Saturday, January 4, 2014

Ryan Hardgrove- Two Poems

The butterfly

trying to avoid as much
as possible
can become wearisome
the drink can help
the drugs can too
or sex or love
or various artistic endeavors
or competitive hobbies
or anything that helps one forget

but these distractions
only provide a temporary reprieve
from the stranglehold
that is life before death

and the obligations always remain
waiting patiently for the comedown
and while they wait
they mature into something more
they undergo a metamorphosis
the caterpillar becomes the butterfly

and the butterfly
is much harder to ignore
 



Rocky shoals

clipping off toenails
before my desk
as the typer glows blue
near midnight
my mind meanders
comfortably as I move
from one damp shower toe
to the next

but the unflinching and patient blink
of the cursor on the screen
steals any comfort
provided by my
routine grooming ritual

the reeling pulse
of the lighthouse
warns the sailor
of rocky shoals

dead skin crescent moons
litter the desktop
and I wish
I had more toes to clip
but I don’t
so the typing starts
but not for long
as I begin to fade out
and other voices
call out to me
while floating
near the nod

voices from the cellar
or below
in the dark

but the voices keep the words coming
so I don’t have time
to worry about madness
not with all these voices
which don’t really tell me anything
they don’t have any answers either

and some comfort returns
as I hear my own voice
telling others
that everything is okay

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