Obvious

If I am one
and you are all
it’s all for one
and one for all

That’s it, 30 poems in 30 days, #NaPoWriMo is over and I’ve made it. Yay!

Rescue me

This longing from within
I see it rising

It’s a devil in disguise
It’s a creature from the deep sea
its eyes are blind
yet it can see
it sees me

It has a beak
sharp teeth
sharp claws
a pointy tail

Its scales are orange and silver
and she slides
she slithers

She turns out to be a mother
a whore, a wife
bearing children from many fathers
giving birth, giving life

Life unwanted
they didn’t want to be born this way
by copied sin
fading with every copy

She’s a devil in disguise
beguiling
her vile breath
poisonous
when it reaches the air

She’s a creature from the deep sea
without ears
deaf
yet she hears me
she hears me call

Rescue me

Eat this

Throwing up bitter bile came first, naturally,
chewing on what came back to me.

Then came salt. Taste of the earth
in which I buried you, barehanded, barefoot.

After I swallowed sour memories of love
turned bad outside the fridge, left unattended,

my mouth watered. Revenge. Oh sweet revenge.

I used the deadly sins prompt again, 7 lines of seven words. Written for #NaPoWriMo day 28.

Too tired to try

She lay slouched on a sleazy settee
willfully wanting what we call the end
her hair hanging down in hopeless tangles

Eery eyes endlessly staring at the ceiling
deliberately deaf to her heart’s dull drumming
bored to bits by being blatantly alive

Too tired to try to give up

Written for #NaPoWriMo day 27. The prompt was to write about a deadly sin in 7 lines of 7 words.

No news is good news

Darling, we need to talk
– zap –
I’m serious
– zap –
Are you paying attention?
– sure –
We are bankrupt
– zap –

Written for #NaPoWriMo day 26. I might turn it into a longer one some day, but definitely not today. Tired and uninspired.

I have my doubts

I sit and hesitate
shall I call you?

I sit and hesitate
shall I ask you why?

I sit and hesitate
did you know she was pregnant?

I sit and hesitate
did you know she would die?

I sit and hesitate
shall I call you?

I sit and hesitate
shall I tell you how I feel?

I sit and hesitate
how will I know if you are honest?

I sit and hesitate
how will I know all of this is real?

Written for #NaPoWriMo day 25. The prompt was an anaphora. Which is repeating the same part of a sentence – I think ;).

Plastic descent

Our house has plastic window sills
they are smudgy white
and some degrees short
of being in place

Our house has a plastic front door
it’s smudgy white
and glue didn’t fix
the letter box

Our house has a plastic back door
it’s smudgy white
and makes ventilating the house easy
by being crooked

Our house has a plastic window
it’s smudgy white
and always closed
it misses a handle

The plastic was once bright
shiny and new
easy maintenance
and en vogue

Now it’s smudgy white
crooked, ajar
easy maintenance
and sad

Written for #NaPoWriMo day 24, inspired by this prompt: to write a poem that features walls, bricks, stones, arches, or the like.

I am AM

I am where the outcasts go
where money matters less
and identity more

I am awake when others sleep
single, mono, long play
I am static

I am the news that matters
You can travel from your chair
I am always there

I am the soundtrack of your life
Your secret love, once more
I am AM

Written for #NaPoWriMo day 23

This one’s dedicated to you, love hunter

I’ve added a video of me performing this one to the bottom of the page. It was shot on April 24 2016, and it’s my first time reading a poem on stage.

Amsterdam, the ancient New York
in the fall of 2001
Red lights, big city
I don’t remember what I wore
(I may or may not have looked like a whore)

You want coke, heroin, Viagra? the little man hissed
And so did the second
and the third
For the life of me I couldn’t imagine what I’d need Viagra for

For one: I’m a woman
For two: I was in heat

I’d heard rumors though
Viagara could make your lips swell
like Mick Jagger
that rock ‘n’ roll cunt

But my panties were tight as they were
and tights are always tight when you’re six feet two
no need to fill them up even more

Scene one: a bunch of transvestites
taking the obligatory walk on the wild side
checking me out for size
– wrong gender

Scene two: a staggering stag party
hanging their cocks out to piss
vomiting at the same time
wetting their shoes

Scene three: lone riders
wanting to ride a white horse
popping pills, cheap thrills, banana bar bills
– what for?

(I still wish I’d remember what I wore)

Would you believe me if I tell you nothing is more boring than the red light district at night?
But I was in heat
and I didn’t know that
yet
People kept a safe distance
for I steamed
my pores evaporating
juice
juice juice juice

We ignored all the french fries,
burgers,
pizza
(a lover’s gotta eat, right?)
and chose a sex cinema instead

Fucking going on
24/7
like there’s no tomorrow
like yesterday wasn’t born

Behind us a plastic bag rustled
the guy took out some tissues
to blow his cock
I guessed

How hot
Not

The action was up and down
up and down
she moaning (not)
him groaning (not)
the director was a master of suspense (not)
Maybe we witnessed a climax, or ten, or none
Maybe Harry met Sally
and Sally met Sally

We had no reason to stay
We had no reason to go

We never touched I think
I would have remembered
or would I?

Amsterdam, Sin City
in the fall of 2001
Red lights, big city
The most boring thing I’ve ever done

(I think I still have that dress I wore
it would have been of more use on a whore)

Written for #NaPoWriMo day 22. You can find the prompt here: http://jacket2.org/commentary/recipe-writing-new-york-school-poem

I enjoyed writing in this strange form so much that I wrote a completely different one, called First we take Berlin. And when I decided to go on stage for the first time, I picked it as the one I’d read. Because I thought it was the most difficult one, and I didn’t mind a challenge on top of a challenge (performing… argh!). It’s here if you want to see it

Some body I used to know

Some body I used to know

Now and then I think of when we were together
You felt like you were mine
and I could lean on you

You got addicted to a certain kind of sadness
it was doom and gloom
and tough to be inside of you

But you didn’t have to cut me off
Refuse all contact
Issue a restraining order

You didn’t have to stoop so low
to sever our arteries and let me go

Now you’re just some body that I used to know

Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
I was doing fine
but you wouldn’t let me alone

You had me believe it was always something that I’d done
that I was born a sinner
and always needed to prove my right to live

I didn’t want to live that way
sorry about everything
all the time

I’m so happy that I cut you off
I admit it was a little rough
too much blood but I had had enough

All that’s is left is the body that I used to know

The inspiration for this poem – day 19 of NaPoWriMo – came from listening to this song that I love. Then my mind wandered off in more gruesome directions…