Suffering Poems
Exiled Sentence
by Nathalie Handal
Most exiles do not take enough with them—
some obtain new lands, new identities
others return to the empty corridors of their sleep
in a place they are certain they can always call home;
but most hold on to a sentence as if it were a coat
that will protect them from sun prisons,
a sentence that will grow
the way we grow, leave ourselves
like silence leaves a home
it can no longer love.
......
A Weight That Never Lifts
by Oscar Auliq-Ice
Pain, my constant companion
You cling to me like a shadow
A weight that never lifts
An unwelcome guest in my soul
You pierce me with your sharp claws
And gnaw at me with your teeth
You consume me with your fire
And drown me in your seas
......
For Suffering
by John O'Donohue
May you be blessed in the holy names of those
Who, without you knowing it,
Help to carry and lighten your pain.
May you know serenity
When you are called
To enter the house of suffering.
May a window of light always surprise you.
......
Mass Exodus: Back and Forth
by Bhaskaranand Jha Bhaskar
Millions of legs, tight and stout, step out
Of their weak doorsteps
With their empty but mighty hands;
They never shirk working anywhere,
In any way, or so many ways
In any circumstances
Melting even Dallol, the hottest
With their cool-mindedness
Or heating even Oymyakon, the coldest
With their hot blood.
......
Blue Roses
by Yoko Fushigina
Long-long ago, as the ballad recalls,
In the castle with ivy woven in walls,
Under dark velvet skies, in the eye of the Moon
With sweet-scented fragrance blue roses bloomed.
Dare not to come close to the sharp spikes of white
For vermilion potion is kept in inside.
In those azure bushes, with hearts in a hand
A couple of lovers had found their end.
This story is ancient, as old as can be,
But the roses bore it for you and for me...
......
Aborted Blooms
by Lyon Erkst
A strange silhouette looms over a budding seed,
Its caressing hand pressing downward
Is a confusion of acid smoke.
The small stem writhes within the soil as
Ethereal mist gathers above.
Yet within a lapse of inattention, the stem propels through.
A unique flower is born in the garden of aborted blooms.
Twisted creature, her stem is rotten.
......
Wounded Wings (The Agony That We Cannot Conceal)
by Oscar Auliq-Ice
You constant friend,
A presence that seems to never end.
You come in waves, you come in force,
A relentless feeling, a brutal source.
You are the thorn in every rose,
The cruel twist in life's repose.
You are the wound that won't heal,
The agony that we cannot conceal.
......
A Weight That Never Lifts
by Oscar Auliq-Ice
Pain, my constant companion
You cling to me like a shadow
A weight that never lifts
An unwelcome guest in my soul
You pierce me with your sharp claws
And gnaw at me with your teeth
You consume me with your fire
And drown me in your seas
......
Mass Exodus: Back and Forth
by Bhaskaranand Jha Bhaskar
Millions of legs, tight and stout, step out
Of their weak doorsteps
With their empty but mighty hands;
They never shirk working anywhere,
In any way, or so many ways
In any circumstances
Melting even Dallol, the hottest
With their cool-mindedness
Or heating even Oymyakon, the coldest
With their hot blood.
......
Death is Optional
by Scott Biggerstaff
I saw a lone walker once
Left hanging like a high five
Bottom of some steps
Leading to a hospital
I joked with someone near
“Seen any flaming chariots swoop by?”
They didn’t get it
Or maybe they did
......
