Control Poems
Tethered: Without Rhyme
by Aditi Hayaran
And then I said I don't like fantasy.
It feels like comfort, but no—
It's not true, it can never be...
So realism is where I live,
the bitter truth like black coffee,
over the candy of imagination.
Maybe I don't hate sweets; I'm just too scared.
Too scared that it results in an aversion to the reality I exist in.
......
Toxic Tales
by Aditi Hayaran
A leech on arm—take it off!
"Don't," he said, with a scoff.
It's sucking my blood; it's a clear view.
"Selfish lady, leech is dependent on you."
Bleeding arm for which I weep,
Lookin’ at the knife that pierced me deep.
I screamed—stay away I plead.
The knife asked, "I just need closeness, why do you bleed?"
......
broken puppets
by Alexander Palmer
Aren't I just a puppet?
Rotting on your stagnant string,
I'll say that it's all love,
Even when you make me bleed.
And aren't I just your puppet?
Snapping my bones to fit your production,
I'll say that I don't mind it,
Through my retching and disgust.
......
Speed Limits
by Nkwachukwu Ogbuagu
They pose with the austere stares of
Loving, friendly ghosts —tall, gaunt and lissome,
With big, rounded head.
Draped in weathered robes of care,
They are the only guardian spirits we see.
They have the calming power,
Where drunken machines run amok
Through broiling engine oils
And reckless crankshafts,
Spitting gas, and brittle axles.
......
Run
by Kayla Mumford
I love you big
I built a whole world for you
I chose people
made them audition just to
be in your life
I paved paths and roads so you’d
know exactly where to go
So you’d come home everyday
To me
So you would like the same people
......
Tethered: Without Rhyme
by Aditi Hayaran
And then I said I don't like fantasy.
It feels like comfort, but no—
It's not true, it can never be...
So realism is where I live,
the bitter truth like black coffee,
over the candy of imagination.
Maybe I don't hate sweets; I'm just too scared.
Too scared that it results in an aversion to the reality I exist in.
......
Toxic Tales
by Aditi Hayaran
A leech on arm—take it off!
"Don't," he said, with a scoff.
It's sucking my blood; it's a clear view.
"Selfish lady, leech is dependent on you."
Bleeding arm for which I weep,
Lookin’ at the knife that pierced me deep.
I screamed—stay away I plead.
The knife asked, "I just need closeness, why do you bleed?"
......
The Training of a Monkey with a Grenade
by Igor Vykhovanets
The Training of a Monkey with a Grenade
Frol's school turns the child to ape,
With fingers clenched in a cruel shape.
Without the grenade, the vile new trend —
Neo-fascism's easy to bend.
-------------------------
......
fragile equilibrium
by Rikske Kessner
A hand, firm and unyielding,
claims to guide the fractured flock—
but whose voice shapes its course?
The state rises, towering and silent,
its nets drawn too tightly,
binding "care" with control.
Yet the people's will, restless as rivers,
pulls against the dammed edges,
......
Speed Limits
by Nkwachukwu Ogbuagu
They pose with the austere stares of
Loving, friendly ghosts —tall, gaunt and lissome,
With big, rounded head.
Draped in weathered robes of care,
They are the only guardian spirits we see.
They have the calming power,
Where drunken machines run amok
Through broiling engine oils
And reckless crankshafts,
Spitting gas, and brittle axles.
......
