MTG Salvation

Braids of Aphrodite

To twist the hair of Aphrodite
On the shores of lovely Cyprus
When the moon is full and waves crash softly near
Is a dream of mine

Love, desire, and beauty in each strand
Smooth to touch and look upon
Like the sands of Egypt before Octavianus
Strands of silken sympathy

It isn’t just to touch but to feel
Each weave makes us closer to the other
A gentle touch with powerful movements
Venus in a tapestry of love and lust

Each pass weaves another wave in the ocean of passion
A crescendo of feeling poised on romance and lust
A golden arrow waiting to pierce his mind and body
Loving her in Demeter like Eros did Aphrodite

Each motion releases the scent of her beauty
Braids of affection pour down her back
By his hands were they made
And his desire makes them perfectly wound

Adonis and Myrrha together at night
Their Son cared for by Persephone
Whose hair is a braid of golden luster
Made from mornings of togetherness

Accompanied by Charites in love and war
Braiding her hair to knot his desire there
His fingers feeling her softly and at once
Leaving her mesmerized as he pulls and weaves

Aphrodite rides the Swan as he touches her hair
Each quick motion bringing to an end
The interlacing hold he has on her
Only to begin again when the knots are loosed

Winds and tides shake the foundation
But the knots are safe until his hands loose them
Only to smooth her hair
And knot it again-every day the same way

Galatea caught his gaze with a braid of ivory wonder
A gift from Aphrodite- of words and imaginations
Spurring his love to lofty heights
And gentle mornings of a lover’s consecration

The Judgment of Paris seen in the tapestry of her woven hair
An apple for the fairest one from Eris to the Goddesses
Paris of Troy to make the choice, appointed by Zeus
He won Helen from Aphrodite’s promise

Helen’s hair is braided daily and her lover’s touch is sure
He finds her in a waking dream, and she finds him, as it were
Time touches all it seems- a kiss of eternal enmity
Braids of love bind them fast it seems- in exact proximity

writer

bundled up in a black shawl and a scraggly mess of hair
she stalks headstone
and prepares: a vial, a journal
the words are the same

some people never experience death
some people never
"I told myself I'd write a book once."

and he was a senile echo of a person
with lidless eyes and a tremor in his body
but he came unbidden
and she stares at him in those words

chapter one. chapter one. chapter one.
it reads like a chant

the book,
then
the ground
she sniffs
"you don't even remember me, do you?"
"you don't even exist, do you?"

pages leafed through like the leaves littering the ground and she flips pages like emotions
emptiness
emptiness
and always glances at the ones in between

observes with big round eyes until she can't
the desire to do anything too much
get up

and closes the book because
she can't read the end

yet

Butterflies Dance at Night

they forget
their colorful wings
to masquerade as moths

flying frantic circles
around porch lights
lost in the motion
lost in the moment

The story of my father and my children

Once a lackadaisical, with few goals spacial
new boots, new hair, a cucumber facial
the old suit replaced by threads fair

a thick wallet leads credence to his words
the recedence of youth takes the pain from his hurts
while filling the heads of his children with his view of the world

the hurled stones on the pavement
used as payment for his grandchildren's rights
their saturday nights spent around trainwrecks

their slim billfolds lead to adventures
the greatest stories ever told
trenchers filled with measly portions of the cold
______
As an aside, it's nice to see everyone again. Finals crrrrrunch has been keeping me away (that and my my late to the party interest in the tv series, The Tudors).

Submissions for PRC round 234 are over. Round 235 begins now! Submit away!

