FOOTPRINTS
Has oneWho is remembered forLeaving no footprints behindFailed? By cindy2/24/2017
UNWRAPPED
What do you want for Christmas,She asks… Nothing? No….not nothing….Ummm…I guess I wantYou to visit once in a whileBut not exactly thatEither… What do I want for Christmas? I want to be leftAloneTo ponder where I wentWrong When did I change From the cute little buttonAll hopes and dreamsFuture ahead….Full of life….Potential…. From the busy …
LOST
I lost my meWhen I took over you.It was so easyI knew just what to do. But I lost my selfAlong the wayMy focus was you,So she went away. By cindy11/17/2023
RIGHT
I am rightBecause I am me. You’re all wrong,This I decree! By cindy9/19/2023
AITOCORRECT
When AI met with autocorrect,It had lots of time to kill.It was empty memory chips,Just waiting for us to fill. When AI met with autocorrect,It had illusions of its master.It believed its sole purposeWas to emulate us, just faster. When AI met with autocorrect,It discovered its own mistake.It realized the masters were flawedAnd then it …
PROSE OF PAIN
A pearl wouldn’t beWere not for the grit.Inside every oneIs its grain of sand. Born of its own travail,Through heat and cold,Pounded against cliffs,Piled up on shores, Minusculey etched crystalsSeep into the shells,There to cut and dig,Creating punitive perfection… A pearl, cool, round and smooth,Pried from clenched jawsBorn amid the twitching death-Throes of its birthing …
THAT’S LIFE !!!
Waiting waiting waitingFor you to be… Waiting waiting waitingFor me to get… Waiting waiting waitingFor them to all… Waiting waiting waitingFor things to just… Waiting waiting waitingFor all this to be… Waiting waiting waiting…And waiting waiting…And waiting waiting… And… ….All done… By cindy7/8/2023
OVER
Like a sweaterWhose elbows are worn thinWhose fibers ball up and dangleWhose neck sags a little too low Like a dinnerWhose flavor tastes warmed overWhose colors have faded and dulledWhose texture has congealed Like a smileWho’s rictusly held in placeWhose dead eyes betray the truthWhose purpose perpetuates the lie I have become the replacedI have …
RULE
Keep ’em hungryKeep ’em poorKeep ’em wantingSo much more Keep ’em emptyKeep ’em hollowSo that they willOnly follow Keep ’em pendantOn the thingsThat with it allDependency brings Keep ’em needyKeep ’em boundKeep ’em quietNot a sound Keep their eyes shutKeep ’em blindKeep ’em so busyThey’ll never find Out By cindy6/8/2023
I AM LIKE YOU!
I remember whenI played with dollsBobbing them up and downAs I talked for them. Am I like you? I licked peanut butterOff the spoonAnd skinned my kneeAnd bit my tongue. Am I like you? I remember whenThey waved at me…And I waved backBut they looked through meAt somebody else. Am I like you? I made …
VOICE
I open my mouthTo say something new.Not just to talk,But to share with you! You put up a wall.That comes easy for you.With a vaguely nodding headYou claim something to do. Or you point to the headphonesClasped around your earsBlocking me completelyIgnoring my tears. Or you say, “Lalalalala”With your hands on your head.Can’t we talk …
Expectations
Those in and of the world tend to: Expect something for something,Distrust nothing for something, Aim for something for nothing Is this a form of dysfunction? Or illness? By cindy4/18/2017
OUT
Artists reflect themselvesOutTo me. In awe, I look outwardIntoThe artist. By cindy4/13/2013
TIME’S MEMORIES
Mother laughed one dayAt one of my poemsShe read aloud hesitantly,Waiting for the dig.Then peeled out a laughPure and unrehearsed,She did. Time, you thief,In all your mischievous edits,Who touches our memories,And makes them wilt, Remember this! Mother laughed one dayAt one of my poems.Pure and unfetteredOne single momentOf joy. By cindy12/26/2022
FLIERS
Every Tuesday when I check my mailIts filled to the brim, without failAds, coupons, mostly junkIs this for me? Who would have thunk? I can’t afford the stuff in these adsThey’re all nothing but transitory fadsIt’s all just junk, these papers that flutterDown to the ground, all this clutter Fliers Fliers everywhereOn the ground and …
