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 0° 
Thomas W Case
It didn't matter if it was
August, and the air felt like an
oven on broil, or if it was
February, and the dumpsters
were icecicles to the soul.
We needed *****, and since we
didn't have jobs, the cans, at
5 cents a piece were our
aluminum tickets to sweet relief.
The magic click.
Enough cans meant a bottle of
whiskey
*****
gin,
anything to dull the
sharp, vivid pain of life.

We sifted through
cat ****
catsup
***** diapers
discarded ***** mags,
and all the other
garbage from the
rich and the poor.

One winter morning,
I threw back a heavy metal lid,
and there was a fat
raccoon looking up at me.
If Bacchus or Dionysus were
smiling, we found a
full bottle.
It happened once in
a while during summer when
the college kids headed home.

Miles of walking,
freezing or burning up,
We were the aluminum
cowboys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz70MOS_JX8
Here is a link to my you tube channel where I read my poetry from my books, the latest being Sleep Always Calls, they are available on Amazon.  I have a website...link below
 0° 
Amethyste
I wanted to feel it
The joy of being understood.
 0° 
Geof Spavins
It doesn’t grow; it lingers.
Clings to ice older than regret, green with memory no world was there to gather.

The silence hums like a forgotten vow, not broken, just orbiting its chance to be said.

Moss dreams in spores and spores of maybe.
Each tendril reaching for a gravity that will not claim it.

This is not nature.
It’s ritual.
A fuzzed hymn to the act of staying where leaving has already begun.

So the comet loops, wearing time’s soft refusal.
And we, the flinch, the breath halfway drawn, call that orbit "now."
 0° 
Agnes de Lods
Ego
Oh, my dearest Egooooo!
When you can’t squeeze through the door,
so immense and entitled,
I tell myself,
“That’s enough!”
No more confetti and fireworks!
Haunting me over a lost chance.

The Magnificence of Doubt—
what if I were…
Soundless compliments
only to be pinched and ignored later.

From now on,
I celebrate my mediocre greatness
with a crown of fool’s gold on my head…
yet throne-less.

Some falls, invisible success,
and unfulfilled hopes,
which, surprisingly,
made me stronger.

Oh, the Irony of fate!
All these sleepless nights
for this Wisdom?!
 0° 
Max Vale
Before you start a war.
you better know the cause,
you're willing to die for.
would you put your heart,
on the trigger?
or would you die,
by the hands of a sinner?
 0° 
morallygray
Did you ever make it back?
Did you see everything you wanted to see?
Carve your name into the seven wonders?
Summited Everest and made it your home?
Maybe you flew into the sun
Decided it was where you need to be
Shed human form and let your soul take over
If you did make it back, and you roam like Cain
Come find me
Let me know
If you became the woman
You always wanted to be.
 0° 
neth jones
.
what devils can i get away with in words ?
like arranging mercury slinks              
to make a true thing    unbloated and blue
an honest note of mood
or  instead  floated finks of corpse              
vicious old swears                                
  with nasty rash of discrimination
hold still   it ain't pretty but              
         i can capture this picture
.
[original - approx 06/25 what devils can i get away with in words /like arranging mercury slinks/to make a true thing   unbloated and blue/hold still   i capture a picture/art you a fixture ?  get out the glue]
Roses are red
Netanyahu is a swine
I pray to the Lord for
A free Palestine
🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸
 0° 
AydanL
Our lives
are like cardboard
boxes,

there's only so much
they can retain.

If the pressure's
too great

it will break,
shattering what's
inside.

I loved you
like childhood,

but I guess
we all have to grow up
sometimes.
 0° 
Woo Han Zhang
Some say
Don't set yourself ablaze
To keep others warm.

Why not?
Be the light
While keeping form.

Make yourself
Fireproof,
A vessel for any flame.

Take heart
Forge your path
Without any shame.

Take heed
The trail of ashes
Along the way.

Take to
The skies
Come what may.

Keep pace
Like clockwork,
The stars in sight.