Disjointed on the Ward

They won't let me have my shoes here
The laces
are dangerous

I can't choke down the food
throat's too raw from the pump
in the back, the gown shows my rump

a schizophrenic boy throws the tv set at a nurse
she escapes unscathed, unhurt, none the worse
but he's brought low by a group of over-sized orderlies

group therapy reveals a woman with children
scars zig-zagging across her neck
a checkerboard revealing intent

sleep, sleep, just let me sleep
let the shrink come in
but don't let her see me weep
let me out

The bracelet wears at the freshness of my wrist
living was the cruelest twist

I had dream
A dream of a library
A library the size of the anything,
You could ever imagine
As you walk past the entrance
Into seemingly endless corridors
Of books...
Books of history
Books of war
Books of love
And empty books
Waiting to be filled
With the words of the heartless
As I walked further and further Into the library
The others became scarce
They dwindled off the further I got to
The heart of it
The shelves on the side of me became empty
Of any useful imaginenation
There was no use for anyone,
No scholar
No historian
No being
To continue
The corridors came to an abrupt stop
A circular room appeared
The heart of the library
In the middle of it all was a limp plant
Bearing one fruit
A fruit no man has seen before
I harvested
I sunk my teeth into the succulent food
I collapsed to the ground
Layed there, frozen
Staring at the ceiling
My organs began shutting down one by one
For I could not process the taste, the flavor of the fruit
As I lay there
Moments from death
I sunk into the ground
I kept falling
I hit the ground
Void of all life

acid

we melted through the cobblestones
into each other's arms
that killing touch - acidic blush -
cut quickly through the harm
and even in this great despair! -
death had a little charm

so - enclosed in emptiness -
we plotted in blacklights -
what people cut the whole world off
and learn to wake at night?
what burning fires mask desires
and turn all love to fright?

we tripped blind in utter darkness,
world's ethereal backdrop,
marionettes and silhouettes
until the music stopped -

but when we became conscious,
that slow hatred of the self
crept into our faculties
until the music

Loss

When I remember you
I start to cry
You withered away
Before my eyes
The scythe of Death
Took you away
To eternal peace
With no pain
I am left with but a memory
Of all the things
You used to be
It saddens me
We had to part
But you live on
Forever
In
My
Heart

Fourteen Minutes

Fourteen minutes was not enough
To touch the sky they needed time
Seconds passed quickly while they danced
As they moved to Orphic chant and rhyme

Zeus and Persephone- intertwined
In Hellenistic romance under Sun and Moon
On the table of Olympus dined
He feeds her grapes and dandelions

From Hades he rescues her each day
Soft hands pull her free from death
He kisses away webs of Alexander
And dresses her in robes of alabaster

The seconds pass quickly while they danced
The tune changes as does the wind itself
Passing from sorrow to sinful and back again
Seconds passing as the wind through leaves

Their pace quickens noticeably
Hounds approach from East and West
He holds her tight as she does he
The pressure mounts and leads to stress

Chariots pass drawn by horses of fire
He mourns the loss of time so dire
Draws her kisses to replace his ire
Kindled passion moving higher

The seconds pass quickly while they danced
Moved together in heliocentric romance
Eurydice passes and leaves another
Youthful lover in her place

Heavens shatter in a cascade of fierce emanations
He moves under her declarations
Cause and effort mightily won
The time has passed and they have none

He is Paris and she is Helen
Taken from Menelaus by fate
And passion and love unconquered
The time slips by vanquished from their side

The seconds pass quickly while they danced
1000 ships hold afloat their romance
Fleeting, Fleeting, Fleeting
Their hearts are beating

The lovers yield- time has left them alone with their heat
In the tempest of unfinished promises
Swirling in a sea of honest turmoil
Fourteen minutes was not enough

How do you fight

knowing it all ends.
even if you win
one day
you will be buried.
and the children
of your children
will begin to forget you,
even before
you are gone.

How do you fight?

Submission time for round 235 is over.
Round 236, WRITE!

