Poetry Game, Anyone?

[Stew21]

he traveled
now weary
and wiser.
head to palm
elbow to table and a glass.
can't go home, and about the girl...
top button begging to be released
wicked smile, her sharp teeth polished
to high sheen -
eyes green
glassy and wanting.
weary, he wants to take a chance
with those beckoning lips
wiser, he declines.


next word: wiser

[davids]

Jacob Wiser
in the corner
dirt dust and feces
clickety clack-clichety clack
the little engine that could

Jake the kids and the wife
on the little train that could
strip em and prep em
gas em up nice
just so we could forget em

Next word: penumbra

[Angelinity]

i know you're there
in the penumbra of memories
lost
near the edge of what was
might have been
when it was
i was
me

i see you sometimes
scuttling to jump from the shadows
then you're gone.
the glare of light melts your ghost
and you smelt back in the shadows

a filigree alloy stronger than silk
stalking me
always
unto unbecoming.


next word: coal

[Stew21]

the coal-grit of earth eaten
digested to feel
the elements of love and hate
and gods and demons.
drunk on air gone stale
with time, too much time
in this atmosphere.
brain itch and twitch
with fire - the thought
of you, not me.
and the being that
exists somewhere between
the jagged rocks below.
tangled with space far above
and long lost when we took to feet.
high on tide
rapturous on grass
lying under trees
and the shivering sky
holds the chemistry
that makes us
everything.

Next word: elements

[Angelinity]

splayed by my radiance that you percieve as love,
a name engraved by laserbeam beneath the smile
that greets you from the frame you put me in
above the mantle of your soul --

the adoration streaming through your eyes
is more than i can bear. you ask too much of me,
splitting my being into rare elements:
dust, spittle and a sliver of your ribcage
above the heart;
all lumped together
into the image of your maker
-- the only one you think can save you
from yourself.

am i, am i?

demanding i deny your worthlessness
you hope that i can built you up
from elements whose names you now forgot...

next words: free radicals

[davids]

Once we were free radicals
now we are simply elderly fossils

next word: Cheese

[Angelinity]

good little boys and girls know
how to smile and say cheese,
for snapshots, after the show.

good little girls like to bow
and give granny a squeeze,
and they don't kick, spit, or chow.

good little peter and joe
eat their carrots and peas,
don't cry when they stub their toes.

now, bad little girls and boys
don't know how to say please
so they get no Christmas toys.

next word: chandler

[davids]

My Chandler Chapeau
an ode to the past
of tough Dicks and Molls
and 38 snubs

Of cuss words we spoke
a joke was a curse
and broads wore lipstick
garters and belts

We knew who we were
that Chapeau and me
now it's hard
to find
for that old man and me
are sittin and fartin
just wishin we had
a dime a cup
and some change for the road

Next word: fart

[Angelinity]

Don't take this wrong --
I love you dearly
you see that, clearly,
our marriage is strong.

You're always there for me
to hold my hand.
You treat me grand
and fund my shopping spree.

I love to cook for you
and wash your socks
pack your lunchbox
and hand you a cold brew.

But dear, let's sleep apart!
I'll move next door.
At night you snore
and oh, megod - you fart!


next word: implore

[Ganesha]

implore

You appealed
in supplication;
I beseeched
a replication;
we begged urgently



next word: entreat

[P.H.Delarran]

press your hand in mine
will your dreams upon my breast
when your lips touch mine
I'll taste your need


don't beg me to be yours
don't ask me for my heart
the gods are mistaken,
man is not a commodity

for one short moment in time
our thrashing will supersede
the boundaries we've set

just press your hand in mine


next word: gods

[laurel29]

Of Gods we spoke
and boundaries
our minds working feverishly
striving to overcome
yet caught up in the complexities of youth
the soup of hormones and desires
hands grasping for something solid
settling on flesh
the commonsense approach to grounding
our flights of fantasy

next word: soup

[black winged fighter]

When we kiss,
tender yellow and
songbird rose,
when our skin graze
touches
singing pale lavender in my
thoughts,
my thoughts turn to
soup.

Next Word: thoughts

[Rivana]

My thoughts spin
like mercury through liquid air.
Floating when they should
be lightning fast.
They freeze, solidify
and there, there I have it -
crystal salt defying
every natural law.

Next up: solidify

[Angelinity]

These quiet moments,
rare as oxygen on Killimanjaro peaks,
when shadows of you billow due left,
over my shoulder, shimmering...
Only somewhat there
and mostly elsewhere,
lost in layers of memories
jumbled and askew...
I try to trace
the shape of your face
wishing
your features plumped beneath my finger.
I whisper your name in the glowing darkness behind my eyelids
digging fingernails into the bridge of my palm.

I wait.
Maybe the vapor will solidify,
Spell out your secrets,
your whereabouts...
And maybe
I will vaporise,
Lose my atoms to rare oxygen and lift
Up onto Killimajaro peaks.

next word: fastidious

[black winged fighter]

You
the not so fastidious
feline
great cat hunter
kitten
stalking the flutter
of my heart.

Next Word: Flutter

[Ganesha]

flutter

an open wallet
dollars flutter
a phone number
scribbled in yellow
I wait


next word: money

[black winged fighter]

We are talking money
honey,
don't you realise? But no,
she holds green
paper, nothing
more.


Next Word: more

[WriterUnboxed]

More and more I realize
the folly here.
I will give you - something, more.
Sapphires in the clouds,
more and better sparkling things,
a scent, a buzz in the room,
a harmony of bees,
our doublebond spun with honey.
But...
that mouth, dug from the ground,
drops worms in my ear.
Folly.
We are
spent.
Eviscerated.
The honey dried.
Infested.
The pillow flung
and feathers flown
the coop,
each on its own breeze,
circling the town,
searching for
more.

Next word: circus

[davids]

Clowns, you know
the ones with the make-up
large shoes, red nose
flowers that squirt

Sallow painted fields
little children playing
flesh on fire
screaming
help me

Shall we go
to the circus
candy apples fluffy puffs
a bullet would be better
no, the flames are fun
crispy, black, circus joy

Next word: fantasy

[Angelinity]

over the fence of Eden
on the far shore of a riverbed
that once bore men's souls to their doom
back in Hell's heyday
when God held the reins
and lines held steady
in the sands

she stands
winter hair whipping desert gales
dreaming a fantasy -
that the world did exist
though no souls endure to remember
and charred piers dangled in barbs
deign to sprout green new buds
to renew her garden

next word: spiffs

[Angelinity]

(no one likes 'spiffs'?? geez, I though we all wanted some perks... )

take this job - no spiffs
to speak of. and the pay stinks...
at least you belong.

next word: stunted

[laurel29]

Sanity
curled up
within.
My limbs
stiff,
tight, twisted.
afflicted.

next word - limbs

[black winged fighter]

Should I become
a sphere,
crystalline and perfect,
the moon of yesteryear,

I would grow to miss
I think
the parts of me
I used to think

Were a given.

Fingers, hands, and lower digits,
Feet and ankles,
Waiting fidgets,
My arms and also, legs.

And so I decline
with great respect,
your offer fine
and defect:

To become one with
Gaea's soul.

Next Word: rhyme

[Kate Thornton]

This is the perfect
form for me I realize
you know I can't rhyme

Next Word: event

[black winged fighter]

In the event of
redundance -
please disregard these words.
- Management.

Next Word: redundance

[janetbellinger]

From whence came the repugnance
It had to have been from the redundance
evident in the surplus
of ellipses on the dining room table.

"It's all nonsensical," the guests cried
unawares it was all quite sane
in the context of the world at the time
And ellipses could not be denied.

Those gathered for the literary feast
gobbled them up before the speeches were over
leaving only dangling participles to consume
along with subordinate clauses made from yeast

speech - new word

[Angelinity]

When spring whispers
daubs of light
on my iris
traipsing rainbow trails
on this arctic landscape

I pluck fringes of words strewn in its wake
diffused scraps of a puzzle
with no name

Unless

It's a name I once knew
when the letters were new and fell into place
on their own
ringing with the blessing of speech
sure of their fate
bold in their meaning

Stories wrote themselves into books

once

when I knew my name.

next word: gob

[black winged fighter]

I awoke,
my breath shaking its way free
of the gob of nightmare
in my throat
so raw
from a night
spent coughing up
dreams

Next Word: cough

[davids]

The morning cold and bright
the night past as it was
to burnished sky
cloudless blue
men in fields
prancing light
coughing red
in War's delight

Neext word: instant

[Stew21]

My Silence

i pull the knot from my chest
to end my suffocation,
toss the tangled twine
into the air, let it fall
for an instant
then
with a reckless eyelash bat and a mighty swing
i disintegrate that tumor of words
that have grown solid in this heart
and let them fall unuttered
and in pieces - syllables, fragments;
shattered
at your feet.

next word: silence

[laurel29]

The crunch of footsteps fade.
Standing here,
beneath these barren branches,
I am stillness

Listening to the white noise hiss
my breath hidden,
lost in the not-quite-sound,
I am silence

next word: listening

[LimeyDawg]

To TatteredandTorn on why sometimes I don't crit personally painful poems.

You pen your pains in black and white,
a breath on phosphor-coated glass,
yet seen under a diff'rent light
I miss the hurt and let it pass,

and bent upon the dreamer's craft,
I'd trim the flesh down to the bone
and to your anguished, heartfelt words
I'd add some baggage of my own.

