I open my chest like a book

Spine bending to allow this move

Both arms in use

I’m the shape of a hook

As though a hollow recess nooks

In the shelter of my wings 

But instead: colours and depth expose

Crumbs of my world escape

They’d talk for us if they could

You’re far away

Stiff, a figure from wood

Unable to reach out 

From where you’re stood 

Or even from n...

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Two souls bonded while time traveling

A meeting fated by a magical swipe

Sip the java that fuels us into exploration of past, present, & future lives

A full day of discovery has left us famished.

Let’s feast in celebration of a new beginning.

Waves of excitement roll and crash

Learning the waters of one another

Grounded in commonalities, swept away by differences.

Unli...

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I never learnt my mum's favourite colour.
Maybe it's the shade of maroon that adorned her bridal fingers,
Or the green that has weaseled its way into her dogmatic beliefs,
Or the blue that symbolizes her unrequited pursuit of peace.

I never asked my dad if he wishes he could go fifty years back in time,
Spend his childhood, basking in the privilege of being an only child,
But in a less bro...

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She turned to me with a smile and that old spark in her eyes

‘Alexia’ she said. Clearly, in that sing-songy way she always did.

I was stunned.

It’s been years since I heard that word leave her lips.

These days, I’m a different person each time we meet.

Even though it sucks, I roll with it.

A church member, a waitress, or a complete stranger.

She has no recollection of raising ...

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You & I

We

Forward 

In step

3 Legged Race

Against the world

The Mirror in your eyes

Reflect who I give you

You opened my fists

Stretched my arms

To show me what ‘embrace’ means

The warmth of your soul

Radiates in your smile

Which has engraved it's image in the folds of my memory

You challenge who I thought I was 

The conflict you cre...

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Beautiful to be fallen in a love with you my beloved

A union two twin flames

theirs
one old soul’s
shared nostalgia

about
our actions, how we react
an intertwined mind
quale, in the way we act
an ordeal with life
born into circumstance

chaotic
the conundrum
all of the elements and alignments required
the complexity of an immaculate conception
the manifestation of a woman and...

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Two birds left the nest after they had learned to fly,

setting off to find what the world has got to give.

Each had what it takes to ascend into the sky,

but each bird also had different reasons why they lived.

One lived a life to soar above, his days spent in the air.

The other lived to gather in and build a stable home.

One was carefree enjoying daily views beyond com...

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A LITTLE TIME

Daddy, spend some time with me,

it’s all I really need.

It doesn’t have to be that much,

let’s go do simple things.

Help me remember times back when

I was a little girl,

when you called me your princess doll,

back when you used to twirl

me round and round. You’d tossed me high,

just simply having fun.

So, Daddy let’s ...

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I can’t tell which is worse:
a fire or a flood.

at first, there doesn’t seem to be a difference;
you lose everything in both.
when you take a second look, the monster has grown.

the fire is insatiable. 
it devours what’s in sight. 
in the end, you have nothing to come back to. 
it’s not a choice you get to make.

the flood is curious. 
it touches everything within reach.
like a chi...

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Memento Mori

Sun shone through the greying lace,

And highlighted her wrinkled face.

Dormant now, no signs of breath,

Not unexpected, a timely death.

Months of pain relieved by time,

Old age being nature’s ultimate crime.

A better place her soul now seeks,

Drying tears nestled on hollowed cheeks.

This disappearing woman faded from sight,

Unnoticed, she left us all...

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A mother’s heart, In pieces,

All hope gone.

Quietly she sits, Reminiscing On the day it all went wrong.

Heart-crushing words,

Unthinkable—

Her whole world torn apart,

As the doctor said,

Apologetic, “We can’t hear the heart.”

Completely numb,

Bewildered,

She sits with a blank stare,

In total denial, Refusing To face her deepest fear

She cried out loud,

Unyiel...