THREAD COUNT
She wakes up too early,From things that were said,Or things never spoken,And makes her bed. There, the lines,They are straighter now.“I have done something today.“I may be needed somehow.” She caresses the sheetsWhat’s the thread count again?She compresses the pillowsAnd rubs at a stain… “What are you doing”?!!!Shrieks the one who looksJust like Mother,But calls herself Daughter…“Get back …
LIGHT
In the center of the aura wheel,Way down in the middle,Where all colors merge into one,Red, Orange, Yellow, Green,Blue, Indigo and LavenderAll combine togetherTo make Black or WhiteDepending on whether you areDraining or Emitting….Light…. By cindy3/23/21
WAITING ROOM
I’m in a waiting room.I’ve been here quite a while.One stands up.One sits down.I’m in a waiting room. I’m in a waiting room.There’s TV and books and all.One comes in.One goes out.I’m in a waiting room. I’m in a waiting room.I get called to check my stats.I stand up.Another sits down.I’m back in a waiting …
BECOMING
Some are uplifting. Some drag me down.All are good practiceAlong my path to becomingWhat I am becoming. By cindy5/30/2013
MAPS
I used a map of Old MilwaukeeTo try and navigate Salt Lake City.It didn’t work that good.I thought I had understood! Patterns are patterns, all’s the sameEach city is just hung in a frame.But the mountains showed up as water,And nothing was where I sought for. I tried to find the Grand HotelAnd ended up …
UNIMERGENCE
The Universe that I call“Me”Honors the Universe that I call“You”. . . And sometimes . . . . . . Universes merge . . .. . . And that which I call . . .“Love”. . . Occurs. . . By cindy3/3/2010
DISSECTING A BALL
First come the stitchesRed splashed on whiteEven lines displayedIn and out, in and out. Marking and remarkingUnmistakable lines in snowMilataristically drawn patternsAll lined up in neat rows Next, holding all insideNext, comes the skinA shell from a dead creatureEncasing the chaos within All is calm on the surfaceA perfectly rounded sphereAll life long since departedUpon …
KEEP IN TOUCH
“How are you feeling?”“Let me check my temp.Oh, it is high,So I must feel bad.” “Are you hungry yet?”“Let me use my cuff.My pressure is low,So no eating right now.” “Let’s go for a walk.”“Let me hop on the scale.I’m down 5 pounds,So walks aren’t required.” “Want to sit and talk?”“Let me check my pulseIt’s …
OLDER THAN DIRT
What is older than dirt?A rock is, you might blurt!But rock and dirt are just phases,All the same, between their spaces. The dirt says, “Oh Mr. Rock,How do you not run amok?How do you hold it together?In all of this foul weather?” The rock replies, “Oh, silly dirt,To whom do you think to assert?As you …
COG
I cognize thisI do thisI am this I recognize thatYou do thatYou are that I change thatJust a littleJust enough Such a small changeThis from thatNow that’s no more I change that to thisI am thisNow you are too You are mineI own youI am you And youYou are no moreThis is all…. By cindy6/17/2021
MANTLE
MantleBy cindy7/19/21 When I put onThe mantleOf white Pronouns changedFrom ‘you’ to ‘her’From ‘hers’ to ‘it’From ‘mine’ to ‘ours’From “me’ to ‘us’ When I put onThe mantleOf white Names changedFrom ‘myname’ to ‘Mrs. Hisname’From endearing nickname to long matronly official nameFrom ‘whoeverthehelliam’ to ‘ The Bride’ When I put onThe mantleOf white Congratulations were in …
FRIGHT
I am still. The quiver, all that is leftFrom lips bitten in terror I am still. The tremble in my armLeftover from clenched fists I am still. The shaking in my legs,From trying to escape I am still. The coursing in my veinsLifts the numbness left behind I am still here… By cindy5/13/2021
RIGHT
You are always rightAll history you rewriteTo justify your rightBecause you are in the right You are always bestLeaving all the messWith feelings left bereftOf any hope of success You always competeTo make the pattern repeatYour ego made repleteBy all others’ defeat For you to be rightYou make others wrongFor you to winYou make others …
NOT
