#0124 - Drawing Board

{Prompt: "Back to the Drawing Board," from Poetry Riot! on Tumblr}

“Back to the drawing board?”

No: the drawing never stopped,
and the board is in my back pock-
-et. Don’t imply that I fell into
this with a printed
plan and a presumption of surety.
I’d like to think I’m a step closer, surely,
or have at least kept from falling be-
-hind,

          but don’t assume of me
that even a color-coded spiderweb,
three layers deep, of connec-
-tions and free-associations
could allow me to ascertain
what the hell I can expect
from this, or any, aspect
                of spontaneity.

#0103 - Student's Plight

{NaPoWriMo 2017 ~ Day 22}

This massive flood of texts and books, so bland
Cannot prepare a student to go on
Or even just to start to understand

The things in which they wish to play a hand.
With frantic grip they must for life cling on:
This massive flood of texts and books, so bland—

It threatens, makes one wish to quick aban-
-don hope and with their tired wits abscond
Or even just to start to understand.

If we say knowledge, wisdom, are both land
On which we must survive, then is it wrong,
This massive flood of texts and books, so bland?

Or is it for each woman and each man
Required to within this life move on,
Or even just to start to understand

The shifts, changing, always moving sands
That form this life's eternal, abstract song?
This massive flood of texts and books, so bland,
Is nigh-impossible to understand.

#0097 - "J'ai rencontre un homme"

{NaPoWriMo 2017 ~ Day 16}

J’ai rencontre un homme:

En un café rempli des démons et monstres
il était assis, espérer que le temps
passé avec sa peur, son stress
restaurerait sa innocence épatant.

«Je sais que je suis une proie,» il a dit.
«Je me demande seulement qui
me chasse maintenant; je fais face mes peurs,
mais je trébuche sur formes nouveaux des douleurs.»

Mais il craint quoi; ses vices voulusses?
Son humilité, ou caché égoïste?
«Tous et tous; ces et plus—
c’est l’espoir, c’est la vie.»

#0094 - "Deconstructing diligent diversions"

{NaPoWriMo 2017 ~ Day 13}

Cogitating cognitive conundrums—
abrasive, abstruse abominations
deconstructing diligent diversions
satiating simple succours
warding worrisome wishes
undeniably unattainable. Unreasonable:
pulchritude pervading pigsties.

#0093 - To Know

{NaPoWriMo 2017 ~ Day 12}

If I could know a hundred million things,
I don't know if this craving would abate;
or even if an end to these stirrings

can truly come... Can I myself satiate
this cursèd cluelessness? Or am I, now
and always, doomed—wisdom's prison's inmate—

to only, always humble, lowly bow
and, seeking, pray to some enlightened mind
and hope that I can grasp some knowledge? How

am I to keep from staying dully blind?
Or am I to be with this void aligned?

#0083 - Thought 17

{NaPoWriMo 2017 ~ Day 2}

Sometimes we attempt to mask our emotions
from being interpreted by the inquisitors surrounding us,

And sometimes our emotions are masks that we can’t even interpret ourselves.

#0078 - Quicksand

Reality is alit with dissimilarities and likenesses:
duality.
Moving through crowds and emptiness with subdued celerity,
the steps of a klutz overtaking finesse,

the stint I find sitting upon me oppresses
my individuality,
trapped in crude arrest: a mentality
of denying creative access

that would otherwise roam free, God bless,
in a virtual reality
that is at least real to me -
more real than the hermetically sealed casket that bears our address.

#0075 - Nighttime

The window of my darkened room
gives way to moonlight's lunar rays,
and as I sit here, grimly think-
-ing, peace leaves me while silence stays.

Here I think of all and no-
-thing, mind confused and soul attuned
to this strange night where I have quick-
-ly found myself a sullen lune.

I think I think of something, but
I'm not sure what I'm thinking of.
The gears within my head are shift-
-ing as the shadows dance above

my head that rests upon this pill-
-ow softer than my hardened feel-
-ings, catching all my unknown doubts
in restless peace, in restful sleep.

