poem of the day
We contribute a poem a day to the @weekdaypoems account on Twitter. The best of these surface in the newsletter Two Mondays.
We also still publish some poems here. Scroll down to see what’s new.
Sometimes, you just need to start fresh.
unlife
She lives an unlife
of uncertain unraveling,
unknowing her past,
unseeing her future,
unloving unlovers
and unspooling lies
until only her unself,
her true self,
remains.
“Mom, wake up!”
2 a.m.
The peacock cried at 2 a.m.
It sounded like maa, maa, maa
Mom! sobbed the boy
I wet the bed.
The peacock did it
or the goat, he said
as his mother changed
his sheets,
her eyes as bright
and sore as dawn.
So, Medusa walks into a bar…
stone fox
The man…no, the boy was drunk.
He saw the pretty woman
across the bar,
the one in the headscarf
with the granite gray eyes.
He walked a parabolic course,
swaying until he was
close enough to
yank the silken cover
off her hair and…
the hissing echoed in his ears
as he slowly turned to stone.
Today’s poem is about how exhausting immortality could be.
accidental immortal
She courted Death with abandon.
Diving off jagged cliffs,
eyes screwed shut.
Wandering through alleys,
bedecked in jewels.
Breathing lungfuls of plague
through red dewy lips.
But he didn’t like to be chased,
so he stayed away.
She got older and bolder,
age no obstacle
to her passionate pursuit.
Centuries later, she wanders the Earth,
looking for Death and finding Adventure.
Today’s poem is about what many of hope will happen at the end of a long meeting.
words
words, words
too many words
blending into babble,
then filling a bubble
that grows until
it floats away,
leaving only silence
Today’s poem is about the contradictions embedded in us all.
bundle
She was a bundle
of contradictions
and she liked it that way,
starting then stopping,
flying then swooping,
loving then leaving,
savoring the highs
and plummeting
down
down
down
into a despair
that tasted like
bitter chocolate
Today’s poem is about how clothing can tell a story.
lady saga
Lady Saga dresses
in other people’s stories,
layering lies
and styling truths,
stitching rags
into a wearable shape
with a beginning,
a middle
and, eventually,
an end.
Today’s poem is about bystanders who pretend nothing is wrong.
neighborly
Her screams
shattered silence
into a million
tiny shards.
Her neighbors wore
thick-souled boots
and ignored
the sharp crunch
of broken glass
beneath their feet.
Today’s poem is about the relentlessness of recent heat waves.
blue sky blues
blue skies tell lies.
they promise joy,
deliver only heat.
Today’s poem is about the perils of giving with questionable motives.
taker
she was a giver.
she cut off her hair
and gave it to the birds.
they built a cozy nest.
and she was happy.
until her head got cold.
she cast a meaningful
glance at the birds,
who warbled their gratitude.
but it was not enough.
so she made herself
a feathered hat.
she was a taker.
Today’s poem is about violence masquerading as hope.
wandering war
war was restless,
so he put on a backpack
and traveled the world.
wherever he went,
he brought candied rage
and called it hope.
it was easy to swallow.
Today’s poem is about depression and how it subtly resists resistance.
blight
the blight
slipped over her
like a silk sheet.
soft at first,
and then gently
suffocating.
she wanted
to sleep.
she chose
to fight.
Today’s poem is about the newly hatched cicadas singing through the night.
welcome
13 years
in the dirt,
dreaming of
light and love.
then rebirth
under the stars,
into a night filled
with harmony.
Today’s poem is about hard and dangerous beauty.
medusa
Her crowning glory
writhed and hissed
and tasted the air.
Men averted their eyes,
and Medusa grinned.
She knew mortals
could not endure
her rare beauty.
Today’s poem is about the sweet and fleeting nature of new love.
linger
linger longer
hold it stronger
do not squander
the freshness
of new love.
Today’s poem is about hungry children who want just one more snack.
hungry
Her children cried.
They drank her milk,
but they were still hungry.
They gulped her blood,
but they were still hungry.
They ate her body,
but they were still hungry.
And so they fled the nest
with bright eyes and
bloody lips whispering
love me, love me, love me
Today’s poem is about the life and death of a singly day.
daily
She rose with the sun,
young and fresh and new.
By noon, she stood tall,
her voice strong and true.
She watched the sun fall,
alone by the yew,
and died in the dark,
bathed in love and rue.
Today’s poem is about the curse of Cassandra from Greek mythology. (Hint: She knew stuff. Nobody believed her.)
cassie
Time told.
