Public Iwaku Poetry Spotlight

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Pahn

monstrous
Original poster
LURKER MEMBER
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per week
  2. One post per week
  3. Slow As Molasses
Online Availability
Anytime, I have no life.
Writing Levels
  1. Adept
  2. Advanced
  3. Douche
  4. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Nonbinary
  3. Transgender
  4. Primarily Prefer Male
Genres
Fantasy, romance, slice of life, anti-hero stories, "you're our only hope", fandom non-canons, soft scifi, transhumanism, magical girls, horror, suspense / mystery, detective noir, fractured fairytales
pips_banner-final-edit.png

This thread is to showcase all the submissions for the community event PIPS, along with the YouTube video of the live reading of the poems.

August 2017 edition

December 2017 edition

April 2018 edition

September 2018 edition

December 2018 edition
 
Opening Thread | | Discussion Thread


note: video was removed as it is no longer available


The themes for August's PIPS were:

  • Adversity
  • Empowerment
  • Loss of innocence
  • Man against nature
  • Perseverance
Between one and three themes were encouraged to be used.


By: Anonymous
Themes: Loss of innocence



“Winter’s Will-o’-Wisp”

Years of heartfelt trust, then:
“I never wanted you!”
Never? Never?! Never, never…
“Well. I just thought you should know.”

And now, back to this business of existence.
Another item checked crisply off your list.
Efficient words that casually savage the heart (“why do you feel so much?!”).
All in the interest of waste management.

One does not defy the edict of abandonment by the ruler of this barren landscape,
Who never looked back as friend or ally.
Truth rides beneath one’s feet like broken glass in shifting sands; felt, but unseen.
And I? Bootless, left behind, I looked ahead.

Watching where you loomed large and darkly shadowed against the sun,
As you followed your mysterious sad instincts,
Ruinous and seven leagues beyond my touch.

Now, less than a shadow beneath the ground.


By: @FrictionFrog
Themes: Perseverance, Empowerment, Adversity



Remove from a butterfly it's beautiful wings and what is left to see?
A broken body and a broken spirit with no remaining beauty?

But what of the butterfly,
who's will is not yet broken?

With this one life to live,
should it's dreams not go unspoken?

Should it not surrender to it's fate, accepting the sympathy it's been given?
Has not the nature decided, this is it's skin to live in?

Is it not a selfish thing, to try it's very best?
To chase it's dreams and follow it's heart when it could stunt the rest?

What of those selfless few, that help it onto their backs?
Shouldn't they not be burdened, by what has slipped through the cracks?

For love doth cloud the minds and reasoning of the few.
That see something more, than the rest of them do.

Or perhaps it strengthens, to fly against the wind.
To work extra hard, to go through thick and thin.

For no heart hath less worth, or soul lesser value,
to the ones who can see past what is worldly and shallow.


By: Anonymous
Themes: Man against nature, Perseverance
Poetic form: Pi poem


Out, I stay. A musty afternoon, it causes fears and exhibits drizzling; dazzles worriedly men. To see absolute alms hiding my travel, wood and the beamlike fir of jungles, arboreous brush. . On patience, forested path I journeyed, starved. A breeze.


By: @Iwazuma
Themes: Man vs nature, Perseverance
Poetic form: Limerick



A man walked alone in the wood
Feeling much weaker than any man should
Dropped and lost his backpack
Now he'll never get back
With no compass, doubt any man could

So for now, he opted to survive
And that goal was his purposeful drive
To somehow keep on living
So one day he'd be giving
Good advice on staying alive

It was these muddled thoughts he was thinking
When he suddenly had himself an inkling
That his ear must have caught
A sound that he thought
Was a river of water for drinking!

He wandered on over and discovered
A water source pure as no other
So he cupped both his hands
And drank all he could stand
When he ought to have ducked into cover

For that was when a bear came around
Searching for water, which it had found
It spotted the man
And defending its clan
The bear roared and stared Struthers down

Struthers didn't have much of a choice
He didn't have time to rejoice
He had to fight for his life
So, drawing a knife,
He screamed at the bear with his voice

And leapt at the towering mammal
A maniac's mind he had channeled
But in truth he feared
That his end was near
And he ended up wetting his flannels

For an hour the two went to war
T'was their lives that they were fighting for
Until a fatal jab
Hit the heart with a stab
And the bear let out one final roar

Before toppling onto the ground
The victor, old Struthers, was crowned
He collected its meat
And he cooked it to eat
Before the way home had been found....

"Shut up, Struthers, you drunk!
That might be what you had thunk,
But you had too much mead
And then hit your head
So we carried you back to your bunk!"

His two sons were quite unimpressed
With the story of how he was 'blessed'
Yes, it would seem
T'was another drunk dream
Of old Struthers. Who woulda guessed?


By: @Queen_Nobody
Themes: ?



Bite.
Chew,
Gnaw.


The fabric flesh tore so easily.
Almost as if
It had never been together,
At all.


Hands bloody,
bones aching,
skin frozen.
He couldn't help but
Bathe in the heat of
The rabbit's heart.
Crimson red
Trickling down his body,
The fire of which faded slowly,
like his mind.


How long had it been?
Since his last meal?
Last snack?
Any sort
Of comfort,
Really.



How long,
Since he was lost
In this unforgiving wood?



Sanguine
And
Winter white,
The only colors
The child could remember.


Savage and feral.


Gods.
How long?


By: @Ananfal
Themes: Perseverance, Adversity



The road is long
the miles many
As the sun
begins to set
But we must
continue riding
As we flee
to the west.

Only death
lies behind us
Hope
leads the way
We are few
but we are strong
And we must
continue on.

As the night
brings the darkness
And the light
starts to fade
We march on
in the silence
Until
the break of day.

And in the distance

We see the future

Right there before us

And yet so far.

The fight goes on
we cannot rest now
To stop
would be to die
And so we go
on living
If only
to try.