#0062 - Life Personified as a Connoisseur of Art

Here,
Take that moment.
No, no; that one.
Yes, that one right there,
with the gorgeous horizon
supplemented by colours that just explode in brilliance,
and highlighted by the clear, idyllic passions of the artist.
Perfect.

Alright, put it up on...
That wall.
Yes:
that backdrop will truly make that landscape shine
like a sky of endless blue.

There you are.
But no, it's a little crooked.
Tilt it to the left, please.
There.
No, no, no.
Stop!
That's too much.
A little to your right.
Apologies, I meant to say my right.
Little bit more.
A minuscule amount more.
There.
Perfection.

It's a little high, though -
the distance between it and the ceiling is far greater
than the distance between it and the ground;
can you raise it a bit?
Yes.
Oh, my.
Perfect. Outstanding.
Now shift it a little to the left...
A little more...
There we are.
Now let me look at it for just a moment.....

Hm.

On second thought,
I don't really like the sunflower in the corner -
the splash of yellow is totally unwarranted.
There's some tinder in the attic:
could you just burn that moment in the backyard for me?

#0042 - "Hush"

Hush, my child.

I know you wish to know why the ocean waves churn in sea shells.
I know you wish to know why the sky is the same color as your eyes.
I know you wish to know why the stars only come out in the nighttime.
I know you wish to know why the end of the rainbow is never ever found.
I know you want to know why some things taste good and some things taste bad.
I know you want to know why some nights you have dreams and some nights you don't.
I know you want to know why some words you're not allowed to say without trouble.
I know you want to know why some people like to hurt or ignore each other.
I know you wonder why we exchange paper instead of simply sharing.
I know you wonder why we are sometimes so afraid of each other.
I know you wonder why we don't dream once we're "old."
I know you wonder why we are all so...strange.

But honestly, my child,
Often I feel that I know even less than you do.

#0040 - Thought 13

I know that life is as complex as calculus,
and that it is more tremendous than La Terre.

I simply ask that you help by refraining from confusing me,
for I am vulnerable to distractions.

#0037 - "Sharp curves and curved edges"

Sharp curves and curved edges
fill my world
in a cacophony of paradox
and juxtaposition.

Fatuity is thick in the air,
oozing like blood through
the convocation of superficial speech
singing dissonances
that resonate in my ringing ears.

I move by stumbling,
and no one perceives my near-falls;
I wonder what the reaction will be
when the concrete and asphalt
finally speed up to meet me
in a brief, painful "hello."

I wish silence filled the air
rather than these sounds and stares.

#0034 - Thought 9

It's too cold to the North,
Too hot to the West,
Too dark to the South,
Too bright to the East.

#0032 - Thought 8

I'd like to sail into the horizon.

To find my way to that curve at the end of infinity

Where the Atlantic shoulders of the ocean hold up the clouds and sky.

To fall off the End of the Earth;

To disappear.

#0024 - "I try to find my place upon the Earth"

I try to find my place upon the Earth;
To find a path or road on which I'm set;
But hard it is to find what I am worth.

My past endeavors I sometimes regret -
If what I've done is right I'm not quite sure.
My growing past is not pristine, and yet

What I fear most is my unknown future;
I wish it would its unknown plan let leak,
Provide me knowledge to serve as succor.

I'm lost and do not know what I should seek.

#0004 - "Syllables flowing like translucent water"

Syllables flowing like translucent water;
Line follows phrase follows word follows letter.
Ink moves along like a dance 'cross the page;
Perfect: a poet, an artist, a sage.

Until I will come to a word I can't rhyme,
And I lift my hand weary; mo-
-mentum is gone, and my thoughts
spiral down to a
misanthropic
travesty -
useless
Wreck.

#0003 - Thought 1

I think I'll go home now.
or,
I would
if I knew where home was,
or is.