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an epitaph
covered in overgrown grass
numbers and a letter encrypted,
written to the deceased,
for only those who knew him
you’d truly understand

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You got alot of nerve, stirring up mess

Churning emotions til they fester and burn

Wrecking havoc, thriving in your habitual habit

Unconcerned with the environment, leaving it in misalignment 

Antagonized by your exasperation

Declared our common enemy out of correlation

To fan out the flames of your generation

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She left home like a stranger in the night

No goodbye for the parents behind her

Shattered, broken and distraught

This isn't what they thought

Estranged and departed

Seperated and disheartened

Where do you belong?

Now you know there's something wrong

Meanwhile the parents stay

Like sharks circling at your bay

Only time will tell

In heaven or hell

...

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In my childhood, the night was always a scary thing, 

Its silence seeped into my soul, 

Its darkness created many shadows, 

I saw ghosts mocking me. 

Its reflections crept into my closed eyes. 

It felt like there was no place to hide. 

My little self was too afraid of being caught by them. 

Yet, with you by my side, I felt safe. 

You became a strong fortress ag...

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It’s frustrating being a generational curse breaker 

Ion got nobody to look up to 

I’m on this back breaking, google searching “do I need a co-signer?” journey alone 

I can’t stand that I don’t have a reliable person to lean on 

Was I born just for the cute baby pictures and outfits that people love?

I’ll rather had y’all save that money to go into my college fund 

I didn’t wanna...

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If our grandparents left their house, 
we'd miss the Autumn evening drive
to there after school on Fridays,
down the road where people rarely
discover their way to the village with
thirty-five locals, still quite hidden & remote.

We'd miss the night's clouds on
silent stained glass of the village
Church as it greets us just before 
the flare of trees & village green
is still distinguis...

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The little boy has cloudy eyes, yet no tears ever fall. 

The little boy often hides his voice behind a faint smile. 

The little boy grew into an adventurer, 

Singing along with the howling storm, 

Fighting the thunder that echoed across the sky, 

Confronting the sun that burned the horizon. 

The little boy has bones of steel. 

The little boy could be anything those...

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Dear Mom... 

Every morning, the scent of warm rice from the cooker,  

Along with the echoing rhythm of your footsteps,  

And the sound of boiling water poured into a coffee cup,  

Never fails to wake me up.  

It’s a harmony I always long for,  

A melody I always wish to hear,  

It is etched vividly in my mind.  

Dear Mom... 

Your voice through the phone gent...

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Am I ready for the things I acquire ? 

Used to mediocre things 

Not having enough money to buy what I need 

My goal has always been the finer things 

Wearing what I want, living where I want 

It seems small but those are big to me 

I don’t live above my means 

Watched people go down that road 

It’s not a pretty scene 

I’m scared about what I would do when I acquire what ...

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There isn’t enough hugs that grandma can give me that I’ll be satisfied with 

If I could I would enveloped myself in her arms for eternity 

The safeness that I feel within her warm embrace is not something this world can replicate 

She embodies the love that people in this world long after

Her love shines brightly on her face whenever she sees me 

And my cheeks can’t help but hurt w...

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Single the odd one out!

Baby blue, sky blue, navy blue, red.

Correct!
Red does not belong here.
 

Let's do another one.

Jeans, jumpsuit, jacket, towel.

Correct!
Towel does not belong here.

Now, for the final round.

Sister, mother, brother, father, I.

Correct again!
'I' does not belong here.

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If we could rewind the clock
Would you be different 
So that I could know how it feels
To feel the love of a Father

Maybe I could run into your arms
Instead of away from your fists 
You could be my hero 
Instead of the nightmare that persists

Left with questions I cannot answer 
What version of me were you after 

You never liked my face
So neither did I 
I look in the mirror
And...

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Left

5:27 am

It is time to get up.

Airport.

Shower – I use the woman’s fancy shampoo.

Toothpaste, lotion, brush; done – in the black hygiene bag.

The woman enters the bedroom to check on me, “You have everything?”

“Yes,” I say, “I think so; if I leave anything, you could send it to me?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Okay,” I say.  She walks to the kitchen and sits down softly with ...

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A cigarette glows
reflected in the truck windshield
careening through the city night
These headlight beams
fruitlessly searching
for something gone
The Grand Rapids highways
never take me where I want to be
not even close

I drink awhile at Anchor bar
a quarter spinning on the table
thoughts go round, keep coming back
'til my skull's swimming too
Two more beers
heads they’re mine
t...