It's time
To be the fireproof
Beacon of light.
 0° 
Thomas W Case
We talk about the
past like it's a
movie we
watched together.
You liked the
cinematography.
I didn't care for the
cruelty of the
protagonist.

We disagree on the
theme, and every
scene holds different
aspects of
symbolism for us.
I'm not sure I want
there to be a sequel,
despite the good
acting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn9IAYo0wZE
Here is a link to my YouTube channel, where I read poetry from my latest book, Sleep Always Calls.  It's available on Amazon.  My two other books are also available.  Seedy Town Blues and It's Just a Hop, Skip, and a Jump to the Madhouse.
 0° 
Nosy
Why must I be within your heart
This hurts as I wanted to leave,
When with eternity you grow,
And every fare declines way.

This could mean I shall stay,
But for whom,
Just for you.
Chýbaš mi
 0° 
Emery Feine
because i had everything i could ever want
then figured out it was all a lie
because while all you could do was taunt
i crafted my own wings to fly
dont worry i didnt fly too high
You Got me running around like
I'm in a CARNIVAL MAZE,
Looking all DISORIENTED,
DISTRACTED and DAZED,
I Don't know where to go,
I'm not sure what to do,
Keep running into these DEAD ENDS,
I don't have the SLIGHTEST CLUE.
I'm stuck in this MAD HOUSE,
I need to find the WAY OUT, but
If I stay on the RIGHT PATH,
I'll find the CORRECT ROUTE!!!


B.R.
Date: 03/24/2023
 0° 
Agnes de Lods
I flowed into the dark blue ocean of symbols.
Just yesterday,
I walked with heavy footsteps,
well-grounded.

But once again,
an irresistible force lifted me.
I wanted to see what was above.

Then I came back,
changed,
less happy,
a part of me scattered
in that an alternative universe.

Now, worlds overlapping appear,
The sun is shining with different light.
Words change their meaning.
The fog thickens so,
I can no longer see fissures
under my feet.

Step by step, carefully,
I try to pass through
a dimension of forgotten dreaming.

I don’t want to be stuck
inside an illusion for too long.
Looking at my heart still glowing,
devoured by some voices,
bite by bite, crumb by crumb.

They come in need,
then dissolve like ghosts.

How can one love,
under the heavy weight of knowing—
with Lapis Lazuli pressed
against my chest?

I don’t want to vanish
into sticky spider webs
into formal language  
that is too cold,
too detached.

Two forces fight inside me
To see the truth, even if it hurts,
or to close my eyes,
and idealize brutal reality.

Looking in the distorted mirror,
observing love quivering on the verge.
And thus, the Earth becomes the theater.

The cynical facades ******
with pretended freedom,
taking every hour,
every month,
every year,

into

PROGRESSIVE
DE…HUMANIZATION
 0° 
renseksderf
Éclair My Heart

Fill me up with custard’s glow,  
soft as secrets whispered low.  
Chocolate coat our midnight vows,  
each bite a bow that time allows.  

Glossy tease of vanilla sighs—  
declare your love in pastry cries.





.
....bow instead of bough, so the spelling hints at its pronouncing.
 0° 
Olivia Williams
Hello!
It’s me again. :)

I am leaving for VACATION!!
Literally tomorrow (Friday, jul 18).
And I won’t be back until next week!
I’m seeing my dad’s family up north in cabins for the week!
And going on the e-foils :).   :).      
Anyways!
Love you all and your support!
I’ll always be here
Forever and always
To infinity and beyond
I will be back
(Im going to go have fun now.  :)

-Olivia.  :)
I LOVE SMILY FACES :).   !!!!   :)
 0° 
Byeol Writing
Of all the souls I’ve ever known,
only you could wear the name you—
in the way my heart remembers,
in the way it still aches to.
 0° 
Jamal Upshaw
angels
are
the
architects
that
dangle
the
soft white clouds
like
marionettes
that
dangle
their
puppets upon a string
while
whispering still
through
the
heavenly clouds
 0° 
RJ
I’ve been through enough
to know silence can be louder than screams.
Enough to know
“I'm fine” usually means
I'm not.

