Category: Poetry

catastrophic love & have we come far enough?

trE

Two poems shared on Substack notes

catastrophic love

his blithesome
demeanor captured
me.

I lost all of my
selves swimming
in the depths of his
eyes.

I was disruption;
a distraction…
we bombed before
we could elevate.

catastrophic love.

have we come far enough?

although I am the
eldest child, if this
were the 1500s or
I was of royal blood,
my arrival to first
would mean
nothing because the
next born has the
package; male
primogeniture cut me
to the quick.

imagine being the
first, most
dependable, always
responsible, and a
doer without being
prompted, yet your
earned position in
life depends on
what’s between your
legs.

that’s not a life I
would have enjoyed
living, but when I
assess modern
times and the fight
women constantly
battle, the system
is still rigged to
embrace the least
educated, the most
aggressive, and the
overly-praised, so…

how far have we
come, really?

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

the carelessness of the few & a griseous morning

trE

Two poems written on Substack notes

the carelessness of the few

if millions of breathing beings
proscribed evildoers and those greedy
enough to shake down the poor and
oppressed, we wouldn’t be dancing
in a pit of flames, trying our best to
outrun the burn.

but here we are…
walking on lit coal, struggling to stay
sane, and clapping away fire that aligns
itself with our truths.
we had the tools to succeed politically,
however, many were afraid to see how
well they worked.

and now, we’re all
drowning in this
inescapable Hell.

a griseous morning

morning isn’t sashaying over to
me as it’s done the
past few days.

it appears sullen,
griseous, and
downtrodden.

I don’t have the
words to heal the ache it feels, but
I offer a few anyway.

it wanders around my home,
anxious to see which one of us
will break first.

I’ve got news for it…
it won’t be me.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

back at it again & biometrics for 200, please, Alex!

trE

back at it again

hopped into the hot seat–outta
practice for four years, but
took to it like riding a bike
again.

I knew I’d get the hang of
it as soon as I put hands
to keyboard and head to
tasks.

I am a people person who
people’d more than I should
today, and I didn’t spazz out,
I didn’t lose myself in the
deluge of patients rushing in
around lunchtime.

I kept my cool,
breathed several deep
breaths, and turned on
the charm I am most known for.

I crushed it.

biometrics for 200, please, Alex!

cell phone
biometrics, I’ll never
understand it.

another way of
verifying who I am,
the owner of this
phone…

I’d like my
dactylogram to save
after I appointed it
the best method
to this new age
madness.

however, every time
I attempt to break
through the locked
screen, my own
phone doesn’t
recognize me.

I guess it’ll have to
be a pattern or a
pin number instead.
the digital world
wins again.

Oh, nothing… I’m just out here being creative in Substack notes again.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

solistitial & jujitsu’d out of love

trE

Two poems written on Substack notes

solistitial

a solstitial event was
the day she left
silence at the foot
of our friendship.

there is nothing
more heartbreaking
than a woman who
doesn’t know her
heart’s desire being
capable of crushing
the heart of another.

now I have a
timestamp of when
I learned the phrase
“I will never hurt you.”
has an unspoken addendum:

“unless I’m afraid of what
your love can do
to me.”

jujitsu’d out of love

I’m at a point where
my mind is debating
with my heart to
not have it jujitsu
it anymore.

it’s tired of fighting a
fight for lackluster
love and never
winning.

I used to be a
strategic runner–
hurdling over dead
weight and con
people.

now I lean into
obstacles with heavy
artillery stationed
around my person.

I handle war much
differently in my
older years.

I know how my
battles often portray
themselves, and I
fight smart not hard.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

But Aren’t We All Spinning Now?

trE
AI-Generated Image. Created with Google Gemini. A White man with short, messy hair, standing in the middle of nowhere, holding up a crumpled letter. He is dressed in faded jeans with a matching jacket. He is wearing glasses and has a mustache running into a beard. Above him, the sky is dark & gloomy.

I caught the last forty-five minutes
of Spinning Man, and wondered
how I had never seen such a
trainwreck of a movie before. 

I won’t bore you with the details:
it is enough to make one’s head 
roll. Men have been coercing
women into the bowels of 
dysfunction for eons.

This shouldn’t be any different. 
It wasn’t. I think I’d just had my
fill of creepiness and absurdities
for half a year. 

Isn’t it something, though? 
To remember what never happened
and not remember what has? 
To spin while standing in place? 
Aren’t we all spinning now? 

The carousel of life is packed
with people losing their minds
under the guise of “survival of
the fittest,” and soon, we’ll all
be damned.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

finding my way to the light & greedy, nasty men

trE

Two poems written on Substack notes

finding my way to the light

the day nearly got
away from me, and
I remembered I
hadn’t poeted yet.
hadn’t penned
something that
would set me free.

although I feel
dislimned, I press
forward and find my
way to the light. I
will not give myself
permission to break;
I’m allowed to bend.
I’m allowed to
stretch.

but I damn sure
better not break.

there’s much work to
still be done, and
those of us with
stones as strength
know we have to
build ourselves up.

we are the crumpled
up pieces–rock hard
and steady. when the
weight is heavy; we
bear it with the
world hanging on to
our hearts.

the blood of our
ancestors wave in
our bones. we can
hear the maker
calling us home.

we’re getting ready.

greedy, nasty men

I believe TACO feels
that keeping all
exculpatory information against
him from the
public can stick.

but people will
remember the
moment their hearts
broke. people remember losing
trust in human beings.

it is the pain that
connects us all–the
suffering that binds
us. from starving
communities to
burning cities to
the coal-filled hearts
of men who call the
shots…

we will remember.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment, as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.