best contemporary poetry

Quiet Spaces

It’s in the quiet spaces
Between words that he remembers
What he was and how it all
Led to this moment, whether
He wanted it to or not,
Without any semblance of order
Save for every single experience,
Every instance of gushing pain,
Pulsating regret, momentary joy,
And the evolving realization
That he was never whom they
Said he was, or whom he had
Convinced himself to be.

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All the Same

All the same,
Searching for comfort
Over expansiveness.

All in boxes,
Complimenting each other
On their identical caskets.

All in a stupor,
Sleepwalking from
One reaction to another.

Gleefully

They clap gleefully
As the child dances —
A forced smile pasted
On his face,
Flailing wildly to
Keep their attention,
The only time they
Notice him.

Adept

Although he never
Noticed it himself,
It was clear
To everyone else
That he was strikingly
Adept at making the
Important people in
His life feel horrible.
No error too small
To point out,
No advantage too
Preposterous to duel for.
A hug withheld,
A judgment rendered,
The subliminal erosion of
An already fragile self.

Purpose

Constant, insistent perseverance
In the face of crushing odds,
Head down in defiant opposition to
Forces that contort dreams.

One laborious step after another,
Unfailing determination and
Purity of purpose align.
Things predestined appear.

Once in a While

Once in a while,
Leave the lights and excitement,
Take the obligatory trip
To a sad town where
Sad people tell sad stories about
Things that never happened.

Builders of Empire

Beautiful refined people
Redolent with art and culture,
Masters of finance,
Builders of empire.

Landing on distant shores,
Marching rows of
Shackled souls into
Loathsome holds.

Obscene wealth
Accumulated on the
Scarred backs of
The unfortunate.

Cultivating Discomfort

When given a choice, she embraced
The path that made her blood boil.

Lashing out instinctively, a fight for
Self-preservation in every exchange.

Days spent making enemies,
Cultivating discomfort.

Evenings spent pursuing an
Online connection, anybody.

Unable to escape the din,
Unwilling to turn it down.

Offer

I offer my heart, my vision, my passion.
The inside of my being exposed,
Vulnerable, yearning for validation, a
Scrap of hope, shred of approval, an
Outstretched helping hand. Please
See who I am, potential, promise.
Intangibles fall unrecognized
Before timorous eyes.