It whispered of
arid futures
and sun baked plains,
of cruelty and cowardice
rising together.
Cassandra shouted
her warnings
from the rooftops.
The doomed world laughed,
said she was shrill.
Today’s poem is about the lost art of listening.
tongueless
The cat got
her tongue
and hid it well.
She couldn’t speak
for a month,
so she spent
her time
listening.
When she found
her voice again,
it was wise.
Today’s poem is about opposites that attract but can’t make it last.
opposites
Good pined for evil.
She wanted dirty handprints
on her pristine robes.
Evil burned for good.
He wanted to melt her down
and mold her into his image.
But good couldn’t soften.
And evil abhorred a mess.
They were both disappointed.
Today’s poem is about the perils of instant love (obsession).
hello
He had her at hello.
Those two magic syllables
froze her feet and
locked her lips.
A year later,
he finally said goodbye.
She staggered away
on pale, bruised legs.
Today’s poem is about how freedom and love mean different things to different people.
free
He loved her,
so he set her free.
But she flew back,
hoping to trade
her freedom
for a solid place
in a liquid world.
He refused.
“I want your love,”
he said, “not your fear.”
Today’s poem is about how anger can sometimes help vanquish depression.
hole
She fell into
a dark hole.
She shook.
She wept.
And then she
got mad.
With talons
made of anger,
she clawed
her way up
and out.
Today’s poem is about the persistence of heartbreak.
marrow
She loved him
in her marrow.
When he left,
every corpuscle
howled in pain.
Even years later,
if she is very quiet,
she can hear him
whispering
in her blood.
Today’s poem is about the arachnid we all wish would stay in the woods.
tick tock
tick tock
a gentle tickle
tick tock
a ghostly itch
tick tock
a subtle swelling
tick tock
tick, tick
TICK!
Today’s poem is about sitting with, and even embracing, uncomfortable emotions.
feelings
Her feelings
grew sharp teeth
that pierced
her soul.
But she didn’t
send them
away.
She taught them
not to bite.
Today’s poem is a haiku about running away from danger.
wolf
into a dark wood
she flees fast on two fleet feet
eluding the wolf
Today’s poem is about how conquest usually goes terribly terribly wrong.
conquest
Love conquered all
and unleashed
a dark tyranny
of feverish,
devouring desire
that pitted loins
against hearts
against minds.
Today’s poem is about falling too fast and too far.
fallen
She fell in love
and out the other side,
hurtling through
shock
anger
obsession
and, at last,
cool, blessed
indifference.
Today’s poem is about our failure to live in the present.
faetime
She conjured bright tomorrows
and forgot about today.
She spent her hours dreaming
while the years slipped away.
When she finally awakened
her hair had faded gray.
She mourned the life she’d lost
to the illusions of the fae.
Today’s poem is about how our bodies and our compassion can fail us.
bodytalk
The young woman
scorned the old one.
“I will never let myself go.
I will never look like that.”
But her body betrayed her,
as bodies are wont to do.
Soon enough, she scorned herself.
Today’s poem is dedicated to women who love reading about true crime.
her fangs
she loves danger
from a distance,
sending roses
to vampires
and praying
she’ll grow fangs
of her own
Today’s poem is about keeping secrets, past and present.
secret wings
the young lovers
knew better than
to let their secrets
become bits and bytes
with feathery wings.
they scrawled notes
and burned them,
their reckless history
ash on the wind
Today’s poem is about women’s footwear that doubles as a weapon.
stiletto
she wears blades
on her feet,
better for stabbing
than for running away
Today’s poem is about a bittersweet post-graduation road trip.
road trip
hot asphalt ‘neath a hazy sky
miles and exits flicker by
promising a friendly couch
a place to drink or dream or slouch
before you let yourself admit
your future plans are counterfeit
Today’s poem is about the anger in your home.
vesuvius at home
We live on
the molten slopes
of your anger,
cutting ourselves
on your words,
waiting for
the next eruption
to bury us
in the muck of
our fear.
We are your family.
You are our Vesuvius.
Today’s poem of the day is about hot, sticky summer blues.
summer blues
summer slows the limbs
and softens the spine.
‘tis the season of excuses
lightly made and accepted,
and quick, sticky love affairs
shucked and slurped
like an oyster
Today’s poem of the day is about how love changes over time.
fireball
A hot fireball of love
blazed for years
until it burned out
and became a rock.
Something flat and smooth.
Something to build on.
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