I’ve had nights
where the weight got heavy,
but I held it anyway.
No applause.
No witness.
Just me
and the dark
playing tug-of-war with my peace.

But I never let go.
Even when I wanted to.

There’s a version of me
I used to mourn
the one before the heartbreak,
before the trust got shattered,
before I learned
people only love you
when it's easy.

Now I move slower,
but wiser.
I speak less,
but mean more.
I lost some friends,
but I found my spine.

The ink on my hand
ain’t decoration
it’s declaration.
Proof I’ve made it this far,
even if the road
was more cuts than comfort.

I don’t expect perfect anymore.
Just real.
Just effort.
Just peace that don’t ask me
to shrink to fit inside it.

I’m not healed,
but I’m healing.
Not fearless,
but brave.
Still got days
where I look in the mirror
and ask,
“Am I really built for this?”

And every time,
my reflection answers,
“You really are.”
 0° 
jasmine
In darkness i search for light,
In light i yearn for darkness.
I solemnly pray for the changing tides.
I unwittingly am blind.

I whisper out to darkness.
“The voice of a succubus”, he responds
I yearn for the light.

I whisper out to light.
“The voice of an angel”, he responds
But i am unwittingly blind.
I yearn for the dark.

In the night i yearn for light,
In the light i search for darkness,
I pray for changing tides.
So out of touch,
Lost, out overlooking sea.
Adrift, alone —
Cast out, wayside of the rift.
Scream, beg, but no sound.

Tired, futile to ease,
One foot forward, drag the back.
Adrift, alone —
Struck down, caught by the plague.
Scream, beg, but vacuum surrounds.

So uneasily unstable,
A crumbling world, can't fix the cracks.
Adrift, alone —
Fallen once, an angel, now trapped.
Scream, beg, but alas,

No sound.
- C.c
Quel temps de chien ! - il pleut, il neige ;
Les cochers, transis sur leur siège,
Ont le nez bleu.
Par ce vilain soir de décembre,
Qu'il ferait bon garder la chambre,
Devant son feu !

A l'angle de la cheminée
La chauffeuse capitonnée
Vous tend les bras
Et semble avec une caresse
Vous dire comme une maîtresse,
" Tu resteras ! "

Un papier rose à découpures,
Comme un sein blanc sous des guipures.
Voile à demi
Le globe laiteux de la lampe
Dont le reflet au plafond rampe,
Tout endormi.

On n'entend rien dans le silence
Que le pendule qui balance
Son disque d'or,
Et que le vent qui pleure et rôde,
Parcourant, pour entrer en fraude,
Le corridor.

C'est bal à l'ambassade anglaise ;
Mon habit noir est sur la chaise,
Les bras ballants ;
Mon gilet bâille et ma chemise
Semble dresser, pour être mise,
Ses poignets blancs.

Les brodequins à pointe étroite
Montrent leur vernis qui miroite,
Au feu placés ;
A côté des minces cravates
S'allongent comme des mains plates
Les gants glacés.

Il faut sortir ! - quelle corvée !
Prendre la file à l'arrivée  
Et suivre au pas
Les coupés des beautés altières
Portant blasons sur leurs portières
Et leurs appas.

Rester debout contre une porte
A voir se ruer la cohorte
Des invités ;
Les vieux museaux, les frais visages,
Les fracs en coeur et les corsages
Décolletés ;

Les dos où fleurit la pustule,
Couvrant leur peau rouge d'un tulle
Aérien ;
Les dandys et les diplomates,
Sur leurs faces à teintes mates,
Ne montrant rien.

Et ne pouvoir franchir la haie
Des douairières aux yeux d'orfraie
Ou de vautour,
Pour aller dire à son oreille
Petite, nacrée et vermeille,
Un mot d'amour !

Je n'irai pas ! - et ferai mettre
Dans son bouquet un bout de lettre
A l'Opéra.
Par les violettes de Parme,
La mauvaise humeur se désarme :
Elle viendra !

