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Regular poetry thread
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Regular poetry thread
Regular poetry thread (because I'm tired of not editing my poems)
This is exactly what it sounds like! A thread to post poetry. I'm excited to read all of your work!
submitted by Bluebird
(April 30, 2017 - 8:51 pm)
(April 30, 2017 - 8:51 pm)
is breathing a life skill?
——
a father escapes from a whole lot of
nothing,
small town spite and twisted air
rows of corn braided deep within our planet’s tired scalp.
a mother crosses the ocean at fourteen
war at her back, eyes turned bright
towards the home of the cowards,
the land of the chained.
we are all the children of success stories.
in this room, us privileged kids,
bottle-fed on security, forget:
for every ancestor that broke free
a hundred gravestones remain.
paltry memorials
for the generations of potential
sleeping beneath.
(November 13, 2018 - 11:58 pm)
OMG, Abigail. This is so. good. And so relatable, too, because I (and a lot of my friends who I showed this to and also loved it) have immigrant parents who had really difficult childhoods, so... wow, you captured that perfectly.
(November 14, 2018 - 9:33 pm)
Oh gosh, thank you so much! I really appreciate it, and I'm so flattered you showed this to your friends! Tell them thanks from me. <3
(November 21, 2018 - 2:22 pm)
Since the poetry challenge thread is down below now, I decided to do it just for myself this week. I started on Monday and my main theme is masks, and optional prompts are wings and love. So far I've got two poems, one from Monday and one from yesterday. And neither of these are have been edited so I'm sure they could be better.
----
let time heal you
he'll say he doesn't love you and
when you hear you'll break inside,
i know.
but don't be
a crybaby, love,
glue a contented mask
to your face and you'll heal soon enough
don't stay in your room, don't be
weak, don't cry just
smile at your friends, and rip away that part of
your heart that belonged to that one,
i know you love and loved him but honey
don't hide don't cry
wear a semblance of happiness until
you can put yourself back together, piece by piece
veil your dripping eyes and
remember there are others, too.
love, don't cry, don't be a crybaby hide your tears
and don't cry darling.
----
untitled--
paint a picture
press your hands against the wall and imagine who you want to be
and make yourself a mask
hide behind it
today we be who we want to be, not who we are
and we spit in the faces of everyone who doesn't like that or
stomp on their hearts with spotless sneakers
hold masks up to our faces
hide hide hide and pretend
paint a disguise and
hide from
everyone
run away from ourselves
and keep up a facade as fake as
styrofoam
----
Note--whaaat? Apparently Hazel has said this CAPTCHA before.
(November 14, 2018 - 10:13 am)
I have two poems. The first one is a bit depressing, and the second one is a bit silly.
There's there's blood on my hands
But that washes away.
A cluel blade of black tendrils has pierced my heart
There will never be a cure.
Shatter my crown and toss it on the ground
I don't need it, don't want it, don't deserve it anymore.
It will break into shards
As did my soul
In the wicked with their Hardened iced hearts
(That no spark, no torch, no bonfire can thaw,)
Will cackle and kick the fragments
Scattered across the once clean floor.
Why, why
I'm infected, unforgiven
Why, why
I'm tattered, hate driven
And why,
Why, why
Do I,
I, I
Still find some way to stay alive
When I'm not (inside)?
Now the next one:
Corn, corn, everywhere
And not an ear to eat.
So common it's merely an extension of the ground,
Branded into the face of the Earth.
Every year, we watch it grow,
See its progress as if in a cartoon.
Now so standard we do not realize
The amazing miracle taking place before our eyes.
Mother Nature works so tirelessly
Yet we never take a second glance,
Never spare a moment of every day to ponder
How outstanding it is to live, breathe;
We are all simply too tired of seeing
Corn, corn, everywhere
And not an ear to eat.
Boo says his third word- beat!!
(November 15, 2018 - 6:39 pm)
I'm just making this up as I go, so it's not the best...
I tried
But then I fell
I wanted to give up
But then I saw
The big blue ocean below
And the stars above
Remind me
Of Someone's Love
(November 16, 2018 - 11:39 am)
10:25 p.m.
lit by three lightbulbs in an overhead light fixture
she has her knees hugged to her chest; clutching her wet hair
her east side blinds are closed and she likes
them that way
right now
she crushes a pencil in her hand, wanting to write, but
how can she write about happiness when she feels none?
and how can she write about beauty when it's all around but everything
feels so horribly grey and painful and full of fear?
she feels so despicably alone and uncommunicative and
heartbroken, somehow, and hurt even though they all
mean well
they think.
she could cry to herself in bed tonight, or just
sit and feel her cheeks burn and her mouth set
why does she feel so helpless and like no one
understands? it must be her
is it because she doesn't talk?
