Bad Poetry Tuesday

Silencio

by [REDACTED]

When everything
has been said
and all the machines have
rattled to a halt
and the fires have
all burned out
and the people stand
and wait with dread
and satisfaction
You will hear it
first a whisper
then a shuffling roar
You will hear it
You will hear the voice say
Is this all there is?

Bad poetry Wednesday

Festival Terms

by [REDACTED]

In other oceans

Far away from here

Sprites and fairies drown

There is nothing to save them

The tides waits for no one

And fishes sleep in depths unknown 

In other climates 

Far away from here

A snowbird sings songs

Of hope and peace

While we all freeze

A dream of ice

Welcome home. 

Bad Poetry Wednesday

In League with Lions
by [REDACTED]

The lion roars
Teeth and tongue flicker in the light
of a thousand LEDs
And there
behind the glass
we stand rapt
watching nature's simulacrum
play out and ease our fears
of being eaten alive
on the savanna
a million years ago
when all we knew was run

Bad Poetry Tuesday Part II

Carrots

by [REDACTED]

Little roots

Like strings

Grasp the earth with all they have

A needle thrusting up

Orange and sweet 

I want to eat them all

But they are too many

A multitude 

General Orange commanding his troops 

It is the day of the carrot. 

Bad Poetry Tuesday

Carats
by [REDACTED]

She wore her heart as the fashion of the times
Loosely, and ragged
And her hand
Glittered
Her eyes
Glittered
Her hair fell
And still she couldn’t trust the future
The biding times were coming
When all her glitters
Would fade
And she would be left with nothing
But what she doesn’t know
What hasn’t crossed her mind
Is that nothing gold can stay
But all that glitters is not gold
Some of it is dross
Polished by the years into a perfect gleam
A shine that reflects the truth
She is beloved.

Bad Poetry Wednesday

A Long Time Coming
by [REDACTED]

It's been a long time since
I rapped at you
Since we talked together
About this, and about that.
It's been a long time coming
This conversation
I want to hear you and have you hear me
We can
We will be us and be unafraid.
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
I have gone to hell
And I'm still waiting to come back.
Tell me what have I missed?
What is new and lovely?
How are you and how is the world?
What new horror is here?
I hate all the things I cannot change.
I can hear the horn blowing in the distance
A twisted concerto written on the wind
It is beautiful and haunting
A horrible wail and plaintive sigh
My mask is slipping
Tell me where did you go for so long?
I have gone to hell
And we are still there.
Hear the hobo's lullaby.

Bad Poetry Wednesday

The Exploration of History

by [REDACTED]

Once there was a way 

To delve back 

Way back in time

To see the sources

The way things were

Time marches on

And with it comes loss as always

The institutions that we lean on

Are crumbling

And will be rebuilt on clouds

Remember what you can. 

Bad Poetry Tuesday

Individual
by [REDACTED]

A rose
by any other name would smell as sweet
A rose by any other name
is still the same
it doesn't change
and yet
and yet
and yet
the world is so much less without the name
the sea of metaphor has shrunk
I cannot kiss your rosy cheeks
or wear my rose gold watch
You can't put on your glasses
that dye the world's hues to match
and color everything that passes
as the best of every batch.
Another name can take its place
and other words connote
And still I miss that name.

Bad Poetry Friday

The Things We Cannot Change
by [REDACTED]

In the past
Things happened to everyone
And we all fought about
Those things
That no one can ever change.
We cannot go back.

Bad Poetry Wednesday

The Underground 
by [REDACTED]

I run beneath the earth
Caves
Tunnels
Ravaged canyons that sleep through epochs
There is so much to do
Towers to undercut
Fear to breed
Monsters to harbor
Roots to embrace
Invasive roots to love
I will swallow you all
Bring you underground
With me
I will try not to choke

Bad Poetry Monday

Metabolite
by [REDACTED]

Things seep through
And little bits of poison from my life
I think we need
Travel
They eat at me
And I eat them in return
Don’t kill me
And I won’t kill you
A standoff I cannot lose
Or cannot win
Time will tell and in the telling sin
Is the first word on its lips
You glutton
You cretin
Feeding on poison is a fool’s errand
Spit it out
Flee from it
Remain pure
Stay away and keep yourself demure
And yet you, time, are not the end all
The be all
A bite of venom
And a quaff of fire
We can have it all
We can consume it all
We can live forever
No bells for me.

