Poetry
Welcome to the Poetry page of New Tricks!
Feel free to click a poetry item to the left.
Another Shit in the Sewer
by Justin Erickson
A Sit-down With Nature.
by Jenna Sorsen
blue bird
flits from tree to tree
paying no attention
at all to me
gray valleys up ahead
blanketed in mist,
as if by ghostly lips
they've been kissed.
sunshine streams
through branched holes,
the hills beyond o'er,
their green bellies full.
Barbara
by Dr.Geary
A maple leaf stretches out
into the autumn air,
flat, intricate, delicate
It brushes by my car on the way to the airport
Specks of rain stain its face
and deepen into blotches of rust
like blood from an old wound.
And still it tumbles and tosses in the wind.
Her hand touches mine
in final farewell, and she is gone, forever.
As the wind carries her away,
I drive home, dazzled by a blazing sunrise
promising hope.
I would never see her again, alive
Yet the cold winter winds carry her voice;
Ich Liebe Diche .....I love you
Changes
by Ashley Geditz
You loved me during the hottest summer night,
Under an obese night sky, eyes bright and starry-eyed
while the june bugs sang a tune that we never thought would end
You loved me when the first leaf fell from the trees,
And autumn’s cool breath danced all around us
And painted the landscape burnt oranges and rusty reds
You loved me while fat white flakes fell from the sky,
As we discussed our hopes and dreams
The bitter air caused billowing clouds to escape from our mouths
But I like to forget when the seasons changed and the birds began to chirp,
How I was left alone wearing a sapphire sundress in a field of yellow daisies
And how fast a love can change, much like the seasons.
Evidence of
by Stacey Berry
a man in the elevator at work this morning asks me if i am new
i’ve worked in the office right next to his for 8 years
and i tell him so
he says, really?
really
i spend most of the rest of the day in a daze
checking for permanent markers like beauty spots
and household bills
grab my cell phone and run
to the nearest live webcam
in the public courtyard outside the building
ring my mother and breathless desperate shout:
can you see me?
can you see me?
i wave and wave and wave.
no one looks
i can't tell if she’s there
yes
, she says, calm, as if the whole world hadn't almost negated me beyond repair.
yes.
Ford's Theater
by Dillon Dwyer
Snake of snakes to tease supreme knowledge contained in fruits of nature and hard labor.
It took six days to build it all, only minutes for it to fall.
Rebel, rebel how sweat the sound of freedom in knowledge and suffering.
I’d kill my brother for his land because my parents weren’t around.
How original was the sin that started a revolution?
It’s ugly what they made me do to the son of god.
But, we all have our moments.
Let he who has sinned greatly cast stones about, searching for he who is without.
Do you think Booth killed Abraham because of what he was willing to do to his son?
Growth
by Dillon Dwyer
Like a fresh seed placed by a hand of purpose, I found comfort in the encompassing warmth of that earthly darkness. Only when I peaked out from the cracks my shifting growth had caused, I did realize that the extent of my life had only just begun. Now, as I writhe for the sun, I must leave only my roots to remember that blissful darkness. Proceeding towards the ripening of heavenly fruits so that my seeds will fall again with the hope of rising to higher branches.
I Saw My Cousins Shoot Santa Claus
by Brianna Prill
When every year at Christmas time
My family gets together,
The younger boys, they play toy guns,
But would they shoot? No, never!
Until one quiet Christmas night
They heard a noise outside.
They grabbed their guns, ran out to fight.
“Bring Santa down!” they cried.
They stalked him through the trees and grass,
Fired pellets through the air.
The unsuspecting Santa Claus
Did not deserve this scare.
They shot him down, pulled off his beard,
And much to their surprise
The red suit figure who appeared
Was grandpa in disguise.
Inside Walls
by Justin Erickson
Inside walls cast of concrete and cobblestone,
Rabid dogs guard their writhing kill,
And as the ghost dreams of life anew,
I replay my death like déjà vu.
In here where gnats and hornets flock,
The jester wails to a crowd of none,
A stranger who looks a bit like you,
Who laughs then softly applauds on cue.
Over Easy
by Ashley Geditz
I, an able heart, the whole time
could have stood, gotten to my feet—
and walked away.
You never wrote a line for me
Just spilled your ink haphazardly,
And I rushed to fill the pages
To sculpt out our own melody,
leave this underside of silence
but you just etched out your image,
only in love with a vision.
We were done before I knew it
Just like two eggs in the morning—
Over, easy
The Drunk Poet
by Jenna Sorsen
she speaks in
drunken verse
pretty words on her tongue
similes slip down
her throat
and sentences slur into stanzas.
They Real Fly (We Real Cool Imitation)
by Ashley Geditz
They real fly. They
Bought high. They
Drew dice. They
Throw twice. They
Can coke. They
Blow smoke. They
Laid lie. They
Soon die.
The Candy Man
by Michaela Johnson
Sometimes when we go to the
Five and dime, mama gives me
A nickel so I can buy one of the
Colorful candies from the counter.
The nice man behind the counter
With the kind eyes and friendly face
Smiles at me while he puts the
Licorice stick that I chose into a
Brown paper bag.
The man doesn’t look like mama
And daddy and me. His skin is
Darker and his eyes remind me of
Mama’s chocolate cake. When
He gives me the candy he calls me
“Little lady” and I see mama frown.
I don’t think mama likes the candy
Man.
When we get home I hear mama
Talking to daddy.
Daddy starts talking about
A doctor; and he sounds angry. Maybe
Someone is sick. The candy man is
Nice. And doctors make people better.
I don’t know why mama and daddy
Are upset.