Our Poets today are Liz Eisen and Mary Rose Betten.
Words
Written by Liz Eisen
The words dance in my head in the solitude of the night. Perfectly formed and placed now, these same words elude me during the daytime hours. In the dark, they roll around begging for the chance to be. I recite the words over and over in my head, committing them to my memory. Certain that I will not awaken with amnesia.
The Un-Sub, aka: MY VOICE
written by Mary Rose Betten
My mother would wash my mouth out
with soap if I talked like MY VOICE. It
yells at me to get in and intuit issues
from thin air- no map and no address.
That’s no way to live, isn’t normal. Away
it speeds to find something accessible,
jumps out, sniffs around, switches things,
sums it all up like a bumper sticker. Kid
if you want to be a poet have somethin’ to
show for it. And we’re off to places one can
only imagine where it questions like the FBI,
arranges statements and away we go as it lights
up demanding we astound and if I ‘m interested
in staying alive I better keep my mouth shut
and find places that pay to submit our work.
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Love it. The M.R. I know is ONE with her voice. And that’s beautiful.
A great reminder to poets (me at least) to listen and let our true self speak and write in truth.
Marilyn
Mary Rose, your poetry is so beautiful and diverse. I love the contrast between the regular font and italics…xo Liz
Liz, I’ve been there so many times with writers’ insomnia, but very few times has my memory come through when I wake up in the morning. You may be able to recapture them better. They always seem so full of meaning, too.
Mary Rose,
Somehow you’ve captured the tone of voice of my inner critic and applied it to yourself! I swear it’s the same pitch, the same whine. Very well done.
cheers,
Laura H
Liz and Mary Rose, I love these poems about contrast!