Author: poetryfest

Performed by Val Cole

POEM:

tightrope like tied note twirl tangential tiptoe
talk | your reflection
through
twisted spun spiderweb stuck-fly absurdity
scam | your reflection

escape glass enslavement soft falsehood of fractals
fear | your reflection
is lying, what

monster haunts this fun-house body
trepid mask manifests so malevolent
my-flesh does-not be-lieve it-self, bursts
skyscraper hoarding horizon like anti-hero
like the mirrors must be mistaken-

miss taking handfuls of half-full hungry for high school
bathrooms where I held the toilet seat how I wish to be held-
fingers stretched towards the accuracy I believed to live in my throat

hoped I only saw a stranger in the corner shops of Paris where

a boy who kissed me like I was glass
like I was the New York skyline
like the space I took up was beautiful, told me

“you can see Belgium from space they had so much
money from the slave trade they
lit up the whole country” said

“there are no stars in the city
but I like looking at you”

and I was sorry for the space I inhabited and I believed
all the fallacies I met eye-to-eye
all the reflections that lie and do not lie
and I stood in the mirror and wept
for the puddles we walked through and knew-

they were just
piss

Performed by Val Cole

POEM:

Me, Janey, and Jack were in the backyard
When we saw a dead man hanging by
The neck of my jump rope up in the
Willow trees, and I looked up and
Yelled at him, “What are you doing
With my jump rope?”

And he opened
His yellow eyes and looked down at us
With a crooked smile filled with maggots
And said, “I needed to borrow it for a while.”
I looked over at Janey who got teary eyed,
And then saw some rocks on the ground.
I told Jack to hit the man where it hurts
Cause he’s a no good thief that needed
To be taught to not take things from people.
So we pelted him as he swung in the air,
And like a Piñata red licorice and gumdrops
Fell from his gashes and wounds, all while
Janey was crying like the big ol’ baby she was.

Performed by Val Cole

POEM:

I did not ask you to build me this way
I did not ask to come back from the grave
My brain has thoughts that my tongue cannot say
I do not like this second life you gave
The only reason that you worked this trick
Was to sate your own curiosity
A doctor who works with the dead is sick
No miracle – just an atrocity
I’m not my own, I’m just your science pet
A wonder you can display for the crowd
You don’t consider my wishes, not one!
I’d like the chance to be my own asset
Yet I am branded “monster “ not allowed
To be myself. I am not anyone.

Performed by Val Cole

POEM:

I am a lost soul,
Blighted, bruised,
Condemned to wait
For what will never come.

But still, I am not idle;
I drift, aimless, through desolation—
A desert, cold and cracked,
A barren land devoid of life.

Here, hope is an illusion.
Time—wasted and worn,
A currency that crumbles to dust,
With no worth,
No meaning.

I suffer in silence.
Success is a mirage,
Filling my head with visions,
Of outcomes unfulfilled.

And yet, I dread the moment
When minutes slow to molasses,
And hours stretch like shadows,
Days blurring, their edges softening—
Until months drown in the fog of madness.

But still, I walk this path,
Persisting through the void,
Remaining in the silence.

I wonder—
Am I damned by fate,
Or a fool at war with myself?

Performed by Val Cole

POEM:

When my final day comes,
And it’s my turn to go,
When to the pain you’ll succumb,
Remember that I’ve loved you so.
Don’t fret, my dear,
For I have lived a happy life,
It’s all alright, my love,
It’s all alright.
Don’t bury me into the ground,
As I don’t want to rot,
Cremate me, spread my ashes,
As I want to be high up,
Not six feet beneath the ground.
Look for me in the clouds,
And in the bright skies,
I’ll be there when you need me –
Just look for me, my dear,
Always in your heart.
Don’t lose yourself in the what ifs,
Or in guilt or in regret,
Don’t waste yourself away,
In what you could have done
In a different way.
There’s nothing to forgive, my love,
But if you need to hear those words,
I forgive you, my dear,
For I loved you so.
I beg for your forgiveness,
For what I have done wrong,
I hope we can part ways
With peace in our souls.
One thing I ask, my dear,
For after I’m gone,
Keep me in your heart,
Remember me as I once was.
Share them with the world –
The stories of my life,
For this is the only way
The memories of me can keep going on.
When my final day comes,
And it’s my time to go,
Just remember, my dear,
That I loved you so.