Poetry 101 Rehab: whisper + vice

in the dark of night the world is still. outside, the only sign of life is the glow of the streetlights. inside, layers of curtain block it out entirely. the window is open (just barely) but it's enough. the netting whispers to the heavy block-out curtain. they tell dark-time secrets, venting the day's events. (they…

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smile + dramatic

look for the girl, the crowd is thick but you'll know her when you see her. she smiles, gazing up at the ceiling. in a room full of people (staring at smartphones and giant headphones clamped on) the effect is incongruous. watch her now - can't afford to break your concentration. she's looking for something;…

poetry 101 rehab: scream + circus

label me: cool. smart. fun. interesting. this is both the best and worst thing you can do. (you never stopped to see if i could live up to it) i'm kicking at the window, swirly-patterned glass distorting our shared view. see me - do you see me? (do you only see what you would like…

poetry 101 rehab: deliberation

here, mademoiselle, a row of masks - all designed to your specifications. (one to hide calm; three to hide chaos - four to demonstrate apathy) wait - monsieur - where is the chaos i requested? -my last briefing, at its most detailed had a description of madness. ah, you do not see it - i…

poetry 101: friend

multiple forms and types, places unlimited. cherished, loved - together, or not. bonds of different strength, enduring. strong; stronger; strongest. friend.

poetry 101 rehab: file

creation starts small. one file, first, on an old PC, empty; occupying desktop space. for posterity, she proclaims, and adds to it daily. new jpeg's uploaded, pdf and doc.x abound; calls it immortality in the making. artificial intelligence keeps track when the human variety cannot. words pile up higher and higher, pictures crammed into rows…

poetry 101 rehab: paper

you should know this: i don't come with a storm warning. don't think i haven't seen you, hunched over papers. i've watched you draft me into being; i've read your writing, smudged your sketches. (stolen pages right from your notebook. how better to stop your conniving?) watch me tear and burn your plans. you dream…

poetry 101 rehab: trigger

catch me in your sights. (if you can) tap a button (pull the moment from thin air) and i'll freeze. just for a moment, you understand. catch me in time. who knows when you'll be able to do it again. frozen for a second - wait a while. (could be another decade) trigger a new…

poetry 101 rehab: evenings

sticky summer evening i went, alone, to the balcony. you'd called - late with work. the irony was lost on you. i made up drinks, cracking a fresh tray of ice and mixing things haphazardly into a pitcher. and waited. you appeared from smog. (we never asked after the other's day) you took a glassful of…

poetry 101 rehab: roots

grow old with me, you said. pressed a vial into my palm. this will help. blue-crystal liquid sparkled - you caught my wrist when i tried to bring it to the light. light exposure harms it, you said. so you watched me drink; doubtless, enraptured. and we never stopped to put roots down. no -…