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Father told me, when i was young, that his mother told him ‘if you can fit pinky to thumb around your wrist you are too thin’. When I managed to grasp my arm half way up, pinky to my thumb, I saw success. It’s hard to see sadness when you are sick. Mother taught me forgiveness was not earnt, but expected. So, when you lied to me I knew what I was to do next.

         The cathedral was o...

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Greetings cards with wine or wellies

Gardening, golf and air guitars

Flawless lawns, beer bellies

For this is what you are

You’re slower, balder, fuller faced

Your jokes fall flat and stale

That bike you bought, still in its place

Another mid-life fail

The Lycra was more than a stretch

You ’re living in the past

Running uphill makes you retch 

And your tr...

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Mouthful Of Words

Poem after Brian Moses

These are the words my teacher teaches,

omnipresent, evaporating, invigilator, dichotomy,

diminuendo.

Then there are the words at home they choose

in our chatters animated to recounting the news.

There are the words that Grandma always seems

to say that I regurgitate, no matter the situation or their

denoting: bam...

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Friday at last, speed home from work
The flights tomorrow, few drinks a perk
It's that time, hurray! it's come round at last
But now i'll have to pack and make it fast
I'll pull the cases from the loft space
Unzipped and clean, put ready in place
I open the drawers and tip out all the clothes
Where's my favorite T shirt, God only knows
Three shirts, a tie! A jacket quite light
Not w...

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Where has it brought me

To the point of hatred towards my own kin

Less in thought and more of it on me

Why do I hate my mother 

She’s taken my youth and discouraged my future 

Left to take hold of her addictions 

Copying what I know I don’t want 

So why do I carry on 

Doing things that I know resemble her

Cursed by a course of action

Product of a design 

Disgusted ...

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Be not a leaf

falling from a tree

Be a branch...

part of the trunk

with roots

to ground you. 

By Lynn Hahn

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Maybe not the healthiest thing 

But the healthiest I ever had

Such a prince charming you seemed, with

 your white van for a steed. Full of recovery 

stories and what seemed like integrity.  

Not perfect for sure, an anger problem and unnaturally, unwarranted high self esteem. Yet still better, more together and healthier 

than I had ever been.

So many nuggets of...

Read more …

i'm sick of doing the best i can
because it isn't ever enough
if I can't be good,
what's the point of being here at all?

I never sleep well anymore
even though I tell the doctors I sleep fine
I just stare at the ceiling
and live through the lives of others

sit in class with an ache behind my eyes
I can't even tell if the pain is real
excedrin can only do so much
and I think my toler...

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No bird remains to sing his song.

so silence pounds the whole day long.

In beat with memory of the day

I clapped to make him go away.

The fault, it clearly lies with me

the bird was what the bird should be.

Now I live knowing I was wrong…

to want to silence any song.

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Nothing means more

When facing death's door...

Then family

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They say that change is a part of life,

Alright,

If everything were to stay the same,

Forever,

I will be bored out of life,

But there are always some things,

That I want,

For eternity,

Like my love for chocolates, maybe,

Or my stupid childish desires and wishes,

Gazing at stars all night,

Or feeling the warmth of sun,

On me, as I let my imaginations run wild,

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I kick away the leaves
uncover the carved stones
And reading your names again
I let those feelings flood in

The two of you rest together
laid deep beneath the earth
There’s a tree that grows above you
and here’s me, treading my own winter

Life was in wealth, awhile
but I’ve been chasing that warmth 
for three decades now
I’m tired and my body aches

There will be fireworks tonight
...

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The morning sun silvered the poplar leaves

Somewhere others lay in the cut clay 

waiting

And I smelt the sea’s dead things

As I walked. 

Kelp, razor shells, crabs, limpets

School friends swam and laughed in sandy craters

And there I was walking

By Goat's Water, the Old Man looking down

As he had for all my life 

And all those other lives before

The smell of wet bra...