By: @Uncle Legens Legentis
Themes: Man vs nature



Hurricane Harry, oh what a guy!
Stood in a storm till he died
Winds a blowin', fierce as hell
As he finished a story no one would tell
I was there too, hollerin' strong
That Harry's hope was surely wrong
Alas, that storm took my eyes
And arms, and ears, and mouth, alright
So Harry's ghost goes a hollerin'
Voice like a violin
Tellin' a story no one will hear


By: @Peregrine
Themes: Perserverance
Poetic form: Tanka



Here you need five words
Now seven syllables more
I thought this easy
But it took a week of work
For me to write a tanka


By: @MeadowLark4
Themes: Man vs nature



And so we decided to leave the dragon in it’s white den,
with its yellow hair and masked words.

The beast was far too clever,

slipping whispers under the
cracks of our children’s
doors
telling them to lock up and
wage war against us with our
catapults and
their walls.

We decided to leave the dragon, because
we were too afraid to give our
lives protecting our children.

When asked us why, we sang
old folk songs about beasts that
once existed 18 years ago but
disappeared like the apparitions
they were into the piss stained carpet.

There are no monsters now, only the
dragon in its white cave which
we decided to leave be.
Because we knew it could not be slain.

We knew there was nothing we could
do to keep it from luring
our bright eyed children into the
moonlight and dropping strange looking beads
on their heads and engaging in
some strange form of weird inconceivable bullshit
that we for the life of our dusty asses

couldn’t hope to understand.


By: @Asinis
Themes: Loss of innocence, adversity



This child is winters fugitive,
Behind him autum dawnlight sighs.
On shallow structure his shadow lives,
In a world he built with smoke and lies.

Impostor in a summer land,
He knows his future has a fuse.
In fire cleansed by his own hand,
May drink his feet into his fathers shoes.

The boy of winters creation,
To ancient soil returns.
He will build a firm foundation,
from pain the pattern learned.


By: @Měsíc
Themes: Loss of innocence, perserverance
Poetic form: Pantoum



When I’m alone my mind thinks of you
I think about what you have done to me
And how you left me
Tired


I think about what you have done to me
I need to keep going
Tired
I need to keep going


I need to keep going
For my sister
I need to keep going
So I can show you, you did not destroy me


For my sister
Who I will never let you harm
So I can show you, you did not destroy me
I am stronger even when you left me broken


I will be alright but you will burn
I think about what you have done to me
But I am stronger than that
When I’m alone my mind thinks of you


By: @RiverNotch
Themes: Empowerment


You give the gifts in this relationship,
not I. The toothbrush,
the wooden spoon, the plastic train...

Now it's my turn.
Your present lies on a bed of leaves,
cauliflower heads split wide open.

Its skin is gold
and crackling like the earth
in rainless Ethiopia.

Don't tell me you wish to keep your figure
like that starving people you so mocked.
Don't tell me the smells of the roast don't tempt you,
the fingers of steam fail to pleasure --

your nose
is not my vulva.

Everyone had a hand in it,
from the chef to the waiters to the busboy.
Even the guest whose naked body
you smothered in shit on the street,

he brushed the glaze.
You say you wouldn't eat it but
we know you like to gorge yourself.
Cock and swine, slop and mussel:

to you, they're not much different
from a man,

not least some man I fucked.



By: @PoetLore
Themes: Perseverance



Putting
Every fear and
Reasonable excuse
Squarely behind
Executing the plan with
Victory foremost in
Every action
Remaining
Always in each
Nuance of thought
Courageous and in
Expectation of success


By: @Shakaai
Themes: Loss of innocence, perseverance



Little Lilly so young, learn from the great ones. Though you wish, in your youth, to be the tallest of the group, seek not to be of greater beauty. To stand out from the crowd, the dream for all, yet as you can see, the cruel fate of the beautiful and tall. To stand from the crowd, such a price, is this moment of fame, of fortune worth the cost of one's life? Learn it well now young Lilly dear, never outgrow your peers, let them grow to ambitions much too high, let them see their folly, and let them die. Long as you understans, live your life, Lilly dear, live long and never fear. No thunder no rain, no hateful sun to bear down on you, let those above take this burden, so you may live long and happily. Yes this may be sad, perhaps unfair, but nothing is or ever will be, even in the wildest dreams. Learn and be wise precious young Lilly, learn, and let them not see you, and be proud of whom you are.


By: @Greenie
Themes: Empowerment



Skin as white as ivory
Hair as dark as the midnight sky
Lips soft and red as a rose
And eyes as cold as winter
Calling me, luring me
Seducing me
Siren of the land
Her smile, beautiful, terrifying
Warming me, chilling me
Her breath on my throat
Sending shivers through me
All to be over soon
Fangs pierce my skin
And pain overtakes me
Fantasy now a reality
I will not lose this battle
A gasp escapes both our lips
Relief from mine, outrage from hers
She thought me the prey
A stake in her heart proves otherwise
I am the Hunter​


By: Anonymous
Themes: Loss of innocence



Eyes low, from dawn to dusk
I cannot bare my frigid home
Till when I awoke to find a friend
Big black eyes, silk blue fur
You said "Onward, let us roam"
Time for fun if just pretend

Hand in hand
We journey my old mundane
Now well and warm with You
Hand in hand
We lived and freely reigned
But You couldn't be forever

One journey too far
Lost, no au revoir

Ice inside once more
Gaze grounded in tears

Should I just let go
Should I grow alone
Should I just let go
And now live on my own

I can't just let go
I can't grow alone
I can't just let go
And face the new unknown

Coins cross hands and I have It
Cheap button eyes - stuffed, stitched knit

Hand in hand
We journey my old mundane
Now strange and stared with It
Hand in hand
We're mocked and freely shamed
But It helps keep back forever...

 
Opening Thread | | Discussion Thread

Due to technical difficulties (aka my computer dead) there was no live reading and recording for December 2017's PIPS edition. Apologies!

The themes for December 2017's PIPS were:

  • Change versus tradition
  • Pride
  • Purpose
  • Violence
  • Optimism
Between one and three themes were encouraged to be used.



By: Anonymous
Themes: Purpose, Violence


My lips are chapped and my shirt is drenched with sweat,
My palms are shaking, my knees buckling for the worry they undertake.
I feel the heat from the closed-up room,
Despite feeling the breeze of the air-con being loomed.
I take a seat on the satin bed,
Wondering whether I'm actually in over my head.

For pain is felt and rarely seen,
I tell myself for once, this will not be taken as another scene.

Relax, it's all in your head.

I tell myself that as I gripped the sheets tightly on my bed.

