even she tires
in between struggle
hidden from eyes
who quickly judge
are corrosive agents
of our waste
since we forget
time quit healing
all of our
human error trespasses
we point out
aggressions and judgment
cajole cancel postpone
ridicule doubt denigrate
shoot kill regulate
all for nothing
The Heretics, Lovers, and Madmen Literary Collective loves a good writing/creativity prompt challenge. Our goal is to provide prompts on a regular basis. We hope that our ‘Shadow in the Frame’ prompt stirs your muse and that you consider submitting your prompt response to Heretics, Lovers, and Madmen for publication. We welcome poetry, prose, flash fiction, creative […]
Writing/Creativity Prompt Challenge: The Art of Magical Overthinking
long gone are the days
my black back pack torn on the left side
my pencils and pens leaking poking into me and each other
between the barely cracked calculus and English literature text books
hid my shame
granules and grams of daze
smoke screen of reality
that monument to beyond desperation
magic and inaudible inside the halls
carpets the only witnesses
to the end of that road
paved with bad intentions all the way
men and women have become a mush
in the gut of torn illusion
bile dripping from its fangs
a smell of the bottom line of nothingness
lingers in my eyes as tears collect like astonished ladies
my right Doc lost somewhere on the 8th floor
my spirit mortgaged to the deceiver
who at the end of the spectacle
is not the one to blame
there are no rhymes roses stars or razor blades
just a fleshbone ghost out of place
Magical voice hushes my world,turns my eyes towards you.Your laser eyes bore though me.I am paralyzed in your quake.Your imperceptible touchcommands me to listenintently, sacrifice myself in complete obedience.Wear black. Yes.Cuss only. I will. Strangle. If I must. Order my money/loves/thoughts in their entirety. Given.You have complete control over me.Over him.Over her. Soon, every word […]
You Could Start a Cult – Danielle Wong
im tired of speaking into empty eyes
vacant hearts longing thighs
im exhausted bogged down in wasted time
hoping the music box lies from your crooked mouth would be divine intervention
im sorry for being
absolutely in horror of understood you
for this makes me an accomplice to your betrayal of who i was
not only was the writing on the walls the smoke signals in the sky
but the very Gabriel yelled into my sighs of despair giving me warning
tonight im tired more than i will ever be
the angels are chasing me
something is afoot
they leave me spray painted prophecy
The woman I seestares back at meshe does not lieshe knows mebetter than I know myselfshe shows me who I ambehind fine linesdispels spells castwith potions and powdersshe eyes my surroundingsfortunate and fakecomforts in a disquieting wakeshe smiles at meand likes them all the sameeach morningdespite the presentationshe sees the maskbeyond the surfaceshe sees layers […]
An Unquiet Mind – Trisha Leigh Shufelt
Charlotte She splashes thoughts onto notebook pages with an old Bic. Kitchen table strewn with cheap chocolates and meals from St. Vincent’s. On her old bed sheets, rolling paper and tufts of tobacco with exaggerated Brave on the bag. Arms scarred by a childhood disease that taught loneliness. The matriarch of two generations. She wanders […]
Marisela Brazfield
What would YOU tell Shakespeare’s Juliet if you had the chance? The Heretics, Lovers, and Madmen Literary Collective loves a good writing/creativity prompt challenge. Our goal is to provide prompts on a regular basis. We hope that our ‘Shadow in the Frame’ prompt stirs your muse and that you consider submitting your prompt response to Heretics, Lovers, […]
Writing/Creativity Prompt Challenge: Dear Juliet
I gaze into the thousands of twinkling eyes of my dark mother who reassures me, I don’t matter. Photo by Klemen Vrankar on Unsplash Bartholomew Barker is one of the organizers of Living Poetry, a collection of poets and poetry lovers in the Triangle region of North Carolina. His first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular, […]
Dark Mother: Nyx – Bartholomew Barker
today they’ll bury the 7
and hell has now imploded
silence in his scream
the noise in between
rage and shame
dissipated away in the fog
there will be no match
in a durge to the bravado
of your life you way your death
today they will not bury
rage pain hate sting fate
helplessness is not charity
dignity is gambled away
your darkness washed away
clearing the way for come what may
larger than life
you taunted the death
which inevitably takes all of us
no more yells pounding beats fueled by broken ideals
with heart in hand
and blunt inhaled
triumphant in your world
yet crying on the dark side
of the moon
hoy enterrarán al 7
y el infierno ahora ha implosionado
silencio en su grito
el ruido en el medio
rabia y vergüenza
disipado en la niebla
no habrá partido
en un duro a la bravuconería
de tu vida tu camino tu muerte
hoy no enterrarán
rabia dolor odio picadura destino
impotencia no es caridad
la dignidad se juega
tu oscuridad se lavó
despejando el camino para lo que pase
mas largo que la vida
te burlaste de la muerte
que inevitablemente nos lleva a todos
no más gritos golpeando ritmos impulsados por ideales rotos.
con el corazón en la mano
y contundentemente inhalado
triunfante en tu mundo
aún llorando en el lado oscuro
de la luna
words less spoken 