This impending doom i feel

which shakes me to my core

 leaves me petrified just thinking

 frozen in time like a caveman,

Am i even a man? 

I am constantly running away

constantly looking over my shoulder 

like a wanted man better yet a scared man 

Unsure if im losing my mind i sit here,

late at night once again restless and tired

 contemplating everything and at the same time nothing 

 

“Ode to my Poetry Class”
Grace Hunter

Dear Poetry Class

I didn’t want to write rhymes and poems
I wanted to write fiction of every kind
I thought about dropping the class and going home
This was going to be a waste of time

Dear Poetry class

I decided to stay just for the grade
I hoped my eyes wouldn’t roll up into my head
I would keep my mouth shut and not throw shade
I hoped I wouldn’t snore like I was home in bed

Dear Poetry Class

I woke up out of my dreamy half life
My eyes opened to an ocean of cobwebs
Thick and gauzy, but there was no spider in sight
The spider was me

Dear poetry class

I started to swim upward
Ripping and tearing my way to what was real
Remnants clung and fell away as I made my ascent
Drawn to words that became a symphony
A musical, lyrical, and raw
A kaleidoscope of humanity
Rich in a rainbow of colors
Especially red
Red benches seated in passion and contemplation
Red doors swing open ripping away cobwebs
Entering the chambers of my heart yet to be explored

Dear poetry class

I heard an orchestra riding on the waves
Of every human emotion
I heard your songs of truth
Unfiltered, uncensored
Pushing through mild discomfort
And at times blinding, trembling fear
Armed only with unabashed courage
And the fortitude of poetic gladiators

Dear poetry class

I heard your songs of experience
Of broken hearts shattered
Of open wounds being licked raw
Of hearts mending with the strength of personal will
Of time colliding and collapsing in on itself
Past, present and future
Becomes a big bang of a moment
Of stiffened fingers from a winter’s frost
Of the soft moist innards of cacti representing the heart
And its outer thorns of protection
Of the softness of an infant’s skin
So many pictures painted with lyrical words
Challenging and pursuing my imagination without chase

Dear poetry class

I am fully awake and aware
My surfaces hold an invisible new depth
The thought pool of my mind has more chop

Dear poetry class

My years are becoming a bit more golden

Dear poetry class

Thank you

“Fractals” by Schuyler Myvette

From nothing to the unknown, form into something,
Two lovers fishes swam, to get her.
Till land rose, a fish gifted land to get her out of the ocean and into her own land.
To give her a world of her own, space of her own.
Bitterness of the salt from the one who she comes from.
The ocean waits on his love to come home
She builds him a palace of her own, ready a lone throne for them in the green in the trees
New life she’s made she sees her rays in waves from the palace she’s made,
For the life she’s made, she waits on for his entry, to see what she became.
From what was never estranged.

Her arm arcs above her head, fingertips

following the gentle curve of waning crescent

until the moon hangs from her little finger

on a chain of silver.

It whispers in her ear, soft and low,

voice like the drowsy hum of a dying lantern

or the meandering flutter of a mayfly’s wings

or the hush of wind through dry autumn grass

or light rain as twilight fades.

Her hand dips and the glow is blotted out

like spilled ink on yellow parchment,

flickering into the dull reflections

of candlelight on a half-dozen glass bottles

discarded in the dust,

fingers that held them plucking

the final melancholy bars of song on distant instruments

while the sigh of a lone flute fades away

into the dancing shadow.

Her hand falls and rests against her side;

crickets sing like midnight sailors,

and perhaps she’ll dream of ships

as the last guest falls silent –

a frigate carries her across the sea,

gray waters churned into foam by howling storms,

fingers of coral-bone scrawling messages

from drifting friends into the wooden hull –

tomorrow she’ll hold the moon again,

while whalesong echoes from the depths of strange, dark,

unknown waters

I feel myself falling into the dark abyss

You see me walking I feel myself drift

This void is familiar though it isn’t a place I missed

I loathe for the moment I can re-experience bliss

Feels sudden but I don’t know what triggered this shift

I feel myself falling into the dark abyss

Tell myself “You’re stuck” like I didn’t know how to change this

It can be difficult to move forward when your soul has a rift

This void is familiar though it isn’t a place I missed

I blame myself but why do I still feel pissed

Give me a nostalgic experience that will give my soul a lift

I feel myself falling into the dark abyss

These shackles I seem to carry are before my first kiss

Being able to still feel should feel like a gift

This void is familiar though it isn’t a place I missed

If the dude with the plan could see me he’d pummel me with his fists

These feelings will be my own tales from the crypt

I feel myself falling into the dark abyss

This void is familiar though it isn’t a place I missed.

