John Hawkins: Favorites

Jul 2016 John Hawkins

Coping.

Jul 2016 John Hawkins

Fay Slimm

Coping.

Coping.

A shadow, poised where the blow is to fall
transports and transforms
in its turning
as shot hits, making wife widow who learns
by authentic letter
but starts hopeful pretense.

A dream believed whole is but a fragment
transfixed and transient
in its racing
away from such real where tragedy faces
grave's mocking indifference
to wedlock's stark finish.

A battle-torn soul coping alone with grief
transacts and transmits
in its mourning
devotional vows should report prove false
yet she, believing he lives
weeps while cursing war's evil.

Jul 2016 John Hawkins

Strong Drinks For Weak People

Jul 2016 John Hawkins

mikev

Strong Drinks For Weak People

Starry eyed chipmunks stuffing
adorable cheeks like eyes wide
Don't dig farther than you have to you
stupid animal
Kick to the ribs and electrons
weep in my frontal cortex hot why
I don't know why I do the things I do
Blankness -
I wake up. Stuff happens. Repeat.
Sometimes I talk. Why?
Sometimes I think. Why?
Daylight blends into ideas, erasing
and replacing - and by the time its Friday
It's become a blurry greyness -
and I'm not alone.
No, I think this mind has a mind of its own,
I think - this mind has a mind, yes -
of its own, I think - no -
I don't know much about particle physics
or gravity
I hardly know of Mathemathics or read,
as I should, at least -
at least, I can enjoy the drama
The drag the envy the drab
The colors the lights the shiny white
teeth of beauty!
Fess up, - slate cold barrel of Justice between his Bondish villainous eyes -
We know where you hid the diamond!
I just want to shut the **** off.
But I don't.
I watch. And I listen.
And I search. And I vision.
Another round?
No thanks. I swear it feeds the demons in your intestines, sweetheart.
I fear, selling this, had to be an art

Jul 2016 John Hawkins

Red Ink

Jul 2016 John Hawkins

Ben Fernekees

Red Ink

I scream into this piece of paper,
Vomiting up ink that seeps in,
But no one hears the pain of the silenced,

You just see the words and thoughts,
Not noticing a lot,
Notice nothing as I drain my veins,
Notice nothing of my writing in red

But I write to you again,
Hoping you can feel the pain behind the words,
Hoping someone would bleed for me,
For I am all but bled dry;

#sad #depressed #dark #ink #red #silenced

Jul 2016 John Hawkins

Chameleon Sky

Jul 2016 John Hawkins

LJ Chaplin

Chameleon Sky

I watched the sky transform
Overhead,
As the sun set
It flourished more than ever.

I watched in awe
As it changed colour,
The clouds shed its white washed skin
And boasted an undulating opalescence
Of pink and lilac,
Soft like candyfloss,
I felt compelled to reach up
And sink my teeth into it,
Only to let the rain fall
Onto my lips and seep
Into my skin.

I traced the clouds
To the horizon,
Where fiery hues of
Orange burned bright
Like wildfire,
An irresistible iridescence
That filled my belly with
An inferno
Not even the Seven Seas
Could tame.

Before long,
The stars filtered through
The kaleidoscopic creation,
Illuminating the Universe
Like the London Skyline.

I pick one amongst the
Palette of scattered clouds
And wish that I can witness
This masterpiece
*The same time tomorrow

#happiness #sky #imagery #colour #artist #palette #chameleon

Jul 2016 John Hawkins

Restricted

Jul 2016 John Hawkins

E Townsend

Restricted

Just hearing the prospect of my brother's proposal
plunged me into an ocean
where I am not allowed to surface. I can only
struggle and hope some fisherman,
or a dolphin, or jellyfish
to rescue me,
n u d g e me,
ssstttingg me back to the currents above.
I have this anchor locked to my tears, and I can't make

a sound. If they notice, I will begin to cry.
I don't want them to know
that I'm bad again. They are not the right
people who should know.
I just want someone to care about me
as much as I care about them.
I deserve love, like everyone deserves air.

#love #depression #drowning #ocean #breakdown #air #deserve #jellyfish #proposal #dolphin

Jul 2016 John Hawkins

Point (10 words)

Jul 2016 John Hawkins

Haydn Swan

Point (10 words)

When you reach that point
but the point is sharp.