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The edge of our bed was a wide grid
where your fifteen-year-old daughter was hanging
gut-sprung on police wheels
a cablegram nailed to the wood
next to a map of the Western Reserve
I could not return with you to bury the body
reconstruct your nightly cardboards
against the seeping Transvaal cold
I could not plant the other limpet mine
against a wall at the railroad station
nor carry either of your souls back from the river
so I bought you a ticket to Durban
on my American Express
and we lay together
in the first light of a new season.

Now clearing roughage from my autumn garden
cow sorrel    overgrown rocket gone to seed
I reach for the taste of today
the New York Times finally mentions your country
a half-page story
of the first white south african killed in the "unrest"
Not of Black children massacred at Sebokeng
six-year-olds imprisoned for threatening the state
not of Thabo Sibeko, first grader, in his own blood
on his grandmother's parlor floor
Joyce, nine, trying to crawl to him
******* through her navel
not of a three-week-old infant, nameless
lost under the burned beds of Tembisa
my hand comes down like a brown vise over the marigolds
reckless through despair
we were two Black women touching our flame
and we left our dead behind us
I hovered    you rose    the last ritual of healing
"It is spring," you whispered
"I sold the ticket for guns and sulfa
I leave for home tomorrow"
and wherever I touch you
I lick cold from my fingers
taste rage
like salt from the lips of a woman
who has killed too often to forget
and carries each death in her eyes
your mouth a parting orchid
"Someday you will come to my country
and we will fight side by side?"

Keys jingle in the door ajar    threatening
whatever is coming belongs here
I reach for your sweetness
but silence explodes like a pregnant belly
into my face
a ***** of nevers.

Mmanthatisi turns away from the cloth
her daughters-in-law are dyeing
the baby drools milk from her breast
she hands him half-asleep to his sister
dresses again for war
knowing the men will follow.
In the intricate Maseru twilights
quick    sad    vital
she maps the next day's battle
dreams of Durban    sometimes
visions the deep wry song of beach pebbles
running after the sea.
one is slightly bound
a congestion of sorts
nothing is evacuating
from a certain passage
the
act
that
is
done
on
the
toilet
seat
proves to be hard
sufficient amounts of roughage
have not passed
through one's entrails
one cannot excrete
all
possible
treatments
have
been
tested
by one
yet
the
binding
cannot
be
undone
hence the number two
sits unmoved
in one's tail
a feed of grains and fruit
in the morn
shall clear the obstruction
before dusk
to
have
a
poo
poo
is
all
one
wishes
to
do
For this my mother wrapped me warm,
And called me home against the storm,
And coaxed my infant nights to quiet,
And gave me roughage in my diet,
And tucked me in my bed at eight,
And clipped my hair, and marked my weight,
And watched me as I sat and stood:
That I might grow to womanhood
To hear a whistle and drop my wits
And break my heart to clattering bits.
Gillian May 2013
let's just say i'm doing fine
jonas says he's going back to california
the roughage of a thousand ocean floors
roll me into their waves and
strangle my heart instantly
pulling him away,
always,
all ways...

jonas and i are in the kitchen at standing on end
"i'm getting out of here, you know"
he pulls out the Gilly mug he always uses here
i read the wisdom beneath the scribbles of his hands

jonas left two weeks ago, i won't hear from him
he's living like a shadow, passing over, never sinking in
everyone everywhere he's ever been will never remember his name
none of them will know who he is

will our ties weaken or will we make
deeper grooves every time we retrace a step?
like highways after years of traffic
jimmy tee Jan 2014
I used to hang out with a bunch of food radicals
this was back in ’78 or so
popcorn with brewers yeast, loads of pepos
dried apricots that looked like vaginas
blocks of cheese, raw nuts, 80 grit corn meal
I belonged to  food coop and read diet for a small planet
it was a constant indoctrination
as soon as you thought you had this nutrition thing
settled
bam
some new roughage was required
it must have worked
I thought
as I added tofu to a wok filled with seven count ‘em seven
steaming vegetables
this very night
overall I do eat healthy and I always have
now get off my back and make me a double bacon cheeseburger
David Doran Apr 2015
The Path is straight and ending
And quite easy just to follow
Few obstacles or bendings
No bumps or a single hollow.

