why write?

I have to write what I hear in my head, what I dream in my sleep, what my bones ache to express.

My poems tell stories of strength, love, regret, disobedience, loss, hope, redemption, and whatever whispers.

—Cindy B. Stevens

Books Available

My first collection of poetry, Naked, is available for $12.00 at http://mainstreetragbookstore.com/product/naked-cindy-stevens/


For local readers, books are also available at:

Purple Crow Books in Hillsborough, NC

The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, NC



28 December 2021

3 days ago

 

he says, “choose your day”

 

I choose three days ago

 

he asks, “why three days ago?”

 

three days ago I will have passed this threshold

 

I will have chosen

© 22 December 2021

Cindy B. Stevens

#three #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing #NCwriter

Photo credit:  bui-bao-nhVOVCsxQSk-unsplash

22 December 2021

a b o v e

a man in ER waits

sits beside his expectant wife

wonders why I stare at them

 

it’s mindless television

closed caption

daytime soaps

 

local evening news

twice

game shows

 

I watch

it’s all above his head

 

© 22 December 2021

Cindy B. Stevens

#above #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing #NCWriter

Photo credit:  roman-skrypnyk-DRixm8e5VUQ-unsplash

16 December 2021

t r i n i t y


Tuesday nights, 7:30, at Yonder , Open Mic.  This past Tuesday, I read the entirety of a new poem, “trinity”.  It’s raw.  Here’s the first stanza:

trinity

I sit in the living room

cover with a prayer shawl because I can’t pray

don’t know what to say

don’t know whether it makes a difference what I say, so I

cover me with a prayer shawl


© 13 December 2021

Cindy B. Stevens


#Prayer #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing #NorthCarolinaWriter

Photo credit:  giulia-bertelli-UT1OrSlHZnE-unsplash

10 December 2021

Christmas time

 

it wasn’t until

I walked into Diff and Bill’s

home that Thursday night

 

I realized it’s

Christmas, time to decorate

time to celebrate

 

 . . .

 

time to celebrate

Christmas, time to decorate

I realized it’s

 

home that Thursday night

I walked into Diff and Bill’s

it wasn’t until

 

© 3 December 2021

Cindy B. Stevens

 

#Christmas #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing #NorthCarolinaWriter

 

Photo credit:  rob-patterson-mYtYxJOn8zg-unsplash

04 December 2021

between the lines

she selects worn

soft

cotton from her closet

 

slips it over her head

arms through sleeves

buttons the placket

 

no undergarments

panties

brassiere

slip

no satin

no lace

just a dress


© 4 December 2021

Cindy B. Stevens

#Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing #NorthCarolinaWriter

Photo credit:  trude-jonsson-stangel-TWoa0DtOfNE-unsplash

28 November 2021

sacred



touch

sacrament

silent


hush

anger fraught

brutal


touch

sacred harsh

fragile


© 27 November 2021

Cindy B. Stevens

#Sacred #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing #NorthCarolinaWriter

Photo credit:  fabian-kuhne-uKVy_loBj2o-unsplash

22 November 2021

need

I stand

in front

of you

what

I want

gripped in

my hands

nothing

I need

but you

in front

of me

you wait

you want

my hands

 

© 2018

Cindy B. Stevens

 

#hand #help #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

 

Photo credit:  nick-moore-66aKwlV815c-unsplash

16 November 2021

twisted

I haven’t stopped

believing

I haven’t talked to

with

God, lately

 

on our way to Duke Cancer Center, we listen to my playlist

“Hallelujah” comes up

I sing

then the verse “well maybe there’s a God above, but all I’ve ever learned of love is…”, I

can’t continue

 

clean sheet day

sometimes it takes twice

three times to fit corners

twisted

I want a fitted sheet that tags top

bottom

 

I feel flat

another grief layer

top sheet stacked on a linen shelf

Is it OK that I sing in the car when he sleeps in pain?

judge me

don’t

I have nothing to say to God


© 8 November 2021

Cindy B. Stevens

#Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing #NorthCarolinaWriter

Photo credit:  vojtech-bruzek-Yrxr3bsPdS0-unsplash

10 November 2021

loud



quiet

breath sound

in

out

 




awake

pages turn

no one speaks

 

out

in

breath stops

loud


© 8 November 2021

Cindy B. Stevens

#Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing #NorthCarolinaWriter

Photo credit:  lucas-calloch-_OdDX7w__F4-unsplash

04 November 2021

Elijah, 13 years, texted me this poem he wrote a bit ago and granted me permission to share with you:


Where the sidewalk ends is where the journey ends

Where the gold grass grows and the street just bends

Saying bye to all the people that you’ve ever met

Saying bye to all the bad things like pain violence and debt

As you walk down this road there is a feeling of sorrow

As you walk down you feel that there might be no tomorrow

But as all the bad things disappear

Life just might be no more here

So I guess without good there’s no bad

And without happy there’s no sad

People benefit from each other’s downfall

So anything you do can be someone’s end all be all

Now I don’t want to say that there’s nothing good

With so many people happy yeah you wish I could

While life is good for some, it might be bad for others 

Some people even have to lose brothers

The world isn’t perfect no human is either

Sometimes life can just be a brain fever

So here’s a message out to everyone;

Stay safe, live life, and just have fun.

© 2021     Elijah Potter

#Elisucks29 #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

Photo credit:  patrick-tomasso-5hvn-2WW6rY-unsplash

29 October 2021

before


before is based on Psalm 139; it might not be finished:


before

 

while in the womb

how can it be

that God knew me

before

 

my breath

my voice

my heart

God’s own

 

my move

my thought

I can’t

flee God

 

my touch

my eyes

my light

my God

 

knows me coming

knows me going

how can it be

that God knew me

before

 

© 13 December 2019

Cindy B. Stevens


#Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

Photo credit:  warren-wong-fNUNt9w3m-Q-unsplash

23 October 2021

it's not funny

 


sometimes

it’s he who says

“I love you”, then I say,

“I love you more”

sometimes it’s me

 

 ~ ~ ~

 

then there was a morning on my way to work

my playlist hit on Jason Isbell’s, “If We Were Vampires”

I cried

 

 ~ ~ ~

 

it’s not funny anymore, our joke where he says

“I’m going first”

and I say “no, I am”

and we go back and forth

laughing

except now, it's

not funny

 

© 22 October 2021

Cindy B. Stevens


#JasonIsbell #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

Photo credit:  pawel-czerwinski-Lki74Jj7H-U-unsplash


17 October 2021

Joppa

 


it’s not dark corridors I avoid

not that I pursue dark corridors

it’s that I eschew lit corridors

lit to blind a gurney

parked in an ER passage

a man curled in on himself

doesn’t hear my boots step past

when I leave Joppa


© 16 October 2021

Cindy B. Stevens

#Joppa #Corridor #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

Photo credit:  markus-spiske-jV7zHsgtY-Y-unsplash

 


11 October 2021

touch

 

I want to touch

touch head

neck

shoulders

touch hands

 

I want to touch every part


feel my warmth

feel life from my touch

I want my touch to heal


© 11 October 2021

Cindy B. Stevens

#touch #heal #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

Photo credit:  charles-l-309-unsplash

05 October 2021

haiku Sunday morning

 


on some mornings, to

drink cold beer brings comfort, my

morning, last Sunday

 

© 5 October 2021

Cindy B. Stevens

#cold #beer #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

Photo credit:  eeshan-garg-KYuANAfgTWA-unsplash

29 September 2021

god thinks

 


 

god thinks

 

god thought I was strong 

enough

yesterday

was god thinking

about today

tomorrow

what was god thinking

 

© 29 September 2021

Cindy B. Stevens

 

 

#Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

 

Photo credit:  john-arano-h4i9G-de7Po-unsplash


23 September 2021

cousins

“cousins” has been calling to me, so here’s a bit of what I’ve got:



it’s a sudden pain

a surprise

sleeps at night

wakes each morning

 

its cousin is constant

abiding

 

© 8 August 2021

Cindy B. Stevens

 

#Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

 

Photo credit:  jasper-boer-1fUu0dratoM-unsplash

17 September 2021

p o s t u r e

1 July 2021 I shared a stanza from an assortment of stuff I’m pulling together.  Here’s another stanza from that assortment.  I wonder what it will say when all the stuff comes together.  The title might be “posture”.


