PoetryAssignment.com » Free Verse

Yesterday’s Makeup

Heather — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:30:49 +0000

Did you ever consider
That she’s walking around,
In the tiny morning hours,
Mascara streaked and
Eyeshadow smudged
Because yesterday,
He shoved his way through a crowd,
Took her in his arms and
Said she was beautiful,
Out loud, for all the world to hear,
And maybe, if she never goes to sleep,
Never washes her face,
The moment will never end?

Autumn

vicki — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 21:14:54 +0000

our eyes are dazzled by turning leaves,
smoky tendrils caught up in the breeze
while the garden colors deepen then fade,
a ring around a half moon
whose sideways glance sees summer slip away.

Gossip

piaveleno — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:24:56 +0000

You are a fly on my wall
Listening to a private conversation

You are the popular girl
Whispering behind my back

You are the telephone game
That never ends the way it starts

You are the adoring friend
Who makes enemies look so good

You are the fly on my wall
But I bought a can of Raid

Learning to walk

Miriam — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 06:33:39 +0000

I walked until my feet bled
On a path I scarcely saw
Lush grasses waved in winds cool
Their rustle driving me mad.
I had run before walking
But I tired, flagged and stumbled.

So I walked and walked and walked
Seeing no stone I trod on.
I walked until my feet bled
And then I fell.

I saw the stones.
They were all I could see.
I knew each as it dug
Into my cheek, my arms, my chest
I finally felt my bleeding feet.

My knees scraped across the path.
I crawled, as one must
Before walking. But,
I am not a child;
I am grown.
I will stand and stop
My now bleeding hands
From shaking.
The grass soothes,
The direction unknown.

I’ll learn to walk again
Before running.

My Love

necrowanda — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:19:23 +0000

All night I have slept next to you
With our fingers intertwined
Blissful and Wild
Passionate and Calm
Between being one in sleep.

At the top or the bottom
Our dreams joined becoming the same
New branches growing and moving as one creation
Roots strong, touching and merging.

Before we met we were joined in a divine way
Our paths converging on one another
Instant karmatic infatuation
We plant flowers together in our dreams
My heart knows you from before.

While I sleep tucked by your side
The universe stretches out and breathes
Birth and Death happen all around us
Safe in my cocoon with you
Who knows what has happened whilst we dreamt.

My arms around you
Your kisses like the good earth
Fill me like raindrops
Parched no more
Like the dawn I wake and see you
My love.

Even good people have bad timing.

JessAnn — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:04:55 +0000

Up and down
We rode together,
Up and down
We rode in silence.

He isn’t a bad person.
Nor am I.
He’s isn’t great at conversation.
Nor am I.

He turned to me, after riding together for the tenth time,
“Mind if I ask a question?”
I turned to him, at the same time,
“Mind if I ask a question?”

I smiled,
“You first.”
He smiled,
“If you were stuck in a lift with-”

Unfortunately, his timing was off.
Just as he began to speak,
So did a metallic voice,
“Please remain calm,
We are experiencing technical difficulties.”

behind

Miriam — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:36:59 +0000

the passage of time
like fingernails on a chalkboard
in the back of her mind
huddled naked in a dark corner
wincing under the lashes of
a dozen deadlines
whose faces are obscured
light blinding her eyes

don’t feel sorry for her
we all go there eventually

The Day That Facebook Went Away

Miriam — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:46:39 +0000

It’s a ghost town now.
You step onto the street and lo,
You can move.
You get blocks without getting
Mired in those gaggles of kids
Noses in their flashy phones
With their business ties
And their flip-flops.

We never knew what they did
But damn it took a lot of them to do it
And then in a toga-draped
Beer-chugging hollering procession
They left.

Left to do some other mysterious business
To muck up traffic
To clothesline passersby
To eat ice cream for breakfast
To mock local shops with their cheerful oblivion
In some other part of town.

You step onto the street
And downtown belongs to you again.

(An explanatory note: I work at a small non-profit in downtown Palo Alto, CA.)

Garage Sale

donteatacowman — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:03:04 +0000

Walk up the driveway and see
What in the garage does reside–
The boxes overflowing with Stuff
Unneeded, unused, or unlovcd.
Each container or bag a red price tag holds
But one box keeps and stocks wares much better than gold–
Junkier than the rest
With the price of the best
Only one word adorns the cardboard side:
“FREE”

Predator

piaveleno — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:27:28 +0000

From the rooftop looking down
Busy beings scuttle about after dark
Light to light, shunning the night
With neon signs and halogen lights

With eyes sharper than the cat that slinks by
I see into their souls where the light cannot shine
With ears attuned to prey clustered together
I hear each individual pulse, racing in anticipation
With a tongue that can taste their fear
I lick the lethal fangs, hungry but waiting

Waiting
Waiting

Waiting for the weak one, separated from the pack
Lingering behind, stumbling and disoriented
Alone in my hunting ground
Away from the lights downtown