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    1. Poetry discussion: Everything by Srikanth Reddy

      Hi tildizens, the NYC subway often has posters with a poem and artwork on them which provide some relief from the ads that decorate the trains. On my commute today, I found this poem by Srikanth...

      Hi tildizens, the NYC subway often has posters with a poem and artwork on them which provide some relief from the ads that decorate the trains. On my commute today, I found this poem by Srikanth Reddy quite tantalizing.


      Everything

      by Srikanth Reddy

      She was watching the solar eclipse
      through a piece of broken bottle

      when he left home.
      He found a blue kite in the forest

      on the day she lay down
      with a sailor. When his name changed,

      she stitched a cloud to a quilt
      made of rags. They did not meet,

      so they never could be parted.
      So she finished her prayer,

      & he folded his map of the sea.


      Unfortunately, the single piece of related online discourse I can find is a two-line comment on a 2008 blog post of the poem. So tell me: do you like this poem? What do you make of it? Is it about a couple that splits up due to infidelity (as Google's gemini ai told me) or people that are connected despite having never met (as Mistral's le chat claims)? What of the kite? Why is it blue? Why might his name have changed? To me, it seems he must be a sailor (but different than the one she lays with?) and she relatively poor. We're reading a lament of a missed connection, perhaps.

      13 votes
    2. penghu

      an endless blue. my island shore. my quiet voice. a crashing roar. my little feet mark steps in sand. a big red bucket in my hand. cold water glides across my gills. it tastes of dark and salt and...

      an endless blue. my island shore.
      my quiet voice. a crashing roar.
      my little feet mark steps in sand.
      a big red bucket in my hand.

      cold water glides across my gills.
      it tastes of dark and salt and kills.
      i hunt for food hoping to make
      what others all of me want made.

      i cuff my pants and dip my toes
      to cool myself from hot sand's glow.
      my bucket drinks with thirsty lips
      salt water, sand, and -- wait, what's this ?

      in rest i lie where currents go:
      to waters warm, bright, and shallow.
      a sudden wake from surface stirs:
      swimming around a big red blur.

      i look at her. i look at him.
      i puff in fear. i'm uncertain.
      i dip my fingers holding shrimp.
      i take a bite. we make friends quick.

      11 votes
    3. Poem from my 13-year-old son

      The Skibidi Wonderland Imagine a world with skibidi rizz Where the rivers run with flowberry fizz Every tree has a W gyat Everyone is ruled under Kai Cenat Everything, even the hills looksmax...

      The Skibidi Wonderland

      Imagine a world with skibidi rizz

      Where the rivers run with flowberry fizz

      Every tree has a W gyat

      Everyone is ruled under Kai Cenat

      Everything, even the hills looksmax

      Criminals will have to pay a fanum tax

      Every December we celebrate Rizzmas

      Where we get candy and gifts from St. Grimace

      From the screen to the ring to the pen to the king

      Every October we celebrate Hawktuahween

      Everyone follows the sigma grindset

      Everyone thinks with the sigma mindset

      The skibidi sky has a rizzy aurora

      All citizens have skibidi aura

      Can you imagine a world where all is rizzy?

      Can you think of a world where all is skibidi?

      Can you fathom a world where all cheese is drippy?

      'Cause I yearn for a world where I can hit the griddy

      50 votes
    4. Echoes of the Depths

      The earth, once scarred by shadow’s hand, Now trembles soft, a waking land. From soil soaked with roots that bled, New shoots arise where death had fed. The storm has passed, its howling stilled,...

      The earth, once scarred by shadow’s hand,
      Now trembles soft, a waking land.
      From soil soaked with roots that bled,
      New shoots arise where death had fed.

      The storm has passed, its howling stilled,
      The air now warm, the silence filled.
      With whispers light, the seeds take hold,
      Their leaves like sparks of green and gold.

      The soil hums with tender grace,
      A pulse of life begins its race.
      No longer bound by gloom’s demand,
      It rises tall, a fearless stand.

      Though remnants of the past remain,
      They sing of hope, not loss or pain.
      The cycle turns, as it must do—
      To bury old, and birth the new.

      7 votes
    5. Random thoughts at daybreak

      In shadows cast, a serpent sleek, With bands of black and white. In self-encircling, fate draws near, A moment tense, a future unclear. Yet, ere the bite, a raptor bold, Descends with grace, a...

      In shadows cast, a serpent sleek,
      With bands of black and white.
      In self-encircling, fate draws near,
      A moment tense, a future unclear.

      Yet, ere the bite, a raptor bold,
      Descends with grace, a tale unfolds.
      Its talons clasp the serpent’s plight,
      A dance of choices in the fading light.

      Two paths converge, in present’s hold,
      Humanity’s tale, a story bold.
      Betwixt self-will and forces unseen,
      The dance of fate, on history’s screen.

      17 votes
    6. Mythos

      Mythos A tree unwatched does soundless fall Without an eye its crash to mark And starborn light in vain does call While hearts incline instead to dark So natural course unseen dictates The wave of...