Next word: Dreamer

[black winged fighter]

Anlges through the darkness
and the light,
and the curves become the gray
between shapes -
I glimpse a mirror fragment self
and know
I am.

Next Word: am

[Angelinity]

Sing the Hosanna pledge of love
--if Love is what you call it.
Exalt My name, beseech My Grace
Prostrate your Will before Me.

Forgiving - think you that I am,
If only you repented
for every lowly thought and deed--
Hosanna unrelented...

You know of Me what you see fit
and only when it suits you,
The real you hidden beneath
deceptive cloaks of virtue

yourself have come to trust as real.
You call yourself a martyr
since you forsook the gift to heal
and chose the sword in barter.

The time is high you stood alone,
Took stock of your own being.
I take my leave. I cede my throne.
I'm weary of your grieving.

next word: yowl

[black winged fighter]

Yowl is an undignified word,
out of place
in my heart,
but when you suffer
it is the only
fitting
word.

Next Word: fitting

[Angelinity]

pried away from his suckling tit
round brown eyes full of wit,
on the dark winter gray
left to die in a ditch
with four sisters in tow
it was fitting that I take him home.

I named him my Ursus - a joke.
He grew into a blond bear of a dog
with long silky hair, palomino tail
and the deepest eyes
that knew more than they'd tell.

Nine years he watched over us
from his shed in the yard
condemned by the sin of half-breed
he coveted the number one dog
who slept at my feet.

I promised, when I went away
that soon I'd come back,
take him for walks on the lake
watch the sunset together
- I would make him First Dog, one day...

Then last year he fell ill
'he won't make it', they said -
but I prayed and i begged him
to wait for me still
so he stayed, watching the gate.

On I went with my life.
I forgot of my pledge
til last night when they called -
he had gone past the edge
of this world.

At last he figured out
my promise i can't keep.
His weary bones gave out
in winter's dark, cold deep.

He waits beyond the living
to come sleep at my feet.

next word: remorse

[Ganesha]

Word: fitting

the red shirt was fitting
she followed you to the exit
her hunger naked
I was aghast
my heat leapt
as she waited for you

next word: jealousy

[black winged fighter]

The greedy longing
colours me
spotted yellow brown
inside and
outside
I am slick shiny metal,
magnetic and
rusting in our jealousy.

Next Word: rust

[davids]

Rust on my gun
rust on my bum
whatever shall I do
cause
with rust on my gun
and rust on my bum
the latter precludes the former

Next word: cherish

[kborsden]

I cherish that cerise stone
Of love and ardour,
That beating, pumping organ,
Once filled with amorous fervour,
Now black and harsh scaled
With scar after scar
Of unfaithful fidelity.
Yet I cherish it still,
Though its purpose is gone
And poison runs through my veins.

Next: predacious

[Angelinity]

greedy wolfish hungry eyes
depredatory hunting jaw
rapacious sneer
bloodthirsty cries
predacious
ghost of times gone 'wry
shall haunt this world you bartered
for a dime

next word: pillage

[black winged fighter]

I am pillaging
my memory in serach
of
the notes, the drums, the music
of my dreams last night -
I remember the theft,
I remember the phantom,
I remember the fall,
but the song is leaving me -
snowflakes of sound falling up
away
from the forest of my thought.

Next Word: forest

[kborsden]

That darkened path
To nowhere,
Enclosed in green-black,
A route to shadows
Of past and present.
I wander this subsistence,
Unknowing where I step
Along the trail
Of visions and breaths,
Of sighs and silence,
In this my forest
Of reverie.

Next: aspiration

[Ganesha]

aspiration

breathing in
your exhale
you are my object of desire

next: theosophy

[kborsden]

Theosophy

If I believe
What I believe,
My word may be true,
But your back-water creed,
May shed some light too,
An alteration
In consideration,
Simple dictation
Of what we say and do,
A measly puzzle
Of faith and kafuffle
Will lead us to
A possible shared truth.

Next: dilacerate

[ddgryphon]

This dream echoes itself
night by night
I fly free on wings of light
throughout the stars
past moon and planets
comets of ice encased in fire
chase with me we dance afar
yet there is fear clutching my heart
as another stalks me among this heaven

It is a black wing
with hollow eyes
claws of fire
it rends the sky

seeking my heart
my joy
my sight
I tire of pursuit
turn to fight

Too slow to counter
the claws full slam
dilacerate both soul and man

Then scattering my broken form
from system to system through
dust and storm

And then I wake within my room
knowing tomorrow I'll still face doom

*******************

Next: unmask

[Angelinity]

your words
always right for the occasion
you're a man of the world

i fell for your white scarf
tailored gloves
the way you open the door
for me
when we go out

your love-making
in the lift between floors
after the opera

the starched white collar
so perfectly circular
uncreased

i never saw you naked before
your backbone
must be stitched to your tuxedo


next word: penny

[black winged fighter]

I am the cliche
about pennies,
thoughts,
and opportunity costs.

Next Word: opportunity

[kborsden]

A chance arises,
A cause in me
To push the boundaries
Of myself.
To get that goal,
To make that play,
To seize the moment,
Carpe diem.
This is my day,
My time to shine,
Opportunity waits for no man.

Next: defibrillate

[davids]

Defibrillate, detoxify, postificatory postulations
that meaning of nothing is deep
like a hole
one where you fall
flaying arms abound
nothing to hold
ground in sight

splat!!!!

Next word: splat

[Angelinity]

this thread

in spite of all the talent here
or maybe just because
we're really geniuses
at work - a truth we can't diclose
but in the wonderous masterpiece
we fiddle with in secret
until it's rife with grandiose
and worthy if not sacred
contorted lofty words of caprice

this humble thread that once begat
a hundred poems in one night
has had its wind cut. and from flight
poor little thread went 'splat!'

(ahem... inspired by 'my work is genius')

next word: opressive

[davids]

What of death
so often thought of
seldom ignored

Oppresive consideration I should think.
My body? Why it's in the Pink!
On the other hand my friend
what does the spirit say?

The still small voice
from away and within
that sometimes screams from black abyss
Your spirit sir speaks to you
Do you think it time to listen?

One fine day not long ago
youth held me in its grasp
no flaws no fears let's take the leap
from youth that held me in its gentle hands

With age one sleeps
one day closer, strange oblivion
when spirit leaps
to scream dear child
time to listen
no?
Too late!

next word: caution

[Albedo of Zero]

Throw it to the wind
if the breeze is at your back
-yellow light red light
dont step on the crack-

Make it a symptom
of your favorite neurosis
-lock the door lock the door-
beware the prognosis

Change your face innocent
before you get caught
-wipe dry for a crime
with soap if its not.



next word: crime

[threedogpeople]

Crime of passion
committed
between sheets
soaked
with mid-summer sweat

Act of passion
committed
by two adults
straining
toward Nirvana.

Crime of lust
symptomatic
of many years
neglecting
to nurture love.

Act of hate
perfunctorily
going for a ride
forgetting
to be honorable

act of lust
act of selfishness
act of hate
crime of passion
...guilty pleasure



===============

Author's note: This is not about my real life, except that I just watched part of Basic Instinct.

In the critique section, too.


Next Word: Instinct

[ddgryphon]

Not just here, but in the critique section too:

Designer Genes

walking the helix
imagination released
seeking by instinct
a flow of ideas

ascending the ladder
carelessly floating
and recombining
unnaturally

building the unknown
from disparate pieces
a new age coming
from old now reformed
__________________

Next Word: Complexity

[Ganesha]

Word: Complexity

simply put
I'm filled with complexity


next word: certes

[davids]

certes melts ini your mouth
not in your hand

next word: gay

[Ganesha]

word: gay

gay is the way


next word: mountain

[davids]

Gay mountain
broke back crank
it all good
where's my hood

Next word: sugar

[Ganesha]

Sugar

he called me 'Sugar'
I was sweet on him
we were an item


next word: storms

[davids]

Storms McPherson
a pug of a man
scars and brands
marlborros in his lungs

He fought an he spat
his lungs filled with crap
just look I'm a tough
hard smokin' man

Next word: cigarretes

[ddgryphon]

Coughin' Nails

each stick leaks
tobacco before
turning to ash

transforming healthy
flesh to yellow stains
and healthy lungs
to black char

yet cigarettes
claim young and old

when a child breathing
that white death
my heroes and
cartoon characters told
how good they were for me

Now, even those that make them
crawl the web telling me to quit
or how I shouldn't start

thank god for scotch
it makes the smoking easier

_______________
next word: scarlet

[Ganesha]

word: scarlet

she slapped
his face stung- scarlet
the other woman's hair
perfume lingered

next word: energy

[Albedo of Zero]

In sugar rush, they play their games
with you or without
Neurons newest stimuli
changes smile to a pout
they cry and cry
and cry and cry
then laugh and cry again
--you've used up your eight hours worth
but egads! it's only ten



next word: reaction

[Ganesha]

reaction

re- as opposed to action
which seems to be some kind of reflection
of an action
not a direct action
but an echo of that action
I'm lost
eating raspberry jam on fresh toast
and drinking merlot
so am I reflecting some sort of an action
without reflecting upon this poem of an action?
okay is this enough action? or reflection?

next word: confusion

[dobiwon]

Bombs

Fission or fusion?
A layman's confusion.
A general's delusion!


Next word: interstitial

[Cassie88]

What's it called again,
My friend asks for the tenth time.
Intersitial Cystitis.
Please, Mo,
Please write it down.
Please remember it.
I'm going to need you
To understand.
Not realizing then
How true the words.

