Watershed

[Tarvos]

Push the Dirt Around

read the words, mother
I thought I heard them say
it's time to find out
find out who you are

they push the dirt around
dig a hole for the body
they say when the flowers die
nothing bad may be spoken
the flowers are too dead to wither

"she ain't dead yet!"
but you know who wakes up
and who sleeps through the night
(I've been awake since early morning
thinking of all the ways to get rid of the pain)
time to take her with you
call a home a home now
the place you hate is now the place you love

still pushing the dirt around
making the final call
watch breathing slow
i'll wait by your side
but i won't be there while you scream
went to the bathroom
and you drowned in a delirium

she never loved you
but you love her now?
don't feign your feelings
what do you really have to lose?
a place in heaven beside you
is riddled with holes in the clouds
not even the wings of angels will save you now

 

[Tarvos]

Start Something

I breathed poison dirt
Whisked away the tears
I started something
and I don't want it to end

Screamed noises
Streaming faces
I can brave the rain
I can defeat the cold

Snow falls deeply into my shoes
The wind howls on my cheeks
And all I think about is the wool
Manifesting itself neatly on your head
You're a duck in sheep's clothing
Because you just talk too much

Geese fly south for the winter
But I always preferred the train
I want to smell the snowed-on tracks
Because petrol chokes my brain
And when I have to take the bus
I gasp for air to wipe away the tears

Take back the city for me and breathe
I'll light a fire on the roof of home
I'll let a flame roar into the night
Must burn the memories of pain
You brought none to comfort me
And I would rather have that stay

 

[Tarvos]

Journey Inside The Earth

Turned through holes of victims;
dug up the coin inside a cave.

And when I looked at it - two-sided;
Cast in the mould and came out
all like a copper circle in the rocks.

When I dig deeper into the core
I bring nothing but a trail of wine
and bread to seal my flesh traffic;
I wish you would open the gate.

I carve none on a stick, let it stand
buried in the sand from which we're made.
I believe not that it would fall,
but I want the gold mountain to come from underneath.

I sold everything for a brass coin
when I wanted the silver in your home.
The glittering of a soul in the middle,
the sparkling of a smile in the heart.
I breathed your air from the start.

I am but peasantry digging for coins;
not even a dog to sniff for the hoard.
I know I have very little;
yet you always leave me wanting more.

 

[Tarvos]

Blood Spilling In The Reeds, There

they carried through the brown reeds
the pallid corpses of dead fish floating
ascending from the water fizzles a fume
the stench of poison in the green lake

smoke rises from our ruins of concrete
radiate the soil into sand and rocks
dry up your tears that flood the grass
cut down the trees that feed our lungs

"blood was spilled here, and we tarry not
seek now a way out, or would you stay
in a place where life is turned to death
and water is a vile thing unlike the source"

whisk away the option to stay safe inside
create our own world, in waste and greed
a plastic commodity to be sold in the rivers
the bodies speak for the moving islands of litter

 

[Ruby]

These are getting very, very good, though I must say I think the alliteration was overdone in the first stanza. "Fizzles" was not a good word there. My second piece of advice is hard to explain: you need to make the poem even more concentrated. Cut every needless word and phrase, even if it changes the meter or rhythm. I hope you won't find it condescending if I edit it to show you roughly what I mean. You'll hate my version of course. I shall probably hate it too when I look at it tomorrow.

They carried through the brown reeds
Pallid coprses of dead fish floating
Ascending, out the water, curls a fume
The stench of poison on the green lake

Smoke from the metal ruins and the concrete ruins...
Dry your tears have flooded the grass
Cut down the trees that feed our lungs
"Blood was spilt here, and we tarry not
Now seek a way out. Or would you stay here
Where life is made death
And water's a vile thing?" Whisk away
The chance to remain safe
Make our own world in waste and greed
A plastic good sold in the rivers
Where the plastic islands move

 

[Tarvos]

Thrive on Fire

Thrive on fire - you must try,
In throes of shadow we walk.
Every hour danced away,
And we take no step forward.

Mask of fireflies that bedazzle;
Like candles on insects,
Drawing men to the flame.
Home in straw, home at last.

Burdened in the wake of life,
Smart children without glass,
Plastic or concrete walls,
Just wood to keep out the wind.

Green forms in the jungle show,
Eyes twinkling, voices warbling.
A language alien to Terra,
A voice from a distant sun.

Open the hatch and the ladder,
Carry us away from the waste;
Smoking ruins behind the trees,
Cut away the source of hope.

Please take us with you?
We saw mushrooms of fire,
Exploding in the night sky.
We are left in the barrens.

We are smart children now;
Play with sticks in the sand,
Fire around our dying heart,
Just wood to keep out the wind.

 

[Tarvos]

this one is like a bad cross between william golding and porcupine tree's "a smart kid"

 

[Tarvos]

Kingdom in the Mirror

I believe you need a mirror.
You see, when I look at it,
I see a face with pimples
and freckles,
and perhaps a few spots,
where beard used to grow.

But what do you see,
when you gaze into glass?

I believe you see yourself,
reflected with a smile,
whitened teeth;
perfectly brushed hair;
layers of makeup;
nary a flaw to be found.

Yet when I look in the mirror,
I see kingdoms in ruins.
I see squabbles among the people,
The very ones that you rule.

Can you imagine why I stare,
when you break the mirror
in the morning,
when you haven't brushed;
or put on makeup;
or combed your hair;

It's because you're afraid.

 

[Tarvos]

Resonance

who manifests itself in absurd rhythms
oscillations on the screen
I breathe, periods of air that fluctuate
periods of air that hover
i am the movement and the noise in your eardrums

deus ex caelo
comes down in a bouncing mass
would he breathe the moving vibration
would he suck up the energy
is he the movement and the noise in my eardrums?

i am a lover of the eccentric
i am a cognoscente of the madmen
"let me tell you a secret:
all the best people are"
all the best people are lovers of the movement and noise in your eardrums