J'ai là l'Intermezzo de Heine,
Le Thomas Grain-d'Orge de Taine,
Les deux Goncourt ;
Le temps, jusqu'à l'heure où s'achève
Sur l'oreiller l'idée en rêve,
Me sera court.
I held your love
with the fingers of my heart
I tattooed the promise
to all my tomorrows
across my back to be carried for eternity
. . . where are you now ?

It takes forever for distant stars to burn my lips
There is no mercy found on the floorboards that walk across my kiss
. . . where are they now ?

Remember how the needles of time stitched the nights together ?
How easy does the fabric of love become unentwined
. . .  remember ?
 0° 
betterdays
Young magpies,
still grey of feather,  
attack random sticks
thinking them food,
cry out despondently
when discovering
their prey is inedible wood.
Mother magpie overseas
Scavenging expedition with
beady eyed patience...
 0° 
eliana
Be brave.
You already are.
Look at what you've made it through.
The wounds of your past have healed.
The seemingly endless chapter has ended,
And those bruises have faded.
The battle, you survived,
And you are still here.
Be brave.
this poem  is about my battle scars. I hope it gives the people who have cut or are still cutting inspiration
Apples
in a bowl
on a wooden table
glowing
in a beam
of sunshine

A window
facing trees
gently moving
in the winds
of Summer

A hand
pooring coffee
for a friend
at the table

Senses intermingling:
apples, wood, summer wind
talk and friendship
in a timeless moment
of simplicity.
 0° 
deanena tierney
So many things
I care nothing about now
As society says I should
My soul disagrees
¡Ya coronó la dicha tus amores!
Un hijo tienes ya, que habrá nacido
Oyendo, cual los dulces ruiseñores,
Músicas en los aires y en el nido.

Sé que la madre de ventura loca
Cifra en él sus más dulces embelesos,
Y que en la fresca guinda de su boca
Acendra miel con lágrimas y besos.

Sé que a ti ya te enferman los sonrojos,
Pues cada extraño que en tu bien repara
Te dice que sus ojos son tus ojos.
Que en su cara de cielo está tu cara.

Y hablando la verdad, si se parece
A su progenitor, yo lo bendigo;
Ya verás cómo vive y cómo crece,
Y halla en cada mortal un buen amigo.

¡Todo igual a su padre! el mundo dice,
Y tú lo miras, y con tierno arrullo
Tu mano lo acaricia y lo bendice
Con infinito amor y noble orgullo.

Hoy tiemblas si en la cuna se menea,
Y tiemblas cuando duerme sosegado,
Y al ver que gesticula y pestañea
Dices en tu interior: ¿qué habrá pensado?

Ni la brisa sutil dejas que roce
Su frente angelical; te ve y suspira,
Y dices con pasión: ¡ya me conoce,
Y ya me quiere hablar cuando me mira!

Habrá que verte cuando ufano pasas
Llevando al nuevo rey de tus amores,
En un coche de mimbres y de gasas
En triunfo por los anchos corredores.

Seguro estoy de que gozoso gritas
Cuando ves con qué gracia tu heredero
Alza al aire las blancas manecitas
Y agita el argentado sonajero.

Y que, por más que está recién llegado
A tu hogar, venturoso cual ninguno,
Lo sueñas almirante y abogado,
Capitán general, sabio y tribuno.

Y lo miras del mundo en la faena
Desdeñando lisonjas y oropeles,
Y su mirada cándida y serena
Te habla de gloria, aplausos y laureles.

Siendo tan pequeñito lo ves hombre,
Y hasta pretendes inquirir ufano
Cómo pondrá las letras de su nombre
El jazmín diminuto de su mano.

Comprendo bien que el serafín te engríe,
Que con él van tus horas muy de prisa,
Y que miras a Dios si te sonríe,
Pues está todo el cielo en su sonrisa.

Miro a la joven madre en su recato
Cómo lo baña en su mirar sereno,
Y hallando en él tu amor y tu retrato,
¡Le da toda la savia de su seno!