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At the time I was somewhat cold,     

A child doing as it was told,   

Sitting in the hut Dad just built,     

Not so solid, a bit of tilt,    

The rain dripping onto my head,  

Family there, us being fed,     

Avoiding spiders seen about,     

Waiting until we could run out,    

Back inside into our home warm,  

Before drizzle turned into storm,     

Yet now all I...

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At the time I was somewhat cold,     

A child doing as it was told,   

Sitting in the hut Dad just built,     

Not so solid, a bit of tilt,    

The rain dripping onto my head,  

Family there, us being fed,     

Avoiding spiders seen about,     

Waiting until we could run out,    

Back inside into our home warm,  

Before drizzle turned into storm,     

Yet now all I...

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I swear I won't mourn you 

I won't miss the days 

Of snuggling up to you 

Of you kissing away my fears

Of the long phone calls talking about our days

They never happened anyway

I won't miss the time you visited

And baked my favorite dish

And watched the kids while I went for a run

And folded my laundry tightly

It never happened anyway

I won't mi...

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she is the vagabond

who wanders with the winds

forever adrift 

a prisoner to her sins

by dawn she appears

nextdoor, or nearby 

she’ll pay you no mind

nor lift you an eye

now, offer her aid

let her stay for a while

she’ll throw you a laugh

or feign you a smile 

but soon as you stop

and question her ways

her grin disappears

her eyes fill wi...

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I lost my Brother, and my poetry went with him

Words replaced by a bottomless hollow

Knowing he has not one more tomorrow 

The words I needed drifted away

Hiding from the light of day

Wallowing in a sea of grey 

The sea, which drowns us all

When someone dear passes away

He liked a drink, and liked a fag

But was the best brother I could have had

'A good looki...

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There was such a tenderness 

In the beating of her heart

But, such a terrible wailing 

To go unheard 

Her hand lay open & empty 

Her eyes

Mostly closed

A smile could occasionally flicker

Like the flame of a candle 

Dancing before it becomes smoke.

On that last night 

When the rain poured

And the moon hid

Her hand slowly closed

Her cheeks dimpled with ...

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These words that I speak

These words I now write

These flat voweled phrases

These poems I indite 

This love of things dark

This love of things light

This fondness for nature 

This ease with the night 

These moments of joy

These moments of fear

These hands clenched in fists

These thoughts holding clear

This taste for fine wine

This taste for che...

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Grief casts complex shadows
over the wilting body
You feel the fingers grasping
as sirens rise again
This fatalistic ritual
an energy made negative
and stomach knotted up
by such unhelpful thoughts

Pain rips at your sails
thunderous and wild
is it the body breaking down
a message poorly translated
The shrieking of absence
cuts deep into the gut
those hands twist and grip
the cycle...

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Gracious as her title
God Blessed the earth with this noble warrior by name
Like oxygen to survive she is vital
Unique lady unlike any other
For Jane we are blessed Bright mother
Her heart dances and sings
Fine cut like a diamond
As golden as her rings
This lady is flamboyant as true as her beauty
She oozes style
Eyes sparkling like stars I see her soul in her smile
She cares and loves
...

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I’m screaming at the top of my lungs

But she can’t hear me.

I might as well be yelling in French or Spanish because

She just doesn’t understand me

When I tell her I can’t do this.

She doesn’t get it when I tell her

I don’t know—

Je ne sais pas,

Yo no sé

—how I’m going to see this through.

It’s like my brain es en fuego from all

Of the información being ...

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As snow came down

her wondrous eyes

flared as bright

as winter skies

She imagined they fell

from Santa's sleigh 

And that he might

pop down & say:

What a good girl

you've been this year 

You may get more

than an apple & pear!

And through a window

frosted lightly,

she saw a snowman

fat, but sprightly!

He danced & raised

his batt...

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Two decades of uniqueness and joy so far and many more to come 

Her name means Life 

Who is like God is the name meaning of her mum

Father Paul ..small and Hansom according to the bible of name meaning 

Kind hearted tower of strength 

Wife Michelle ,because of her he's beaming 

Eve she keeps them breathing 

The heart and soul of her folks existence 

Such bond 

...

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