I had the pleasure of writing a poem recently with one of my all-time favorite poets, Natasha Head. Please check out her work if you have not.
Image Source: Flickr
Filtered, on the fringe existence
We were just a phase, diluted
By the highway air
A glimpse of triumph
Before backing down
A random song delivered on the fm waves of a dying signal
The final breaths of its melody
Now imprinted on our story
As we chase pavement
Through neon jungles where we were never welcome
Beyond the fences
That failed to keep us tame
And what is tame,
But darkness,
My old friend?
Lay the exits down,
Before our pain subsides
To agony and grief
In shadows thick as syrup
Stories stretch like Christmas ribbon
Escape routes reveal themselves
Freedom beyond what hurts
We risk so much to raise our voice
Should we not risk the same to listen?
I decided to write a poem inspired by William Carlos Williams’ The Red Wheelbarrow. Natasha Head has also allowed me to use her breathtaking photograph.
Red Lights
red light contradicts
blue sky and so much
depends on makeshift branches
set in stone, and her translucence
glazed with ice.
Last year I invited poets to write a few lines about love on my old blog. What is it and what does it mean? How can we unravel something so painfully elusive? This year I invited them back to reflect a year later: Helle Gade, Regina Puckett, and Poppy Ruth Silver.
I walked into your soul
Embraced all that you were with my love
But death is a jealous lover
Now that you are gone
I’ll forgive, but never forget
– Helle Gade
When hate dies, compassion begins, when a violent urge to take care and be one with another, that is a two side deal, to break free of the curse of loneliness
– Brock Gates
Hearts are like fragile, breakable beasts
When we yield to love’s unforgiveable feasts
We’ll partake of what it offers without any regret
Any pretend we won’t drown in its undefeatable debt
– Regina Puckett
Visit her blog here. ~ Find her complete book of poetry on Amazon.
There is only the
softness of your heartbeat, merged
eternally, here
– Poppy Silver
years have taught me to be careful
with finesse and tenderness
but rules are made of fragments
to be broken down as motion
shatters obstacles –
we groove on the same
wavelength.
– Ben Ditmars
Love Is…
A steady gaze, calm,
Prescient worlds, universes;
Celestial bangs
– Justin Bog
Buy his collection of holiday stories on Amazon. ~ Enter the Goodreads Giveaway.
I was thinking though and I can’t accurately describe love right now just because of where I am. I hope to have an answer one day, but for now the very thing eludes me and is drenched in a kind of monochrome nostalgia with hues of yellow.
– Timothy Giles
The sloom of sense,
the first confusion of limerance,
the equal joy of redemancy:
affection unbound
– Michelle Franklin
The feel of a new book, knowing you have a new escape
Finding a new show to watch on Netflix, learning there’s two seasons
Meeting someone for the first time, finding out they actually like your jokes
Waking up to a Saturday morning, sitting down to write right away
Seeing that same person again who liked your jokes, laughing together again
Love is many things, our interests, escapes, but it’s also the feeling of never being alone
It’s the feeling of finding those things that make us feel closer to others.
– Dan Leicht (D.e.e.L)
Visit his website here. ~ Follow him on Twitter. ~ Find more books here.
In love, we are, at best…inadequate.
We have mastered infatuation
Manipulation, copulation and lies.
We have embraced jealousy, envy and resentment.
Love is free
From all these things.
I’m not saying we’re not learning.
I’m not giving up Hope.
I try to love every day,
Without prejudice
Without condition.
In this I know,
Until I defeat selfishness & self-hate
The heart I have to offer
Is nothing more than illusion
The “love”
A dictionary definition.
