NaPM April 01, 2017

[Lizzie]

The Fundamentalist

I had questions, you had answers.
You never bent or changed your mind,
so you looked like steel beams.

The way you steadied us,
defiant toward the weather –-
“Everything's fine, don't let yourself
think otherwise” –- you looked like land,
and I'd been seasick far too long.

For a while I didn't mind
the way you stopped conversations
without compromise.

But, you thought a cut was a gash,
as if one misstep, one omission
and all would crumble;
nothing could be wrong
or everything was wrong.
You'd rather sever a broken arm
than live with a splint.

That's how we collapsed
like the old Tacoma Narrows,
built with no consideration
for the force of the wind.

[RiverNotch]

National Poetry Month,

An event much like the Holy Roman Empire:
Surely all Nations are not One,
And how could we call these Unpolished Structures
Poetry, if not by Arrogance?

While as for "Month", well,
Eliot's got a Structure for that.

[rayheinrich]

                 

                                < you'd think after all these years >

                                i
                                saw
                                you
                                today

                                you were walking down 5th Street

                                i called to you and

                                she
                                turned
                                around

[QDeathstar]

nicely done, ray.

[Quixilated]

she was a resident and a guest
and he was my brother and a pest
at meal time she sat to his right
he found new torments every night
sometimes he would fill her plate
with food from his (the reprobate)
other days he used ninja stealth
to capture morsels from her wealth
a cherished cherry topping -- gone!
and every night this war went on
until the day he snatched with greed
her final almond, then with speed
he shoved it in his mouth and laughed
but she turned her eyes to him, aghast
and said to him just as he bit --
"why did you eat my olive pit?"

[nibbed]

                 

                                < you'd think after all these years >

                                i
                                saw
                                you
                                today

                                you were walking down 5th Street

                                i called to you and

                                she
                                turned
                                around

love this!
REAL poetry

[nibbed]

Perception vs. Deception

Turkey buzzards from a distance
can be easily mistaken
as red-tailed hawks.

A carpet beetle scared me yesterday
because I thought he was a tick.
I knew I was safe
because when I blew on him, gently,
he spread his lacy wings and flew
over to where my snake plant lives.

A lady bug visited me today,
I gently scooped her up
and put her on a dotted leaf.
She had four spots her own,
was very plump and friendly.

I ate a ladybug once, two dots.
I know I've told this story
because I am very proud.
Don't ever try it.
She wasn't very good,
she tasted the way potting soil smells.
Beforehand, I was very hopeful
and thought only of strawberries.
I thought for a moment there
she might be mentioned on my epitaph.

Yes, imagination has its limits:
Rats will never be squirrels,
and roaches?
They cannot trick me anymore into believing
they are simply friendly water bugs,
no matter how hard I try.

[Tiger the Lion]

Danglin’ Karats
 
He told her it was gold and pressed
it in her palm. At once a test
of mettle and of metal too.
‘It means I mean to marry you,’
he said with all his mustered zest.
 
It seemed to her a true request
and who was she to not say yes?
Her heart turned molten amber goo—
he told her it was gold.
 
So hurriedly they both undressed
untarnished and in some duress
and did what all impostors do
before the skin turned greenish blue
beneath the ring. He’d not confess.
He told her it was gold.

[ellajam]

@Tiger: Ouch, nicely done.