Chronic disease
Is like the blind wind,
And everyone near to it
Must bend,
Twist and turn,
Trying always
To keep the gusts
Behind them.


Next word: chronic

[Rivana]

Chronic pain
I brought it
upon myself
I know.
It was stubbornness,
it was.
It was pride.
Time ticks
and my ticks
hurt more by every minute.
Time to take a pause again,
time to go outside
and walk the same
road I've walked
for years on end.

Next up: hello

[threedogpeople]

I'd like to say "hello" again
to a more familiar self

I'd like to find that place inside
where happiness used to stay

I'd like to hear that voice once more
the one that had great days

I'd like to feel my spirit soar
with the dawning of the day

I'd like to find some peace somewhere
that life is not torment

I'd like to be my former self
or to learn where that self went

I'd like to know why shoes become
more comfortable as they age

I'd like to know why people grow
more tired with the passing days

I'd like to be my unbroken self
and to share me with the world

I'd like to find the life I had
when I was just a girl


Next word: Unbroken

[ddgryphon]

now shattered and lost
nothing known once it's fallen
can be unbroken


*****************

next word: engine

[black winged fighter]

I am a difference
engine
and it is logical
to love.

Next Word: difference

[kborsden]

Discrepant distance of thought and reason
In wide spread rumours, provoked and forced
From bigotry and hand-held fusion
Of apartheid in constant confusion,
Bleak and battered in indifference and treason.

The unknown king of life itself
Is merely diversity in imprisoned treachery
And disbelief of the multiplicity of assortment
Of ideals and idiosyncrasies of simple symposium
Of all that is dissimilar,
What is the difference?

Next: pedestrian

[Ganesha]

Anything but Pedestrian

A dead Tree Swallow in her hand
the ice flow shimmered
tears so hot little blisters
formed on her cheeks
she jumped off the bridge

all day she lay
under the thin sheet of ice
till night shut the sky and
orange nuclear lights illuminated
warmed her blue skin
she gulped air
the tiny bird flew her fist







next word: nuclear

[kborsden]

For all intent and purposes
The centre is the pinnacle.
Informational building blocks
In reductive composition,
Formulation, enterprise.
Hidden function,
Unknown future,
The precedent resides
In that unspoken reasoning
Of neither black nor white
Of stem cellular motivation,
Re-composition, restructure, resignation,
Disambiguating free-willed position.
A forward force,
Pre-designed, re-written
At every turn, decides
A muttered parental proposition
Enrooted in sub-atomic, miniscule minds
Of eternal winter, nuclear tides of survival.

Next: disambiguate

[Ganesha]

disambiguate

to ponder
focus
on one

the mind bursts


next word: grace

[kborsden]

Her elegant walk
And crystal feather of being,
Sink in a watery aquarium,
Chutney.

The lie of her,
Once loved,
Now disputed,
Regretted in an uttered rumour,
Whisper of murky cream.

Under that coat of mud,
A chic silk dress,
Torn and gashed is worn,
Covering the slightest drunken,
Formerly figured flesh.

Lost, unloved,
Misplaced, astray,
Muttering and glaring,
Staring wild fixtures,
Insanity, screaming wild and yielding silence.

Her name was Grace.

Next: abstruse

[ddgryphon]

Speech thick and abstruse
falls on my bowed head
in the yammering aimless
words of intended comfort
I remain lost in the thickness
of wretchedness without
the blessing of absolution

****************************

Next word: clemency

[Godfather]

have no mercy,
spare me no cries.
charley patton moans
the prayer of death,
i listen, cry along
under the darkening skies.


next word: blues

[Rivana]

My fingers sing the blues,
lit by candles in the dark
and much beloved night.
My voice tells of secrets
people listen to,
without ever believing.
Cassandra, Cassandra,
who cursed you my friend?
I sit here by Nostradamus fire
that tells no tales.
No control, I have nothing.
They come in bursts and do not
give me much help
to alter anything.
Is this how it was for you?
Or am I just not in your league?
Hush, don't answer.
Mother cuckoo has arrived
and I must listen
from where her singing comes:
South is dying,
north is crying,
east is comfort,
west is best.
That's a test
of serendipity.
First you listen,
then you see
and if you're lucky,
eventually
folktales are all
that tell you
what's to be.

Next up: helper

[Albedo of Zero]

Helper once
servant hence
mind games play on kindness
dominance sums
the differences
between
multitudes and defiance
To each his own
or be true to yourself
in division
comes out pi
but circle full
into life's square peg
makes sense only
if you're high


next word: belief

[Rivana]

The rosebud shares
a belief with the lion,
that the sun is for enjoying
your life's work.
The raindrop shares
a word with the butterfly
that all things are
in transition.
They transcend time
because time
holds such tremendous power
over them,
that it has
no power
at all.
The white river shares
its secrets with me
of bending light in a loop,
of longevity.
I, share my thoughts
with the rose
and the rain.
The lion's at my feet,
and the butterfly
does a dance
on my fingertip.

Next up: illusion

[laurel29]

This sense of solidity,
illusion.
My feet stumble,
missing your beat.
The grimness of your smile
sits achingly, astride
this stone seat.
My cobblestone path
leads nowhere.

next word - solidity

[KTC]

The stark reality,
that a mind approaching
solidity could soon be swayed,
made feeble with a skewed look,
a slight of tongue, twist
of fate. Falling morbidly
to death is scintillating
to imagine, but still,
the smells of spring,
how they lift the fractured mind
to the singing of arias,
to the belief in futures
unimagined. With time,
and just a little
ingenuity,
this too shall pass.
But the memory of flight,
watching him soar,
so much better
than the visual remembered
of after-flight. Of landing.
You can touch the wind
on the precipice, make
wild love with the silky tongue
of the North breeze.
The commitment
is not in languid movements
with the motion of the air
between you and fate,
but with the climb,
that step by step feeling
of entering into contract
with the last fleeting
moments. So close
to solidity, the mind
that falls to fate.

Next word: WIND

[Rivana]

Hesitant scorn
from childish pink
pouty lips.
Cutting eyes,
flashing hurt
behind razorsharpness.
Don't come closer,
hold me tight,
don't coerce me,
trap me NOW!
Before the silence
makes me scream
my curses again.
Heart bleeding,
fear feeding
the pounding veins.
It's earthquakes
and lightning,
it's stormy wind in the trees.
Break or bend,
the growing pains,
makes them forgive
the child
again.

Next up: ironic

[davids]

Ironic how the wind flows
between my ears and out
a whistle heard from miles away
to lull the girls to pluck and sway

Next word: glitch

[Rivana]

There's a glitch in the system,
I'm sure it's not supposed
to cater to humans
as were we the ghosts.
There's a glitch in the plan,
gods on high, look to me.
I will tell it straight -
this, the way it should be?
Is not the way it's become.
The contracts null
burn by my feet and warm
my ego.
Come gods, burn with me,
it's time to go
to history.

Next up: lens

[Angelinity]

look at me
look
running barefoot in the park
in december.

i traded spike heels
for the warmth of earth.
yes, the ground melts on my soles
as i run hop-scotch through your vizor
you'll never catch me
you'll never catch me.

look,
i skipped galaxies through your lens.

next word: hired gun

[threedogpeople]

individuality reduced to obscurity
tunnel vision targeted by cross-hairs
hired gun, hit man to the heart
killing ruthlessly, dispassionately
the present, the future, the dream of together
rest in peace, kiss my ass
your eulogy is my freedom cry
I won't love you 'till the day I die
I go on, I am strong
but you will live and die alone


Next word: audacity

[Albedo of Zero]

The snow that blows across the field
-too late for sleds,
-too much for yield-
has a front
-audacity
colorless, cold, opacity
out of season, out of charm
no good reason. Hitting hard
on all planned fun, hiding
chiding, springtime sun,
this snow that blows across the way
pisses me off...that's all i'll say.



next word: seasonal

[P.H.Delarran]

bald
at birth
snapshots of
the funny cone
still bring snickers


you always
suckled your food
with so much hunger
that my breasts ached

eager
to please
your bright blues
and crooked smile
always drew attention

now you
abuse your charms
with so much skill
that my heart aches

one life
one moment
no turning back
no regrets

your motto hangs
heavy between your shoulders
broad shoulders - are they
strong enough to hold my head when i cry?

alone again
you and me
still, you pull at my heart
my breasts ache with longing

use your charm again
make me leap with joy
at the flash of your blue eyes


next word: longing

[Angelinity]

on an ordinary day,
young new mothers
coo nose to nose
to their sons,
tickle tender cheeks
with cherry blossoms
whispering ever-after stories
invented from memories
of never-been.

every day should be like this.
but mothers grow old
and wean their babies.

on an ordinary day
cute old couples
walk hand-in-hand
to a step,
lost in yesterdays,
squinting in the light --
slovenly walk, blind leading the blind.
reinventing what has been
when they were young.

every day should be like this.
but old people die.
their names forgotten.

on an ordinary day,
beneath the crown,
old joints cracking
on hinges,
baking in the sun
the bench sits waiting under the fringe,
a crescent moon set to sleep,
waiting for the day.

every night should be like this.
but fate is fickle,
my son. she took you away.

next word: cusp

[black winged fighter]

Cusp
and changing tides
and I can feel your glow
consuming
my whole life -
seeing my timeline in terms
of before, during -
after scares me -
I am on the cusp of
melding to you.
Inseperable.


