subtext

My Poetry and Commentary on Life

  • This Writer’s Beginnings: EarlyYears
  • Bread Loaf Influence
  • Rock and Roll High School
  • About

Designed with WordPress

  • she did not respond

    by

    alone, communication, desire, erato, identity formation, interpretation, interrelationships, mythic, obsessions, poetry, reader response, sonnets
    “for it is always that the other will simply ask no question whatever about these unaccustomed glasses that the other will see, in the fact, no sign.”
    –Roland Barthes
    and there he was the person who
    he was looking for all this time
    as if anyone else could step forth
    other than the one who waited there
    his pen obliquely scratched the page
    like an old dog lost in his sleep
    there is no other other than you
    he said to himself slowly
    so even he could comprehend
    that his words had no meaning
    except to the one who listened
    except to the one who heard
    he lay down next to the still water
    and admired his reflection in the pond

    (June 25, 2017)

    Share this:

    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
    • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
    Like Loading…
  • The Act’s Compromised

    by

    communication, conversation, desire, erato, eros, interpretation, interrelationships, love, poetry, relationships, sonnets
    “a whole scene through the keyhole of language”
    –Roland Barthes
    Stray bits of light glowed along the edges:
    What he wanted her to say in contrast
    To what she said. We only see what’s there,
    What we understand. Through the dark, fireflies
    Shout out for love in sharp intermittent
    Bursts. How do we ever find each other?
    He understood little of what she said.
    His desire, her intent, shrank the language
    ‘til fine grains of difference determined
    If either could move without consequence.
    With one key to the code, a tumbler fell,
    A latch opened, yet, the door remained closed.
    Enough had been said; they each bent to read
    a denouement from their side of the door.
    (June 23, 2017)

    Share this:

    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
    • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
    Like Loading…
  • Hunger’s Shadow

    by

    broken, desire, erato, loss, love
    “I keep swallowing and regurgitating my wound”
    –Roland Barthes
    He pulls the same morsel
    From his flesh
    Another day’s gnawing
    Savoring the nuance
    In iron and gall
    Sucked between his teeth
    Then spews it out
    To feed the wound
    That still hungers
    Long after she has gone

    (June 19, 2017)

    Share this:

    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
    • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
    Like Loading…
  • time absorbs us all

    by

    desire, erasure, erato, eros, interrelationships, love, poetry
    “she is no longer the other, but one among others”
    –Roland Barthes
    as each moment of his memory
    blurs into his present desire
    all his erasures rise again
    through her as she dissolves
    into a panoply of shifting stars
    against the relative stability
    he holds in his empty hands
    until they too fall into dust

    (June 19, 2017)

    Share this:

    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
    • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
    Like Loading…
  • Come to Me

    by

    erato, eros, love, lust, poetry

    “the efflorescence of causality”
                –Roland Barthes
    like wind through maple leaves
    her words drifted through him
    she mouthed her desire
    along the tendons of his neck
    her kisses were like morning
    glory’s tendrils unfurling
     along a tree branch’s
    ecstatic longing for the sun
    (June 17, 2017)

    Share this:

    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
    • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
    Like Loading…
  • Doors

    by

    desire, erato, eros, love, poetry, sonnets, transition
    “this cascade of alternatives”
    –Roland Barthes
    Each moment opened and closed
    A hundred hundred more
    Opened and closed a hundred
    Hundred more after those until
    The clatter of it all crackled like
    Her laughter loud and electric
    as the current moved through him
    And he heard the multi-foliate rose
    Unfold as each petal grew and fell
    Each moment’s possibilities flourishing
    Then collapsing upon themselves
    So quickly he could barely breathe
    As if love were a mountain waterfall
    And he caught up in her tumult and mist
    (June 17, 2017)

    Share this:

    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
    • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
    Like Loading…
  • Reflection’s Projections

    by

    belief, borders, change, desire, erato, eros, hope, interrelationships, love, paradigms, poetry, relationships, sonnets
    “the other is the figure of my truth, and cannot be imprisoned in any stereotype (which is the truth of others).”
                            –Roland Barthes
    He is no more this, than she
    Permits outside the walls
    He hides behind. No trope
    To be conjured within, she
    Vaguely files her nails,
    And thinks of him less
    Than what to have done
    At the spa. He knows
    Her as he imagines,
    Not as she is told. She
    Believes she does not
    Change outside herself,
    As much as he desires
    Her to be more than both.

