the blood flows where it pleases

what now, friend from afar?

[pickyocean]

V2

1. Throw your smartwatch away. In the hours that follow, your sleep, time, or heart rate will quickly become inconsequential.

2. Heat up the salmon bake that has been prepared and have four mouthfuls (you must leave space for ice cream!). Think about how lucky you are to experience this again before you go.

3. Find a supermarket. Buy three tubs (spiced apple, strawberry ripple, and salted caramel) and a tin of cat food.

4. Tip the lovely cashier lady all of your life savings, then realise that even she doesn’t want it anymore.

5. If trains are still running, take the next one to Berlin or Montenegro or Edinburgh, and walk to a decent slope with little blades of grass under a patch of sun. Eat the ice cream there.

6. Don’t reminisce yet. There are still so many things left to feel.

7. Go to a piano bar. Play a few tunes for whoever will listen. Play a tune for yourself. If she’s with you, play her something too. Whatever you do, don’t ask her to sing. Trust that she will, anyway.

8. Open up that photo album with screenshots of your favourite poems and read them out loud. Read the one about clementines at least two more times before you go.

9. Dance like no one’s watching.

10. But if you only have time left for one last thing, tell her you love her. Hold her close, hold her gently, hold her still. Kiss her, then beg for her forgiveness again.

[pickyocean]

things to do before the asteroid hits

1. Throw your smartwatch away. In the hours that follow, your sleep, time, or heart rate will quickly become inconsequential.

2. If you’re lucky, heat up some salmon bake and have four mouthfuls (you must leave space for ice cream!)

3. Find a supermarket. Buy three tubs (spiced apple, strawberry ripple, and salted caramel) and a tin of cat food.

4. Tip the lovely cashier lady all of your life savings, then realise that even she doesn’t want it anymore.

5. If trains are still running, take the next one to Florence or Montenegro or Berlin, and walk to a decent slope to eat the ice creams on.

6. Don’t reminisce. There are still so many things left to feel.

7. Go to a piano bar. Play a few tunes for whoever will listen. Play a tune for yourself.

8. Dance like no one’s watching.

9. Open up that notebook with your favourite poems, and read all of them out loud. Read the one about clementines four times at least.

10. And if you can’t do any of that, just tell her you love her. Hold her close, hold her tightly, hold her still. Kiss her, and beg for her forgiveness.

[pickyocean]

i think i left my lungs in berlin

[poemsfromafar]

and perhaps i always will

[pickyocean]

Congratulations

You’re finally out of the forest.

Smoked weed. Slept with him even

though you know you’re throwing your

mind and body away. Now

they’ve served you the notice

and you’re back in winter again. The

world is yours.

[havingapoemwithyou]

I THINK LOVE IS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS TO OTHER PEOPLE by Michael Gray Bulla

[pickyocean]

you stayed up so long

waiting for my love and

suddenly, it is here,

a basket-full of

skintight blueberries,

smiling back at you.

so with god given fury

you shed reluctance

and consumed them all,

stalk by stalk

second by second

bleeding that

pearly gown, as my

ring finger dilates, and

your touch ripens

and the words stain, and our

letters grow green, and i

beg and beg and

beg for mercy.

[havingapoemwithyou]

Third sonnet by Tawanda Mulalu

[firstfullmoon]

Gabrielle Calvocoressi, “No Poems Today,” in The New Economy

[poemsfromafar]

bad ending

[apocryphics]

[pickyocean]

things to do before the asteroid hits

1. Throw your smartwatch away. In the hours that follow, your sleep, time, or heart rate will quickly become inconsequential.

2.

3.

4. Tip the lovely cashier lady all of your life savings, then realise that even she doesn’t want it anymore.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9. Dance like no one’s watching.

10. But if you only have time left for one last thing, tell her you love her. Hold her close, hold her gently, hold her still. Kiss her, then beg for her forgiveness again.

[pickyocean]

good luck poem

before your exam

in the first semester of your

grad school a

hundred ladybugs

invaded your room at St Cross

you must have found the whole

situation pretty ridiculous,

really.

if i had been with you then

i would’ve whipped my phone

out and Googled “what is the

percentage chance of seeing a ladybug?”

and found the answer to be:

‘less than 1%’!

(i know, i know. percentages??? you can barely

count!!!)

but trust me.

that is a very small number.

[pickyocean]

I have been

known so thoroughly

that wanting

becomes unnecessary.

The nectar

that’s yours to keep

but you share it anyway.

The yoghurt already mixed

before I wake up.

The time you carve,

piece by piece,

out of your certainty.

I have been known

so thoroughly that

tomorrow when I wake,

all I want to do is

make breakfast

with you.

[pickyocean]

I have become so

used to holding your

hand that

I have forgotten that my

fingers were

built for harsher things.

For steel,

For soil,

For pain,

For staying

instead of fleeing.

Who were you?

What are we doing here?

I will wait for you,

tomorrow and perhaps

always.

[pickyocean]

Now, getting out of bed sounds

like you begging

for five more

minutes.

But really,

you’re asking me for

an eternity.

An eternity that you

know I will gladly

give.

Let me count them all,

just once, let me

be irrational.

Maybe if I count all of the pearls so

perfectly I won’t have the

time to leave.

One,

two,

three.

One,

two.

All of our love has been

but a yes or no question.

Will you read me something?

Will you stay by my side?

Will you forgive yourself for loving me?

Will you love yourself for me?

Will you wait?

Will you?

[pickyocean]

i guess what i was trying to say was

i will tend to my garden, even

if my favourite flower isn’t there.

and i will bite my tongue before

every euphemism,

cowardly or not

i now believe in reincarnation

I now believe in reincarnation.