Next word: independent

[Rivana]

Independent venture,
this life I live.
Nobody holding
the life line,
no anchor
and no blessed faith.
Standing on the hill
waiting on
the right kind of breeze.
Looking out over
waves of blue,
I will be above them
once I fly.
Think I've forgotten
how to spread my wings?
I don't need feathers,
my will takes me
all the places
I want to go.

Next up: ultimate

[KTC]

You are my ultimate dream,
my sliver of happiness
in a world gone mad.
I touch you with quaking limbs,
shiver at the sight of your simmering flesh.
My Mother Goddess, my midnight pearl.
I saturate myself in your words,
drench my desire with your limber thighs.
You, my ultimate lover,
unlike madness, I crave your eyes,
yes, and waves of blue,
you, undulating like seaweed,
whirling in my dreams.
My ultimate lover. I can dream
you awake. We will make
love in the fireglow of morning,
you will open my wings,
lift me from my forgotten memory
of flight, my ultimate lover
in this world gone mad.

Next Word: Memory

[Ganesha]

Memory


a gentle wave of starlight
licking on the beach
of earth's skin
night shine
electric blue iris
glowing, growing
warning of a danger
ghostlike tendrils stretch
over new night skies
this earth too hot
her skin chillingly cold





next word: starlight

[davids]

Starlight dead
yet bright
like souls
looking for
a room that is lit

Next word: itch

[Ganesha]

I scratched the itch
leaving a long red trail
my clothes clinging to the
oils of poison ivy
a mallard was laughing

[davids]

Next word: Ganesha

Ganesha is a stream of wind
that arcs inside my heart
that fills this aged
crinkled soul
with hope and peace and love


Next word: pout

[Writer???]

All daa long i sit and pout
'Cuz my mom won't l3t
me out.

Big meeeeny

i am goying ta get the kat
an hit it wif my bazebal bat.

stuped kat

if she don no how mad iam
i'l stik her in thu garbij ckan

i - wanna - go - oooouuuuttttt

Next word: spoiled :D

[Rivana]

They look vacantly
at things that should
change the maps
of their consciousness.
Blink in confusion,
then sneer.
Don't understand,
won't comprehend,
they'd rather tumble
down, the fall
would take us all
with them.
That is the face
of true evil -
spoiled brats
who'd rather damn
than be uncomfortable.

Next: nature

[davids]

My nature is to come and go
to sit upon some spritely sprout
to lift my face to God and smile
then turn and spit in heaven's face

Next word: point

[laurel29]

Defined by my placement,
relations in a locus
Anchoring expectations
in a nexus of abstractions

Next word: locus

[davids]

Locus Chang sprang above
a slightly tilted teeter tawter
tauter it oughter
but Locus sprung her oughter too tauter

Next word: inflict

[Ganesha]

inflict

he tried to inflict his
guilt into my psyche
but my muse
said no

next word: cantankerous

[davids]

Ha and glarb
get thee back
oh cantankerous
dreadful wretch
time I need
time I say
to set the canundrum
in the wake
of crusty curmudgeonology

Next word: curmudgeonology

[Meerkat]

he clinked and clanked
in hermitage
complained of youths
his entourage
demanded their
apology
for interupting
curmudgeonology


Next word: entourage

[davids]

An entourage of one
that's us
full of piquant pompiosity
to sit with me
that's them and us
basque in prudent trivial velosity
with him myself and I

Next word: prudent

[Rivana]

It would be prudent
to think on friendship,
while the friends
are still around.
Once you blink
and then the people
you were close to
are in the ground.
Would be prudent,
but what know I?
I'm just a poet
on the sly.

Next up: effect

[Ganesha]

effect

sharp perfume of cumin
wetted my tongue
increased my desire
poor-mans saffron-turmeric
colored my lips from top to bottom

next word: taste

[Rivana]

I have a taste for danger,
and danger -knows my name.
We've been friends
since before I can remember.
Never were I a member,
of the common crew.
I was the Frankenstein Perfecto,
the freak who knew the game.
The beauty and the beast entwined
to ignorant assailants, I was one
who only blinked
to protect the children.
But when it became too much
I reached out and touched
the mists of Babylon.
The tower fell
and all my sin
came crashing down,
defending me.
Danger came and took them out,
till I once more could take the part
of unchild referee.

Next up: Confusion

[Ganesha]

confusion

we get up amid a crowd
my leg hurts and I can't take a step
you turn and sarcastically comment
I am turned in on myself with pain
you yell over the chatter
"shall I call 911!"
I know and you know
all I need is your good strong support
a sweetly offered arm
I twist and turn in my covers
a tornado of emotion
twists me around you


next word: cruelty

[laurel29]

Pop!
Pink sugar sweetness.
Pop!
Twirling about your finger.
Wrapping them up
in your sticky sex.
Drawing them in
casual glances,
beckoning sighs.
Giggle -
their world shivers

There he goes…
from my side
to yours.
A sheep
in boy’s clothing.


Now your smile
speaks to me
across a distance
much farther than this space.
My answer a smile
tight and forced,
no understanding,
but recognition,
of this…
Your special brand
of cruelty.

Next word - recognition

[davids]

Recognition, presupposed
proof of consciousness
and the decline of man's ability
to fomulate a dedicated, honest,
openonion

Next word: fraternity

[threedogpeople]

fraternity
debauchery!
irresponsibility
laxity?

reality
paternity?
responsibility
eternity!

===================

Next word: caring

[LaceWing]

(deleted)

next: proviso

[davids]

The proviso of Testamentus Variousity
vacillates in tempestuous ferocity
from vapid velocity
to largo attrocity
and flatulent rules of temerity

next word: Pillage

[michaelmcneil]

"Lovely," says the queen
don't be sad there
look at the blooming oranges
and glistening blacks
your house is the horizon now
nothing to cry about

unless you're made of wood
like a nutcracker
over a fire
suspended on dental floss

just take one for the team

next word: royalty

[Beyondian]

She was a queen
A purple-robed
sceptered queen
of sugar and purfume,
sending her honeyed
scintilating looks
across the air
like largesse to
the commoners worshipping
at her feet.
When she moved
it was one long minuett
carrying the promise
of a royal train
somewhere in the way
she lifted her heels.
When she talked
the words rounded
themselves out in
the air, ripening into
a completeness of sound.
'Pass the salt' never
sounded so good.
She was the ruler
of all she wanted
all she looked at.
She conquered with
the soft touch of a lady
and kept her subjects
with the ease of
a woman.
But she wasn't a woman
she was a queen.

Next word: wary

[threedogpeople]

Guarded!
My heart scarred
by your
indifference.

Wary,
yearning to be held
and consumed
by your heat.

Imprudent!
Afraid to be hurt
responding
anyway.

Skin
alert to the lightest touch
on fire, sensitized,
tingling.

Spent!
My gullibility glaring
as you make your hasty
departure.

Discarded,
wallowing in the
trauma of repeated
history.

Beckon,
murmur in my dreams
until I loose my
resolve.

Doormat!
Compelled to
crave the
impossible.

Loneliness,
feeling the scars
left by your
indifference.

Dreaming,
reliving the moments,
spent in temporary
respite.

Wishing
for your company
even though it is a
lie.


Next word: indifference

[threedogpeople]

A little poem
I decided to make
this momentous
day to commemorate.

Two thousand posts
in this fine place
where talented friends
these pages grace.


New word: grace

[Angelinity]

Where wild basil springs gather
embracing hills rolling with the breeze
of Redemption,

I have never been.

Maybe I needn’t be redeemed, or
Maybe they read my mind,
Hid behind fluorescent mirages when I came near.
Maybe the time wasn’t right
for the reckoning.

And maybe they don’t exist.

My soul took ill,
ravaged by Doubt. A nasty bug I caught
in the absence of the words
Love, Forgiveness and Grace
Whose meanings,
And those of the letters
and sounds that make them
people forgot.

So the words left
Searching for new worlds.

I chased them across deserts ablaze
Through swarms of black flies
Stalked by vultures.
I chased them,
festering with boils and maggots
as they ate the puss of my flesh
Clean to the bone.

Reduced to my essence
I am not redeemed.
Though,
in the absence of Love or Forgiveness,
I died with grace.

next word: fester

[Albedo of Zero]

The darkness_such ambiguity
and there for none to see_
plays in brackish inner mind
of black and pain and green.
It doesn't grow, it isn't loud,
it festers even still
with stink of lost relationships
and pus of thinking ill
The land around
blooms gray and soft
and sounds come much too tightly
like buzz of bees in jars
-in cars-
with neither meaning nor
politeness.
Then suddenly a fever breaks
and sweat pours out in lifelets
and tears come forth to wash the shore
to any boats without rafts.
Awake, awake, the shout is heard
...smiles brighten brightness
no looking back yet no nevermore
'cause the darkness festers behind still.



next word: fever

[Rivana]

The sky burns orange,
and pink and purple hues.
My blood boils
like in a witch's cauldron.

Downstairs someone plays
the bass tones of a song
long forgotten by memory,
but not by heart.

Up-street people laugh
and sing loudly out of key.
It matters not to me -
they are alive.

Silk stockings caressed
over smoothed legs and feet,
black silk and lace,
only the finest tonight.

Silver cross and pentacle,
silver snakes and charms.
Cool touches on skin
and a mambo beat begins.

I step into sandals
and lock the door behind.
The town is on fire
and a fever burns my mind.

