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insomnia

photo credit: Google Images
for Magpie Tales


blood stains freckle
snow white linen
like rusted lace

i hide my face yet
i still hear the scrape
of sharp edged marbles

in your mouth
tumbling over scotch rocks
and little red last straws

nobody sees this
the more that doesn't
meet their eye

but break a leg
they've read the book
and smell the rat

the taste of bile once
on your lips, i know
this silences the barking dog

i wait, i pray you sleep
soon, soundly, sweetly
on soiled linen

as a broken spirit hides and
mends under the covers
of a library's worth of least read novels


Rene~November 2011
For d'verse ~ Poet's pub
photo credit: Rene







Comments

  1. on soiled linen...the scary part is when no one else sees it...the break a leg either way is rather ominous...

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  2. nice pun -

    nobody sees this
    the more that doesn't
    meet their eye

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  3. An unsettling knockout. I have images in my head, now, that don't seem to want to fade.

    Boom, girl.

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  4. "little red last straws'

    no umbrellas?!?

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  5. great take on these idioms with a powerful message, too... i like "little red last straws"

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  6. Yikes. This gave chills. Marbles in the mouth sent shivers down my spine. Nice.

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  7. Chilling. This makes me sad, with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

    And I guess that's how ya know it's good.

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  8. Use of idioms, especially the cascade at the end, builds that hopelessness. Love that ending.

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  9. dang this gave me chills..
    as broken spirits hide
    and mend under the covers
    of least read novels... fine write...

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  10. Disturbing but in a way that can't quite be put into words. More like the accumulation of sharp edged marbles in a mouth, sleeping sweetly on soiled linen and broken spirits hiding under the covers. Good take on both prompts.

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  11. It's been too long since I visited your blog. I forget what a talented poet you are. This has just reminded me.

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  12. You know, to be honest sometimes I read random poetry online and i think people just pluck words from the dictionary and put them one after another to sound clever, but I read this, and although there seemed to be disconnected images the whole thing just fell together in my mind, it is wonderful.
    thanks for sharing
    martine

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  13. Ooh, I really like this, Rene! The little red last straws, especially.

    Kat

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  14. Devil loves a secret. Jesus loves the words and light that expose. Well done.

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  15. I too, taken by the insomniac mood, found the little red last straws the last straws.

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  16. Love this...so many idioms used in a new way...

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  17. Do you sleep (or not) with a snorer, perhaps?

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  18. "and little red last straws"

    Damn fine writing.

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  19. You put the common phrases through some serious torture to make them speak their secrets, here. Tense and ominous and like MZ says, damn good.

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  20. Hard to let go of sharp edged marbles tumbling over scotch rocks image ... great Magpie!

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  21. A lot of amazingly gripping imagery in this one Rene....wonderful writing!!

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  22. Hiding in a book does sometimes help mend hurts - but then, so does time...Your words give us lots to think about...

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  23. Well written, this provocative read.

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  24. You are a strong writer. I'm excited to have found you.

    Love your closing:

    "as a broken spirit hides and
    mends under the covers
    of a library's worth of least read novels"

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  25. it sad when no one else sees the torment...very well written, and very sad.

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  26. Superb, in a disconcerting sort of way. I want to keep going back to it.

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  27. as a broken spirit hides and
    mends under the covers

    These are thought-felt words so true!

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  28. Excellent poem, all the more powerful for what is unsaid.

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  29. Magnificent piece. Hit the spot right on!

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  30. Rene,
    I can always count on you to make my trip to your place worth it!

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  31. Wow, I've missed these. This one is embarrassing, then sad, then sweet, then painfully hopeful. You got a thing, lady.

    Cheers,

    Casey

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