Sarah Flanigan - Poetry Simply Put

Everyone has a story
That old saw is a favorite mutter -
a tried and truism

But we do have our own stories
of failure
of success
of getting by - by getting along

Of making choices that led us astray
and decisions that led to wonder
and I can’t fucking believe this…

But we keep the story to ourselves
because no one asks
Because there is only time to tell
our own stories
our own regrets and mistakes
missteps and meanderings

Only time to tweet and post to the wall
favorite and stumble
the many details that must be
disseminated
in hopes of the hotly contested
15 minutes

And if we wonder, we do it in passing
Filling in the blanks with our own experiences -
rejecting the reality with our
own lack of resume

Am I my brothers keeper?
Cain didn’t think so and neither do most of us
And when we do, the ACLU
ensures we pay the price for our curiosity
and invasions of helping hands

If Oprah or CNN doesn’t care
if it’s not on The View or the Daily Show
if it doesn’t expose colossal frailties and weaknesses
it’s none of our business
We don’t need to know
And it’s time to move on to
the reality show of choice
Reality that is scripted and real only
to those vying for the prize

But everyone has a story and
if you ask and you really want to know
people will tell you

copyright 2010

Tags: if, Life, original poetry, secrets, words without pity

I’ve always been maverick
a wild horse seeking higher quieter ground
watching the world from private precipice
with wary eye and distrustful gut

My inner tinkerbell
ever searching egress to escape
and when she does slip through
an unattended window and acquaints herself
with freedom
the laughing and dancing goes on for days
sometimes weeks

But she is always caught
and returned to her bottle
Unable to understand
the dangers out there
the beasts who intend her
harm

Only seeing butterflies
and sunshine
she cries behind closed doors
begging for blue sky
and unfettered freedom

I cry a little too
but I am dedicated to her safety
vigilant in her protection
no white knight
looks after her heart
or shields her from murderous fools
hungry for her soul

copyright 2010

Tags: freedom, Life, looking glass, original poetry, poem, Poetry, secrets

When hello is goodbye
I chase after them
to be my friends
I let go and there
is nothing there
I fall and no one
catches me

When I love you
is I hate you
betrayal is an odd
acquaintance
Doubt is the daily
drink
Confusion guides
all decisions

When the past
is your comfort
the eyes miss
the moment
the now slips by
unnoticed
and tears
never stop

copyright 2009

Tags: deceit, goodbye, imitation, Life, Love, original poetry, secrets, words without pity

cigarettes & cell phones
sultry summer sky
random thoughts
of filmy futures
followed the butterfly’s
path of
lazy nectar search

basketball hoops
snoring dogs
i slept in today
and the world
didn’t stop
the silence
was comfort

my mind
hummed soft
in pastel colours
and gentle souls
flitted by in
mutual affirmations

time does not
touch me today
the sun freckles
my shoulders
and birds
have their own
language
that whispers
to children
& oldsters
as it dances
past on
the breeze

copyright 2009

Tags: Life, original poetry, secrets

the silence of the snow
remembers me
and carries me back
to you - to us - to then

the icy dreams
scratch at my soul
freeze frame moments

that land in frosty dreams
and melt then
in morning light

words and photo - copyright 2009

Tags: original poetry, snow

The night is open
to spring air and starlight
jasmine scents
and running water

Cigarettes in the dark
ice cubes rattle
in upheld glass
melt in silence

Dogs roam
sharing sentry
standing watch
beneath a hidden moon

copyright 2009

Tags: night

Mind twitters,
tipples,
teases,
topples
Late moon rises,
reaches,
rouses,
roars
Head hurts,
howls,
haunts,
hovers
Typical Tuesday

copyright 2008

Tags: andrenaline, energy

I cannot judge
your words by rules
for I never learnt them
nor cared to

I do not know if
the illiteration lilts or flails
if the syntax sings or croaks
if the form drapes with
a dancer’s fluid grace
or flops like a dying fish

I only know how
they make me feel
I only know if they
lift my heart
to the sun and beyond
I only know if they
speak to me
in a language strange
and beautiful

I only know if they
make me scream and
cry and giggle and guffaw
and tap my toe to a piper’s tune
not yet written

I only know if they
pour out of me
fast and furious
the words that have
been buried in the deep
in dark and delicious places
that open their eyes
like flower changelings
from exotica

Aye, that I know
And they
Do.

copyright 2008

Tags: Inspiration, Poetry, what i know

Weeds became
dragons and
warriors of the
dark

Clouds assumed
ghostly attitudes
posing aptly
and waving to
me

Strangers were
villians and thugs
neighbors unwitting
victims of same

Cats and dogs
were children sweeties
to be protected
dressed and
disciplined

Playmate…
my partners
in crime
detection
and make-believe

Daisy fields
my grand stage
for dancing
twirls
and heart broken
ballads sung to
stray cats
I mean, my
chidren….

Dark dank basement
a dungeon
that held my
captives when
lucky enough was I
to snare them

School
a prison to
stage many
escapes
poolside my
caribbean hide
away

My mind
the only
travel agent
I ever
Needed

copyright 2008

Tags: Imagination, original poetry