Bad Poetry Sunday

Antithesis
by [REDACTED]

Go to
Go with
Go forth
And make your fortune
Build your name up
Understand your brand
Identify yourself
Identity you shadow
Walk along with it
And watch your back
The shadow is a self
The shadow is my other half
That haunts you.
It will fight you to the end
Track your steps and find out
Who you are
In the dark
Who you are in your depths.

Bad Poetry Friday

Limes You Say
by [REDACTED]

Green rind lies piled
On the cutting board
Waiting for just the right time
The right moment
To dive headlong into fire
To join the others
To become one
Release their incense
Give it to us all.
Flavor and scent
Bring me back to
Years ago
When all was right with the world
And you could still love me.

Bad Poetry: Thursday Edition

An History
by [REDACTED]


There is a time and place
For everything
There is a season
And that season is the eternal now
Shapes morph
And pictures fade
Shattering the frames that used to hold them
And each memory slips
Just a little
Each time you recall
Until all that's left is the
Faded picture and broken frame
Was it me?
Was it I?
Was it we?
Winners write histories
But there are no winners here
Only us and the fragments of our lives
More important than any history
This story of us
And our relics.

Bad Poetry Tuesday

Corner
by [REDACTED]

My line and your line
Meet
We cross
And our angles form around us
I long to stay there
At our corner
That we created just the once
And yet and yet
Your slope doesn't change
You must move on
And so must I
Looking back to our corner
That singularity of points
In time and space
It pulls at us
And hooks from offstage
Draw us ever onward
Holding the line
There are no inflections
I will cross another line
But I'm still looking back
To find you in the dark
Before another point
In time and space lights up my life.
I will miss you.

Bad Poetry Monday

Salt
by [REDACTED]

Life is measured out in teaspoons
Or milligrams of salt consumed
The limit is finite
And unknown
One day, long in the future
You will add a pinch.
It will be your last
How many shakers did you use?
How many salt lamps did you lick?
Each one
Pushed you closer to the ground
And you will return it
To the gods of the earth.
All debts must be repaid.

Bad Poetry Friday

Return of the Classics
by [REDACTED]

Motionless sentinels watch over the flock
And stories untold fly from every corner
Left field and right
The faces of old colonel gravity
Stare, blank as Bluebeard
At Oscar as he goes to the wedding.
And they will be there still
to watch his homegoing.

Bad Poetry Thursday

The Den
by [REDACTED]

Warmth courses through the fibers
Our fingers crawl and stroke
The air moves gently
Blown by blades
Of what might as well be grass
Hemmed in, swaddled
We lie here together
Windows open to our souls
Windows open to the world
And your breath whispers yes

Bad Poetry Wednesday

Fit and Finish
by [REDACTED]

Injection molding
Cold rolled steel
Dogwood flowers
Powder coating
Fine grained vinyl
Double stitching
Juniper berries
Laminated glazing
Shiny wire harnesses
Thermoplastics
Coursing electricity
Live fire ammunition
Sweet corn
Still on the cob
High density polyurethane foam
Mirrored lenses
Double wishbones
Vulcanized rubber
Peacock feathers
Differentials
Fractal
Atmospherics
Leather upholstery
Canadian bacon
Candlelight
Wind

Bad Poetry Tuesday

The Fen
by [REDACTED]

The dry wind blows the gutters clean
The puddles disappear
And all the world sighs
With relief and joy
The rain has come and gone
Here comes the sun.
But here under the sheltering leaves
Among the ferns and the slugs
The brackish water sits
Undisturbed and patient.
It will still be here tomorrow
And the day after.
A bog
A swamp
A fen
Building up the bottom of the world
So in ten thousand years
It will be burned.
Fire from water.