Next up: revel

[Ganesha]

revel

her mood was cool
next to his hot
he was electric
she felt unplugged
why did he revel
while she barely roiled


next word: petulant

[Ganesha]

petulant

she grabbed the pony's reins
stomped off in a huff
her left boot held a tiny stone
rolled around nicking her arch
pony was limping
they were quite a pair
crows gathered and turkey vultures circled
pony screamed as he fell
"What now!" she yelled
his leg was bent the wrong way
she grabbed his leg and pulled
Pony rolled but righted himself then bit her
"What a crappie day!" she muttered


next word: grateful

[Rivana]

For the hardships
and the challenges
I am grateful.
For the trials
and tribulations
I give thanks.
For the insults
and the putting down
I reward the world
with forgiving words
and deeds.
I was strong
and I grew stronger.
I was deep
and dove all the way
to the abyss.
I stared and then
I laughed and turned -
I've won
the staring match.

Next up: vigilante

[Angelinity]

he never sleeps. at night
he chases nameless ghosts riding
stolen nike airs,
poses
in his red beret on the subway watching
old hags' purses with one eye
young bros in Yankee jackets
with the other.

the bridge of his nose has widened to
where he can see out of the back
of his head.

if it's the last thing
he'll stop this
or at least get a headline
in the Times --
Him 'n his Angel Bros
made a difference at 2am
third Monday after Lent,
snagged that twelve-year-old
hudlum
snatching the old hag's bag to buy
his lil sister an abortion.

next word: hudlum

[threedogpeople]

"hudlum"
disguised word
hiding its meaning
from anyone
in the -f- or -s- decades

street speak for
doin' the crime
defined by those
out of step
with today's time

we speak
they don't listen
they don't hear us

turn a blind eye so
they don't see us

we scream
they don't understand

we act
they gasp
they whisper
afraid

they run
hiding in their
big ass houses
behind their
big ass gates
surrounded by
their dumb ass kind

afraid of the dark
afraid of the young
afraid of words
they don't want
.....to understand


Next word: meaning

[Rivana]

The silence gives words meaning,
so I speak little nowadays.
Darkness and light,
make colors bright
so I lead a bi-polar existence.
One, the head turns
watching children
with a gentle smile.
Two, a fist of words
strike the ignorant
and the evil alike.
Three, the shield
keeps me strong within,
battling the sin
and the silence.

Next up: time

[threedogpeople]

I don't understand the pacing of time
when the good days fly and the hard days grind
I think that God meant it for those who must leave
to give time to those who eventually will grieve
the suffering of those who are injured and ill
gives them time to prepare - to say what they feel.

If the good days were to crawl by,
we could etch every moment - not let them fly;
then the hard days might hurry
suffering could become vague and blurry.
It's a trick of the mind to feel this way,
I know that the minutes are the same every day.

One thousand four hundred forty four
not a minute less, not a minute more.
Every day is a gift but the passing of time
can be a trial or something divine
For now, the bad days drag, the good days speed
it's all about stopping, watching and the memories we need.



Next word: breeze

[KTC]

A breeze, too,
is all about stopping.
The things caught up in
the whisper of a breeze,
they startle, illuminate
the universe to those standing still.
The soft chuckle of wind,
as it rises in an eddy
about your shivering core,
it talks if you listen,
tells the ancient wisdom
locked in its blistering wings.

Next Word: CORE

[Rivana]

The strength,
it's inside me.
My core
of non-compliance.
My skin;
not shed,
but entered now,
to lead
the bad
astray.

Next up: providence

[LaceWing]

(deleted)

next: keys

[Paint]

someone told me
i had the keys
you know the ones
to take me
through the golden arch,
freedom.

they were there
deep inside me
but i did not know
how to use them
or even what they meant
really.

years passed
i kept hearing that phrase
thought to myself
oh yeah? what do they know
blaming all who came my way
for my jail of lovelessness
poverty.

finally, tiny shaft
of light shone
through the bars
i saw the keys
laying upside my
broken heart
i saw and knew
self forgiveness
the keys to freedom.

next word: shaft

[threedogpeople]

Deep dark
light less
hard hats
man made
tools toil

digging diamonds
found for
lunching ladies
tragically trading
sweet sunshine
for fabulous
dazzling diamonds

hollow hours
soul-less sacrifice
glitter girls
lost lives


Next word: Dazzling

[LaceWing]

(deleted)

next word: putty

[Ganesha]

Putty

throwing herself over tubs edge
sliding onto the floor
anxiety a breath away
rolling till she gained height
ambling slowly to the phone
that had ceased to ring
she folded onto the carpet
wet, bruised and blue

next word: falling

[Rivana]

I'm done with falling,
I'll follow through
with my future,
yes I will.

I am what I am,
I know that for sure.
Doesn't matter what you think,
I will succeed.

Change comes,
you change.
I change
when I will me too.

I'm through with falling.
My heart has finally cooled.
My dear, it was great,
but I'm through with you.

Next up: whistle

[Meerkat]

whistle while you work
let them think you're nuts

whistle for the cab
as if it's your town

whistle at a sight
spare your mind from words

whistle while you fish
punctuate the scene

whistle honestly
remind me of that song

Next up: "remind"

[Eveningsdawn]

breathe and
have faith,
she reminds me,
her last student.
if you free your mind,
bare your soul and
open your heart to them,
the words
will find you.
in an uncertain world,
this is the only thing
we really know:
if you welcome them,
stories make their home in you.

next word:
home

[JustRite]

Train tracks on the
floor, next to the
lego blocks and
the three wheeler;
books strewn everywhere,
pages torn in mid-sentence,
sticky imprints of tiny hands
on the television screen -
my house is now home.


next word:
messy

[Rivana]

The clock wanes
and the glass unbreaks;
a messy affair all taken back.
The sordid story
we will not mention.
Never no, forever gone.
Leave it here folks.
There's no way to do this
a third second time over.
Go home, move on
and forget it all.
Nothing ever happened here.

Next up: insight

[threedogpeople]

Out sight

snow clawing at sun baked mountains
glass still water reaching for a salty marsh
birds noisily drifting across a quiet sanctuary
dog walkers purposefully marching down the road

In sight
nerves clawing at drug dampened pain
breath quietly stilled, yearning for one blissful moment
life noisily parading across a quiet sanctuary
seconds purposefully marching toward an end

Insight
soul finding happiness in simple tasks
life trickling toward paradise
paying the toll for a ticket to Nirvana
paradise waits, life happens, time marches, love upholds



=====================

Next word: blissful

[Rivana]

Soft enchantment
of trickling water
dripping down
the windowpane.
Tested comfort,
true and kind;
the candle burns.
Blissful silence
in humid room.
Sated love.

Next up: peculiar

[Paint]

Each thought the other peculiar
the joshua tree and the painted pony
the tree thought "How strange-spotted limbs"
the pony "those legs-covered with bark"

the desert was hot
the sun high and unrelenting

the pony went to stand under the tree
"shade is good" he thought relieved
"I like protecting" the tree sighed
peculiar became accepted.

next word: tree

[Ganesha]

Tree

he counted, "one two tree"
"pony up," he yelled
I tossed my bazooka gum wrappers at him
cartoons be damned!
the fine sugar already licked off
his green eyes sparkled
his freckles deepened with a flushed
he picked one of the wrappers
and worked his tongue over the image
did that mean we'd kissed?
I spit on the jacks in my other hand
then threw them onto the pavement
they rolled between his bony knees
I was in-love
he smiled a wide tooth grin
then pushed me down
he loved me
I knew it

next word: spit

[Unique]

with a handful of warm mud
she shaped an image
of mice and men
and all the cosmos
in between
she watered down the laughter
toned down the fear
reshaped the broken
with the water of her mouth
Just as a mother does
a tender dab of spit
on a pure cotton hankie
cleans away
a multitude of sin


Next word: water

[threedogpeople]

Baptize me
in the water of creation

Baptize me
in the fire of change

Baptize me
in the blood of salvation

Baptize me
just don't leave me the same


Next word: duality

[Meerkat]

duality drives
tired vehicles err
pilots nod through each turn

left judge
right forgive
seasoned high milers learn

joint arguments follow fast
overdrive our own faults
sign defines just where are

up ahead conscience looms
link all in same refrain
"is that a police car?"



Next up: "car"

[alanna]

"Car"

metal box on wheels
shooting down the highway
like a nuclear bomb
for the future,
filling the air
with toxins



next word:

climate

[laurel29]

Climate

A word turned sideways.
Meanings so varied…
The alpine meadow,
the temperate rainforest,
the desert plateu…
and the silence between you and I.

Next word:

desert

[Rivana]

Close your ears to my words,
it's the way you always do it.
Ridicule my thoughts, my life,
my everyday, my dreams.
Speak with coldness,
speak with grating rocks.
Break my spirit's bones
one at a time,
but I will heal while you sunder.
My peace is love,
not surrender.
In the desert of you
I see glass of fragile ego.
I live in a desert of loneliness,
but at least I have me.
I know who I am,
I know who you are.
Maybe you'll go down in history,
but I will burn with the stars.

Next up: bitter

[laurel29]

(I must apologize in advance for this. It is a terrible poem, but I felt like playing.)

Bitter Broccoli

Eat it, eat it, you say.

Healthy,
wholesome,
sin-free,
wonderful bitter-broccoli

I try it, chew it, spit it out
Could be godly
for all I care

I won’t eat it… so there!

