kayak

dungeon

Something about the corner calls to
me, beckoning with its firm angle, its
innate security, I think.
I am a restless child, a cat, who hides
away secret fears and gives way to the
walls and enjoys the proximity of
their own flesh.

The mess I've created slips and sloshes, powerful
despite my desperate grasp, but
the corner can contain it.
Here I curl and become the world,
a spinning universe gently guided.

He knows I am gone.
He knows the corner is my escape, my space
to flee to, a sturdy hold when
human embrace
is far too much to bear.
A cold, hard punishment; a soft, warm relief.
And I know, I know the corner cradles,
the corner confines, the corner
can do no wrong.
Which is a comfort when I have.

crime

not enough money
no one approves
confusion disrupts convenience
what a shame

i try to imagine
but all i see is too difficult
nothing fits
all is compromise
taking a toll

being wronged
by interests of others
pointedly
willingly
my pain is real but not right
it's a crime

bubble

soapy pockets
kids close behind
i see

hope builds
my juices flow
and pop

fizzy business
boils over to violent rage

inflated by so many pinpricks of nothings
hot, steaming air bursts loose

birch

small step
bright air
crisp light
new day
my embrace
peels away
beautiful, beautiful
somewhere else

art

what i study
what i do
what i enjoy
what i take in
and spit out
what i want to see
what i long to be

the world demands more
but all i have to give
is this my word
take it and run

america

a mixing pot of loners
always the party
how did we get here?
for better or for worse
for greater or for lesser
for richer or for poorer
for pride or for embarrassment
for me or for everyone else
forever or for now
simply home

airbus

i breathe air
i ride the (hate the) bus
skybus perhaps?
Way to rely on the establishments of others for yours to make any sense. Innovate, huh?

agreement

fear to
fear not to
trust

sketch it out
sign the dotted
line up
line out
line crossed
no more

we bicker
we war
we want
from past shatterings
today is broken
of ourselves
faith nothing

undershirt

endocentricity on our way
stacking
nothing new
nothing extreme
but ours

as always, doing all the work and never receiving the glory

taste

we see with the eyes and hear with the ears and smell with the nose and touch with the skin and taste with the tongue

but we interpret with the mind.

as with everything.

so information enters the body
via the senses
but if the mind doesn't use it
we're still considered senseless

sandwich

First only smell escapes from the damp, secluded cavern of sealed plastic technology - deli turkey. Slightly slimy and unwilling to part from its mates, a single slice is coaxed into the outside world. Already the dense brown bread sits precariously atop a paper towel in anxious anticipation. For one, the wait stretches to an immensely satisfying end as the folded turkey slice meets its carbohydrate counterpart. Still another joins them. The remaining slices, disregarded for now, are suddenly cut off from the fresh kitchen air as the thick fringe of their shroud is carefully and precisely re-zipped. Finally, the cheese appears on the scene. Lofty in its specificity, the high quality reduced fat provolone clings in overlapping rounds over the turkey, barely impeding past the strict boundaries of dark crust. Now, only one element of bare, isolated wheat product awaits the fulfillment of destiny. Having looked on to his brother's successes, he, too, yearns for the moment of crowning glory. At long last, the time has come - he is placed in perfectly symmetrical arrangement onto the previously wanting structure of sustenance. Foundation and roof, the united brothers stand strong. Even as the painful knife of medial binary division plunges down upon them, still they vow deliciousness and support.

norwegian

cohesion between
land and sea
past and present
not separate but continuous

again and again
what's changed?
i've been here before
but it's different now
haunting
like i shouldn't have wandered
shouldn't have stumbled
fallen down, down
to the forbidden
cause it's only suffering
again and again

knot

there's this point of tension
in the never-ending rope
and here's one and here's one
tied tight

i found a blue mouse in my bag today
my cat's toy
knot
i sent my mom pictures of my new haircut
searching for some response
knot
fall classes
knot
dirty laundry
knot
limited experience
knot
need tickets
knot
waiting
tired of waiting
knot
too little
knot
too much
knot knot knot
don't . . .
knot

resisting
only
cinches

i can't move

example

The paper should include a novel, coherent, and definitive thesis with relevant supporting evidence. Be assertive in your arguments. Remember to cite specific instances in the text to back up your claims.

it only takes one

that's some happiness you've got there
success, strong reputation, easy relationships
a flagrant taunt to a troubled soul
i have not the means
whereby to reach
my happiness
is separately defined

eight

convenient stories
righteous beliefs, ethical cautions
when our shared eternal wisdom
speaks otherwise

that between virginity and ecstasy
the heavens and elation
between myth and the highest order
exists that achievable infinite

deposit

give me back what i put in
and i would be rich indeed

asparagus

asparamagoosus
we used to call it
my sister and i

come dinnertime
with our secret veggie code
triumphed as superior
and definitely more fun

this bond of our own
a tradition
a trifle silly
but shared
that delicious asparamagoosus

tendency

perhaps now
always and forever
but never before
if we abandon balance
we seek it
to lean, to fall, to restore

reaching without disconnection
again and again
we tend

mint

neutralize
bastardize
utilize
compromise?
fraternize
catalyze
simple bold fresh clean