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Dave Robertson Feb 2021
Get that window open!
Go on, do it!

Feel the fat rotation of the planet
throwing a little spring our way
to poke our amygdala
and rattle our dormancy

and sure, we know at the back of minds
a bare faced bait and switch is in play
which means our twitching fingers
will seek to put the big coats in the loft
only with dismay to find the grey frost
return to bite our ***** mid-March

but we can dream and show some ankle
can’t we?

We hold out for this spring
harder than a man who’s lost nine digits
to frostbite
so we can point to where it hurts,
be heard,
aware that we’re linked,
a swarm of warmer hands
that need to hold, to cling, to brace
against this lingering, malingering pain

We’re ready to emerge,
but only together
and while inclement, duplicitous weather
still rages
we’re better, sadly,
caved
Dave Robertson Feb 2021
Cold white numerals
from the Teutonic-honest dash:
9.5°C

Not so cold, I guess
but not the weather to press the button
for the windows to drop

I do while accelerating
too fast for the road,
the fresh air has volume
that angry-loves my tired,
house-cat skin

The wub-wub-wub pulse in my ears
has a cause I control
for once
as the next curve beckons
Ella Burton Jan 2021
You ask me how I am
“Tired”
I say
I slur

You preach your 3 hours of sleep
As though it is a feat
A competition in your mind
I know I have already won
Yet mine isn’t so victorious

I have felt years of heavy eyelids pulled down by black fingernails, the bruised under eyes and lust for more sleep

A weak bag of bones is all I am now
Collapsed at a laugh
Or a cry
My muscles show no strength
Neither do I
clarity is costly
and people seem to pay
tending to their mind
they lose it!
Dave Robertson Nov 2020
To Friday five I apologise,
to my profession and charges
I weaken and give mummers tales,
avoid holes of attention
that tired souls give in to

I love my responsibilities hotly
but there are ends to means,
so weekly turns have starts
which Mondays begin
Bansi Adroja Aug 2020
I am fading from real life
turning into notifications
an unread inbox
of messages with emojis
(instead of emotion)
stuck behind blue light
just a digital version
of hope and hurt
Working From Home
mr moon man Jul 2020
It was the end of the day.
the sun was saying its final goodbyes.
All the men were going home to a nice dinner
not me, I went home to a deafening silence.
As I prepared for tomorrow, you messaged me,
asking me how I was doing and how much my muscles ached.
As the conversation continued, I felt the fatigue of the day wash away as we talked into the night.
and when we said our final goodnights, I felt ready to face tomorrow.
this is a little something I whipped up for a tiny writing competition with the theme of friendship. I decided to post it here because it turned out better than expected
display Jun 2020
The dark prince drinks from the broken glass his tongue splintered with lies
His tears flowing freely skin rotten and falling
He is devoid of life
One king may fall and only one may rise
****** is rage and rage is slaughter
My prince belongs to the slaughter
Because only the slaughter may cry

His heart beats red and his putrid mind sees only the same thing
Many lives are lost in death and many more are made
All things must draw parallel only in death is the prince most Alive
He moves his hands in wide growing arcs wanting to embrace the world
His rage is slaughter
His limbs fall from place hanging listlessly in void and in vain
A single tear falls from the prince
He rises from his throne of nothing wanting to become something because he too is man

He roams in nothing wanting to see everything his eyes portray a new emotion
My prince roams heartlessly spreading his rage and I follow him
His tears of slaughter shift into this new emotion
My prince is dark but his heart has grown light
He open his lips
He was born to cry

Suffering rage sorrow and negativity have built his foundation
His entire life belongs to the slaughter
Sorrow returns to rage as they were never different
The God who wantonly killed suddenly wanted to die
The original I was going to post got deleted I don't know why
J May 2020
i’m sitting scrolling through Instagram taking a 5 minute brain break from my grad class work
about urban education policy which breaks my heart
because education policy and initiatives in urban school districts don’t take into account
poverty
unsafe living conditions
mom working 3 jobs just to put food on the table and keep the lights on
violence
drugs
all of which are exacerbated by the pandemic we’re in right now

all i need is 5 minutes to escape from that
but as i scroll
all i can see is
******
death
sadness
rage

another unarmed back man was murdered by white cops
another cry of “i can’t breathe”
another child died of starvation
another plane crashed
another trans woman of color was murdered
another kid committed suicide
another animal was shot so someone could have bacon for breakfast
another black man was harassed by a white woman while birdwatching in the park
another woman was beaten by her husband while quarantined together

all i need is 5 minutes
to escape the
******
death
sadness
rage
that’s everywhere

i’m just tired
everything i’ve seen today has broken my heart
everything i saw yesterday broke my heart
and the day before that
and the day before that
and the day before that

how can i help make change if i’m so **** tired all the time?
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