Shrapnel to the Heart

Cosma by sabine Sauermaul

my heart transformed,

now a magnet for his shrapnel, 

love, an unavoidable vortex, 

a dislocating kiss 

in the thundering wilds. 

I hang my emotions 

on the clothesline

to dry my wrenched tears,

fevered delirium 

embedded in each fiber, 

a mournful marathon 

through an auburn Tuesday night. 

he rendered me helpless, 

a phantom vapor 

chasing her siren, 

holding his howls 

close as remedy

before planting myself 

in a sheltered corner. 

a melancholy wind blows, 

swaying my grasses,  

erotic scents floating 

with stray powders 

from fairy wands.  

I float on his tides, 

a helpless captive 

to his churning waters,

the ebb and flow of his world 

determining the shape of mine. 

~~~  This poem was written for the prompt from Imaginary Garden with Real Toads asking us to draw inspiration from the words of a fellow poet and to write a surrealistic poem.  My inspiration came from the line “…sheltered in the corner of your shrapnel heart” from the poem “Box Shaped Heart” by Hannah Gosselin. I’m also linking this up for this week’s prompt over at Poetry Jam and the OctPoWriMo Day 25 prompt, which both asked us to write about love.

Bedtime Story

Dark Rose by Petr Kratochvil

She clutches her pillow as a charm
Against the unbearable stillness.
Night should bring
The mending serenity of sleep,
Not fevered paranoia
Wrought by brittle nerves
Crusted with the scars of the past.
A midnight breeze
Rustles the willow branches
Outside her window,
A sound more like the scratching
Of unsheathed claws
Waiting to pierce tender flesh.
She measures each breath carefully
With a silent prayer on her lips,
The lurking unseen demons
Waiting to explode into her room
Much less scary than
The monster sleeping next to her.


~~~~  This poem was written for my prompt this week over at Poetry Jam asking us to write about monsters.  This was partially inspired by the Day 9 OctPoWriMo prompt about sounds/noises.  I also used this week’s words from The Sunday Whirl.

A Rainy Remembrance

Sad Man and Rain by Jiri Hodan

He looks out
In the rainy morning light
And breathes her name,
Turning mist into memory
On his window pane.
He traces the shape of a heart,
So reminiscent of the curve
His fingers followed on her cheek.
He never understood
Her obsession with the rain
And its ability to mask sorrow;
Today he understands far too well.


~~~  This was written for the OctPoWriMo Day 6 prompt of “Remember.”

Chasing the Lighthouse

© Jaime Clark

I’m caught in a cerebral fog, 

An aimless drifter on stormy seas

With no map to guide my way, 

Trying to find meaning 

In this mental void, 

Wishing for 

An inspirational lighthouse

To set my thoughts 

Back on course.

I feel the void 

Echoing its lonely song 

Through my world, 

An aching that mirrors my every move.  

I’m lost in transience, 

A floating wisp of ether 

That never materializes 

Into something substantial.

~~~~ This was written for a photo prompt from Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.  This also was written for the OctPoWriMo Day 4 prompt of “Inspiration and/or Rules.”  (Yeah, playing a little catch up on the prompts!)