The clock strikes three and the curtains were drawn in.
My medicine box was scattered and free, sheets of tissues thrown overflew the bin.

The mirror on the dressing table across me, had whiteboard markings of words,
To describe the person in it I should actually see.

Relax, it's all in your head.

I looked at the palm of my hand, to the pills that I had spread.

I distract myself by thinking about how the first time my head started to scream out loud.

It was a few days before Christmas,
Where lights and decoration in malls were witnessed.
Pine trees were dressed with vibrant lights,
Even my friend and I were brimming with excitement from the sight.

Boxes and packages lined with ribbons and frills,
We couldn't wait to have our fill at the annual Christmas grill.
There would be gifts exchanges and a party with dances,
Though what I looked forward to was when the food passes.

Despite our intentions of wrapping up presents,
It seemed like others too had their own celebration.
The train was packed and my friend and I were separated,
I held onto the door handle as a young girl suggested.

The vehicle jolted and I almost fell,
When a pair of hands held my waist firmly and well.
I turned my head and found myself staring into a pair of eyes that told me he wasn't really himself.

Relax, it's all in your head.

I told myself that and ignored my feeling of dread.
I smiled in thanks and faced forward to the young girl,
And that was the moment my life begin to whirl.

As the train hummed and sighed into the tracks,
I felt the man silently attack.
I felt his body against mine,
Chills went right down my spine. He rubbed and moved his body against mine,
I kept telling myself I wanted to die.

When my body finally decided it had enough,
I tried my best to move away by being rough.
The young girl looked petrified at what was seen,
But the man gave my body a look that was obscene.

It took me a few moments to realise,
But all I could do was cry and listen to consolation that were actually hidden lies.

My friends would say that no one deserved this,
But behind my back they would blame my attire with a hiss.
Adults would hug me and empathise,
But they told their children that they and I should cut ties.

I begin to lie and isolate myself,
That my room was the only escape from this place I call Hell.
As I distanced myself so far away,
Did my mistakes and flaws I weigh.

"You're disgusting and a horrible person,
For anyone would have stood up for themselves before the situation worsened."
"You're nothing but a coward and an object,
For maybe that's why you never gained true respect."

When crying became a tiresome activity,
I found that cutting myself broke me away from all this so called 'negativity'.
I drew blood and focused on physical pain,
It helped my mind and sanity to maintain.

Relax, it's all in your head.

I tell myself that as I opened my eyes to meet my floor mat.
I look at the pills in my hand before swallowing them as I have planned.
For who could understand and love someone like me,
Who thinks that death is my only remedy.


By: @Dramma
Themes: Violence

Love is him saying sorry
I lost my temper
and me believing him.

Love is repeating
I'm sorry
nervous as he raises his fist

Love is the bruises that cover my body
like flowers in meadow

Love is a gasp,
as his fist flies
in a blink of an eye

Love is the trembling
When he's around
vulnerable like a kid in the cold

Love is the pain,
growing with every day

Love is the tears
running down my cheeks

Love is making excuses for him,
because he doesn't make them anymore.


By: @dark
Themes: Violence, Purpose, Optimism

Fate and Hope

The changing of leaves flew in the fall winds, making the regular world look even more beautiful before Judgement day.

Fate…

A man holding the world on his shoulders..

A modern day superman…

With no powers.

A predetermined destiny, one already foreseen. One who cannot change when their time came in the future. Lies told to protect the man who would save the human race.

For what cost..?

People who died in your name

A fake messiah?

Or
A hero?

A man breathing out words in a speaker bringing hope to everyone laid his hands to speak his final words.

“This is John Connor… There is No fate in what we make..”


By: Anonymous
Themes: Pride, Violence
Poetic Form: Pantoum

Filled with eyes of gold
Teeth sinking into flesh
Look upon the innocent that suffer
Avarice will be your vice

Teeth sinking into flesh
Smirk at the face of terror
Avarice will be your vice
The call of the king is too strong

Smirk at the face of terror
Bloodied lavenders are sweetly scented
The call of the king is too strong
You are too intoxicated by power to notice

Bloodied lavenders are sweetly scented
Masking the stench of entrails
You are too intoxicated by power to notice
Death awaits you at the end

Masking the stench of entrails
Look upon the innocent that suffer
Death awaits you at the end
Filled with eyes of gold


By: Anonymous
Themes: Violence

Priority Seating by Anonymous

Silence and a cup of fear
I’m the ghost
crushed beneath her bootheel.

Lucky me, you say, lucky me.

You’re floating in your jello island
and you just don’t know.

How the footsteps come and go,
The strangers and the slamming doors,
The smoke so thick it sickens.

Booze and guns, thieves and liars,
Deals and death, then
Make a child for dollars.

Shut up, she screams,
Enjoy the show,
or tomorrow you’ll be starring.

Scars? Not enough.
Pain. It should be worse.
Trouble? I’ll show you some.

Lucky you, she says, lucky you.
It’s not right to be so lucky.

Who was shot today.
Who ran away.
Who’s coming back tomorrow.

You just don’t know

Silence and a cup of fear
I’m a ghost beneath her bootheel.


By: @Greenie
Themes: Purpose, Violence

Shedding blood and felling foes
Years of this endless toil
Blood and screams
Shortened lives, hastened deaths
My life and my being
A harbinger to your foes
I simply a plaything
Your powerful, dutiful tool
Glistening red sword in hand
To you I turn, my liege
If it is peace you truly seek
Let us end this now
A momentary stabbing pain
And happiness awaits us
Fear not the darkness, my liege
For where you go, I follow


By: @HerziQuerzi
Themes: Violence

He's so beautiful,
it makes me want to cry

Depicted by holy mirage
by a chapel's sharp planes
in jeans and shirt
of black and blue,
such battered hues
God help me

Ash on his fingers
and whiskey on his lips
His hands make a painting of my skin
Fingers over flesh,
leaving lover's marks
Oh God help me
He's so beautiful
He makes me want to cry

He must be beautiful
How else would he make me want to cry

With his lover's hands
he makes a painting of my skin
in black and blue,
such battered hues
God help me

And with ash on his fingers
or whiskey on his lips,
he makes me want to cry

He makes me want to die

He makes me want to cry
He's so beautiful
my broken mirage
is so beautiful
God help me


By: @Quincunx
Themes: Pride, Violence

To touch an angel and watch her skin curl and char
To relive the taste of copper and concrete
To reach into one of our hearts and twist it from the inside out as I watch
These are cinders on the hearth
Flickers in the dreamlike past
People who remember their bird bones breaking are a dime a dozen
I have proven my worth
Ascending winglessly
A restless singing in my chest
"More"


By: @Holmishire
Themes: Violence, Pride

Both brothers, sisters stand ready to fight
Dark, winged figures and flashes of light,
Demons bringing us back the night—
Angels singing of black and white.

