I do not sing of you

Frequently, when I’m falling asleep or when words wake me in the middle of the night (and it’s really good stuff, sometimes), I think I’ll remember this really good stuff, because it’s reallygood. Ha.  Never happens.

I’ve learned that I have to get up and write this stuff down. The first stanza of “I do not sing of you” is about this lack of sleep process:

my pillow and I are stuck in sleep

when words begin to gather

they yearn to be you, so I write them down

else forevermore they’ll be gone

© 30 July 2018

Cindy B. Stevens

#Sleep #Pillow #Night#Asleep #BeWriting #AmWriting #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WriterLife #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing

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fix my car

I’m working on my next poetry book, which will be a full length one.  My first chapbook, Naked, was published in April of 2018 and is available at Main Street Rag Publishing Company, Purple Crow Books in Hillsborough, NC, and The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, NC.

Here are a few lines from “fix my car”, which will appear in my full length poetry book:

I want to fix my car

I try to start

my alternator grinds

I can’t fix my car

my skin

cushions seat springs

so my upholstery doesn’t rip

my memories are a screechy old car door with rusty hinges

they hang on for dear life

© 4 March 2019

Cindy B. Stevens

#Memories #Alternator #Scars#Rust #BeWriting #AmWriting #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WriterLife #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing

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the prize

Here’s a portion of my poem, “the prize”:

I hang by a tab on the collar

of my red corduroy jacket

my hat is a layer of dust

I’m crowded with my stuffed friends

the hawker pulls my woolly sheep friend

places him in the arms of a black haired little girl with cotton candy stuck

in her hair

the carnival rides on music

and chicken on a stick

the contestants hit their marks

my eyes search for an eager face, but

© 3 November 2018

Cindy B. Stevens

#Prize #Carnival #Home #CottonCandy#BeWriting #AmWriting #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #PoetsLife #WritersLife #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing

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posterity

I’m guilty of actions or thoughts that cause me to realize I sometimes don’t recognize myself.  No other details here; I’ll just share the first stanza from “posterity”:

I don’t know me

or recognize where I walk

a face watches beside me

I turn to smile

she has turned away

© 11 November 2018

Cindy B. Stevens

#Posterity #Forget #Guilty #Recognize #BeWriting #AmWriting #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WriterLife #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing

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infant casket

Here are a few lines from “infant casket” where I try to convey feelings as my husband and I rode through the cemetery gates for our infant daughter’s graveside service:

two men carry a princess through the crowd

she wears her only pink dress

my groundskeeper carries a ladder

I gaze over my manicured hedge

covet

a wild rose that doesn’t belong to me

© 11 November 2018

Cindy B. Stevens

#Daughter #Princess #Covet#WildRose #BeWriting #AmWriting #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WriterLife #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing

Photo credit:  Cindy B. Stevens

forgive me

I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know when I say it’s hard to watch a loved one die.  I wrote a poem about some of my thoughts after my father’s death.  It’s different from what I usually write.  Here are some snippets from “forgive me”:

you asked was there anything I needed to talk about

before you left

when I was a kid

I waited for you to come home

one time you were gone so long

I forgot what you looked like

I felt alone in that hospital room and you were asleep

I couldn’t ask you to forgive me when I pushed

your morphine button

twenty-one guns sing in your garden

Taps sound

red blood blossoms stain the ground

scattered like lonely regrets

© 17 July 2018

Cindy B. Stevens

#Forgive #Taps #Regret #Morphine#BeWriting #AmWriting #AmEditing #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WriterLife #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing #HillsboroughNC

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silences

Here are a few lines from the stanzas in “silences”, a poem of struggle during God’s silences:

I want to believe

again

but silence cocoons me

I’m in my desert

sand

scratches my bones

scrapes my throat

I ask for a sign

but except for a sigh

god’s only sign is

more silence

no matter how hard I try I cannot ignore

crucifixion

to head straight for resurrection

© 5 April 2019

Cindy B. Stevens

#Crucifixion #Resurrection #Desert #Oasis#Believe #Belief #BeWriting #AmWriting #AmEditing #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WriterLife #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing

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no title yet

Here are few lines from a poem still in process on and I haven’t, yet, settled on the title:

my ears scream for any god sounds

god’s silence suffocates me

my demons resuscitate

god’s mother-womb is not my crystal ball

my turmoil will not make it so

© 12 December 2018

Cindy B. Stevens

#Silence #Darkness #God #Turmoil#BeWriting #AmWriting #AmEditing #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing #HillsboroughNC

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kids

I love my kids.  They’re now grown men.  It was difficult to write a poem about how much I love them, but here’s the first stanza and the last two lines of the last stanza from my poem, “kids”:

if I’d known what sleepless nights felt like

how tired I’d be

most days

all day

I’d still want kids

but, if I could choose my kids

I’d want the ones I have

© 20 July 2018

Cindy B. Stevens

#Kids #Sleepless #Exhausted #Love#BeWriting #AmWriting #AmEditing #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing #HillsboroughNC

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God loves a poet

Today, I’ll share two lines from each stanza of “God loves a poet”:

I beat the crap out of her again today

not all at once

I try to avoid her

“utility work, lane closed ahead, merge to your left”

for her, it’s easier to write

than talk

if she leads with the wrong foot

she falls

© 6 April 2019

Cindy B. Stevens

#Introvert #IndelibleInk #Merge #Complicated #BeWriting #AmWriting #AmEditing #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing #HillsboroughNC

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laundry day

My poem, “laundry day”, has changed a lot since the first draft in 2012..  I’ve pared it down to just bones from a one-stanza 37-line piece to a three-stanza, 13-line piece and am sharing the last stanza with you:

his spin cycle slows

a buzzer sounds

he doesn’t remember

why he’s tangled and wrung out

© 7 January 2019

Cindy B. Stevens

#empty #lint #tangle #WrungOut #BeWriting #AmWriting #AmEditing #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing #HillsboroughNC

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metal muscle

I wrote the poem, “metal muscle”, in three edits, which is unusual for me.  I tend to edit, edit, and edit again.  Here’s the first stanza:

that car looks like a predator

I watch in my rearview

side-view mirrors

it prowls towards me

no matter which lane I choose

it hugs my bumper

© 19 January 2019

Cindy B. Stevens

#danger #predator #muscle #prowl #BeWriting #AmWriting #AmEditing #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing #HillsboroughNC

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traffic lights

This poem, “traffic lights”, was inspired by a homeless man, and I’m sharing three lines from the first stanza and three lines from the last:

 

he makes me feel uncomfortable

that man holding a sign

on the side of the road

I almost always recognize myself in my mirror

it’s when I look in someone else’s

a stranger looks back

© 30 June 2018

Cindy B. Stevens

#shadow #mirror #homeless #plenty #BeWriting #AmWriting #AmEditing #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing #HillsboroughNC

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washing drama

I’m sharing the first and fourth stanzas of a five stanza poem, “washing drama”:

Sally wanted an arrangement

didn’t need something real

wouldn’t care and

wouldn’t care whether the arrangement

cared

she slips under the sheet

lies beside her commitment

tattoos pull her close

mint tickles her neck

Sally thought this would be a nice arrangement

thought they’d never be real

neither would care whether the other cared

© Cindy B. Stevens

6 November 2018

#arrangement #care #commit #real #BeWriting #AmWriting #AmEditing #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing #HillsboroughNC

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where is my fire?

“where is my fire” is a four stanza poem; here are the first lines of each:

my darkness is my gift of persuasion

my smile, a camouflage of intent

I’m not content

I want to return

© 19 January 2019

Cindy B. Stevens

#shadows #colors #fire #Lazarus #BeWriting #AmWriting #AmEditing #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing #HillsboroughNC

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mandarin orange and whisky

Here’s the last two lines from “mandarin orange and whisky”, a new poem I’ll read tonight @KingStreetBar open mic:

but I crave leather and black pepper

my mandarin orange wants some whisky

© 5 March 2019

Cindy B. Stevens

#orange #whisky #temptation #BeWriting #AmWriting #AmEditing #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #HillsboroughNC #OpenMic #KingsStreetBar

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am I your enemy?

Here are two lines from a piece I’ve been working with, on and off, for a bit.  When a piece no longer speaks, I put it away for later until it begins to speak to me again. I think its title is “am I your enemy?”

what do I do with our memories

before you were my enemy?

© 15 January 2019

Cindy B. Stevens

#enemy #memory #BeWriting #AmWriting #AmEditing #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing #HillsboroughNC

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beyond my bleak midwinter

We are in the bleak midwinter part of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.  Most of this piece is sweeter than my others.  Here’s the first stanza of “beyond my bleak midwinter”:

my town prepares for spring beauty

I drape my own bleak midwinter

across three clothes lines

thrash it with a carpet beater

loosen dust and dirt

© 7 January 2019

Cindy B. Stevens

#bleak #winter #dust #dirt #BeWriting #AmWriting #AmEditing #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing #HillsboroughNC

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root bound

I read this piece at an open mic in October 2018, have since changed the name and one word; thought I had shared it here, but can’t find the evidence.  So, here’s the middle stanza of “rootbound”:

my porous stalk, a sponge

my bound roots wallow stagnant water

I loathe this stink

how it snakes

grips the rocks

cracks my terracotta

© 21 January 2019

Cindy B. Stevens

#terracotta #stagnant #crack #bound #BeWriting #AmWriting #AmEditing #BookLove #Bookworm #BookwormForLife #Dream #IloveWriting #LoveWriting #Inspiration #IGpoet #IGpoetry #Poet #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetLife #PoetryLover #WritersOfInstagram #WritersOfIG #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #Wordsmith #WritersNetwork #Write #Writing #HillsboroughNC

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