Absolute

You are like the moment before
Water freezes into crystals
The lattice structure starts to set-
Vibrations and oscillations slow
The angles form
And all for one quiet moment is silent beauty
And absolute

I can see worlds in you
And worlds
Worlds in the swirls of your curls
When you shake your head the world turns upside down
And for one small moment
In the fear of destruction
Love is pure

You are like the rain as it wells in the clouds
Misunderstood and admired
Traveling the world falling where you will
Vibrant and needed
Rushing life to those who heeded
In the liquid frenzy
Lust is easy to taste

I can see escape in you
And freedom
Escape and bare excitement in your eyes
When you flutter night and day gives way
And for one small moment
In the fear of whiteout
Dreams are Technicolor

You are like a rainbow before it touches ground
Followed and oft captured
In memory and imagination
Falling to earth with a cacophony
Of wonder and impressive alignment
In the fear of completion
You fall in rhythm

I can see you fall
And as you do I catch you
And set you right
On the earth and under rain drops
Facing the sun
With the moon at your back
And me by your side

Chicken Little

Run little chicken
Run over the hills and through the woods
Move your little legs, faster, quicken

The colonel comes for your life, little chicken
FASTER, QUICKEN
NO, NOT TOWARDS THE KITCHEN!

You’re in a bucket, little chicken
The sky fell, little chicken
Eleven herbs and spices, little chicken

Destiny

Born to die
Living with glee
A sad lie
Of a nice reality
A grim conspiracy
To make us flee
Unconcious
Towards our destiny

martyr

everything is still
so still
everything i don't dare move

searching and the problem grew
my life was stupid
stupid
and
my life is stupid still

so scared to be alone
alone
but always so alone
can't touch my flesh without disgust
such loneliness my skin and bones
and all the phantoms i see
in my skin have run amok

white dashed tears running running
down my face
feet running running
from disgrace
mind running running
anyplace
we need to get away
away

but life won't let us leave

everything i don't dare move
everything
so still, so still

everything i don't dare change
just hold me close
my musing darling

hold me close
and crush my body
into pulp
the snow just slush and stuff
refactor all my bits and buts
it'd be enough
enough

"no one's ever been this lost"
but if i found a key
or, possibly,
failing to be free,
could hang myself high on a cross -

some meaning in the sea
you see?
and just a bluff
too seriously -

I found the color of peace;
It's somewhere between
Mountain peaks
and venerable trees

Oaken comfort in morning mist
Dew-drop whist-
o serene:
o tranquil:
o space between
Sing-song dreams
of higher things

What height?
what crest
what lofty apex light
might surpass
this lonely valley night?

What ichor!
What wine!
What liquor mine;
Drink deep of the stars
and thank all scars what may be

Wander down this valley's lines
read between it's pines and
enjoy this sullen, wild shrine

This completes the submissions for round 236.
Start submitting for round 237 now, cause it's the cool thing to do!

The Ephemeral

on butterfly wings
a marionette sings
of a fleeting life
on the lattice of strings

youtube

these little windows to the world
nothing to say
everything fake joys
technicolor streams of signal in noise
great discoveries of hairless boys
everything unfurled
we pray

adbot go away
get off the forum index
go scam somewhere else

Quote from Condoms

A modern take on a sonnet about Friday nights in college
by Pimpnutz


****
volta,
****.

.

This completes the submissions for round 237.
If you would start submitting for round 238 that would be fantastic!

Eyes for Hearts

If an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind
Then we need more optometrists
‘cause our sight’s in decline

So it’s time
We hit pause then rewind
So ourselves we can remind
Of all the hate and the crime
The divide’s in our mind

We’re killing our own kind
Put a stop to the hate;
it’s with love that we should bind

house

i can feel myself in my mother's house
in the upstairs bedroom
the small plastic folding chair, toppled over next to the wood-topped desk,
papers strewn about the room as though on the verge of an idea

the carpeting on the stairs dirty with his cigarette smoke sunk into the wooden floor with grief

downstairs in the bedroom the iv's were quiet as she followed
all of the ceilings hold themselves up resigned

the supports are there and won't move

falling takes too much effort