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  21m Carlo C Gomez
Zahra
the hardest landscape
we ever attempt to cross
is not mountains or deserts,
but the hearts of human beings
the hardest terrain
we ever step into
is not earth
but each other.
you know how you can hear me,

when i am thinking. ‘yes that is because

i came from the forest, it is quiet there,

we can hear everything’

yes.

‘where have you been all day?’

here and there and felt the air

on my cheeks.

‘ so i hope the blanket of sadness

is lifting?’

yes. thank you bear.
never knew it,
never was I self-percepted,
that anything exceptional,
lay within, neither obvious
or dormant, was just an ordinary
if not, extra-ordinary pained
child by peers and my surrounders

and my own words yet today,
do not confer any distinction
when yours irradiate me into
a stunned and silenced reverie,
a reminder, a minder, that talent
recognizes no laws of equilibrium,
equality, and certainty not, equity

so I read with shocked, shocked, I tell you,

bemusement but comprehensive perception
when the young and extra~special confide,
their own misperceptions, overwhelmed by
the anxiety
of the billions of sky stars, and letters in their
twinkling orbs when forming identifiable comets with tagalong
dust trails^ of the debris of words that are formed by
their travels and travails on orbits
not necessarily predetermined
by gravitational adult pulleys, a gravity upon
their projected, sometimes directed,
sometimes not,
trajectory

"and yet, though an orbit is a type of trajectory,
not all trajectories are orbits"


nor are
"some comets, particularly
those from outside our solar system,
that move so fast that the Sun's gravity
is not strong enough to capture them
into a closed orbit


These comets follow an open, curved path
through the solar system and then
continue on into interstellar space,
never to be seen again
"

so be advised,
as you reassemble the debris from the multi~universe,
when assembling your owned,
unique~verse,
create your tail
and trail,
the futurity
of you is to be both
silent and loud,
absorbing and disgorging,
to awed and to be humbled,
by all that and those who went before,
all once younger and talented,
and knew this self-same anxiety,
but never let the fearing of their
the mystery of plotting of their
path
deter them
from exploring the skies and deep mines of the
sea trenches where undiscovered mysteries
abide

<nml>

4:59am
in the city where one can never see the
light of the stars,
particularly
by their owners
^ dust trails of comets
long-lasting streams of debris that can be seen for centuries
August, the Red Line,
connected tanks
of bolted plastic vertebrae.

Every seat gone except
five rows up, where a sea lion
sprawls across two,
stuffed backpack, jacket
spread like barbed wire.
His breath reeks of salt and rot,
his grunt a wet bark
at the glow of his screen.

Middle-school deer slip into the aisle,
chatter clipped when the sheriff drifts past,
their ears flicking, smiles bitten shut.

Not a predator- just a gelded ox,
chest puffed, badge sagging, glass-eyed,
chest rig clattering with blanks.

Two lemur-children cling to their tortoise elder,
her shell steady against the sway of the car.

She filters them from the surge of riders:
loud Dodger blue parrots in cholo socks,
moth-women with painted lashes beating the stale air,
a stray dog, gutter musk dragging at its haunches.

And one gray bear  
muttering alone,  
arguing with her reflection.

Between Koreatown and MacArthur Park
I feel feathers forcing through my skin-
an alley gull knifing into this clamour,
scavenging inside its exhaust.

The car rattles, its ribs plated with blistered posters:
museum wings open to no one,
‘register to vote’ fading into graffiti script,
flu shots promised by smiling ghosts.
A bruised hatchling staring out beside the words
See something, say something.

The warning lights glow
like eyes hunting in the dark.

The train itself a carcass,
paint sloughing from its bones.

The rails grind like teeth.
Steel plates shiver.

From its flanks the train
unfurls iron claws.

They rake
the tunnel walls,
the city’s bones,
the dark itself.
~
October 2025
HP Poet: Pagan Paul
Country: UK


Question 1: We warmly welcome you to the HP Spotlight, Paul. Please tell us about your background?

Pagan Paul: "I am from Bristol, England. I have always been a Free Spirit and never really settled into the society into which I was born. I am neuro-diverse. I am generally quite a shy and private person. I also write a little comedy and love listening to old comedy radio shows. I like cheese (especially vintage Chedder)."


Question 2: How long have you been writing poetry, and for how long have you been a member of Hello Poetry?

Pagan Paul: "I have been a member of HP since August 2016. I started writing poetry in around 2012, but not regularly. I think it was around 2015 I became more prolific and took it more seriously."


Question 3: What inspires you? (In other words, how does poetry happen for you).

Pagan Paul: "My inspiration comes from many sources. Nature, mental health, relationships, experiences, articles, books and my interests. But also from the mess that is my mind."


Question 4: What does poetry mean to you?

Pagan Paul: "What does poetry mean to me? Escape and expression for my creativity. Its a chance to write down things in a way that makes more sense to my neuro-diverse mind as well as to explore and experiment with ideas, concepts and imagination."


Question 5: Who are your favorite poets?

Pagan Paul: "I do not really read much in the way of classical poetry (Byron, Keats etc) but do tend to read some from ancient Greece and Rome like Callus, Praxilla, Virgil etc. I also tend towards the more abstract or psychedelic poetry of James Douglas Morrison. As mentioned I am a fan of comedy poetry by people like Spike Milligan, Henry Normal and Pam Ayers always raise a laugh."


Question 6: What other interests do you have?

Pagan Paul: "My main interest is music and the consumption thereof. I listen to a lot of different music from different genres. I have always regretted never learning an instrument or music theory. I also read a lot, especially with regard to the ancient world. The old myths and legends and folklore are also a source of inspiration for my poetry."


Carlo C. Gomez: “We would like to thank you Paul, we really appreciate you giving us the opportunity to get to know the person behind the poet! It is our pleasure to include you in this Spotlight series!”




Thank you everyone here at HP for taking the time to read this. We hope you enjoyed coming to know Paul better. We most certainly did. It is our wish that these spotlights are helping everyone to further discover and appreciate their fellow poets. – Carlo C. Gomez

We will post Spotlight #33 in November!

~
Below are a few of Paul's most favorite poems and links to each one:

Moontouched:
https://hellopoetry.com/poem/1756684/moontouched/

Judderwitch 2 (Monsters):
https://hellopoetry.com/poem/1923972/judderwitch-2-monsters/

Comfort Blanket:
https://hellopoetry.com/poem/2532170/comfort-blanket/

Night Train to Dawn:
https://hellopoetry.com/poem/3696368/night-train-to-dawn/

Pyramid Spell:
https://hellopoetry.com/poem/4839012/pyramid-spell/

Also the YouTube link below is for a video of Paul's poem 'For Hours of Time' (July 2023) set to music for solo violin and choir by American composer Sy Anderson.

https://youtu.be/mpGcrWHwb7g?si=5loGIGzfUcGVN7VN
Once upon a time
There was more than enough time
To pony up
To horse around
To leap frog

Once upon a time
You could chicken out
Or worm your way in
You could cook your goose
And eat it too

Once upon a time
You could cry wolf
Or clam up
You could count sheep
Or tell a whale of a tale

You could get the monkey
Off your back
Then live high on the hog

But time has outfoxed us all
Nowadays time is on the lamb
Love is blind
Till you can see.
And when you see
and it’s still there
It will be magical.
Love isn’t blind.


Shell ✨🐚
When you see the true colors of someone that’s when you know.
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