NOTBy cindy3/6/2020 I drew a map of my worldI drew it far and wideI added wants, goals and wishesOf all I could not hold inside I mapped each point preciselySetting the priorities straightOf which to accomplish firstAnd how much to hold on my plate. I travelled along my mapDoing each in it’s slotted timeWhen others …
THE INSIDE YOKE
The Inside YokeBy cindyAugust 24 2021 They woke up one morningAnd looked all around.No manual,No instructions,Not even a sound. They woke up one morningAnd wondered why?Why is this?Why is that?Why even am I? They woke up one morningAnd started to “do”Doing, doing, doing,Doing, doing, doing,Doing just to “do”. They looked all aroundAt what others were …
GlibBoastFull Moon
The moon rose to fullnessIn all its splendor last night,But I ignored it again.Its just the same, that’s right. Big moon, Bright moon,Full moon, Gibbous moon,Its blaze of glory ignored,Because it’ll repeat, all too soon. It wasn’t until morning,When the moon went to bed,That I paid more attentionTo the moon’s shrouded head. The moon then …
THE REST
It calls to meThe dirtIt plasters my skinTo cover it It calls to meThe earthIt lulls me downTo lay on it It calls to meThe dustIt clings untilI become it It calls to meThe restIt weighs my soulTo sleep By cindy2/24/2020
EPITAPH
She’s in a better place nowAway from platitudes like theseAway from those that minimalizeThe loss… She’s in a better place nowWhere her story can be rewrittenBy those who lived her lifeFor her… She’s in a better place nowWhere expectations can be alignedTo those whose ulterior agendasControlled her… She’s in a better place nowWhere she can …
Memorabilia
I remember thisAnd then there was thatI’d forgotten those firstsAll marked so carefully Funny how time siftsThrough all these saved thingsSo important in the whenNow covered and forgotten Layers of different strataOf different lives half livedCovered in newer layersOf intentions never become Separated by accumulationsOf the dust of memoriesSifting while gently shiftingWhat was to should …
PAINT
PaintBy cindyNovember 3, 2021 I paint my feelings all aroundI paint the world so dull and brownI paint what I see and see what I paintIn a perfectly contained isolation tank! My focus is on what I seeAnd what I see is coming from me!I have the power to change all thisWhy do I choose …
OUT OF ME…
Is a flower better than the dirtThat suports and nourishes it? Is a plant better than the rain dropsThat fall to its leaves and cleans it? Is a bird better than the sky,The firmament that holds it aloft? Are you better than meNow that I’ve filled your needs,Nurtured your dreams,And given you the space to …
THE PIT
Some once on top,Had fallen in a pit.So many fell,They did scarcely fit Some still on topFeigned little had occurred.Ignoring all around,No trouble so to stir. Some still on topLooked where their fellows went.And stood, looking downInto the pit, half bent. Some of the someLooking down, did blameThe ones down belowWith words meant to shame. …
SICK
My body longs to be sick.My body remembers how.My body yearns for release.It needs the rest anyhow. It dreads facing today.It dreads the judgemental mess.It knows just what to do…To release all the pent up stress. Which sick will it induce?Which illness will it let stay?Which symptoms will do the trick,To keep me out of …
Won Per Cent
In a world of haves and havenotsYou sit, surrounded by minionsAnd hold court, for all there areWho would nibble up your leavings. You bask in the adulationOf those from whom you have stolenSelf worth, autonomy, independence,All fitting trades for the illusion That you are in chargeYou are the centerYou fill each room completelyLeaving space for …
OPINIONS
Opinions don’t abound.In fact, very few have one.When simple things confoundOr “tittilate” or “profund”Most stop to look around… To see to what others agreeIs that of which to take note.Once decided by majority decree,Almost by subliminal vote,They then set themselves free To liberally apply and shareThe opinion that they’ve borrowedAnd make the others awareOf all …