breathe on me

Three lines of an eight line poem, “breathe on me”:

I like when he stands behind me

breathes on my neck

scruff scratches smooth

© 25 August 2019

Cindy B. Stevens

#breath #smooth #curve #AmWriting #BeWriting #BookLove #Bookworm #Dream #IGpoet #IGpoetry #IloveWriting #Inspiration #LoveWriting #Poet #PoetLife #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetryLover #Reading #Write #WriterLife #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #WritersNetwork #WritersOfIG #WritersOfInstagram #Writing #Wordsmith #AmEditing #NC

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after the wedding

Here are the first two and last two lines of “after the wedding”, an eleven line poem:

a black dress woman undresses the brides

in front of the windows beside a red light

they’re stiff and they’re stoic

they can’t see with their eyes

© 21 September 2019

Cindy B. Stevens

#bride #tulle #silk #satin #lace #AmWriting #BeWriting #BookLove #Bookworm #Dream #IGpoet #IGpoetry #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Poet #PoetLife #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetryLover #Reading #Write #WriterLife #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #WritersNetwork #WritersOfIG #WritersOfInstagram #Writing #Wordsmith #NC

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fishing

“fishing” is a short poem; I’m sharing five lines:

I want to be a caught fish

a found sheep

I want a new name

a new life

new eyes

© 18 October 2019

Cindy B. Stevens

#new #name #Jesus #AmWriting #BeWriting #BookLove #Bookworm #Dream #IGpoet #IGpoetry #IloveWriting #Inspiration #LoveWriting #Poet #PoetLife #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetryLover #Reading #Write #WriterLife #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #WritersNetwork #WritersOfIG #WritersOfInstagram #Writing #Wordsmith #AmEditing #NC

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a domestic engineer

Here are three stanzas from “a domestic engineer”, which has been finished for a while and will be in my next collection:

Home-Ec taught that cakes fall

make it perfect

smooth frosting over cracks

slather more over the German chocolate

until it stands prize worthy

I try to escape while I iron

a button-up starched shirt waves its arms

makes demands from the counter

towers over the ironing board

I soothe the yoke

careful to not scorch the starch, I run steam over wrinkles

they scream and hiss

refrigerator tosses salad greens

cork bits float in red wine

supper has done its prep-time when

the train whistles from the driveway

a clatter of boots at the back door

his eyebrows frown below his forehead drawn with lines

I stay for eyes that dare me to leave

© 5 November 2017

Cindy B. Stevens

#domestic #anger #eggshells #AmWriting #BeWriting #BookLove #Bookworm #Dream #IGpoet #IGpoetry #IloveWriting #Inspiration #LoveWriting #Poet #PoetLife #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetryLover #Reading #Write #WriterLife #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #WritersNetwork #WritersOfIG #WritersOfInstagram #Writing #Wordsmith #AmEditing #NC

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my daughter; Jessica; infant casket

In May of this year, I posted a few lines from “infant casket”.  It’s been revised and I’m sharing again, preceded with portions of “my daughter” and “Jessica”.  These poems form a trio in my new collection.

One stanza from “my daughter”:

she helps me from the table

hem pins prick my legs

as I leave the room

Mama says

“I hope you have a daughter

just like you”.

© Cindy B. Stevens

23 July 2017

Two stanzas from “Jessica”, which was published in The Phoenix, Issue 60 © 2019, literary journal published annually through Pfeiffer University:

birth pain kidnapped me

but I wouldn’t scream

she emerged

from my cloud

silent

in my dream Jessica’s five years old

she laughs

plays with her angels

tilts her head back

fastens her eyes

on me

two days prior to yesterday

A few lines from “infant casket”:

two men carry a princess through the crowd

she wears her only pink dress

my groundskeeper carries a ladder

hedge clippers

I gaze over my manicured hedge

covet

a wild rose who doesn’t belong to me

© 29 June 2019

Cindy B. Stevens

#Daughter #Death #Funeral #Angels #AmEditing #BeWriting #AmWriting #BookLove #Bookworm #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WriterLife #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing #Hillsborough #NC

Photo credit:  Cindy B. Stevens