Silent knight, holy knight,
Stay your blade; be not afraid.
Quarrels fought, may be now forgot;
Ashes and frost, your war has been lost.

Friends and once foes, held sword, took knee
Bodies soon froze by Lord's decree
The age of mankind, ended at the last
In death now aligned, mending hate long cast.


By: @RiverNotch
Themes: Change vs Tradition, Purpose

Vertumnus and Pomona


He. And should we explore the purposes of love
by subverting the most ancient opposition?
But the way is dark: a tree stands for its end.

She. And on that tree hangs
the lovelorn Anaxarete.

He. It was Iphis who hanged himself:
Anaxarete, for rejecting him, turned to stone.

She. And around the corpse, apples
ripe and heavy. But even as you drop
your warty witch's face
here at the end, your nails remain uncut,
your arms still sag with age,
and your breasts...

(He seizes her. For a moment, all is still.)

She. You've already transitioned,
my brilliant little god.
Now peel me like an orange.
 
Opening Thread | | Discussion thread

The themes for April 2018's PIPS were:

  • Courage
  • Forgiveness
  • Grief
  • Revenge
  • Redemption
At least two themes were encouraged to be used.

By: @Draugvan
Themes: Forgiveness, Redemption


"As above, so below"

Rest amid, the foil shows

Broil in sin, skin, flesh and bone

A bigger fish, a different tone.



Chaos sewn amoung the soil

Reaper follow those who toil.



Where for then art wholly good?

Sordid? War did have a meaning.



Linger to, linger fro.

Bless, forget the wins and woes

Stone knows not intelligent code

A smaller stick, a happy soul.



Scars pass last 'cross broken hearts

Devotion is an awesome task.



Cast down pitchfork, rid of noose and

best-dressed violence, you snappy peers.



Give of alms, give of growth.

Make amends to rotting foes

Stop, share bread, hearth, water - home

Nothing ventured, nothing known.


By: @Jays
Theme: Grief


Love.

My love.

My dead love.

My dead love lives.

My dead love lives in pain.

My dead love lives in pain at your thoughtlessness.

My dead love lives in pain at your thoughtlessness, carefree, aloof, indifferent to a yearning broken heart that never trusted itself to love again.

Your broken heart yearns to love, to care, to revive pained dead loves and restore their faith.

Your broken heart yearns to love and restore faith.

Your broken heart yearns.

Your broken heart.

Broken heart.

Broken.


By: @neobendium
Themes: Forgiveness, Revenge
Poetic form: Diamond


[bg=gray]Forgiveness
Peaceful, soft,
Laughing, smiling, keeping,
Apology, happiness, oath, blood,
Screaming, crying, losing,
Angry, hard,
Revenge[/bg]


By: @Ananfal
Theme: Grief, Forgiveness, Redemption
Poetic form: Trochaic Octameter


Dark is the night that comes so quick, with fog that comes from clouds packed thick.
Eyes get lost in shadows - a trick! It’s best not to look too hard.
Velvet blackness dense and chilléd, your heart clenching, your soul twisted.
“Stop, do not move!” I insisted, but you were not on your guard.
Misstep, mistake, you resisted. Too late - now to a graveyard,
Forever now to be scarred.

Memories that make me depressed, tears fall, fists tight, my mind distressed.
All these emotions are expressed, but I can’t do anything.
Helpless, paralyzed in my bed, unable to move - such dread!
Demons feed on my soul, well fed. I just lay there worshipping,
The Lord, My Lord, save me! I pled - Refuge my prayers did not bring.
Nor sight of an angel’s wing.

Punishment I know I deserve, by the heaven that I do serve,
Of such horrors that do unnerve even the most faithful man.
But gladly do I take it all, in that red brimstone fiery hall,
For my part in what did befall you - if it was me rather than
One who should never have to fall, then perhaps, if only, I can
Restore your place in God’s great plan.


By: @Lovers in Flames
Themes: Forgiveness, Grief
Poetic form: Acrostic


Forgive me daughter for what I have done to you
Order me because I can’t forgive you
Right now it’s just you and me
Get me out of here, I need to leave
I love you
Victim, that is what I am for you
Everyday I help you

My life was destroyed by you
Enjoyed the smell of your skin on my lips

Father forgive me, I have sin
Another day without you is hell
To me you are dead
Hell is what I will make life for you
Everyday I sink farther and farther in
Right now I need you

Forget me for I am disappearing
Only with me, you are something
Revenge is what I seek

I am never letting you go

Help me
Anywhere you go I will be there
Vengeance is what I will get
Everything I did, I did out of love

Save me from this hell
I love you
No, I hate you...


By: @Makomin
Themes: Courage, Grief
Poetic form: Narrative


A young woman once told me a sad tale,
Of a pair of lovers with an ending so frail.

She told with such passion in her tone and eyes,
Of how much she would pay to buy back some more time.

Not all stories started with grief, she said,
Only the ones that were brief and ready-made.

The months were passing by so fast and swift,
We didn't even notice the gather of snow on the mountain's peak,
We used to laugh so hard at each other's jokes that people would say "Look at those country folk.",
I used to hug him so tight when I felt cold,
We'd just sit there and look at the stars until fatigue took a grand toll.

He'd tell me "I love you.",
While I replied "I love you more.",
But he'd always win by saying "I love you the most.",
I remembered him bending one one knee saying,
"I'll marry you when I come back soon,
Even if I have to wait for the moon to fall.
I'd kiss you till' my lips are raw,
Until the quizzed-looking children would say, "I take back what I just saw.".
And the most important thing I'd do is, "Wait for you till' I've turned to stone.".

It was time for him board the train,
She kissed him one last time and it started to rain.

They would exchange letters each and every day,
She'd seal every envelope with a kiss and say, "Hopefully you'll come back before May.".

But after a year, he'd stop replying her mail,
She'd thought he'd found someone less pale.

The weeks past by her with tissues and tears,
She'd finally gotten a reply with such urgency and fear.

She'd read the letter aloud with sighs,
"Dear child, I'm sorry to tell you this but,
Your lover was taken away,
By the choir of angels,
To a place of paradise with God and his house so gaily.
I wish I would bring him back to you,
But a proper goodbye is all I can do.".

The woman stopped at the end of her tale,
With brown eyes that looked so young yet old,
Saying love is strong and bold,
But be careful not to give too much away,
Or you'll end up like the girl in the story I've just told.


By: @Auphe
Themes: Grief, Revenge
Poetic form: Limerick


There once was a girl, sobbing in grief.
Alone at a grave, searching for relief.
She had to get revenge,
But who would she avenge?
All that lay dead was a leaf.


By: @RJS
Themes: Courage, Forgiveness
Poetic form: Acrostic


It’s time to stand

Demonstrate to my demons
Even though they eviscerated my
Self-esteem and shrank my
Ego. It’s time to show them I’m
Ready. To take that
Very hard first step, maybe
Even the hardest I ever took.

Time to look at myself and say “It’s
OK to feel this way.”

Blaming myself made me make me
Even worse than I was.

Here I am.
Acceptance? Not yet.
Perhaps it will come.
Perhaps not.
Yet I’ll keep trying.


By: Anonymous
Themes: Grief, Forgiveness


It hurts.
It is excruciating.
Why are you with him?
I have been by your side the entire time.
Why are you leaving me?
"What's wrong?" You ask.
I can't answer you.
I never dared to tell you.
"It's nothing." I smile.
It's everything.
Why are you leaving me?
Why can I not be the one?
Why can't you pick me?
"Well, you know you can tell me, right?"
"Of course--" I can't tell you.
I'm protecting you, from these horrible feelings of mine.
This indescribable feeling of wanting to monopolize you.
If I told you, you would leave, right?
Run away, while you still could.
I only need you.
I need you to stay by my side, no matter what.
Why do you need them?
"Oh! Have you met yet?"
No. Please, don't introduce us. I beg you.
"You have to greet each other! You're my best friend after all,"
Don't smile, don't talk about them in such a happy tone.
"I can't wait--" to see the thief who took what is mine.
Forgive me, for not having the courage to tell you.
Forgive me, for not being the one.
Forgive me, for lacking.
Forgive me; I'll still stay by your side.
I'll keep on being your forever not-enough.


By: @Taska Vilna
Themes: Grief, Redemption


ANIMAL BABIES


Blood blessed sheets scrape skin

Bones shiver, shake, shear, tear apart, intertwine

Interlocked limbs bellow noise raw

Scream pleasure pure, paw

Claw digs, eats, flesh simmers skin, sucks blood

Grind. Filthy. Fresh. Soft body falll.


By: @SkittlesAndSpike
Themes: Revenge, Forgiveness
Poetic form: Sonnet


Revenge, a flame that burns hot in the heart,
It consumes every thought in its blaze,
It is a pain of which one cannot part,
And continues to burn for many days.

Those afflicted seek righteous, cruel justice,
Attempting to smother the fire within,
But cruel justice often leaves one corrupted,
The fire burns hottest after one begins.

For a fiery heart, the best solution,
For both the victim and the offender,
is to douse the flames in cold ablution,
The wash, though tough, is something better.

Forgiveness snuffs out the fire with ease,
And leaves the mind and heart resting at peace.


By: @Quincunx
Themes: Forgiveness, Courage


Enclose me with salt and peony petals
Place me before the altar
Or in the darkness of the booth
It's been so long since I've done this
How do we begin

Do you speak in Latin
"ego te absolvo"
Do I retch my tar-black loathing
"burn my id"
Does my skin crystallize and shatter
"take me, halimeda"

Halite incandescent beneath the lights
Can it light me up like a witch
Or refract through the isometrics
Unfeeling photons
A girl lost feeling in her hands her face her lungs
Sprout flowers from them

And when I am a garden on fire
My nerves will awaken as if it was only a dream
And the world will return to focus from static storm
"I forgive you for pretending"
"I forgive you for your mistakes"
"I forgive you for when you could not tell the difference"

Ashes will know
Stripping away my skin


By: Anonymous
Themes: Courage, Forgiveness, Grief


Empty letters
And words amiss
Please forgive
To my great grief
Nothing better
But this brief
Remiss


By: @HerziQuerzi
Themes: Courage, Forgiveness
Poetic form: Acrostic


In tempered seas of tempered life
Foes abound and cull the light
On hands and knees I withstand strife
Regret for those with heartwood might

Give me time for it to cease
I'll expose my heart and let blows hail
Vitality wavers by piece by piece
Eventually the bated breath will exhale

The hard times pass and knees unbend
Hands grip mine and sorrow quails
Every wound will scar then mend
My heart grows stronger and prevails


By: @Greenie
Themes: Revenge, Grief


Alone she stands beneath dawn's sky
Sword still in hand
Red and dripping like an exquisite wine
Dirt and blood decorating her person
Vengeance was finally hers
Her army a tsunami
Her enemies the thrashing fish
Destruction incarnate
Alone she falls to the ashened ground
Tears nurturing her pain
Heart forced to change
Mirroring his instead
If only for a moment
Her family now avenged
Her brother sent to hell
The burden still remained


By: @RiverNotch
Themes: Grief, Redemption


1
It does not, it cannot, begin with two.
The breath emanates. The soul,
diabolic, whores itself to the world.
The senses tense up.

God's contraction,
a game of chicken.
We were broken
like a stick of cherry wood

picked for kindling.

2
Now we're a tent, dry grass
beneath our mesh of fingers.
Sparks fly. Something surges
but I cannot name it.

Our arms crease.
Our necks crack.
Our guts spill.
Our legs snap.

A chestnut log pounds us into dust.

3
I never lusted after you:
that was never the issue.
Perhaps we met prematurely,
perhaps I jumped the gun.

No, there was no issue.
Nothing happened between us.
I felt, I remember --
now there's an issue.

Now we're hanging from a bridge.

4
It begins with two: two spots
of light, two bodies
under an arch. He passes
a ring to her, she pays with fruit.

The lights
will meet again.
Eventually. The bodies
are not so lucky,

but do not mistake a beginning for an end.
 
Opening Thread | | Discussion Thread

The themes for September 2018's PIPS were:

► New beginnings
► Fear of failure
► Power of silence
► Disillusionment
► Unselfishness


At least one theme encouraged to be used.

By: @RJS
Themes: Fear of Failure, New Beginnings
Poetic Form: Paradelle


I find myself a verse to write
I find myself averse to write
Inside I know I need to try
Inside I know I need to try
A verse to try myself I know
Averse to write, I need to know.

And yet I fear the words you hear
And yet I fear the words you hear
Not good enough, I am so sure
Not good enough, I am so sure
I fear, not good enough, and so
Words you hear? Good? Not so.

I fight against my mind, I find
I fight against my mind, I find
A worthy form to face as foe
A worthy form to face as foe
I find a worthy face, I fight
A foe as worthy as my mind.

And so I face my fear, my foe
My worthy mind against my fear
Averse to try, A verse to write
A worthy foe I need to fight
Against my mind, the words you hear
Good? Not good? I need not fear.


By: Anonymous
Themes: Power of Silence, Disillusionment
Poetic Form: Diamante


...
Visible, Quiet
Silencing, Feeling, Nothing
Text, Letters, Words, ANGER
Deafening, meaning, EVERYTHING
Tainted, Noisy
"..."​


By: Anonymous
Themes: Fear of failure, New beginnings


I sit alone and stare ahead
Lost in space, far away
I have no words and even dread
To try to think of what to say

I’ve met these friends so many times
We’ve bonded over storm and hail
But even now in verse and rhymes
I fear to speak and somehow fail

Were I to speak my mind,
Would they reject me out of hand?
I wish I could leave doubt behind
And not wear silence like a brand

There are no words I know to say,
That will make them wish for me to stay
Perhaps it's time to carry on
And look towards tomorrow's dawn


By: @Jays
Themes: New Beginnings


The fire starts with a spark, like ignited ember.
The storm ends in a breath, like teardrops, lost in the rain.

My love started like ember, sparked, smouldered, ignited.
My love ended like rain, breathless, tear-filled, lost.

Ember ends with a breath, blown apart, rain-soaked.
Tears started in a spark, stormy, volatile, foundless.

My life ended in a spark, like fireless ember.
My life started with her breath, tearless, found in the rain.


By: @Shizuochan
Themes: Disllusionment


Draped over her bosom,
is her hair, like strands of gossamer.
cascading over complexion fair,
and the indents of her form.
It’s the promise, and the promise is all of her.

She is a sick-white, a wraith-white,
spectre-grey, face-bloodless-from-hate-white
and she is phantasmal, fading,
and in the same instant she is brilliant silver;
the waning resplendence of our love abating.

I beg of her.
“Climb me,
and I’ll rise with you.”

So she does.
She does it so fiercely, that she sucks me in,

oh, the
pleasure-pink

But she does.
She does it so desperately, that she wrings me out,

oh, the
sadness-blue

It’s the illusion, and the illusion is all of her,
Her ardor-red turned to feeble-pink,
and that familiar-white, that sickly-white returning,
draped over by strands of gossamer,
Upon her bosom,

Upon my chest,
its weft and weave.

Breathlessly,
what’s left of me pushes away
to save us.
But she’s come.

And I’ve come,
and when we come, we crumble like sand,
our last love dissolving through my fingers.


By: @Verran
Themes: Fear of Failure
Poetic Form: Free-Verse, AB form


Precarious, I cling
to the Sky-High wall.
Fingers groaning
under duress, I stall.
Breaths, ventilating
preluding my fall.
But before slipping,
I’ll make my call.

So I put my name on the test, and begin.


By: @Drama Fraud
Themes: New Beginnings
Poetic Form: Narrative


Where are we going, Mama?

Whose house is this so big and tidy
With ceiling so high and floor so shiny
Filled with things so beautiful
And everything so plentiful?

Can we really live here, Mama?

Every day eating food warm and yummy
To eat all I want to fill my tummy

Is this really my room, Mama?

My bed has never been this fluffy
My pillow has never been this puffy

I love it here, Mama
I really, I really do, Mama

But Mama, can I ask a question?


Why Papa can't go with us?


Papa, can you come back?

I will tidy up my bed every morning
I will study without saying it's boring
I will be a good boy, the best one ever
I will walk quietly like a feather

Papa, why must you leave Mama and me?

Is it because you kick me when I am naughty?
Is it because you slap Mama and call her flirty?

Papa, can you come here and hug me?

I miss your stories and I miss your warm smile
I miss your kisses and I miss your cool style

Papa, I miss you here
Papa, why can't you be here?

Papa, can I kiss you good bye?

Mama says I have a new Papa and I like him too

He looks very cool and likes to pat my shoulders
He can lift tables and really heavy boulders
He likes to sing with Mama playing along
He is strong and and cool and kind and calm

Papa, without you, I only have Mama
Papa, sorry to leaving you for Mama

Papa, me and Mama have a new Papa
Good bye, Papa

Mama says now I can't call you Papa
 
Opening Thread | | Discussion Thread

The themes for December 2018's PIPS were:

► Traditions
► Loneliness
► Fear of Achievement
► Comfort VS Risk
► Faithfulness (or lack of)


At least one theme encouraged to be used.

By: @Hearthridge
Themes: Loneliness
Poetic Form: Villanelle w/ Emotional influence
note: the "code" format is used in order to keep the indents in place

Code:
Emptiness comes to those who hear the call.
	Muted colors and joyous sights fading
	day by day, until there’s nothing left in you at all.

The taste of your Mother’s pie in the Fall,
	with muddled flavor and disappointment invading.
	Emptiness comes to those who hear the call.

Oaks and Pines and Firs, et al,
	with halcyon redolence degrading,
	day by day, until there’s nothing left in you at all.

The giggles of your lover that you met at the mall,
	carrying hopes and dreams are decaying, paling.
	Emptiness comes to those who hear the call.

Your dogs and your cats, you loved them all,
	but their warmth and affection is draining,
	day by day, until there’s nothing left in you at all.

Five senses made up who you were, but all became banal.
	Anhedonia, the colors are fading and you are waning.
	Emptiness comes to those who hear the call,
	day by day, until there’s nothing left in you at all.

By: @Drama Fraud
Themes: Loneliness
Poetic Form: Narrative

It is nice being alone

Alone, there is nothing to hide
There is no emotion to bide

Alone, there is nothing to hide
There is no need to take a side

Isn’t it nice to be yourself?


It is nice being alone in a crowd

There is no need to compromise to no end
When you are alone with no friend

There is no need to compromise to no end
When your time is solely yours to spend

Isn’t it nice to be free?

It’s a wonder how they spend so long together
It’s a wonder how they say best friend forever
It’s a wonder how everyone is so social
It’s a wonder how everyone is so special

You think so too, right?

It is better for me to be alone

My taste for them is too weird
At books I read, they just sneered

My taste for them is too weird
No one knows when my favourite movie premiered

It’s hard to chat when there is nothing to chat about

Right?

It is better for me to be alone

Their taste for me is too foreign
At games they play, my interest is gone

Their taste for me is too foreign
At things they do, my interest is none

It’s hard to relate when there is nothing to relate to

But it’s alright

Being alone gives me freedom to be myself
Being alone is better for my mental health
Being alone is good, being alone is fun
Being alone is better for me in the long run

Being alone, it’s the best

Right?


I wish you can answer me, friend

Someone to talk to will be nice
We can discuss and give each other advice

Someone to talk to will be nice
We can remind each other to exercise

Don’t you think that sound pleasant, friend?


I wish you are like me, friend

There are things I want to do together
Like taking turns guessing the weather

There are things I want to do together
Like telling stories that send down a shiver

Doesn’t that sound fun to you, friend?

It’s hard to be both photographer and model
It’s dumb to try answering your own riddle
You can’t play a chess game without an enemy
You can’t fill in the blank with just a fantasy

Ah, what am I doing?

Still, it is better for me to be alone

From their eyes, I have long disappeared
I can’t walk in and expect to be cheered

From their eyes, I have long disappeared
I can’t start talking without being interfered

It’s not like I want to be friend with anyone

Right?

It is only sacrifice that follow friendship

I don’t need anyone to befriend me
I can do fine without any popularity

I don’t need anyone to befriend me
I can entertain myself for eternity

I’m alone and I’m just fine

You don’t need anyone to be happy, right?

No one to support you means no one will complain
No one to consider means you have nothing to explain
No one to talk to means you are all that matter
No one to mourn you means no heart to shatter

Being alone, it’s the best

Right?

By: @SleepsTheMoron
Themes: ?
Poetic Form: Freeform

I gave you notice, and although you took my motive for granted I told you time was ticking.
It was almost like I was picking away your hopes for me, I could almost see it in your eyes.
Because when you begged for it to be a joke, I told you no lies and I could almost feel the pain.
Sorry Mother, Didn't mean to ruin your parade with my rain.
When I was ready you said please no, don't go.
But instead of relief I gave you reprieve,
because it was alot to swallow and even more to believe.
We come from a group of family trees that share the same roots.
And as if I was missing the twin to a pair of poison riddled boots, you unwillingly gave me one.
You were scared to let me leave because I was your son,
Your little baby boy, who could hardly keep his attention on any toy when he played as a kid.
When I told you it was time you tried to forbid, because You weren't ready.
And although you raised your voice I kept mine steady when I told you...
Let me leave, let me go unto the world and breathe, even if the air is cold, and the winds chilling.
I said let me be bold and try to live my life as if it could be thrilling.

When my stuff was packed and I gave you our last hug, I could finally understand how you were feeling.
That you were just barely dealing with the pain, trying to hide it, but your arms revealed it fairly plain and clear.
For when I was in your embrance My heart was sent reeling from the lingering hold of that which only you could give, mother dear.
And of great love for your children you had no peer. Your sorrow was one without a single tear.
Just a worn smile and the words come visit once in a while.
This was your best reaction to something so foreign.
This wasn't what you expected me to do in the world I was born in.
And that's okay, it's really okay, because everyone believed it would never be this way.
So you never considered I would break the norm and move so far from family so early on.
But mother sweetest I am gone.
I have left the nest, you've done the best you could possibly do,
So mother believe in me the way I believe in all I've learned from you.
The love, the caring, the respect of others, and the ability to me daring.
Daring enough to face the mother bear who just wants to protect me, with her endless love and caring heart.
Sorry again, mother... But you had to let me leave, knowing it would tear you apart.

By: @Jays
Themes: Comfort VS Risk, Loneliness
Poetic Form: Free form

I see you.
I never did.
what if one day,
I see you too, and the truth.
Little rhyme, little reason,
things looked different in my head.
What's changed, I couldn't say,
I always see things a little too late.

When I turn back you won't be here.
The truth is reason doesn't rhyme with love,
no harmony for the common sense that could never be seen.

One day came, one day went, one day became just another day.
What's changed, I couldn't say,
I always see things a little too late.

Danced away, my love, out of tune.
You were my senselessness, blindfold, out of reach.
My cowardice.
May came, May went, that summer night in Rome became just another May.

What's changed, I wonder?
Your face became a little too much like just another face in my head.

By: Anonymous
Themes: Loneliness, Comfort vs Risk
Poetic Form: Free form

“To be alone is to be at home,”
This is my all pervasive thought
I’ve been so long on my own
That comfort is by silence brought

The world around is full of strangers
These faces could belong to friends
But deep inside I fear the dangers
Of silence again after silence ends

Although this empty space is hell
It’s what I know and understand
I’ll stay content within my cell
To never stray from what I’ve planned

I lose nothing by remaining here -
Escape is not worth knowing fear

By: @Nemopedia
Themes: Tradition(s)
Poetic Form: Acrostic, random rhyme scheme

Taken away was a child’s day when
Remnants of a distant past were
Addressed as something that once was
Dark faces, inked, or smudged
Imitating black pages, rather ignored
The day forgotten
In their eyes tears formed
Others shouted, or fought, or bolted
Now, what will remain?
Saint Nicholas will never be the same

By: @RJS
Themes: Tradition and Comfort vs Risk
Poetic Form: Rambling Freestyle

Traditions rarely accept deviations; insubordination to it? Oh no, sacrilege.
Tempting regularity accentuates divisions; if they inquire o’er novelties? Stupidity.
To risk any difference is to invite otherworldly nastiness; Satanic.
Trust revered ancestral decisions; if they inspired, options never succeeded.

Ugh.

That’s so awful, damn.

Strict adherence to traditions? Not for me, no more.
It’s awkward to write, the form I abhore.
Perhaps it served a purpose once,
But now? It’s a bore.

All of it’s awkward, nonsensical crap.
A message obscured, words caught in a trap.
Reading it fresh makes me yearn for a nap.
To decip…

Wait.

Why do I even bother rhyming?

Isn’t that tradition too?

I can be free of it all
Write what I please
Freedom takes me, in a burst of inspiration and imagination.
Liberation is wind neath my wings
I soar on a cloud of poetic…

Is this even poetry any more though?

What makes a poem a poem?

All I’m doing is writing sentences on a theme.

Maybe there’s a place for some tradition…

But only a little! No stifling my creativity
To satisfy a dead writers proclivity
For a structure in their verbal activity
I’ll write what seems right, intuitively.
After all, it’s nice to break out of the mould
And sample that which is new and exciting
But try not to forget entirely the old
For familiarity, comfort...they’re inviting.

Tradition.
Freedom.
Comfort.
Risk.

I choose them all.

By: @Rebornfan120
Themes: Loneliness
Poetic Form: Free

I wonder why I was given the cruel hand of fate in many forms.


To have the misinform clout around me while sinking further into the darkness that is within us as people on this earth, to call it loneliness is a bit hypocritical but in my heart and mind that is one; it is the truth and the same to me.


To feel glee in my heart more often and to be free, isn't this what everyone yearns for? Then why fate designated me to be misunderstood? From everyone and to people? Is it just me against the world with no real ally around me?


I feel often angry because of the feeling, those with bling on them or even around them seem to be in a better place and with mates of their own while I'm alone, I don't belong anywhere do I? Can't express my own view without backlash? Not to be included with Yin or Yang then where is my place? My place to belong?


I feel to be strong due to my anger, my inner darkness will stir though my trials here don't seem to ever end to leave me alone.


Is it wrong to want things as how everyone else has it? To be understood? To at least be on a equal playing field?


I try to do good only to end up sometimes falsely accused of bad when it is untrue and to be labeled as wrong only makes the feeling worse, I still long for a answer, one where I can have not only a solid place to stand on but not to be labeled or pointed out as wrong for it.


Life is fickle and only seen to me as another challenge to me for not being on my side in my view, for me it has spew most things negative and any positivity is rare and it flees faster than a winter sunset.


They say “Don't take it personally” when I ask and they reply with this quote, like do you understand the want and desire to be free and understood like anyone else? I don't think you do, to be honest I don't think anyone does understand to want that ability to stand on anything without feeling the loneliness surrounding you or dragging you down.


To drown in loneliness and darkness seems to be inevitable for me for this lifetime, I want to believe I am prime for something better but I can't really see it for me. Is it because it is too dark around me? Or like the lone wolf I am in fact alone in more ways than one?


Only things that stand out in this dark abyss is faint lights, they are few and far in-between. Giving a visible, noticeable sheen I know one is my great-grandmother who somehow hasn't given up her hope.


I don't need a telescope to know that light but the second closest and the others are unknown to me, are they something I've been seeking? Will they sting like words do coming from those who do not understand my view? I'm hesitant to let those lights in any closer, I wonder if they will blur away revealing themselves to be nothing but illusions all this time and the loneliness will not hesitate to grab me back down.


In my heart I'm kind of broken-down, the thought of the illusions makes me frown. I wonder if the lights beyond the closest ones will get me out of this loneliness pit of despair, or I fall further into it.

By: @Nevito
Themes: Loneliness
Poetic Form: Emotion Poem

This emptiness feels so sad and depressing
A cig you smoke after everyone is gone and breathe gray
Everyday it happens more and more as people leave without a bye
The silence in my home ring in my ears like busted eardrums
Sick smell fills the room and leaves the room poison scented
Empty life really is sad and depressing

By: Anonymous
Themes: Traditions, Faithfulness
Poetic Form: Free

Glamor kept the seven lamps alight
and birthed the Christ.
Glamor was the engine of the streams
that fed the Jordan when the Baptist cried,
'Repent, ye children, for the Lord is near!'
It was our ears.

Glamor is the raiment of the Queen
who sets herself before the holy throne,
two fingers raised, and casts a mocking glare
at all the pretty lies we proudly wear
upon our chests -- and then she rests
her head against the Cornerstone.

Glamor: what we can't avoid,
the priests soon found a store of oil
and for two hundred years they kept
the presence glowing, burning bright,
until a wolf in tiger stripes
the temple plowed, the lamps snuffed out,

and Faith the only witness spared
under a broadening night.
What knowledge can the mind recall
with neither Faith nor Glamor?

By: @DayDreamer
Themes: Comfort vs Risk
Poetic Form: Free

Prosciuto is tasty
Prosciuto is great
But it's hard to chew in the slices I can make

Bacon is crispy
Bacon is neat
Yet somehow it can be less wholesome indeed

So do I do tasty, do I do neat?
Do I find comfort in crispy or do I risk thick?
That is the question, that is the thing

Which one should I put in my new bread and cheese?

By: @Pahn
Themes: Faithfulness (lack of), Loneliness
Poetic Form: Free

You smell like December rain
Heavy and cold, penetrating the bones
You are a warm breath down my neck
Chilling and remindful

Drenching my soul in your black ink
You spill me on the marble floor
It feels so cold in your arms
My heart echoes within your absent mind

My hand is held possessively
I belong to you, your proud bauble
Bent and chipped at the core
Out of place like December rain

Sometimes I forget how it feels
The sun, the gentle summer breeze
Please dip your pen into my mind
And write the sonnets of our love

Do you remember the late spring snow?
Covering the ground and my shame
Hiding the comforts I sought
Away from your frozen winter embrace

The lies are naught but writing in sand
After the waves have cleansed the sin
Please tell me the tales of your love
I forgot, the pain is fading, help
 
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