      Mythos

      A tree unwatched does soundless fall

      Without an eye its crash to mark

      And starborn light in vain does call

      While hearts incline instead to dark

      So natural course unseen dictates

      The wave of time as life begins

      Nor, in our barques asea in fate

      Ken we the source of distant winds

      Now blown to gale, now to 'phoon —

      We strike our sail, but none can dock

      Our crafts beset do founder soon

      For to the hours we're firmly nocked

      In time's swift drifts all 'twined we are

      Yet each must pass the stellar door

      Through deep'ning age pass on afar

      And thus return to astral moor

      12 votes
    7. antediluvian

      gusts of wind pick up in pace and oaken leaves they make to shake. chirps and flaps as birds make haste and hooves all trample in escape. above, the clouds, they morph and move bearing an ocean in...

      gusts of wind pick up in pace
      and oaken leaves they make to shake.
      chirps and flaps as birds make haste
      and hooves all trample in escape.

      above, the clouds, they morph and move
      bearing an ocean in their womb.
      forest florals stare in rue;
      effulgence dims as darkness blooms.

      the rumbling clouds envelope all.
      a drip, a drop. and the rain falls.
      and though the canopy may stall,
      a dribble starts and rends the wall.

      a torrent soars towards the floor.
      the land, to sea, returns once more.
      in time, the green but will restore.
      in time, the clouds but will reform.


      i wrote this at a creative writing workshop with the following three randomly generated words as the prompt: frequency, dribble, oak.

      9 votes
    8. Multiauthor poetry anthology recommendations

      I've recently finished Mary Oliver's A Poetry Handbook and have begun writing my own poems (just for fun). I feel though that I may be limited by my having read little poetry. So, I'm searching...

      I've recently finished Mary Oliver's A Poetry Handbook and have begun writing my own poems (just for fun). I feel though that I may be limited by my having read little poetry. So, I'm searching for anthology recommendations to get some inspiration.

      I'm not really looking for collections of "classics," just a large collection of poems generally considered to be "very good," and maybe leaning more towards contemporary (late 19th century onwards?). But I'd welcome recommendations outside of these guidelines too if anyone feels particularly strongly about some collection.

      3 votes
    9. Pebbles

      I walk by the stony brook a path of pebbles at my feet. I bend to pick one up and it is lovely. Alas! They number far too many to read each one's story. But I will try.

      15 votes
    10. Love

      © 2014 u/ebonGavia Love Love's sweetly poisoned darts Are wasted on this heart Inerrant though they fly My shielding gives them lie These centuries-builded walls The keenest edge forestall Thus...

      © 2014 u/ebonGavia

      Love

      Love's sweetly poisoned darts

      Are wasted on this heart

      Inerrant though they fly

      My shielding gives them lie

      These centuries-builded walls

      The keenest edge forestall

      Thus armored sit I here

      At siren's call do sneer

      By hours, years do toll

      And cold becomes my soul

      That blackguard, Love, I spurn

      From treach'rous Hope I turn

      At length my vigil wanes

      Naught but ennui remains

      With apathetic sigh

      And dry, half-lidded eye

      My senses, weak, are dulled

      To fitful sleep are lulled

      Thus primed for artifice

      Undone by artlessness

      A 'doring glance unlocks

      My bitter heart. A shock —

      A shining word, a koan —

      The fatal shot is flown

      Each quick'ning touch, now soft

      Our scales, forgotten, doffed

      Bewitched by winsome eyes

      We don our honeyed ties

      Yet venom's stings presage

      Our bittersweet malaise

      But how is it that we

      Bemoan this malady?

      In love — by Love, lovesick

      Yet, healed, we poison pick

      No Cupid bends a string

      We prick ourselves, willing.

      7 votes
    11. The great advantage of being alive

      I desire more poetry on this site. So here is more poetry! I believe this is Cummings due to the style and some cursory internet searches but I was unable to find an authoritative source. If...

      I desire more poetry on this site. So here is more poetry!

      I believe this is Cummings due to the style and some cursory internet searches but I was unable to find an authoritative source. If anyone has one I'll edit it in! The formatting is taken from a book (I discovered this in a photo online).

      the great advantage of being alive
      (instead of undying)is not so much
      that mind no more can disprove than prove
      what heart may feel and soul may touch
      --the great(my darling) happens to be
      that love are in we,that love are in we

      and here is a secret they will never share
      for whom create is less than have
      or one times one than when times where--
      that we are in love,that we are in love
      with us they've nothing times nothing to do
      (for love are in we am in i am in you)

      this world(as timorous itsters all
      to call their cowardice quite agree)
      shall never discover our touch and feel
      --for love are in we are in love are in we;
      for you are and i am and we are(above
      and under all possible worlds)in love

      a billion brains may coax undeath
      from fancied fact and spaceful time--
      no heart can leap,no soul can breathe
      but by the sizeless truth of a dream
      whose sleep is the sky and the earth and the sea.
      For love are in you am in i are in we

      23 votes
    12. Looking for sources related to "The Repetitive Nature of Human Tribulations"

      Hello everyone :) I write as a hobby and have had an article in my drafts for a long, long time. In essence, I'd like to discuss the "repetitive nature of human tribulations/suffering/life", that...

