Home » Poems » Best » Art Ting » Best Art Ting Poems

Best Poems Written by Art Ting

Below are the all-time best Art Ting poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Art Ting Poem

To Me, Today

what is a hope
if not the most desperately fervent
wish of a man— a dream so deeply
staining the edges of reality

a hope lies dormant in my belly
sleeping like a dragon curled
on the hoard of my desire
breath like smoke wafting 

past my eyes and up my spine
tinting my retinas; seeping into my brain
it fires my neutrons and my body says,
why not try again

the days spent in despair— the people
who jeer— the coffee stains and 
splashed puddles and fumbled papers—
i hope to hate them a little less tomorrow

in this suffocating swirling world
my hope-stained eyes see 
a new dawn a new day
a light at the end of my tunnel

even cold wind warms my face;
around me bustles with life,
sun seeping through the cracks
waking up my slumbering hope

today will be different. today will be good
today, a day i’m living for the first time
i have a hope, wide awake in my core
it tells me, it will all be okay

Details | Art Ting Poem

katabasis

Euridice, Euridice
daughter of mortals, sworn to divine;
the bell tolls, the bell rings
“I’m sorry, I miss you”
Orpheus turns;  Euridice.

the unmade sheets, dog-eared pages 
stacked, dishes scattered in the sink
sunlight splashes 
I close my eyes
I see the ghost of where you’ve been

how long has it been
since the summer of your smile, 
the spring of your voice.
twenty years waiting, your Penelope;
a shroud unwoven by time

tick, tick, tick. the clock continually ticks.
it drags me by the hands, 
grabs me by the heart.
every grain falling through the hourglass,
a lifetime I once spent with you.

every word I never said,
a pomegranate never split;
I called your name too late.
Melpomene, my very own muse,
hear the swan song of my heart 

three words we never got to say
i love you i love you i love you
i turn to you to confess
(don’t look don’t look don’t look)
and there you are. you’re gone.

we were two sides of the same fate, 
 half of each other; star-crossed, but
snip. your shears split the weave and.
Fates themselves can’t force supernovas 
to align / when they’ve already long died

Details | Art Ting Poem

The First Curtain Call

you’ve cast a spell on me; 
your eyes shine brighter than any spotlight
and i’m captive on 
the stage of your attention

your hair flutters around you-
the brightest confetti i’ve ever seen
your lips whisper those three words
that incantation to my heart 

a quick tap of one-two-three;
your fingers are wrapped in mine
and the whole world still;
the earth is holding its breath

your lips whisper those words
that spell that will make me yours
but you’ve already captured me
long long ago

before the stage was set
you turned to me that day
the moonlight framed your silhouette perfectly
a paid actor for the climactic scene

you turned to me that night
a smile brighter than the sun upon your face
your lips whisper that one word 
the word that makes me “i”

the word leaves your lips
and you smile all the while
staring, like i am the moon
and you the moth

with those spotlight-bright eyes
and that sunlight smile
you called my name that night
you whispered it like it was a secret verse

and 
just like that
just like magic,
i was yours

Details | Art Ting Poem

fu hua

the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree
so the rot in the apple must stem from the bark
the roots that creep and drain of life
keeps us sour; unable to mend

you ruined me and i ruined you.
i hate you and i love you. 
i don’t know what to do.
what can i do?

i can’t leave you
you’ll always be a part of me
your roots digging in to my very core
and i don’t want you to let me go

but you’re so horrible—
yet so kind
every word you spit tastes like poison
but your touch is so intimately, unbearably, soft

i want to run away
i want to run into your arms again
i want you to beg me to stay
i want you to set me free

the apple is rotten, and what rots it is the tree
but how can i blame you?
even the oldest trees were
 once only apple seeds

how can i blame you,
when you were once me?
how can i blame an rotten apple
for growing into a rotten tree?

you rot me, because it’s all you know
you’ve been rotten from the inside out
and now you rot me too
and i hate you

i love you
i pity you
it’s all the same
in the end, i will grow into a rotten tree too

Details | Art Ting Poem

Sunspotting You

you’re bright 
so dazzlingly, overwhelmingly bright;
you’re the sun that sears the sky and
all the earth can only stare

i want to hold you
to cup you in my hands
 to feel your warmth between my 
palms and see your light run through my fingers

for the rest of my life, i want to have you with me
to warm away the winter chill and light up the night
but it hurts- 
it hurts too much to bear 

the you who burns brighter than the sun— who burns 
my eyes with your shine— the you who hurts
too much to hold
i can’t ever have you in my life

i want to avert my eyes
to forget your light
but you’re just so bright
you’re too brilliant-

 i can’t ever look away