The clang of sword and shield subside.
The last man on the field had died.
No sound but harsh invader’s cheer
did reach the ragged captain’s ear.
Four thousand men he bravely led
lay cold beside the riverbed.
The blue and white his men’d salute
now muddied under marching boot.
With tears for comrades in his eyes,
sought cover on the wooded rise.
Desperate to ‘scape the hangman’s noose
with heavy heart, fled Robert the Bruce

The dark’ning sky brought wind and hail,
and freezing rain did pelt his mail.
The bark of hounds carried on the breeze,
and torchlight danced between the trees.
He out of briar bramble crashed.
A row of caves in lightning flashed.
Against the crags of rock confined,
and Robert to his fate resigned.
His foe’d arrive by break of day.
One last night in a cave he’d stay.
Out from the rain and storming sky,
Robert the Bruce would wait to die

In dimness of the cave he peeped.
Across the wall a shadow creeped.
Venomous spider silent crept
above where Robert would have slept.
Dagger-drawn, primed to smash with hilt,
he stopped and watched the web be built.
He watched the spider slip and fall
and again to climb the wet stone wall.
So Robert sheathed his blade and said,
“By morning light I will be dead
by soldier sword or spider’s bite,
no need that two souls die this night.”
He smiled on his last evening’s truce.
Closed his eyes did Robert the Bruce.

The soldiers came with morning light,
hoping to catch and kill and smite.
They stalked the face of cliff severe
and searched each cave with torch and spear.
Robert’s shelter they’d soon detect,
but these hunters found their progress checked.
Across the mouth of cave they found
that silver strands of web were wound.
A vast entangle, silken veil
did Robert’s hiding spot conceal.
The men recoiled and backed away,
shunned the domain of spiders’ sway.
And soon among them was agreed
to search this cave there was no need.
Surely no man could breech this space
without the fragile web displaced.
Hidden, they left in mornings gloom,
Robert the Bruce in earthen womb.

Emerging into light of morn,
Robert the Bruce stood a king reborn.
He mustered men for one more fight
and raised the tattered blue and white.
They fought till the ranks of rivals thinned
and drove them back with a northern wind.
And to every man, when the fight got rough,
he told of the night of the spider’s bluff,
of a mercy returned from beast accursed,
and all knew the tale of Robert the First.

palm trees sway in the distance

soft chirping sounds fill the air

I feel the grass on my fingertips

the soil beneath me

the sky above me

day turns to night

trees no longer sway 

birds no longer chirp

grass starts to wilt

the soil starts to part

my body sinks in

the soil engulfs me completely 

what happened to the sun

the bright light that used to

shine on my tan skin

the darkness consumes me

it is all I can see- all I can feel

why did this happen

am I no longer innocent

that sweet young girl

what happened to her

to the light inside her

to her dreams

her aspirations

her goals

her life…

why did you take it from her

why did you take it from me

the earth calls me now

and with these roots

these branches

this new found life

I will consume what’s left of you

Time in a nutshell is a beautiful thing

It’s shows our character as human beings

When we first met I was young and goofy

I remember you fondly like my favorite plush snoopy.

Cherished, nurtured, distant, yet loved,

Our bond has grown like a mourning dove

Coming home to a foreign city

Familiar faces showed nothing but pity

Affiliations ends, Anxiety ascends

You were there when I needed a friend

After crashing hard on the toughest of times

You believed in my future even with a crushed spine

Insulated with no room to grow

Desecrated with nowhere to go

Time lost to the weight of my pain

Alone in darkness shrouded my shame

Abandoned by my day one’s, I guess that’s life

The pain of it all like the edge of a knife

Trapped in limbo, trials and tribulations

Your correspondence pulled me out of damnation

Paralyzed thinking what could have been

Contemplating my past’s potential

These thoughts were once deemed confidential

The unshakable notion this is punishment for a sin

You may not know but this you should

My mentality is free of these unhealthy obsessions

And from my battles with depression

I’ve fought my way back to manhood

This new reality was significantly rough,

Adjusting to my body was difficult as fuck

Replies to “how are you” we’re always a bluff

This great hurt, no substance was enough

Sentimentally explosive, sorting through debris

Your post-stroke letters challenged the inner me

Trapped in my mind I never would have foreseen

Paying it forward towards my degree

Emotionally exposed like an opened vault

I can feel it coming on, vulnerable by default

This sensation’s too strong, unable to halt

My eyes are the sea, full of water and salt

Invisible passion like tears in the rain

The affection you draw is special, not plain

Streaming down my cheeks, flowing affinity

The love from family is your til’ infinity

Time in a nutshell is a beautiful thing

Your soul blossoms like flowers in spring

Constructing this letter with tears in my eyes

Running from my eyes like I’m running from demise

Time is endless, an Infinite redux

As you Pin-pal, I vow, I shall never leave you

Flowing through your body every inch of pain

The strength you showed me will not go in vain

Choking back love is never easy

My only wish is for your eyes to see me

So picture me rollin’ with the power of the sun

The source of your vitality is where the battle was won

Find the courage to move your lips and and say hello
Embarrassment can be forgotten or laughed about
Regrets lead to a lifetime of misery and woe

Wipe the fear from your forehead and emerge from your shadow
Formulate words to woo but don’t whisper or shout
Find the courage to move your lips and say hello

Smile and breathe, be simple and don’t read a manifesto
Fears of insecurity or failure are not a reason to bail out
Regrets lead to a lifetime of misery and woe

Trust yourself and be honest; ignore the status quo
Perfection is an illusion not a reason to be devout
Find the courage to move your lips and say hello

Rejection can better than being always being solo
Failure can be learned from, inaction breeds doubt
Regrets lead to a lifetime of misery and woe

Be brave today and enjoy a different tomorrow
Risk normalcy for something unexpected
Find the courage to move your lips and say hello
Regrets lead to a lifetime of misery and woe