      Hello everyone :)

      I write as a hobby and have had an article in my drafts for a long, long time. In essence, I'd like to discuss the "repetitive nature of human tribulations/suffering/life", that is, the fact that regardless of superficial characteristics we all are confronted with extremely similar circumstances throughout our lives.

      Whether it's 10 years into our lives or 40, there's joy, heartbreak, loss, a need to belong, some desire for freedom, a need for a purpose, lack of direction, obsession with a newly found direction, etc.

      I'd love to come across poets, philosophers, psychologists, etc who have touched upon this subject: we are not defined by our circumstances, as they are, in very broad strokes, largely the same, but by how we are able to adapt and reinvent ourselves amidst those same circumstances.

      Looking forward for your answers :)

      Thanks!

      7 votes
    13. Does anyone here enjoy poetry? If yes, what are your gateway drug poems and what are your hidden gems?

      So as an American whose love of poetry started in early childhood with A A Milne and Lewis Carroll, I have a theory that the teaching of poetry in typical schools (at least for my generation which...

      So as an American whose love of poetry started in early childhood with A A Milne and Lewis Carroll, I have a theory that the teaching of poetry in typical schools (at least for my generation which may be 30 years out of date re what happens now) that poetry as taught is almost tailor made to destroy any interest in poetry. I like to compare it to introducing music by teaching music theory.

      So, if anyone here reads poetry and is willing to talk about it, what poems would you use if you wanted to come up with a gateway drug. They should be easy to appreciate. And on the flip side, if you met someone who said they were really into poetry, are there sophisticated poems that you think are just cool and insightful and moving and impressive in some way? Please feel free to explain your choices or to talk about your experience with poetry in or outside of education.

      36 votes
    14. Poetry Machine (project)

      The concept It's a box that contains a receipt printer and an interface with several buttons. A user would press a button that reflects their emotional state (happy, sad, anxious, etc.), then the...

      The concept

      It's a box that contains a receipt printer and an interface with several buttons. A user would press a button that reflects their emotional state (happy, sad, anxious, etc.), then the machine prints out a more-or-less appropriate poem on a receipt printer, beautifully formatted and embellished with simple artwork.

      It could be occasionally repurposed for certain themes, like Pride Month to print out queer poems.

      I want to place it someplace public and well-trafficked, like Dolores Park or on Castro Street.

      Feedback

      I like poetry. The idea of a (free) vending machine that gives me a poem to uplift my day excites me. But I wonder if this appeals to others enough to be worth fully realizing. I don't want to spend time and money building something that'll go totally unloved.

      Also curious about anti-vandalism measures or ideas. I'm sure some jerk will try graffiti-ing it or peeing on it.

      Lastly, anyone interested in collaborating?

      7 votes
    15. An Ode to Undies

      T'was picking fruit down under, where I learned the truth of underwear Davenport made the best boxer costed more but last forever At first my junk was hanging loose no more briefs snuggling like a...

      T'was picking fruit down under, where
      I learned the truth of underwear
      Davenport made the best boxer
      costed more but last forever

      At first my junk was hanging loose
      no more briefs snuggling like a noose
      but soon I loved it hanging free
      it's quicker when you have to pee

      Decade later holes not in sight
      Bought some more in case they might
      Thought they'd be with me till the end
      Thirty years they've been my friend

      Now I'm down to last seven pair
      Out of business they went I fear
      Brought down low by cheap knock offs
      Where oh where is my Undie Guru now?

      12 votes
    16. I sang her name in words forgotten

      I sang her name in words forgotten Rough bellows of lost yearning A hurt hound without path A sorrow meaning without an end I heard the rain, heard the ocean Lick the sand without defect The...

      I sang her name in words forgotten
      Rough bellows of lost yearning
      A hurt hound without path
      A sorrow meaning without an end

      I heard the rain, heard the ocean
      Lick the sand without defect
      The water, where it falls
      Is always beautiful all the same

      I saw, my God, that you made her
      Carefully crooked, imperfect
      And inside her deep mournful eyes
      The tears that I could never shed

      9 votes
    17. In My Dressing Gown

      The sky is clear except for some soft grey clouds beyond the hill The early setting sun shines orange on the woods and the houses that sit atop the ridge Not a single bird crosses the pale blue...

      The sky is clear
      except for some
      soft grey clouds
      beyond the hill

      The early setting sun shines orange
      on the woods
      and the houses
      that sit atop the ridge

      Not a single bird crosses
      the pale blue sky
      though I can hear
      their chorus
      and a gentle wind blows
      cold
      on my face

      I can smell the traffic
      from the road behind my house
      mingling with
      the earthy smell of trees
      from the field in front

      Neither my hot black coffee
      nor my dressing gown
      are enough
      to keep the
      cold
      at bay
      on this
      the first truly frosty day
      of the year

      7 votes