Existential Poems
Greener pastures
by Francis Shipp
Greener pastures aren’t enough
Frivolous and pretentious they stare
Watching us squirm to break cuff
No sign stipulating buyer beware
Greener pastures aren’t enough
The chase no longer a thrill
For the exhausted wanderers’ exulted bluffs
Silently screaming while they build
......
The Ocean at my Door
by Tyler Morello
When I drove out to the coast I found
The ocean at my door.
An open window
Above my pillow
Played white noise from there on the shore.
I walked across the rocks and sand
To the seafoam frosted border,
And reveled within
The salty seas wind
......
Damn my soul and my body and my cells
by Marra Makinen
How can I think that I am both,
A divine Daughter and a worthless combination of cells,
All at the same time
I can be happy and excited one second
And then cynical and nihilistic the next
I started taking these pills-
Doctor prescribed, of course
And I can’t tell whether they’re working like they’re supposed to-
By mending my body and healing my gut
......
the river sticks
by Grace McDonough
Eternal nothing would be a gift
Why do i spend this time fearing it
It could be a welcomed feeling
I’d let it in
And brush its cheek
Let it enter me--
Bear it.
The river will guide me down
To the hell
......
Body
by Francis Shipp
They say ashes return to ashes
And dust returns to dust
But when I die
Bury me in the ground
With no casket
So that maybe as my body withers
Something new may sprout
From my mortal sacrifice
And I might make something grow
For once in my life
......
Fog brain
by Trenton Jasper
Whoever is directing this shit show needs to be exposed,
How the fuck can we all be here but at the same time alone,
Fertilizer for the ground we mark it off with a stone,
Put a wood box in the ground and let it creak a splinter tone,
Groaning for the moment static from the phone,
Elastic and adaptive evolution without a soul,
Peek from behind the curtain and frozen by the cold,
Honesty can be adjusted to fit into what you've been told,
Let's all get together but you better buy into what's been sold,
Blatant lies from the sky watch the chaos unfold below,
......
Still Alive, Sometimes
by Aditi Hayaran
I was lost, lost in the papers,
Laptop, pen, assignments, and staples.
Wake up, work, eat and sleep—
Round-n-round-n-round-n-round.
I know—I know, how boring I sound.
Then I met, a little girl,
Bright as sunshine, as precious as a pearl.
Pens for stories, brushes for art,
......
Burnt honey
by Quinn Smorenburg
Slobber on his shovel; this old man shits nothing.
Naked and shaking; his begging lips crack.
He swallows his honey, swinging his lanterns;
but piercing his darkness: two button eyes –
rimmed golden; reflections of want glazing his jowl.
His shadows birth those dregs swallowed.
Hounding sweet truth, his lanterns in hand.
Shine they do not, but gulp and lick that
waste remaining; unknown, still crunching.
......
The Ocean at my Door
by Tyler Morello
When I drove out to the coast I found
The ocean at my door.
An open window
Above my pillow
Played white noise from there on the shore.
I walked across the rocks and sand
To the seafoam frosted border,
And reveled within
The salty seas wind
......
Damn my soul and my body and my cells
by Marra Makinen
How can I think that I am both,
A divine Daughter and a worthless combination of cells,
All at the same time
I can be happy and excited one second
And then cynical and nihilistic the next
I started taking these pills-
Doctor prescribed, of course
And I can’t tell whether they’re working like they’re supposed to-
By mending my body and healing my gut
......
