The Poetry of Emotion
I never could master The use of wings Nor is it something any bird could teach me With a flight IQ of 20 My envy of seagulls Is bitter and intense I stand on the ground Watching them veer and circle Wishing myself aloft But flapping wildly I fall from the sidewalk into the canal... Continue Reading →
Gender Dysphoria, there I finally said itIt’s cruel mythological paradox between my soul and bodyLike Laelaps the hound that always caught its preyand the cunning, Canis Minor that she never caughtI tried to escape it, drink, and ignore it awayI stashed it for years underneath my childhood psychosisNext to my box of tattered bird feathers,... Continue Reading →
They dreamed of sirens whose haunting arias Could whisk them willingly to oblivion, Shipwrecked with lust. Who would resist the chance, Roped to the mast like Odysseus to risk The heightened edge of consciousness, Not quite blacked out but almost. Any seal or manatee might be a mermaid Willing to trade her tail for love... Continue Reading →
Like the mealworm which squirms wrestles, strenuously against the stubborn beak of the wild bird. Or the silk dress that hangs lifelessly on my shoulders gauche, draping my curves assembling and accentuating my flaws I wonder why the love of a man has never befitted me? Why it only suffocates me. Photo by... Continue Reading →
For sale: One body, barely touched. Does not respond well to sudden movements or grand romantic gestures. All offers will be considered. For sale: One heart, awfully battered. Decorated with deep scars. It once belonged to someone special. Previous owner has upgraded. For sale: One soul, gently used. Comes in shades of grey. Has a... Continue Reading →
I watch him for a long time my soul beating itself to death behind two blue, convex windows. He lies flat, face white as an envelope, eyes motionless and entombed. There is only water between us fathoms of tears curdled and blackened by unresolveable tempests. His kisses are soft and evocative like smoke but he... Continue Reading →
After my father’s funeral, in my mother’s living room of cheap recliners, a television terminal with audio gloom, and a sofa of sags, an aunt’s pipe-smoking husband asked, Are you going to have kids? I scowled, Not your business, but no. He said, Come on, Clare, let’s go, your nephew didn’t like my question, and as they drove away... Continue Reading →
How you slip deftly between my fingers vagrant moonbeams dissolving into sand upon my touch. We know the contrast between heat and warmth. Your presence justifies both. We burned, we raged and we gave each other warmth our silences drenched the firmament dark. We adorned it in stars. Photo by Johannes Rapprich on Pexels.com About the Poet:... Continue Reading →
There is a hole In the back of my soul That I cannot reach To repair No matter how I bend Or twist And that is how The light Keeps getting in Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com About the Poet: John Tustin is currently suffering in exile on the island of Elba but... Continue Reading →
All you can give Will no longer be enough. We are now beyond that point-- Already erased and righted By the offenses attached to your name. Another lifetime ago, It seemed our desires would strangle each other. There was no light between us; But the past has been lost to you. You see the invisible,... Continue Reading →
Ephemeral Elegies 