– Natasha Head
Visit Tastoo.com for news & poetry from Natasha Head, including a chance to win a signed copy of her latest release “Birthing Inadequacy”
Wall punch your way
A friend asked me today
What love meant to me
And what I had to say
About it
I drew a blank
And I have to thank you
For getting out of it-
What does love mean to me
Is it the thing that has
Caused me countless
Hours of misery
Heart ache and pain
Eyes dribbling
Wall punch your way
Through another day of love
Or is it the other
Chest constricting
Heart melting through your
Fingertips kind of way
Love is like an IV drip
Keeping me alive another day
I like to think the latter
At least that is what keeps me
Coming back for more
– Chris McQueeney
A beautiful woman approached a man and asked him for a light, he picked up his lighter and lit her cigarette. He never spoke, she stood watching him and walked away. For most of the night he could she her watching him but not once did he show any interest. The bar closed and he walked through the dark streets before a woman’s voice asked him to stop. “Do you not think I’m beautiful?” she asked. “Yes” he replied. “Would you like to spend the night?” she asked him, but he shook his head. “You are the most desirable woman I’ve ever seen, but it cannot be” he said. “Then tell me why?” she questioned. He answered, “Someone waits at home for me, she makes me laugh but also makes me cry, she helps me but can make the bitter of arguments, she has gone through so much with me and to me she is the most beautiful woman that will always shine through my eyes”. The woman kissed the man on the cheek, but as she turned to walk away said; “You are both blessed to know true love, I wish I could find love like that”.
– Christopher G.J. Smith
Love speaks in whispers
Holding shoulder, looking into eyes,
And when cries in longing
Pierces through the mellowed
Breast of the skies.
It arrives unannounced
On tip-toe, like a gentle breeze
Through lonely nights,
And when leaving
Slams the door so hard
That a thunder roars
With the feral vengeance of death,
Which reverberates through the soul.
Love, when it meets you
Nourishes the soul,
And in awkward shyness smiles.
It keeps you up long nights
Writing reams and running longest miles.
– Saket Suryesh
Natasha Head is one of my favorite poets: she has a remarkable way of seeing the world and pushing her craft further. And yet she is able to impart wisdom and truth without being pretentious. Her poetry covers issues such as bullying and rape culture, making them personal and real in ways editorials cannot. She relates stories from her youth, one about a stolen bicycle, to the inadequacy consuming our adult lives. The sections, divided into Conception, First Trimester, Second Trimester, Third Trimester, and Afterbirth, have strong themes of love and perseverance throughout. Birthing Inadequacy is an instant classic for me and I have read it twice already. Natasha dares saying what needs to be said and I respect her immensely for it. Perhaps her own words in “At My Alter” best describe the depth of her insight and understanding:
“My mind has been designed to think far too much
Overpowering the strength of the heart
Where the fire of belief is ignited”
There are a lot of books I want to buy. Unfortunately, some are not yet available, and others cost money. I’ve read as much as the Amazon sample allows for most, but decided it would be good to have a dream list of books.
“Like the fool I am and I’ll always be
I’ve got a dream, I’ve got a dream”
― Jim Croce
“We are all different. Not less, just different.”
― Eli Rosenberg
“”Maybe it’s the choices we make? We all start from the same grain but choose different paths? I’ve always thought most of us are only a handful of key decisions from a much different life.”
― Ashley Williams
“”We are world changers, Poet…even if it’s just our own…one little realm of reality at a time…you’re proof enough to me that there are still “good” people out there…now…we just need to build Poetopia and gather us all together”
― Natasha Head
“Regardless of anything there is a global uprising and wolves are revealing themselves.”
― Amanda
“I’m just curious as to how your mind makes these jumps.”
― Danielle
“You beat me with a hanger and a hairbrush…and you bit me…and you still lost.”
― Robert
“My brother has a raddish named Fred…he feeds him boots”
― Kelcee
“1940, that’s like 40 years ago”
― Megan
“My mind slowed to that of a trickling stream along with my heart”
― Whitney
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
― Philo
“I’ve been thinking about it, and that poem, that guy that wrote it, he meant you’re gold when you’re a kid, like green. When you’re a kid everything’s new, dawn. It’s just when you get used to everything that it’s day.”