Next word: Chew

[Unique]

Only the meatballs taste rancid
the rest is pure and clean
It doesn't need to be tasty
if it keeps the soul alive.

Dry bread
and the pitcher
that never runs dry
Feeding kin and Ravens
in this dark
patch of summer sky.



next word: hurricane

[Rivana]

I don't remember
when first we met,
it wasn't a hurricane,
just children at play.
I can't honestly recall
the first time we danced,
though I think we did.
It's been so long
since I saw your face.
It's more an idea
nowadays, anyways:
Waking dreams have me
back in your arms.
Your smiling face
says more this time
and I know it's not a lie
when you kiss me.

Next up: love

[Unique]

Damn, that hurts.
What's love got to do with it
Anyway?

Who said it's time -
It's time to go
It's big hurry
getting no where.

How will you know when
you've arrived
without
the limosine...

Next Word: chateau

[Rivana]

There's a chateau in my dreams,
and a secret garden where I paint
something only I can see.
No birds sing, it's the quiet
of the last summer storm approaching.
The brush leads my meditation
till a voice calls from the house.
I smile and turn and walk toward
the future of my happy times.

Next up: lamplight

[crashbam]

The lamplight parts the darkness
Between us.
It's so much easier
When you can't see me crying.

In the dark, I could stroke your hair
And watch your sleeping silouette under the sliverest moon.
But tonight, you're awake
Staring at me hard across the valley of light.
Untouchable.

Next up: distance

[dahmnait]

Tiny hands wrapped in mine
A look of total trust, your love
Unconditional.
Dress up in mommy’s clothes
Heels, 10 sizes too big, your smile
Brilliant.
Reading night time tradition
Silly old bear repetitions, your voice
Beautiful.
Cooking, side by side
Spices fill the air, your heart
Laughing.
Head bent, intent on the numbers
and words before you, your mind
Engaged.
Secrets shared only between friends
Caught up in first kiss frenzy, your words
Distant.


Next: teenager

[Rivana]

A change in tone
and I remember
why I hate you.
Till the next time
I think you're showing
that you care.

Been this way
since before
I can remember:
Daddy gives a scare
and though mommy is there,
the damage is done
by the time she's come.

As a teenager I had the fire
to oppose you,
and give a little
for everything
that I got.

I'm not a teenager anymore,
but somehow you still
expect me to bend
to your will.

How long the bow
before the last strain
expresses pain
by whipping back at you?
How far the fall
before I soar
out of your grasp?
How many days
before I finally
give surrender?
Not to you,
but to the darkness
in my heart.

I'll cut the strings
before I let you
tie the last knot of my noose.
You win the fights,
but the war
is ours to lose.

Next up: domestic

[Unique]

Funny that
We must fight
to ensure
Domestic tranquility.

Is honor merely a badge
a device on loan
Does the Pentagon care
if the message is
gone

A whisper in the wind
hear it in the breeze
Ensure domestic tranquility
It is the harmony
of our nation.
Whisper.

Next word: breeze

[Rivana]

Floating on the breeze,
my lifelong dream
came back to whisper
of better ways,
sunny days of
not-now-but-maybe soon.
My element of solace;
the only one I managed
to conquer in the end.
The water's almost
but not quite my friend
and undertow of
trickling emotions
keeps my lungs bursting.
I fight myself
the fire being burned
little by little
till ashes remain.
My two elements
of eternal confusion
and befuddlement,
they deal such heavy blows,
not like the wind,
or the rain.
The pain is all about absence
the shallows are in the deep.
That I why my spirit soars
only when my conscience
sleeps.

Next up: abashed

[Unique]

Touch not the earth
with fire
Your blazing saddles
leave me
abashed
but not abased

You think the ends
justify the means
but they do not
Liars lie and poets weep
and all the world
is abashed
again.

next word: Fire

[davids]

FIRE IN THE HOLE
shouldn't a et them damned Tamales

next word: sundae--as in Ice Cream

[threedogpeople]

perfectly seared
fire grilled
very rare
t-bone steak

tender baked
Idaho grown
piping hot
baked potato

fire roasted
local grown
peaches and cream
corn on the cob

sun ripened
neighbor gifted
gently salted
heirloom tomatoes

sun brewed
ice cold
Southern style
iced tea

hand churned
grandmother's recipe
French vanilla
ice cream

home made
gently warm
chocolate raspberry
sauce

Oklahoma grown
paper shell
pecans topping
a perfect sundae

Ahhh, summer barbeque


Next word: legend

[Unique]

The legends named her -
from the depths of her soul she counted
the scalps of her enemies hung
from the lodge pole.

Her husband marveled at her gift.
Why do you make me so strong?
Our lodge is warm
without the blood of nations.

We must fight no more forever
she told him in the winter night
When the moon hangs over
the river wild - only then

Will they see what they have lost
Consuming every, any, all
Lays waste to our Mother
Earth will extract her revenge.

He pondered this in his heart.
You speak true and never lie
We are blessed in our time together
Let us walk on.

For one more decade they counted
Then their Mother gave them up
To the sky they returned
bearing gifts of the sea and mountains.


It has been ever thus they said
Looking back over their shoulders
they smiled at Earth and their children
never saw the coming storm.

It was called Mercy.

Next word: Complete

[Paint]

It is complete.

they found her
skin blue and yellow
one too many bottles
one too many pills
laying alone
except for her dog.
Her soul gone
her brain dead

she thought
life was only good
when she was drunk.

next word: drunk

in memory of Mary Ann

[Rivana]

Oh gods, it's here again
this traitorous feeling,
the emotion
he cannot control.
Two words barely spoken
and not the three he craves.
He looks to earnest eyes -
drowns again and again.
Drunk on each fleeting touch,
each stolen moment
of bittersweet delight.
What a pity,
such a wonderfully Greek tragedy,
if only he wasn't playing
the leading part.

Next up: dry

[CurtisPutnam]

“He was stertorous” she cried and laughed between mouthfuls
Crusts of bread spewing from her lips like volcanic eruptions
“And such a dreadful bore” Tinkling eyes and dropping gaze
As if in some other existence she would awaken a princess
This was the woman of my dreams who supped on wine
And gazed into every living man’s eyes with the look
Of which there was no respite except when falling upon mine.

This famine, never ending famine, dogged my every thought
That in this tempest of a woman, I were only storm tossed straw
Broken, bent, twisted this caricature of humanity destroyed
Character defined in somber tones of insanity in action
That only one more comment one more instant of rejection
Fuel this rage in contemplation of the ultimate end of her
Left in me no urge as if I were the dry crust she chewed upon.


Next word: Lush

[threedogpeople]

lush
green
grass
begging
for
barefoot
toes
gently
strolling
among
the
cool
soft
blades

Next word: seven

[Rivana]

I can bring darkness.
I can bring hunger.
I can bring too-much-not-enough
pain like you've never known.
I can bind you so you'll never
want for freedom.
Let you fight me just enough
before I take you down.
I am all you've ever wanted
to be or to have.
I am all and everything,
I can be your world.

Accept each caress -
the whip is sweet.
Take this chocolate covered
golden apple.
Bathe in diamonds of the sky.
Then rest awhile
in near-perfect-but-never bliss.
Spout your curses
to the willing ear -
they are like nectar.
Get everything from everyone
who ever did you wrong.
Glorify yourself and let me
lift you up like you are the one,
the only one.
And when it's done.
Oh when it's done child,
come back to Earth
and offer me
your soul in fair return.
For seven sins were met tonight
and that price
was surely earned.

Next up: leftover

[davids]

Leftover chops
cannot play no more
Stood on the stage
empty glare
black, leftover,
cold chops'n fries


next word: step'ladder

[dahmnait]

Temptation, just out of reach
Golden brown
Sweet chocolate scents
Calling,
Up on tiptoes
Stretch, reach
Oh to be Mr. Fantastic
Without the stepladder.


Next: comic

[talkwrite]

I find myself
On the semi circle shaped platform
Laced with faces facing me
Anticipating, expecting
I deliver till my back hurts
From having worked on empty

So it’s back
To the semi circle shaped bar
Oasis of respite from scrutiny
Lush with doting platitudes
Washed down with bourbon neat
Surely filling painful vacancies

Next word: Hummingbird

[temerity]

A stroke of silence—and then
dewed light droplets edge
backstage Broadway,

the damsel dancers, the
white-faced starlets cupping
old paper clippings,
hummingbird dreams

their feathers jewelled,
relucent

& spiraling down,
bearing claret throats to
the slow sighs of violins

next word: candelabra

[CurtisPutnam]

The candelabra of my desire
Lit one by one, torches
Demanding lust
action
distraction
personal rejection
World aflame
loss
no time for me.

Only obession
burnt in brain
Of me, me, me,
there is no other
Ring of action
inaction
reaction
Dependant ecstacy
momentary rush
it is the time
not now
but is.
lost.

Have you seen me?