But I choose, not to follow the Path,
I will roughage in the new.
If I learned one thing from that:
We should do what we love to do.

It won't always be so easy
To live so wild and free,
But it's much worse, on that Path
Which we call society.
Terry Jordan Oct 2015
You think it's nifty turning sixty
You even yearn for sixty-five
So you can go on Medicare
At last good healthcare will arrive

Until that year 2020 gets here
Don't miss those moments fleeting
Eat your kale for roughage
To keep that strong heart beating

Uncle Sam will send your social security
So you begin a life so rare
But why wait-retire now
For you can get Obamacare
William A Poppen Feb 2014
Pantry shelves hold jars of jam
sweet spreads of life made from fruits and berries
so succulent drops of saliva
rain on each touch of tongues

Cautious people stack rows
of carefully canned fruit
preserved with small portions of honey,
sugar cane or molasses.

Tin lids eventually “pop”
leaving elastic bitters
for knives to daub and rub
against stale breads.

Must life endure until  
only vinegary fills remain
and I am left to consume  
sour roughage to sustain me?

When perdition creeps
across the sands to envelop me
what will become
of unopened jars?
Not happy with the title.  Any suggestions?
Olivia Kent Nov 2014
I arose in the morning.
Grabbed a coffee with both hands.
It's cold this morning.
Coffee helps.
My hands are thawing out.
Went and got a porridge.
Hell I need my morning oats.
From me the nurses point of view.
Those oats in the morning.
Will  help to keep your body functioning well inside.
(C) Livvi
Bruised Orange Oct 2011
My neighbor has advised more roughage.
"Healthy bowels will keep illness away."

My therapist says group will do it.
"Share your stories with those who relate."

My doctor gave me a script for ******.
"Call me when these run out."

My muse sings urgently into my ear.
"Keep writing, we'll get there, no doubt!"

My friend tells me more prayer is the ticket.
"Talk with God and you won't be afraid."

But my sister (the French psychoanalyst) tells me simply,
"You need to get laid!"

now i've tried the vegetables, they are tasty to eat
and the group i found, well it's just down the street
the prescription's been filled, and easily (twice!)
my pen keeps me writing long into the night
and prayer brings me answers, my truths come to light


but this last advice has left me in stitches
you see, its been such a very long time
would someone direct my feet, and,
please tell me, where do i get some of that?

(and now she dissolves, into fits of hysterical laughter)
well, i wrote this a few weeks ago.  the only thing humorous i've managed thus far, lol.  gives me hope for myself. ha ha.  yeah.  i get an awful lot of advice.
CMD Mar 2015
the chrysalis opens
and I regress

the water cocoon envelopes my body
and two hands reach through to
cleanse the roughage

sitting on a padded table in a
warm but sterile room
a woman in a rubber apron
hoses me down gently

partially naked
I accept her request
to wash my hair

she scrubs me down
but not raw, just pressure

just salt, just salt

she dances herbs
down my hallways

passages open

eucalyptus lingers
sometimes a little

too long

I accept her request
to wrap me up

to swaddle my adult
body

because

    why not?
Nik Bland May 2014
Time to pick up the words that fell out my mouth earlier today
In an effort to try to save myself and my heart from wasting away
Words were said in a manner that rendered me foolish to the naked eye
A lapse of judgement, a rush of blood, all the things that made you cry
Misunderstanding seem to be commanding my actions as I burst through the door
Words that once held merit now are dipped in malice, and like lead, fall to the floor
And it's only with the clanging of my words on the tile that I wake to see you there
A mountain of bravery that shelters inside a person so very frail
And I then find words wound far more than presumed as I see the tears well in your eyes
As I kick aside those lead words while rushing you to my arms, whispering for you not to cry
I've come to understand that arguments go in hand with a voice, that much is true
That this is expected in the mash up called love that was made from me and you
And as long as a solution is found in the shouting and we come back to each other's embrace
We'll find ourselves stronger through the storm called life, there's no trouble that we can't face
Jonathan Surname Aug 2018
An ashen late Autumn was upon us,
and in our best worn coats and sundries we--
held steadfast by a masthead of a rotting boat.
Wooden on a shore of the lake we adored.

