happening at a riot near you

Rosemary at Poets & Storytellers United would like us to be inspired by the phrase, ‘broken glass crunching under the boot steps', and write a poem or story about it.

digital montage by dsnake1 with GIMP



happening at a riot near you


             Juan get back into the house!

but Juan watch the sergeant raise his baton
a row of riot guns raise like palisades
the arcs of the smoke actually graceful
the cartridges snaking, rolling
between cars
                sneakers
                 trash bins
       barricades
and
    run ning feet
and courage is not a word to say
when the air wants to tear out your eyes
your lungs.

the soldiers raise their shields and batons
their boots in step
                 in step
the phalanx rolls on
metal teeth of a meat grinder

swish cruch crunch bish craack

Juan wants to be a man
but Juan is still a boy

I am a boy! I AM A BOY!

even the blackbirds rise like shrapnel and flee

broken glass crunching under the boot steps
blood faithfully follows the cracks in the asphalt.



06/07/2023
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Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Ohio

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2023

before the rain

Something old from NaPo days. Short, like the shower that inspired it.

photo by Nick van den Berg at Unsplash


before the rain


The grey clouds rolled away
the afternoon sun
like a squad car shooing off
the crowd at a crime scene,

pulled DO-NOT-CROSS tapes
across the sky
with flares of lightning,
and the blackbirds,
perched at the edges
of the roofs
of apartment blocks,

hesitant
to fly.


05/04/2009
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Shared on Friday Writings #56: Cozy. This poem is certainly not cozy. 😁

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Uriah Heep - Rain

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2022

the world passes us by

though i may not say it...

photo by Alexas_Fotos at pixabay



the world passes us by


this is my wife
see how she has aged
in two years

today
i see her
shoulders hunched
over the washing machine
hauling wet clothes
into the spinner

it was not like this
she used to be
so confident
so assured

now perhaps
we worry about things
like rent, or food
she sees that pretty dress
in the window display
and she walks away

or she sees me
rushing off to do
some meaningless jobs
missing my breakfast
mumbling at trains, buses

she scans the job ads
or calls a friend

today i haul the clothes
into the washing machine
she sleeps
she is tired
the world passes us by
as the machine spins.


25/05/2021
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Shared at Friday Writings #5.

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Walk In Darkness - Bent by Storms and Dreams

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© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2021