Net up: Trial

[kdnxdr]

by error
memory fades
and all the latches
that kept you
have been unlocked

have I found the key,
the one
that captures you
once again?

this trial
of great misfortune
I suffer
at your leisure

judge me
in your arms


next word: clandestine

[temerity]

With the formation of fingers
and toes, clandestine bones
tucked into deep folds

she forgot the pillage of
honor, the scarlet sin locked
in her body, the tortuous work
of tearing apart

remembered the pulse
in her throat, a delicate
web of veins pulled from
her own,

a flare of recognition between
hearts once connected,
startled into love

next word: honor

[kdnxdr]

honor,
thyself a pledge
to greater goals;
scarlet intentions
painted upon horizons
bleak with somber,
requisites,
waving flags
and blare of horns,
drums pulse the drive
to conquer.


next word: conjure

[ddgryphon]

The Silence After

again the red demon is conjured
among many blue words it rises
meanings are twisted and hot rantings
are flashing canon volleys breaking
the warm deepness of this evening

when that devil has pushed your buttons
when the screaming has finally fallen mute
you are left with a memory that stings
and realize that spell's dark effects
terrible and cold can not compete
with the silence of walls left in its wake

**********************************************

Next word: Rant

[kdnxdr]

love is a tyrant
keeping his beloved
in a castle turret

day and night
to his torrential rant
she's quiet

unrelenting he vents
unrelinquishing
she admits

death is better yet


next word: sealed

[Teena]

Sealed plastic tube
constricts thought
cold, impersonal
unchangeable
as the ink it drips
inconvenient spots

Compare the brightly frocked
red, blue, yellow
warm
with a soft lead core
graphite foundry
pouring forth words

___________________________
"This writing business. Pencils and whatnot. Overrated if you ask me." ~ Eeyore


Next word: barefoot(ed)

[CurtisPutnam]

barefoot of mind
business in sandals
loafer of enterprise

shalom


Next word: marrow

[Unique]

To the marrow of my bones I ache
this unidentified longing consumes me.
My waking hours, an internal battle
sapping my strength.
Confusion reigns.

Around and around
the ferris wheel of my thoughts
leave me dizzy.
There are no drugs to halt this
spinning, churning illness.

Just once more before I die
let me touch the sacred ground,
find the blessed peace of knowing
that what I've done has made a difference
to someone.

next word: confusion

[Paint]

When the wind caught up in her skirt
spinned and spun around, a top
the world she looked over
viewed from a trees highest branches
when she finally came down

a fun ride, she thought, slightly confused.


next word: finally

[Rivana]

I have patience,
I do.
Even when the dices
show promise
only to fall out of bounds.
I have serenity,
you see it here -
my tired smile.
My steady hand
helps readily,
my voice inspires
grace.
And me?
Well finally I know the way -
the days, the years
are clear.
I chose for better
and I'll suffer worse,
but in the end
my willful curse
will bring me to history.

Next up: temper

[Sc00t]

The swirling red rage
Emphasises the point
Mommy drove in to the jugular of
Poppa.
Enraged she slashes his face until
Red covers the marital bed

Next word: Slaughtered

-sc00t

[Unique]

As a pack of hyenas encircles its prey
you wrapped your intent around this gift
in jealousy you hoped to steal it
away from the rightful heirs.

Who gave you such power
and with what authority
do you claim the right to slaughter
the hard work of the soul -

Be gone thou evil potentate
Remove thyself and wither
The prince has come
and you -

you shall be forgotten
as if you had never existed
You are conquered
Victory is mine.

next word: victory

[mkcbunny]

VICTORY!
destruction
victory
exultation

will win
winning
won

I win
you win?
we win
victory

whose
winning
won

***

next word: delight

[threedogpeople]

d-light was too bright

so I turned it off....



Next word: intensive

[Rivana]

Intensive work,
many smiles.
Many miles to walk
and lots of patience.
No, sorry, no.
Not now, not later.
Maybe.
Tomorrow?
If you're lucky.
Make an effort.
Do it right.
Intense disappointment,
tentative hope.

Next up: hunt

[Unique]

Nose lifted
catching the elusive scent
eyes slitted, vision narrows
Ears attuned
the slightest whisper
amplified
Muscle primed, waiting
explosive force
the hunt is on.

Next word: scent

[Writer???]

Scent is such an interesting word
It sounds like money, but oh no Honey
It's the smell of a rose, or sweaty old toes,
or even the stench of a big cow turd.

It sounds like an email you posted today,
or the check you sent to pay the rent.
But it's really the odor of new mown hay,
or the stink in your pits at the end of the day.

Scent is truly an interesting word.
How many like it have you heard?

Next word:
Homophone

[ddgryphon]

Homophone's Phoning Home

Lo how the low
flea flees in the face
of a slaying sleigh.

See the bald boy
bawl for his lost ball
by the sea.

And the ewe by the
yew watches the scene
no man has seen.

While the base, barren
Baron plucks bass
off the beat while
the banned band
meddles with the medal
owed for their ode.

********************************


Next word: shift

[Unique]

A fundamental shift took place
in the meeting of their dreams
last night
their spirits met in that
deeply hidden realm of passion
where ardor meets courage
and the soul seeks its meaning
Felt deeply in the heart
these two souls melted
and melded
into a new creation
The world awaits this new birth
with a new dream, for a new day
Unexpected
the angels rejoice -
for what was lost,
is now reclaimed
May it ever prosper
and the abundance
saturate this new realm.

:rolleyes:

Next word: rejoice

[Writer???]

You have to listen carefully these days
But if you are very still
You can still hear the world rejoice.

The birds do sing
Crickets chirp there leggy tune
The squirrel still scampers in my back yard tree

Tickle a child and listen to the angels laughing

Rejoice!
And forget sadness for today

Just for today

Next word: Hope

[Rivana]

Unexpectedly
the colors are life
not portents of doom.
Mischievously
a swirling leaf
brings hope
for a new day to come.

Did the birds fly swifter?
No, and they do not sing.
Has the rain given way?
Yes, shortly, but that
is not the point.

Confoundedly
I dream of ghosts
and wake up quickly.
Yet the day is spent
with the silly notion
that I save the world
each time I try.

Next up: oblivion

[Unique]

A grateful mind slips into oblivion
sleep induced traveling finds you
hovering over a vast landscape
inhabited by the unseen world
that parallels our own.

Can you see this in your dream time
or is is it too much
for even your subconscious mind to bear?

Hold onto the smoky rope dangling
beside your rear view mirror
Hold onto the line and find
your way back to the place
where it began so many years ago.

Can you hear me now?

Next word: mirror

[Writer???]

Revealing all my flaws,
piling everything I once was
into an image that
hints at what I will be.
Is that my mother?
Just a glimmer here and there.
A shadow of many bad nights
and days too long.
Step away from the mirror
and hide the truth again.

Next word: introspection

[kdnxdr]

gazing upon my interior
i suddenly felt inferior
through much introspection
I caught my reflection
and now, it's all much clearer



next word: hinge

[Rivana]

My hinge moment passed
without a blink from me.
I don't know how I managed
to quit my reverie.
But I went from black
to all out attack.
The keyboard is warm
from the swarm
of my many words.
Thank you stubbornness,
you've pulled me through again.
My writing's solid,
I can breathe now friend.

Next up: parallel

[Unique]

A parallel or behind the veil
does it matter which
side the truth is on
who lives and dies
does it make
a difference to
the one on
the
other
side?



Next word: matter

[Writer???]

Parallel worlds,
matter - antimatter;
a spoon of ice cream
from the dish -
the hole
left behind,
one tangible
one not.
but where
did the ice cream
come from?

Next word: Energy

[Unique]

This most powerful form of energy
combined cooperation
what one lacks, the other gives
and the sum is threefold greater
than the individual strength

A divine mystery unfolds in this gift
an abundance of scientific fact
proves the existence through devotion
to one another the effect of calm reason
reassures with the multiplication of power
amplified.

next word: strength

[CurtisPutnam]

Sight

Chaos focused through len's crystal fusion
Plays in utter rhapsodies of saddened harmony
Fraught with specticles distorted memory
Laughter in strength, soon married unison.


Next word: Reverie

[Godfather]

sad songs.
whiskey'll kill me,
never know when.

songs of curves,
singing for legs and hips.

stop don't stop.
singing for your lips!


n w - hips

[kdnxdr]

thrusting hips
since dawn of time
spawn
your face
your lips
your hair
so fair
I fairly knew
the clenched
embrace
we two,
and there
before
my ignorant stare
you grew,
and too,
love's call
was answered
once again;
thrusting hips
forever spin



next word: surmise

[onestepp]

F lowering

L ilacs

E verywhere

E nergize

T antalizing

I ndigo patterns,

N ose rattles

G rasses gravitate



Word Amusement

[ddgryphon]

You can't break me
with beauty.
Beauty has betrayed
my trust.

You can't break me
with amusements,
for all my entertainment
falls to dust.

You can't break me
with sun or shade
or love or pain;
You can't break the one
who's life has been
unjust.
****************************

Next word: collapse

[susanabra]

implosion
inward collapse
engendering its opposite

nw: explosion

[kdnxdr]

explosion of life,
a slime slam,
a disco dance,
light and energy
sprayed on the walls

graffitti
daring the other guys

we're here,
like it or lump it,
and it's jumpin'!

wham!
sperm to egg
who gives a rats'
which came first?

it's you
and me
baby!
what are you
going
to do about that?

it's make it
or break it,
time's running
short;
craps!
11/7,
snake eyes,
it's all about chance.



next word: saber

[Paint]

eyes that go the distance
cut straight to the heart
lips that long to be sucked
but ohh watch those saber teeth
he's my sweet vampire lover
after my life my blood my all.


next word: watch

[Rivana]

Please go down,
don't make me
hurt you
I
don't want to
break you
I
just need you
to stop!

Please stay down
don't make me
push you
I
can't watch you
crawling
I
will not fall
so stop!