(grey and black
and closed blinds and hot anger and
tears)
(November 19, 2018 - 11:00 am)
Aaaahhh oh my goodness Leafy, that was so good! And so relatable. I love /grey and black/and closed blinds and hot anger and/tears. I really love the whole thing.
(November 21, 2018 - 11:55 am)
Oh dang. This is really good. The way you've described everything is really powerful and vivid (and hits pretty close to home). Your poetry has been excellent lately!
(November 21, 2018 - 2:24 pm)
Thanks guys.
(November 22, 2018 - 10:11 am)
I’ve really been wanting to write some poetry lately, but I feel like all my poetry is kinda lousy. I might have poets block, but I’m not really sure if that’s what it is, because I have plenty of ideas for poems, but it’s like I just can’t get out the right words to express them—or something. But I kinda always feel that way about poetry. I guess I just want to ask—how do you guys do it? Leafpool, Abigail, September, Bluebird, all of you really, but especially Leafy and Abigail. I’ve been reading some of your recent poems on here and they’re so good! How do you get your ideas and turn them into these amazing poems that just flow? Do you have any advice?
Also, I’m thinking about trying to reboot the Poetry Challenge when I get some time, probably next month when NaNo’s over. I don’t think I’d be able to write a poem every day, so I’d probably try for one or two a week or something. I want to start writing more poetry again soon and I think that’d be a good way to do it. Anyway, would anyone be interested in that?
(November 21, 2018 - 12:12 pm)
Aah, really, you think I'm that good? You made my day, because once I asked this question of those people in the list, because I thought I wasn't great at writing poetry. (It's true; I wasn't.) It's on one of the back pages of this thread.
I don't have much time to give advice right now, but look for that post that I made. And I guess what I do, is I just think how I can describe what I feel in words, or images, and over time the poetry just flows better. I'm not great at using metaphors, like Bluebird, who somehow just packs dozens of them into every poem she makes and sounds impressive while doing it, but I just try to think of what I would associate with my feelings. Like grey.
I think your poetry is really good, too, though! You're so much better now and I know you'll just keep improving.
I'd love to do the Poetry Challenge again! It always flops but maybe between the two of us we can keep it up somehow.
(November 22, 2018 - 10:15 am)
I actually saw that post of yours when I was skipping around through the pages recently. It might’ve been what inspired me to ask for advice, or maybe I was already planning to, I can’t remember. The replies were helpful, though, and gave me some ideas.
That’s definitely helpful, thanks. I’ll try that.
Aw, thanks. :3
Okay, great! I’ll probably try to resurrect it in December-ish, and hopefully we can keep it alive.
(November 23, 2018 - 10:52 am)
Goodness, thank you so much! Among all the many amazing writers here, it really means a lot to me that you enjoy my poems.
As far as advice goes, one thing that I've found helpful is to start simple and build up.
If I have a central idea that I want to convey, I like to write it down in plain terms first. For example, in my "10/25/18" poem, I was having a lot of feelings of the state of my life as it is now, my emotions surrounding it, and why that is so.
I condensed that into a sentence with no regard for poetry or flow, and there's my main idea, put into words: "I wasn't always, but I am happy with my life, even if sometimes the happiness feels artificial."
But that doesn't sound very poetic, does it? So then I like to think about what images this idea evokes— colors, sounds, smells, and all that, how old it makes me feel— and then write those down. Honestly, most of my poetry is cobbled together. I have some feelings, one or two lines I like, and I chuck in pretty words and metaphors around them.
One good piece of advice (that will sound very cliche, I'm sure) is to show, don't tell. You don't want to tell the reader, "I'm sad." You want the poem to show your sadness, to evoke it within them. Using imagery of things that you associate with your sadness can be a good way to do that.
Also, to get that ~flow~, read your poems out loud! See what sounds good to you! Reading things out loud (not just poems— this works on prose too) helps you see, "Hm! This feels awkward and choppy, I need to add more into that bit!"
I don't know useful these nonsensical ramblings were, but I hope I was able to help even a little bit, haha! Happy writing!
(November 22, 2018 - 11:49 pm)
Hmm, yeah, that all makes sense. And it definitely helps. I think the ‘starting simple and building up‘ thing is really good, especially because I often get overwhelmed trying to express my ideas while I’m writing, and I get sidetracked from my main idea and end up rambling off course. I’ll have to try it. Thanks!
(November 23, 2018 - 11:00 am)