We held still as soft deer galloped their lanks through strange
lands lifted from grounds with brick built upon brick,
wherein now were filled, not berries, but hunter's saltlick.
We ravaged a place we called our own,
We stole from the savages their home.

But we found a peace amongst their nerves,
and we were fearful of speed and we'd swerve,
if ever we found in our path one that deserved,
to have the freedom to rummage through roughage.

On this solemn lake-side we found pride in the soft light.
Because what the **** else can we do,
but to sit where once grass stood in dew,
and instead of plucking and mucking about,
no, in lieu, we sat and stared and remarked,
instead about how we've done damage we can't undo.
john muir inspired
Gillian Jun 2014
there are no words, we've said them all...so the silence comes to force us to feel the blows of sound...this empty what could have been...we would have been okay before you became a first...but you and i were never meant to go anywhere...it was just to see, just so you could say you knew

as if you ever needed to...you and i have always known that this wave would find a shore...the undertow of our wordshed, the roughage of all your rejections tumbled me across the floor of that ocean of false pretenses...

and only because i still haven't figured out just how full of **** you are, you deserve whatever happiness it is you've found...and i am becoming that prowling shark you still aren't scared enough of to stop taunting...forcing me into this canal, too narrow to turn and too little salt for the tears i warrant...until i toss you back into the foam to ****** the deep...

you are a terrible glutton...burning through all your friends and leaving a wake of discontent and writhing desperation like you're some kind of ******* rock star...

but i know what a frightened lost narcissist you are...and i always will...
Abraham Esang Apr 2018
Since she was conceived on a homestead,

she wanted to speak cow,

particularly when they lay

in daylight on the *****

beyond the oil well.


At that point she wanted to talk wild rose,

the one that developed beneath the horse shelter,

it appeared to address her

of everything she couldn't yet have

or know, yet she proved unable

to address it, even of it, for a considerable length of years.


At that point she want to speak plantation

where pears turned the ground gold,

where yellow coats swarmed,

where she couldn't go alone.

A long time later, markets were more secure,

she overlooked this one.


Others she always remember—the lake

with its trim edge of *******, the foot

prints of cows and steeds along the edge

making a kind of writing.


The roughage that clung to her dad

and siblings, following into their sweat

as they worked in August

to bring it into the horse shelter,

where notes of it hung

in that house of God.


Also, the magic her mom worked

with peaches, tomatoes, green beans,

how her little hands turned them

always delightful—sparkling in the basement,

glowing on the dinner table

Listen, the world stated,

Listen !
Laniatus Jul 2015
Across silence
Rude stares
In equal measure
Provoking a quandary.
Voiceless words
And your invisible
Ink rests surely, printed
To my ear;
Likewise, in argue
And question
Our roughage will continue
To grow far over
Neighbourly walls and fences
To watch foxes
As they play
In the low sun:
Are you my fox?
Playing gestfully
Through the shaking weeds
Of deception in your heart?
I can write
Your ink, spelling your spell,
Juicing flower heads
Of their perfection.
No escape - all stems riveted
To the salty earths and float
As they're cut, like balloons,
Or spiralling rosettes, bleached
Then crisped by the sun
As your voiceless words stare
And watch my heart
Separate and drift away.
Brent Kincaid Nov 2017
What is all this blather about dawn
And the lies about loving sunrise?
There is very little fun going on.
It doesn’t it make me wealthy and wise.
It’s often cold except in summer.
It’s still mostly dark, not quite light.
Stumbling around is a ******,
And, in my opinion, it’s not right.

What the heck is wrong with bed,
Letting the whole world get up first
Enjoying more dreams in my head,
Before experiencing morning thirst?
Why can’t I let the winos rise up
And move away from my doorstep
Before I try to find my getup
And take my outside first step?

Unless I make it at home, no good
Food is offered in American diners.
They sell no roughage, as they should.
They think health food is for whiners.
Nothing green, not much but meat
Mostly on offer is coffee and sugar;
Fried, and starchy stuff on the street.
Finding food besides that is a ******.

So, no thanks, I much prefer to stay
With dreams of retirement in my head
Until later on in the bright light of day
Snuggled, sleeping in my comfy bed.
I don’t want to wake while it’s still dark.
There is nothing much of dawn I like.
Joggers go on and run in the park.
All of you early risers: go take a hike.

— The End —