//Yeah, yeah -I'm reading h/c fic again, so sue me. ;-)

Next up: buddy

[threedogpeople]

Love is like
the buddy system...

Pair up
hold hands
take care of each other
be friendly
be kind
watch for danger and
stay together.


Next word: pandemonium

[kimmeunier]

Pandemonium tugs at the stings of my heart,
beating wildly to the tumultuous songs I hear.
Aching, and breaking is my soul,
every word is truth to me.
Never satisfying my need,
these songs leave me weak.
Pandemonium tugs at the stings of my heart.

Next word: Eradicate

[ricahardo]

Tell me why the world is cruel,
Why simple folk that love and work
Should find themselves with hurt and pain
That makes them lash at others.

Why too, those wronged retaliate
And reason fails them in their thought -
So deeds which never bring them joy
Are wrought in miss-claimed justice.

Fate, redirect our jealousy
And hold our hands in comfort.
Eradicate our shameful hate
Let us embrace the world

Next word: Kinship

[kdnxdr]

one mother
one pool
yet, you don't look like
me, the other
the one who wonders
what is it like
to trace my image
in another's face,
to feel the contours
of familiarity
distracted by what you said;

broken kinship
is like an ancient vase,
it was so functional;
how will we fetch water now?


next word: sinew

[Teena]

next word: sinew

Bin long tine sinew called me...... ok, just kidding.;)


Starstruck
sinews tighten, loosen, tighten
flexing oratory power
you expound upon an insignificant point

your voice is distant thunder
smoky with midnight whispers
undulating like candle flame

your sweet verbosity
but a ruse to keep me near you

Next word: plague

[Meerkat]

Plague ship,
exciting fear.
Quarantine city,
boundary near.

Lines drawn,
ships or towns.
Lives weighed,
ups or downs.

Labeled plague,
humanity lost,
Severed ties,
and twice the cost.

The quicker deaths,
when helpers flee.
Unloving breaths,
take them not me.

Next word: humanity

[Teena]

Next word: humanity

garbed in my humanity
i reign
over fictional characters
deity
or figment
of their imaginations?

without them
who am I?


next: rancor

[Denryu]

next: rancor

can't trust the rancor of the thousand lies
between us,
cross jagged lines on your absinthe skin.

Hollow-handed and
humbled by your touch
I trust the truth in taciturnity,
tumble forward through vacant landscapes.

When you lift your skirt I always forget
what I was saying and why it mattered

and where we go from here.

Next: luminescent

[Unique]

In the space time continuum
there is only one toss of the
dice you play with -
alas, Babylon!

one more roll buys freedom
one more roll buys choices

But one takes time to ask first
Does anyone care which way-

The frog jumps when it jumps
Nexton Christmas Day? not over -

Yet still so very, very far away
Too much time and not enough
Time to give or share or play,
So away we go for another ride.

And a nod is still as good as a wink to a blind horse.

Glow bitter winds, glow, glow
Glasgow still stands and Krackow
still stands for you. And the fairy
world still sings for the Universe

Late at night and all the world is still
Stop to take in the sights of luminosity
Once Again. Forever, tomorrow, today.

Next word: Rings

[onestepp]

Rings

Sleep used as a chase
by chance did create
Dark circles under:
The eyes,
The eyes,
The eyes,
Now it's time to say Good Night!

Next Word

Golf

[ddgryphon]

Golf

Green to lovely green,
chasing a little white ball
in the frosty morn.

Next word: Harvest

[Meerkat]

Having solved winter
with "snow accompanies me,"
can "harvest" solve fall?

next: history

[Rivana]

History will tell of this day.
Hallelujah and god damned time!
Patience rewards -or was that
sheer stubbornness?
Any way, I am blessed,
with success and all.
Tricky business, but this smile
and the many miles
finally paid off.

// So there.

;-)

Next up: together

[Paint]

knives of agony
grieving lonely heart

I ponder through hours
you are gone and yet

less fear of death's
final knowing moment

us together shining
time is never.


next word: hours

[onestepp]

Hours(Finding time)

Finding time to: do the shopping
address the cards
trim the tree

Finding time to: enjoy the eggnog
admire the lights
listen for the reindeer
and find Santa himself!


Word Elevator

[Rivana]

It's almost 5 am
and the elevator
doesn't stop
at the top floor anymore.
The Sandman came,
left a gift of peace.
I hope it holds
while I struggle -
with these hands, I hold
a glowing future
or a wretched fall.
With these eyes that sting
I seek to see and perceive
what sense,
what beauty be.

Next up: sleep

[Albedo of Zero]

I woke before I slept
which krept into a dream.
It seems I over dreamt
when your wake was in the scene.
Seen three times before you lived
you lively little man
was the manly way you manned the ship
before the day began.
May daylight come and save me
from this safe and awful sight.
Might your site of webs crawl crawly fast,
fast into the dark of night.



next word: safe

[Paint]

caves to hide in
arms to hold me
blankys to cover me
cocoa warm in a big cup
your smile to love
angels bless my tears
safe.

next word: hide

[LimeyDawg]

Two bucks a dozen--
Eggs or ethanol? Progress
hides the price of cheep.

Next word: Ethanol

[davids]

Margurite Ethanol
known as Maggy
not really haggy
just ripe for a fall

Next word: vixen

[Albedo of Zero]

Once, a vixen crossed our path.
Her mouth was full of next-in-line,
she and kit in luxury red
-dirty from lust for living.

Upon our meeting, a wolf did come
without a woolly costume.
His mind took in two families;
his drool was missing dinner.

A bear came next and stood up tall,
a growl formed at its mouth.
No sound came forth from deep respect,
or perhaps nostalgia.

Time stood still for motherhood,
and it usually never does.
And four knew life in each others eyes
and one heart for the next generation.


next word: growl

[mbroadway]

Growl

Beneath my bed the monsters prowl.
In darkness, where the shadows creep.
Each night I hear their scary growl.
I'm wide awake and cannot sleep.

Next word: Tickle

Michael

[LimeyDawg]

Sure, squeeze the Charmin,
but ware you the man who asks
"Tickle the pickle"?

Next word: supermarket

[Nyna]

Supermarket Sweep

They run down the aisles in matching sweatshirts,
pushing carts and slamming buzzers.

This is ridiculous
and the only thing my sister has ever wanted to do with me --
watch TV, and dream of matching lime-green sweatshirts
hands on buzzers, a small prize, linoleum, dim lights.
Someday, she tells me, We’ll do that too. We’ll be the best.
Jump up and cheer. Too large, bleached blonde, and dressed
all in lime green. The fastest damn grocery shoppers
in all of white trash America. We’ll be on TV.


Next word: game show

[Paint]

Desperate cheers
smiles for money
the excluded leave
no one to notice
survivors sleep
twitching in caves
eating slugs
still grateful
is this living
or a game show?

next word: excluded

[davids]

Excluded?

Hills stand above a fall
valleys sit and wait
should heaven pick this slightened waif
shall God decide to stand and fight
or coward He that picks the man
to stand imperfect in life's demand?


Next word: sunbonnet

[Albedo of Zero]

under blue sunbonnet shade
a golden fire waits
in patient curl for escape




next word: freedom

[onestepp]

F aith

R enewed

E nergy

E nlightened

D arkness

O vercame

M ankind

Next word : Polka-dots

[Unique]

'polka dots! have you gone mad?'
and so the struggle began
a seesaw tug of war
eternal
'i'm wearing it!'
a sentence launched, defended
capitulation
satin rode home
in a box signed
by Macy's



next word: sentence

[Albedo of Zero]

One loser born three times
to kings of not his land
chooses hence to die
three times by his own hand.

The once will be vindictive
in the first land of his birth
by naming his addiction
'bove the courtrooms of the earth

The twice will be as painful
for the sentence will run deep
into his heart
into his soul
into his dreamfast sleep

But third will be the end all
when the guilt slides off of him
and the pusher kings will befall
the vice they cursed him with.

then water clear and skysome
will return unto his blood
but the tug of all those kingdoms
will hang with him for good



next word: problem

[Nyna]

problematic boy
with his pants too low
with his shoes too big
one dirty hand balanced
between spread legs

smirks at the office door
at the other kids
cool and not worried

he may get detention
he may be suspended
but no one is ever going to be
disappointed in him

next word: expectations

[Albedo of Zero]

curtain lace abreezed to side
behind a window closed
beneath the eave of Christmas lights
above a snowed hedge grove.

it wasn't that the fabric
has never moved or flit
it's that in moonlight dawn repose
I wouldn't think of it.

take back your expectations
there's a lookout looking out
a spy in my relations
wants to know what we're about.

he took back all his kisses
wiped some petting to aside
sucked up all his testosterone
and walked me to my reside

tip toeingly I entered
trying to catch the timely snoop
but the only person was the cat
sitting on the window stoop.



next word: nosy

[Eliel Takavian]

Great claws rip the earth away,
Fat insects turn and run,
The shaggy brute will feast today,
All hail the nosy one!

next word: brute

[Angelinity]

would ya read a poem for me

Brute?>

next word: stance

[Rolling Thunder]

My stance on poets
It seems to me
Is that they never
Shall cease to be
Cause everywhere
I turn, there's that
Rascally fella
Poetinahat

Next word:

Intrepid

[Angelinity]

an IN da tre pre(francais) in da ID
me fait ainsi pret
d'entrer
entant je vous souez

une bonne annee

eE.

next word: enter