dare me

you were an accomplice to my light and joy torn from me
i small and a child you the siren scream shrill tearing through my skin

now i old and strong i proclaim that as long as i breathe you can’t deprive me of giving joy to others

black

there she is on top of the ashen tree clacking away encroaching upon the mid inky night air

moon veiled like Italian black lace and stars tinier than usual so far so far away

her feathers drenched ebony widow’s gown bereft of her heart’s departed master me thinks i named her Lilith

perhaps she asks for the blackberries in the shallow gainsboro painted stoneware plate two inches from the window with the opened livid curtains

more troubling yet she reads my murky thoughts of Aqua Man playing Chopin on the piccolo dressed like Elvis with sequined fish tail

needless to say under my breath could she be the harbinger of death yet the polish from my nails flaked from the day’s excruciating angst

ok class

for today’s lesson

look in the mirror

and praise your spirit

in math class figure out how many smiles it takes to get you through the day

in philosophy ask not where did our giants go wrong but how can we usher their wisdom to the promised land and have them witness you building their home

in logic it goes without saying fight for your right to think for yourself otherwise no one will ever be free

in ethics and religion agree to disagree knowing that there is no perfection in humanity

and in politics the new world order is to be debated and cut open so tell me what you really see can AI really be the savior that they say it is

and when you’ve reached your elective class use art to create the hate and pain away

and after all your work is done class will be dismissed

so run out to the playing field and level it out with love and lots of elbow grease

used to

mbrazfield (c) 2010

the mania left

no confetti on the floors

just bits of distorted senses

peanut butter jar lady fingers but no one to lick them

i’m out of maxi pads

but i dont really want to

go out now

closing my lashes pills on my tongue

to keep death from threatening and being a fool

when i was young i saw the gold sound of BBs Lucille rising like smoke when a pope is chosen

life has come and stayed in the mess next to me

thrill in the last throes of something long gone

insomnia

the clock in my mind
doesn’t really tick tock
it’s more of a low cruel scalding grind
like a rusty cog from an old Slavic car
i lay on my mattress the linen pulled tight big fluffy pillows to hold in my thoughts
the colors are sanskrit oozing in sunburst lotus in buds
every so often when my body shuts down
the beat of my arteries scats like old Calloway
from a past filled with poisons textured with scars
then the grinding is noticed by a runaway synapse and my eyes they go shut
the cat’s by my footstool and the dog’s by my side
yet it is lonely the spirit is gone
she hides in the closet
where her wings were cut off
diagnosis haven across the bookshelf
eating disorders sadness depression societal crud
the plant upon the dresser silver and wide reminds me of Warhol and incense and wine
then the phone pings and i go rub my eyes
i hear that new song sent from afar
i wonder about mother Hubbard and the Kennedys the story of pauper clowning the kings
so i get up to empty the voids in my throat
i walk to the kitchen and touch a tea pot then i look out the window and think of your mouth the back of your head
do i look for what’s final or do i trudge back to bed

Launch of New PoArtMo Contest/Anthology!

Hello there everyone. Now that NaPoWriMo is over (you can still celebrate though with The Auroras & Blossoms NaPoWriMo Anthology: 2020 Edition which is now available for pre-order), what else do we have to look forward to in the art world for the rest of the year? How about an new inspirational artistic movement! June […]

Launch of New PoArtMo Contest/Anthology!

available but not to you

mbrazfieldm (c) 2020

your expectations wants demands tactics tricks and commands are just a mirage
i too can do unto others but i choose not to i am at the disposal of my mind heart and soul exclusively
i break barriers and ceilings with the ultra sonic boom of my love quietly in the middle of time and my shed tears turn into diamonds
from my breast i nourish innocents the army of all
with a turn of my fingers i knit the cloth to shield innocents from the darkness of your claws

one Sunday morning in the year of our Lord

rain stuck in the gutter mud needles even glittered pine cones from Taiwan congregate in rubbish soup
lines long at city hall and the soup kitchens too Star Bucks forget it i might as well be gone
yet i love her like a mother loves her son when the battle of the souls is lost
pinpoint to the time when spewing truths out of our lungs picket signs pro this con that
here we receive old boxes filled with wasted time to keep forever under downpours of collective pain