dissent

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Susan L Daniels

rebellion isn’t always active.  it can be
the shake of a head no, sitting down
on a bus & refusing to stand,
stubborn flesh slacked into
complete noncooperation:
WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED

it is not always a raised fist.

it can be personal & public
as loving a man but slipping the yoke
of convention, raising your children
unmarried & with your last name
not for lack of love but shuddering away
from ownership shown on the left hand
while offering up a heart
in the palm of the right

rebellion, sometimes
is simply speaking truth
in a room full of lies–
the boy saying the emperor is naked,
or Magellan ignoring arguments
and plotting circumnavigation

***we are talking about rebellion over at Dverse today.  If you want to join us, the fun starts at 3 EST.

Posted in dverse poetry prompt, New Free Verse | Tagged , | 46 Comments

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Susan L Daniels

FUN! Had to share!

hovercraftdoggy's avatarhovercraftdoggy

movies movie poster psycho movie cinema graphic design art layout logo artistic style font

Pictogram Movie Poster by Viktor Hertz

View original post

Posted in New Free Verse | 1 Comment

squares (memorials)

Posted on September 1, 2012 by Susan L Daniels

I.
I came back to Buffalo
a month after she died, my skin
unused to winter
& surprised
at the sight of my breath
freezing to mist

no one else
would touch her things,
so the second day
I sifted through perfume bottles,
photographs
& packed clothing–
the shell
of a life, glittering
& hard;
empty
in her absence
& collecting dust

II.
the quilt squares
spread in colored rows
each named
& gorgeously stitched
some sequined

a murmuring
fabric memorial
we stepped over
& through–
I saw pain
echoing my own
in her lover’s eyes
& held his hand
as we walked

for us
it was another walk
for my sister;
though this
was not her illness,
we saw her name
embroidered
on each  square

III.
after the ground thawed
they set her stone.   a flat thing
flush with the earth; a stone
set in rows of stone
like the fabric
of the AIDS quilt

but nothing soft here,
no sequined flush
of color

announcing a beautiful life

 

Posted in New Free Verse | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Susan L Daniels

I love this song.  Liked it even before Shrek 🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ayxbAstsTI

Posted in New Free Verse | 17 Comments

Haiku Heights Haiku a day September Challenge

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Susan L Daniels

Are you guys game?

Here is a list of the daily prompts:

Posted in New Free Verse | 13 Comments

Haiku Heights September haiku a day challenge kickoff–drawbridge

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Susan L Daniels

the castles I make
have sand drawbridges, and moats
no deeper than hands

Posted in haiku | Tagged , | 42 Comments

another shooting

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Susan L Daniels

the morning
of the full red moon
I read of another shooting
this time in a NJ grocery store,
three dead
& yes we are reeling
from the shock of it
& yes this loss of lives
for no reason
is sickening

but this is happening
so often
my reaction is muting
softening
shifting from outrage
to a sad shake
of my head

what I want to know

what I really need to know
is why this summer
is a season of blood,
mass shootings;
why this summer
carries a series of offerings
to the god of iron and lead;

a god who is by all means
not hungry–he is bloated
& fat–even that blood god
cannot be thirsty now

& I want to know
what insanity
filters through
the collective unconscious
of this planet–
if evil can spread
from one mind to another
like a virus carried on breath

because getting used to murder
is an unforgivable thing
red moon or not

Posted in New Free Verse | 18 Comments