Past Issues :: 2006 July 1 :: Street Poetry

Feelings

By Jacob Cardwell

Simon says, keep it simple
In my soul, I keep a wrinkle
Hate has festered, pick and ooze
Driven through me, it’s time to choose
Comprehend, now descend
Out with the lights
Forward into the night

Darkness creeps, lack of sleep
Fuzzy colors, kinda neat
The shadows I follow
Won’t be there tomorrow
Only shattered remains
of yesterdays’ sorrows

Tread on through, nothing new
Just in-between
Needle and thread
Repair these tattered seams
I’m falling apart
And there’s not much left in me

Fidget and discomfort
Twitching, now insane
Numbness steals the senses
Worms are feasting on my brain
A buzz inside my head, it will not go away
Blessedly drowning out the noise
Of life’s sweet, slow decay

ICE

By Ruth Kovacs

The arrow of fire shoots down your leg to the heal.
The flaming T-Bar blocks your lower body.
Think ICE.

Love’s burning arrow pierces your heart.
Think ICE.

Ice puts out fire.
Ice feels good.
Ice stops pain.

From your heal to your heart,
Think ICE.

Ice numbs.

Departure

By Shannon

I miss it when
You used to make me smile
Just like the times
When we were alone
Just being together
And filling up the void
From being apart
And being heartbroken
Having that special warm place
In my soul given to you
How you make me melt
When you’re not around
And tears wet my face
Thinking of you
Not being here

Where will I be taken?

By Bradley L. Daggett

© Copyright Bradley L. Daggett

I stare at the blank page here in front of me. I want to scream loudly. I can not He’s haunting me. Why must he be doing this? He’s angry. I can feel it with all of my soul.
Closure! An explanation is in order. But who? How? With eyes closed I can feel him near me. I want to run from him. The more I try not remember him, the easier it is for him. What power does he have over me? Then I realize, he is what I’ve been scared of my whole life. He is final. He is powerful. He is controlling my thinking.
He wants to grab me. He is sitting on my shoulder whispering in my ear. I cannot understand him. He wants a tight hold of me. But it also intriques me. He, I finally realize, who he is. He is addiction. We’re one in the same. I want to scream. Aloud. He has no right to follow me, or be with me. I wish him dead. But I realize I have to live with him, around him, as him.

Down and Out

By Richard Wolfe

Body and soul are weary
The stomach is growling
Sitting on the sidewalk
Getting those condescending looks
Time to beg for some change
Maybe someone will do more
Pain etched deep in the eyes
The spirit has been broken
Hopes for the future look bleak
Some may perish on the street
For those who end up like this
There’s more truth than fiction
In this good old land of plenty.

 

Love or Poison

By Miss Therresa Kennedy

This fire vibrates through me like love or poison,
Resonates within me, like the deep kiss of a lover,
Or the pain of a conscious lie, placed delicately,
In the tender palm of the hand,
With the gentleness of all intentional cruelty.

My lover is now gone,
And with that absence I have a new companion.
Please make her welcome, she is cold, she is brittle,
She is dying with each breath that she offers the atmosphere.

Her edges are undefined,
Her vision blurred with the blue shadows of fallen tears.
The flesh of her body is bloodless and white.
This thing that resides within her has a name and its name,
Will not be uttered.

Silence, now only silence,
Will be his generous offering.
His promise of love goes unheard, forgotten,
To the ears that are once again deaf.
Make her welcome,
She is here, she will not leave.

homeless sneakers

By Morgan Brown

restless thoughts
toss and turn,
without end
deep within
mind, body and soul
whether day or night,
about once again
becoming homeless

knowing the only
place to then call
home 24/7, will be
one pair of badly
worn out sneakers,
long overdue
for replacement

truth be told
however, those foul
footwear are in much
better shape, than the person
who will be barely
surviving inside them

whose remedy
will not be found
just by a new pair,
but within an abode
of their own,
one providing a permanent
roof and shelter,
under which to live
more restfully instead

Pigeons and Pennies

By Kari Wood

Pigeons and pennies
That's all this world knows
Frequent flyers trips to Europe
Just to know more
That's how you find your soul
Mine's in a bottle on a desk
You could be flying in the ocean right now
Next to the old man
With the cardboard sign
Pennies and pigeons
It's all in my head

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