)
Pain is like sweeping rain
Dripping wet with gripping tenacity
Beating down with fleeting intensity
Drenching me wrenching my heart
Whirring past stirring up emotions
Pouring down flooring my soul
Drizzling drops like sizzling fire
Flooding fast with thudding force
Streaming torrents like screaming pangs
Aching all over breaking tide
Clinging distress stinging my eyes
Sticking agony pricking my being
Falling sleets mauling my body
Seeping in like creeping anguish
Pain is like driving rain
11.08.2020
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