Fear

•April 1, 2014 • 1 Comment

Because I am flying to Italy today, and I can do nothing but feel the fear that rises and descends, and get on the airplane anyway.

April's avatarsometimesihatemycat

It is real
Anxieties gather in my gut
I feel them churning
I hear their chatter
Making plans out of my fears
They worm their way in all directions
Northbound
They burrow in my brain
Whisper failure in my ears
They drip warmly from my nose and eyes
Then prickle, bead, and bubble from my pits
Some of them bolt and make a beeline
Straight up my esophagus
With an unexpected urgency
The rest of them hunker down and turn
Southbound
With parasitic precision
They compel me
To run towards relief
But I stay seated and feel the battle
Rage inside my body and mind
Soon with surprise I find
Reinforcements shoring up my spine
My wormy nerves are calmed
And I am brave again
Until next time

— April Resnick

raw nerve 2

Raw Nerve 2, by Julie Lawless

So apparently “new stuff” happens, just like fear, to spite my best laid plans.

View original post 9 more words

Traveling Baggage (repost)

•March 28, 2014 • 4 Comments

Oh that I were like my suitcase
Correctly crafted, quiet, still
Emptied for the next occasion, simply waiting to be filled

Oh that I were made for travel
Sturdy edges built for holding up
Designed by some creator, to buckle just enough

Oh that I were easily mobile
Wheels instead of feet to move
Whatever odd directions a traveling hand might choose

Oh but I am human
Stitched with stressed anticipation
Filled already to capacity, frayed with expectation

Oh but like my suitcase
I might allow for some small spaces
To carry home some lovely crap, from some new exotic places

–A.R.

the-red-suitcase-joana-kruseThe Red Suitcase by Joana Kruse

I will be traveling until the second week of April, so I may not publish new stuff, but perhaps I will repost some of my traveling/vacation poems. Enjoy!

Devoured

•March 26, 2014 • Leave a Comment

There’s a digestive system inside these walls
It gurgles and spits as the temperature falls
Boxed and boiling radiation
Churning up this meditation
Concentration gone to crap, so my imagination calls

–a.r.

20140326-140613.jpg

Intestines by Danny Arenas

The Last Lip Of Winter

•March 20, 2014 • 2 Comments

So I sit
At the edge of seasons
With ghostly legs dangling
Over the last lip of winter
Can I let myself slip
Loosen my grip
On the moss-covered teeth
Above and below me
Yes it yawns at my back
That mouth black melancholic
It once carried me ’round
Inside color drained out
Frightening but familiar
Strange safety was found
I could crawl back inside
This giant gray gaping wide
But it stinks of stale breath
And there is a breeze, fresh
Flora blooming below
I have never been one
To let myself fall, to spring
So freely towards hope
I only know how
To gulp and let go

–a.r.

the-precipiceThe Precipice by Lea Kelley

Restless

•March 19, 2014 • Leave a Comment

My baby likes me restless
I must admit I like it too
Careful not to “bliss” it away
Or just distract with “comforts” new

A strange direction or idea
Could be born from agitation
So I stay “mindful” not to kill the thrill
With too much “empty” meditation

— a.r.

20140319-171011.jpg

The Zone

•March 18, 2014 • 2 Comments

Skull
Stacked on
Bone
Stacked on
Bone
Stacked on
Bone
I sit
Hollow tonight
Stimuli stirring slight
Blowing right between spaces
Of ribcage and pelvis
Cavernous cavities
Echoing empty
But
A few bits of meat
And random stray nerves
Sway and fire
Enough
Just to register
Itches, ideas, sirens, and incense
But soon
They pass through
Disappearing and leaving
Still
Some leftover pieces
Of once working systems
And I am again
Skull
Stacked on
Bone
Stacked on
Bone
Stacked on
Bone
In the skeletal zone

a.r.

skeleton_by_allisonchinartSkeleton by allisonchinart
from deviantart.com

Born from my attempt to describe to someone what my “zone” feels like during what might be called a “good meditation.”

False Sense

•March 16, 2014 • Leave a Comment

When my schedule gets contaminated
My first instinct is to laminate it
Fragile paper day if fortified, might
Trick and calm the freak I keep inside

— a.r.

mind_control_series_anand_Bedrala

Mind Control by Anand Bedrala

Linked

•March 13, 2014 • 2 Comments

I desire a different scenario
But am terribly tethered to seasons
Flailing and flung by their come-and-go
We drift linked and lobbed without reason

–a.r.

20140313-161127.jpg
A painting of tethered DNA molecules,
by Dr. Jacob Kerssemakers

Bits for Birds

•March 11, 2014 • 2 Comments

If you find that you have gotten stale
Throw that bit out for the birds to eat
And carve a fresh soft slice of self
Use it to build your next great meal

— a.r.

20140311-135154.jpg
Avocado Sandwich by Luis Colan

Gray Grace

•March 10, 2014 • Leave a Comment

Because I have been depressed, perhaps coming out of it, I am not sure.But I am sure that others have felt, are feeling this too. And so I wrote…

via Gray Grace.

Pressed because my draft posted on the incorrect date/time.