uschi-the-listener

[uschi-the-listener]

whisper from the dark

Though it is a quiet Monday, early

surely I am not

nothing

nowhere

though it takes some testing

to be sure.

Long fingers, rings,

veiny old hands

on the keyboard

and I look down and see

echoes of Willendorf

sitting in an old chair

and distant voices

outside my window

chime together

no wind

but they are moved by

some force

of which I am

outside.

We see what we are

and I see

separation

and a gap of

wind and earth

where I would like to see

understanding eyes

and a real face,

not some

photoshopped horror.

But what I have

is shaped like the hole

where love once was

where company

and where the breath

of interested others

floated in reality.

can shadows weep?

do echoes mourn

for what once

surely, surely

must have existed?

can we miss

what we never had?

because we are humans

with basic need

for faces

voices

touch

belonging

and we die

we are whispers

from the dark corners

when we don't

get them.

.

#loneliness #grief

[uschi-the-listener]

I bet

When Pinnochio took on flesh

He lost all his old friends

Man, you changed

You're no fun any more

Being real

Is the goal

But it has

Consequences

It isn't easy

But at least

You get to be

Real

No small thing

.

#pinnochio #change #sobriety

[uschi-the-listener]

Never

Bright and Early

Either/Or

Not both

In the caves

I would have been

Watching the fire

Guarding the group

All night long

I cooked things

Made up stories

Noticed who

Had nightmares

Kept getting up

Soothed restless littles

Being Bright and Early

Can be a gift

A talent

But don't

Forget to value

The Nighthawks

.

#bright and early #nighthawks

[uschi-the-listener]

Dark and wet

This cold womb

It will force me out

Vomit me up

Some day

I won't be ready

It's not allowed

Caught flat-footed

I can't know

Wouldn’t understand

Maybe this is it

The rest is all myth

And infinite

.

#life on earth #death #afterlife #belief

[uschi-the-listener]

Monday Morning

It is okay

not to spring

fully-formed

from the head of Zeus

a little grumbling

yawning

foot-dragging

are perfectly

acceptable

but mindfully

This is your life

Now is all you have

and being genuine

real and true

matters

But this is your Life

and you conspire

with the Universe

to shape it

Lean into

a shape

you can

Live with.

.

#monday #life

[uschi-the-listener]

First, five syllables.

Next, seven in the middle.

Finally, five more.

.

#haiku

[uschi-the-listener]

April seventeenth

It's National Haiku Day!

Feel free to join in.

.

[uschi-the-listener]

Unity

one would think

the most Universal theme

would be love

heartbreak

new love

past love

love

I don’t think so.

It has to be

loneliness.

Each self

locked into

a bony shell

sealed away

imperfect communication

misunderstood

misheard

unheard

no words

that can penetrate

the fused connections

the unhealed

scars

closed to the outside

We curl around ourselves

to avoid the kicks and punches

of an angry world

out of control

and end up

hollow

alone

empty

curled around

an empty, roiling gut

gut feelings radiating

running into the wall

of scars

of other

of healed over

pain

the next step

in evolution

needs to be

openness

welcome

and

Unity

You are here

I am here

let me draw you a map.

X does not mark the spot.

we cross no one out.

.

#loneliness #unity

[uschi-the-listener]

She is forever

Running

At the head of a pack

Small dogs

Ears flapping

Tongues out

She curls up in a warm lap

Eats all the bacon

Except when she has chicken

A whole piece to herself

Bones and all

Because she has no body

And her soul doesn’t care

There is no pain

No struggling to breathe

No dimming eyes

No fleas

It was a good life

Long for her kind

They cried

The Mommy and the Daddy

She misses them

She tried to comfort them

Of course

But this was no stranger at the door

Nor bicycle

Nor skateboard

Nothing she could protect them from

Oh well

She rolls over

In her new soft bed

Under the sky

Finally free

.

#miss betty #death of a pet #grief

[uschi-the-listener]

coupling

the dream is like this

and it seems small

offhand

no

no, it isn’t.