    (June 15, 2017)

    Share this:

    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
    • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
    Like Loading…
  • Labyrinth

    by

    change, control, doubt, lost, memory, poetry
    “the victim of his own image-repertoire?”
    –Roland Barthes
    He was lost in the maze
    He created, so many strings
    To find and reconfigure:
    Did she say those words?
    Did he take the right turn?
    The pieces splayed beneath
    His hands like tarot cards.
    He could not read the future
    Any better than the past.
    The present remained nearby.
    His vision placed blinders
    To direct his attention:
    Go there, do this, conform.
    The only maze was his
    unwillingness to escape.

    (June 14, 2017)

    Share this:

    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
    • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
    Like Loading…
  • Inscribed Runes

    by

    change, erato, eros, poetry
    “my desire clings”
                            –Roland Barthes
     She clings to him
          Like scars
    Written into his skin
         She entangles his words
    Turns them toward him
         Until he is changed
    (June 13, 2017)

    Share this:

    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
    • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
    Like Loading…
  • Permeable Verb

    by

    definition, desire, erato, eros, interrelationships, loss, love, muse, poetry, relationships, sonnets
    “words leak through definition”
    –Roland Barthes
    He became a part of speech,
    A statement without need
    Of a response. She fell after
    The predicate, and waited
    To be acted upon. Yet, he
    Couldn’t define the subject
    By himself. There had to be
    More than his limits allowed,
    More to the conversation
    Than life’s mundane truths.
    He watched as she erased
    Him slowly with time,
    Leaving a smudged outline
    Of an incomplete sentence.

    (June 13, 2017)

    Share this:

    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
    • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
    Like Loading…
  • We are Each Other’s Echo

    by

    communication, control, conversation, erato, eros, identity formation, interrelationships, language, love, poetry, sonnets


    “I am addressing someone whom you do not know but who is there, at the end of my maxims”
    –Roland Barthes
    He talks to himself
    As if possible
    To be
    Who she imagines
    Someone he might
    Have been
    If she had spoken
    In complete sentences
    Someone you might
    Have become
    If I had listened
    To the end of my sentence
    But no one listens
    To anything he says

    (June 12, 2017)

    Share this:

    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
    • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
    Like Loading…
  • Locked Doors

    by

    broken, communication, conversation, desire, erato, eros, interrelationships, love, other, poetry, relationships, sonnets
    “it is precisely there where you are not”
    –Roland Barthes
    He said then she said
    Interspersed and followed
    By silence’s awkward
    Focus where seconds
    Transcribe alternative
    Conversations behind
    Walls manufactured
    From imaginary sin
    Until he or she speaks
    Opening and closing
    Doors as if hunting
    For the something which
    Would unlock the secret

    Of their stale hearts
    (June 12, 2017)

    Share this:

    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
    • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
    Like Loading…
  • Desire’s but a Breath

    by

    hope, life, poetry

    “I desire its return, not its repetition. I say to the other (old or new): Let us begin again.”
    –Roland Barthes
    he stops to listen—
    holds his breath
    to hear his heart:
    the thrum and pulse
    beneath the skin
    like whale song
    beneath the waves
    he’s drowning within

    (June 8, 2017)

    Share this:

    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
    • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
    Like Loading…
  • What is Out of Reach Propels Us

    by

    borders, change, desire, erato, eros, hope, love, mythic, poetry, sonnets


    “it is my desire I desire, and the loved being is no more than its tool.”
    –Roland Barthes
    Something amorphous hid
    in the shadows.
    It whispered the edges
    Of his conversations,
    A slow susurration
    Beneath anything she said.
    He felt a need for something
    He could not define.
    He knew the stories—
    The liaisons, the beheadings;
    Yet, he desired more
    Than just to listen.
    So, he ignored his heart,
    And stepped into the dark.

    (June 8, 2017)

    Share this:

    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
    • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
    Like Loading…
  • Quilt

    by

    change, desire, erato, eros, fragments, love, poetry, relationships, social construction, storytelling
    “I reconstitute a memory”
    –Roland Barthes
    By now neither hears
    The other tell a story
    Different than the one
    They shared. The past shatters
    In the moment. Memory’s
    Scattered bits cohere
    Only through proximity
    And a desire to cohere.
    The emotional scraps
    Linger. He sanctifies
    His past in phrases,
    Images, intonations,
    Until what she possibly
    Meant when she did
    What he remembers
    Becomes a patchwork
    In which he wraps himself
    Against the oncoming cold.

    (June 7, 2017)

    Share this:

    • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky
    • Share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads
    Like Loading…




«Previous Poem Next Poem»
  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • subtext
    • Join 407 other subscribers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • subtext
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d