10 Minutes of Poetry
poetry
New Bookmarks
I decided to design some bookmarks tonight, which I will be handing out at my poetry reading in February. It took a while, but it was definitely fun to create. I can’t wait to see the finish product (printed, cut and possibly with a ribbon).
The Vegas Facade
Lights sparkle on buildings
and dance on water.
Red, blue, purple, gold
embrace the night
with the magic of hope…
People rush to gamble,
to win, to hit the jackpot,
People rush to drink,
to dance, to get lucky,
People rush to be mesmerized
by Le Reve – The Dream.
People dream…
to be a star.
Shining brightly,
endless possibilities
for love and fortune,
unlimited opportunities
for debt and regret.
Here in Vegas, reality is blinded
by light and clouded by smoke
from fruity cigars.
When the lights go out
and the sun comes up,
it’s another city.
People without homes
beg for money.
Young, beautiful girls,
their faces and dreams
scatter the floor,
and you step on them.
Frankenstein, Mario
and many minions
wander the streets.
You feel slightly,
just slightly
depressed…
Recent News and Postings
The Whisperings Publication was mentioned in the Poetry Center San Jose (PCSJ) eNewsletter In So Many Words.
Last month on October 16th, I read my poem Moonbathing at the Willow Glen Poetry Project. It is now posted on their website. There were a total of 31 readers that night. You can see the full list here. Dream Cather was one of my favorite ones that I heard that night, while Cyborg Penis was probably one of the more unique ones.
I also attended the Willow Glen Poetry Project this month, on November 20th. The featured reader that night was Ellen Bass from Santa Cruz. As part of the introduction, the MC discussed the beauty of Ellen’s work, in particular What Did I Love, which was a poem that was praised by the 2011-2012 Poet Laureate of the United States, Philip Levine. You can read the full introduction here. Ellen shared many beautiful, witty and inspiring poems that Thursday night. I look forward to attending more of these local readings 🙂
On a more personal note, I am still deciding on which library to book for my Whisperings poetry reading in late January, stay tuned for that!
Living with Stress
In my previous post “A Poem for Your Thoughts: Experiment 1: Stress,” I posed this question: If stress were tangible, would it be a person, animal, plant or object? One of the first images I came up with was a dog biting your pant leg. My dog liked to do that a lot, it was adorable. But it was also a little annoying, especially when you had things to do. Anyhow, when I decided to write a villanelle piece to describe stress, this image didn’t quite fit in because it was too cute. I created a new poem just for this.
Living with Stress
Stress follows me around
like a puppy dog
biting my pant leg.
He chases after me, watches me,
glares at me, snarls at me.
He tugs and pulls,
but he never lets go.
I push him and shove him,
shake my leg, shake my fist
tell him “shoo” to no ado.
He only barks and whines.
This damn stray
won’t go away.
He follows me
from the house to the car,
from the car to the office,
here, there, everywhere,
I drag him by the pant leg,
he just won’t let go,
slowing me down
from chasing dreams
and buttery happiness.
Tired and annoyed,
I take a breath, lean down
to pet him, love him,
pick him up and hug him,
set him down to play.
It’s okay.
Stress is now happy,
Stress will go away
and come biting back
another day.
Battling Stress
Last week, I posted “A Poem for Your Thoughts: Experiment 1: Stress,” but since no one really commented on the post, I decided to use my own imagery to create a poem about stress. Since stress is something that constantly nags at you and is hard to get away from, I thought that writing a villanelle would be a great fit due to its repetitive nature. I actually haven’t heard of a villanelle until earlier this year when I attended the Willow Glen Poetry Series and one of the open mic readers read “Mad Girl’s Love Song” by Sylvia Plath and then shared a villanelle of his own. The two poems were beautiful. I was then curious and inspired to try out this poetic structure. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy my first try at a villanelle and that it makes you feel “stressed.” 🙂
Battling Stress
He slobbers my mind and sucks my soul.
From inside out, Stress devours me.
He slurps my blood and bites my muscles.
My nerves, puppets under his control,
my eyes, confused, blinded, cloudy,
He slobbers my mind and sucks my soul.
Deep inside, I tug and pull, tug and pull,
looking for me, of who I used to be.
He slurps my blood and bites my muscles,
and in my heart, I see, a giant hole.
Missing are thoughts that made me happy.
He slobbers my mind and sucks my soul.
The more I lose, the more Stress grows.
I am frightened, alone, and very, very angry.
He slurps my blood and bites my muscles.