― S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders
“Parting your soup is not a miracle Bruce, it’s a magic trick. A single mom who’s working two jobs, and still finds time to take her son to soccer practice, that’s a miracle. A teenager who says “no” to drugs and “yes” to an education, that’s a miracle. People want me to do everything for them. What they don’t realize is *they* have the power. You want to see a miracle, son? Be the miracle.”
― God, Bruce Almighty
“Nothin’ wrong with rollin’ up your sleeves, son. People underestimate
the benefits of good ‘ol manual labor. There’s freedom in it. Happiest people in the world stink like hell at the end of the day.”
― God, Bruce Almighty
Doctor: You know, since we’re talking with mouths, not really an opportunity that comes along very often, I just want to say, you know, you have never been very reliable. Idris: And you have? Doctor: You didn’t always take me where I wanted to go. Idris: No, but I always took you where you needed to go.
Idris: It’s sad when it’s over. I’ll always be here. But this is when we talked. And now, even that has come to an end. There’s something I didn’t get to say to you. Doctor: Goodbye. Idris: No. I just wanted to say… hello. Hello, Doctor. It’s so very, very nice to meet you.
“My Mama always told me that miracles happen every day. Some people don’t think so, but they do.”
― Forrest Gump
“Mama always said, dying was a part of life. I sure wish it wasn’t.”
― Forrest Gump
“Mama always said, God is mysterious.”
― Forrest Gump
“You know it’s funny what a young man recollects?”
― Forrest Gump
“And that’s what I did. I ran clear across Alabama.”
― Forrest Gump
“I would change myself if I could; I’d walk with my people if I could find them”
― Third Eye Blind
“As for you, my galvanized friend – you want a heart! You don’t know how lucky you are not to have one. Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.”
― The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
“And remember a heart is not judged by how much you love but by how much you are loved by others”
― The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
“So much of me is made of what I learned from you”
― Elphie, Wicked
“How’s this for a band camp story?”
― Jim, American Pie 2
“I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by.”
― Captain Jack Sparrow
“The world’s still the same. There’s just less in it.”
― Captain Jack Sparrow
“Now… bring me that horizon.”
― Captain Jack Sparrow
“I don’t want to see a world without Augustus Waters in it.”
― Isaac, The Fault in Our Stars
“I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity.”
― Hazel Grace, The Fault in Our Stars
“Her hands were still her hands, still warm, and her nails were painted this dark blue black color, and… I just held them.”
― Augustus Waters, The Fault in Our Stars
“Many that live deserve death, some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them Frodo Baggins? Do not be so eager to deal out death and judgement. Even the very wise cannot see all ends.”
― Gandalf the Grey
“Here at last on the shores of the sea comes the end of our fellowship. I will not say ‘do not weep’ for not all tears are an evil”
― Gandalf the White
“Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love.”
― Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
“Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back!”
― Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”
I recently read an article on where famous authors do their writing. There were some remarkable and inspiring locations and it made me wonder where the authors I know (the majority being small press and indie) write their words. I collected photographs from ten authors including myself: we span the spectrum from poetry and comedy to horror and high fantasy. Thank you to all the writers who let me into their homes (and other special places) through photographs: Ciara Ballintyne, Susie Clevenger, M.E. Franco, Helle Gade, Nadia Hasan, Natasha Head, Jon Konrath, C L Raven, and Stacey Roberts.
Ciara Ballintyne, author of Confronting the DemonSusie Clevenger, author of Dirt Road DreamsM.E. Franco, author of The Dion Series and The Rustler’s DaughterBen Ditmars, author of Night Poems and Haiku in the NightHelle Gade, author of Silent Dreams and Savage RoseNadia Hasan, author of From the Cafe and BeyondNatasha Head, author of Pulse and Nothing Left to LoseJon Konrath, author of Sleep Has No Master and AtmospheresC L Raven, authors of Disenchanted and Romance is DeadStacey Roberts, author of Trailer Trash, With a Girl’s Name
The Midnight Writer 