Big Tent Poetry Prompts

Poem: Furniture Endures

tonight the old couch with new cushions
holds red feathers between its seams

seems like it could fly
or stretch talons into black stilettos
of matching leather
                         thrown out of the bedroom

the boa was discarded before the chain
on the front door was secured

the couch has seen somebody murdered
its arms have held someone who survived

               and supported half a dozen sex lives

as it listens to its mistress gasp & cry
an unfamiliar name

                          the couch thanks god
for charity shops & curbside scavengers

the couch says

Written in response to the fifth of Big Tent Poetry’s prompts for the first week of National Poetry Month.

Incidentally, I never do spell “stiletto” in the dictionary-standard way on the first try.

“National Poetry Month.ca Has Begun” and related posts (dbqp.blogspot.com)
Happy National Poetry Month 2011! (bigwindow.wordpress.com)
National Poetry Month – Sandra Kolankiewicz (emergingwriters.typepad.com)
Celebrating National Poetry Month on Tor.com (tor.com)

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Poem: Laundry Day on the Balcony

    we are separated by damp slacks,
      damper jeans,
                            sweaters,
                                            slips
                                and bras

one woman    charged w prostitution
and false reporting
                       handcuffed in the hospital
after a man
                   after a party
                                      held her to the bed
and she only c(oul)d remember his hands against her neck

      we are divided by still-dripping skirts, scarves & veils
      dunked in the sink, and I don't think
      they're judging me on how low my blouses go

one woman was whipped when word was leaked
we trust her word for the scars on her back
and she believes me

      we are divided by wet flannel PJs, fuzzy socks,
      and nighties so negligible
                                                I can't understand
          why they're not dry

one woman was declared unrapeable
                             the police laughed at her
a doctor looked under her skirt and said he saw a man
                                               that doctor still has a job

      we are divided by cotton & silk
      leather & linen
                               denim & wool
      that ought to smell like spring fields
      according to the powder box

we are looking toward melting peaks
and missing that foothills bloom

Written in response to the first of Big Tent Poetry’s prompts for the first week of National Poetry Month.

What are some programs for National Poetry Month in April 2011 (wiki.answers.com)
Tell Me More Launches New Series Of Tweet Poems (npr.org)
Happy National Poetry Month 2011! (bigwindow.wordpress.com)
“National Poetry Month.ca Has Begun” and related posts (dbqp.blogspot.com)
Friday Freeforall: April Fools and National Poetry Month (margoroby.wordpress.com)

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Poem: Red Hiding Hood

Hidden in the small flame
I will remember

My father is looking for your father
They know they drove nails through everyone’s

Hands
Words, not my own

Hidden in the small flame
I called

Whore mark
Hair Fragrance
Dry feet
If you remember

I admire you
I was very small

When it comes to me
Press your hands on the ground

I accept night
You must remember

These low, these tears are for you
Hidden in the small flame

Written in response to Big Tent Poetry’s Monday Prompt for 21 March 2011, though I used Google Translate.

4 Fun Things to Do with Google Translate (makeuseof.com)
Poetry Prompts and Exercises from Around the Blogosphere (margoroby.wordpress.com)
Poetry Project 2011 (damianinreallife.wordpress.com)
Poetry Potluck – Week 27 (intostillness.wordpress.com)
The Great Poetry Giveaway (margoroby.wordpress.com)
About the Dead Man and His Funeral – Big Tent Poetry (liv2write2day.wordpress.com)
On Twitter’s “Birthday,” World Poetry Day & #poetweet (seapoetry.wordpress.com)
My tentative venture into poetry (messydesklife.wordpress.com)
Friday Freeforall: Come on in and Write (margoroby.wordpress.com)
National Poetry Month is just around the bend (witsblog.org)
Friday Freeforall: Roundup (margoroby.wordpress.com)

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Poem: Sho(v)e|s

my revolution wears dirt like lipstick
and god d|ess the blood is gorgeous

 if you'd just get close enough to taste my scrapes

under gauze & plaster
I fell on the ice again

                                   in practical shoes

I'm not authentic — just clumsier than you

gagamama gold your shoes
while I scrape mud from soles

                                           we made you
                                           my boobs are deadly too
suffocation instead of flame

                                     I don't need to be a cyborg
                                     but I am
                                                   playing one in bed

to be ugly
to be   human, barely
to be grotesque
                           how often must I cut my hair
                        to repair split ends
                                                      into artifice?

        once you're heeled you can't control

falling more than my feet
can change the snow

Written in response to Big Tent Poetry’s Monday Prompt for 3 January 2011 (aka my birthday).

Big Tent Poetry

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Elizabeth Switaj

poet, photographer, fictionista, @irishpages Assistant Managing Editor, PhD candidate writing on Joyce. Magdalene & the Mermaids available from spdbooks.org

Check out Oooooooo by tina negus on Flickr
http://t.co/0dvmFUte

2012/02/23 01:03

Well, this is disappointing. (Neutrino Not Faster Than Light) https://t.co/1DMaWjwx

2012/02/23 01:48

View 2 new photos on my Flickr
http://t.co/MoFxF70S

2012/02/23 01:59

Burn All the Liars - The Morning News https://t.co/oFG1eIg1

2012/02/22 20:46

Thanks! RT@Beth_Winter: I gave @EKSwitaj +K about Poetry on @klout ”
http://t.co/6t3KA8zd

2012/02/22 11:39

@Beth_Winter
You are most welcome! :)

2012/02/22 11:25

@alexpryce100
the <pre> tags are your friends

2012/02/22 11:01

…and Standard English, apparently.

2012/02/22 11:41