NaPM April 15 2015

[milo]

Rules: Write a poem for national poetry month on the topic or form described. Each poem should appear as a separate reply to this thread. The goal is to, at the end of the month have written 30 poems for National Poetry Month. 







Topic 15: Write a poem inspired by something you have kept secret.
Form : any
Line requirements: 8 lines or more

Questions?

[Erthona]

Useful

There were times
when situations
got out of hand:
then,
with my
passion sated,
I fled.
For I'd had
my use of them.

Erthona

[rayheinrich]

                 
                < none of me >
               
                none of me is
                supposed to mention how
                close I become those
                burning figures pinned
                to sides of
                sweet despair and
                none of me is
                supposed to say I
                saw them come to gather
                me like secrets I
                can't guess
               
                          - - -
               

[just mercedes]

Each spring a smoke- grey
carpet, already suggesting
sleep, ephemeral dreams
shining secret intoxication.
Seduction grows. Crimson
banners, erect, grotesque,
invitations soon accepted.
 
Pollen, sepal, petals flown,
bellies swell. Blood white
as semen, bitter, wells
from my precise incisions,
bleeds its tender blades into my veins.

[Tiger the Lion]

Dis-closure

I never told another soul
the secrets I shared with that bitch.
She’d sit and shake, play dead, and roll-
over for every juicy bit
of me she could wolf.  She would howl
and smack her lips, then she’d follow
my eyes toward another bowl—
hungry for all she could swallow.

[Todd]

Presque Vu

 
I untied a string
from around my finger,
then searched the house
for a place to put it.
I considered an air duct,
but knew I’d fall off a ladder
and die alone before found.
I thought about pulling up
the carpet, and using
a jackhammer on the foundation.
Finally, I found the perfect place.
It has remained there since 
like in a time capsule.
I marked the calendar with an X,
and the day came to dig it up.
So far I’ve uncovered:
an old letter from a college friend,
and a Captain Crunch whistle
that used to allow you to make free
long distance phone calls.
I still haven’t found the memory
tied to that string. There was something
I needed to know.

[ellajam]

No Affection Required

We play our parts with expertise,
attending dress rehearsal
faithfully these sixty years.

You draw me to your side
mimicking all the right words;
I stand there on my mark.

With obligation and respect woven
we grasp the common thread,
the one who loved us both.

If one can love what one doesn't like,
our love is true.
It's the best we can do.

[bena]

Catatonic


(never)
(speak)
(of)
(it)

keep
small,
quiet

NEVER SCREAM AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS GRANDPA TOUCHES ME

NO
(never)
(speak)
(of)
(it)

[rayheinrich]

Dis-closure

I never told another soul
the secrets I shared with that bitch.
She’d sit and shake, play dead, and roll-
over for every juicy bit
of me she could wolf.  She would howl
and smack her lips, then she’d follow
my eyes toward another bowl—
hungry for all she could swallow.

The meat of this poem seemed scentless at first;
I whined, pawed the ground, gnawed on it's very meaning.
Then (like the joy of a well-caught ball) it called, and I came,
sentient of its command.

---

Catatonic


(never)
(speak)
(of)
(it)

keep
small,
quiet

NEVER SCREAM AT THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS GRANDPA TOUCHES ME

NO
(never)
(speak)
(of)
(it)

Excellent use of the profound line break.
(Damn, here I go using mechanical analysis to hide from sexual abuse...
Trapped, can't do anything else.)

[billy]

not a good one but a fairly true one
april 15

I sometimes cry at silly things
only when alone.
I feel other people weaknesses
yet seldom show my own
I see the harsh realities
and hurt that's in world
hear in them tonalities
of fear and life unfair
i sometimes cry alone at night
because i just don't care.

[jasmine.m.wardiya]

Shut up, I say; you keep on laughing
anyway. Can't you see
my lips silently forming the words
to your face, I haven't said?

So I don't say it to your face.
This fragile peace of ours is worth it
I guess. But how long
before I crack? I'm not a seamless
sack, you know.

It depends on whether or not
you're in earshot when I crack.
I pity who is if you're not.
They'll get the lashing you deserve.

So stop chipping at this words.
You don't care for me, I know
but strangers, friends, followers?
It's a snake-tongue I have, forked
and poison-dipped.

I won't yell at you. I can do worse
so you'd do well to heed this silent cry
before it's loud.

[cidermaid]

I buried her on a bright spring day.
At first I was frightened of her silence
and the limpness of her limbs.
Then intrigued by her pose-ability,
I played with her all day.

But by noon she refused to join in,
she would not wear the clothes,
or sit in quiet repose in the chair.
The game slowly came to an end,
eventually she would no longer bend.

Her grave looked perfectly pretty
In between the primrose plants.

[Keith]

Confessional

Well there was that thing
with peanut butter,
that involved next-doors dog.
And something
about a bicyle pump
and an exploding frog.

Then there was that handbag,
silly old woman
wouldnt let go,
and that vicar burned alive
well,
how was I to know.

Did you read about that train?
and how it left the tracks.
That robbery at gun point,
Yes its me behind the mask.

Well now you know
I've told you
and with love I hold this Axe
If you hate your husband as much as I do,
you only have to ask.

See you soon.

[i.might.be.a.bit.sad]

I felt the words
bubbling
up my throat. I tried
to listen as you gossiped and moaned,
but my mind just wouldn't let me
focus on such light things.
I wanted to scream at you that
SOMETHING IS WRONG, and
I knew you might care, but i also knew you
might not.
So I swallowed the words and kept killing myself with
the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth.