Black Magic
Short Poems
Capricorn
January
hold your little ones close
they breathe life into your smile
love hot
avoid the cold
the only fever you need is nestled in a hug
or cup of cocoa
Theft
I’m breaking-in to tomorrow
with the complete resolve to rob that new person blind
whoever she is
imprisons what I have always wanted
I’m busting in to the dawn of a year
and dragging her riches
back to the past
so she can remember
that I was here.
–Ariama Long
To The New Year
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.
So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.
Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.
Make your mistakes, next year and forever.
― Neil Gaiman
Slip In
slip in
dipping
like cold feet into
a warm bath,
dripping
hip in
digging
the bathroom
bandit
dammit
the suds have stung
my eyes
& i couldn’t see
that all the while
he was leaving me
breathing
seething
causing waves
splash back
into salted water
aquatic graves
–A. Long
All Armies Are The Same
All armies are the same
Publicity is fame
Artillery makes the same old noise
Valor is an attribute of boys
Old soldiers all have tired eyes
All soldiers hear the same old lies
Dead bodies have always drawn flies
–Ernest Hemingway, Paris 1922
Poetic
Now’s not the time to be poetic, she said, just pull my panties down and do me up against this tree.
–Michael Faudet
Life Is:
A mystery, Unfold it.
A journey, Walk it.
Painful, Endure it.
Beautiful, See it.
A joke, Laugh at it.
A song, Sing it.
A flower, Smell it.
Wonderful, Enjoy it.
A candle, Light it.
Precious, Don’t waste it.
A gift, Open it.
Love, Give it.
Unlimited, Go for it.
Light, Shine in it.
–Iyanla Vanzant
A Poem Can Be
a poem
can hurt or hate, can feel abandon…and reckless
it can joke
and lie
and speak
and whisper all the things you want them to hear
a poem
can have secrets
when the soul is too heavy to carry them
it can live
in the bruised skin on your knuckles
and just beneath the ducts in your eyes
can hold you
feed you
miss your voice as its reading
it can be
a listening friend when everyone else
ignores the screaming
Blackbird
broken winged blackbird
I see your need to cry
your shudder in the dark
your plead to the open sun
blackbird you will fly again
you will not fall
your wings I will mend
because I heard your call
The Poetry Corner 