My husband's poetry

Category: childhood

  • hope

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    by

    cfblack
    in , ,

    yesterday, unable to wash the dirt of my youth from my skin I put on cologne and clean clothes and hope no one remembers who I was today, I do not recognize the face in the mirror or the voice that mumbles morning prayers I undress, step into the shower, towel off, put on cologne…

  • Gamer suicide

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    by

    cfblack
    in , ,

    When he first experienced a random act of kindness, it made him feel warm and when he thought he understood the concept, he tried it on others and soon it was randomness he sought and soon folks did not see him as kind and soon he became an oddity tolerated in polite company and laughed…

  • White lace

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    by

    cfblack
    in , ,

    Where I sit the arm on our couch is worn It is then I understand why My mother and her mother and her mother… Sat for hours in a corner chair Crocheting frilly, white, lace doilies to protect The fabric of furniture from wear And I wonder about other tedious daily chores She performed to…

  • For Barb and Kathy

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    by

    cfblack
    in , ,

    on an old green swingset, new to us, we launched ourselves so high in the sky It threatened to tip us backward in the grass we would fling ourselves towards the sun competing who could fly the furthest I used to win a lot maybe, it was because I did not fear the landing or…

  • The end is the beginning, is the middle, is the end

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    by

    cfblack
    in , , ,

    My father was always concerned with the now, with what I’m doing with today with not wasting time in pursuit of frivolous things. When my first book of poetry came out, he told me on the phone that he read my book and he didn’t think much of it. At the end he spoke of…

  • —

    by

    cfblack
    in ,

    I used lie awake at night listening to trains wail in the distance and dream of running away to ride the rails to far off places Now I lie awake at night listening to trains wail in the distance but I’m too afraid to ride up under a train for fear I may fall 1-8-25

  • Old friends

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    by

    cfblack
    in ,

    I heard yesterday from an old school friend she said she’s been with her wife since college and now I wonder if our 9th grade make out session was consensual or she was too afraid to say no or I was unable or unwilling to hear and I want to ask her and I want…

  • Last night

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    by

    cfblack
    in , ,

    Last night I dreamed a dream I did not want to dream ___ I dreamed family and friends were mean and petty to me no matter where I fled they followed and ridiculed me for seeking solitude ___ I woke up angry at my dreaming self for dreaming mean and petty dreams of others and…

  • childhood trauma

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    by

    cfblack
    in ,

    because my stuttering and speech impediment caused laughter in the classroom the fear of being laughed at is real and I never learned to dance but inside, I dance and swirl and everyone wants to be my partner 9-29-24

  • Indiana Winter Sundays on Greenbush Street

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    by

    cfblack
    in ,

    (09/08 – 1950’s memory poems) Under a doily covered table with a lamp, two African violets, and a half-filled ashtray; among claw-footed legs lay an out-of-round coconut, its outer husk intact, a large yellow conch shell with pink inner lips, Florida souvenirs from my aunt. Grandad said hold it to your ear, listen to the…