Category: Poetry

I saw a man sitting outside a fast-food restaurant. He was asking for money. I didn’t have any cash. Like most people, I don’t carry cash anymore. I don’t need dollar bills or quarters for laundry.He never asked me. I was one of the ones that got away.I wasn’t one of those people that makes…

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I would like to think differently, feel differently, taste the food entering my mouth differently.Except many years of reflectiondoes that to a woman, does that to me.Our skin becomes blemished, and it ought not be this way when we look into mirrors.We yearn for the days when therewere no wrinkles or muffin tops. We have…

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After a while, it no longer matters. Gathering up the darkness in your arms. The empty corner waits patiently. He heard you speak and the echoes that followed. If you want to teach him that, go ahead. I will not wait anymore. You have shown your colors. They are dirty and gross after all. The…

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I landed.Somewhere in the middle,that’s right, yeah.Middle of what, I’m not sure.All I know it’s the center,it feels funny.It’s true.The lies, that is.She won’t face it,knows enough about it though,bopping her on the face and all,leaving identifiable marks.That’s right, keep looking away.I surrendered.Heard something from outside,not quite right but still there.You couldn’t count them all,not…

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Just like mama used to not make me She was too busy getting ready for work Putting on thick layers of make up on her face The men she kissed accuses her nightly All kinds of topics are discussed between them They hold her accountable for bad things She is the target of their anger…

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The clouds opened up, wider, and swallowed the sunshine, whole. A bite didn’t occur until later, when the brightness shined upon us. The rain is happy, dancing around the dirty cars. The sky forfeited the game, knowing it wasn’t supported.

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I got rid of your delusions one at a time. Donated your stuff away, sitting on shelves, being touched with grimy fingertips and bad intentions. This was not the way we should’ve ended. Our adulterated misunderstanding of each other, melting the sun even hotter, making us sweaty. You walked funny when you were mean. There…

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I have not fought in wars outside of myself but I have fought many inside of me. I have tried to end it all, each decade after the other, in the past, remaining partly in the present, never knowing the future. I have pushed the limits, the walls with my hands, the doors with my…

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My skin has been picked raw. There is no more to pick. There is no meaning in this passage I have read again. The words are over 300 years old. Back when this author wrote it, slaves were bought, sometimes traded for one another. My eyes remain open and tired. I feel twice at a…

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When my hands get tingly, and the shocks zigzag through the spaces in my brain, that is when I know, when I know I must see the great whale again. When the words directed at me don’t sound quite right and I try to remember its meaning, to sound smarter than I am, that is…

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It is a tension you can’t see. It’s there for you and me. No matter how you slice it. No matter how you dice it. The tightening of the rope will occur. Getting lost in the black ooze. Give out a full bottle of booze. Running fast doesn’t help. Getting lost in the black kelp.…

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In Memory of My Classmate Who Recently Passed Away He was at the lowest of the lowest lows, never reaching the bottom rung of the lowest high. Trying not to let the pain be overwhelming, and choking down the dark thoughts at the bottom of his deep well, he saw what no one was able…

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