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In reverse of the waddle wheel
the landscape runs back in blow
of winds that take a hair threadlike’s hand
to dance a trickle of pathos
when I swallow.
Not thoughts of of prattle, but roars within struggle
as if time concreted through spaces, still,
to contingency thee confide.
What a subtle heaviness to stand where I shall revel
What a terrible freedom to know what I cannot sail

It’s gonna end.

But until now I can’t even tell
what I am missing,
for what, and by whom?
19:58 January 22, 2025. In Xishuangbanna's breeze, damp and feeble and summer.
They consume me from within,
the ants beneath my skin
arch and tear
another piece of me.

I don’t know which part
to offer next.
They carve their paths,
unearthing the core,
building mounds,
sitting motionless inside.

But still they bite,
those cursed ants,
with their tiny heads,
and unnervingly wide eyes,
ever hungrier,
gathering together—
those ******,
****** ants.
Have you ever felt something quietly consuming you from within?
Sitting on the wire she glooms and alone
‘Down forth’ all beckon,
‘Bits of bread are there
Pick up lest the other demands share’.
The lame bird ***** in the air
Rolling down from her breast a feather,
Pecking a bit with a sense
The escorts saving by defence.
A hunter hits like the lightning from the blue
None finds out yet its clue,
Concreted blood splitting and dog's spittle
Absence of delay makes her utmost brittle,
The barking dogs in the narrow city
Whose have with her no affinity,
All green leaves falling upon ground
That is for love beyond of bound,
Odium! Odium! to the merciless beings
The supreme creatures for whom so long she sings.
Arpitha 4d
End
Struggling to breathe,
like a fish out of water.
This is the end.
A negative mindset
Breeds a negative life,
One full of pain,
Disappointment, and strife.

But what about the woman
Who wakes every day,
Hope clutched in her hands,
Ready for change her way?

Right when she’s comfy,
Her things all laid out,
The clouds come rolling,
To wash her smile out.

When she’s content
With the film’s final cut,
The universe laughs-
And ***** it all up.

What about that woman
You call too dark?
She’s given her everything,
Sacrificed her spark.

Yeah, maybe she’s dramatic,
And small troubles feel big.
But they would to you too,
If you saw how she did.

Still she keeps moving,
Her scars in plain sight.
A warrior through the day,
But a ghost every night.

But keep manifesting, dear,
Rewards are only for joy.
Be punished for your fear,
The pain's yours to enjoy.
Survivor of circumstance
Lay that thought to rest,
If it's not personal, it'll never be your best.

They can sense fake,
they know when it's not true.

It's not personal,
if it doesn't cut you.

If it doesn't sting
or make you bleed.

If you're not afraid,
or choked up when you read.

These lines are your life,
your babies,
your soul.

Put out to the world
to rake over the coals.

To poke and ****,
dissect and analyze.

The critics don't care
how much you labored or cried.

In fact
Most will never even acknowledge your work
until after you've died.
It's almost funny how much we labor and struggle
and fear what people may think about what we write.
Maybe the hardest thing to learn as a writer is that you
have to put everything you have into it knowing that
most people will never even care.
But someone will
Someone will relate if it's real,
if it's personal!
And that's who I try to write for.
Kalliope Sep 20
When I am silent,
and it’s all said and done,
will you bask in the quiet-
happy you’ve won?

No more complaints
slipping past my lips,
just peaceful quiet
and sometimes a kiss.

Will you be smug
while you rant through the day,
watching me nod along
with nothing to say?

That’s all you wanted, right?
Obedient peace.
An interesting woman to meet,
until she becomes what you please.

Or will you miss my words?
My fire? My song?
Will you miss my ranting?
Will my silence feel wrong?

Will you look in my eyes
and see through the glass?
There’s nothing there anymore-
only what you ask.
I guess I always did sing off-key
Em MacKenzie Sep 17
I’m driving on my way home
from a job that doesn’t make ends meet.
Pawned all my gold, silver and chrome
and placed my hat and sign on the street.

I’m living in a creative hell
One that serves me but doesn’t serve well.
Into my flesh I would carve,
“You wouldn’t be a starving artist if you didn’t starve.”

At each red, I clutch at my steering wheel
and scratch my lottery tickets.
Manifest a positivity I don’t feel,
when it scans I hear only crickets.

I’m living in a creative hell,
one that traps and encases me as a shell.
Preventing me from air, society and heat
“You wouldn’t be a starving artist if you could eat.”

I have no certifications and no degrees,
my only trade and skill are the words that I write;
the gift that both comforts and tortures me,
it’s too bad that no one pays for plight.

I’m living in a creative hell,
voicing it quietly while ringing a bell.
Begging for help but don’t want to be rude
“You wouldn’t be a starving artist if you had food.”

I’m living in a creative hell
One that serves me but doesn’t serve well.
Into my flesh I would carve,
“You wouldn’t be a starving artist if you didn’t starve.”
The best things in life are free,
going extinct like the birds and bees.
I want money.
I whisper my struggle against rage, a vulture perched, refusing to
budge, circling the leftovers of life. My tears — a mirror, awkward
disguises, suggesting more than I admit. What is a man in his own
fantasies, if even there he dreams himself as someone less?

Knowing a circle of friends blooms misshapen, my circle is more
like a triangle —each angle pointing out each other, each edge
sharp to sharper your edge. I am obtuse among the acute, aware
of my struggles with precision; people measure me from distance.

Still, their echoes and hues pull words out of me, inspiration sparked
by friction. But I’m just this jar chasing lightning, as if it ever strikes
twice; each dream I hold flickers fragile in my hands; the texture of
a dream is lucid, slipping through like current.

The recipe of life: tears, sweat, regrets, a hint of success for taste.
And the chef? Shadows us like a grand tree on the hillside, quietly
stirring the ***, watching, seasoning my days with the abrupt nature
of time.
If I could move past the point of *******— my bull horns
are beaten down by life’s whip. Feeling ready to blow
my brain, an itchy finger on the trigger, searching for
life's plus centre: a positive man stuck in the middle; senses
sharp, but it sounds insensitive to an eager mind; all
of our dreams have been suffocated by the placenta.

I think I can be honest about the work of others, but
speaking that truth loudly — for some— sounds like
we don’t really love each other. Chained only by deeper
ambition; passion weighs heavy when it isn’t complete.
Here’s a writer’s petition: loving poetry— an appeal to
careless ambitions over being Christian.

Pride mirrors itself— words reflecting the world’s
weakness, ugly earnestness to be outstanding; going
out to make something of yourself as an artist surely
disappoints a family. Gain success through your own
struggle, heavy prayers; "I guess we’ll all be wealthy."

It all depends upon: the task of multitasking most
of your dreams— to exactitude; the power of words,
poetic charge, poetic energy. But know this—the
lightbulb to your dreams is what will turn them on.

All those wanting pieces of your spark—
you’ll lose track of where they all came from.
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