I come home from work

in the dark

and I leave the light off

leaving clothes

silently

in the hall

let you sleep

I hear your warm soft breathing

a slight rustle as you shift

in your drowsy comfort

anticipating me

in your dreams

I slip in

slickly sliding under the sheets

like a ghost donning her uniform

regimental

and you do not stir

or feel me yet

I mold myself to your

beloved form

thighs under your butt

breasts pressed to your back

face to the nape of your neck

a soft shoulder kiss you feel

but do not feel

my arm snakes under yours

and I cup your quiet beating heart

and our legs entwine

a natural tangle

my feet on yours

a sigh

a settling in

all in silence

all in darkness

maybe

you wake up

and turn to me

ready

eager

or not

and maybe in your dreams

you merely smile

and sigh

and snore a little

and snuggle down

two loving mammals

wrapped in dearest

sweetest dreams

slumber deep

and safe

warm

soft

one form

from two

soft and slow

let dreams come true

#love

[uschi-the-listener]

The Zombie Apocalypse is here; the zombies are the venal, stupid, corrupt cultists. Only we aren't killing them. There is no defense.

[uschi-the-listener]

Panbioism

Everything is alive

and lives at different rates

dimensions unfolding

if we had eyes to see

rocks live slow

slow

slower than a tortoise

flowers

and bees

share a fast

existence

they understand each other

my dearest wish

is to run alongside you

find our rhythm together

live at a pace

synchrony

#panbioism

[uschi-the-listener]

To my darlings:

To my dear ones who

against all odds

are who they are

and are likely

to be in danger

because of it.

My darlings.

My loves.

I do not tolerate you

I adore you.

I want you to know

that I do not tolerate you,

I am so deeply proud of you

for doing what most people

can do without thought

or threat

or dire consequence.

You are magic

and beauty

and fun and wise and

sharp.

Forgive me for getting it wrong

half the time.

I am a silly old fart

and have never lived in your skin

empathic though I try to be.

No names named

because

You Know Who You Are

and Who You Are

is marvelous

amazing

lovely

mine.

.

Happy Trans Day!

#transgender day of visibility

[uschi-the-listener]

It is

it only graduallly dawns

that change is

everything

to a tiny person

new to the world

it is all

different every day

and there is only

one moment

one moment.

And then it changes.

the big people

seem to count on

things being the same

even when they aren’t

ever.

Change is.

and part of growing up

is denying that

indubitable fact

and then learning it again.

It just is.

#change

[uschi-the-listener]

It’s another Adam and Eve myth

another justification

for the mistreatment of women

If you ever loved a woman

if you ever were a woman

grit your teeth

and read the story.

The story of misogyny

brought to life

a tale to teach children

what men think

women are for

and what they deserve.

She was the first human woman

of the Greeks

created to punish all men

for Prometheus’s theft of fire.

She was equipped with lies,

deceit, seduction

and was given a jar

full of all the evils of the world:

sickness, pain, fear, and all else

that we dread

and told not to open it.

Curiously, Hope was in the jar

which has somehow morphed into a box

for this benighted age.

And when Pandora/Eve

disobeyed

after having been set up

just to be knocked down

as women are

knocked down

set up

hated for their very existence

When she disobeyed

and let all the evils into the world

Hope remained

trapped in the jar.

The world remains hopeless.

Hopeless.

As long as Pandora

Eve

Womankind

are vilified

set up

knocked down

laden with

the narrow expectations

of a certain ancient

kind of Man

Man Kind

the world remains

Hopeless

Hate can be overcome

and Hope can be released

but we have to try.

We have to want to.

Hope.

.

#hope #hopeless #misogyny #pandora's box

[uschi-the-listener]

sunken treasure

we feed our starved skin

sighing like old couches

comfortable

worn

cushioned

finally at ease

concealed from

whatever is out there

out where we

are not

soft covers

make a single mountain

of us

sunken treasure

looking much like

ancient chunks

of weathered rock

bedizened silver

gold long gone

this

is why I stayed alive

I didn’t know

the best comes last

wait for it.

.

#love #old people love

[uschi-the-listener]

When it comes to me,

I have to drop everything

Write it, post it, There

.

Otherwise, bye-bye

gone forever, like a dream

Peremptory Muse

.

There is no mercy

If you intend poetry.

You don’t make the rules

.

#haiku #the process #no mercy #write it post it