her mother taught her to sit

from the hips down

she didn't teach posture

 

standing posture

shoulders back

spine straight

chin elevated

 

sitting posture

back straight

no touching the chair

shoulders relaxed, back

chin up

 

posture wasn’t as important as keeping her knees together

 

© 27 February 2021

Cindy B. Stevens




#Posture #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

 

Photo credit:  colton-sturgeon-6KkYYqTEDwQ-unsplash

11 September 2021

she can't say

I started this yesterday, so “she can’t say” is rough:


she can’t say

 

two mugs

Earl Grey

coconut cream

honey

two spoons

 

we sit at my kitchen island

our mugs steam

she talks

I talk

we listen

 

she tells a story

about him

ceramic warms hands

her eyes glaze

she disappears

 

minutes crawl

tea cools

her eyes engage

dazed face

I ask her where she’s been

 

she can’t say

 

© 10 September 2021

Cindy B. Stevens 

#Death #Ghost #Dream #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

 

Photo credit:  jason-briscoe-GliaHAJ3_5A-unsplash

05 September 2021

Old NC 10 and Dove Creek Road

From my chapbook, Naked:


Old NC 10 and Dove Creek Road
Momma always said folks should drive five miles under the speed limit when the weather’s ugly I walk the back road to Durham flash flood warnings still up the truck slams me to the oil-slicked road my scream drinks air I clutch the kingdom to my breast feel a surge of power warm my arteries infuse my heart, spark fingertips, set me aflame windshield wipers thwump, thwump drizzle quenches engine’s thirst diesel fumes hit-and-run the air I wait for a sign of redemption don’t bury me where I fall I want assurances I know I’m dead can I slip my name at the end of the list under the radar, before someone sees? what’s going to happen to me now? the long goodnight drags ghostly voices through my head whispers through the din air smells like egg salad gone bad I knock on the door to hell footfalls echo on a slate floor I tear a page from my memory my tears spill the page grows back silence slinks away there’s an angel he stands on the side of the road at the bus stop in front of the hospital he carries my discharge bag
© 2018 Cindy B. Stevens #Angel #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing Photo credit: aleksey-malinovski-WY5JN_lPGbo-unsplash

30 August 2021

morning worship




a sinful sky

before dawn

birds, coyotes

muffled songs

fondle trees

my ears, my eyes

call

reply

 

© 12 September 2020

Cindy B. Stevens


#Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

 

Photo credit:  jr-korpa-Vg2hvfkvKQ8-unsplash

25 August 2021

General Pershing's horses

Not a poem, but something I find pretty cool.  I’m in the process of packing our home to move to our retirement home.  Culling, saving, etc.  My paternal grandfather loved to take photographs.  Here’s one of his cousin, Nicholas Davies, with General Pershing’s horses, about 1939.






24 August 2021

Edgar Boulai

 

I received the name “Edgar Boulai” in a dream in 2015, along with this very short scene.

 

Edgar Boulai

 

the grill wears a wound

matter of pride

 

my compadre nervous

pistol bullet flies wide

 

pierces the grill work

of Edgar Boulai

 

© 12 September 2020

Cindy B. Stevens

 



#Dream #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

 

Photo credit:  jonas-lavoie-levesque-Te3V0r0fYIo-unsplash

18 August 2021

easy

somedays
sometimes
I want easy

© 6 August 2021
Cindy B. Stevens

#Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

Photo credit:  Max Goncharov-unsplash



12 August 2021

11,860 days

I’ve nothing after 11,860 days

except

papers in 

the file folder from 

the file cabinet

 

initial newspaper report

Algiers Point

Bermuda Street

day after newspaper details

co-workers’

neighbors’

reluctance

 

death certificate 

a letter from me to him and Steve

a letter to him from Sam

postmarked

11,860 days ago

 

police department contact info

a list of names

phone numbers

somebody might know things

handwritten notes

police conversations 

detective inquiries 

 

11,860 days

nothing

 

© 12 August 2021

Cindy B. Stevens




#NewOrleans #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #DarkPoetry #IGPoetry #IGPoets #InstaPoetry #Life #LovePoetry #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryGram #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #PoetsOfInstagram #SpilledInk #VeinHeartArtisans #Wordsmith #Writer #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

 

Photo credit:  joshua-doguet-kmnz1L1xSWU-unsplash