Comprendo tu alborozo: en tu alma anida
El más augusto y santo regocijo;
¡Ser padre es ser devoto de la vida,
Porque toda la vida está en el hijo!

Hoy pensarás en todo; si te exalta
El más ciego furor, pronto al mirarlo
Exclamarás con miedo: ¡le hago falta!
¡Yo no debo por nadie abandonarlo!

Es nueva religión la que en él tienes;
Al verlo tu esperanza fortificas,
Y la mejor corona de tus sienes
Es el inmenso amor que le dedicas.

¿Nació para cantar? ¡destino santo!
No lo veré; mi vida se derrumba
A un abismo sin fin; pídele un canto
A mi cariño a ti, sobre mi tumba;

Dile que se estrecharon nuestras manos
Cuando viniste a honrar el suelo mío,
Que tú y yo nos quisimos como hermanos,
Que le amo mucho, y que me llame tío.

Que ha visto el claro albor de la existencia
En esa fecha llena de esplendores
En que mi patria ungió su independencia
Con el grito del cura de Dolores.

¡Dios te vele esa joya de valía,
Tenga en el mundo mirtos por alfombra,
Y que mañana puedan tú y María
Entrelazar sus canas a su sombra!
 0° 
guy scutellaro
born in the artic snow
she chromed
her heart
in steel

flames could
not
touch that heart

always a half a step ahead
sure
a few stumbles
but never a fall

and moonlight is just
a heartache in disquise

till one day
leaning out a car window
a scar upon his cheek
and the luck of the draw

was the jack of hearts

and the queen of diamonds
had
never met
anyone
quite like

the jack

of hearts,

black-haired blue-eyed
her beauty inspired
stupid men
to commit foolish acts

and as he smiled
the queen of diamonds
thought she had

the jack of hearts,

blue sky shimmering
in her eyes

jack became
the brightness
of her day

and the jack of hearts
saw a flame
flickering in her eyes
that he had never seen
in any women's eyes
before ...
                
               act. 2

... a strange destiny
was unraveling
and one long poker hand
was over
and the snowflakes came
down like ashes
under the street light

and then
the jack of hearts
walked away

a pale spirit fleeing
a graveyard
into the wall of night

and the queen of diamonds
cried

the sea into sky

with eyes
like twilight
waiting

to eat away the day
 0° 
Laura
The Grave.
Each and every one of us was put on this earth to fulfill a purpose.
No matter what color or  creed  we were uniquely and beautifully designed by the potter.
But the grave becomes the  victor as many life's  come to an end,too many stories never told ,wasted talents , visions lost and swallowed up by the grave.
 0° 
Kairos
At life's next threshold
I can live my questions now
Not drowned in answers
A slight nod to Rilke's "letters to a young poet"
 0° 
Airi Lightmoon
Have you ever seen a person drown?



You fight, muscles straining as you reach--flailing helplessly toward what you need most. You can't stand it anymore as your body screams for oxygen. You gasp-- hoping, praying this is a dream, but a searing burn rushes down your throat and through your lungs as water floods in. It shouldn't be there, you know it-- every cell screams but it's too late, the water is inside and keeps flooding in. You reach for the light one last time, it filtering and bending into bright rays around your fingers. Your vision grows dull, your muscles no longer respond to what your brain is telling them to do. The light growing dimmer and dimmer as the last bubbles float to the surface. One last ray of gold slips through your fingers... Then nothing...



It's to be expected for any animal to struggle as much as possible while drowning in the water. Some will put others of their kind underneath them, just for precious moments of rest and survival.
So what do you do when you find a person overboard, drowning in the sea of black?
Naturally, I throw the life preserver in hopes that they will grab onto it and I can save them.

Remember what I said when some creatures will force their own kin under in order to live?
Well, what do you do with a creature like that?
Eventually, it's you or them. At this point, it's natural to choose you!
A lil practice on narrative structure. Hope y'all like it
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