#female poets

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Sleepy garden

s t r e t c h i n g

sun branches
breaking,

jasmine
blooming wild
sweet cream
in the courtyard,

candy apple
crunching /
checkerboard
red ivy

moss rose,
smashed teacups,
seven garden gnomes
glass mining,

penny wishes
copper / green
mermaid fountain
shining

planting
pocket watches /
seeds /
pulling weeds

rabbit dawn

fresh time
sprouting.


-awake

Campfire cooling

spring water
steaming,

ash awake 
in the afterglow

Forest rising

above the ghostwood,

uprooting your
shadow puppet
show.


-enlightened

I wish I could visit you
where your heart meets the blue,

not plexiglass suburbia —

cavernous plastic
painted clouds
acrylic pools,

watching you play
peek-a-boo with kelp,
delighting strangers
unbeknownst to you

I’d ask to come over,
knock on your driftwood door
proper or wait respectfully
for your offer,

receive a sand-written invitation
requesting my presence
for surf tea at noontide hour,

sit down at your seatable,
break coral bread,
drinking saltwater cider,

if you would let me (humbly)
spend the day
getting to know you
better.


-aquarium

Unbridle me
from these strings,

your mason jar
of humankind

Let me glow in the dark
on my terms,

live wild
with the fireflies.


-fairy lights

On lazy Sundays,

we make lawn chairs
from leaves,

chill with dewdrops
in the canopy,

go drinking
with the honeybees.


-a bug’s weekend

Our stolen glances aligned
and broke the sky,

and for a split second,

the stars welcomed us
as their own.


-love at first sight

I never thought
I’d see you again,

my once-favorite hoodie
from 2010

A little snug
around the muffin tops
but fits alright

You’ll go great
with SpongeBob socks
and long johns,

dryer-shrunk tees
two sizes too tight

No bra today,
but this bikini top will do,

and no matter
how much I wash it,
it still smells like
beachside s'mores
and bonfire blues,

bringing me back to
snuggle-soft nights
and supermoons,

sand everywhere

with nothing to wear
but you.


-laundry day

If the truth sets you free,

why do you stay trapped
lying to me?

No shade —

we’re only human, you see;

little white lies come naturally

You’ll find one, two,
plenty from yours truly,
dead-alive in a vault
of past insecurity

So let’s forgive
ourselves (each other)
for words spoken too early
as humbled hearts
slept skybound
openly.


-honesty 

Don’t sweat the small stuff,
they said,

so I became an elephant instead

Larger than life,

unbothered by sticks,
no time for stones

Outgrowing their words,

I walk along

rock-steady,
unbreakable bones.


- stoic

I miss the way
my Grandma said supper

salty-sweet memories,
dripping syrup,
melted butter

Written too early
for the evening hour,

her words ran away with the dish,
the spoon, and The Brave Little Toaster!

And this is where our memories begin,

pouring pancake batter with you at 9 PM

biscuits
gravy
cheddar
sliced ham

stealing kisses in the cereal aisle
before they lock us in

Dunkin’ donut smiles,
muffins, mittens, neon signs

Eggo in the moon

we rise and shine
at twilight.


-breakfast for dinner

It feels like toast
on Saturday

Keanu Reeves and
comfort food

going back to bed
after breakfast,

finding silly memes
to send you

A fresh box of crayons,

my favorite cookies in stock;

the first breeze
after quitting my job.


-happiness

You know,
I never stopped looking for you

No wardrobe was spared
as I foraged through winter coats,
lion sweaters and shoes

Fighting wolves and white witches
walking home from school,
only to lose track of you in college
trying to be fucking cool,

indulging in those Turkish delights
I swore I would never do.

Still reaching for you,  

stumbling back to Narnia, 3 AM
punch drunk on playground booze

Jungle gym perched with nothing to lose,

Is c r e a m e d your name
across the sky!

Friends, jaw-dropped
shocked as I said my own;
told them not to worry,
“I’m only high.”

Took the long way back home alone,
midwinter blue and blurry-eyed;
followed a trail
of my favorite pair of jeans,
blankets, quilts, hoodies, and pine,

where I found you
carving our name into the floorboards,
eyes reaching out in kind

I asked you to scooch over,
poured tea for our stuffed animals
as we giggled in wardrobe light

Just two kids (one soul)
awake past our bedtime.


-inner child

I swam with the Loch Ness
who revealed cryptic secrets of the sea

Your sea, 

the nefarious deep blue
you kept hidden from me.


-myths

you told me how much you like me but i still find it difficult to believe you. im trying not to doubt your intentions but my mind still play tricks on me. you’re so kind to me but sometimes i want to push you away because im afraid. i never had anyone treat me the way you do. i never felt safer with anyone but you. can you please be gentle with me?

you dont know how sick you were until you detach yourself from the environment that gave you the disease. you dont know how shitty you were treated until you let go of all the negative beliefs and habits that you developed. you dont know how strong you were until you realised that you have held on for so long and survived.

that girl has me wrapped around her finger and she doesn’t even know it. she’s the type of girl i’d hop on a plane for at the drop of a dime just to be in the same room as her — and i’m terrified of flying.

“Sappho’s Reply,” by Rita Mae Brown, from The Hand That Cradles the Rock (1971).

“Sappho’s Reply,” by Rita Mae Brown,fromThe Hand That Cradles the Rock(1971).


Post link

The point? What is the point? I keep asking over and over again until one day it just clicks. There is no point, just what I make of it.”

Written by @inafuturewithyou Yasemin. C ©

When I was just a little girl,
I use to sit and wonder about this world
About the good, bad, wicked and ugly.
I learned so much it wasn’t funny
Take it from me; that’s a real tip!
People living in the street.
Little innocent children can’t go out to play.
‘Cause neighborhood war, shooting from door to door.
People being robbed on their way to the store.


The gift of life is the greatest of all
Each breath I take, I feel real tall.
Life is real. I learned that young.
Life is hard, often unkind,
You’re sitting still; life’s moving on.
Look out, beware! It can blow your mind.
It’s okay to wonder not too lon’
No need to run, 'cause you can’t hide.
You’ll be left sitting by the waste side.


Fathers aren’t present, that’s the pits
Mothers turning tricks, to get a hit.
Our young children caught up in drug wars.
Babies being born drug addicts, is making me sick.
Teenagers go every way, but never take the right.

nikkitajiri:

G I V E A W A Y

This Wed April 21 to Sun April 25 I am giving away this Kindle eBook for free. (Murmur Rumble Roar: Poems About Climate Change)

Please download it and then review it. Did you love it? Did you hate it? Let me know in the review.

It’s on!

G I V E A W A Y

This Wed April 21 to Sun April 25 I am giving away this Kindle eBook for free. (Murmur Rumble Roar: Poems About Climate Change)

Please download it and then review it. Did you love it? Did you hate it? Let me know in the review.

From my collection, Murmur Rumble Roar: Poems About Climate Change. Available on Amazon worldwide.

nikkitajiri:

Happy International Women’s Day! May we have the courage today and everyday to show up as our authentic, imperfect, evolving selves.

May we be grateful for the women in our lives - family, friends, colleagues, role models - who enrich our lives more than they know.

- xoxo Nikki

Art by @mongequentin“Sisterhood”

how many rapes jokes does it take
to be funny?
he knows the answer is none.
no one had to tell Amnon
the sin in taking Tamar,
nor was Duryodhana confused
when he patted his thigh
mocking Draupadi,
nor Dusshasana dumb
when attempting to disrobe her.
yet you chant
men need to understand,
to read and watch
our unending torment
to understand evil.

-he knows, Kelsey Ray Banerjee

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