modern poetry

Reminders

By the chain link fence
Lays a worn-out mattress
Surrounded by shopping
Carts filled with soiled clothes,
Cardboard, part of a lamp,
Chip bags, a few crushed beer cans,
An artificial tree, a few kids toys,
A broken window frame, parts of an
Abandoned bicycle, a car headlight,
Tattered books, various mismatched shoes,
A TV that hasn’t worked since the ’80s.
Once in a while someone walks by
And rummages through this conglomeration,
Hoping to find something of use
Instead of reminders.

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Ponder Options

Will it or
Won’t it?
Conclusion unknown,
No answer forthcoming,
The only recourse available is to
Ponder options,
None of which are pleasant.

All Alike

They are all alike,
And she’s not,
Nor has she ever
Wanted to be,
A wave of ordinary sameness,
Each following
The same insipid song
Toward some distant cliff
Where they’ll all jump off,
Just because that’s
What everyone else does.

Lost

Not knowing where it is,
No idea,
No recollection,
Anxiety, guilt,
Fear that it is about
Much more than
The object,
A transition to
Something else.

Left Alone

It didn’t work out,
Maybe because it
Wasn’t meant to be but,
More likely, due to
His penchant for
Trying to force
Something to happen
When it really
Should be left alone
On its own path.

Vivid

Too many papers
Festooning my cluttered desk,
Hanging off the edge.
I remember her happy,
Writing glowing, vivid prose.

A Time

So many things to
Take care of,
Seemingly all at once,
Barely able to cope
With even one task,
Let alone many,
A haze of anxiety.
He remembers a time
When it all seemed easier,
Though, upon reflection,
It might have never been.

At First

It arrives innocuously,
At first seeming
Like no big deal.

It soon becomes much more
Trouble than it merits,
Unrequested complexity.

It collapses spectacularly,
A victim of its own
Unwieldiness.

Rightfully

Awful people covering
For others like them,
A putrid syndicate of
Craven aristocrats,
Defending what they’ve
Always been told is
Rightfully theirs.