I reach out. I need help. Stress knows
I’m fighting, desperately, to be free.
He slobbers my mind and sucks my soul.
He slurps my blood and bites my muscles.
Unattainable
Last week, I posted “A Poem for Your Thoughts: Experiment 1: Stress” and I didn’t get too many comments. However, one of my friends did respond. While this poem isn’t focused on stress, I had a lot of fun writing it and do consider it a fun and collaborative piece. I will be posting an actual poem about stress later this week, but for now, I hope you enjoy this slightly “stressful” poem 🙂
Unattainable
My heart tightens in my chest
as the sound draws near
and I can hear
the dog’s leash jingle
in his grasp.
I watch his movement,
his biceps, triceps, hamstrings, quads
as he jogs with his dog
on this fine morning.
I watch his chest muscles,
his wavy hair, chiseled face,
oceanic eyes
as he jogs past me
yesterday, today, everyday
into my life, into my memory,
he stays.
His smile
takes my stress away.
His simple “good morning”
melts my heart
like sweet chocolate melting
on my tongue.
I want to hold him, touch him,
embrace him, love him
tenderly,
but all I do is mutter
“good morning” back.
I go jogging everyday
just to see his handsome face,
to share some jokes, some words,
some accidental touches,
some innocent glances,
my oh -so imagined kisses
that will never come true,
but only in my wishes,
I pretend they do,
and sometimes he does too
as I bid him farewell
every single day.
I can’t help but stare at
his muscular arms
and gentle hands.
I want to hold them,
intertwine his fingers
with mine.
He tells me his obsession
with Angel
and in a flash,
I become the Devil
for I hate Angel, despise Angel.
I never met Angel,
but soon Angel will sleep with him,
cuddle with him, love him,
touch him tenderly, erotically.
I just jog with him
like his dog
and I really hate to jog.
But there’s a glimpse of hope,
Maybe, just maybe,
I think, could it be?
Could it really be?
Could Angel be a He?
Then he tells me
he loves women
smart, sweet and sexy,
just like her.
In that moment a giant boulder
comes crushing down on me
taking away all hope
for love and serendipity.
He asks if I have a crush
on anyone
and I just want
to punch him.
Doesn’t he know
I love him secretly?
He is the shining star
in my wet dreams,
the one that makes my heart sway,
my tummy cringe
and my brain go dumb.
He is the one
that teases me and pleases me,
jogs with me, accepts me
as a friend, as a companion,
to talk to, to joke with.
He is the one
my heart desires
but he will never
appease me
for he doesn’t swing
my way
and I just want
to punch him
and punch him
and punch him
so I don’t feel so stupid
for falling
in love
with someone
who’s straight.
“No, I don’t have
a crush.”
A Poem for Your Thoughts: Experiment 1: Stress
I’d like to try something new, like collaborative poetry and call it “A Poem for Your Thoughts.”
This is how it works:
- I come up with a theme or idea
- I pose some questions to get your thoughts on it
- You respond with your thoughts in the comments section
- At the end of the week, I compile everyone’s thoughts into a poem
This is completely experimental, so I don’t know how it’ll go and how many people would respond. I will also be posting this on my Facebook pages.
I previously did something similar in my poem 30 Days of Beard which was a lot of fun.
This week’s experiment would be about STRESS
- If stress was tangible, would it be a person, animal, plant or object?
- Would stress be male or female?
- How would you describe stress’ personality, looks or actions?
- How would you interact with stress?
Your answers can be realistic, silly or sarcastic. Be creative, have fun with it! I’ll post back in a week! 🙂
Here’s a collage using Google images to give you some inspiration.
Spreading Literary Art through Poetry Boxes
Louisiana has embraced a new public literary feature in the form of poetry boxes (small boxes on decorated poles) that display the work of local writers. It will be placed throughout the North Shore area and the poems will be rotated each month. The town hopes to engage passerby to stop for a moment and appreciate an art form that gets little recognition in this day and age.
I think this is a novel idea 🙂
To read the entire article, visit: nola.com
A Dream Within A Dream
You find yourself wondering
if what had happened,
happened in a dream,
but you can’t remember,
because it’s surreal, yet real,
until you realize
that you’re still dreaming,
and what had happened
happened in a dream
within a dream.
It’s like a weird inception
of the subconscious.
When you awake,
you are baffled, confused,
puzzled…
what does it mean?
Did the event that happened
really happen?
Or did it really happen
in a dream?
Or did it happen in a dream
within a dream?
Whisperings 